does HS4 support .NET Remoting?

[cadillackid]

many moons ago.. like probably 2005, i wrote a VB6 HVAC control program that talked to my HS1 system and then when I upgraded to HS2, I used a feature called remoting to allow VB6 program to talk to my HS2 system anbd get access to the Homeseer object for setting devices, reading devices, calling events, etc..

I am lookinmg at converting this program to VB.NET (simply because C# is not in my wheelhouse but VB is).. and wondered if HS4 can be "remoted to" like HS2 could..

ive really never written anything in VB.NET studio (in fact I have to go buy it someplace to even have a modern version).. this program is a standalone and not a plugin, it doesnt need to be a plugin, its not something anyone else will ever want or need to run.. its 100% tailored to my very custom HVAC... so i dont feel the need to try and create a plugin..

however I do need to gain access to the HS API so I can read and set devices, call events, etc...

would be a great help if there is a .NET remoting example someplace for HS4.. I havent found one.
the HVAC program will run on the same machine as HS4.

-Christopher

[Michael McSharry]

The basic paradym for HS4 is that the connection to the HS object is via an IP connection. It defaults to localhost but can be accessed from anywhere on the LAN.

Of the top of my head I see four approaches you can take.

One is to use Visual Studio Community (Free) to convert your VB6 to VB.NET and then take it and wrap the HS SDK around it to create a plugin.

One is to implement HTTP code (TCP) in your VB6 logic and use the JSON API for HS4

One is to implement a xAP library (UDP) in your VB6 logic and use xAP protocol to interact with mcsXap plugin for HS1/2/3/4.

One is to implement MQTT library in your converted to VB.net program and use MQTT protocol. I do not think there is a VB6 MQTT library that you can plug into your existing code.

[cadillackid]

thanks for the heads up on visual studio community edition!

the JSON API is one method i was thinking of since its is pretty easy and straightforward.. and would allow me to just keep running the VB6 program until I convert it..

I really should rewrite the program and clean it up some.. as part of my move to HS4.. im getting away from the RCS Serial ZOne controller.. as I am already running my Zone dampers and zone algorithm through the HVAC control program anyway.. cleaning up the code would mean getting all of the RCS Serial stuff out of it anyway that was leftover and needs cleaned up..

the RCS zone controller is startign to have physical problems(it ran for sometimes 4 years at a time without being rebooted.. now it needs rebooted once a week).. it has long been out of production as RCS got bought and went a different direction.. when I first started home automation in 2002 they were pretty much one of the very few Serial-port controlled thermostats (and there was an HS 1.x plugin..the presence of that plugin is why I bought homeseer to begin with)..

XaP seems lijke it is falling out of favor? I see it less and less.. MQTT seems a lot simpler in terms of being JSON based and just like your plugin, decoded even a completely foreign device's JSON to make it useable in Homeseer.. thats a Huge plus for me to delve deeper into it..

I really should find a good guide online to converting VB6 to VB.NET and go that way.. VB6 is long dead.. my program is a couple thousand lines at most and only one form with 5 tabs.. cant be that hard right?

thanks for al lyour help!

[tenholde]

Go here: http://tenholder.net/tenWare2/tenHs4...HsConnect.aspx

to download sample code that connects to HS, creating the hs and hs4 objects for you.

Note: There are free versions of Visual Studio that work great for what you are trying to do.