Xap HS-Home / Xap office

[CouchPotatoe]

Hang on a couple of days and I think there may be some good news on the Windows xAP router side ;-)

Michael, you should have been able to get xAP weather working for US sites, it's is not just UK. Did you get it sending the forecast/current data OK but not displaying in xAP Desktop or just couldn't get the feed working at all ? There was an earlier thread on this BBS I believe from a guy in Missouri that we got going. Otherwise I'll walk it through with you. works great !

<Take a peek here http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=89505>

On the caller ID side the reason the UK xAP CID applications are different is that we dont have (m)any modems that support CID and hence we typically use a device called the Meteor. However a US guy did write a modem based xAP CID app . I will dig out a link to it and post it here. Have never tried it though...

Kevin

[CouchPotatoe]

There is an xpl to TCP bridge as well and it may be a little more mature. I have not used either of these. I have an xap/xpl hub that will receive xpl messages and shift them into xap format. xpl's and xap's X10 schema are one-for-one. I mapped the xpl remote schema used for the W800 security devices into xap bsc.

Although some schemas will map exactly (xPL was a fork of the xAP spec) most won't easily which is a shame. There are a few issues where xAP provides more content than xPL and hence won't translate well. For example xAP allows multiple blocks in a body, has a hierarchical block identifier for each block and has a UID value in the header. xPL does not use the concept of sub addressing and restricts the length and number of hierarchies in an address. Hence all xPL data can be bridged to xAP without loss and xAP can send complete messages to xPL but the richer xAP messages can't be easily bridged without losing the extra data and splitting over many messages.

The sub addressing incorporated within xAP where a single application handles many different endpoints using addresses is a particularly valuable differentiator and is used to great effect by BSC. For example a 10 channel sensor uses a master address for the whole device and 10 named endpoints

Source=UKUSA.TOM10.temp << main device

Source=UKUSA.TOM10.temp:lounge
Source=UKUSA.TOM10.temputside
Source=UKUSA.TOM10.temp:boiler
Source=UKUSA.TOM10.temp:kitchen

A xAP bridge/router is the right way to go.. stay tuned..

K

[Michael McSharry]

I have two applications that deliver the xap's CID.Incomming. One is Audrey-based and the other is NetCallerID-based. Both are rich with CID content and include most of the optional fields. I do have xap applications that recognize and display the CID.Incomming so I know the traffic was there. I previously sent the message captures from my 3 Weather feeds on the Yahoo forum and there was some discussion about my forecast fields. Other than the forecast fields I added, I tried to mimic the Weather.Report schema which I'm expecting to be what xapDesktop is looking for. I set this up just as a test as I was following the online tutorial on how to use the desktop. Otherwise I have no interest of weather info overlaying my desktop icons. Event-related informationn is where I see potential value in the xapDesktop. The simulated LCDs for some form of OSD and the CID which I see a variant of the LCD fit this category. My current desktop event notification method uses a popup control provided by UltraJones (UltraMessage) with an xap OSD wrapper around it.

I agree with you that a total mapping of all XAP<-->XPL traffic has some roadblocks, but in this case of X10 sensors at a remote site which use only the x10.basic and remote.basic xpl schema it is an easy one way map into xap-x10 and BSC schema. I did this dual hub as an alternate way to get the W800 onto the xap network. I'll address the ability to take advantage of other XPL functionality on a case by case basis. I really did not like putting application layer functionality into the hub, but the translation was so easy that it was a shame to pawn it off onto another application. The only real addition needed was for the hub to retain the xpl-provided BSC state information so it could respond to the BSC schema's query.

[turner228]

Michael

I am the creator of the "LCD" and "Customer Pole" displays on the xAP desktop.
They were my first attempt at a xAP Desktop Display and follow the Display Schema.

http://www.mi4.biz/modules.php?name=...showpage&pid=9

I chose these formats because I wanted to integrate xAP Desktop into my MO_LCD and Customer Pole Homeseer scripts

There is also the Thermostat/Controller Display I made which includes both another display schema Display and also "buttons" and "LED's" using the BSC 1.3 schema

I used Homeseer to generate the display messages for testing purposes and posted the test script in the xAP Automation Yahoo Group's files area. You can pick it up from there and I will post it here when I get home from work

The Caller ID Desktop Display is attractive but originally I also could not get it to work. This was mainly because it was setup to work with xAPMeteor which is a popular way (there aren't many in the UK!) of getting callerID info into a system. (There are also two Homeseer plugins for the Meteor). I use a zoom modem for my caller ID with a script which includes the option to send CID.incoming messages.

