NOTICE
My involvement with xPL has come to an end. Automation has moved on considerably over the past few years, and it is now possible to buy a stand-alone controller off the shelf for a reasonable price, without having to spend hours writing your own code.
This website is being maintained as a record of my xPL development work up until 2011.
I have released the full source code of all my xPL projects into the public domain. You can download the archive from here.
Mal
Another fix for memory leaks
Visonic CodeSecure sensors now have xPL messages disabled by default, and must be enabled in the configuration program before any xPL messages will be generated.
Various bug reports and feature requests resolved.
- Recovers from loss of communication with RFXCOM modules, either due to unplugging or system sleep.
- Ethernet RFXCOM modules working with dotted IP addresses without trying to do DNS lookups.
- Added support for transmitting Waveman commands with the RFXMitter.
- Fixed memory leak.
- Due to interference and neighbouring systems, Visonic PowerCode sensors now have xPL messages disabled by default, and must be enabled in the configuration program before any xPL messages will be generated.
- Configuration program can read its registry settings on 64-bit versions of Windows.
- Configuration program now allows filtering of view to show only new or enabled sensors.
- Sensors in the configuration program are now colour-coded. Red for "Disabled", green for "Enabled", and blue for "New". A sensor is considered to be new until configured.
You can now integrate your infra-red remote controls and other input devices with xPL, using the new xPL client for IR Server Suite, xPLIRSS.
Originally written with MediaPortal in mind, IR Server Suite is actually a stand-alone IR solution that can be used by other applications (such as xPL) without any need for MediaPortal to have been installed.
Full details here.
OWL CM119 meter reports now working.
Fixed a problem with the configuration program that forced the user to enter an IP address even if using a USB RFXCOM device.
Modified low battery message from both applications to conform with xPL specification
xPLRFX: Fix for failure to catch error when the supplied IP address of the RFXCOM device is invalid.
Added support for ethernet versions of RFXCOM devices, without the need for a COM port redirector.
Security messages (X10, Visonic etc) no longer blocked if reported value is unchanged.
Added support for the RFXMitter, a new transmitter from RFXCOM that is much faster and can transmit more formats.
Previous transmitters translated X10 commands internally and attempted to send them in all enabled protocols. Now the protocol is set in the xPL message, with the translation handled by xPLRFX. Each message is now only transmitted in the specified protocol, with no delays due to sending in other formats.
Moving the burden of translation from the transmitter to xPLRFX has also freed up space in the transmitter to allow more protocols to be supported.
It's been some time coming, but today saw "first light" with the new xPL Z-Wave driver and Mi Casa Verde USB Z-Wave controller successfully switching lamps on and off. The next steps are to integrate the new driver into xPLZWave in place of the old ControlThink SDK, and then hook up the remaining Z-Wave functionality.
Two major projects are planned for this year:
- xPLMPC - an xPL wrapper for the excellent Media Player Classic - Home Theater (MPC-HC), enabling movies to be launched and played entirely under xPL control.
- The xPLZWave revision. A completely freeware solution for Z-Wave and xPL. The Z-Wave driver for this project is currently coded and working with the old ACT Z-Wave interface, but is waiting for technical information from Mi Casa Verde to enable support for their Z-Stick too.
