MAX! HOME AUTOMATION
version 4.9
by Dmitry A. Kazakov

(mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de)
[Home]

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.


MAX! home automation is a GTK+ application to manage ELV/eQ-3 MAX! cubes. A cube is a gateway to a network of radiator thermostats, shutter contacts etc. The application provides:

      ARM Intel
Download MAX! home automation Platform:     v7 64- 32bit
Fedora packages fedora      precompiled and packaged using RPM     [Download page] [Download page] [Download page] [Download page]
CentOS packages CentOS   precompiled and packaged using RPM         [Download page] [Download page]
Debian packages Debian   precompiled and packaged for dpkg   [Download page] [Download page] [Download page] [Download page]
Ubuntu packages Ubuntu   precompiled and packaged for dpkg   [Download page] [Download page] [Download page] [Download page]
Windows installer     max_home_automation_setup_4_9.exe (dual installer for 32- and 64-bit Windows versions)   [Download]
Source distribution (any platform)   max_home_automation_4_9.tgz (tar + gzip, Windows users may use WinZip)   [Download]

See also the changes log.

The application is based on the ELV/eQ-3 cube client protocol stack implementation. The stack is distributed under the GM GPL license and is free to use independently on this application.


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1. Use

When the application starts is scans the local area network (LAN) for connected MAX! cubes. Once a cube is found the radio network topology is shown on the overview pane.

1.1. Overview pane

 overview

Depending on the LAN configuration it could be impossible to find the cube. In that case the address of a MAX! cube can be entered manually after pressing the button add cube. Note the bar near the cube address. It indicates the amount of 868 MHz radio traffic used by the cube. The traffic is limited. When the limit is exhausted the cube stops transmitting commands controlling the thermostats. The limit is reset each hour. Other participants, e.g. the thermostats, will continue sending their data back to the cube.

The second column contains the measured temperature. The third column contains the set temperature. The measured temperature is not always known. The rightmost column contains the time stamp of the latest known temperature as reported by the device. For forcing measured temperature reports from the thermostat using see scanning temperatures below.

The device state pictograms indicated right of the battery charge status have the following meaning:

link The device is operating properly
no link The device has a link error. The devices in the same room are linked to each other. For example, when a shutter contact is open it turns all radiator thermostats linked to it into the airing mode. When a device has a link error it cannot properly respond to or control other devices. Usually this is a result of some configuration problem. Fixing it may require deleting the device and pairing it again
error link The device is in an error state
error no link The device is in an error state and has a link error

 When at least one thermostat is selected its operating mode can be changed in the combo box:

thermostat mode

Additional parameters like vacation end time and set temperature appear. The mode is changed by pressing the mode set button set thermostat mode. Note that the cube performs mode change asynchronously. It could take a considerable time before the thermostat reacts to a mode change. While doing that the cube continues to report the previous operation mode. When the thermostat ultimately changes the mode and the cube becomes aware of that, the actual mode gets reflected on the overview panel.

For the wall mounted thermostat you can additionally set its display to indicate either the measured or set (current scheduled) temperature. Like mode settings the operation is performed asynchronously. There is no indication of the current mode. In order to control the effect you must inspect the corresponding wall thermostat and compare the indicated value with the values on the overview pane.

It is possible to select more than one thermostat in order to set them all. In particular, to select all thermostats of a cube or in a room, click on the corresponding row using the right mouse button:

and choose select thermostats.

If you use some thermostat settings frequently, you can define a shortcut button for the purpose. The shortcut button thermostat settings are kept in the configuration and need not to be same for all thermostats.

1.2. Thermostat settings pane

The thermostat settings and time schedule is shown when the configure device button set thermostat schedule is clicked:

thermostat schedule

For each week day you can define thermostat temperatures, maximum up to 13 points per day. Each point defines the temperature and the time until the thermostat must keep that temperature. The last point is held to the end of the day. The time resolution is 5 minutes. The temperature resolution is 5 Centigrade.

The day schedule points are automatically sorted according to the time column. If you have to insert a new point enter it into any unused row. Multiple points can be copied. The whole week schedule can be taken from another thermostat when the copy from button copy thermostat schedule is pressed:

select thermostat

A week thermostat schedule can be written into and read from a file. The file format is portable across supported operating systems.

1.3. Trace pane

The trace pane indicated the exchange with the cube and other network parties (e.g. SMTP server):

trace

Tracing can be additionally directed to a file. Buttons clear/stop/start control only tracing into the pane. Tracing into the file, when enabled, continues uninterrupted. When the checkbox append is checked the trace file is appended upon application start. Otherwise, the file is overwritten.

1.4. Graphs and monitor panes

The graphs page contains one pane per room. A room's pane has stacked oscilloscopes one per thermostat indicating the measured room temperature (red), the valve position (yellow) if the thermostat is a radiator thermostat. The gray curve is the set temperature plus thermostat offset, the value used by control the heater. Adding the offset can be disabled on the settings pane.

graphs

The temperature scaling is automatic by default. It can be set to fixed on the settings pane.

The monitor pane shows the overview of rooms heating. It has a graph per each room stacked upon each other. If the room has a wall-mounted thermostat then the temperature reported by the thermostat is shown (red and other colors). If there is no wall-mounted thermostats in the room then temperatures of radiator thermostats are shown instead. The averaged position of radiator thermostat valves is shown yellow.

1.5. Scanning temperatures measured by radiator thermostat

The application deploys a technique forcing radiator thermostats to report measured temperatures. A radiator thermostat installed in the room managed by a wall-mounted thermostat reports the temperature measured by the wall-mounted thermostat instead of its own temperature. When installed in an unmanaged room with no wall-mounted thermostats a radiator thermostat reports its own measured temperature but only when either its valve position is changed or its operating mode is. For such "unmanaged" thermostats the application temporarily alters the thermostat mode from automatic to manual or conversely, when there no recent measured temperature known. As soon as the thermostat refreshes the measured temperature it is switched back to the original mode.

The following parameters on the settings page control this scanning behavior:

1.6. Cube discovery

The application's setting pane controls the method cubes are discovered and connected.

1.7. Saving and restoring thermostat configurations

When a cube is selected rooms, devices and configurations of all its radiator thermostats can be stored into and restored from a file. Use the button shown on the figure below in order to backup the actual configuration:

save configuration

The items saved are:

In order to restore a stored configuration, select a cube and press the button shown below:

restore configuration

You will be prompted to select the configuration file. Upon successful file selection the restoring configuration pane is shown:

restore topology

It has two tabs on the right. The tab shown on the figure above is used to restore the cube topology. The topology describes rooms and devices. The configuration read from the file is matched against the actual cube topology. The topology from the file is shown on the pane. There you see the rooms and devices on the left and the actions required to restore it on the right. The check boxes allow masking undesired actions. Press the button start restoring in order to start restoring the topology. When a device is missing a pairing dialog will appear in order to add the device. The dialog will indicate the address, name and the room of the missing device.

The lower tab on the right is used to restore the configuration of the thermostats:

restore thermostat

Upon reading the file application tries to match addresses or names of the saved thermostats with the addresses and names of existing thermostats. The match is shown in the column get from. This column contains combo-boxes where another source thermostat or no thermostat can be selected. When no thermostat address is selected in the combo box, the existing thermostat's configuration is preserved. Additionally the items to restore can be selected in the check boxes below.

Notices

  1. If you have problem with a cube losing its configuration, note that this does not influence the devices. They will keep their configurations. Thus once you have restored the topology there is no need to restore device configurations.
  2. On the other hand, if you have a defect thermostat you want to replace. Then you can use the saved configuration of the old thermostat to configure the new one. Use the combo box in the column get from as described above.
  3. Restoring configurations of many thermostats requires much of radio traffic. When the traffic limit is exhausted the cube stops accepting further commands. The bar at the cube address will show 100% and an exclamation sign will appear. After that an hour is required to wait until restoring can be continued. Successfully restored thermostat configurations are skipped. The retry button starts failed configuration over again.

1.8. Pairing devices and creating rooms

In order to use devices with a cube they must be paired with it. To start pairing select a cube in the list and press the button pair button:

begin pairing

This will bring the pairing dialog up:

pairing

The dialog shows detected devices and the progress bar indicating when the cube will leave the pairing mode. To be found a device must be also in the pairing mode. Usually pairing of a device is activated by pressing a certain button for a few seconds. Please, refer to the device documentation. Multiple devices can be paired at once and brought in the same room. When the cube leaves pairing mode, discovered devices can be either added or discarded. You can also repeat pairing to find other devices in the room. The cube will leave the pairing mode when the progress bar runs full. You can also stop it prematurely by pressing the Stop button.

add device

The names of discovered devices as set in the Name edit field. The room for the devices is selected from the list box at the bottom of the dialog. When it must be a new room, the room name is entered into the Room edit field. Note that an eco switch button is placed outside any rooms.

When found devices are rejected they are deleted from the cube. It is can be a lengthy process that could potentially take several minutes. Eventually the cube will drop these devices and you will be able to pair them again.

1.9. Deleting devices and rooms

In order to delete a device or a room, select it and then press the delete button:

delete device

When a room is deleted all devices in the room are deleted as well. Deleting a device does not influence its settings. E.g. the schedule and valve parameters of a thermostat are kept intact.

Deleting a device could take up to several minutes. During that the deleted devices become orphaned. The cube considers them paired. Until they are finally disconnected they cannot be paired again. If there are orphaned devices the symbol and button faulty devices is shown. When pressed it brings up a dialog with the list of orphaned and faulty devices. Faulty devices from the list can be deleted. The time required to delete a device can be reduced using the following method. Start pairing pressing pair button button. Then bring the device being deleted into the pairing mode:

pairing

Wait a few seconds and cancel pairing. Now the device must disappear from the list of orphaned devices.

1.10. Resetting the cube

In order to delete all rooms and all devices of a cube select the cube and then press the button reset:

reset

After this you will have to pair all devices and create all rooms new. Note that the device settings are retained as they are kept outside the cube.

