Serial Command Interface

[Nick Locke]

Hi folks,

I am constructing a .NET application which will monitor the interface and, amongst other things, log certain events to a file.  It will also, eventually, provide an event driven interface for other purposes.  Once it\'s complete, I\'ll be happy to share.

I have one issue at the moment and it\'s down to the seemingly innocuous note in the manual that:

Status reporting by Comfort is disabled automatically at midnight every day

On the face of it, it\'s just a matter of logging back in (or issuing an SR01 command) via the UCM imediately after midnight.  However, in reality, the cessation of status reporting happens when Comfort\'s internal clock detects midnight.  That is not going to tie in precisely with when my Server determines it\'s midnight.

So, in theory, I could miss some events because the application does not log in until a short while after \"Comfort midnight\".  Worse, I could potentially miss a whole day\'s events because the Server logged in before \"Comfort midnight\".

I\'m planning to have my Server synchronise Comfort\'s clock with the Server time periodically.  I guess if I did that at 23:30 (or thereabouts) then there is a fair chance that I would time the login exactly (00:00:01 or thereabouts).

Am I missing something?  Ideally I need to make sure that no events get missed - just because they happen around midnight.

Thanks and apologies for the long post!

Nick

[slychiu]

When Comfort is logged out, the UCM sends a message LU00. I have not verified if this happens at midnight, perhaps you can check it out
Otherwise what you suggest should work.

[Nick Locke]

Thanks Chiu - I\'ll have a look at that.  For some reason my application is just stopping after a couple of hours at the moment (my problem, not yours!) and I need to fix that first.

On a slightly different point - possibly a minor correction for the next version of the interface document.  DT says \"DT without any parameters will cause the UCM to send the current date and time in a DT report\".

I have Comfort 4.206 and UCM 5.063.  For me, \"DT\" returns only \"OK\".  However, \"DTFFFFFFFFFFFFFF\" does return the current date and time.

Thanks, Nick.

[slychiu]

The DT query was implemented only in a later firmware version

[Nick Locke]

Thanks Chiu - and no problem because I can just use DTFFFFFFFFFFFFFF if I need to get the date time.

[Nick Locke]

Two bits of good news and a question......

(no, not the title for a new film!)

Firstly, I have solved my problem with the application falling over.  I\'m mentioning it here, as the solution might be useful to others reading events from the Ethernet UCM.  By default, the Ethernet connection is configured to time out after 5 minutes - causing a forced reset after five minutes of inactivity.  Using DS Manager, it is very easy to change the setting to \"0 - Disabled\".  Once that is done, the timeout goes away.

Secondly, I have discovered that my original worry about the status reporting switching off at midnight was unfounded.  Last night, my application carried on past midnight and was still happily recording events this morning.  I can only assume that the cutting off at midnight arrived in a later version (mine is 4.206 / 5.063).

The question comes from that second point.  I have a version of the Serial Command Interface document which has 10 May 2007 as the most recent date in the Change History.  Is it possible to obtain an older version of the document which ties in with what is actually supported by my Comfort/UCM versions?  I appreciate that I might be asking a lot there!

Thanks, Nick

[slychiu]

You are correct, Comfort does not logout the UCM at midnight. This is Comfort not the UCM which does this and it happened quite some time ago. The  document will be revised to reflect this - by the way in which document did you find this?
The serial interface document normally mentions when certain commands become implemented. The UCM Manual also has Revision history which may be helpful
However if you are developing a .NET application it might serve you best to get the latest UCM05 so that you are up to date

[Nick Locke]

Hi Chiu,

Thanks for your help.

I found the stuff about what happens at midnight in document \"rs232.lwp\", entitled Comfort Serial Command Interface.   I can\'t find a version number, but the most recent note in the Change History is \"10 May 2007 Added hard key definitions to KD\".

If you can find that document, the interesting bit is at the bottom of page 26/top of page 27, in the section headed \"Event Reporting (Version 4.114)\".

I have a UCM05 on my shopping list for when I manage to convince my wife that I \"need\" to move to Comfort II.......  Am I right that the UCM05 is serial only, or is there an Ethernet version?

Thanks, Nick.

 

[cgiltrow]

Hi Nick,

I have also written an application (touch screen interface) (I have posted it on this forum somewhere) in .net.  I have also written an application that runs as a service allowing many applications (or instances of my application running on various computers all over the house) through one ucm/ethernet transparently.

I am happy to share experiences.

I am also keen to take my applications to the next level.  I am thinking of building the logging into the service app, building a phone interface, connecting to other devices and defining a \"standard\" protocol for all of this.

I have had a look at things like xAP, XPL, etc, but I find them too complicated to implement and the need for a hub on every device excessive.

 

Cheers,

Clinton.

[slychiu]

Document updated June 2008 to remove the part about auto-logout at midnight which is no longer applicable https://www.cytech.biz/Downloads/Files/163/rs232.pdf