Floor Plan

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello,

 

As an effort to make ISY more user friendly, we'd like to dedicate this poll to the subject of Floor Plan. We'd appreciate all your input.

[Guest]

I submitted a never only because it is hard to get to and is not user friendly. My opinion is there should be two user interfaces: admin which is the current GUI, and control panel something like the floor plan. I think the admin access is fine - login to ISY. I would like to see a more user friendly way of getting at the floor plan (i.e. no login and perhaps something that is resident on the PC and interfaces over the network). The control panel should be easy to get at and should be able to startup when windows does and run in the system tray. That way, if I just want to shut off a light, I can double click on the system tray, press a button (I would make it if you left click on a switch it turns on/off).

[Sub-Routine]

The FloorPlan would certainly be more useful if selecting a scene or a device allowed one to control that scene or device.

 

I would like to use the floorplan more. I like HeatVent's idea for every user to have a common name (/password) and then be able to access the FloorPlan with only the ability to change levels and call scenes.

 

The only menu item available now is Remove Location. It would be cool to see a window popup like the UDMobile.

 

I just discovered that drag adding a scene to the floorplan makes a new room. That's a neat concept. I am going to need a bigger house!

 

I appreciate the time and effort UDI is putting into this!

 

Rand

[Michel Kohanim]

I submitted a never only because it is hard to get to and is not user friendly. My opinion is there should be two user interfaces: admin which is the current GUI, and control panel something like the floor plan. I think the admin access is fine - login to ISY. I would like to see a more user friendly way of getting at the floor plan (i.e. no login and perhaps something that is resident on the PC and interfaces over the network). The control panel should be easy to get at and should be able to startup when windows does and run in the system tray. That way, if I just want to shut off a light, I can double click on the system tray, press a button (I would make it if you left click on a switch it turns on/off).

 

heatvent, have you ever tried our MCE (Microsoft Media Center) client?

 

With regards,

[Michel Kohanim]

The FloorPlan would certainly be more useful if selecting a scene or a device allowed one to control that scene or device.

 

I would like to use the floorplan more. I like HeatVent's idea for every user to have a common name (/password) and then be able to access the FloorPlan with only the ability to change levels and call scenes.

 

The only menu item available now is Remove Location. It would be cool to see a window popup like the UDMobile.

 

I just discovered that drag adding a scene to the floorplan makes a new room. That's a neat concept. I am going to need a bigger house!

 

I appreciate the time and effort UDI is putting into this!

 

Rand

 

Rand,

 

I see. So, when you click on an icon, you would get a pop up showing you the options you have for that device. Right? If so, that shouldn't be that difficult.

 

And, may I ask what PocketPC brand you are using?

 

Thanks so very much,

Regards,

[Guest]

I submitted a never only because it is hard to get to and is not user friendly. My opinion is there should be two user interfaces: admin which is the current GUI, and control panel something like the floor plan. I think the admin access is fine - login to ISY. I would like to see a more user friendly way of getting at the floor plan (i.e. no login and perhaps something that is resident on the PC and interfaces over the network). The control panel should be easy to get at and should be able to startup when windows does and run in the system tray. That way, if I just want to shut off a light, I can double click on the system tray, press a button (I would make it if you left click on a switch it turns on/off).

 

heatvent, have you ever tried our MCE (Microsoft Media Center) client?

 

With regards,

 

Unfortunately, I have Vista Premium. I don't think you have a MCE add-on for that yet.

 

I do have a second PC which is running XP Home. I have MCE and plan to upgrade it at some point but haven't gotten around to it yet.

[Michel Kohanim]

I submitted a never only because it is hard to get to and is not user friendly. My opinion is there should be two user interfaces: admin which is the current GUI, and control panel something like the floor plan. I think the admin access is fine - login to ISY. I would like to see a more user friendly way of getting at the floor plan (i.e. no login and perhaps something that is resident on the PC and interfaces over the network). The control panel should be easy to get at and should be able to startup when windows does and run in the system tray. That way, if I just want to shut off a light, I can double click on the system tray, press a button (I would make it if you left click on a switch it turns on/off).