1.11. Interaction with the ELV MAX! software

The MAX! home automation understands changes to the cube made by the ELV MAX! software. If you add, configure, remove devices using ELV MAX! software the changes will be automatically accommodated by MAX! home automation. The reverse is not true. Changes made in MAX! home automation may disrupt functioning ELV MAX! software. If you plan to continue using ELV MAX! software you can make it aware of the changes by pressing the button max. This will back up the current ELV MAX! settings and write the ones corresponding to the actual state.

1.12. Preset buttons

The settings pane used to set up the shortcut buttons is shown below:

Each column corresponds to a button. The button when pressed switches the selected thermostats into the specified modes. The thermostat mode can be one of:

When at least one thermostat in the column is configured, the button corresponding appears on the main pane. The button name can be changed in the row at the bottom of the pane.


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2. HTTP automation (REST API)

The application has an integrated HTTP server than can be used to control the connected cubes. The server is disabled by default. It can be enabled through the settings pane. The HTTP server port can be set to a value different from the standard 80, when it is already used. The server supports the HTTP GET requests described below:

2.1. Querying a device status

http://<max-home-automation>/get-status?cube=<address>[&device=<address>]

Here <max-home-automation> is the name or IP-address of the server. <address> is the RF address (hexadecimal) of the cube and the device correspondingly. For example, assuming accessing the server at the localhost:

http://127.0.0.1/get-status?cube=0BB8F0&device=10A40C

The server response describes the current device status in textual format. Its components depend on the device type. When device address is absent the response lists statuses of all devices controlled by the cube. Individual parts of the status can be queried by the following queries:

http://<max-home-automation>/get-status-json?cube=<address>[&device=<address>]

This query is analogous to get-status except that it reports the status of a device or of all available devices in the JSON parser format.

http://<max-home-automation>/get-status-csv?cube=<address>[&device=<address>]

This query is analogous to get-status except that it reports the status of a device or of all available devices in the CSV format. The output contains one line for each device. The line has the following fields separated by semicolon, all fields except the last one are numeric:

No. Value Values
1 The device type
Device Value
cube 0
radiator thermostat 1
radiator thermostat plus 2
wall thermostat 3
shutter contact 4
eco button 5
unknown 6
2 The device RF address, hexadecimal 000000..FFFFFF
3 The device error 0..1
4 Device initialized 0..1
5 Battery low 0..1
6 Error 0..1
7 Panel locked 0..1
8 Gateway known 0..1
9 Day saving time 0..1
10 Mode
Mode Value
automatic 0
manual 1
boost 2
vacation 3
11 Set temperature  
12 New temperature  
13 Valve position 0..100
14 Actual temperature 0 if not known
15 Open (shutter contact) 0..1
16 Offset (thermostat)  
17 Serial number KEQ0828854
18 Device name Thermostat 1

http://<max-home-automation>/get-battery?cube=<address>&device=<address>

This query is responded with the current battery level of a device. The returned value is high or low.

http://<max-home-automation>/get-cubes-list

This query is responded with the list of RF addresses of the known cubes separated by spaces.

http://<max-home-automation>/get-cubes-json-list

This query is responded with the list of RF addresses of the known cubes in JSON format.

http://<max-home-automation>/get-duty?cube=<address>

This query is responded with the current value of the cube's duty cycle in percent. When the value reaches 100% the cube stops using its radio frequency for an hour.

http://<max-home-automation>/get-link?cube=<address>&device=<address>

This query is responded with the radio link of a device. The returned value is error or ok.

http://<max-home-automation>/get-mode?cube=<address>&device=<address>

This query is responded with the current mode of a thermostat. The returned values are automatic, manual, boots, vacation.

http://<max-home-automation>/get-rooms-list?cube=<address>

This query is responded with the list of rooms per line. For each room the corresponding line of the response contains the list of space separated RF-addresses of the devices in  the room, followed by the room ID and name. The room ID is introduced by dash (#), the name is by minus (-). For example:

0B76D4 0CB6E2 #1 - Small room on the left
0B7E19 0C9809 0CB7FF #2 - Bedroom
0B76DA 0C9E44 0CB003 17EE29 #3 - Recreation room
0C8EA2 0CA489 0CB6D6 10A40C #4 - Big room on the right
050F6D 12F4E0 #5 - Bathroom

http://<max-home-automation>/get-rooms-json-list?cube=<address>

This query is responded with the list of rooms in JSON format. For each room the response contains the room name, the room ID and the list of RF-addresses of the devices in  the room.

http://<max-home-automation>/get-temperature?cube=<address>&device=<address>

This query is responded with the current temperature measured by a wall-mounted thermostat in Centigrade.

http://<max-home-automation>/get-set-temperature?cube=<address>&device=<address>

This query is responded with the current set temperature of a thermostat in Centigrade.

http://<max-home-automation>/get-summer-time?cube=<address>&device=<address>

This query is responded with the device summer time settings. The returned value is yes or no.

http://<max-home-automation>/get-valve?cube=<address>&device=<address>

This query is responded with the current valve position of a radiator thermostat 0-100%. The value 100% corresponds to the fully opened valve.

http://<max-home-automation>/get-valve-average?cube=<address>

This query is responded with the average valve position of radiator thermostats handled by the cube.

http://<max-home-automation>/get-valve-min?cube=<address>

This query is responded with the minimum valve position of all radiator thermostats handled by the cube.

http://<max-home-automation>/get-valve-max?cube=<address>

This query is responded with the maximum valve position of all radiator thermostats handled by the cube.

2.2. Setting thermostats into automatic mode

http://<max-home-automation>/set-automatic?cube=<address>[&device=<address>]

or

http://<max-home-automation>/set-automatic?cube=<address>[&device=<address>]&{temperature[+|-]=<value>|airing|comfort|eco}

For example:

http://127.0.0.1/set-automatic?cube=0BB8F0&device=10A40C

The temperature is specified by the parameter <value>. It can be a relative or absolute value. For example an absolute temperature specification:

http://127.0.0.1/set-automatic?cube=0BB8F0&device=10A40C&temperature=18.5

Here the thermostat 10A40C is set to keep 18.5 Centigrade until the next time interval, when it returns to the schedule. The following is a example of setting the temperature relative to the current one:

http://127.0.0.1/set-automatic?cube=0BB8F0&device=10A40C&temperature+=0.5

In this example  the temperature is incremented by 0.5 Centigrade.

Additionally one of the following keywords can be used for the temperature:

The following request sets airing temperature:

http://127.0.0.1/set-automatic?cube=0BB8F0&device=10A40C&airing

The field device=<address> can be omitted. In this case the command applies to all thermostats, e.g.

http://127.0.0.1/set-automatic?cube=0BB8F0&eco

Here all thermostats set to the corresponding eco temperature (until the next time slice in the schedule).

2.3. Setting thermostats into boost mode

http://<max-home-automation>/set-boost?cube=<address>[&device=<address>]

For example:

http://127.0.0.1/set-boost?cube=0BB8F0&device=10A40C

2.4. Setting thermostats into manual mode

http://<max-home-automation>/set-manual?cube=<address>[&device=<address>]&{temperature[+|-]=<value>|airing|comfort|eco}

The temperature is specified by the parameter <value>. It can be a relative or absolute value. For example an absolute temperature specification:

http://127.0.0.1/set-manual?cube=0BB8F0&device=10A40C&temperature=18.5

Here the thermostat 10A40C is set to keep 18.5 Centigrade. The following is a example of setting the temperature relative to the current one:

http://127.0.0.1/set-manual?cube=0BB8F0&device=10A40C&temperature+=0.5

In this example the temperature is incremented by 0.5 Centigrade.

2.5. Setting thermostats into vacation mode

http://<max-home-automation>/set-vacation?cube=<address>[&device=<address>]&{temperature[+|-]=<value>|airing|comfort|eco}&{weeks|days|hours|minutes}=<count>

For the vacation mode again the temperature can be specified relative or absolute. The vacation end time is given as a number <count> of weeks, days, hours or minutes. For example:

http://127.0.0.1/set-vacation?cube=0BB8F0&device=10A40C&temperature=16&days=2

Here the thermostat 10A40C is set to keep 16 Centigrade for two days. After that it will switch back into its previous mode.

2.6. Setting thermostat's schedule

http://<max-home-automation>/set-schedule?cube=<address>&device=<address>&schedule=<week-schedule>

The thermostat schedule in the following format (using Bacus-Naur forms):

<week-schedule> ::= <sub-schedule>[,<week-schedule>]
<sub-schedule> ::= <days-range>(<day-schedule>)
<days-range> ::= <week-day>|<week-day>..<week-day>
<week-day> ::= Mo|Tu|We|Th|Fr|Sa|Su
<day-schedule> ::= <temperature-point>[,day-schedule>]
<temperature-point> ::= <time>=<temperature>
<time> ::= <hour>[:<minute>]

Blank characters including LF and CR may appear between the elements. The value of <time> specifies the end time until the given temperature is to be held by the thermostat. The times must be specified in an ascending order. No more than 13 points are allowed per <day-schedule>. Week days and their ranges can appear in any order. They are case-insensitive. All days of the week must be covered. Here is an example of a schedule:

http://127.0.0.1/set-schedule?cube=0BB8F0&device=10A40C&schedule=Mo(17:00=20,18:30=21.5),Tu..Su(09:00=19.0,10:10=21.0,18:30=19.5)

2.7. Controlling cube connection

http://<max-home-automation>/disconnect?cube=<address>
http://<max-home-automation>/reconnect?cube=<address>

A cube can be disconnected and reconnected again using these two queries.

http://<max-home-automation>/get-connection?cube=<address>

This query returns connected or disconnected depending of the cube connection status.

http://<max-home-automation>/reboot?serial=<serial-no>

The cube is identified by its 10 characters long serial number, e.g. KEQ0828854.

2.8. Setting thermostat parameters

http://<max-home-automation>/set-eco-temperature?cube=<address>&device=<address>&temperature=<value>

A cube can be disconnected and reconnected again using these two queries.

http://127.0.0.1/set-eco-temperature?cube=0BB8F0&device=10A40C&temperature=16.5

In this example the eco temperature is set to 16.5 Centigrade.

