Browser-based mcsTemperature UI

[Michael McSharry]

I've been plugging away with converting the mcsTemperature setup from a Window's GUI to a browser interface to make life easier for the HS2 crowd. Initially I'm simply trying to do a direct port that uses the same ini files as the existing version.

Is anyone willing to give a try when I get to the point of completing my initial testing which I expect to be in the next week or two?

[zap]

Michael,

You can count me in, I'll gave it a try.

-Zap

[Michael McSharry]

mcsTemperature 5.0 Evaluation

The attached is V5.0.0 of mcsTemperature which is functionally equivalent to the V4.47.16, but also contains a browser-based interface for the setup interface. I'm looking for brave souls who can backup their current mcsTemperature-related configuration and give this a try to assure there are no surprises.

The differences that should be observed are:
1. Browser links available for all setup parameters
2. Browser link from HS2's link bar and Config buttons
3. Ability to add more sensors than would fit on setup forms analog/discrete tabs
4. New key added to temperature.ini [Temperature] that can be manually edited to change the delimiter used for the Group data encoding. It defaults to "-" but can be changed by adding the key GroupDelimiter with the desired character. If this is added then a manual edit of the lines in the [Group] section should also be done to change all the "-" to the new character.

When using V5 either the Setup Form or the Browser links can be used to specify the setup interchangably. The only limitation is with the number of sensors if continued use of the Setup Form is desired.

I was intending to improve the Temperature Trigger and Actions, but this will be deferred to later because it cannot be done without requiring the user to redo all the Temperature Trigger and Actions. This is because HS2 does not support the formatting of these controls and it relies upon creation order for its display on the form. mcsTemperature's order will need to change so the controls are not presented in what appears to be a somewhat random order.

[bdickhaus]

I'm trying it out, so far so good. I did change the delimiter and can now update the groups, but I'm still not getting any graphs. I'm out of time and steam tonight, and have a busy week, I'll look at it when I get some time to make sure I have the database set up properly, etc.

Bill

[zap]

Michael,

Before I try this,
can you tell me what files I need to backup, don't want to screw up on this one.

When using V5 either the Setup Form or the Browser links can be used to specify the setup interchangably. The only limitation is with the number of sensors if continued use of the Setup Form is desired.

What is the limitation on the number of sensors ?

Right now I have 32 DS18S20's in use, and a lot of events setup for these sensors, is this going to be a problem?

-Zap

[Droopyear]

ok. i try this too (in hungary heating season starting november 1st)

[Michael McSharry]

The files that mcsTemperature directly plays with is \Config\mcsTemperature.ini \Config\mcsForecast.ini and the one or two databases that you have selected to store sensor data and forecast data. It also indirectly changes the Homeseer devices for new/deleted sensors and events/device actions. For hs1 the backup would be the xml file HS generates. For hs2 there is an mdb file

[zap]

Michael,

The install went very well, So far I have not found or had any problems with the way it works.

But I do have one request.
On the sensor page and others, I have a hard time with the grays on gray and the grays on black.
Its very hard for me to read whats in the boxes, even with my bottle bottom reading glasses, not much contrast between the two. I've tried it both with IE and firefox with the same results.

Any way for me to change the colors?

-Zap

[Droopyear]

modify.css

modded:
the table border to 1 px inset
the colors gray to black

[zap]

Droopyear,

Thanks, I can see it a lot better now.

-Zap

[billm]

hi michael
thanks to you and your work, I bought homeseer 2 and your temperature plugin. got it up and running with no problems. I have 2 1-wire setups so far. One on homeseer and your mcstemperature and One is on a WEL which in a data logger from ourcoolhouse.com. It tracks temps and power and logs data to an html page.
Is there any way to read temps from an html page and use them as actual devices in msctemperature or homeseer?
again thanks for your hard work
bill murphy

[Michael McSharry]

I scanned their manual and it looks as if this will be possible, but I could not identify the specific format, if data is avaialble one sample per transaction of a data file over the past day/hour is available. If you can give me some examples or find the specifics then we should be able to make it importable. I'm gueessing that mcsTemperature will pull the data and populate its devices and database.

[Michael McSharry]

The problem of discrete outputs not going to the database (or no LCD outputs) is caused by HS2 not generating a status change event when an IOTYPE=Output device changes its state. mcsTemperature configures the relay types as IOTYPE=Output so HS will present ON/OFF buttons on its status page.

At this time I do not have a solution since I do not know how to tell HS2 that status change events should be generated for these type of devices. If the IOType=Input then the status change is generated. If you do not need the ON/OFF buttons on the HS Status page then you can configure your devices as switches rather than relays to get data into the database.

If nobody knows the rules for configuring the device properties under HS2 then I will submit a help ticket to either learn how or report a problem.

Since no major problems are known to exists with V5 I will start a new sticky thread and make this the supported version going forward.

[Michael McSharry]

Is there something I should do in mcsTempearature so the colors will be acceptable without an edit of the .css file?

[billm]

When i tried to replace the mcstemperature.exe file in the homeseer dir with the 501 file it asked for a password. I don't recall any password for setup.
any ideas?