I will post a snippet from the script and my version of the Desktop Caller ID display and I am sure you will have no problems

Kevin

[Michael McSharry]

Thanks Kevin,
When I was looking for Display Schema I went to the xapautomation.org which I thought was the "official" supported schema and all I could find for display was OSD. Lots of pieces out there. Just got to know where to look.

I'd like to see what you did for CID.

[turner228]

xAP Display

Michael

I have started a new thread for xAP Display and the stuff I promised is over there

http://forums.homeseer.com/showthrea...896#post618896

I think the intention is that the wiki will become the primary source of all knowledge on xAP.

Kevin

[Michael McSharry]

I think the wiki has the same schema definitions as the top level page, plus BSC. It will all get there eventually.

[mi4]

xServer

Hometech,

I have just releasd an application that will help you bridge two xAP networks over the internet, it's called the xServer. It is basically a TCP router for xAP and includes a security policy to tie down what can be sent. In your setup you would run the xServer on you home network and run an xServer client on your work network, the router client in this case. This would then link up the two networks as if they were one. The xServer can in fact handle multiple connections(20) so you could link 21 xAP networks together like this if you wanted to. xAP desktop's next release will also be able to connect over the xServer, so you could link your two networks together as described above and then sitting on a beach somewhere connect in using Desktop and control things just as if you were local. Below is my post to the xap_auto yahoo group introducing the xServer:

Hi,

I have just uploaded the initial release of an application called
xServer as well as 3 xServer clients to www.mi4.biz .What the xServer
does is a little technical but how it does it and how to use it are
really simple, and the results can be quite powerful.

What is the xServer
The xServer is a way of connecting remote xAP devices over the internet
to your xAP network. Think of it as an intelligent router. The current
xServer supports up to 20 concurrent connections, each operating totally
independently. Any connection to the xServer requires a code, without
this code nothing is sent out to the remote application. When a valid
code is received it is linked to a security policy that gives to precise
control of what can be sent or received over the link. Any breech of the
security policy or an invalid code causes the connection to be dropped
and the ip address banned for 30 minutes. All events,logins and logouts
are logged to a text file. Management of the security policies is done
through a simple gui and you can define as many policies as you need.

What is the xServer (in English!)
On its own the xServer does nothing, it simply waits for connections.
When paired with an xServer client, however, you get a working system..
There are 3 released clients, each with totally different functions.One
of the advantages of xServer is that it can support 20 totally different
clients concurrently, each doing a totally different function. The
current clients are;

1, RemoteView
This simply lets to view and optionally save xAP traffic on your network
2, BSC Fader
This lets you control and get status from a BSCv1.3 dimmable device
3, xRouter
Using the xRouter connecting to your xServer you can connect multiple
xAP networks together. The router has 5 modes of operation; Disabled,
Local to remote only, Remote to local only, Full Routing and Full
Bridging. In the routing modes the UIDs are changed as needed, but in
bridging mode they remain unchanged. Management of message hops is
always used to prevent messages looping.

Remember these client applications can be used from anywhere on the
internet and connections are protected by the xServer's security policy.
The first two are simply examples of what is possible with the xServer.
xRouter, however, is a very powerful tool letting you link multiple xAP
networks, anywhere on the internet, together.All the clients will auto
connect and reconnect with link errors. Expect more xServer clients in
the future.

How it works
xServer clients communicate to the xServer over TCP and port 9996.
Assuming no firewalls get in the way you should be able to connect from
anywhere. After connection a valid code is required before any data is
sent. Once the code is accepted communications will happen according to
a preset security policy, with any breeches causing the connection to be
dropped and ip banned. Once the xServer is setup you should port
forward port 9996(TCP) on your router to the pc running the xServer in
order to allow connections from the internet.

More info and releases will follow. Please remember these are all
initial releases and should be used as such however they have all been
used for quite a while and have been stable and very functional! The
next xServer client will be xAP Desktop Beta3 which will be out shortly,
more on this soon but xServer and Desktop together will be a very useful
system ;-)


Happy Christmas to all

James

[HomeTech]

Testing xServer

Ok , Just saw your post today, To much eggnog on this end. I downloaded
xServer & xRouter. If I am using Homeseer at Home and want to connect to my off site office to monitor and control x10 devices there I will need :

At home HS
1) XAP plugin
2) Xserver
3) open port TCP 9996 & point it to Xserver computer IP


At Office
1) Xap Router
2) X10-CM1xConnector
3) Do I need to open a port on this side for HS to talk back? and is it the same 9996 ?


Do I have this correct or is there more required? If so I will test this out and let you know how it plays.

