Glossary

Address Code

Each X10 device has a user settable address used to identify it from others on the same power circuit.

Alarm

An Alarm means notifications sent by Whzan to the Customer based on Customer set threshold values of datapoints. You may want to keep your home at a certain temperature, for instance. You can ask Whzan to alarm you when the home temperature drops below the level you want it to be.  Alarms can be set on any datapoint or derivatives of datapoints and alerts by email.

COM Port

A COM port is a communications channel over which data is transferred between computing devices.

Controller

In the Whzan context, a Controller is the part of a device that controls it, or it can be a separate device that controls another, such as a control panel for a boiler.

Data Center

In the Whzan context, this is the Center where the different types of data are defined. Different types of data can include alpha and numeric characters, for instance.

Datapoint

Datapoints in Whzan hold values, that is numbers, dates, text and Booleans (logical on/off).  Once defined, Whzan datapoints can be displayed, stored in history, used in calculations, subject to alarm checking and set via screen graphics.  Their values can be set from or sent to Whzan Gateways such that they keep in synchronization with the external world.

Device

A Device in the Whzan context is many things. In the field of Home Automation, a device can be the house boiler, the garden lights (or the control panel that controls your garden lights) or the heating of a swimming pool. In an industrial context, a device can be an instrument, a control panel or tool, a piece of software controlling the air-conditioning of an office or a PLC which is used to control an element of a production line or system. We also use the words 'equipment' and 'instrument' often instead of Device.

Dynamic change

In the case of Whzan, when a datapoint value changes, any displayed graphics containing a reference to that datapoint may also be set to change.  Most properties (e.g. color, thickness, style, height etc) of each graphical component (line, rectangle, image, Widget etc) can be bound to a datapoint or a derivitive of it.  So as well as Widgets showing changes any part of a mimic may change.  This could be a Widget showing the temperature of your swimming pool water as a gauge, and the color of the pool water.

Gateway

A Gateway in Whzan is a software program that can be downloaded from the Whzan Shop. Its function is to exchange data between Whzan and the outside world. A Gateway can be created to operate on any computer platform as long as it has an internet link.

Gateway Manager

This is software which is embedded in the Gateway software. Its role is to manage the Gateway and helps you to setup Whzan and the Gateway itself.

Graphics Editor

The Graphics Editor is the Whzan graphics drawing programme which allows the Whzan user to edit and create graphics for displays and user intervention.

Graphics Object

In software that is used to draw pictures, each picture or element thereof is regarded as an "object". In case of Whzan, a graphics object could be a part of a picture that you are drawing of your home automation system (the lights in the house and garden maybe) or of the industrial production process, like a biscuit baking production line.

History

Whzan enables you to store changes to datapoints over time.  Once stored, the data can be extracted and shown on charts and graphs. 

Internet cloud

An internet cloud is a facility to provide the user almost limitless computer capacity both in terms of processing power and disk space. The facility is provided by a number of service providers.

Mimic or Graphics

This is a graphical display created with the Whzan Graphics Editor which is typically a drawing of the device (home boiler, garden lights etc), instrument or production which you can monitor using the Whzan service across the Internet. The drawing effectively "mimics" or copies the behaviour and look of the device environment.

Open architecture

The Open architecture of software, including the software underpinning the Whzan service, means that the structure of the software is such that it is easy to add new pieces of additional software code to the original software code.

Serial port

A Communications interface on PCs usually with a 9 or 25 pin connector.

SDK

Software Development Kit.

Template

In the Whzan context, we are providing Whzan users different ready-made combinations of Widgets and Mimics. We call these Templates.

USB

Universal Serial Bus.  A communications interface on modern PCs.

Widget

A Widget in Whzan is a pictorial element that can dynamically change in relation to a datapoint.   Widgets are typically parts of an overall Mimic. It could be a pictorial representation of a dial of a clock, thermometer or speed gauge. In Whzan, there is a selection of ready-to-use Widgets that you can insert into your Mimic picture of your system that you want to monitor across the Internet using Whzan.

X10

X10 is a communications protocol that devices can use to talk to each other.

X10 Controller Device

This plugs into your power supply and PC.  The PC then can send commands to control other X10 devices on the power circuit.