2.9. Custom web page

Apart from the REST API described above, the integrated HTTP server supports custom web pages. A custom web page can be specified on the settings pane as UI HTTP page:

This feature can be used to design a custom user interface, e.g. a dashboard. The path to the file must refer a file that exists during run-time. The file may refer to other files (e.g. jpeg pictures etc) which also must exist in order to show the page properly. These files are not cached and always opened new at each HTTP client request.

There exist a great variety of tools and libraries for designing web-based dashboards. Any of them can be used, provided it would not require a special backend, e.g. a special HTTP server, database etc. Also it might be important to choose a self-contained tool that allows holding locally all files necessary for the page to function. Otherwise the dashboard will not work without internet access. For example, the sample dashboard represented below refers to an external site where the trial version of the widget library is hosted.

The following sample code represents a simple dashboard designed using FusionCharts library:

Here is the source code of the corresponding HTTP page (it deploys JavaScript):

File dashboard.html:
<html>
<head>
   <title>
Dashboard sample</title>
   <script type
="text/javascript" src="https://cdn.fusioncharts.com/fusioncharts/latest/fusioncharts.js"></script>
   <script type="text/javascript" src="https://cdn.fusioncharts.com/fusioncharts/latest/themes/fusioncharts.theme.fusion.js"></script>
   <script type="text/javascript">

var HttpClient = function ()
{
   this.get = function (URL, Callback)
   {
      var Request = new XMLHttpRequest ();
      Request.onreadystatechange = function ()
      {
         if (Request.readyState == 4 && Request.status == 200)
         {
            Callback (Request.responseText);
      }  }
      Request.open ("GET", URL, true);
      Request.send (null);
   }
}

var Client = new HttpClient ();
var Topology = {}; // The rooms map id->room data
var Actions  = []; // The queue of actions to perform
var Location = 0// Where to place a new widget

function Do_Room (Cube, Room)
{
   if (Topology [Cube] [Room].temperature.source == 0) return;
   Topology [Cube] [Room].temperature.widget =
      new FusionCharts
      (  {  type:       'thermometer',
            renderAt:   Topology [Cube] [Room].location,
            width:      240,
            height:     310,
            dataFormat: 'json',
            dataSource:
            { "chart":
               {  "caption":              Topology [Cube] [Room].name,
               // "subcaption":           "",
                  "lowerLimit":           0,
                  "upperLimit":           30,
                  "decimals":             1,
                  "numberSuffix":         "°C",
                  "showhovereffect":      1,
                  "thmFillColor":         "#008ee4",
                  "showGaugeBorder":      1,
                  "gaugeBorderColor":     "#008ee4",
                  "gaugeBorderThickness": 2,
                  "gaugeBorderAlpha":     30,
                  "gaugeFillColor":       "#008ee4",
                  "gaugeFillAlpha":       100,
                  "thmOriginX":           100,
                  "chartBottomMargin":    20,
                  "valueFontColor":       "#000000",
                  "showValue":            1,
                  "adjustTM":             1,
                  "ticksOnRight":         0,
                  "tickMarkDistance":     5,
                  "tickValueDistance":    2,
                  "majorTMNumber":        9,
                  "majorTMHeight":        12,
                  "minorTMNumber":        4,
                  "minorTMHeight":        7,
                  "tickValueStep":        2,
                  "valueFontSize":        46,
                  "valueFontBold":        1,
                  "ValuePadding":         35,
                  "valueFontColor":       "#808080",
                  "showhovereffect":      1,
                  "theme":                "fusion"
               },
               "value": 0,
          }  }
      );
}

function Refresh ()
{
   for (var Cube in Topology)
   {
      Client.get
      (  window.location.origin + '/get-status-json?cube=' + Cube,
         function (Response)
         {
            State = JSON.parse (Response);

            for (var Device in State.devices)
            {
               var Address = State.devices [Device].address;

               for (var Room in Topology [Cube])
               {
                  if (Topology [Cube] [Room].temperature.source == Address)
                  {
                     Topology [Cube] [Room].temperature.widget.feedData
                     (  "&value=" + State.devices [Device].temperature
                     );
         }  }  }  }
      );
   }
}

function Pump ()
{
   if (Actions.length > 0)
   {
      var This = Actions.pop ();

      This.Function (This.Cube, This.Room, This.Device);
      return;
   }
   for (var Cube in Topology)
   {
      for (var Room in Topology [Cube])
      {
         Do_Room (Cube, Room);
   }  }
   FusionCharts.ready
   (  function ()
      {
         for (var Cube in Topology)
         {
            for (var Room in Topology [Cube])
            {
               if (Topology [Cube] [Room].temperature.widget != null)
               {
                  Topology [Cube] [Room].temperature.widget.render ();
         }  }  }
         setInterval (Refresh, 1000);
      }
   );
}

function On_Device_Status (Response, Cube, Room, Device)
{
   var Status = JSON.parse (Response);

   if (Status.type == "wall thermostat")
   {
      Topology [Cube] [Room].temperature.source = Device;
      Topology [Cube] [Room].is_wall = true;
   }
   else if (Status.type == "radiator thermostat")
   {
      if (Topology [Cube] [Room].temperature.source == 0)
      {
         Topology [Cube] [Room].temperature.source = Device;
   }  }
   Pump ();
}

function On_Rooms_List (Response, Cube)
{
   var Rooms_List = JSON.parse (Response);

   for (var Room_No = 0; Room_No < Rooms_List.length; Room_No++)
   {
      var Room_ID = Rooms_List [Room_No].id;
      var At = Location;

      Location++;
      Topology [Cube] [Room_ID] =
      {  "name":         Rooms_List [Room_No].name,
         "id":           Room_ID,
         "location":     At.toString (10),
         "temperature":  {  "source":  0,
                            "is_wall": false,
                            "widget":  null
      }                  };
      forvar Device_No = 0;
             Device_No < Rooms_List [Room_No].devices.length;
             Device_No++
          )
      {
         var Device = Rooms_List [Room_No].devices [Device_No];

         Actions.push
         (  {  "Function":
               function (Cube, Room, Device)
               {
                  Client.get
                  (  window.location.origin   +
                     '/get-status-json?cube=' +
                     Cube                     +
                     '&device='               +
                     Device.toString (16),
                     function (Response)
                     {
                        On_Device_Status (Response, Cube, Room, Device);
                     }
                  );
               },
               "Cube":   Cube,
               "Room":   Room_ID,
               "Device": Device
            }
          );
   }  }
   Pump ();
}

function On_Cubes_List (Response)
{
   var Cubes_List = JSON.parse (Response);

   for (var Cube_No = 0; Cube_No < Cubes_List.length; Cube_No++)
   { // Query list of rooms
      var Cube = Cubes_List [Cube_No].toString (16);

      Topology [Cube] = {};
      Actions.push
      (  {  "Function" :
            function (Cube, Room, Device)
            {
               Client.get
               (  window.location.origin +
                  '/get-rooms-json-list?cube=' +
                  Cube.toString (16),
                  function (Response) { On_Rooms_List (Response, Cube); }
               );
            },
            "Cube" : Cube
         }
      );
   }
   Pump ();
}

Client.get (window.location.origin + '/get-cubes-json-list', On_Cubes_List);

   </script>
</head>
<body>
<table border
="0" width="100%">
   <tr>
      <td><div class
='chartCont' id='0'></div></td>
      <td><div class
='chartCont' id='1'></div></td>
      <td><div class
='chartCont' id='2'></div></td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
      <td><div class
='chartCont' id='3'></div></td>
      <td><div class
='chartCont' id='4'></div></td>
      <td><div class
='chartCont' id='5'></div></td>
   </tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>

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3. MQTT automation

The integrated MQTT server allows access and control of the cubes through the Message Queueing Telemetry Transport (MQTT). MQTT is an ISO standard (ISO/IEC PRF 20922) messaging protocol. By default the MQTT server is disabled. It is enabled through the settings pane.

3.1. Published topics

The server publishes data received from the cube as retained topics:

Topic Contents
<cube-address>/connection on, off
<cube-address>/duty 0.1
<cube-address>/eco button/<device-address>/battery low, high
<cube-address>/eco button/<device-address>/error ok, error
<cube-address>/eco button/<device-address>/initialized ok, uninitialized
<cube-address>/eco button/<device-address>/link ok, error
<cube-address>/eco button/<device-address>/panel locked locked, unlocked
<cube-address>/radiator thermostat/<device-address>/battery low, high
<cube-address>/radiator thermostat/<device-address>/error ok, error
<cube-address>/radiator thermostat/<device-address>/initialized ok, uninitialized
<cube-address>/radiator thermostat/<device-address>/link ok, error
<cube-address>/radiator thermostat/<device-address>/mode automatic, manual, boost, vacation
<cube-address>/radiator thermostat/<device-address>/panel locked locked, unlocked
<cube-address>/radiator thermostat/<device-address>/set temperature 19.0
<cube-address>/radiator thermostat/<device-address>/temperature 19.5
<cube-address>/radiator thermostat/<device-address>/valve 30
<cube-address>/shutter contact/<device-address>/battery low, high
<cube-address>/shutter contact/<device-address>/error ok, error
<cube-address>/shutter contact/<device-address>/initialized ok, uninitialized
<cube-address>/shutter contact/<device-address>/link ok, error
<cube-address>/shutter contact/<device-address>/panel locked locked, unlocked
<cube-address>/shutter contact/<device-address>/status open, close
<cube-address>/status/<device-address>/json the device status in JSON format, same as REST API get-status-json
<cube-address>/thermostat valves/average 50
<cube-address>/thermostat valves/max 70
<cube-address>/thermostat valves/min 30
<cube-address>/wall thermostat/<device-address>/battery low, high
<cube-address>/wall thermostat/<device-address>/error ok, error
<cube-address>/wall thermostat/<device-address>/initialized ok, uninitialized
<cube-address>/wall thermostat/<device-address>/link ok, error
<cube-address>/wall thermostat/<device-address>/mode automatic, manual, boost, vacation
<cube-address>/wall thermostat/<device-address>/panel locked locked, unlocked
<cube-address>/wall thermostat/<device-address>/set temperature 19.0
<cube-address>/wall thermostat/<device-address>/temperature 19.5

Here <cube-address> is the RF address (hexadecimal) of the cube. <device-address> is the RF address of the device. All topics are retained, that means a client may subscribe to them at any time and get the latest values of. The topic .../thermostat valves/average contains the average valve position of all cube's radiator thermostats. The topics .../thermostat valves/min and .../thermostat valves/max are correspondingly the minimum and maximum valve positions among cube's radiator thermostats.

