Re: Web programming advice needed (for Polaron)

["PatrickLidstone" <patrick@xxxxxxx>]

--- In ukha_d@y..., "Timothy Morris" <timothy.morris@i...>
wrote:
> I've been thinking about this during the night (didn't sleep too 
well)
> Maybe I'm taking on a task which is beyond my abilities, I've done
some
> VBA programming in the past, and my first job was working for an
ICL
> systems house as a systems integrator.
> 
> The only disadvantage of the polaron system, is that when a button
is
> pressed the serial interface doesn't report it, but you can query 
the
> status of a channel as often as you like.
> 
> You'll probably see where I'm going now. How difficult would it be
to
> write an autom8it plug in for it? Can Windows scripting send ascii
text
> to the serial port?
> 
> The "simple protocol" can be downloaded from here:
> 
> http://www.polaron-group.co.uk/controls/protocol.html
> 
> While I'm currently in the minority of one running this hardware, I
know
> of two other UKHA members who are considering the stuff (you are 
both
> welcome to pop round and have a look once I've moved in on the
15th
> BTW!). I did send a pdf of the dimmer panel manual to our beloved 
leader
> and his response was "Looks a quality piece of kit!" It
isn't cheap
> though and like the fellow city chap that was featured on CH4 this
week
> I ended up going WAY over budget (7 grand on lighting and 3 on 
curtains
> and blinds).

What you need, I think Tim, is a xAP connector for Polaron (which 
doesn't exist yet, but isn't too difficult to create). This can be 
combined with the html/cache engine to provide:

(a) ability to generate any polaron command from a standard html page 

(b) ability to see current status of any device (whether reported or 
simply remembered) 

(c) allow the above functionality to be embedded in variety of page 
styles for different device formats -- although these are not 
reformatted automatically, and have to be maintained in parallel.

I imagine homeautomator would also be able to do something similar.

Patrick



http://www.automatedhome.co.uk
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