Frostbyte's 1980s DOS Shareware Collection/floppyshareware.zip/floppyshareware/GLEN/XCTL102.ZIP/README.TXT

Text File | 1990-02-16 | 15KB | 313 lines

     Filename README.TXT, copyright W. L. Sexauer, January 29, 1989.



     The XControl program was written to provide a better method of
operating the Powerhouse X10 (TM) controller than the software provided
with the controller.  The principal advantage of this program is that it
allows events to be varied with the local sunrise and sunset without the
effort of editing files or individually deleting and re-entering events.
The XControl program also allows the following additional functions:
setting the clock in the controller, setting the base housecode of the
controller, deleting a single event from those stored in the controller,
loading a complete schedule of events into the controller, loading a
single event for execution now, today or tomorrow, or displaying or
printing the events stored in the controller.

     The program is marketed under the shareware concept.  You are free
to try out the program, and to distribute it to others as long as you do
not charge for it and provided that you include this file unaltered.  If
you find that the program is useful, please send a payment of $15.00 to
the author:  William L. Sexauer, 15548 SE 175th Court, Renton, WA,
98058.  Registered owners will be notified of new versions as they are
developed.

                         SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

     System requirements are minimal, an IBM PC or compatible with 256K
memory, single floppy drive, CGA or better monitor, and an X-10
PowerHouse (TM) model CP290 computer interface unit attached to a COM
port.  The computer interface unit is hereafter referred to as the
controller.

                     INSTALLATION - FLOPPY DISK SYSTEMS

     The first step should be to make a backup copy of the distribution
disk.  Then, for installation to a floppy disk, put the backup disk into
the A drive, type A: and then run the program XCINSTAL.  If you are
installing to the backup disk, select only C (select Comm port) and D
(update Data files) from the main menu.  If you are installing from one
floppy drive to another, follow the instructions below for hard disk
installation except substitute the appropriate drive letters (usually B:
instead of C:).

     After entering the appropriate comm port, the program will ask
whether your printer supports a line drawing set.  Press Y or N as
appropriate.  Both XControl and XCEdit will use line drawing characters
for formatting printed output if your printer has the capability.  If
not, the programs will use standard ASCII characters such as -, |, and
+.

     The data file installation will require your location, either by
entry of your  latitude and longitude or by selection of your state and
city from a list.  It also needs to know whether your area observes
daylight saving time and, if so, when it starts and ends.  For areas
observing the Federal Daylight Saving Time, it will start on the first
Sunday in April and end on the last Sunday in October (choice no. 1 from
the menu.)  The installation program will then calculate the sunrise and
sunset time for each day of the year for your location.  It will be
accurate to about 5 minutes, excluding errors such as result from a
nearby mountain range delaying sunrise or speeding sunset.  I have found
this to be sufficiently accurate for turning lights on and off to give
my house a lived-in appearance.

     If your area does observe daylight saving time, you will need to
run the XCInstall program each year sometime between January 1 and the
first day of daylight saving time.  Otherwise, you will have a few days
at the beginning and end of daylight saving time where XControl is an
hour different than your clocks.

                     INSTALLATION - HARD DISK SYSTEMS

     To install the program onto a hard drive, insert the distribution
disk (or better, a backup copy of the distribution disk) into the A:
drive, type A: and then run the program XCINSTAL.  The program will
prompt you for the necessary information.  From the main menu, select A
for all.

     For an initial installation, it will need to know what drive and
directory you wish to use for both source and destination.  It will ask
for confirmation of drives and will then copy the program files to the
destination disk and directory.

     After entering the appropriate comm port, the program will ask
whether your printer supports a line drawing set.  Press Y or N as
appropriate.  Both XControl and XCEdit will use line drawing characters
for formatting printed output if your printer has the capability.  If
not, the programs will use standard ASCII characters such as -, |, and
+.