 

heatvent, have you ever tried our MCE (Microsoft Media Center) client?

 

With regards,

 

Unfortunately, I have Vista Premium. I don't think you have a MCE add-on for that yet.

 

I do have a second PC which is running XP Home. I have MCE and plan to upgrade it at some point but haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

Yes, you are right; we do not yet support Vista but we should within the next couple of months.

 

Thanks and regards,

[GPG]

I posted a "never", but to be fair, I have really only taken a quick look at it, since I have been mainly working on links, triggers and schedules. It might help, if there were more examples as to how it can be used and the benefits.

[Guest]

I think the idea is solid (i.e. the idea of having a floor plan). I think the program lacks some functionality and is not very polished. Hopefully the aim here is to find out if the floor plan is useful not whether to can the idea.

 

Possible improvements:

 

Left click on device turns it on off, right click brings up options.

Ability to import a background picture of the actual layout of the home.

Better icons to differentiate types of devices.

Scalable fonts.

Ability to change colors, etc.

 

I would also take a look at Homezix. It's a new player on the market but it is driven solely by a floor plan graphical interface. I don't like it as the only interface, but a floor plan is nice for easy access. Homezix's website is at http://www.automationvista.com/.

 

It might be easier for you guys to have Homezix support interfacing to the ISY and then use it as a PC add-on rather than something that downloads and runs off the ISY which is kinda slow anyway.

[Sub-Routine]

The FloorPlan would certainly be more useful if selecting a scene or a device allowed one to control that scene or device.

 

I would like to use the floorplan more. I like HeatVent's idea for every user to have a common name (/password) and then be able to access the FloorPlan with only the ability to change levels and call scenes.

 

The only menu item available now is Remove Location. It would be cool to see a window popup like the UDMobile.

 

I just discovered that drag adding a scene to the floorplan makes a new room. That's a neat concept. I am going to need a bigger house!

 

I appreciate the time and effort UDI is putting into this!

 

Rand

 

Rand,

 

I see. So, when you click on an icon, you would get a pop up showing you the options you have for that device. Right? If so, that shouldn't be that difficult.

 

And, may I ask what PocketPC brand you are using?

 

Thanks so very much,

Regards,

 

Hello Michel!

 

Yes, a menu and a popup. A popup on a double click. I don't like toggle on/off with a left click. A single left click might be used to query the device.

 

I like the functionality of UDMobile, we will need a new thread for that You should make it available on your download page.

 

I am using a Dell Axim X51V.

 

Rand

[sfhutchi]

I love the concept... but based on the way that it is currently implemented, I fail to see how this is more helpful than the current 'My Lighting' list. This needs to be a more graphical representation of the house to be more useful. Also, so more graphical way to highlight the on/off status. Possibly adding color changes or something.

Possibly simply adding groups (maybe this is already an option) in the My Lighting page would be much more efficient until the 'Floor Plan' can roughly resemble an actual floor plan with more visual indication of the status of each item.

[Guest]

I submitted a never only because it is hard to get to and is not user friendly. My opinion is there should be two user interfaces: admin which is the current GUI, and control panel something like the floor plan. I think the admin access is fine - login to ISY. I would like to see a more user friendly way of getting at the floor plan (i.e. no login and perhaps something that is resident on the PC and interfaces over the network). The control panel should be easy to get at and should be able to startup when windows does and run in the system tray. That way, if I just want to shut off a light, I can double click on the system tray, press a button (I would make it if you left click on a switch it turns on/off).

 

heatvent, have you ever tried our MCE (Microsoft Media Center) client?

 

With regards,

 

Unfortunately, I have Vista Premium. I don't think you have a MCE add-on for that yet.

