Release notes xxter update 3.2.0

Harm Elzinga

Release notes xxter update 3.2.0

- New feature: Weather forecast information (see separate article below)
- New feature: Time trigger options and weather forecast as triggers for actions
- Time triggers and conditions can be used, directly in the conditions, without the need to use a separate planner. For example check at 7:00 if the sun is already up or not, and turn on the outside light if not.
- Weather forecast info can be used as conditions. An example: check at 8:00 in the morning (new trigger option) if the next 20 hours it will become above 28 degrees Celsius, and turn on an addition ventilation setting.
Or check at 4:00 if there is rain expected this day to determine if the garden sprinklers should be turned on or not.
- New feature: KNX recorder (see separate article below)
- New feature: Modbus TCP support. The xxter can now be a Modbus client, to read data from Modbus servers (at this moment only Modbus TCP is supported) (see separate article below)
- New feature: BACnet server option available (see separate article below)
- Support for Dahua and Hikvision IP camera’s, including PTZ controls.
Use the my.xxter.com website to select these types of IP camera’s and set the corresponding fields. You can select if the camera supports PTZ or not.
- Include LUA scripts as libraries into your other LUA scripts
You can create common used functions into one LUA script, which can be included into other scripts. This make live easier for our LUA enthousiasts!

- on my.xxter.com you can now import ETS6 KNXproj files which are protected by a password.
- on my.xxter.com you can now duplicate a RTC, which copies all parameter settings, not group addresses.
- on my.xxter.com you can now see until when a subscription is valid
- The app's have a new main menu. Several of the menu options will be shown / hidden, depending on the rights the local user (see the role settings on my.xxter.com) and the preferences in the app. These can be found under preferences.
- New HVAC options for the thermostat component in a V2 project. This component now supports ventilation, and HVAC control modi, for airconditioners. When the HVAC control modi are used, the HVAC modi will not be usable / displayed. To use these new features, you need 1) the latest firmware, 2) a V2 project with the corresponding settings, and 3) the latest app’s.
- The firmware send any found HUE lights and groups to the my.xxter.com environment, to make them easier to integrate.
- On my.xxter.com: for HUE as well as Modbus, it is now possible to add the elements directly into the component list, select the corresponding buttons at the top-right to display the available options.
- Employee rights setup has been made more clear
- Project V2: KNX temperatures can now be used to create a thermostat component directly from the KNXproj overview section.
- On the status page of the web interface, you can now see (after the second time login since boot of the device) how many failed login attempts have been made and from where (and when) the last successful login was made.
- The “variable text” element can now directly show meta data from Sonos devices, without using the uPnP option. (On my.xxter.com)
- On my.xxter.com the device’s external IP address is listed (for the professional).
- HTTP commands have been extended. In addition to GET commands, other HTTP commands can now be sent as well, including a body.
It is also possible to analyse / use the result given by the command, when using a LUA script. The function calling the command will return with the contents of the call.
- New option to force the KNX tunnel connection to use KNXnet/IP core version 1 with only UDP support. (So TCP port-forwarding is not required)
- several bugfixes

Harm Elzinga

Modbus client
The xxter can function as a Modbus client as well. Modbus data can be read (or set), at this moment only using the Modbus TCP protocol.
On my.xxter.com there is a new option added in the project, underneath Components, called Modbus.
First you need to add the Modbus device on this page, several Modbus settings can be made here:
- Device ID / Unit ID, this is the ID of the Modbus device on the line, for TCP devices this is often 255.
- The address, for TCP devices this is the IP address of the Modbus server
- Interval determines how ofter the data is read.
- Timeout determines what the timeout is for the device to react with the requested data
- Endian determines what the byte order is of the data in the requests. (Depending on the device)
After adding the Modbus device, you can add the addresses. Select the + button right next to the IP address to add an address.
Per address you need to set some additional extra parameters:
- type of modbus address (input, coil, register)
- start address (the prefix will be automatically added)
- data format
- resolution, for example use 0.001 when you want to use kilowatt and the Modbus register is holding watt values

Hereafter, these can be used in the components list, by using the format MB:XX/YYYYYY where XX is the Modbus device number, and the YYYYYY the Modbus address.

Harm Elzinga

BACnet server
The xxter can now be used as a BACnet server to make KNX (and other protocols) available on BACnet. An additional license is required for this feature. The xxter BACnet function supports binary inputs, outputs and values, as well as analoge inputs, outputs and values. Of all 6 types 1000 objects can be made available on BACnet.
After applying the license, the project components table will have two additional columns: BACnet type and BACnet id. There will also be some other BACnet parameters available to set on the protocol page of the device itself.

Harm Elzinga

KNX recorder
With the KNX recorder you can let the xxter controller monitor and store the KNX bus traffic for analysis.
The KNX recorder has two possibilities how it can be used:
1) Offline monitoring. All data will remain on the device, max. 1000 telegrams will be recorded. You can set a filter to limit the amount of telegrams recorded.
The telegrams can be downloaded from the device, to your computer in XML format. This file can be loaded into ETS for analyses.
2) Offline + online monitoring.
The recorder van be used the same way as described about, but also will forward the recorded telegrams to our cloud service. Minimal every 10 minutes, or when a buffer is full (recording telegrams with a high busload), or when you press the “Synchronize” button.
The telegrams can be analyzed online in the my.xxter.com environment, under “Device -> KNX recorder”. You can filter, sort etc. the telegrams directly on my.xxter, or you can export the telegrams to a XML file and import the file into ETS.
The online functionality will not be available for all devices by default, details will follow.

