| ECS-L Home Automation and Security Archives |
| Subject: From: Date: | ECS 4.3.001 release Mark Gilmore Sat, 04 Mar 2000 21:29:43 -0500 |
Hi all,
Having found the DDE API problem reported by Bill W.
(see warning on # 18 below), I have released ECS 4.3.001.
The web-server stuff is not yet complete, but I needed
to release the memory leak correction (#17).
ECSU.ZIP is ready.
ECS.ZIP (full release) will be uploaded by 9:45PM/EST.
4.3.001 (03/04/00)
1) On Group saves, the height/width of windows withOUT icons are
now preserved.
2) Corrected WEATHER-SETTING-A DAILY-RAIN/YEARLY-RAIN problem,
whereby decimal place was off.
* 3) Numerous TVL-related Items/Events have been updated in
EXAMPLE.CFG,
so as to support a custom TV-CHAN Type (whose State names are your
{lineup}.CHN channels), and channels from multiple programming
sources.
A new utility program TVLM.EXE will merge 2 TV-listings into 1
(example of usage: "TVLM TVLNEW0.TXT TVLNEW1.TXT TVLNEW.TXT").
I leave the specific use of this program (presumably in TVL.BAT)
to the user.
NOTE: YOU NEED NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES TO YOUR FILES, UNLESS YOU REALLY
DESIRE THESE ENHANCEMENTS. Merging the required Items/Events from
EXAMPLE.CFG into your ECS.CFG WILL require a "significant effort".
But if you choose to do so:
1) Backup ECS.CFG & ITPCST.DEF.
2) Edit ITPCST.DEF and append these lines to the bottom:
|TYPE: TV-Chan
| Unknown
3) Start a DOS session, and enter the following:
CD "/PROGRAM FILES/ECS"
EDM {lineup}.CHN /K:CHNITPCST.EDM
This will define the States of the TV-CHAN Custom Item
Type (in ITPCST.DEF) so as to reflect your channels.
4) Replace all your TVL/CBAND-related Events with those listed below.
Then attempt to read ECS.CFG and correct errors as they are
reported. Note that the easiest way to re-read the cfg is to
enter <ALT-F><Enter<Enter>.
GOOD LUCK!.
TVL DL
TVL
TVL Parse
TVL Chan Parse
TVR
TVR Stop Check
TVR Rec Bypass
TV-Guide
TV-Listings
TV Chan Monitor
TV Chan Set
CBand Monitor
4) A new Adjustment Operator (STT<-T1) is now supported which sets
the 1st Item to the State whose name is specified in the Text-Line
associated with the 2nd Item. For example, if a TEXT's Text-Line
was "ON", this Event-Line would set LIGHT to ON:
Do Light Stt<-T1 Text
5) TVL4.EXE (which generates TV-GUIDE.TXT) now completes in approx
1/3 the time taken by the previous version.
6) State VALUES for custom Item Types are now optional:
Where none exists, ECS will define the value to be 1 greater
then the previous State value (or 0 if the 1st).
* 7) Corrected some problems related to the control/monitoring of
SECURITY-AREA-C (NAPCO) Items, AND changed this Type's State
names from OFF/ON to DISARMED/ARMED.
8) A bug has been corrected could result in a "TTS not operational"
error on a KEYPAD-SESSION Item with "Voice Help=NO".
9) NOTE: This enhancement is NOT yet fully
developed/tested/documented
(use at your own risk):
ECS can now act as a "web server" which will both generate web
pages, and update any current Item States within a requested page
(provided that they conform to the conventions established in the
ECS-generated web pages).
With ECS running, enter "{host}:2000", where {host} may be "localhost"
(for local control) or an IP address (for remote control).
This will display the ECS "home page".
To make ECS process a specific page, enter the page as follows:
{host}:2000/{file}
See "Accessing Your PC Via The Internet" in ECS.HTM for a discussion
of IP addresses.
To DISABLE the ECS web server, enter this command in \AUTOEXEC.BAT:
SET ECS_WEB_SERVER=0
NOTE: If you get this message on startup:
A REQUIRED .DLL FILE, WS2_32.DLL, WAS NOT FOUND
Then your W95 PC does not have the "WINDOWS SOCKET 2 UPDATE" installed.
You can do so via:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/wuadmintools/s_wunetworkingtools/w95sockets2/default.asp.
You should only get this message if you are running W95.
NOTE: These features are still in the EARLY stages
(numerous changes/enhancements are forthcoming).
**************************************************************
WEB PAGE GENERATION
--------------------------------------------------------------
The default refresh rate for ECS-generated web pages is NONE.
To make ECS generate web pages with auto-refresh commands,
enter this command in \AUTOEXEC.BAT:
SET ECS_HTM_RF={d}
where {d} is the auto-refresh rate (in seconds).
When generating pages, ECS normally uses SELECTION inputs (dropdowns)
for Items having <= 500 States, and TEXT inputs (text entry boxes)
for those having > 500 States (to save on browser memory & load-time).
This default 500-count threshold may be overridden by
SET ECS_HTM_SEL_MXC={d}
where {d} is the desired count.
Note that ECS-generated web pages may serve as examples of what
ECS "expects to see" when it's web server searches pages for Item
States (make your custom pages conform to these conventions).
