Subject: From: Date:

Re: [ECS] Converted to ECS Web Interface Don Stephens Thu, 1 Jun 2000 21:32:46 -0700

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Hi Martin:

I was wondering if you could help me out a bit. So far I have gotten my web
page to update as items change state but I can't figure out how to get rid
of the rectangular box that comes with the stock state icons. Any
suggestions?

Thanks,

Don
----- Original Message -----
From: "Martin Terry" <Martin.Terry@mail.tribnet.com>
To: <ecs-list@netbloc.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2000 9:45 PM
Subject: RE: [ECS] Converted to ECS Web Interface


>
> Sure Don,
>
> <Warning, long-winded post>
>
> I'm not doing any java myself per se, just using what Mark provides. I'll
> try to provide some insight, but I'm doing this on my laptop so I can't
copy
> and paste code.
>
> Here's how I got started:
>
> I created a new group in ECS, and added a single item - a light. I
selected
> the light bulb icon and left it the original size. Saved the group.
>
> Then I went to the browser and opened ECS's default page
> http://ecs:3000/main.htm. I then selected links to the "web test" group I
> created.
>
> The web page creates an item on the web page that looks exactly like the
> item does in the ECS group screen - icon on the left, name and state on
the
> right. If this doesn't work correctly for you, you have some kind of setup
> problem. review Mark's setup instructions.
>
> Once you have the web page, you should be able to click the state and get
a
> frame to the right that offers other states. Here you can select on, off,
> etc.
>
> Now personally I don't like this look/feel - but you don't have to stick
> with it. Click on the page just off of the item and select view source
> (however your browser does this - in IE it's a right click menu.)
>
> The source will give you a lot of insight to how the page works. In this
> case you will see some basic html and 3 java applets.
>
> The first applet, called ecs_msg, draws a text box across the top of the
> page. I don't know what Mark calls this thing, but it's the same line at
the
> top of the ECS window that logs ecs activity - saves, tts speech, etc. You
> can include this applet in your own pages by copying everything between
> <APPLET and /APPLET> into your own page. You can vary the width and height
> parameters to change the size of the text box. I have this applet at the
top
> of my custom html pages so I can see who is calling on the phone (anything
> spoken by ECS will appear in this line with a time stamp).
>
> The second applet you will see if you follow this example will be the item
> you placed on the group page. the DIV command places this in x/y fashion
on
> the page so you can specify the exact placement. If you move the item
around
> on the group page and redisplay the html, you will see the values of the
DIV
> command change. This applet has a bunch of parameters, especially if you
use
> a light as an example. Here are some basic ones I've figured out:
>
> SBS0 value="ECS Item" This will be the name of the item as shown in ECS.
>
> ICON_F value="1" - 1 displays the icon, 0 turns it off. (For the item)
>
> ICON_W value="?" I believe this is a scaling factor for the icon
> 100=original size, bigger numbers make the icon larger, smaller numbers
make
> it smaller. I don't think the icons scale very well, so if I want them
much
> smaller I usually make a smaller icon. In fact I'm not using any of ECS's
> stock images.
>
> NAME_F value="1" If 1 the item name is displayed, if 0 it is not. I always
> use 0. If I want to include the name I'll do it via html, much more
> flexible. With html you can put the name where ever you want on the page,
> with the java applet it's to the right of the icon, period. You also get
no
> control over the text style or color.
>
> STATE_F value="1" same as the name, but the state instead. This one I
> sometimes set to 1, but usually not. I let the icon indicate the state
> usually.
>
> TEXT_F value="0" Dang, I don't remember what this one is. :) A good
argument
> for taking notes.
>
> SUB_F and ADD_F value="0" When set to 1 these add little up and down
arrows
> next to the icon, which allow you to click on them to raise and lower the
> state values (dim/inc light, etc.)
>
> SUB_CHANGE, ADD_CHANGE value="x" Used in conjunction with SUB and ADD
above.
> Every click will inc/dec by "x" value.
>
> STATE_ICON:state value="path/image" I modify this alot, basically if the
> item is at "state" then "path/image" is used as the icon. If you use the
> light example you will get an image list for every possible state (a lot
of
> parameters). If you use a true/false item, you will only get 2 parameters.
> You don't actually need to provide a image parameter for every state, but
if
> you don't and the item is at that state, you won't get an icon at all.
>
> The last applet is an important one, but doesn't actually display
anything.
> It is called "Ecsio". If you don't include this applet on a page where the
> others are, they won't work. Simple rule of thumb - add this applet to the
> end of any page you use the others on, including frames. Leave the
> parameters as is. This allows ECS to actually display the item/state/icon
> and update it on the fly.
>
>
>
> So basically I get everything done with these 3 applets, provided by Mark.
I
> use the 2nd one extensively, with many mods to the parameters. Usually I
