Subject: From: Date:

Re: [ECS] Creating ECS interface to my Access Control System Kevin Trainor Sat, 21 Oct 2000 17:33:00 -0500

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Mark:

As a matter of pride, I would like to try to program this interface myself
before I give up and hire you to do it.  I will give the serial-byte item a
shot.

Kevin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Gilmore" <omnip@usit.net>
To: <ecs-list@netbloc.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 21, 2000 5:12 PM
Subject: Re: [ECS] Creating ECS interface to my Access Control System


> Hi Kevin,
> Why not use the SERIAL-BYTE Item ?
> It may be a bit tedious to program, but it should do the job.
> Otherwise, if you send me the spec, I can give you an estimate.
> --
> Mark Gilmore
> Omnipotence (ECS home automation software)
> http://omnipotencesoftware.com
> 423-745-0026
> Hours: Mon-Sat, 9AM-8PM/EST
>
>
> > Kevin Trainor wrote:
> >
> > I just bought an access control system for my house.  It controls
> > electric door strikes based upon inputs from proximity card readers.
> > I have been bench testing the system before installing it and, so far,
> > everthing has gone well.
> >
> > What I want to do next is to interface this access control system with
> > ECS.  The access control system is programmed and controlled via a
> > serial port and terminal emulation using my PC.  The system has a
> > character-based, menu-driven application that I access by using
> > HyperTerm to emulate a VT100 terminal.  What I would like to do is to
> > replace the HyperTerm program with a connection to ECS via a serial
> > port.  Then, I would like ECS to querry the access control system to
> > get its status.  Further, I want ECS to be able to issue menu commands
> > that cause the access control system to ulock doors, disable readers,
> > etc.
> >
> > The big question:  How do I do this with ECS?  When I look at the ECS
> > Client/Server serial interface, it doesn't seem appropriate.  The
> > stream of ascii text that the access control system puts out over its
> > serial port is not structured for this kind of client/server dialog.
> > As an alternative, I have considered using the ECS serial port
> > interface that allows you to read and write to the serial port a
> > charcter at a time.  While this seems promising, I think it would be a
> > rather inelegant approach.
> >
> > Are there any other ways to do this?  Is it possible for me to define
> > another device type and write a driver for it?  Or, can this only be
> > done by Mark?
> >
> > Thanks in advance to everyone for their comments and suggestions.
> >
> > Kevin
>

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