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    HS3 Web Services/Socket Support

    So I remember in some previous threads (which the search function apparently can't locate) it was stated that there would be a web service interface to HS3 to at least view device status and control it among other functions.

    So I'm curious, does this functionality exist and if so, where is the documentation for it?

    Also, is there the ability to connect directly to the server via sockets and have direct two way communication (or at a minimum get direct notification of status changes). This obviously is preferable over polling with a web service, but both have their uses.

    Thanks!

    #2
    I think early-on it was mentioned, but I havent seen anything with the latest releases to indicate RESTful services. Plugin development, including remote plugins, uses the WCF foundation for communication. The example plugin has code samples to show how to connect to HS and register for callbacks.
    HS4Pro on a Raspberry Pi4
    54 Z-Wave Nodes / 21 Zigbee Devices / 108 Events / 767 Devices
    Plugins: Z-Wave / Zigbee Plus / EasyTrigger / AK Weather / OMNI

    HSTouch Clients: 1 Android

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      #3
      Originally posted by rmasonjr View Post
      I think early-on it was mentioned, but I havent seen anything with the latest releases to indicate RESTful services. Plugin development, including remote plugins, uses the WCF foundation for communication. The example plugin has code samples to show how to connect to HS and register for callbacks.
      I hope you're wrong. They SPECIFICALLY mentioned web services support which is one of the main reasons I bought it.

      Where is the information on it?

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        #4
        I've never seen the web services support listed nor mentioned. There's always the API that could be used to build a plugin that would support this.
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          #5
          Originally posted by Rupp View Post
          I've never seen the web services support listed nor mentioned. There's always the API that could be used to build a plugin that would support this.
          It was ABSOLUTELY mentioned. I specifically tried to search for the posts on it and the thread is gone. It was in a thread complaining about how long HS3 was taking. It was either Rich or Rick.

          Please confirm.

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            #6
            Originally posted by Rupp View Post
            I've never seen the web services support listed nor mentioned. There's always the API that could be used to build a plugin that would support this.
            I remember Rick mentioning that it would be incorporated also, I can't find the thread Gatoreye talks about either.

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              #7
              There were a couple threads it could have been mentioned in. One was titled, "What is Homeseer Working On These Days". It could have been another one.

              Regardless, anyone have any more information on this?

              Web services or sockets - what's the story?

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                #8
                Nobody at HST has specifically mentioned web services support - even internally. It has probably even been a year or more since we did mention that WCF would NOT be used because it was far too limited for what we wanted plug-in authors to be able to do with remotely connected plug-ins. Back when we were exploring WCF, web services was more a concept than an industry term.

                The interface we are using uses serialization and TCP/IP, but it is not an open/standard interface.

                What is it that you want to do?
                Regards,

                Rick Tinker (a.k.a. "Tink")

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                  #9
                  I miss-spoke above. Plugins use HSCF not WCF. I presume HSCF is HST's communication framework?

                  Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 4
                  HS4Pro on a Raspberry Pi4
                  54 Z-Wave Nodes / 21 Zigbee Devices / 108 Events / 767 Devices
                  Plugins: Z-Wave / Zigbee Plus / EasyTrigger / AK Weather / OMNI

                  HSTouch Clients: 1 Android

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                    #10
                    Yes, we created a framework for HS3 based upon a 3rd party product and turned it into the HSCF library that we use.

                    There are a lot of technical reasons why WCF would not work, reflection and uni-directionality being part of it, this framework eliminates a lot of those issues.
                    Regards,

                    Rick Tinker (a.k.a. "Tink")

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by Rick Tinker View Post
                      Nobody at HST has specifically mentioned web services support - even internally. What is it that you want to do?
                      This is categorically false, but it appears the thread that proves it has been removed. We specifically had a discussion about RESTful web services and using them to control HS3 in a similar manner that your competitor Elve does.

                      Are you now saying that you are NOT including this functionality?

                      I have my own front end in Flash/Flex that gets updates via either a direct socket connection or RESTful web services from other sources. I'm also looking at a similar HTML5 interface that would get updates via websockets.

                      This is the same conversation we had before - RESTful web services have become the standard method that all kinds of items use to provide an interface to their state.

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by GatorEye View Post
                        This is the same conversation we had before ...
                        I have never spoken with you or posted about this on the board. It may be Rich you spoke or wrote with, but as we (Rich and I) have never spoken about this it is news to me.

                        Never heard of Elve before now either.
                        Regards,

                        Rick Tinker (a.k.a. "Tink")

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by GatorEye View Post
                          This is categorically false, but it appears the thread that proves it has been removed. We specifically had a discussion about RESTful web services and using them to control HS3 in a similar manner that your competitor Elve does.

                          Are you now saying that you are NOT including this functionality?

                          I have my own front end in Flash/Flex that gets updates via either a direct socket connection or RESTful web services from other sources. I'm also looking at a similar HTML5 interface that would get updates via websockets.

                          This is the same conversation we had before - RESTful web services have become the standard method that all kinds of items use to provide an interface to their state.
                          I too recall RESTful web services and other types of web services being talked about as more available in HS3, as well as a well documented JSON / AJAX interface. Perhaps I caught wind of a wish-list rather than a "we're doing it" list?
                          huggy_d1

                          Automating made easy

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Rick Tinker View Post
                            I have never spoken with you or posted about this on the board. It may be Rich you spoke or wrote with, but as we (Rich and I) have never spoken about this it is news to me.

                            Never heard of Elve before now either.
                            I'm sorry to come off as sounding negative. It was you then who was asking me why we would need web services and as I and others were explaining why, Rich then chimed in and said they would be supported (as you can see a few other people recalling the thread).

                            I can't believe you haven't heard of Elve and would be surprised if you weren't aware of what the competition was doing. They seemed like a potentially strong up and comer but I think has lost steam because it's developed by only one person. You would see them mentioned if you were on cocoontech. Check out their website and see their support for web services and persistent connections. Very nicely done. That's what I would like to see in HS3 (and frankly what I thought I was paying for).

                            In any case if you could check with Rich and see what the options are for web services or sockets in HS3 I'd appreciate it.

                            Thanks.

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                              #15
                              Orignally we were going to use WCF for plugin coms, but after some testing we dropped it. It was slow, 2-way was almost impossible, and MONO had poor support. So we went with a simple TCP and .NET remote proxy. It is 100 times faster and works with MONO. You can grab a sample plugin and look at the main.vb file if you want to use this framework. It is very easy to use.

                              There is still access through the web server, see the file remote_test.htm in the hs html folder. You can get device status and trigger events.
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