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Quickstart Modules Window Modules Menu CP290 Menu Preferences Macintosh Requirements Version History How To Pay |
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Quickstart Modules Window Modules Menu CP290 Menu Preferences Macintosh Requirements Version History How To Pay |
CP290 Director X is MacOS X software that controls the original X10 home automation computer controlled interface, model number CP290. It completely replaces the Macintosh software that comes with the CP290, and has unique features not found in other Macintosh-based CP290 controllers.
CP290 Director X is shareware. You can try it out for 30 days, but if you still use it thereafter, you must register it. The price is very reasonable--$16. After 30 days, CP290 Director X will no longer communicate with your CP290 unless you have registered it. Click here for instructions on how to pay. If you are a registered user of CP290 Director, the companion product for MacOS 9/Classic, you can upgrade for $6. To upgrade, please contact the author. If you are a prior CP290 Director user and want to know the differences between the two programs, click here.
By using CP290 Director X you agree that you are responsible and liable for the results of such usage. If you do not agree to accept this responsibility, don't use CP290 Director X. The X10 system is not 100% reliable, so there can be no assurance that a module will turn on, off, or dim as you have specified. CP290 Director X offers an improved reliability feature, but even with that feature there can be no assurance that the commanding of a module will work in all instances.
Since moderns Macs do not have traditional serial ports, you will likely connect you CP290 through a USB serial adaptor. CP290 Director X supports standard features of the CP290 interface, as well as features not supported by other CP290 software.
CP290 Director X supports the standard CP290 features (with the exception of the questionably useful getting the clock stored in the interface) including:
In addition to the above, the CP290 Director X supports the following additional features:
The CP290 by itself does not support any of these features for events stored in the CP290 for future execution. However, CP290 Director X supports these extended features by using a helper application. The helper application analyzes the events in the file once per day to determine which ones should be executed today or tomorrow by the CP290, and sends to appropriate "today" and/or "tomorrow" events to the CP290. Thus, if your computer is running (booted, not sleeping, and you are logged in) for at least 10 minutes every other day, then you can take advantage of the above extended features.
As a concrete example of how CP290 Director X implements one of the extended features, consider the following case. Assume you have specified an event indicating that a particular module should turn on at a particular time on 2 November 2004 and then every 3 days thereafter. You then send this event to the CP290. Once per day, the CP290 Director X helper application checks the current date to determine whether any events sent to the CP290 are scheduled to be performed later that day or the next day. On 1 November 2004, the helper application will determine that the event is to occur tomorrow , and therefore store a "Tomorrow" event in the CP290. Then, on 2 November 2004, the helper application would again check the current date and time, and if the specified event is to occur later in the day, then the helper application will send a "Today" event to the CP290. The helper application will also store "Tomorrow" events on November 4, 7, 10, ... and "Today" events on November 5, 8, 11, ... Note that in this particular case you would only need to have your computer running every 3 days...on the day before the event is to occur (or on the same day the event is to occur but earlier in the day).
As another concrete example, consider the case when you specify that a light is to turn on every day at Sunset (see below for how to specify this). When you specify sunset, the current day's sunset time is shown. However, what is saved when you send the event to the CP290 is an indication that this event is to occur at sunset...not today's sunset time. Then, each time the helper application analyzes the events, it computes the current sunset time and sends an event with that time to the CP290. Thus, by specifying a single event as sunset, the CP290 Director X helper application will compute the proper sunset time in the future, for each day that your computer is running.
When the helper application sends events it also updates the clock in the CP290 from the computer's clock. Even if there are no events to send, the helper application will update the CP290's clock daily.
When the helper application is enabled, as it is by default, it is set as a Startup Item so it will restart each time you reboot. Note that the helper application should be run by only one user of your system at a time. It can be used by multiple users, but only one at a time. The events that the helper application sends to the CP290 are always the last events sent by the user; thus each user can have a different set of events.
If you want to see what the helper application is doing, you can view the helper log as described below.
If for some reason you do not want the helper application to run, you can disable it in the preferences.
