Unit/Lighting values in sync

[ricks]

A question for the folks at HAI.

In PC Access, only a single value is shown when using a unit for lighting. In other words, if I use the on/off commands, PC Access will show ON or OFF. If I use the Level command, PC Access will show the light level percentage. One would assume that these two values (ON/OFF and Level) would be related i.e. if level is greater than 0, then light would be ON. If Level = 0, then light would be OFF. Unfortunately this does not happen. If becomes apparent when using another automation program to control the HAI panel.

For example:

If I turn a light on at the switch, the light value shows on but the level shows 0%. (Out of sync)
If I dim the light at the switch to 35%, the light shows on and the level reflects 35% (In sync)
If I turn the light off at the switch, the light shows off but the level still shows dimmed to 35% (Out of sync)

The same is true when sending lighting commands through automated software.

If I send an "On or Off" command, the light level is not updated. (Out of sync)
If I send a command to set light level at 0%, the On/Off status remains on. (Out of sync)

Is there a work-around to this other than running complicated logic conditionals to ensure the two values correspond?

Thanks,
Rick

 

[aard3]

A question for the folks at HAI.

In PC Access, only a single value is shown when using a unit for lighting. In other words, if I use the on/off commands, PC Access will show ON or OFF. If I use the Level command, PC Access will show the light level percentage. One would assume that these two values (ON/OFF and Level) would be related i.e. if level is greater than 0, then light would be ON. If Level = 0, then light would be OFF. Unfortunately this does not happen. If becomes apparent when using another automation program to control the HAI panel.

For example:

If I turn a light on at the switch, the light value shows on but the level shows 0%. (Out of sync)
If I dim the light at the switch to 35%, the light shows on and the level reflects 35% (In sync)
If I turn the light off at the switch, the light shows off but the level still shows dimmed to 35% (Out of sync)

The same is true when sending lighting commands through automated software.

If I send an "On or Off" command, the light level is not updated. (Out of sync)
If I send a command to set light level at 0%, the On/Off status remains on. (Out of sync)

Is there a work-around to this other than running complicated logic conditionals to ensure the two values correspond?

Thanks,
Rick

rick,

what is the "other automation" software you are referring too? Internally, each unit has a state that is represented by a number. If PCAccess is tracking it correctly, then I would thing that the problem doesn't reside with the controller, but with the 3rd party software not interpreting the states correctly.


Aaron

 

[ricks]

Hi Aaron,

The other application is Cinemar's and that could very well be the issue. Unfortunately it is difficult to tell since PC Access appears to produce two values via communication: On/Off and Level but will only show one or the other in Status/Control. In other words, there's no way to tell what PC Access is showing for the alternate value - if you see Light Level, you can't see 0/1 (On/Off) and vice versa.

Since Cinemar is polling all panel variables (in this case), one would assume that if the 0/1 were changing it would be reflected in the Cinemar variable. But then again, Cinemar has not responded to any questions regarding their HAI plugin for quite awhile.

Thanks,
Rick

 

[aard3]

Hi Aaron,

The other application is Cinemar's and that could very well be the issue. Unfortunately it is difficult to tell since PC Access appears to produce two values via communication: On/Off and Level but will only show one or the other in Status/Control. In other words, there's no way to tell what PC Access is showing for the alternate value - if you see Light Level, you can't see 0/1 (On/Off) and vice versa.

Since Cinemar is polling all panel variables (in this case), one would assume that if the 0/1 were changing it would be reflected in the Cinemar variable. But then again, Cinemar has not responded to any questions regarding their HAI plugin for quite awhile.

Thanks,
Rick

Rick,

The status that is returned by the controller is only one byte, it's not two separate values. If a unit is OFF, it's OFF, if it's not OFF, then it can be ON, or some level... they are all mutually exclusive (cane only be one OR the other). I'm fairly certain that cinemar is just not displaying things correctly.

Aaron

 

[ricks]

Thanks Aaron. That makes sense.

Therefore the status we see reported in PC Access's Status/Control section is merely a mimicing of the command if sent by PCA since the options can include "Off", "On", "Level 50%", "Dim # of steps" and "Brighten # of steps". For example, if I send DIM 3 steps command it displays DIM 3 steps and not 60%. I guess PCA doesn't actually show a field for the actual status (0-100).

My apologies for being thick-headed on this one but I would have expected a single byte to simply include a numerical value between 0 and 100 which would be displayed in PCA as 0-100.

I think Cinemar, if I'm not mistaken, is attempting to show both a 0/1 status and a level status, which fail to stay in sync with each other.

I'll attempt to get Cinemar to re-address the problem.

Thank again,
Rick

 

[aard3]

Thanks Aaron. That makes sense.

Therefore the status we see reported in PC Access's Status/Control section is merely a mimicing of the command if sent by PCA since the options can include "Off", "On", "Level 50%", "Dim # of steps" and "Brighten # of steps". For example, if I send DIM 3 steps command it displays DIM 3 steps and not 60%. I guess PCA doesn't actually show a field for the actual status (0-100).

My apologies for being thick-headed on this one but I would have expected a single byte to simply include a numerical value between 0 and 100 which would be displayed in PCA as 0-100.

I think Cinemar, if I'm not mistaken, is attempting to show both a 0/1 status and a level status, which fail to stay in sync with each other.

I'll attempt to get Cinemar to re-address the problem.

Thank again,
Rick

Ricks,

Some of it gets a little hairy when dealing with Dim/ Bright, Scenes, etc depending on the lighting control. Sometimes the controller determines the dim/ brightness level, and set the level itself, sometimes it tells the switch to dim/brighten, and waits for a response. While it's waiting for a response, it sets the status to Dim/Brighten X.

0= OFF
1= ON
2-100 = different states / scenes, these all depend on the type of unit
101 - 200 = 1%-100%

It's all documented in the Omni-Link or OL2 protocols.

Aaron

 

[ricks]

I'll check out the OL2 docs for a better understanding.

Thanks again!