Overview

What is Whzan?

Whzan is an internet based data collection, storage and display service, able to receive and send data to and from anywhere. The data can be displayed pictorially by versatile Whzan displays and accessed from most web browsers. Optionally, Whzan can keep a history of data changes and check values for alarm conditions to provide alarms.

What does it cost to use Whzan?

Whzan is a web based service and so is low cost and robust.  We offer various service levels based on how much you use it. The starting service level is free for a trial period so that users can give the product a full and thorough evaluation before reaching levels of paid use and access to the more sophisticated functions that are supplied as 'pay per use' services.

Why was Whzan created?

To harness the potential of the web to deliver a robust low cost versatile service that allows you to see and control many remote devices. The applications are endless from controlling a household light to managing the carbon footprint of an industrial estate. If you have novel ideas on how Whzan can be used, please go to the Forum and share them with our users.

How do I get started?

Register for an account and follow the Getting Started button in MyWhzan.

Data

Where do I get the data?

You will need a data source or destination, usually a device. An example of this would be a home automation 'gadget', a device that communicates with a PC and can turn lights and appliances on or off. An industrial example is a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) that can control process and equipment. Sources can be other software, such as a database, web site or program.  If you have data, Whzan has the potential to integrate with it. If you have a device that you'd like to use as a data source, please go to the Forum. There may be others who have built Gateways and Widgets already or there may be other users keen to create them for you. Top

How do I get the data?

Whzan has 'Gateways'. These are software applications that can talk to devices, instruments, systems and other software. A Gateway's job is to exchange data between Whzan and the data source. Gateways are available in our shop.  There are some free products, such as the Gateway for Home Automation using X10 protocol and the Gateway for communications with PLCs using the Modbus protocol. We also provide the source code for these to encourage others to write and share their own Gateways. The Gateway platform is not limited to Microsoft Windows or even PCs; phones and PDAs also make ideal Gateway hosts. Top

How does Whzan know what data is from where?

Whzan works on collecting and displaying data from so-called 'datapoints' A datapoint represents for instance a lightswitch at home or sensor monitored by a PLC. The datapoint is updated by a Whzan 'Gateway' service with the current value of the thing it represents.  When the Gateway detects a change in the external device (e.g. a lightswitch in changed) it will update the Whzan datapoint.  Updates are reflected in all displays, calculations,history, alarms etc.  Likewise if a datapoint changes in Whzan, its new value will be sent to the Gateway which will update the device. It is important to structure a naming scheme for your Whzan data to help clarify the meaning, especially when you have a system with 1000's of datapoints. Top

What can I do with the data?

Whzan offers browser based displays, historical logging, alarm alerting, calculations and transmission to other Gateways for the data it manages. Using these features it is possible to create a fully interactive representation of a real world system and access it over the internet. Top

Mimics

How do I create a display page for my data?

Go to 'Create a New Mimic' in 'MyWhzan' and do it. The mimics editor is like many others; select a shape and drag out onto the page and size appropriately. Each item has properties, such as color, height, opacity etc. and many of these properties can be bound to data values. You could for instance try binding a datapoint to a text item on the mimic.   The datapoint value will be shown when the screen is live. Top

I have no Gateway or device yet, can I still create mimics? 

Yes, you can either manually generate the datapoints you want and link those to the mimics, or you can leave the dynamic features until you add a Gateway.  Top

I want to use an animated mimics device like a gauge, how do I do this? 

Whzan uses 'Widgets ' for animation.  They can be found in the Widgets section of the editor. Some are provided free and the Whzan team will add more based on popular suggestions. However it is possible to create your own using Microsoft Expression Blend. Browse the Whzan shop for more Widgets. Widgets transform from one state to another as the value they are bound to varies between the minimum and maximum value or on and off state.   Top