In both cases, you can choose for a “continuous” recording, or for 24h recording, in which case the recorder will stop after 24 hours.
In the example below, only group addresses with main group 1, or with main group 3 and middle group 3 will be recorded.

Harm Elzinga

Weather forecast information
The xxter now supports functions to check weather forecast information for your location. (Uses the coordinates setup in the xxter, on the system settings page)
The information can be used in LUA scripts and in triggers/conditions. There are 4 new LUA functions added for the weather forecast information, see below.
In future releases it will also be possible to show the forecast information directly in the app.

Explanation of the new LUA functions:

xxter.include(script_id)
script_id = the id of the script you want to include into this script. Any function in the included script is then available to use in the script that includes it.

xxter.getmeteostatus()
this returns the offset in hours of the current available weather data. E.g. 1 = the weather data is 1 hour old. The weather forecast information is automatically updated, this function is available for status information only.

xxter.getmeteoinfo(what[, offset[, unit]])
This function will return (if available) the requested property value with the offset you request. If no data is available or some other error occurs, it will return -1000
what (string) is the property you want to query. (See the list below for which options are available)
offset (optional, default = 0) in hours, of the data you want to get, so 4 means you want to retrieve the information 4 hours in the future
unit (optional, default = 'C') for temperatures you can request the returned value to be returned in Celcius(C), Kelvin(K) or Fahrenheit(F)
For example: xxter.getmeteoinfo("temperature", 8, "F") gives the expected temperature in Fahrenheit in 8 hours.
xxter.getmeteoinfo("rain", 24) gives the expected rain in mm in 24 uur.

xxter.getmeteoinfomin(what, from_offset, to_offset[, unit])
This function will return (if available) the minimum requested property value of the offset you request between the from_offset to the to_offset. If no data is available or some other error occurs, it will return -1000
what (string) is the property you want to query. (See the list below for which options are available)
from_offset in hours, of the data you want to get at the earliest, so 4 means you want to retrieve the information 4 hours in the future. In most cases you want to use the value 0, so from this moment in time on forward.
to_offset in hours, of the data you want to get at the latest, so 8 means you want to retrieve the information 8 hours in the future
unit (optional, default = 'C') for temperatures you can request the returned value to be returned in Celcius(C), Kelvin(K) or Fahrenheit(F)
For example: xxter.getmeteoinfomin("temperature", 0, 8, "F") gives the expected minimal temperature in Fahrenheit for the coming 8 hours.
xxter.getmeteoinfo("rain", 24, 48) gives the expected minimal amount of rain in the period between 24 hours and 48 hours from now.

xxter.getmeteoinfomax(what, from_offset, to_offset[, unit])
This function will return (if available) the maximum requested property value of the offset you request between the from_offset to the to_offset. If no data is available or some other error occurs, it will return -1000
For the properties "precipitation", "rain" and "snow" the returned value is the sum of the value multiplied by the chance, so it will give a good estimate of the amount which can be expected in the requested period.
what (string) is the property you want to query. (See the list below for which options are available)
from_offset in hours, of the data you want to get at the earliest, so 4 means you want to retrieve the information 4 hours in the future. In most cases you want to use the value 0, so from this moment in time on forward.
to_offset in hours, of the data you want to get at the latest, so 8 means you want to retrieve the information 8 hours in the future
unit (optional, default = 'C') for temperatures you can request the returned value to be returned in Celcius(C), Kelvin(K) or Fahrenheit(F)


Table of properties to query (weather forecast)

“temperature” temperature (in C, F or K)
"feels like” temperature by human perception (in C, F or K)
“pressure” Atmospheric pressure at sea level (in hPa)
“humidity” relative air humidity (in %)
"dew point” atmospheric temperature at which water droplets begin to condens. (Combining pressure and humidity, in C, F or K)
"uv index” ultra violet radiation risk index,
“clouds” cloud coverage (in %)
“visibility” average visibility (in meters) - not available with min/max functions
"wind speed” wind speed (in m/s)
"wind gust” wind gusts, where available (in m/s)
"wind degrees” wind direction, 0 = N, 90 = E, 180 = S, 270 = W - not available with min/max functions
“rain” expected amount of rain (in mm)
“snow” expected amount of snow (in mm)
“precipitation” expected amount of precipitation (in mm)
"precipitation chance” chance on precipitation (rain or snow)

ijansch

In de xxter web interface wijst de ‘bekijk de release notes’ nog steeds naar 3.1 ipv 3.2. En zijn er ook release notes van de minor versies?

Harm Elzinga

Beste Ivo,

Ik denk dat dat een caching issue in je browser is, we hebben dit gecontroleerd en getest en bij ons werkt dit correct.

De minor releases krijgen alleen release notes als er meer dan aan klein aantal bugs zijn opgelost. Wat af en toe voorkomt, vooral bij Pairot.

Paul Ploeger

Heel fijn om Hikvision support te hebben! Dank