New HSTouch / HSTouch4 Designer

[dmurphy]

I fear the transition from HS3 to HS4 (rewrite my plugins) combined now with the possibility of having to redo all my hstouch screens would turn my system from an enjoyable hobby to a full time job. I just retired I've no desire to take on WORK.....so I'm hoping for a smoother path than from HS3 to HS4

[George]

While some advanced stuff in HSTouch can get complex, a simple screen to control devices or display device status should be straight forward. I would be interested in what is confusing you?

The new Designer will be similar to the current one in functionality but should be easier to use. You won't have to know any programming, CSS, or HTML to design screens. You don't need to know any of that now as the current Designer does not even use HTML!

Well, if a rewrite is in the works, just off the top of my head.

Here is one. Right now, from what I have seen, if you have a light in a room you can put a icon of the light, but if you want to attach a status to the light (like a visual of dim) you can only do it by showing the round status graphic, not exactly intuitive. If a light is a light, the icon should be interactive, show visually it's state, if dimmed, a dim level below it. But also you have to add a bucking funch of controls right next to the icon to control it. A Slider, buttons to turn On/Off/Last it, etc. Touching on a light, one should be able to explode dynamically the functions available for it (the way the Sinology app does) as an overlay that shows all the functions you can do with the light instead of taking up real estate on a small screen if you have a room with 8-10 devices or lights.

Dynamic and HTML5 allows all of the above and once the icon is connected, it should communicate with the HS server to find out the features available. And when you tap on it, slide out a control tray.

The same with thermostats. Yes, you might be able to display current temperature and maybe with a ton of work the the set points, humidity levels, fan and Cool/Heat modes. But tapping on the thermostat should slide out a tray that allows you to change the temperature, turn the fan on/off, change from Auto-Heat-Cool mode. Etc. Hell, I have been doing that on HS1 for 5 years now using my iOS app and the old IPManager plugin I wrote. I don't have to worry about showing all the fields on the thermostat, they are retrieved as soon as I bring it up. I don't have to worry about all the features of a device, basic ones are right on the device line, and more in-depth ones are only a single tap away.

This way you can create a room with your devices, have HS populate the current status and not have to come up with 15 pop-over screens for each device.

Also, I can set a slider and assign it to a light and it works quite well right now. But I can't assign a light graphic to a light. I have to add a slider, a graphic, multiple buttons for each light which is a mess.

Others have gone through extensive logic programming to around these shortcomings, from what I've seen in the examples and probably the reason for the push-back on a conversion program. But if it's a rewrite, then it really should be drag drop. Drop a light, Lock, Thermostat and connect it. HS provides the features and when you tap on it it explodes all the functions available.

I can keep typing but I think you get my gist. It's almost 1/4 of the way into the 21st century and we're trying to use stuff build around the time of the Y2K bug!

2 cents, You know I'm a fan Rich and have been with you since AutoHome. But I still have to run HS 1.7 because of all the scripting and event changes. Trying to migrate to HS3 and having to do it again for HS4 is just getting, as others have said, a bit tiring.

Take a note from Apple, It just works!

g

[rjh]

Sounds like you want a lot of the UI built for you. That is possible, but HSTouch was designed to be a custom tool giving you control over everything. If you use the default project much of what you have listed is done for you there. I will note your concerns though. I think for you a dashboard in the HS4 UI would be better as all of what you want would be there. We are adding a customizable dashboard to HS4, similar to what we have in HSMobile.

Note that scripting has not changed between HS3 and HS4. HS3 scripts should run as is in HS4. HS4 is a superset of HS3, so all the HS3 functionality is still there, unchanged.

Well, if a rewrite is in the works, just off the top of my head.

Here is one. Right now, from what I have seen, if you have a light in a room you can put a icon of the light, but if you want to attach a status to the light (like a visual of dim) you can only do it by showing the round status graphic, not exactly intuitive. If a light is a light, the icon should be interactive, show visually it's state, if dimmed, a dim level below it. But also you have to add a bucking funch of controls right next to the icon to control it. A Slider, buttons to turn On/Off/Last it, etc. Touching on a light, one should be able to explode dynamically the functions available for it (the way the Sinology app does) as an overlay that shows all the functions you can do with the light instead of taking up real estate on a small screen if you have a room with 8-10 devices or lights.

