ActiveX Control for the CM17A readme file

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Control Version 1.0.0 6/8/99
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Thank you for your interest in our ActiveX Control for the CM17A FireCracker.

This control includes source and distribution is unlimited. See
the license file for more information.

To install the control, simple run the setup file: Setupcm17.exe

To test the control, load and run the sample application that is located
in the install directory under "INSTALLDIR\Keware CM17A\sample".

The source to the control is located in:

INSTALLDIR\Keware CM17A\src


You can contact Keware support via E-mail at: support@keware.com

Support for this control is limited as it is a FREE product.

Good Luck on your Home Automation endeavors!

Control Documentation
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Note that the CM17A FireCracker module only supports the following
X10 commands:

ON
OFF
DIM
BRIGHT

The control has been tested with Visual Basic version 5. It will appear in the components
list as:

"Keware CM17A Control"

The control supports the following properties:

comport as integer

This will set the communications port that the CM17A is connected to. This
must be set before the "Init" method is invoked.

The control supports the following methods:

Init()

This will open the communications port that was set with the "comport" property.

It will return 0 if successful or an error code that is returned by the MSCOMM32 OCX control.

ResetCom()

This will disconnect the control from the communications port. This is useful if the CM17A is
connected to a com port that is shared with another device. You can call "Init()" to open the com
port, then call "Exec()" to send a command, then call "ResetCom()" to release the com port. Note that
you should wait a few seconds after sending X10 commands using "Exec()" before calling "ResetCom" to 
allow communications to complete.

Exec(housecode As String, devicecode As String, command As Integer, Optional brightness As Integer)

This will send an X10 command to the CM17A. The parameters are:

housecode: the housecode the device is on like "A"

devicecode: the unit number of the device like "1". You cannot use multiple device numbers here.

command: the X10 command. 2=ON 3=OFF 4=DIM 5=BRIGHT

brightness: this is optional and only valid for dim and bright commands. It is an integer in the range
of 0-100. Note that the CM17A changes brightness in steps. It only supports 8 dim levels. One dim=12%.
Setting the brightness to 50% will send 4 dims and the light will step 4 times.