     The data file installation will require your location, either by
entry of your  latitude and longitude or by selection of your state and
city from a list.  It also needs to know whether your area observes
daylight saving time and, if so, when it starts and ends.  For areas
observing the Federal Daylight Saving Time, it will start on the first
Sunday in April and end on the last Sunday in October (choice no. 1 from
the menu.)  The installation program will then calculate the sunrise and
sunset time for each day of the year for your location.  It will be
accurate to about 5 minutes, excluding errors such as result from a
nearby mountain range delaying sunrise or speeding sunset.  I have found
this to be sufficiently accurate for turning lights on and off to give
my house a lived-in appearance.

     If your area does observe daylight saving time, you will need to
run the XCInstall program each year sometime between January 1 and the
first day of daylight saving time.  Otherwise, you will have a few days
at the beginning and end of daylight saving time where XControl is an
hour different than your clocks.

                     CREATING A SCHEDULE FILE

     The default schedule file name is SCHEDULE.DAT.  You may copy a
sample by that name from the distribution disk, or you may begin from
scratch.  Run the program XCEdit to create and/or modify the schedule
file.  Select Add to program an event.  I keep my schedule file sorted
by adding new lines at specific line numbers, but you may just press
RETURN instead of specifying a line number, this will add a new line at
the end of the file.

     You will get a formatted entry screen.  The cursor keys, tab and
backtab keys may be used to move from field to field.  It does not
matter whether you use upper or lower case letters, the program will
make all input lower case except that the initial character of each
field will be set to upper case.  Press RETURN only when you have filled
all of the fields you intend to use, this will cause the program to
examine all of your input and accept it or issue an error message(s) and
ask you to correct the input data.  Most fields are self explanatory,
but a couple are described here.

     Function may be On, Off or Dim.  The DIM field is used only if the
function is Dim; it is a number between 0 and 15 specifying the
brightness of the lamp.  0 is off, 15 is full brightness.

          Time must be entered in the format hh:mm.  You may use a
     space or a zero in the first column for single digit hours,
     but you must use a zero for single digit minutes.  For
     example, 05:07 and  5:07 are both valid, but  5:7 is not.

          Mode may be Regular or Security (simply R or S is a
     sufficient entry.)  Security mode sets the event to occur at a
     random time sometime during the specified hour.  The minutes
     are ignored for the security mode, but must be entered anyway.

          Days are specified by filling one column for each day of
     the week desired.  You may enter "M W F" for Monday, Wednesday
     and Friday, or you may use x's for each day.  "X X X" does the
     same job as "M W F".

          The Months field may be used to limit the event to
     specific months.  Simply enter the first and last months by
     using the first three letters of each, with a - (dash) in
     between.  For example, Oct-Mar will cause the event to be
     scheduled only between October and March, inclusive.

     The Time Limit field may be used to indicate a limiting time
     to prevent a variable time from varying too far.  A < sign
     denotes that the following time is the latest time that may be
     programmed, but that it will be programmed. For example, <
     4:40 indicates that the event will occur no later than 4:40.
     A > sign denotes that the following time is the limit after
     which the event should not be programmed at all.  For example,
     an entry of > 7:00 (AM) would mean that if the sunrise is
     sufficiently late that a light would be turned on after 7:00,
     it will not be turned on at all.  At present, there is no
     corresponding initial limit, but this feature is planned for a
     future update.



                    RUNNING THE XCONTROL PROGRAM

     Simply type XCONTROL to run the program.  You will get a menu of
possible functions.  Alternatively, you may specify any single function
letter from the command line.  In this case, the menu is bypassed and
the function will be performed (assuming that it is a function requiring
no further input) and the program will terminate.  This feature was
primarily done to enable the L (load) function to be performed from a
batch file.  If no function is specified on the command line, the menu
will be presented.  At the completion of any function, the menu will
return.
     The XControl program reads three data files and uses the
information from them to download a set of event programs to a
Powerhouse X10 (TM) controller.  The data files are XCONTROL.INI,
SUNRISE.DAT and SCHEDULE.DAT.

     The XCONTROL.INI file just contains the COM port number and a flag
indicating whether your printer supports the line drawing set.  This
file is created by the XCInstal program during initial installation.

     The SUNRISE.DAT file contains the approximate sunrise and sunset
times.  This file is also created by the XCINSTAL program.

