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RichardL
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| Posted: February 17 2015 at 12:52 | IP Logged
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I asked this about 5 years ago, still cannot find it, but figured I'd try again if something new has been developed -
Is there a way to disable/enable a device, like a KPL programmatically, via PH.xxx?
Thank you.
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dhoward
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| Posted: February 17 2015 at 14:32 | IP Logged
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Richard,
If you mean can you programmatically disable a KPL from local control (pressing the main switch on a KPL and have it NOT control its load) then no...there's no way to do that remotely (or even locally for that matter).
Now what you could do is disconnect the load from the KPL and instead wire the load into an inline Insteon module. You could then create links from the KPL to the PLM (for all the KPL buttons actually) and then programmatically control what pressing those buttons do including controlling the inline Insteon module.
Not sure if that is what you're talking about or not.
Dave.
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RichardL
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| Posted: February 17 2015 at 15:29 | IP Logged
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Dave -
Thanks so much for the quick reply.
The inline suggestion is nice.
What I have is a KPL in my Outdoor Kitchen that controls outdoor lights. So I want to be able to disable any buttons from being useable if, for example, the house is in "away-mode".
I see in the Insteon Explorer a disable column, which would suffice. But I am seeking a programmatic mechanism.
All buttons on that KPL are linked to other Switchlincs, so there is no direct local load.
My current solution is to have each button run a trigger. In the trigger VBS I inspect if a KPL disable/enable global variable was set, and only if the variable is enabled, then continue to turn on/off lights... It works but is slower. Just being able to turn on/off the device would be cleaner.
Thanks for all you do for PowerHome!
Richard
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dhoward
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| Posted: February 17 2015 at 16:59 | IP Logged
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Richard,
Sounds like you're already doing what I suggested.
Indeed, is slower having to wait for the trigger to
fire and then PowerHome to control the other
switchlincs but its pretty much the only way you can
do it.
The "Disabled" column for insteon devices just tells
PowerHome to not do any "Background" insteon
processing such as link creation, scanning, polling,
etc. With "Disabled" checked, you can still send and
receive commands from the device and of course it has
no effect on the actual device itself.
Since there is no actual load attached and the KPL is
just a controller, another possibility, but I think it
would be messy, might be to create the links to the
other switchlincs directly within the KPL and then
programmatically set the first link as the "end" link
record so that the links would be ignored (in
theory...not sure if this would actually work). Then
when you want to "re-enable" the KPL, change the first
link back to a normal link so all the other links
would be effective. The problem with this though is
that the EEPROM memory would eventually wear out from
"toggling" this first link back and forth (depending
upon how often you enable and disable).
Dave.
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RichardL
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| Posted: February 19 2015 at 20:09 | IP Logged
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Yes, I was trying to avoid the triggers, but as you said there are no other real choices, so I will continue to use them.
Understood on the disable column, kinda thought it was an on/off for the device…
The link setup you describe is very interesting and good to know is available. I agree with the EEProm concern. The toggling would happen quite often. Each time we leave or return we press a KPL button to enable/disable home-away mode. Among other simple things this does is to enable/disable this outdoor KPL, eliminating the ability of someone to control the outdoor lights which that KPL controls.
As time permits, I’m sure I’ll come up with more items for the forum!
Thanks again for the great assistance!
Best regards,
Richard
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PowerHome Messageboard : PowerHome Programming
Topic: Programmatically disable/enable a device.
