Re: Newbie Question

[nigelgiddings]

Stuart,

Thanks for taking the time out to do this...

Well I have spent the last hour or so working with xAP with various
levels of success.

I am installing the xAP apps on my HA Server (Win2K), which is also
running Homeseer. Having worked out how to install xAP Hub (GUI) and
xAP Message Viewer (its been a long time since I had to manully
install something into a folder) xAP Hub shows xAP Message Viewer and
xAP Message Viewer is showing the heartbeats. Great !

I also downloaded and installed xAP Send. Nice to install as its
packaged... However, with no operational documentation I cannot work
out how to use it...

I then installed xAP eMail Monitor (Console) and again I am lost... I
managed to send one of the 'Pre-Set' messages which showed up in xAP
Message Viewer and xAP Hub for a short time, which appears correct...

Now its just a case of finding an app that will add value to my
install...

Thanks

Nigel

--- In <a
href="/group/xap_automation/post?postID=300CRtyJdb3diwbtvNCx7b9r8LP8FJQRiX1SPeKFF2zuVAtQH8ogJoiLBPk9o3AyxeEdTl8syMn_pMxZaTjHJDH7bkpFGS4d7w">xap_automation@xxxxxxx</a>,
Stuart Booth <lists@x> wrote:
> On Tue, 18 May 2004 22:24:21 +0100, "Nigel Giddings"
> <nigel.giddings@u...> wrote:
>
> >Another 'Newbie' here who has caught the xAP bug at UKHA2004 but
is
> >having difficulty getting started.
> >
> >Can I make a suggestion, could someone from the xAP group work
with a
> >group of 'Newbies' on some sort of simple install of the
basic 'Hub' and
> >a representative list of Apps that give us confidence to deal with
the
> >more detailed stuff later...
>
> *** STEP 1
>
> There's a bit of an article on xAP Hubs to be found here:
>
> <<a href="http://www.xapframework.net/modules.php?";>http://www.xapframework.net/modules.php?</a>
name=Sections&amp;op=viewarticle&amp;artid=7>
>
> It talks about the xAPFramework-based hubs though, so mainly Windows
> only at this time (one of these days I'll find a crack of time to
> explore Linux some more). There are others for Linux too, of which
> Patrick can describe in more detail.
>
> One thing worth knowing is that whilst a hub is essential to run
> multiple xAPplications on the same machine, many xAPplications can
> provide hub duties automatically. So you can just start one, any
one,,
> it'll detect that the lack of presence of a full xAP Hub and assume
> the role for itself. All xAPFramework-based applications have this
> ability built-in. You can customise this too, but that's another
topic
> for another day - and one that nobody has ever asked me about so I
> guess it's unimportant at this stage.
>
> Anyway, it's probably good to have a dedicated Hub without a lot of
> fluff built on top. That's why my own comes in 3 flavours; console
> mode, Windows Service and with a pretty GUI.
>
> *** STEP 2
>
> Personally speaking I'd suggest then moving onto something such as
my
> xAP Message Viewer application. This seems like a quite useful tool
to
> see what's going on and follow the interactions of various
> xAPplications and xAP-talking devices.
>
> You'll find lots of words and pretty pictures here:
>
> <<a href="http://www.xapframework.net/modules.php?";>http://www.xapframework.net/modules.php?</a>
name=Sections&amp;op=viewarticle&amp;artid=8>
>
> With these 2 apps running you should see them hearing each other,
> rather than directly talking to each other.
>
> *** STEP 3
>
> I guess Step 3 would be to actually send a xAP message of your own
to
> check everything is working fine. There are a couple of Send type
apps
> that take xAP messages from simple text files and send them off into
> the xAP network.
>
> These are useful not only for debugging and demonstrations, but you
> can hook these into other applications that provide command line
> execution hooks. E.g. you might be able to invoke another
application
> upon some event. Here you could predefine a xAP message as a text
file
> where native xAP support isn't (yet) present, and invoke a send
> application with that file as a parameter.
>
> Or you may just want to initiate something such as turning a light
off
> via X10 or whatever, by 2x clicking a file on your desktop.
>
> Patrick has a version of this, and mine is available from this page:
>
> <<a href="http://www.xapframework.net/modules.php?";>http://www.xapframework.net/modules.php?</a>
name=Downloads&amp;d_op=viewdownload&amp;cid=4>
>
> My version is Windows only (unless somebody fancies giving it a go
> with Mono on Linux. Anyone?) and comes packaged as a Windows
Installer
> file that automatically associates itself with .xap files. There is
a
> ton of example messages contained within a "Sample Messages"
folder
> upon installation.
>
> SUMMARY
>
> So now you should be seeing Hub and Viewer, each aware of each
other,
> and also have the ability to send messages. You'll be able to see
them
> arrive at Hub, be forwarded onto client applications (ie Viewer),
and
> be able to see a new node appear in the Viewer display.
>
> I find Viewer fantastically useful for xAP network monitoring. There
> were some truly impressive xAP node-network displays to be seen at
> UKHA2004 for instance, stuff waaaaayyyy more detailed than I've ever
> personally seen before.
>
> It's unlikely that the GUI xAP Hub application will see much
> enhancement as it starts to become kitchen-sink and unneeded. But
> Viewer has a whole series of upgrades planned when I can find the
> time.
>
> Hopefully this gives a tiny bit of a feel for xAP. Ask away and
> somebody can answer in more detail on various topics. I'm thinking
> that if we waffle about the topics here then I can take the text and
> use it as the basis for some web site articles. As much as I waffle
in
> emails, I don't find writing documentation to be particularly
> interesting. It looks like I'm not alone! :)
>
> HTH,
>
> S
> --
> Stuart Booth <stuart@x...>
> xAPFramework.net - a xAP software development framework for .net
>
> <a href="http://www.xapautomation.org/";>http://www.xapautomation.org/</a>
<a href="http://www.xapframework.net/";>http://www.xapframework.net/</a>