Dynamic and HTML5 allows all of the above and once the icon is connected, it should communicate with the HS server to find out the features available. And when you tap on it, slide out a control tray.

The same with thermostats. Yes, you might be able to display current temperature and maybe with a ton of work the the set points, humidity levels, fan and Cool/Heat modes. But tapping on the thermostat should slide out a tray that allows you to change the temperature, turn the fan on/off, change from Auto-Heat-Cool mode. Etc. Hell, I have been doing that on HS1 for 5 years now using my iOS app and the old IPManager plugin I wrote. I don't have to worry about showing all the fields on the thermostat, they are retrieved as soon as I bring it up. I don't have to worry about all the features of a device, basic ones are right on the device line, and more in-depth ones are only a single tap away.

This way you can create a room with your devices, have HS populate the current status and not have to come up with 15 pop-over screens for each device.

Also, I can set a slider and assign it to a light and it works quite well right now. But I can't assign a light graphic to a light. I have to add a slider, a graphic, multiple buttons for each light which is a mess.

Others have gone through extensive logic programming to around these shortcomings, from what I've seen in the examples and probably the reason for the push-back on a conversion program. But if it's a rewrite, then it really should be drag drop. Drop a light, Lock, Thermostat and connect it. HS provides the features and when you tap on it it explodes all the functions available.

I can keep typing but I think you get my gist. It's almost 1/4 of the way into the 21st century and we're trying to use stuff build around the time of the Y2K bug!

2 cents, You know I'm a fan Rich and have been with you since AutoHome. But I still have to run HS 1.7 because of all the scripting and event changes. Trying to migrate to HS3 and having to do it again for HS4 is just getting, as others have said, a bit tiring.

Take a note from Apple, It just works!

g

[George]

Sounds like you want a lot of the UI built for you. That is possible, but HSTouch was designed to be a custom tool giving you control over everything. If you use the default project much of what you have listed is done for you there. I will note your concerns though. I think for you a dashboard in the HS4 UI would be better as all of what you want would be there. We are adding a customizable dashboard to HS4, similar to what we have in HSMobile.

Note that scripting has not changed between HS3 and HS4. HS3 scripts should run as is in HS4. HS4 is a superset of HS3, so all the HS3 functionality is still there, unchanged.

Rich,

Bingo, if you could do that, that would make me a happy camper. I can just run the web browser to the UI on the touchscreens (assuming the dashboard is a unique URL) and I think it would cover a lot.
Thanks,
G

[mulu]

rjh You are probably pulling your hair for having mentioned the new HSTouch Designer. However, I think that was a smart thing to do because it gives some additional input regarding what people expect (at least the ones that are active on the forum). Personally, I am very much looking forward to it and hoping it will overcome some of the current limitations. Solving the limitations will save me more time than the time I have to spend redoing the entire project with all the screens I have (a couple dozen or so).

[gschwob]

I'm having one hell of a time getting HSTouch Designer to connect to the server. Don't know where I'm going wrong and I'm sure its a simple fix and an oversight on my part. I keep getting a message that HS Touch Designer cannot connect to the server Arghhh! Any ideas from this group would be most welcome.

[Rupp]

I'm having one hell of a time getting HSTouch Designer to connect to the server. Don't know where I'm going wrong and I'm sure its a simple fix and an oversight on my part. I keep getting a message that HS Touch Designer cannot connect to the server Arghhh! Any ideas from this group would be most welcome.

Are you running the Designer on the same PC as HS? If so just key in the local host address and an admin user account and it should connect. If running the designer on a separate PC then I'd recommend using your myHS account and ensure the firewall is allowing connections to that PC.

[gschwob]

Rupp, thanks for the reply. I'm new to this board and it seems that I may have posted to the wrong topic...sorry. I am running Designer on a laptop. HS runs on a HomeTroller Pro, with a fixed IP. I guess I'll have to plead guilty to my own ignorance. Would it be the firewall on the Hometroller Pro?

[scotters12]

So I just started exploring the HStouch designer and was interested in purchasing, but don't want to spend money now if I'll have to buy a new one in a year. Will there be a grace period where buying old HStouch designer be credited forward towards the new HS4 version?