[HomeTech]

Ok Got it talking.

Tested it before you got back with me. Ok Got it talking from Home to office Just Server to router & router to server Not tied into Homeseer Just yet. I did open port on firewall at the office as well.

I will need to connect the CM11 to it at the office . i have to rember to bring it from home that will be next.

so far this looks great!!!


Update:
One thing to note I did my first testing with both computer being win2k. When I changed the office end to a winXP box that would be on 24/7 The Router app started with an error It was looking for mswinsck.ocx. So I got lucky and copied it off of the Win2k sys32 directory and installed it on the winXp and all is well. Started up and connected to home base.

[mi4]

You will only need to port forward 9996 for the xServer, the end that is running the router shouldn't need any change to the firewall. Also as you will have 2 xAP apps running at your office and your home you should install a xAP hub, the service hub from xapframework.net is ideal here. Without a xAP hub running on each pc only 1 xAP application can listen to messages. Once the xServer matures a little I will get put in to an msi which will make the install easier but as you found out all thats needed is mswinsock and vbrun6 which is already there.
Just out of curiosity, how did you find the access control setup in the xServer? I tried to make it simple, but as it sets up fairly advanced features it ended up with more options than i would of liked. Hopefully they were friendly enough!!

James

[HomeTech]

Xap Server

I did install the hub service on the hs computer and the Xap plugin.
No problem with the server install but I know enough to be very dangerous.

I still need to install the hub services at the office.Oh and I will remove the open port there as well as you suggested.

On the hs plug-in: installed ok and I see all my Home HS devices in Xap conduit / config window. see doc

But should I see the office in there as well ? I still need to install the CM11A at the office may be thats why. I thought I would see something so I could recieve and send comands to.

I am thinking of only sending the commands ment for the office to it and using house code (M) I see in the plug-in config Xap Setup screen

X10 target

X10 target B = Office CM11 ...... once I can see something the CM11 from the office I think it goes here?

Target B HC = M

Something like this I think?

I have included screens of HS and server FYI

[mi4]

Ok, things are looking good. According to the screenshot of the xServer it is listing devices on your home network (starting FF) and some from the remote network (starting FE) so everything is talking fine. You should of received a wizard in homeseer for the remote news and weather apps. Once you load the X10 program you will get a similar wizard popping up for each X10 device you have installed. On each you will see a BSC button, press this and the HomeSeer plugin will create the device for you.
The X10 options in the xAP Plugin window are only used when you have the xAP x10 device selected in the homeseer config, I presume you currently have a cm12 selected here. There is no problem in running it like that.
Once the remote X10 devices get added by the plugin you will get full control of them jsut like your local x10 units. Also as there is no need to reserve a houscode for your office, once the x10 in your office is converted to xAP, all homeseer knows and needs to know is that they are controlable devices. If you were using c-bus it would work exactly the same, Homeseer wouldn't know it was cbus or x10 just that they xAP controllable devices.
BTW , BSC or Basic Status and control is a fairly universal way of communitaction with devices that switch, dim or present strings of text within xAP. It is used by c-bus, x10, barionet, HomeSeer and others. You can use it to link multiple HomeSeers together so they can report the status of any device on any HomeSeer, but we'll leave that for another day ;-)

James

[HomeTech]

HS x10 Device creation

Ok , I have included three screen shots from the home computer running Homeseer,Xap Hub service & Xap Server.

Here at the server end
1) Send all messages opt. Does it mean to send all messages only from what is checked in the window below? or is it every thing in the window reguardless of if its checked?

2) What do I need checked in the window to alow me to send X10 commands from HS to my Office and from office to HS?

*Here is what I have checked so far:
FE182000 that is the CM11 at the office I installed today.
FE445700 this is the Xap Router at the office. (msc-backup: computer name)
FF411100 this is Homeseer here at home (reliant: computer name)
FF45500 this is the Xap server here at home.

Do I have this correct? Or do I need to check the HUB's as well at both ends?


The (mcs-007 is my office workstation) I was testing with. I do not intend to activate any of those Xap devices on HS so no need to think about them.

In Homeseer how do I create a device that will triger at my office through x10?
here's what I have:

At the office I have a x10 appliance module P1. do I just create as I do normaly for any device in HS? I just don't get how to steer it the office.

In HS ,Xap plug in should I see the FE18200 thats is the CM11 at the office?
I do not.

I know alot of questions. I just dont have a handle on how to setup the office X10 devices so they show up and are controlable form Homeseer.

Let me know Thanks for all your help so far!

[HomeTech]

Hello bump bump

Any one out there?