> will set an applet up to display only the icon, no text, no state. I
modify
> the size of the applet and image parameters to use a GIF I provide.
>
> It will look like this:        HTML Description    Icon
>
> For example:
>
> I have a security page showing the status of the alarm system. It is a
> digital-i/o item. In the html page I have a table, and in the first cell I
> have "Alarm status". In the second cell I have the applet from above with
a
> true image of "Armed" and a false image of "Disarmed". I only display the
> icon(GIF images) so when I load the page it will look like this:
>
>
>          Alarm Status:           Disarmed
>
> With "Disarmed" as a little button GIF. If I arm the security system, ECS
> automatically updates the page to display:
>
>          Alarm Status:           Armed
>
> You can click on the icon and this click will be passed to ECS as an
> ICON-CLICK1. So I have an event that says something like:
>
> If           Icon-click1       is now          DIO:AlarmArmed
> then      Flg:ArmAlarm   Invert           Flg:ArmAlarm
>
> This triggers an event that arms the alarm.
>
>
>
> OK, so this is the basics. I wish I had a full time connection, I'd let
you
> take a look. Maybe soon.
> If this doesn't make it clear as mud, maybe I can copy the html to a
floppy
> and upload it here.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: donstephens@101freeway.com [mailto:donstephens@101freeway.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2000 8:40 PM
> To: ecs-list@netbloc.com
> Subject: Re: [ECS] Converted to ECS Web Interface
>
>
> Martin:
>
> I've been banging my head against the wall with this. Could you share some
> parts of your Java stuff?
>
> Thanks:
>
> Don
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Martin Terry" <Martin.Terry@mail.tribnet.com>
> To: "Ecs-List (E-mail)" <ecs-list@netbloc.com>
> Sent: Monday, May 29, 2000 11:53 PM
> Subject: [ECS] Converted to ECS Web Interface
>
>
> > ECSers,
> >
> > Well, I took a 4 day weekend and took the plunge and converted my
> Automation
> > system to ECS's new browser interface. I previously had used ACE as the
> User
> > Interface for ECS.
> >
> > First off, Mark should be commended for the amazing transformation of
ECS.
> > The flexibility and power of the interface is pretty awesome!
> >
> > Here's a little bit of my current setup -
> >
> > ECS is running on a P133 in my garage. It's connected to an Ethernet
based
> > LAN in the house. It has a modem that does dial-up for internet access
as
> > necessary. My client machine is a P75 (!) in the Kitchen/Family Room
> > (previously running ACE) now running IE 4. It's about as quick as the
ACE
> > client was, so even with the low speed machines performance is not bad.
> >
> > I've spent some time over the last couple of weeks "dissecting" the web
> > pages that ECS generates automatically. Mark makes generous use of Java
> > applets, with numerous parameters that are passed to control the look
and
> > feel. I had a pretty good feel for how they work, boosted by HTML and
JAVA
> > for dummies books. :)
> >
> > I then setup some basic pages of HTML, keeping in mind what I currently
> get
> > done in ACE. I swiped a bunch of graphics from the web and coded all the
> > pages by hand, making generous use of frames.
> > I've done a little HTML prior to this, but I'm a novice at best.
> >
> > The result is that I have about 70% of what I had in ACE. It looks much
> > snazzier than ACE and can be whatever you want it to be. I intend to get
> all
> > of what I'm doing with ACE, then add some new stuff like integrating
> weather
> > reports, automatic page refreshes maybe even TV listings (but I'm
waiting
> on
> > this, I expect Mark is working on this now). I'm going to set up some
> pages
> > to be downloaded off line then integrate them into ECS's pages.
> >
> > OK, now the Pros and Cons:
> >
> > Pro - Flexible, colorful, and can have any look you want. Any of Mark's
> java
> > applets on the page automatically update states and so forth when things
> > change, without having to refresh the page - way cool. Can integrate any
> > data you can put in a web page. Can have links to the internet (if you
> have
> > a full time connection, I don't).
> >
> > Cons - Mainly a lack of documentation; no wimps here, you will have to
> > figure most of this out yourself. For example ICON_W=26 Who would have
> > guessed this is a percentage of the icon's size? Good luck.
> >
> > I tried some animated GIFs, but they wouldn't work - this could have
> easily
> > been me or the browser. I'm not a big fan of animated GIFs anyway. :)
> >
> > Suggestions/Questions for Mark -
> >
> > Mark, is there anyway to change the background color of the item java
> > applets? Mine always show up with a gray background. Also, is there a
way
> to
> > turn off the thin line border that surrounds the applet? I'd like to
ditch
> > it if I could.
> >
> > Also, the messages link (e.g. ecs:3000/Messages) always shows the single
> > line message applet on top of the message list, can we list the messages
> > without this line? I already have that applet on the page and I'm trying
> to
> > show the messages in a frame. Speaking of the messages, can we control
the
> > font and background? And can they list in reverse order (most recent on
> > top?).
> >
> > Anyway, thanks for the great update.
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

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