Meedio Essentials-HouseBot Connector
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This package includes a set of plugins which allow Meedio Essentials and Meedio HouseBot to communicate with each other. This will allow Meedio Essentials to display and change the properties of Meedio HouseBot devices. It will also allow Meedio HouseBot to send Meedio messages and commands to Meedio Essentials. It does not yet allow Meedio HouseBot to directly access the Meedio Essentials media library.
This is a pre-beta release. It does not yet include any automated configuration wizards and is not yet functionally complete. These plugins are not yet formally supported but you may test them on your own and provide feedback of your experience in the Meedio HouseBot community forums.
INSTALLATION
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* Install Meedio Essentials v1.33 or greater from http://www.meedio.com/download (no longer available)
* Install HouseBot v2.22 or greater from
http://www.housebot.com/hb_download.htm
* Download attached HBConnector.zip file (you must be logged in to see the attachment).
* Make sure that neither Meedio Essentials nor HouseBot are running.
* Extract the files in HBConnector.zip to a temporary location. (Note, you must be logged into the forum to see the HBConnector.zip attachment in this post below)
* Copy MeedioConnector.dll to the C:\Program Files\Meedio\Meedio HouseBot\Plugins\Devices\ directory. Or the actual name of your installed HouseBot installation.
* Copy HouseBot.mlf to the C:\Program Files\Meedio\Meedio Essentials\library directory.
* Double-click the HBConnector.mpp package to install HouseBot Connector 1.0.
* Double-click the HBDemo.mpp package to install HouseBot Demo Module 1.0
* In the Meedio Essentials Configuration tool, enable the HouseBot Connector plugin under the "Full-time plug-ins" tab. Set the following parameters as required:
* Name: Gives a name to this instance of Meedio Essentials. HouseBot can communicate with multiple instances of Meedio Essentials running on the same machine on different ports, or running on different machines across a network.
* HouseBot Host: The hostname or IP address of the Meedio HouseBot Connector that you wish to communicate with.
* HouseBot Port: The IP port of the Meedio HouseBot Connector that you wish to communicate with.
* Reconnect Delay: The time that Meedio Essentials should wait before attempting to reconnect to the Meedio HouseBot Connector if it becomes disconnected.
* On the Media Library tab of the configuration tool select the HouseBot library section. Edit or add the items in this section to match your Meedio HouseBot devices as follows (eventually this will be automated with an import plugin):
* The Name of each media library item should correspond to the name that you want Meedio Essentials to display when referring to this device
* The Device tag should be the actual name of the device as configured in HouseBot
* The prop1-desc tab should correspond to the name that you want Meedio Essentials to display when referring to a device property
* The prop1 tag should be the actual name of the device property as configured in HouseBot
* (Optional) Configure prop2, prop2-desc, prop3, and prop3-desc tags similarly if required.
* Note - currently Meedio Essentials will cause HouseBot to update ALL properties of a given device item at the same time. This means, for example, that if both the power status and dim level properties of an X10 light are configured under a single media library item that you may experience unexpected results. For instance if the power is ON and the dim level is 30 and you change the power to OFF in Meedio Essentials, both the OFF command AND the dim level 30 command will be sent to Meedio HouseBot. This may result in the light being turned off and then being turned back on to dim level 30. This behavior will be fixed in the final version. In the meantime you can get around this by configuring two separate items in the media library, one to control just the power property and one to control just the dim level property.
* You may also create add, edit, or delete custom library tags to organize devices according to your preferences -- such as by category, by location, etc. You can setup media library Views to organize your devices the same way that you would organize music, video, or other media library sections.
* On the Menu tab of the configuration tool add a "HouseBot Demo Module". Optionally rename the caption to something like "My Home". In the Module Properties subtab make sure that the HouseBot section is selected.
* Start the HouseBot server
* From the File menu select New -> Device
* In the Device Wizard select "No Hardware Interface Required (Software Device)"
* Select the "Meedio Connector" device
* Give the device a name, such as "Meedio Essentials".
* (Optional) You can also create a HouseBot theme to display and control the same device(s) that you have configured above.
* Start Meedio Essentials. You can now navigate to "My Home", or whatever you named the HouseBot Demo Module. You should see a view displaying the configured devices. Selecting any device will allow you to see and change the configured properties. When you select OK the device properties will be updated in HouseBot in real-time. Also, if a device property is changed in HouseBot either directly, through a task, or from a software remote, Meedio Essentials should display the updated property value in real-time. You may also control Meedio Essentials from HouseBot by setting the "Command to send" and/or "Message to send" properties of the Meedio Essentials device. Refer to http://meedio.com/mdn/index.php?title=System_Messages for more information on Meedio Essentials messages and http://meedio.com/WebHelp/the_input_tab.htm for more information on commands.