 

I do have a second PC which is running XP Home. I have MCE and plan to upgrade it at some point but haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

Alright, I installed MCE and I am sorry to say, I am not that impressed. Also, if you use MCE connected to your TV or something, might be useful. But to open MCE just to get to the scenes/devices in a button form is a little more than I hoped for. I would prefer a light program that runs in the system tray to MCE. I'm sure those who use MCE is the main interface for a TV PC like it better than I do.

[Michel Kohanim]

I think the idea is solid (i.e. the idea of having a floor plan). I think the program lacks some functionality and is not very polished. Hopefully the aim here is to find out if the floor plan is useful not whether to can the idea.

 

Possible improvements:

 

Left click on device turns it on off, right click brings up options.

Ability to import a background picture of the actual layout of the home.

Better icons to differentiate types of devices.

Scalable fonts.

Ability to change colors, etc.

 

I would also take a look at Homezix. It's a new player on the market but it is driven solely by a floor plan graphical interface. I don't like it as the only interface, but a floor plan is nice for easy access. Homezix's website is at http://www.automationvista.com/.

 

It might be easier for you guys to have Homezix support interfacing to the ISY and then use it as a PC add-on rather than something that downloads and runs off the ISY which is kinda slow anyway.

 

Heatvent,

 

Good ideas ... I will take a look at Homezix; it sounds very interesting.

 

Thanks and regards,

[Michel Kohanim]

The FloorPlan would certainly be more useful if selecting a scene or a device allowed one to control that scene or device.

 

I would like to use the floorplan more. I like HeatVent's idea for every user to have a common name (/password) and then be able to access the FloorPlan with only the ability to change levels and call scenes.

 

The only menu item available now is Remove Location. It would be cool to see a window popup like the UDMobile.

 

I just discovered that drag adding a scene to the floorplan makes a new room. That's a neat concept. I am going to need a bigger house!

 

I appreciate the time and effort UDI is putting into this!

 

Rand

 

Rand,

 

I see. So, when you click on an icon, you would get a pop up showing you the options you have for that device. Right? If so, that shouldn't be that difficult.

 

And, may I ask what PocketPC brand you are using?

 

Thanks so very much,

Regards,

 

Hello Michel!

 

Yes, a menu and a popup. A popup on a double click. I don't like toggle on/off with a left click. A single left click might be used to query the device.

 

I like the functionality of UDMobile, we will need a new thread for that You should make it available on your download page.

 

I am using a Dell Axim X51V.

 

Rand

 

Hi Rand,

 

Thanks ... based on all the input on this forum, it seems that the floorplan may require a lot of changes before becoming widely used. So, then, the question would be (for us) how to prioritize our requirements. As of right now, our most important goal is to support more triggers + scheduling triggers and triggering schedules.

 

UDMobile ... ah, I wished I could put it on our website but since "no one" knows where to buy the license for IBM's J9VM, I am worried that we might get into legal issues.

 

Ummm ...

 

Thank you,

With regards,

[Michel Kohanim]

I posted a "never", but to be fair, I have really only taken a quick look at it, since I have been mainly working on links, triggers and schedules. It might help, if there were more examples as to how it can be used and the benefits.

 

GPG,

 

As you may have already noticed, we are not that strong in our documentation capabilities! Please bear with us till we iron out the details of our next revisions of our User Guide.

 

Thanks for your input,

With regards,

[Michel Kohanim]

I love the concept... but based on the way that it is currently implemented, I fail to see how this is more helpful than the current 'My Lighting' list. This needs to be a more graphical representation of the house to be more useful. Also, so more graphical way to highlight the on/off status. Possibly adding color changes or something.

Possibly simply adding groups (maybe this is already an option) in the My Lighting page would be much more efficient until the 'Floor Plan' can roughly resemble an actual floor plan with more visual indication of the status of each item.

