First time user questions/requests

[az1324]

So I just got my ISY and have a few questions/feature requests:

 

1. Is there a way to bulk add devices? Ideally I would like to be able to type in an address followed by a device name in a textbox (one per line) and add them all at once.

 

2. Is there a way to add devices manually by tap-tap linking: i.e. if I don't know the ID of the device I can link it to the PLM and the ISY will recognize it?

 

3. Can I send custom insteon commands to a device? Is there a way to send custom insteon commands (2 bytes)? I guess this is somewhat unique because I am an insteon developer, but I have a custom 8 ch relay control built on a serial PLC and I would like to send it custom commands. This would also apply to other devices such as simplehomenet for which the command tables are published. Perhaps this could be a feature enabled in an advanced user mode. Or maybe a way to create a user-defined device ... I haven't looked at all the firmware files yet but maybe there's a way to hack in a custom device config.?

 

4. Request - Variables. I know it has been discussed before but it would be pretty trivial to implement integer variables with add/subtract actions and <>!= compare operations.

 

5. Request - Nested Conditionals. Within a program the user should be able to start and end conditionals at will. I guess this could be done by nesting programs instead but it would be nice to see it all on one screen.

[Michel Kohanim]

az1234,

 

Please see my responses below.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

So I just got my ISY and have a few questions/feature requests:

 

1. Is there a way to bulk add devices? Ideally I would like to be able to type in an address followed by a device name in a textbox (one per line) and add them all at once.

Not yet but in our list

 

 

2. Is there a way to add devices manually by tap-tap linking: i.e. if I don't know the ID of the device I can link it to the PLM and the ISY will recognize it?

Yes:

1. Link Management->Start Linking

2. Tap as many devices as you would like

3. When done, click on the Cancel button

 

3. Can I send custom insteon commands to a device? Is there a way to send custom insteon commands (2 bytes)? I guess this is somewhat unique because I am an insteon developer, but I have a custom 8 ch relay control built on a serial PLC and I would like to send it custom commands. This would also apply to other devices such as simplehomenet for which the command tables are published. Perhaps this could be a feature enabled in an advanced user mode. Or maybe a way to create a user-defined device ... I haven't looked at all the firmware files yet but maybe there's a way to hack in a custom device config.?

No and, at the moment, we do not have such plans

 

 

4. Request - Variables. I know it has been discussed before but it would be pretty trivial to implement integer variables with add/subtract actions and != compare operations.

I am not going to make any comments on the level of triviality, but this is planned for our Triggers 2.0 release

 

 

5. Request - Nested Conditionals. Within a program the user should be able to start and end conditionals at will. I guess this could be done by nesting programs instead but it would be nice to see it all on one screen.

Not yet ...

[az1324]

Thanks for your responses, Michel.

 

Seems like it wouldn't be too hard to add 'Custom' to the On,Off,Fast On, etc... Listbox which when selected exposes a text field that accepts a two byte parameter and sends it out as an insteon command. Might not be a common request yet but as more devices come out it could be useful.

(I was able to get my custom device working by manually configuring the PLC as a dimmer and then reprogramming it to use the high nibble of the level sent with a direct on command as a relay selector... but I'd still like the feature)

 

Also one thing I found myself wanting was a slider (not linked to local value) for level control on a dimmer's device page such that I could set that to a percentage and then click the on button and it would go to that level so one does not need to click dim several times. That and/or a way to add custom buttons with preset on levels for remote control.

 

Sorry if i am a control freak

[Michel Kohanim]

az1234,

 

You are right and it's quite impressive what you've done ... I shall surely consider it for our Triggers 2.0 release.

 

I am not sure I understand the slider request; don't we already have it? Would you be kind enough to clarify?

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Thanks for your responses, Michel.

 

Seems like it wouldn't be too hard to add 'Custom' to the On,Off,Fast On, etc... Listbox which when selected exposes a text field that accepts a two byte parameter and sends it out as an insteon command. Might not be a common request yet but as more devices come out it could be useful.

