Re: xapbsc.event

[Kevin Hawkins <yahoogroupskh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Patrick,

There is a similar issue raised when you say command a light to ramp
from off to 100% brightness over say 30 seconds.  In most cases people
just present the final result immediately the command starts even though
the end condition wont be reached for some time.  However in the C-Bus
gateway  I have been considering providing a series of update events
during the transition time - perhpas every 5 seconds or so with the
'current' lebels being reported.  This looks much better when you use
sliders on touchscreens for example.

In your case you are intending using a BSC binary device to indicate the
blind position I think.   I would probably suggest you send the event as
soon as the blinds start to move - however you could use the fact that
state= can in fact be tristate with off?on and report state=? during
the transition time. It's not something I'd recommend but it might work
for you.   I think the decision is based on any related trigger events.
If you had something that you wanted to happen when the blinds were
closed would you want this to happen as they started to close or when
they had actually closed. You need to consider the reverse too.

Another way would be to actually have two BSC devices - one reporting
'closed' and one 'open' and then each would show their true state with
an intermediate condition when both were off.  Alternatively - how
about  using a level device with say 5 values 0-4  ie 0,25,50,75.100 %
and report the opening levels as these values with 5 seconds or so
between them ? You would still need to provide a state= though .
Another possibility - use displaytext= to present 3 values  'open'
'moving' and 'closed' alongside your state=....   and finally you could
use a different schema of your own design for thsi purpose.  The latter
would make support for your blinds less universal though.   The
implementation choice is really yours

What you shouldn't do is alternate between an 'input' and an 'output' as
a specific endpoint can only be one or the other.  Originally inputs
were conceived  as sensors into a device and outputs as relays etc. The
sensors values could not be controlled from external commands and so
were input only.   However if you consider a 'button' which you might
naturally perceive as an input - if you wish to be able to simulate a
button press by sending a xAP command then actually you need to define
the button as an output.    So the guideline is that if you want (and
are able)  to change the state from a xAP message then use an output -
otherwise it's an input.


Kevin

Patrick Giasson wrote:
> Hi!
>
> I'm currently programming my first try at a xap software:
> xap2ow (a xap to 1-wire converter) and I have a small question (the
> first of many, probably). I would like to know how(when) I should use
> xapbsc.event message.
>
> I want to control window blinds. The movement are not instantaneous
> (5-15 seconds between command and end of movement). When sould the
> program generate the xapbsc.event message? When it first receive the
> command or when the move is done? Or should I generate 2: a message
> with "output.state=on" when an open command is received and
> "input.state=on" when the blinds are done moving?
>
> What do you think?
>
>
> Thanks
>
> Patrick
>
>
>
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