Elk ASCII Protocol - Interrogating the System

[DotNetDog]

I am playing around with the ASCII protocol and have a question about interrogating the system.  So let's say that I want to discover the keypads that are connected, including the names of those keypads.
 
I could send the keypad area assignments command (06ka006E).  This would return bit fields that tell me what keypads are connected (by their ID; 1 to 16).  Then I could send the "request text description" command.  But if I have 5 keypads (which I do) then I would need to send this command 5 times.
 
Is there a way to send one command to ask the M1G to tell me the names of all keypads?
 
This same question applies to zones.  With more than 3/4 of the 208 zones used I would rather not send the text "request text description" command that many times.

 

[sda]

That's the way it is.   
 
Typically your program would collect the information at initialization, and maybe refresh after it gets an RP disconnected packet.  If you're creating something that's going to run multiple times per day, rework it into a client/server package.  The server part talks to the XEP.  The client part talks to the server.  In effect, the server becomes a bridge between the client and the XEP with additional logic such as zone description caching.  The server could pass through the XEP commands, or act on them itself.  You could create new XEP commands interpreted by the server (such as a "sd01999" to return all zone descriptions), or you could create your own specialized protocol set that has nothing to do with the XEP protocol.
 
Your other option is to use the ElkAccts2.MDB.   It has everything in it, and you'd have to just assume that its synced with the M1.  How's your MSAccess Fu?
 

 

[wuench]

Yeah, I think all Elk clients I have seen have that aspect of collecting the info and storing it because it is so cumbersome to update, then they either refresh it periodically or via a manual update request.  Or they don't bother with the names at all....  The topology doesn't change that often, most users will just set up the Elk once.   (of course CT users are not most users)