     The SCHEDULE.DAT file contains the list of events that you wish to
have programmed in the X10 controller. The events are stored in the
controller by line number of the file, not by unit number.  However, the
XControl program will clear all events not listed in the file.  The
SCHEDULE.DAT file may be updated by using the XCEDIT program.  Other
filenames may be used if desired.  (I use a separate file called
VACATION.DAT for the Christmas holiday season.)

     The XControl program updates the events which are scheduled based
on sunrise or sunset whenever the L (load controller) function is used.
It is not a memory resident program that will automatically update the
times.  I find that running it about once a week is adequate.  You don't
need to revise the schedule file, just type XCONTROL L daily, weekly or
whenever you wish.

     The format of the schedule file is provided for those who wish to
use another editor, you don't need to worry about it if you plan on
using the XCEdit program to maintain your schedule file(s).  The format
is as follows.



Column  1 contains the housecode of the device to be programmed. This
             must be a letter in the range of A to P.

Column  2 should be blank.

Columns 3-4 contain the unit code of the device to be programmed.

Columns 5-30 are a description of the unit to be programmed.

Columns 31-33 are the function code.  ON, OFF and D (dim) are the
             allowed codes.  If D is entered, it must be followed by a
             number from 0 to 15 representing the desired brightness
             level.  0 is full dim, or off; while 15 is fully bright.

Column  34 should be blank.

Columns 35-39 are the time to be programmed.  Two formats are possible.
             The first format is HH:MM, where HH is the hour (1-12) and
             must have a leading space if both columns are not used. The
             minutes may be 00 to 59.
             The second format is SR+MM, where SR may be used to
             indicate sunrise or SS may be used for sunset.  The +
             indicates that the minutes following are to be added to the
             sunrise or sunset time, while a - would subtract the
             minutes from the sunrise or sunset.  The minutes in this
             case may vary from 00 to 99.  For example, SR+15 would
             indicate 15 minutes after sunrise.

Column  40 should be blank.

Columns 41-42 must be either AM or PM.

Column  43 is blank.

Columns 44-49 may be used to indicate a limiting time to prevent a
             variable time from varying too far.  A < sign denotes that
             the time in columns 45-49 is the latest time that may be
             programmed, but that it will be programmed. For example, <
             4:40 indicates that the event will occur no later than
             4:40.  A > sign denotes that the time in columns 45-49 is
             the limit after which the event should not be programmed at
             all.  For example, an entry of > 7:00 (AM) would mean that
             if the sunrise is sufficiently late that a light would be
             turned on after 7:00, it will not be turned on at all.

Column  50 is blank.

Columns 51-59 are the mode.  Allowable entries are REGULAR, SECURITY, or
             blank.  A blank mode will clear the event in the X10
             controller.

Column  60 is blank.

Columns 61-67 are the days.  Column 61 is M for Monday if the event is
             to be scheduled, otherwise it is blank.  Similarly, columns
             62-67  contain T W T F S S or blanks.  Since it is the
             position of the character which is important, not its
             value, the use of T for both Tuesday and Thursday is not a
             problem.  Similarly with the letter S.  When using the
             XCEDIT program to add or revise an event, you may simply
             enter an X in the columns desired.  The XCEDIT program will
             put the proper letters in the output file.

Column  68 is blank.

Columns 69-77 may be used to limit the event to particular months.
             Examples are: DEC-DEC would only be programmed during
             December.  APR-JUN would be programmed during April through
             June.  OCT-FEB would be programmed during October through
             December AND January through February.



     It is critical that every line in the file be EXACTLY 77 characters
long.  The program WILL NOT operate correctly with any other line
length.  The file is an ASCII file and may be modified with any word
processor that will allow keeping the fixed length lines.  However, use
of the XCEdit program will be the most convenient method of updating the
schedule files.


     I hope that this program is useful to you.  If you have any
questions or suggested improvements, please let me know.



                                                William L. Sexauer

                                                15548 SE 175th Ct.

                                                Renton,Washington, 98058

                                                [phone]