RFXCOM to HomeSeer and other HA apps via xAP - and other GUI's ..

[Kevin Hawkins <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mals xPL RFXCOM connector looks like a great piece of software and a
question was raised , in an adjacent thread,  as to how to integrate it
into an existing HomeSeer setup Having already mentioned that using
another existing  RFXCOM plugin directly into HS must be the preferred
method (KISS for speed and reliability) there is another possibility of
translating the xPL protocol used by Mals RFXCOM xPL connector into an
intermediate format that HomeSeer can understand, in this case xAP.
HomeSeer has two free plugins available (mi4 and mcs) that support xAP
.  This approach retains the philosophy that RFCOM is a distributed
(radio) broadcast type system which is inkeeping with both  xPL and xAP,
ie devices can be used as network resources rather than be dedicated to
one application like HS.  Also worth mentioning is that whilst in the
xAP domain you could make use of a couple of free GUI applications that
xAP offers that could be adopted for xPL use.

As there is xAP support or plugins for many HA applications including
now  HomeSeer, HouseBot, Girder, MisterHouse, XLobby, MediaPortal,
Charmed Quark (provisional), MainLobby(via HS), xAP Floorplan,  Windows
MCE etc etc you can use any of these HA applications.

In the future I am considering releasing a standalone embedded xAP/xPL
schema translator that would be a 'plug and play' solution here but
that's a little way off and would cost a bit of dosh... so ITMT let's
examine two alternative free ways...

There are two software applications that support xPL/xAP bridging.
xPLHAL has an inbuilt scriptable bridge that allows you to manage the
translation and selective passing of data between xPL and xAP.  However
within xPLHAL a script is run for every xPL/xAP packet and this can lead
to memory and response/stability  issues on busier x networks so it is
generally not recommended.  Of recent date some direct xPL schema
translation support has been incorporated into a free software
application called xAP Floorplan (FP) .  Indeed the xPL sensor schema
used within RFXCOM is already a supported translation within FP and so
all the sensors attached to RFXCOM will magically report as xAP devices
using the BSC (Basic Status and Control schema)  on your xAP network
once FP is running.  I need to ask James if the other used schema (X10)
is supported yet, it may be.  Just run FP  with one of the xAP plugins
for HomeSeer and you're away ..  RFXCOM to HS via xPL/xAP, each
individual sensor would appear as a device in HS updating in realtime.
Two way control ie to support a RFXCOM transmitter - would need a bit
more effort (see below)

Additionally  xAP Floorplan provides a web based GUI interface for xAP.
It displays via a web browser a customisable background image over which
you place custom icons and text that reflect the states of your xAP
devices. These icons update in near realtime using AJAX  (no refreshes
required) and devices can be click controlled too.  FP also includes a
full scripting engine with logic and scheduled events (much like xPLHAL)
, so in itself it can be used to display and control your whole home.
HomeSeer isn't necessary but it can be used as well.  In fact one of the
strengths of xAP/xPL is that everything is loosley coupled meaning that
you can have multiple controllers (or none) each working independently
or in more sophisticated setups as redundancy/backup provision.  FP uses
a tabbed interface to the screens ( perhaps a room layout or a HiFi
control screen) and is is constantly evolving with new features
including recently security policies and occupancy modes .  It also
fully integrates into one 'xAP intranet' which is several web based xAP
applications all  contained and accessible from one web page. As FP can
receive xPL messages you can in fact already display xPL devices on a FP
screen in realtime too , intermixing them with xAP devices. The FP
scripting language supports the construction of xPL messages to be
returned back so you can control xPL devices too. ( within xAP BSC this
control is automatic using 'click' events  inbuilt into the web
screens).   As xPL doesn't as yet offer a nice GUI interface this might
be a path to try.

Just to mention xAP Desktop which is another free GUI display
application for xAP  It differs from xAP Floorplan in that it offers
'widgets' that float over your Windows desktop that again display
realtime xAP device status and control , indeed they can move around and
appear /disappear with varying translucency ... so very powerful but
requires more effort (cf FP)  to achieve really nice results.

K

Info on all these xAP applications is available from
http://www.mi4.biz
or the main xAP website at
http://www.xapautomation.org

Details of the RXCOM xPL connector are at
http://www.xplmonkey.com/rf.html