 

sfhutchi,

 

I think we are slowly arriving at a consensus:

a. Either totally revamp floorplan to support all the suggestions put forth so far

b. Just get rid of it and a) make a grouping tree (without linking) or have a simpler GUI for non-Admins

 

Have to think a littl more and get more feedback ....

 

Thanks and regards,

[sfhutchi]

I am okay with moving the floorplan down the priority list for now.

I am much more interested in greater capability of triggered events.

 

Regarding documentation... have you thought about starting a wiki that other users could contribute to with examples?

[Sub-Routine]

 

I think we are slowly arriving at a consensus:

a. Either totally revamp floorplan to support all the suggestions put forth so far

b. Just get rid of it and a) make a grouping tree (without linking) or have a simpler GUI for non-Admins

 

Have to think a littl more and get more feedback ....

 

Thanks and regards,

 

Good day Michel,

 

Putting the floorplan on hold works for me.

 

You know I already requested more branches. Floors, Rooms, etc.

 

For the simpler interface you could use what you have built for UDMobile. Take out the Rename command, fix the Refresh command, maybe add a slider for level.

 

Then it could be a small window that would be available on the Desktop or the Quickstart , like heatvent suggested.

 

Thank you,

Rand

[Michel Kohanim]

 

I think we are slowly arriving at a consensus:

a. Either totally revamp floorplan to support all the suggestions put forth so far

b. Just get rid of it and a) make a grouping tree (without linking) or have a simpler GUI for non-Admins

 

Have to think a littl more and get more feedback ....

 

Thanks and regards,

 

Good day Michel,

 

Putting the floorplan on hold works for me.

 

You know I already requested more branches. Floors, Rooms, etc.

 

For the simpler interface you could use what you have built for UDMobile. Take out the Rename command, fix the Refresh command, maybe add a slider for level.

 

Then it could be a small window that would be available on the Desktop or the Quickstart , like heatvent suggested.

 

Thank you,

Rand

 

Hello Rand,

 

Yes, we still have all your requirements and some of them have already been implemented. I still have to think what the best way is ... on the one hand, it has to look simple and on the other it has to look good. Ummm.

 

Thanks so very much,

With regards,

[Sub-Routine]

 

Hello Rand,

 

Yes, we still have all your requirements and some of them have already been implemented. I still have to think what the best way is ... on the one hand, it has to look simple and on the other it has to look good. Ummm.

 

Thanks so very much,

With regards,

 

You are the ones to do this

[DEGoodrich]

Oh No....Please don't put it on hold!

That is the only way to configure the IES touch-screen.

I am happy about putting a "~" before the name to keep it off the screen.

I wish ther was a way to control the order they appear on the screen though.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello DEGoodrich,

 

It's not on hold!

 

With kind regards,

Michel

Oh No....Please don't put it on hold!

That is the only way to configure the IES touch-screen.

I am happy about putting a "~" before the name to keep it off the screen.

I wish ther was a way to control the order they appear on the screen though.

[burakk]

I use the floor plan in my iPhone web app to sort our "rooms". It is very helpful.

[art]

I am brand new to the ISY having finally started the transition from X10. The $$ was a rough decision, but the need for reliability and distance finally overcame the binding force of my wallet. I am completely satisfied with everything but the floor plan feature. I understand there are apps out there that help, but I was disappointed that I didn't get something better than a rectangle out of the box. I reference the OLD X10 Homeminder made by GE and sold by Radio Shack in the 80s. It at least had generic floor plans and some fixtures to place around the room. And all without a mouse! Twenty years later, I would have thought a company that could contrive the ISY could have done a little better.

[sfhutchi]

My understanding is that Universal Devices has abandoned the floor plan feature and has only left it for backward compatibility with some 3rd party applications. My feeling is that if it is not going to be developed further, than it should be pulled from the current releases. I agree that it gives a bad impression and appears to be a half-developed feature. For a new user it may look like something with potential but previous notes have said that it is being phased out.