mcsXap Plugin Discussion

[Michael McSharry]

Current version in xAP Library subforum

[madmax]

Michael,

Will this plugin work with the weather xAP schema? I am unable to get it to work with the mi4.biz weather program. It does not detect it. I AM successful using mcsXap with mcs1wire and mcsspeaker.
thanks

[Michael McSharry]

Kevin H asked for this awhile back and I had put it in so I'm reposting the current snapshot.

Any schema that is not recognized as having a special purpose to mcsXap will show up in the browser acceptance list where you can "A" accept it as a virtual device. You can also "R" reject it so you do not need to keep on looking at in the browser list. There is a setup to show rejected messages too so you can get it back if you change your mind later.

An "A" accepted message can be added to HS devices with only a checkbox selection and the plugin will generate a plugin house code, set the location to the xAP application name, set the name to the key, and set the device type to the schema. The DC/Loc/Name can be entered at any time to change the defaults.

The unrecognized schema messages will place thte received value in the DeviceString and the numeric integer portion of it in the DeviceValue. If the option for a status pulse is selected it will also set the DeviceStatus to ON for about 15 seconds. If the received value is different then the DeviceLastChange will be updated to the current time.

A note on Homeseer sourced BSC. Only 1 xAP address is used by mcsXap so the number of unique IDs for BSC messages is 254. Address 254 will be reused for all devices selected beyond 254. Only devices that belong to another Homeseer plugin will be available as BSC devices. The X10 address space will continue to be supported with the xap-x10 schema and not translated to xapBSC.

[madmax]

thnks for updating this!
I am having one problem though:

My event Log has the following message repeating:

9/11/2005 5:35:39 PM mcsXap HSEvent Line 380 Object doesn't support this property or method
9/11/2005 5:35:40 PM mcs.xap.ha>mcsxap hsevent line 380 object doesn't support this property or method

Thanks

[Michael McSharry]

Sorry about that. I reposted V 1.2.1 so you will not get it.

[madmax]

Michael,

Thanks! This works great!

[Michael McSharry]

I've played a little with Xlobby-xAP and see where the xAP Conduit plugin has a Homeseer.Command schema that allows an xAP message to execute a Homeseer command. I've extended this capability with mcsXap to allow an xAP message to execute all Homeseer Scripting commands and for those that return a result an xAP message is returned with the result. Excluded are the commands that return an object such as GetDevice and the GetURL methods (because the resultant data will likely be over the 1024 character UDP limit).
I elected to use the exact names of the Homeseer scripting commands which is different than the subset of commands which have different names in xAP Conduit.

This allows a front end application such as XLobby to associate buttons with Homeseer commands such as executing an event, sending email, or any other HS command as well as pulling data such as sunrise or a virtual device string.

Posted in V1.3.3

A typical command and response looks like the following

xap-header
{
v=12
hop=1
uid=FF000E00
class=Homeseer.Command
source=mcs.Test.MCS6
}
Homeseer.Command
{
command=DeviceString
data1=A1
}

xap-header
{
v=12
hop=1
uid=FF000E00
class=Homeseer.Command
source=mcs.Xap.MCS5
target=mcs.Test.mcs6
}
Command.Result
{
command=DeviceString(A1)
data=30
}

[siliconmelt]

Difference between mcsxap and mi4 xap plug-in

what is the differences and what all will mcsxap do. I am unable to get the mi4 plugin to function with HS2 and looking for an alternative.

[Michael McSharry]

CoachPotatoe has used both and could provide a comparison. I have not used the xAP Conduit. The both provide xAP-Homeseer integration but do it in different ways. My general viewpoint is that if you are starting with HS and want to get into xAP then mcsXap will be more natural. If you are starting with xAP and want to add HS then xAP Conduit will be easier. I posted mcsXap because of user interest. It does not have documentation associated with it, but there is not too much that is needed.

The general model for mcsXap is to bring out the three HS plugin interfaces of X10, IO, and IR to three xAP schema (X10,BSC,IR). When mcsXap sees any xAP message it will add it to the list of messages that you can review to be accepted as virtual devices. After accepting the device is created and then updated with new messages.

[madmax]

mcsXAP probs

IS anyone else having problems with their xAP device becoming jumbled up? When I add new devices, it jumbles up the existing added devices and also new devices. For instance, I had 4 devices $1 through $4 (all 1-wire temp sensors) when I went to add new devices ($60-$69) it jumbled everything. It created more $1-$4 devices with a new name prefixed with commas. IT also created new devices with $6 code. I did not specify that code. Is my case unusual? I am using HS 2.0 1992.

Thanks

Chris

[ea_automation]

I'm seeing the same problem and now I'm starting to get error messages in the log.

10/10/2005 10:44:38 AM mcsXap TriggerUI Line 110 Object variable or With block variable not set
10/10/2005 10:44:38 AM mcsXap AddSortedList Line 50 Object doesn't support this property or method
10/10/2005 10:44:25 AM mcsXap TriggerUI Line 110 Object variable or With block variable not set
10/10/2005 10:44:25 AM mcsXap AddSortedList Line 50 Object doesn't support this property or method
10/10/2005 10:43:40 AM mcsXap TriggerUI Line 110 Object variable or With block variable not set
10/10/2005 10:43:40 AM mcsXap AddSortedList Line 50 Object doesn't support this property or method
10/10/2005 10:43:20 AM mcsXap TriggerUI Line 110 Object variable or With block variable not set
10/10/2005 10:43:20 AM mcsXap AddSortedList Line 50 Object doesn't support this property or method
10/10/2005 10:43:07 AM mcsXap TriggerUI Line 110 Object variable or With block variable not set
10/10/2005 10:43:07 AM mcsXap AddSortedList Line 50 Object doesn't support this property or method
10/10/2005 10:43:00 AM mcsXap TriggerUI Line 110 Object variable or With block variable not set
10/10/2005 10:43:00 AM mcsXap AddSortedList Line 50 Object doesn't support this property or method

Also I'm in the process of swapping over to 1992. Had to do a clean install due to a Hard Disk failure last week.

[Michael McSharry]

I recompiled to deal with the pair of errors and reposted as 1.3.4. I cannot test, but the change will have no ill-effect.

Chris,
Please clarify your process for adding a new device. I will typically simply use the "A"ccept checkbox to create the new device and then edit the name later if I dont like the default one. I dont recall if I tried to change the device code from the assigned one. It is important that the properties of the devices are set to be associated with mcsXap and this may not be done when an arbitrary device code is used. Just let me know you step by step process.

[madmax]

problem

I Click on the "A" Button on the top device and then clicked "save changes". I attached a before and after shot. Thanks

[Michael McSharry]

I cannot replicate the errors you are seeing with device creation. I tried it under HS1. I recompiled and reposted to make certain I have the current configuration posted. It is 1.3.5. There are no changes that I'm aware from 1.3.4.

[madmax]

I tried the new version and my problem continues. Maybe it is because I am running HS 2.0? This time, I am experiencing different problems. I have devices $1-$4. When I accept new devices, it chooses the same housecodes $1-$4 for the new devices. I would assume this is HS2 related?