10) A problem whereby one-time TVL codes could trigger an announce/
view/record of the desired show PRIOR to the desired airing has
been corrected (when the same show aired previous to the desired
day/time). For one-time codes, the weekday & time are now preserved
when the line is appended to TVLFAV.TXT. I still clear the date,
so as to help assure that the show will be processed if the user
selects a line having a date PRIOR to the current.
* 11) Item States values have been changes as follows:
OLD: NEW:
Low/High/Unknown Low/High/Unknown
---------------- ----------------
Digital-Input-A 0/32767/na 0/1/na
Digital-Input-C 0/32767/na 0/1/na
Digital-Output-F 0/32767/9999 0/1/2
Digital-Input-F 0/32767/9999 0/1/2
Digital-Input-G 0/32767/na 0/1/na
Digital-Input-I 0/32767/na 0/1/na
Digital-Input-J 0/32767/na 0/1/na
* 12) SECURITY-RTS-C States have been renamed as follows (for
consistency):
Old New
------------------- ------------------
Alarm-Super-Restore Alarm-Super-Rst
Burg-Bell-Silen Burg-Bell-Silence
Bus-2-Restore Bus-2-Rst
Comm-Restored Comm-Rst
EZM-Restore EZM-Rst
Keypad-Ambush KP-Ambush
Keypad-Bus-Fail KP-Bus-Fail
Keypad-Bus-Rst KP-Bus-Rst
Keypad-Fire KP-Fire
Keypad-Medical KP-Medical
Keypad-Panic KP-Panic
Keypad-Tamper KP-Tamper
Keypad-Tamper-Rst KP-Tamper-Rst
KP-Restore KP-Rst
Panel-Gnd-Flt Panel-GF
Panel-Gnd-Flt-Rst Panel-GF-Rst
Printer-Restore Printer-Rst
Ql-Keypad-Reset Ql-KP-Reset
Restore Rst
Self-Test-Failure Self-Test-Fail
Sil-Pls-Burg Silence-Pls-Burg
Srv-Msg-Activated Srv-Msg-Activated
Telem-Failure Telem-Fail
Telem-Failure-Rest Telem-Fail-Rst
Telem-Restore Telem-Rst
Telem-Trouble Telem-Tbl
Trouble Tbl
V61-FEZM-GndFlt V61-FEZM-GF
V61-FEZM-GndFlt-Rst V61-FEZM-GF-Rst
* 13) So as to conform to more established conventions, ECS now
processes
"comments" differently in all text files: Instead of processing only
those lines that start with "|", ECS now processes all lines EXCEPT
those that start with ";".
To perform the required updates on related files, enter:
CD "\PROGRAM FILES\ECS"
CMTUPD
This will inspect all files, and prompt you before updating each.
It does NOT save the old copies, as a directory backup is part of
the update procedure. I have tried my best to assure that CMTUPD
will perform flawlessly, but the required logic was "non-trivial".
So please let me know of of any anomalies.
FYI: Normally, the files effected are:
*.CFG
ICONS.DEF
ITPCST.DEF
ITP.HLP
PHNC0.SET
PHNC1.SET
PLC2I0.SET
PLC2I2.SET
PLC2I3.SET
CHNITPCST.EDM
* 14) Various "SHORT/..." States for the SECURITY-ZONE-C Type had been
misnamed to "NORMAL/...". This has been corrected.
* 15) In order to greatly simplify numerous code sections, ECS no
longer
supports the STATE-HOLDER Item Type or "Sub-Types" for GROUP-MINIMUM/
GROUP-MAXIMUM/ENV-VARIABLE Items (whose States are now limited
to values 0-32767).
Instead of "State-Holder" Items, we now have "Virtual" Items,
(which behave identically), but are defined via new ACCESS
selections:
Virtual/User/User
Virtual/User/Owner
Virtual/User/Maint
Virtual/Owner/Owner
Virtual/Owner/Maint
To perform the required updates on all .CFGs, enter:
CD "\PROGRAM FILES\ECS"
CFGUPD
NOTE: Some manual changes may be required for GROUP-MINIMUM/
GROUP-MAXIMUM/ENV-VARIABLE Items, since they can no longer take
on the States of a "Sub-Type". You may want to create a Virtual
Item of the desired Type, and have an Event continuously SET this
Item to your GROUP/ENV Item.
* 16) The SUNRISE-TIME/SUNSET-TIME States are now calculated
internally
by ECS (SUNCLC.EXE is now obsolete).
17) A SIGNIFICANT MEMORY LEAK has been corrected: When ECS played a
file thru the voice-modem (PHONE-INTERFACE-C), it failed to free
the buffer used in playing it.
* 18) The SERIAL-API & DDE-API have been changed as follows:
a) For MONITORED Items, ECS will now send an update packet EVERY
time the State of such Items are set to a value differing from
the current. Previously, updates would be sent only once per pass,
and so multiple State changes made during one Event-pass could
be missed.
WARNING: We recommend that you do NOT perform "intermediate"
calculations on monitored Items, as every change will trigger
a packet transmission (which could "flood" the Client).
b) When a DDE client issues an Item State-change request
(SET/ADD/etc),
ECS now returns the CURRENT (PRE-modified) State in the response
packet (rather than the post-modified State). If the Item is
MONITORED, a subsequent update packet will be sent when the
State is modified. Note that for GROUP-MINIMUM/MAXIMUM Items,
multiples may be sent.
--
Mark Gilmore
Omnipotence (ECS home automation software)
http://www.usit.com/omnip
423-745-0026