Options when migrating to Nodelink

[johnnyt]

I'm migrating to NodeLink after having used DSCLink and VenLink for many years and wanted to get advice on the options I have.

Option 1 is to find each one of my programs with a DSCLink/VenLink variable and change each instance with the matching NodeLink device. Using the "find" function I counted roughly 80-90 programs with relevant variables. As this is not something I can use the "Replace" function to do, it's going to be a bit tedious.

Option 2 is to write a program for each one of the NodeLink devices that changes the relevant DSCLink/VenLink variable as those devices change and just leave all the other programs alone.

The advantage of #1 is that I could delete the unneeded variables and wouldn't need to add more programs to support/troubleshoot. With over 900 programs and almost 300 variables the admin console is already painfully slow to load and backup, etc. so a reduction in the number of programs and variables is more where I'd like to go, but...

The advantage of #2 is that I wouldn't have to spend the time going through 80-90 programs.

Are there other options? or options to make the job of changing 80-90 programs easier?

Are there advantages to either one that I'm not seeing? In particular, does working with devices (option #1) provide functionality or other benefits (present or future) over working with variables (#2)

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[paulbates]

Having done this, a strong vote for 1. Nodeservers are about direct integration to the ISY. Having an abstraction layer of variables will use memory and processor overhead and potentially vexing to debug. I do have a few “no other choice” scenarios where I do copy from node to variables, but only when direct won’t work.

One thing I did was leave venlink running and cut over a little at a time. I did that in some cases by copying a venlink program and disabling the original. Then make the node for variable substitutions. If I got it to work, I deleted the original venlink program and variables. Or, if it took a few days to figure out. I could disable the new node program and enable the original venlink program to keep things running. Eventually in finished and shut venlink down 

Paul