3.2. Controlling thermostats

A thermostat can be controlled by publishing special topics on the server. The server does not propagate or retain these topics.

Topic Contents
<cube-address>/set[/<device-address>]/automatic [[+|-]<temperature>|airing|eco|comfort]
<cube-address>/set[/<device-address>]/boost -
<cube-address>/set/<device-address>/eco <temperature>
<cube-address>/set[/<device-address>]/manual [+|-]<temperature>|airing|eco|comfort
<cube-address>/set[/<device-address>]/mode {   automatic [[+|-]<temperature>|airing|eco|comfort]
| boost
| manual {[+|-]<temperature>|airing|eco|comfort}
| vacation {[+|-]<temperature>|airing|eco|comfort} <count>{weeks|days|hours|minutes}
}  
<cube-address>/set/<device-address>/schedule The thermostat schedule in the format described above
<cube-address>/set[/<device-address>]/vacation {[+|-]<temperature>|airing|eco|comfort} <count>{weeks|days|hours|minutes}

Here <cube-address> is the RF address (hexadecimal) of the cube. <device-address> is the RF address of the device, which must be a thermostat. When <device-address> is absent the command applies to all radiator thermostats. <temperature> is the temperature to set. When a sign is used the temperature is relative to the actual set value. <count> is the number of weeks, days, hours, minutes as specified. Additionally one of the following keywords can be used for the temperature:

3.3. Controlling cube connection

A cube can be disconnected and reconnecting by publishing special topics on the server. The server does not propagate or retain these topics.

Topic Contents
<cube-address>/disconnect -
<cube-address>/reconnect -
reboot The cube serial number 10 characters long, e.g. KEQ0821071

Here <cube-address> is the RF address (hexadecimal) of the cube.

3.4. Externally published topics

By default the MAX! home automation MQTT broker rejects client's attempts to publish any topics beyond ones to control the thermostats. This behavior can be changed on the settings pane by allowing MQTT publishing. Further the list of allowed topics can be specified. When the list is empty any topic can be published. Otherwise it contains a comma-separated list of MQTT topic patterns. A topic is published if it matches at least one item from the list.

MQTT publishing can be used together with Python scripting to connect external sensors connected to a MQTT client. The client can publish sensor readings as retained MQTT topics on the MAX! home automation MQTT broker. The Python script can read the published messages (see get_mqtt_message) and use the data for control.


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4. Logging into a database

The device data can be stored into a database, for example in order to accumulate long-term statistics. New data are logged only if changed. Repeating values are ignored.

4.1. Database configuration

The settings pane has database section allowing database configuration:

logging

ODBC and SQLite are supported interfaces.

4.1.1 ODBC

ODBC stands for Open Database Connectivity. The database configuration consists of:

The database may be located on a different computer and run under a different OS.

ODBC drivers are provided by the database vendors. Most commonly used databases support ODBC, e.g. Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, Oracle, Sybase, MySQL, PostgreSQL to name few.

4.1.2 SQLite

SQLite is a single-file database. All database is stored in the file which is usually located on the local file system. The database file name is all that has to be configured. When the file does not exist, it is automatically created.

4.2. The database structure

The data are stored into the table named datalog. The table has the following columns:

Name Type Contents
time_stamp String
 or
Timestamp
  • For SQLite the timestamp is a text in the format: 2017-02-18 14:00:30.12
  • For ODBC a database native timestamp type is used
address Integer The RF-address of the device
device_type Integer
Device Value
cube 0
radiator thermostat 1
radiator thermostat plus 2
wall thermostat 3
shutter contact 4
eco button 5
unknown 6
set_temperature Real The temperature kept by the thermostat
new_temperature Real The new temperature for the thermostat. It differs from the above if the thermostat is not yet aware of the change
is_temperature Real The actual room temperature
offset Real The temperature offset to add to the set-temperature. The result is used as the target by the thermostat
valve_position Integer 0..100. The value 100 corresponds to a fully open valve
contact_open Integer 0..1. The value 1 means open contact. This column is filled by window shutter contacts
error Integer 0..1. The value 1 means error
duty Integer 0..100. This column is filled by cube
slots Integer The number of free slots. This column is filled by cube
battery_low Integer 0..1
panel_locked Integer 0..1
current_mode  
Mode Value
automatic 0
manual 1
boost 2
vacation 3

The table is created automatically if does not exist. For ODBC data types of the columns are selected according to the capacities of the database management system (DBMS). If a column or columns are not defined or do not apply to the value is set to NULL. For example, when data of a shutter contact are stored, the set_temperature is written as NULL.


[Back][TOC][Next]

5. Scripting

5.1. Python scripting

Simple control tasks can be performed by providing a Python script to be called periodically. The script can access the application through the module elv_max_cube. The module is loaded as shown in the following example:

# Minimal controller script
import elv_max_cube
def controller (*args):
   elv_max_cube.trace ("Hello there!")

The settings pane has Python script settings:

Python script

Here the fields are:

5.2. Python module elv_max_cube

The following methods are provided by the module elv_max_cube:

disconnect
get_battery
get_connection
get_cubes_list
get_devices_list
get_duty
get_link
get_mode
get_mqtt_message
get_parameters
get_set_temperature
get_status
get_summer_time
get_temperature
get_valve
get_valve_statistic
publish_mqtt_message
reboot
reconnect
set_mode
trace

5.2.1. disconnect

elv_max_cube.disconnect (cube)

This method disconnects from the cube specified by the parameter cube which is the RF address of the cube. Note that the operation is asynchronous, the call only initiates disconnection. TypeError is raised when no such cube exists.

5.2.2. get_battery

elv_max_cube.get_battery (cube, device)

This method returns the battery state by the RF address of the cube and the RF address of the device. The result is 'high' or 'low'. TypeError is raised when no device was found or it has no battery. For example the following code lists battery state of a device:

elv_max_cube.trace ("Battery state: " + elv_max_cube.get_battery (0x0BB8F0, 0x0B76DA))

5.2.3. get_connection

elv_max_cube.get_connection (cube)

This method returns cube connection status. The parameter cube is the RF address of the cube. The result is one of 'connected', 'disconnected', 'unknown'. The string 'unknown' is returned when cube does not specify a known cube.

5.2.4. get_cubes_list

elv_max_cube.get_cubes_list

This method returns the list of RF addresses, one address for each detected cube. For example the following code lists all cubes:

cubes_list = elv_max_cube.get_cubes_list ()
elv_max_cube.trace ("MAX! cubes detected: " + ", ".join ('{:06X}'.format (cube) for cube in cubes_list))

5.2.5. get_devices_list

elv_max_cube.get_devices_list (cube, device_types)

This method returns the list of RF addresses of the devices managed by the cube and filtered by the type. The parameter cube is the RF address of the cube. When 0 the devices are taken from any cube. device_types is the list of device types to accept. It can contain any of: 'cube', 'radiator thermostat', 'radiator thermostat plus', 'wall thermostat', 'shutter contact', 'eco button'. The following example lists all radiator thermostats managed by the the cube with the address 0BB8F0:

thermostats_list = elv_max_cube.get_devices_list (0x0BB8F0, ['radiator thermostat', 'radiator thermostat plus'])
elv_max_cube.trace ("Thermostats: " + ", ".join ('{:06X}'.format (thermostat) for thermostat in thermostats_list))

5.2.6. get_duty

elv_max_cube.get_duty (cube)

This method returns the duty of the cube 0.0..1.0. When the value reaches its maximum the cube stops sending anything and waits for an hour.

5.2.7. get_link

elv_max_cube.get_link (cube, device)

This method returns the link state by the RF address of the cube and the RF address of the device. The result is 'error' or 'ok'. TypeError is when no device was found or it has no link state. For example the following code shows link state of a device:

elv_max_cube.trace ("Link state: " + elv_max_cube.get_link (0x0BB8F0, 0x0B76DA))

5.2.8. get_mode

elv_max_cube.get_mode (cube, device)

This method returns the operating mode of the device by the RF address of the cube and the RF address of the device. The result is 'automatic', 'manual', 'boost', 'vacation'. TypeError is raised when no device was found or it has no mode. For example the following code lists the mode of a device:

elv_max_cube.trace ("Mode: " + elv_max_cube.get_mode (0x0BB8F0, 0x0B76DA))

5.2.9. get_mqtt_message

elv_max_cube.get_mqtt_message (topic)

This method returns retained message from the MAX! home automation broker. The parameter topic specifies the message topic. When the topic is invalid or when no message exists TypeError is raised. The following example illustrates getting topic Greeting:

elv_max_cube.trace ("Message: " + elv_max_cube.get_mqtt_message ("Greeting"))

5.2.10. get_parameters

elv_max_cube.get_parameters (cube, device)

This method returns a dictionary describing parameters of  device handled by cube. The dictionary contains the following keys some of which can be absent depending on the device type:

