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Articles and whitepapers Product Article: Stardraw Control Systems - an Open Approach (3/5/2007)
Installers and their clients are sometimes deterred from deploying customized, integrated control systems, even though this could add great value to the system it would control. Usually it is a question of cost, and the cost equation comprises two principal elements - control system hardware and programming time. If we can reduce the impact of these two components, an opportunity exists to grow the market for customized, integrated control systems and increase installers' profits for this type of system. Traditionally, and in general terms, open architecture systems ultimately win out over closed, proprietary systems in a mature marketplace. An open system can exploit the innovation and economies of scale of an entire industry. Proprietary systems, by contrast, are limited by the resources and policies of their autocratic or at least oligarchic owners and, let's not forget, the restriction on supply means a higher price to the consumer. Open architecture hardware in general is cheaper, so when considering touchpanel-based control systems for example, the emergence of the Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) points to the future where touchpanels, equivalent in form but superior in functionality, undercut the cost of proprietary lookalikes by up to 75%. Likewise the gateways and interface boxes that connect directly to controllable hardware are benefiting from cross-pollination with the IT industry and the emergence of new suppliers. Today, an IP gateway with multiple Infrared emitters, a couple of serial ports and a few relays can retail for as little as GB£200. The future for hardware costs looks bright. In terms of programming time and cost, exploitation of open systems again reaps benefits. Rather than training or contracting specialist individuals skilled in arcane, proprietary languages, why not draw from the vast pool of programmers writing in common languages? Better still, why not use a system that does not require any code to be written at all? Stardraw Control 2007 The Stardraw Control family by Stardraw.com has been designed and architected to offer an open platform solution that can use third-party hardware and technologies, principally to reduce the time and cost of control system deployment without any sacrifice in functionality. Stardraw Control 2007 and its entry-level sibling Stardraw Control Lite 2007 are software applications that allow you to control any hardware device over any protocol, create custom user interfaces (UI), program your system without having to write any code, and deploy your UI on any PC device. By supporting any protocol, including RS232, infrared, Ethernet, DMX, EIB, X10, EtherSound and CobraNet to name but a few, Stardraw Control effectively offers control of any remotely-controllable product. All that's needed is something to host the UI, like a desktop, laptop, tabletPC or UMPC, and something to talk to the hardware being controlled, i.e. a gateway device. The options available to installers are therefore very broad and becoming ever broader and more cost-effective.
To create your control program using Stardraw Control, you begin by laying out the devices in your system in the Topology View, then design and program your UI in the Forms View. Topology View The Topology View is used to show your system layout as a schematic that identifies control inputs and outputs. Simply drag products from the Product Library into your design then click and drag to set connections.
Device drivers, represented by the product symbols in the schematic, contain all the information required to communicate with that product and access any functions that can be controlled or monitored. The grid on the right of the Topology View is used to set the properties of the devices in your system, e.g. IP address or MAC address. With its drag and drop interface and Properties Grid, the Topology View allows you to configure your entire system, including communication protocols, supported functions and command/monitoring packet routing without having to write a single line of code. Forms View The Forms View allows you to build completely flexible, fully customised graphical user interfaces that control and/or monitor the devices in your system. Controls can be dragged from the Toolbox on the left, and all their visual and behavioral characteristics can be defined, simply by setting values in the Properties Grid on the right. Forms and graphical controls such as the Graphic Button can use common format image files, e.g. PNG, BMP, JPG, GIF etc, and fully support alpha-channel transparency so it is easy to produce professional, compelling UIs. Other sophisticated controls include WebBrowser, Audio/Video Player, Calendar, Scheduler and many more.
To program actions, simply double click on a control to display the Actions dialogue. By using Stardraw Control's unique dynamic menu system, actions can be programmed without having to write a single line of code. The Actions dialogue also allows you to capture any device or system event and initiate any number of UI or device functions as a result e.g. when screen reaches down position, dim lights, turn on projector and show 'Ready' on UI. Actions can also be dependent on conditions e.g. only turn on projector if the screen is down.
Although the majority of actions you will need can be programmed without having to write code, there are instances where you may want to include functions, such as logical or mathematical calculations, that do require some code to be written. For this, Stardraw Control includes a C# script editor. By writing script, anything that can be done by a computer can be done using Stardraw Control, and the benefit of using this language is that there are literally tens of thousands of professional C# developers out there in a highly competitive developers' marketplace. Control Programs The objects and actions defined in the Topology and Forms Views are used to create control programs. At a click of a button, these programs are compiled to self-contained, standalone or client/server .EXEs that can be run on any PC device with .NET framework 1.1, including desktops, laptops, tabletPCs and UMPCs. Standalone control programs can be used when a single UI controls your system. For systems where more than one UI may need to control or monitor the same equipment simultaneously, client/server executables enable all clients to access the equipment, even if a particular device can only hold one controllable port open at a time. Once licensed, control programs can be edited, amended and re-compiled at any time without additional cost, which means that it is easy for installers to support changes in their client's system, such as a unit upgrade or UI amendment. Conclusion Using Stardraw Control you can create sophisticated control systems whose appearance and functionality is limited only by your imagination, in a fraction of the time required by traditional methods, and without having to learn complex programming languages. As an open architecture system, Stardraw Control leaves you free to choose from a vast array of third party products, reducing the base cost of your system without compromising functionality. These factors offer the forward-thinking integrator the chance not just to deploy more control systems, but to deploy them faster, more easily and with greater scope for profit than ever before. Rob Robinson is the Marketing Director for Stardraw.com Ltd, award-winning developer of design/documentation and control software. Other sites of interest: UMPC Gateways
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By
Rob Robinson, Stardraw.com