(I was able to get my custom device working by manually configuring the PLC as a dimmer and then reprogramming it to use the high nibble of the level sent with a direct on command as a relay selector... but I'd still like the feature)

 

Also one thing I found myself wanting was a slider (not linked to local value) for level control on a dimmer's device page such that I could set that to a percentage and then click the on button and it would go to that level so one does not need to click dim several times. That and/or a way to add custom buttons with preset on levels for remote control.

 

Sorry if i am a control freak

[az1324]

Ok thanks.

 

Basically for the slider as far as I can tell whenever you use it it changes the switch's local on level which I don't want to do.

[az1324]

One more request: Auto-detection of mobile safari and iphone/ipod touch friendly auto-formatting via css for the html interface. Doesn't have to be anything too fancy.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello az1324,

 

We are currently thinking about your request specifically; you can help us a lot if you took our HTML, created the CSS and the HTML for it and then we would have an easier time supporting it in less time. Is it possible?

 

With kind regards,

Michel

One more request: Auto-detection of mobile safari and iphone/ipod touch friendly auto-formatting via css for the html interface. Doesn't have to be anything too fancy.

[az1324]

Ok I'll work on something.

[DaveGee]

For the dim level I understand exactly what az1324 is asking for.... Its related to something that I'm already working on...

 

With the web accesses we have

 

On / Off

Fast On / Fast Off

Bright / Dim

(query)

(refresh)

 

(and the hidden field that contains the hardware-id for the device you are controlling)

 

the form seems to POST just two bits of information:

 

1 - The command (On/Off) etc.

2 - The node ID

 

This works fine for On/Off/FOn/FOff

 

For dim it kinda breaks down...

 

I see the point for Dim/Bright doing their thing of increasing or decreasing the lights level by 3 or 4 (something like that) especially for devices that don't provide for easy inputting of values.

 

But for devices that have perfectly good input methods it would be much nicer to have a optional box where you could type in a numeric value and then hit dim/bright (it wouldn't matter which) and then when your server saw the value filled in (instead of being blank) it would simply SET the brightness level to whatever number was submitted.

 

Now with fancy html/css pages you could even make a pretty neat slider that would mimic someone manually entering in the numeric value... It would also be really nice for standalone applications that might want to make use of the POST functions of the web server (instead of SOAP) since doing a POST is much easier for some then doing a SOAP call.

 

In short being able to send along a numeric value to the dim and or post functions (instead of just the node id) would be a great thing.

 

Dave

[Michel Kohanim]

Dave,

 

You are 100% correct ... this HTML is just the beginning. We shall make it more user friendly with every new drop. Please keep the requests/suggestions coming since that's our only vehicle for implementing user requested changes.

 

Thanks and with kind regards,

Michel

 

For the dim level I understand exactly what az1324 is asking for.... Its related to something that I'm already working on...

 

With the web accesses we have

 

On / Off

Fast On / Fast Off

Bright / Dim

(query)

(refresh)

 

(and the hidden field that contains the hardware-id for the device you are controlling)

 

the form seems to POST just two bits of information:

 

1 - The command (On/Off) etc.

2 - The node ID

 

This works fine for On/Off/FOn/FOff

 

For dim it kinda breaks down...

 

I see the point for Dim/Bright doing their thing of increasing or decreasing the lights level by 3 or 4 (something like that) especially for devices that don't provide for easy inputting of values.

 

But for devices that have perfectly good input methods it would be much nicer to have a optional box where you could type in a numeric value and then hit dim/bright (it wouldn't matter which) and then when your server saw the value filled in (instead of being blank) it would simply SET the brightness level to whatever number was submitted.

 

Now with fancy html/css pages you could even make a pretty neat slider that would mimic someone manually entering in the numeric value... It would also be really nice for standalone applications that might want to make use of the POST functions of the web server (instead of SOAP) since doing a POST is much easier for some then doing a SOAP call.

 

In short being able to send along a numeric value to the dim and or post functions (instead of just the node id) would be a great thing.

 

Dave