Key Type Contents
address long The RF-address of the device
airing temperature float The thermostat room airing temperature (Centigrade)
airing mode delay string The duration in the format HH:MM
boost duration string The duration of the thermostat boost mode in the format HH:MM
boost valve position float The valve position in the boost mode in the range 0..1. 1 corresponds to a fully open valve
comfort temperature float The thermostat comfort temperature (Centigrade)
decalcification time dictionary The week day and time to perform the procedure:
Key Type Contents
day string The week day, e.g. 'Monday'
time string The time in the format HH:MM
eco temperature float The thermostat eco temperature, when in the 'eco' mode (Centigrade)
maximum valve position float The thermostat maximum valve position in the range 0..1. 1 corresponds to a fully open valve
maximum temperature float The thermostat maximal temperature (Centigrade)
minimum temperature float The thermostat minimum temperature (Centigrade)
room string The device's room name
room id long The ID number of the device's room
name string The device name
schedule dictionary The thermostat schedule in the automatic mode:
Key Type Contents
Monday list The thermostat scheduling points on Monday. The points in the list are ordered by the time. Each point is the dictionary:
Key Type Contents
until string The time in the format HH:MM until the specified temperature must be held
temperature float The set temperature in Centigrade
Tuesday list The thermostat scheduling points on Tuesday
Wednesday list The thermostat scheduling points on Wednesday
Thursday list The thermostat scheduling points on Thursday
Friday list The thermostat scheduling points on Friday
Saturday list The thermostat scheduling points on Saturday
Sunday list The thermostat scheduling points on Sunday
serial no string The device serial number
temperature offset float The thermostat temperature offset (Centigrade)
type string
Device
cube
radiator thermostat
radiator thermostat plus
wall thermostat
shutter contact
eco button
unknown
valve offset float The value 1.0 corresponds to a fully open valve

TypeError occurs when no device was found. The following example illustrates tracing state of the thermostat 0B76DA managed by the the cube with the address 0BB8F0:

elv_max_cube.trace ("Parameters " + str (elv_max_cube.get_parameters (0x0BB8F0, 0x0B76DA)))

Possible output could be: Status {'type': 'radiator thermostat', 'address': 751322, 'mode': 'manual', 'error': True, 'initialized': True, 'valve': 0.1298828125, 'set temperature': 17.0, 'new temperature': 17.0, 'panel locked': False, 'battery low': False, 'link error': False, 'summer time': True}

5.2.11. get_set_temperature

elv_max_cube.get_set_temperature (cube, device)

This method returns the current set temperature by the RF address of the cube and the RF address of the device. The result is the temperature in Centigrade. The set temperature is used to control the radiator. TypeError is when no device was found or it has no temperature. For example the following code lists the set temperature:

elv_max_cube.trace ("Set temperature: " + str (elv_max_cube.get_set_temperature (0x0BB8F0, 0x0B76DA)))

5.2.12. get_status

elv_max_cube.get_status (cube, device)

This method returns a dictionary describing status of  device handled by cube. The dictionary contains the following keys some of which can be absent depending on the device type:

Key Type Contents
address long The RF-address of the device
battery low True/False True if battery is low
error True/False True if error
initialized True/False True if initialized
link error True/False True if link error
mode string
Mode
automatic
manual
boost
vacation
new temperature float The new temperature for the thermostat. It differs from the above if the thermostat is not yet aware of the change
open True/False True if shutter contact is open
panel locked True/False True if locked
set temperature float The temperature kept by the thermostat
summer time True/False True if summer time
temperature float The actual room temperature, if known
type string
Device
cube
radiator thermostat
radiator thermostat plus
wall thermostat
shutter contact
eco button
unknown
valve float The value 1.0 corresponds to a fully open valve

TypeError is when no device was found. The following example illustrates tracing state of the thermostat 0B76DA  managed by the the cube with the address 0BB8F0:

elv_max_cube.trace ("Status " + str (elv_max_cube.get_status (0x0BB8F0, 0x0B76DA)))

Possible output could be: Status {'type': 'radiator thermostat', 'address': 751322, 'mode': 'manual', 'error': True, 'initialized': True, 'valve': 0.1298828125, 'set temperature': 17.0, 'new temperature': 17.0, 'panel locked': False, 'battery low': False, 'link error': False, 'summer time': True}

5.2.13. get_summer_time

elv_max_cube.get_summer_time (cube, device)

This method returns the daytime saving mode of device specified by the RF address of the cube and the RF address of the device. True is he result when the summer time is active. TypeError is when no device was found or it has no time mode settings. For example the following code shows the active daytime saving mode:

elv_max_cube.trace ("Summer time: " + str (elv_max_cube.get_summer_time (0x0BB8F0, 0x0B76DA)))

5.2.14. get_temperature

elv_max_cube.get_temperature (cube, device)

This method returns the current measured temperature by the RF address of the cube and the RF address of the device. The result is the measured temperature in Centigrade. TypeError is when no device was found, it has no temperature or when the temperature is yet unknown. For example the following code lists the measured temperature:

elv_max_cube.trace ("Temperature: " + str (elv_max_cube.get_temperature (0x0BB8F0, 0x0B76DA)))

5.2.15. get_valve

elv_max_cube.get_valve (cube, device)

This method returns the valve position of a thermostat specified by the RF address of the cube and the RF address of the device. The result is in the range 0..1. The value 1 corresponds to a fully open valve. TypeError is when no device was found or it is not a thermostat. For example the following code shows the valve position of a thermostat:

elv_max_cube.trace ("Valve: " + str (elv_max_cube.get_valve (0x0BB8F0, 0x0B76DA)))

5.2.16. get_valve_statistics

elv_max_cube.get_valve_statistics (cube)

This method returns the statistics of the current thermostat valve positions. The parameter cube is the RF address of the cube which thermostats are queried. The result is the dictionary:

Key Type Contents
average float The average valve position
maximum float The maximal valve position
minimum float The minimal valve position

The valve position is in the range 0..1. The value 1 corresponds to a fully open valve. When there is no thermostats corresponding, the returned fields are 0.

elv_max_cube.trace ("Average valve position: " + str (elv_max_cube.get_valve_statistics (0x0BB8F0) ['average']))

5.2.17. publish_mqtt_message

elv_max_cube.publish_mqtt_message (topic, message [, policy])

This method publishes topic with the message specified by message  the statistics of the current thermostat valve positions. The parameter policy is specifies how to handle the message:

Policy Description
Transient The message is not retained, only active subscriptions get it
Retained The message always replaces the retained one
Updated Ignored if same as the retained one, otherwise it replaces the old one. This is the default
Initial Ignored if already retained
Ignored The message is ignored

The following example illustrates publishing topic Greeting with the message Hi!

elv_max_cube.publish_mqtt_message ("Greeting", "Hi!")

5.2.18. reboot

elv_max_cube.reboot (serial-number)

This method is used to reboot a cube. The cube is identified by it 10-characters serial number. There is no return value.

5.2.19. reconnect

elv_max_cube.reconnect (cube)

This method reconnects to the cube specified by the parameter cube which is the RF address of the cube. Note that the operation is asynchronous, the call only initiates reconnection. TypeError is raised when no such cube exists.

5.2.20. set_mode

elv_max_cube.set_mode (mode, cube, device, temperature, disposition, until)

This method sets one or several thermostats into the specified mode. The method takes keyed parameters with the names given in the following table:

Key Type Contents
mode string The thermostat mode to set:
Mode
automatic
manual
boost
vacation

This parameter is obligatory. If omitted TypeError is raised.

cube long The RF address of the cube of which thermostats must be set. This parameter must be always present. If omitted TypeError is raised.
device thermostat long The RF address of the thermostat to set. This parameter is optional. Then absent the mode is set into all thermostats of the cube. The parameter key can be either device or thermostat.
temperature float The temperature in Centigrade. This parameter is optional if the temperature is not required or specified by other means. When required but not specified TypeError is raised. The temperature is either absolute or relative to the current temperature as specified by the parameter disposition.
disposition string The parameter specifies how to treat the temperature parameter:
Disposition Meaning
absolute The value of the parameter temperature is used as-is for the mode to set. The temperature parameter must be present, otherwise TypeError is raised. This is the default when the temperature parameter is specified.
airing The airing mode temperature is used for the mode. The temperature parameter must be absent, otherwise TypeError is raised.
comfort The comfort temperature is used for the mode. The temperature parameter must be absent, otherwise TypeError is raised.
decrement The value of the parameter temperature is used to decrement the current temperature, the result is used for the mode. The temperature parameter must be present, otherwise TypeError is raised.
eco The eco temperature is used for the mode. The temperature parameter must be absent, otherwise TypeError is raised.
increment The value of the parameter temperature is used to increment the current temperature, the result is used for the mode. The temperature parameter must be present, otherwise TypeError is raised.
until float The duration of the set mode in seconds. This parameter must appear when the mode is vacation. It must be absent for any other mode, otherwise TypeError is raised.

The method is asynchronous. It only initiates setting the mode, which can take a considerable time or fail when the RF traffic is exhausted. The following example sets all thermostats to hold the eco temperature for one day:

elv_max_cube.set_mode (cube=0x0BB8F0, mode='vacation', disposition='eco', until=3600*24)

5.2.21. trace

elv_max_cube.trace (message)

This method sends the argument message to the application's trace panel. There is no return value.

5.3. Maintaining state between calls of the script

Frequently it is necessary to keep certain data from one call to the script to another. When the script returns an object, which can be of any type, then this object is passed to the next call of the script as the single argument. During the first call the argument is set to None. The following example illustrates the concept by incrementing the count each time the script is called:

import elv_max_cube
def controller (*args):
   if args [0] is None:
      result = 0
   else:
      result = args [0] + 1
   elv_max_cube.trace ("Count =" + str (result))
   return result

When the argument args [0] is None, 0 is returned. Otherwise args [0] is incremented and then returned. Naturally, the result can be of any type. E.g. it can be a dictionary or list.

5.4. Controlling a boiler with an ESP8266 and a relay

This example illustrates using scripting in connection with MQTT messaging to control a boiler. The following picture illustrates the setup:

example

Here the components are:

MAX! home automation runs the following script:

import elv_max_cube
def controller (*args):
   if elv_max_cube.get_valve_statistics (0xBB8F0) ["average"] > 0.1:
      elv_max_cube.publish_mqtt_message ("relay", "on")
   else:
      elv_max_cube.publish_mqtt_message ("relay", "off")

The script takes the valves statistics of the radiator thermostats of the cube. Here BB8F0 is the cube's RF-address. It compares the averaged valve position. If that is bigger that 10% the topic relay is published as on. Otherwise it is published as off.