X10 systems usually work reasonably reliably, turning on or off the selected module when the CP290 commands it. However, occasionally noise or interference in your wiring can cut reliability whereby a module is not turned on or off at the requested time. The best solution to this problem, if acute, is to install noise filters, signal bridges, or amplifiers. However, you may find that CP290 Director X solves the problem for you. CP290 Director X allows you to optionally specify (via the Modules Menu) that each "on" event should be sent more than once to the module, and/or that each "off" event should be sent more than once. Thus, if the first command to turn off doesn't work, the second or third one might. If you specify that an event should be sent more than once, it will be sent the specified number of times (two to four) at one minute intervals.
The Modules WindowWhen you first start the program, a default modules window will be displayed, as shown at the right. The window comes with your first module, with the default name selected so you can easily edit it. After entering the name you like, you can hit tab and then type the house code (A...P), then tab and enter the module number (1...16, or "L" for all lights, or "M" for all modules), then tab to specify the type of the module ("A" for appliance and "L" for light). Of course, you can double-click any of these columns to edit a value in that column. If you don't like the order of the columns you can drag the column name to rearrange them, and CP290 Director X will remember the column order you prefer thereafter.
The controls at the top of the
window allow you to directly control X10 modules via the CP290.
You can use the Off and On buttons to control the
modules you have selected. In the example, an appliance module
and a light module have been selected. The Brightness slider
is now enabled because a light module is selected.
The controls at the bottom of the window allow you manipulate the modules and events in the window.
If you have a single module selected, you can use the 
(cmd-shift-T) and 
(cmd-shift-Y) buttons to start and stop editing the module's name.
You can create new modules with
the
button (cmd-shift-M). If you have
a single module (or event) selected, you can use the 
button (cmd-shift-E) to create an event, as shown at the right.
The triangle to left of each module can be clicked to expand the
module and reveal the events for that module. When you create
an event, its module is automatically expanded. You can use the
(cmd-shift-X) and 
(cmd-shift-C) buttons to expand or collapse all modules at once.
You can use the 
button (cmd-shift-D)
to delete any combination of selected modules and events. Deleting
a module deletes all of its events, even if only some of them
were selected.
When you first create an event,
the event defaults to being an "Off" event at the time
you created it that occurs every day. You can edit the selected
event in the event editor drawer (as shown at the right), which
is revealed by clicking the Show Event Editor button.
If you click Turn On..., and the module is a light module, the Brightness slider will be enabled.
On the left you specify the time of the event. If you choose Sunrise or Sunset you can optionally specify an adjustment to the sunrise or sunset time. You can also turn on Vary time for security to use the CP290's built-in security feature, which varies the time of the event randomly. This feature is available only if you have specified Every... as the date.
On the
right you specify the date(s) that the event will be performed.
To specify the date, you have your choice--via the popup menu
below the line--of four options:
These latter two options may be useful if you are controlling your sprinkler system while your town has water conservation in force.
As you make changes in the editor drawer, the English description of the event in the table changes. The Reset Event button returns the event to its default value.
You can also edit the English event description directly. You just double-click the event description and edit it, then hit return. Anything you enter that is not understood is silently ignored. You can enter an entire event description, or you can just edit changes to the current one, which is probably more useful. The following table shows example event descriptions, changes you type, and the resulting event description:
| Original Event | What you type | New Event | Notes |
| Turn Off @ 10:39 PM Every Day | 11 pm | Turn Off @ 11:00 PM Every Day | It changes only what you type |
| Turn Off @ 11:00 PM Every Day | On | Turn On @ 11:00 PM Every Day | |
| Turn On @ 11:00 PM Every Day | sunset | Turn On @ Sunset Every Day | |
| Turn Off @ Sunset Every Day | + 0:30 | Turn Off @ Sunset+00:30 Every Day | |
| Turn Off @ Sunset+00:30 Every Day | - | Turn Off @ Sunset Every Day | The - is taken as "-0" |
| Turn Off @ Sunset Every Day | security | Turn Off @ Sunset (Security) Every Day | |
| Turn Off @ Sunset (Security) Every Day | 10/30/04 | Turn Off @ 11:00 PM On 10/30/2004 | Note "(Security)" removed because incompatible with even, odd, or specific days |
| Turn Off @ 11:00 PM On 10/30/2004 | & 2 | Turn Off @ 11:00 PM On 10/30/2004 & Every 2 Days Thereafter | |
| Turn Off @ 11:00 PM Every Day | & every 2 | Turn Off @ 11:00 PM Every Day | Ignored because repeats apply only to specific dates |
As you make changes in the English event description, the editor drawer changes.
