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X 1 0 H O U S E D O C U M E N T A T I O N
v 2.1
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v 2.1 Changes
====================================================================
* Revised the Prefs. dialog to make it easier to set X10 / Printer
port info. Also added a warning message when resetting the base
code.
* Added Sort radio buttons to the Prefs. dialog. Events can be sorted
by Event number, Time or Device Name.
* Added Military Time check box to the Prefs. dialog.
* Added AM / PM radio buttons to the Set Timer dialog.
* X10House will now save the last house code used before exiting and
will default to that house code in the main panel on startup. In
v 2.0, the main panel always defaulted to "A" on startup.
* A problem with line wraping on ImageWriter I printers has been fixed.
* A bug related to writing the X10House data file when no devices are
defined has been fixed. The file would become unreadable on the
next startup.
* A bug related to setting a timer event for the 16th device of any
house code has been fixed. The event was ok, but when you tried to
activate/deactivate any device for that house code in immediate
mode, it wouldn't work on the first try and would generate a timer
event instead.
====================================================================
X10House Features
====================================================================
* Read the timer events from the X-10 unit on startup.
* Set timer events for any of the 256 devices.
* Set timer events in either "normal" or "security" mode.
* Select the days of the week for the timer event.
* Include multiple devices on a single timer event
* Display a scroll list of events.
* Cancel events by selecting from a scroll list.
* Print a list of events.
* Talk directly to either serial port, bypassing the control panel.
* Display X10 time, date and base code on startup.
* Preference dialog (for sound, control panel, base code, printer slot
X10 port,time display and sort options).
* Sound. Two sounds can be played; a continuous "background" sound
and an "acknowledged" sound that's played when you issue a command
to the X10.
====================================================================
The Interface
====================================================================
Title Screen
The title screen is displayed each time X10House is started. It
displays the unit's time, day and base code and a thermometer
showing the progress of reading timer events from the X10 unit.
Since the unit communicates at a leisurely 600 baud, reading
events takes some time. If the unit is not connected when you
start X10House, you will get a message on the title screen.
----------------------
Main Panel
Across the top of the panel are 16 buttons labeled A - P. Each
button represents a House Code. On startup, the last House Code
used in the previous session is selected.
The middle of the panel contains a checkbox and a textbox for each
of the 16 devices for the selected House Code. The group on the
left represents devices 1 - 8 and the group on the right, devices
9 - 16. Enter the device names in the textboxes. Click on the
checkbox to select the device. If a timer event has been set for
for a paticular device, its checkbox will be highlighted in
yellow.
On the lower left are 3 buttons, On, Off and Bye. On the lower
right is a slide bar to control dimming.
The lower center contains 4 checkboxes related to timer events:
Set, Cancel, Display and Print.
Below the timer event checkboxes is a checkbox to set the unit's
time and day and a Preferences button.
----------------------
Set Timer Panel
Across the top of the panel are 7 buttons representing the days
of the week. All days are selected when the panel appears.
Below the buttons is a box for entering the time of the event.
Next to the box are buttons for selecting AM or PM.
Below the time box are 2 radio buttons for setting the mode.
Security mode means the time of the event will vary within 1
hour after the specified time.
At the bottom of the panel are the Set and Quit buttons.
----------------------
Display and Cancel Lists
Both Display and Cancel provide scroll lists for access to 128
timer events. The following information is listed for each
event: event number, device name, function (on / off), dim
value, time and days of the week. An asterisk after the time
indicates security mode. A '+' in front of a device name indicates
that more than one device has been assigned to the event. Click
on the event record to show a list of devices (display mode only).
The Display list has a Quit button at the bottom; the Cancel
list also has a Do It button.
----------------------
Preferences Panel
At the top of the panel are checkboxes for selecting Sound,
Military Time and bypassing the Control Panel. Sound and
Control Panel are set on initially; Military is off.
Below the checkboxes are text boxes and radio buttons for setting
the X10 and Printer ports and a text box for the Base House Code.
***************** WARNING *****************
Resetting the Base House Code will erase all of the timer
events stored in the unit. This is a 'feature' of the
X10 unit, not my software.
*******************************************
Below the Base House Code are three radio buttons for
sorting events.