NodeMCU
 ESP8266 12E
  Wemos D1
mini relay
   
nodemcu ESP8266 + WEMOS DL = ESP8266 and relay

Now the Arduino program in C++ for ESP8266:

#include <OneWire.h>
#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <PubSubClient.h>

const char *  WiFi_SSID     = "<your WiFi network>";
const char *  WiFi_Password = "<your WiFi password>";
const char *  MQTT_Server   = "<your MAX! home automation IP address>";
const int     MQTT_Port     = 1883;
const int     Relay_Pin     = D1;

OneWire       One_Wire_Bus (4);         // onewire bus
WiFiClient    Networking;               // WiFi
PubSubClient  MQTT_Client (Networking); // MQTT

void Update_Subscription (char * topic, byte * payload, unsigned int length)
// This is called each time any subscribed topic arrive
   if (0 == strcmp (topic, "relay"))
   {  // This is the topic "relay" we are interested in
      if (2 <= length && 'o' == payload [0] && 'n' == payload [1])
      {  // Turn on
         Serial.println ("Relay on");
         digitalWrite (Relay_Pin, HIGH);
      }
      else
      {  // Turn off
         Serial.println ("Relay off");
         digitalWrite (Relay_Pin, LOW);
   }  }
}

void setup ()
// This is called once upon start
   Serial.begin (9600); // Initiate serial console with 9600 baud
   Serial.println ("Starting");

   pinMode (Relay_Pin, OUTPUT); // Configure relay
   setup_wifi ();               // Setup WIFI

   // Setup MQTT, but connect later from the main loop
   MQTT_Client.setServer (MQTT_Server, MQTT_Port);
   MQTT_Client.setCallback (&Update_Subscription);
}

void setup_wifi ()
{
   delay (10);
   // We start by connecting to a WiFi network
   Serial.println ();
   Serial.print ("Connecting to ");
   Serial.println (WiFi_SSID);

   WiFi.begin (WiFi_SSID, WiFi_Password);

   while (WiFi.status () != WL_CONNECTED)
   {
      delay (500);
      Serial.print (".");
   }
   Serial.println ("Connected, IP address: ");
   Serial.println (WiFi.localIP ());
}

void Reconnect_MQTT ()
{
   while (!MQTT_Client.connected ())
   {  // Loop until we're reconnected
      Serial.print ("Connecting to MQTT broker ...");
      if (MQTT_Client.connect ("ESP8266Client"))
      {
         Serial.println ("Connected");
         MQTT_Client.subscribe ("relay"); // Subscribe to the topic
      }
      else
      {
         Serial.print (" failed to connect, rc=");
         Serial.print (MQTT_Client.state ());
         Serial.println (" try again in 5 seconds");
         delay (5000); // Wait 5 seconds before retrying
   }  }
}

void loop ()
// Main loop
   if (!MQTT_Client.connected ())
   {  // Connect to the MQTT broker
      Reconnect_MQTT ();
   }
   MQTT_Client.loop (); // Pump network I/O
}

The program connects to the MAX! home automation MQTT broker and subscribes to the topic relay. When the payload is on the relay is set to closed, otherwise it is set to open. This is done by the command digitalWrite.

5.5. Controlling a boiler with a MAX! switch

MAX! switch eQ-3 BC-TS-Sw-Pl, shown on the picture below

MAX! switch

is a device that can be paired with the cube. No wall thermostat in the same room is required to control the switch.

In the overview the switch appears as a radiator thermostat. It has the schedule just like radiator and wall-mounted thermostats do with the effect that the set temperature controls switching it on and off:

The automatic mode schedule can be used for example for turning plant lights on and off. The same temperatures work in the manual mode too. This can be used for controlling a boiler. The following script illustrates the principle:

import elv_max_cube
def controller (*args):
   if elv_max_cube.get_valve_statistics (0xBB8F0) ["average"] > 0.1:
      elv_max_cube.set_mode (mode='manual', cube=0xBB8F0, device=0x724EC, temperature=25.0)
   else:
      elv_max_cube.set_mode (mode='manual', cube=0xBB8F0, device=0x724EC, temperature=15.0)

The script looks the average valve positions and if that is greater then 0.1 (10% open) it sets the manual mode temperature to 25.0°C. Otherwise it sets it to15.0°C. The sample code assumes the cube's RF address BB8F0 and the switch's address 724EC.

Another switching device which can be used this way is the MAX! boiler control actuator eQ-3 BC-TS-Sw2-WM:

MAX! boiler control actuator

5.6. Julia scripting

Simple control tasks can be performed by providing a Julia script to be called periodically. The script can access the application through the module ELV_MAX_Cube. The module is loaded as shown in the following example:

# Minimal controller script
function controller ()
   ELV_MAX_Cube.trace ("Hello there!")
end

The settings pane has Julia script settings:

Julia script

Here the fields are:

Note that Julia has no means to insulate effects of interpreting code. For this reason it is not possible to reload a script one it was loaded or attempted to load. If it is necessary to modify the script or loading error occurred, the application must be restarted before doing that.

5.7. Julia module ELV_MAX_Cube

The following methods are provided by the module ELV_MAX_Cube:

disconnect
get_battery
get_connection
get_cubes_list
get_devices_list
get_duty
get_link
get_mode
get_mqtt_message
get_parameters
get_set_temperature
get_status
get_summer_time
get_temperature
get_valve
get_valve_statistic
publish_mqtt_message
reboot
reconnect
set_mode
trace

5.7.1. disconnect

ELV_MAX_Cube.disconnect(cube::UInt32)

This method disconnects from the cube specified by the parameter cube which is the RF address of the cube. Note that the operation is asynchronous, the call only initiates disconnection. Exception is raised when no such cube exists.

5.7.2. get_battery

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_battery(cube::UInt32,device::UInt32)

This method returns the battery state by the RF address of the cube and the RF address of the device. The result is an enumeration declared as:

@enum Battery_Charge begin
   low=0
   high=1
end

Exception is raised when no device was found or it has no battery. For example the following code lists battery state of a device:

ELV_MAX_Cube.trace(string("Battery state: ",ELV_MAX_Cube.get_battery(0x0BB8F0,0x0B76DA))

5.7.3. get_connection

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_connection(cube::UInt32)

This method returns cube connection status. The parameter cube is the RF address of the cube. The result is an enumeration declared as:

@enum Connection_State begin
   connected=0
   disconnected=1
   undefined=2
end

unknown'is returned when cube does not specify a known cube.

5.7.4. get_cubes_list

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_cubes_list()

This method returns the list of RF addresses as an array, one address for each detected cube.

5.7.5. get_devices_list

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_devices_list(cube::UInt32,filter::Vector{Device_Type}=Device_Type[])

This method returns the list of RF addresses of the devices managed by the cube and filtered by the type as an array. The parameter cube is the RF address of the cube. When 0 the devices are taken from any cube. device_types is the list of device types to accept. It has the type Vector{Device_Type} when Device_Type is an enumeration declare as follows:

@enum Device_Type begin
   unknown=0
   cube=1
   radiator_thermostat=2
   radiator_thermostat_plus=3
   wall_thermostat=4
   shutter_contact=5
   eco_button=6
end

Devices with the types appearing in the list are included in the result. The following example lists all radiator thermostats managed by the the cube with the address 0BB8F0:

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_devices_list(0x0BB8F0,[ELV_MAX_Cube.radiator_thermostat,ELV_MAX_Cube.radiator thermostat_plus])

5.7.6. get_duty

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_duty(cube::UInt32)

This method returns the duty of the cube 0.0..1.0. When the value reaches its maximum the cube stops sending anything and waits for an hour.

5.7.7. get_link

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_link(cube::UInt32,device::UInt32)

This method returns the link state by the RF address of the cube and the RF address of the device. The result is an enumeration declared as follows:

@enum Link_State begin
   ok=0
   error=1
end

An exception is propagated when no device was found or it has no link state. For example the following code shows link state of a device:

ELV_MAX_Cube.trace(string(ELV_MAX_Cube.get_link(0x0BB8F0,0x0B76DA)))

5.7.8. get_mode

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_mode(cube::UInt32,device::UInt32)

This method returns the operating mode of a device specified by the RF address of the cube and the RF address of the device. The result is an enumeration declared as:

@enum Operating_Mode begin
   automatic=0
   manual=1
   boost=2
   vacation=3
end

An exception is propagated when no device was found or it has no mode. For example the following code lists the operating mode:

ELV_MAX_Cube.trace(string("Mode: "),string(ELV_MAX_Cube.get_mode(0x0BB8F0,0x0B76DA)))

5.7.9. get_mqtt_message

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_mqtt_message(topic::AbstractString)

This method returns retained message from the MAX! home automation broker. The parameter topic specifies the message topic. When the topic is invalid or when no message exists an exception is raised. The following example illustrates getting topic Greeting:

ELV_MAX_Cube.trace(string("Message: "),ELV_MAX_Cube.get_mqtt_message ("Greeting"))

5.7.10. get_parameters

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_parameters(cube::UInt32,device::UInt32)

This method returns a named tuple describing parameters of  device handled by cube. The tuple contains the following keys some of which can be absent depending on the device type, its order can differ as well:

Key Type Contents
address UInt32 The RF-address of the device
airing_temperature Float32 The thermostat room airing temperature (Centigrade)
airing_mode_delay Dates.Time The duration
boost_duration Dates.Time The duration of the thermostat boost mode
boost_valve_position Float32 The valve position in the boost mode in the range 0..1. 1 corresponds to a fully open valve
comfort_temperature Float32 The thermostat comfort temperature (Centigrade)
decalcification_time Tuple The week day and time to perform the procedure. The value is a tuple of two elements:
Type Contents
Week_Day The day of week. The Week_Day is an enumeration declared in the module as follows:

