If this doesn't make sense, just keep going through the manual....
AND Please see the tutorials and articles at WWW.SHED.COM.
• You should think about what you want to do with your whole
house, even if you don't intend to install everything at once.
This will save a lot of time and bother later. Be most careful
if you are a programmer, it is easy to substitute skill with
the coding pencil for just a little forethought...
Just the keys :
• Once you have started up XTension, choose New Unit from the
File Menu...
• Give a name to the new unit. ie: Closet Lamp ( you choose the address )
• Type in the House and Unit code of the device : (address)
Since it is a lamp, make it 'dimmable'
• Click OK and see the the unit appears in the Master List.
• Choose New Unit again and :
• Type in the Name "Closet Motion" ( you choose the address )
• Type in the House and Unit code of the device : (address)
Since it is a motion sensor, choose to type in a simple
script which makes other things happen when it 'goes on or off'...
• Choose the ON script button:
• Type in the ON script for "Closet Motion" :
turnon "Closet Lamp"
(yes, that's all for now)
Now, click OK, twice, and find both Closet Lamp and Closet Motion in the Master List. Notice that the Closet Motion unit has a ‚àö indicating that there is a script attached to this unit.
• Double-click on "Closet Motion" in the Master List, and
watch the "Closet Lamp" turn ON.
• Double-click it again, and watch nothing happen.
• Except that these events are recorded in the LOG window ! LOOK !
• Now, point and click once on "Closet Lamp" in the Master List.
Hit the ENTER key...
Now we're editing the unit "Closet Lamp" again :
• Click on the ON script button...
Now we're creating a new ON script for this lamp.
• Type in :
turnoff "Closet Lamp" in 2 * minutes
• Click OK, ( and again to get out of the Edit Unit dialog )
(now both the lamp and the motion sensor have ON scripts ‚àö )
• Now select from the Windows Menu : Scheduled Events
• Now, If the Closet Lamp and Motion are off :
• Double-Click on the "Closet Motion"
watch the "Closet Lamp" turn ON
• SEE a new event appear in the Scheduled Events Window
In 2 minutes, the "Closet Lamp" will be turned OFF
After you watch the Closet Lamp turn OFF:
in the List, Scheduled Events Window and especially the LOG !
Second example:
• Click select the "Closet Motion" unit in the Master List.
• Type Option-O (as in ON)
You will immediately see the ON script for the "Closet Motion" unit
• Change the script to :
if status of "Closet Lamp" is false then
turnon "Closet Lamp" for 2 * minutes
end if
• Click OK
• Click-select "Closet Lamp" in the Master List.
• Type ENTER key
• Click on the DELETE button for the ON script.
• Click OK, OK
Now, only the "Closet Motion" unit has a ‚àö saying it has a script.
• Now Double-Click the "Closet Motion"
• If it was still ON, then nothing will happen....do it again
• If it is OFF, then the new script will turn it on for 2 minutes and then OFF
( notice the Scheduled Event is there again...)
In the first example, the motion sensor script turned on the lamp which stimulated it's ON script which turned itself off in two minutes.
In the second example, we used another XTension option and needed only one script which turned on the lamp for 2 minutes.
In each case, the result is the same. It just depends on how you want to write your scripts.
There are some subtle differences :
In the first example,
- the Closet Lamp controls it's own turn off time.
- the Closet Motion sensor ON always turns on the Lamp
- this can cause multiple scheduled events to turn off the Lamp...
- if any other script turns the Closet Lamp ON, the Lamp's
script will turn itself OFF in 2 minutes...
( unless you use the 'with no script' option )
- one script turns ON a unit which has an ON script...
In the second example,
- the Closet Lamp is not turned ON if it's already ON.
- the Closet Lamp will stay on for 2 minutes and thereafter,
if the Closet Motion sensor goes ON again, you will get
2 more minutes of Closet Lamp...
- there is only one script involved
These may be subtle differences, but it will come clear as you add devices such as a "Coffee Pot".
If the Closet Lamp is left ON for too long, it isn't any big deal. But if the Coffee Pot is left on for 10-12 hours, it can be a big mess.
So, you might want to use the above example 1 for the Coffee Pot, so that
any time you turn it on, it will always schedule an OFF event within 2 hours. You might think that the Coffee didn't come on and issue the command manually, via a wireless remote, and you're groggy...
This may mean multiple events are scheduled to turn the Coffee Pot OFF, but that's OK !!
These subtle things are the reason why we have so many XTension verbs.
And it is why we provide the scripting and scheduled events system where you can schedule an event for 10AM or 3AM etc which routinely goes around and commands all your devices into their default states...sort of a garbage collector....
You might choose to have a script called "Spring Cleaning" which turns on all of the light in your hidden places and keeps them on until you either manually command it off, or the 'garbage collector' comes around...
Likewise, you might have a motion sensor which not only sends an ON, but also sends an OFF when motion has been absent for a period of time.
In this case, you might have an OFF script for the motion sensor which simply turns OFF the Closet Lamp. You choose the time period for the OFF with physical settings on the motion sensor.
Putting this all together, you might easily create a very hospitable system which does things like :
If it's a weekday and the "shower motion" indicates that there's a live body
in the shower, turn off the"bedroom alarm", turn on the radio, and bring up
the lights in the house if it's still dark outside...
Don't forget that you can also use all of the facilities of your Mac :
Voice annunciation, speech recognition, sound files, video capture, .....
Eventually, you should come back and look further in the Manual.....
Don't forget when you want to turn on everything for real, you must Set Serial Comms ON, and turn Monitor mode OFF before you can actually
issue commands....
And, please, don't start taking extraordinary measures such as resetting your PRAM or re-installing your system before looking for something much simpler......it's simpler than you think.
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