At the bottom of the panel are the Do It and Quit buttons.
====================================================================
Operation
====================================================================
Entering Device Names
1. Select the House Code (A-P) by clicking on the button at the
top of the main panel. The current House Code button is
highlighted yellow.
2. Type the device names into the textboxes. The group on the
left represents devices 1 - 8 and the group on the right,
devices 9 - 16. The names will be saved when you exit X10House.
----------------------
Turning Devices On and Off
1. Select the House Code.
2. Select the device(s) by clicking on the checkboxes. All 16
devices can be selected at once.
3. Set the dimmer bar if necessary. 0 = full bright;
15 = maximum dim.
4. Select the On or Off button.
----------------------
Setting a Timer Event
1. Select the House Code.
2. Select the device(s). When you select a device, the Set
Timer checkbox will become active.
3. Click on the Set Timer checkbox. This will bring up the
Set Timer Panel.
4. Select the days for the event. All days are selected
(yellow) when the panel appears.
5. Set the time for the event to occur. Enter the time as
'HH:MM', 'H:MM' or ':MM'. Do not press 'return'. You can
use military time for PM entries or select the AM or PM
button. If you use military time, the AM/PM button
setting will be ignored. There is no error checking on
the time you enter.
NOTE: Midnight Noon
Military time: 00:00 12:00
12 Hr time: 12:00 AM 12:00 PM
6. Select the mode, Normal or Security.
7. Select Set to save the Timer info (or Quit to exit without
saving).
8. Set the dimmer slide bar if this event involves dimming a
lamp.
9. Select the On or Off button to set the function type. When
one of these buttons is selected, the Timer Event info is
sent to the unit.
----------------------
Displaying the Events
1. Click on the Display checkbox to bring up a scroll list of all
Timer Events. The events will appear in the sort order you
specified in the Prefs. dialog.
2. If multiple devices have been assigned to an event, the first
device name will be displayed, preceeded by a '+'. Click on
the event record to see a list of devices.
3. Click on Quit to exit.
----------------------
Canceling a Timer Event
1. Click on the Cancel checkbox to bring up a scroll list of all
Timer Events. The events will appear in the sort order you
specified in the Prefs. dialog.
2. Click on the event record(s) to be removed. There are 2 ways
to select multiple records:
- after selecting a record, press the shift key and click
on a second record. All records between the 2 records will
be selected.
- after selecting a record, press the command (open apple)
key and click to select multiple individual records.
These modes work in the Cancel list only.
3. Click on Do It to remove the event(s) (or Quit to exit without
affecting the event). A 'Cancel in Progress...' will appear.
Note: Since the X10 unit communicates at 600 baud, it cannot
absorb the cancel commands as fast as X10House can send
them. Therefore, X10House will wait for an acknowledgment
from the unit after sending each cancel command. If you
have selected many events, the cancel process will take
some time. When the process is complete, the main panel
will appear. For example, canceling 64 events takes about
38 seconds.
----------------------
Printing a List of Events
1. Click on the Print checkbox. If your printer and X10 are
connected to a switchbox, a dialog will appear asking you to
switch to the printer. Click on the Ok button after
switching. The list will be printed in the sort order
specified in the Prefs. dialog.
2. As the list is sent to the printer, a dialog will appear
asking you to click after printing is finished. This
prevents I/O from being reinitialized and redirected to
the X10 before the printer is finished. Click the Ok
button when the printer has finished. If your printer and
X10 are connected to a switchbox, another dialog will
appear asking you to switch back to the X10 Unit. Click the
Ok button after switching.
----------------------
Setting the Clock
To set the unit's internal clock, click on the Set Clock box.
The time will be taken from the GS clock and sent to the unit.
====================================================================
Preferences
====================================================================
Sound
This option is on by default. Click the checkbox to select and
deselect. You can use your own sounds (raw binary sound file
- filetype = $06) by giving them the appropriate name and putting
them in the X10.Data folder.