@enum Week_Day begin
   Mo=1
   Tu=2
   We=3
   Th=4
   Fr=5
   Sa=6
   Su=7
end

Dates.Time The time
eco_temperature Float32 The thermostat eco temperature, when in the 'eco' mode (Centigrade)
maximum_valve_position Float32 The thermostat maximum valve position in the range 0..1. 1 corresponds to a fully open valve
maximum_temperature Float32 The thermostat maximal temperature (Centigrade)
minimum_temperature Float32 The thermostat minimum temperature (Centigrade)
room AbstractString The device's room name
room_id UInt8 The ID number of the device's room
name AbstractString The device name
schedule NamedTuple The thermostat schedule in the automatic mode. It is a named tuple with the keys 'Mo', 'Tu', 'We', 'Th', 'Fr', 'Sa', 'Su'. The values of the tuple are of the type Vector. The elements of the vector are tuples of two items:
Type Contents
Dates.Time The time until the specified temperature must be held
Float32 The set temperature in Centigrade
serial_no AbstractString The device serial number
temperature_offset Float32 The thermostat temperature offset (Centigrade)
type Device_Type The device type
valve_offset Float32 The value 1.0 corresponds to a fully open valve

An exception is propagated when no device was found. The following example illustrates tracing state of the thermostat 0B76DA managed by the the cube with the address 0BB8F0:

ELV_MAX_Cube.trace("Parameters ",string(ELV_MAX_Cube.get_parameters(0x0BB8F0,0x0B76DA)))

5.7.11. get_set_temperature

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_set_temperature(cube::UInt32,device::UInt32)

This function returns the current set temperature by the RF address of the cube and the RF address of the device. The result is the temperature is Float32 in Centigrade. The set temperature is used to control the radiator. An exception is propagated when no device was found or it has no temperature. For example the following code lists the set temperature:

ELV_MAX_Cube.trace("Set temperature: ",string(ELV_MAX_Cube.get_set_temperature(0x0BB8F0,0x0B76DA)))

5.7.12. get_status

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_status(cube::UInt32,device::UInt32)

This method returns a named tuple describing status of  device handled by cube. The tuple contains the following keys some of which as well as the order can be absent depending on the device type:

Key Type Contents
address UInt32 The RF-address of the device
battery low Bool True if battery is low
error Bool True if error
initialized Bool True if initialized
link error Bool True if link error
mode Operating_Mode The operating mode of the device
new temperature Float32 The new temperature for the thermostat. It differs from the above if the thermostat is not yet aware of the change
open Bool True if shutter contact is open
panel locked Bool True if locked
set temperature Float32 The temperature kept by the thermostat
summer time Bool True if summer time
temperature Float32 The actual room temperature, if known
type Device_Type The device type
valve float The value 1.0 corresponds to a fully open valve

An exception is propagated when no device was found. The following example illustrates tracing state of the thermostat 0B76DA  managed by the the cube with the address 0BB8F0:

ELV_MAX_Cube.trace("Status ",string(ELV_MAX_Cube.get_status(0x0BB8F0,0x0B76DA)))

5.7.13. get_summer_time

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_summer_time(cube::UInt32,device::UInt32)

This function  returns the daytime saving mode of device specified by the RF address of the cube and the RF address of the device as Bool. True is he result when the summer time is active. An exception is propagated when no device was found or it has no time mode settings. For example the following code shows the active daytime saving mode:

ELV_MAX_Cube.trace("Summer time: ",string(ELV_MAX_Cube.get_summer_time(0x0BB8F0,0x0B76DA)))

5.7.14. get_temperature

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_temperature(cube::UInt32,device::UInt32)

This method returns the current measured temperature by the RF address of the cube and the RF address of the device. The result is the measured temperature in Centigrade of the type Float32. An exception is propagated when no device was found, it has no temperature or when the temperature is yet unknown. For example the following code lists the measured temperature:

ELV_MAX_Cube.trace("Temperature: ",string(ELV_MAX_Cube.get_temperature(0x0BB8F0,0x0B76DA)))

5.7.15. get_valve

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_valve(cube::UInt32,device::UInt32)

This method returns the valve position of a thermostat specified by the RF address of the cube and the RF address of the device. The result is in the range 0..1 of the type Float32. The value 1 corresponds to a fully open valve. An exception is propagated when no device was found or it is not a thermostat. For example the following code shows the valve position of a thermostat:

ELV_MAX_Cube.trace("Valve: ",string(ELV_MAX_Cube.get_valve(0x0BB8F0,0x0B76DA)))

5.7.16. get_valve_statistics

ELV_MAX_Cube.get_valve_statistics(cube::UInt32)

This method returns the statistics of the current thermostat valve positions as a named tuple. The parameter cube is the RF address of the cube which thermostats are queried. The result is a tuple described below:

Key Type Contents
average Float32 The average valve position in the range 0..1
maximum Float32 The maximal valve position in the range 0..1
minimum Float32 The minimal valve position in the range 0..1

The valve position is in the range 0..1. The value 1 corresponds to a fully open valve. When there is no thermostats corresponding, the returned fields are 0.

ELV_MAX_Cube.trace ("Average valve position: ",string(ELV_MAX_Cube.get_valve_statistics(0x0BB8F0).Average))

5.7.17. publish_mqtt_message

ELV_MAX_Cube.publish_mqtt_message(topic::AbstractString,message::AbstractString,policy::MQTT_Policy=updated)

This method publishes topic with the message specified by message  the statistics of the current thermostat valve positions. The parameter policy has the following enumeration type:

@enum MQTT_Policy begin
   transient=0
   retained=1
   updated=2
   initial=3
   ignored=4
end

is specifies how to handle the message:

Policy Description
transient The message is not retained, only active subscriptions get it
retained The message always replaces the retained one
updated Ignored if same as the retained one, otherwise it replaces the old one. This is the default
initial Ignored if already retained
ignored The message is ignored

The following example illustrates publishing topic Greeting with the message Hi!

ELV_MAX_Cube.publish_mqtt_message("Greeting","Hi!")

5.7.18. reboot

ELV_MAX_Cube.reboot(cube::AbstractString)

This method is used to reboot a cube. The cube is identified by it 10-characters serial number. There is no return value.

5.7.19. reconnect

ELV_MAX_Cube.reconnect(cube::UInt32)

This method reconnects to the cube specified by the parameter cube which is the RF address of the cube. Note that the operation is asynchronous, the call only initiates reconnection. A exception is propagated when no such cube exists.

5.7.20. set_mode

ELV_MAX_Cube.set_mode(mode::Operating_Mode,
cube
::UInt32,
device
::UInt32=0,
temperature=::Float32=0.0f0,
disposition::Temperature_Disposition=absolute,
until::Dates.DateTime=Dates.DateTime(2020)
)

This method sets one or several thermostats into the specified mode. The method takes keyed parameters with the names given in the following table:

Key Type Contents
mode Operating_Mode The thermostat mode to set
cube UInt32 The RF address of the cube of which thermostats must be set
device UInt32 The RF address of the thermostat to set. This parameter is optional. Then absent the mode is set into all thermostats of the cube. The parameter key can be either device or thermostat.
temperature Float32 The temperature in Centigrade. This parameter is optional if the temperature is not required or specified by other means. When required but not specified an exception is propagated. The temperature is either absolute or relative to the current temperature as specified by the parameter disposition.
disposition Temperature_Disposition The parameter specifies how to treat the temperature parameter. It has the enumeration type declared as follows:

@enum MQTT_Policy begin
   absolute=0
   airing=1
   comfort=2
   decrement=3
   eco=4
   increment=5
end

The meaning of the values is described below:

Disposition Meaning
absolute The value of the parameter temperature is used as-is for the mode to set. The temperature parameter must be present, otherwise an exception is propagated. This is the default when the temperature parameter is specified.
airing The airing mode temperature is used for the mode. The temperature parameter must be absent, otherwise an exception  is raised.
comfort The comfort temperature is used for the mode. The temperature parameter must be absent, otherwise an exception is raised.
decrement The value of the parameter temperature is used to decrement the current temperature, the result is used for the mode. The temperature parameter must be present, otherwise an exception is raised.
eco The eco temperature is used for the mode. The temperature parameter must be absent, otherwise an exception is raised.
increment The value of the parameter temperature is used to increment the current temperature, the result is used for the mode. The temperature parameter must be present, otherwise an exception is raised.
until Dates.DateTime The date and time of the vacation end. This parameter must appear when the mode is vacation. It must be absent for any other mode, otherwise an exception is raised.

The method is asynchronous. It only initiates setting the mode, which can take a considerable time or fail when the RF traffic is exhausted. The following example sets all thermostats to automatic mode:

ELV_MAX_Cube.set_mode(ELV_MAX_Cube.automatic,0x0BB8F0)

5.2.21. trace

ELV_MAX_Cube.trace(message::AbstractString)

This method sends the argument message to the application's trace panel. There is no return value.


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6. Running headless and other issues

6.1. Headless

In order to run the application headless under Linux use the following command (bash):

>xvfb-run -a max_home_automation

Here Xvfb is X virtual frame buffer, an X11 server that uses memory instead of a physical display. You might need to install it on your system if the package xvfb is not there.

6.2. Running remotely

Before running the application headless you might wish to change some settings or monitor how things work in general. You can run it remotely using the PC's X11 local server as the display for the remotely running program.

Linux. Under Linux you use SSH with X11 forwarding. The command line looks like follows:

>ssh -X -v <user>@<host> max_home_automation

Here <user> is the user you want to log in and <host> is the address or name of the machine where you want to run it, e.g. on your headless Raspberry PI. On the other side you must have the SSH daemon running.

Windows. Under Windows you need an X11 server and SSH client. There is a software that combines both: MobaXterm. Under MobaXterm you can configure an SSH session with X11 forwarding.

6.3. Permission denied

When you get error 13 permission denied upon HTTP start, that is because you lack permissions to bind the socket to the port 80. Usually only root can use ports with numbers below 1024 while the default HTTP port is 80. You may use another port or else run the software as root.