The
Modules menu allows you to send the Events specified in
all of the modules in the Modules Window to the CP290. Choose
Send Events To CP290 to send the events. You can also specify
that the CP290 should perform events more than once. This latter
option implements the CP290 Director X improved reliability feature.
when you select Perform Events More Than Once..., the following
self-explanatory dialog appears.
The CP290 menu allows you
to interact with the CP290. It is active even if no Modules window
is open. Display Events From CP290 reads all of the events
stored in the CP290 and displays them in a window, which can be
printed or saved in a text file. An example window is shown below.
Set Base House Code allows you to tell the CP290 which house code to use when the keys on the top of the CP290 are pressed. The base house code is also used when you click the All Lights On or All Modules Off buttons in a Modules window. Note that setting the base house code erases all events from the CP290.
Set CP290 Clock sets the clock in the CP290 to the value of the computers clock. You should usually not need to do this, because it is done automatically whenever events are sent to the CP290, and daily thereafter by the helper application.
Display CP290 Clock shoes you the value of the clock in the CP290.
Self Test runs a 10-second self test on the CP290 and reports its status. Note that the self test erases all the events in the CP290.
Helper Log displays the log file maintained by the helper application, and allows you to erase the log. The log can be printed or saved in a file.
The entries at the bottom of the CP290 Menu represent serial devices present in your system. The modem and IR device, if present, are not displayed. You should select the serial device to which your CP290 is connected. CP290 Director X will remember this serial device until you select a different one, even if you unplug and then later replug the USB cable. In the example above USA194b41P1.1 represents a Keyspan USB PDA adaptor.
The preferences allow you to
control
when the helper application should be used. The preferences dialog
is shown at the right.
Functionally, CP290 Director X is identical to its MacOS 9/Classic cousin. However, it has been completely rewritten in Cocoa to look and feel like a MacOS X application. The three major differences are 1) the user interface for specifying Modules and Events, 2) the helper application, and 3) the file format. Modules and Events are contained in an outline table, with events appearing below the Modules with which they are associated. The helper application replaces the CP290 Director feature that caused events to be sent to the CP290 when you opened a file, unless you held down the option key.
Although the file format is different, CP290 Director X versions prior to 3.0 can read CP290 Director files, but it will save them in the new format.
CP290 Director X runs on MacOS 10.2.8 or later. Universal binary.
3.4 - Enhancements and bug fixes:
3.3- Bug fix:
3.2 - Bug fix:
3.1 - Enhancement and bug fix:
3.0 - Enhancements and bug fixes:
2.0 - Updated Purchase command.
1.9 - Fixed a glitch in CP290 clock display of 12 noon to 12:59 PM.
1.8 - Fixed a startup crash when your system has no login items.
1.7 - Enhancements and bug fixes:
1.6 - Fixed a problem with Helper application not always running.
1.5 - Updated PayPal Purchase URL.
1.4 - Fixed bug in Helper Application whereby it forgot you had registered.
1.3 - Enhancement and bug fixes:
1.2 - Several enhancements:
1.1 - First general release.
1.0 - Not widely released.
CP290 Director X is shareware. You can try it out for 30 days, but if you still use it thereafter, you must register it. The price is very reasonable--$16. After 30 days, CP290 Director X will no longer communicate with your CP290 unless you have registered it. If you are a registered user of CP290 Director, the companion product for MacOS 9/Classic, you can upgrade for $6. To upgrade, please contact the author.
To purchase CP290 Director X, click here, or select Purchase CP290 Director X Registration Code... under the Apple Menu. You will be taken to a web site where you can pay by credit card. Once you have paid, you will receive a registration code via email. You can enter this code into CP290 Director X as follows. Start CP290 Director X, then select Enter CP290 Director X Registration Code... under the Apple Menu., and enter your name and registration code.
You may distribute CP290 Director X unmodified via any media, as long as you keep it together with its documentation.