You can adjust the playback rate and volume for a sound by changing
the file's auxtype value; usually shown as 4 hex digits. The first
2 hex digits of the auxtype field are the volume ( 00 - FF); the next
2 hex digits control the playback rate ( 00 - FF). If you set either
to 00 then the program defaults will be used:
X10.Back - playback = 200 (hex C8)
- volume = 110 (hex 6E)
X10.Ack - playback = 200
- volume = 150 (hex 96)
If you look at the auxtype for the supplied files you will see that
they are both set to 00C8, which means use the default volume ( 00 )
and set the playback rate to 200 ( C8 ); which just happens to be the
same as the default - the auxtype field could also have been set
to 0000 with the same result.
If you only want to play one of the sounds, remove the other file
from the folder.
This setting will take effect after clicking the Do It button.
----------------------
Bypass Control Panel
This option allows X10House to talk directly to the serial port
regardless of the Control Panel slot setting. The default setting
is on. Normally, you will not need to change this setting, unless
it causes a problem on your system.
If you switch this option off, make sure the Control Panel has
already been set for the serial port.
If your normally set the Control Panel for the serial port, leaving
this option on will not cause any problems.
This setting will take effect the next time you start X10House.
----------------------
Military Time
This option is off by default. Selecting this option will
affect the displaying of time in the scroll lists and the
printed list.
This setting will take effect after clicking the Do It button.
----------------------
X10 Port Setting
X10House will use either serial port on the back of the IIgs, it
does not work with the Super Serial Card.
To set the serial port and port configuration, enter a port number
(1-2) in the text box and select the port configuration (printer or
modem) radio button.
This setting will take effect the next time you start X10House.
----------------------
Printer Slot Setting
To set the printer slot, enter a slot number (1-7) and select the
type (port or slot) radio button.
This setting will take effect after clicking the Do It button.
----------------------
Setting the Base House Code
This option allows you to change the base house code used by the
rocker keys on the X10 unit.
***************** WARNING *****************
Resetting the Base House Code will erase all of the timer
events stored in the unit. This is a 'feature' of the
X10 unit, not my software.
*******************************************
When you type over the base code, a warning will appear.
The base house code will only be set if, when you click the Do It
button, the letter in the textbox is different. Changing the letter and
clicking Quit will not alter the base house code. Changing the letter
and then changing it back before clicking Do It will also not alter
the base house code.
----------------------
Sorting Events
Events can be sorted by Event Number, Time, or Device Name. It
affects the Display, Cancel and Print functions.
This setting will take effect after clicking the Do It button.
====================================================================
Miscellaneous
====================================================================
X10House only works with the GS serial ports. It will not work with
the Super Serial Card.
If you currently use the Super Serial Card and want to switch to the
GS serial port, Here are the pinout connections I used for the cable:
GS X10 X10 GS
mini-8 din-5 signal signal
------ ----- ------ ------
1* - handshake in
2* - handshake out
- 1 nc
3 2 receive transmit
4,8+ 3 ground ground
5 4 transmit receive
- 5 nc
* wire these 2 pins together, so that the GS will handshake with
itself. this is necessary because the X10 unit does not supply
a handshake signal.
+ while I have seen cable specs that say connect pin 8 to 4, I
have tried my cable with and without pin 8 connected, and
it doesn't seem to matter.
----------------------
This version is ShareWare. Try it out for 2 weeks; if you intend to
use it, please send $12 to me at the address below.
Everyone who sends in their ShareWare fee will receive a free copy of
X10Doctor, a backup/restore/time correction/self test utility program
for the X10 unit. Included with X10Doctor are icons for X10House,
X10Doctor and related files. Also included are 3 new sound files for
X10House.
If you have paid for a previous version of X10House, then v 2.1 is free.
Please include all files with any copies you distribute.
Art Coughlin
230 Clamer Rd.
Trenton, NJ 08628
On GEnie, send comments to:
A.COUGHLIN
----------------------
Beta Tester's Hall of Fame
(in order of appearance)
Bill Goosey (who got the ball rolling)
Joe (all I want is a little more than I'll ever get) Nelson
Gary Edwards
Bill George
Doni Grande
====================================================================
X10House Registration
====================================================================
Name:_______________________________________
Address:____________________________________
City:____________________________ State:_______ Zip:______________
Enclosed is the $12 ShareWare fee for X10House. Send me my FREE copy of
X10Doctor.
Comments:______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________