6.4. Settings file

The settings are kept in the GTK recent manager file named *.xbel. The file location depends on the OS, usually it is where other user specific files are. E.g. under Windows it is C:\Users\<user-name>\AppData\Local\recently-used.xbel. The file has XML format. The file contains data of all GTK applications, not only ones of MAX! home automation.

The settings related to MAX! home automation can be exported into a separate text file using the button at the bottom of the settings pane. The file lines have the format:

<setting>="<value>"

It is one line per setting. When the value contains quotation marks ("), they are doubled. The file can also contain comment lines starting with --. Note that defaulted settings are not exported, only ones actually changed from the default value and in effect are. Here is an example of exported the settings file:

----------------------------- Created 2019-12-07 12:00 -----------------------------
-- The file contains settings that are different from the defaults.
cors-max-age="86400"
cors-headers="X-PINGOTHER, Content-Type"
cors-methods="POST, GET, OPTIONS"
cors-origin=""
http-port="80"
http-address=""
host=""
height="978"
width="985"
y="104"
x="670"
mqtt-max-connections="100"
mqtt-max-subscriptions="1"
poll="10.0"

In order to restore previously exported settings MAX! home automation is started with the option --restore specified in the command line:

>max_home_automation --restore=<exported-settings-file>

This will remove all existing settings related to MAX! home automation and put ones from the file instead. This is done before the program starts so that settings have the effect on.

6.5. dbind-WARNING

On Debian or Ubuntu ARM target you may have get messages like:

(max_home_automation:1722): dbind-WARNING **: 17:36:59.591: Error retrieving accessibility bus address: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.a11y.Bus was not provided by any .service files

In order to fix these install the package at-spi2-core:

>apt install at-spi2-core

6.6. Styles, languages, icons etc

The appearance of the program graphical elements depends on the current GTK theme and styles. This includes texts that appear in the program as labels and tooltips. Such texts are defined as style properties. Some of the icons and pictures are embedded and cannot be changed altering the theme, otherwise an icon of any button is defined in the current theme.

For changing the GTK, please, refer to the official GTK documentation. The default GTK styles can be modified for the given user globally by creating and editing a CSS file. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. The file is:

Note that these style settings will be shared by all GTK programs.

If file max_home_automation.css exists in the working directory it will be loaded upon start. Additionally to that a custom CSS file can be explicitly loaded using the option --load-css specified in the command line:

>max_home_automation --load-css=<custom-css-file>

When no option --load-css specified the program attempts to load file names max_home_automation.css from the working directory if it exists.

6.7. CSS file template

The number of styles is immense. They can be enumerated and exported into a CSS file supplied with current values using the button Export CSS at the bottom of the settings pane. Parts which need to be changed can be moved to one of the CSS files described above.

The following sample illustrates how to use CSS. It changes texts the first two labels of the tabs pane and the icon for the first button:

label
{
   -MAX_Overview_label-label: "Zusammenfassung";
   -MAX_Trace_label-label: "Spur";
}
button
{
   -Add_Buttons-icon-id: "gtk-open";
}


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7. Building from sources

The program uses Simple Components for Ada, GtkAda contributions which are distributed with it. In order to compile it, GtkAda must be installed first. Then with GNAT compiler it can be built using the following command:

>gprbuild -XDevelopment=Release -p -P max_home_automation.gpr

issued in the directory containing the sources. Additionally depending on the target the following scenario variables are set:

For example building on Windows 64-bit:

>gprbuild -XDevelopment=Release
          -XAtomic_Access=Pragma-atomic
          -Xarch=x86_64
          -p -P max_home_automation.gpr

For example building on a Linux 64-bit:

>gprbuild -XDevelopment=Release
          -XAtomic_Access=Pragma-atomic
          -Xarch=x86_64
          -Xodbc=unixODBC
          -XTarget_OS=Linux
          -p -P max_home_automation.gpr

Building on an ARM Linux 32-bit:

>gprbuild -XDevelopment=Release
          -XAtomic_Access=GCC-long-offsets
          -Xarch=armhf
          -Xodbc=unixODBC
          -XTarget_OS=Linux
          -p -P max_home_automation.gpr

You can also use the max_home_automation.gpr project with the GPS and compile it from there selecting scenarios described above.


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8. Changes log

The following versions were tested with the compilers:

and the GtkAda versions:

Changes (18 December 2023) to the version 4.8:

Changes (30 September 2023) to the version 4.7:

Changes (24 June 2023) to the version 4.6:

Changes (22 April 2023) to the version 4.5:

Changes (5 August 2022) to the version 4.4:

Changes (22 May 2022) to the version 4.3:

Changes (16 April 2022) to the version 4.2:

Changes (16 April 2022) to the version 4.1:

Changes (29 January 2022) to the version 4.0:

Changes (6 November  2021) to the version 3.29:

Changes (13 September 2021) to the version 3.28:

Changes (10 July 2021) to the version 3.27:

Changes (12 June 2021) to the version 3.26:

Changes (2 May 2021) to the version 3.25:

Changes (3 April 2021) to the version 3.24:

Changes (21 February 2021) to the version 3.23:

Changes (14 February 2021) to the version 3.22:

Changes (24 January 2021) to the version 3.21:

Changes (13 January 2021) to the version 3.20:

Changes (13 December 2020) to the version 3.19:

Changes (18 October 2020) to the version 3.18:

Changes (1 September 2020) to the version 3.17:

Changes (2 June 2020) to the version 3.16:

The following versions were tested with the compilers:

and the GtkAda versions:

Changes (7 May 2020) to the version 3.15:

Changes (11 March 2020) to the version 3.14:

Changes (1 March 2020) to the version 3.13:

Changes (31 January 2020) to the version 3.12:

Changes (14 January 2020) to the version 3.11:

Changes (3 January 2020) to the version 3.10:

Changes (10 December 2019) to the version 3.9:

Changes (7 December 2019) to the version 3.8:

Changes (1 December 2019) to the version 3.7:

Changes (24 November 2019) to the version 3.6:

Changes (21 November 2019) to the version 3.5:

Changes (2 November 2019) to the version 3.4:

Changes (7 October 2019) to the version 3.3:

Changes (6 August 2019) to the version 3.2:

Changes (6 August 2019) to the version 3.1:

The following versions were tested with the compilers:

and the GtkAda versions:

Changes (18 May 2019) to the version 3.0:

The following versions were tested with the compilers:

and the GtkAda versions:

Changes (14 May 2019) to the version 2.18:

Changes (11 Jan 2019) to the version 2.17:

Changes (8 Jan 2019) to the version 2.16:

Changes (22 Dec 2018) to the version 2.15:

Changes (11 Dec 2018) to the version 2.14:

Changes (2 Dec 2018) to the version 2.13:

Changes (25 Nov 2018) to the version 2.12:

Changes (18 Nov 2018) to the version 2.11:

Changes (9 Nov 2018) to the version 2.10:

Changes (5 Aug 2018) to the version 2.9:

The following versions were tested with the compilers:

and the GtkAda versions:

Changes (2 June 2018) to the version 2.8:

Changes (4 May 2018) to the version 2.7:

Changes (10 February 2018) to the version 2.6:

Changes (1 February 2018) to the version 2.5:

Changes (28 January 2018) to the version 2.4:

Changes (9 January 2018) to the version 2.3:

Changes (6 January 2018) to the version 2.2:

Changes (26 December 2017) to the version 2.1:

Changes (21 December 2017) to the version 2.0:

Changes (18 December 2017) to the version 1.12:

Changes (26 November 2017) to the version 1.11:

Changes (5 September 2017) to the version 1.10:

Changes (26 July 2017) to the version 1.9:

The following versions were tested with the compilers:

and the GtkAda versions:

Changes (18 April 2017) to the version 1.8:

Changes (22 February 2017) to the version 1.7:

Changes (5 February 2017) to the version 1.6:

Changes (21 November 2016) to the version 1.5:

Changes (25 July 2016) to the version 1.4:

The following versions were tested with the compilers:

and the GtkAda versions:

Changes (31 May 2016) to the version 1.3:

The following versions were tested with the compilers:

and the GtkAda versions:

Changes (13 April 2016) to the version 1.2:

Changes (5 March 2016) to the version 1.1:

Changes (18 October 2015) to the version 1.0:

Version 1.0 released (24 August 2015).


[Back][TOC]

9. Table of Contents

1 Use
   1.1. Overview pane
   1.2. Thermostat settings pane
   1.3. Trace pane
   1.4. Graphs and monitor panes
   1.5. Scanning temperatures measured by radiator thermostat
   1.6. Cube discovery
   1.7. Saving and restoring thermostat configurations
   1.8. Pairing devices and creating rooms
   1.9. Deleting devices and rooms
   1.10. Resetting the cube
   1.11. Interaction with ELV MAX! software
   1.12. Preset buttons
2 HTTP automation (REST API)
   2.1. Querying a device status
   2.2. Setting thermostats into automatic mode
   2.3. Setting thermostats into boost mode
   2.4. Setting thermostats into manual mode
   2.5. Setting thermostats into vacation mode
   2.6. Setting thermostat's schedule
   2.7. Controlling cube connection
   2.8. Setting thermostat parameters
   2.9. Custom web page
3 MQTT automation
   3.1. Publishing topics
   3.2. Controlling thermostats
   3.3. Controlling cube connection
   3.4. Externally published topics
4 Logging into a database
   4.1. Database configuration
   4.2. The database structure
5 Scrpting
   5.1. Python scripting
   5.2. Python module elv_max_cube
   5.3. Maintaining state between calls of the script
   5.4. Controlling a boiler with an ESP8266 and a relay
   5.5. Controlling a boiler using a MAX! switch
   5.6. Julia scripting
   5.7. Julia module ELV_MAX_Cube
6 Runnung headless and other issues
   6.1. Headless
   6.2. Running remotely
   6.3. Permission denied
   6.4. Settings file
   6.5. dbind-WARNING
   6.6. Styles, languages, icons etc
   6.7. CSS file template
7 Building from sources
8 Changes log
9 Table of Contents