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Give the workspace a name (e.g. "Tutorial"). Afterwards, a new workspace is created and the NETx BMS Server is restarted.
Import the KNX configuration data from the ETS
One advantage of KNX is that each KNX project is engineered using the engineering tool software called ETS -- independent which devices and which vendors are used within the KNX project. Therefore, the ETS holds the whole configuration data and is thus an important knowledge base for the NETx BMS Server. To ease the data exchange between the ETS and the NETx BMS Server, an ETS app called NETx BMS App is available. Using this app, the whole KNX configuration can be exported from the ETS and imported within the NETx BMS Server.
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Select "Replace current definitions" and step through the wizard. After having finished the import, stop the NETx BMS Server and start it again. Verify whether the KNX connection is working and whether you can control your KNX data points within the Item Tree of the NETx BMS Server.
Creating a visualization project using the BMS Client Editor
The NETx BMS Server includes a web server that can be used to create web based visualizations. To create a new visualization project, right-click at the "Project Tree", select "New visualization project ..." and give the project a name.
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Afterwards, the BMS Client Editor (BCE) starts. The BCE is a tool for designing and creating web based visualizations. As next, a user name and a password have to be chosen. Then, the new project is opened and an empty visualization page is shown.
Creating a visualization page for floor 1
First, rename the visualization page to "Floor1" by selecting "Configuration ..." within the menu "Page".
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The visualization software is using the concept of layers. A layer is a group of elements. Layers are independent of the visualization page - they are defined for the whole visualization project. Each layer has four properties that can be changed via the menu "Layer", "Configuration ...":
As seen at the end of the layer list, the flags "Enabled in editor" and "Enabled in visualization" are deactivated for the background layer. Therefore, the background image cannot be moved anymore. |
Creating a page for the second floor and add a link between the two pages
Create a new page by selecting the entry "New ..." within the menu "Page". Give the page a name and select "Ok". Repeat the steps from the last section to place a background image on the new page. Use the image "Floor2.png" that can be downloaded here.
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Start the visualization by pressing the "Start" button within the tool bar and test whether the navigation between the two pages are working.
Creating a navigation bar using a master page
Within most visualization projects, there will be elements that shall be shown on multiple pages. A typical example is a navigation bar that includes some buttons that shall be displayed on all pages. To avoid that these elements have to be copied to each page, the concept of master pages is provided. A master page acts like a template for visualization pages - all elements that are placed on the master page are also shown on other pages which are configured to use this master page.
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Afterwards, change to page "Floor1" and open the page configuration dialog. Within this dialog, select "Use master page" and close the dialog again. Do the same for the other page. As a result, the back button of the master page will also be shown on the other pages.
Implementing lighting control
As next, a simple on/off light shall be implemented on floor 1. From the library add a "Button-Light-Rect" button. Double-click the button and change to the "Object" tab. Depending on the configuration of the actuator, one or two KNX group addresses are needed. One KNX group address is needed of controlling the light. If there is a separate status object, one KNX group address that provides the current state of the light. Within the "Server Item" list, add the corresponding addresses. If there is no separate status object, add the KNX group address and set the "Send" and "Receive" flag. If there is a separate status object, add KNX group address of controlling as "Send" and the status group address as "Receive". The following figure shows a possible configuration with separate status object. Verify the correct selection of the "Send" and "Receive" flags.
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For a detailed description see Annex A.1 of the manual of the BMS Client Editor (available via the menu "Help").
Implementing blind control
As next, a simple blind control shall be added to floor 1. Insert three new buttons from the library. "Button-Blinds-Up-Rect", "Button-Blinds-Down-Rect" and "Button-Stop-Rect" and place them at the top left corner of the visualization. Make them the same size as the other buttons and align them in a way that they have the same space and that the aligned according to the top edge. To achieve this, select them and use the corresponding menu entries within the context menu.
Double-click the "Down" button and change to the "Object" tab. As operating mode select "Toggle Down", select the KNX group address for Up/Down and enter "1" (1 means moving the blind down) within the text field for the value. Do the same for the "Up" button but use the value "0" (0 means moving the blind up). For the "Stop" button, select the KNX group address for "Slat adjustment/Stop" and enter "0" as value (0 means stopping the blind). The following figure shows the configuration of the "Down" button.
Heating/cooling room control
As next the functionality of a simple room controller for heating or cooling shall visualized. It shall consists of the following elements:
- Label that shows the current room temperature
- Label that shows the current setpoint
- + Button that is used to increase the setpoint
- - Button that is used to decrease the setpoint
First, insert two labels that the page of floor 1. Double-click the first one, select "Indicator" as function and select the corresponding KNX group address that provides the current room temperature. Do the same for the second label and link it to the KNX group address that provides the setpoint. The following figure shows the configuration of one of the label.
To make the display more user-friendly, the digits after the comma should be limited. In addition, the unit of the temperature shall be displayed. To achieve this, change to the appearance tab of the configurtion dialog of the label and use the following text format:
- 0.0 "°C": this format string always shows one digit after the comma and adds the unit degrees Celsius.
The following figure shows the configuration.
As next, insert two buttons for changing the setpoint. Use a "Button-Heating-Minus-Rect" and a "Button-Heating-Plus-Rect" from the library and place them next to the labels. Open the configuration dialog of the + Button and change to the "Object" tab. As operating mode select "+ Value", enter 0.2 in the text field "Step", activate the checkbox and enter "25" within the text field "Max. value". Within the Server Items list, select the KNX group address that provides the setpoint and activate the "Send" and "Receive" flag. Whenever the button is clicked, 0.2 is added to current setpoint and sent to KNX. This is done up to 25. Do the same of the - Button but use "- Value" as operating mode and "18" as minimum value. The following figure shows the configuration of the + Button.
Using popup windows
As you can see there are a lot of control elements within the visualization page "Floor 1". To make such a visualization page more easier to use, so called popup windows can be used. A popup windows is a group of elements that is shown only temporary.
To define a pop up windows for the blind control, select all three buttons of the blind control. Right-click on one of the three selected buttons and select "Group" within the "Grouping" menu. Within the dialog, enter a name for the group (e.g. "BlindGroup1") and select the checkbox "Popup window". Press "Ok" to close the dialog again.
Now the three buttons are defined as popup window. This means that the group is only shown in the visualization when they are activated by the user. Activating a popup windows can be done with a button or a link area. Within this tutorial, a link area shall be used. Insert a link area and place it over the window within the floor plan. Double-click the link area, move to the "Object" tab, select "Change popup visibility" as function, select the group name in the drop down box and "Switch On" as mode. Then, change to the "Appearance" tab, deactivate the check box "Border" and close the dialog.
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Instead of using a link area, a button can also be used to show a popup window. |
In order to test this functionality, start the visualization. After having started the visualization, the pop window is not shown. If you click on the link area, the popup window is shown and the controls can be used. When you click anywhere beside the elements the popup window is hidden again.
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In addition to automatically closing the popup window, a second link area or picture button can be used. For using this behavior "Auto close popup window" has to be set to "No" within the group configuration |
Testing the visualization in a web browser or on your smart phone
Each time the visualization project is saved, it is also transferred to the web server of the NETx BMS Server. To show the visualization within a web browser or on an Android or iOS device, a so called BMS Client has to be defined.
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Please keep in mind that only one device can connect to a BMS Client definition at the same time. Therefore, you have to create a BMS Client definition for each device separatly (web browser, iOS or Android device).
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