Version 9 Features

HCA 9 is a Simplified HCA

In version 9 we did a major face-lift on the HCA user interface.

1. Improved the top level menus to make it simpler to find things.
2. Simplified creation of devices, programs, and groups. Wizards are shorter and more focused. Selection of the type of device is quicker as the list of devices types are sorted by type.
3. Removed the split between devices and controllers. It was never clear in previous versions if what you had to add to HCA was a device or a controller. Now everything is a device.
4. Made properties dialogs more consistent between devices, programs, and groups using the same tabs and layouts were ever possible.
5. Eliminated Active/Inactive mode for schedule execution. HCA now is always "Active" and is always watching the current schedule. If the current schedule is modified HCA automatically adjusts to the changes.
6. Added an ability to change the "class" of a device. In previous versions of HCA if you had an existing X10 device and you wanted to change it to an Insteon device you had to delete it and recreate it. This would affect schedules and programs where it was used. In HCA 9, you can just change the type from X10 to Insteon.
7. Much improved Hint system. The hint dialog can now be "parked" on the screen and while you work and new hints will appear there without interrupting your work.
8. New set of HCA icons. New icon themes with various icon sizes so you can use smaller icons on floor plans and large icons for folders. It is now much easier to add your own icons to HCA or to modify any existing icon. Any device, program, or group can use any icon in the theme.
9. Added schedule and references tabs to all objects to allow you to see where a device is referenced and any schedule entries that apply to this object.
10. Generalized triggers for devices and groups. In previous versions of HCA you could provide a trigger for devices and groups that, when received, would control the device or the group members. Problem was that these triggers were only X10 based. In HCA 9, triggers for devices and groups can be the same as used for programs so you have the full range of options besides X10.
11. Dim operations are now always specified in and reported in 0-100% regardless of the type of device.
12. Hidden features from older versions of HCA maintained for legacy reasons. For example, 2-part names, the message file, and obsolete hardware.
13. More drag expandable dialogs to make it possible to see all your work.

New Major Feature: Green Mode

In HCA 9 we implemented a whole new concept to add in programming your home. We call it Green Mode. Here is the idea: You may have many devices in your home that you want to respond differently if you are at home or away and, if you are at home, if you are awake or asleep.

In previous versions of HCA schedules and programs were used to make this happen. You needed a different schedule for when you were home and when you were away. Programs that controlled your devices had to use conditional logic to test if you were home or away, or awake or asleep, and perform different actions.

Green mode can make this much simpler. HCA 9 implements three green modes: Home&Awake, Home&Asleep, and Away.

Each device in your home can be marked as how it responds when the mode is changed and how it responds when in that mode. A few examples will show how useful this can be.

Suppose you have a controllable wall outlet where you plug in your cell phone and iPod chargers. There is no reason to have them on when you are away. So you mark the HCA device for this wall outlet as "Go off" when your home enters Away mode and "Stay off" when in Away mode.

Here is another example: You can shutdown all interior lighting when you go to bed by marking all your lighting devices as "Go off" when entering Asleep mode.

How do you tell HCA what mode you want your home to be in? In any way you want. For example, pressing a light switch or a button on a keypad, or a receipt of a signal triggered by a security panel. The choice is yours.

And you can get this with just a few checkboxes. No programs or schedules needed.

But this is only part of the picture. A key feature is that green mode can override schedules and programs. Again, here is an example. Suppose you want to schedule some interior lights to come on at dusk when you are at home, but when you are away to not control those lights. In previous versions of HCA you needed two schedules to do this or a schedule and a program.

With Green Mode it is much simpler. In a single schedule, create a schedule entry to always control the lights at Dusk. But mark the devices for these lights as "Suspend all actions" when in Away mode. Each day at Dusk HCA will want to turn the lights on, and if you are at home it happens, but if you are Away it does not happen. The schedule is simple but the schedule now acts differently when you are away or at home.

These are only the simplest of examples on how you can use Green Mode.

In addition to green mode, you can now set an automatic off time for any device. Once HCA sees the device come on, after "n" minutes it can be set up to turn off.

The final feature we added in this section was to keep track of the "on time" for devices. While HCA does not utilize this info, it does keep track of it and saves it to log files on a schedule you set. This way you can process the data with other software to help get a picture of the energy use in your home.

Major re-implementation of the HCA Web Server

In HCA 9, we spent a lot of time on the web server component to improve function and appearance. Testing was done on more browsers and major appearance improvements were implemented for desktop and mobile browsers. We paid particular attention to the iPhone. Sample screen images are available on the features web interface page

Re-design and re-implementation of the Visual Scheduler

In HCA 9, the Visual Scheduler has been much improved. This is more than just a cosmetic face lift. It is now much simpler to view and modify your schedules using the existing time bar view but we also added a text based view, a list based view, and a simulation view. The Visual Schedules makes it simple to switch between them.

The Visual Schedule now operates much like the Visual Programmer when programs are constructed using drag-and-drop. The Visual Scheduler now works in this same manner: drop devices, programs, and groups onto the scheduler canvas and drop time markers onto the devices to create schedule entries.

Finally, it is now much simpler to schedule Scenes for those devices that support named scenes.

New Text Based scripting language

HCA has always had the Visual Programmer, a very simple system for construction of programs from over 40 different elements. The Visual Programmer allows for quick program construction and visualization of the created program.

In HCA 9 we extended the Visual Programmer to include the ability to utilize text based scripting engines. While there is no proprietary scripting language, HCA can work with any scripting language that can use the HCA Type Library. This includes VBScript and JavaScript.

By extending, rather than replacing, the Visual Programmer all the good parts of the Visual Programmer can still be used, and the more complex work done in a text based script.

Many changes in support of Insteon

1. Support for the Insteon Powerline Modem - serial and USB version.
2. When Insteon PowerLinc Modem is in use, Insteon extended commands can be sent and received. This makes it possible to read the linking database of V2 devices much quicker and to support devices that don't support - for example the Insteon Motion Sensor - the old style byte-by-byte read for memory access.
3. Support for Insteon IOLinc.
4. Better USB detection and reconnection if the 2414U PowerLinc drops off the USB Bus.
5. Ability to add HCA as a controller to any Insteon scene. Because of the way Insteon works, HCA has to duplicate all the links in the scene receivers to have HCA as the controller.
6. Ability to name Insteon multi-ways created by the multi-way wizard.
7. When working with Insteon scenes in the VSE, you can now specify the full ramp rate choices for devices.
8. Insteon Network Capture now warns about devices whose receivers are normally powered off and does not "check" them. If they are "checked" then they are done first.
9. Insteon Clean dialog now has columns that can be sorted.
10. Wizard for replacing the PowerLinc and re-linking as needed.
11. Support for the full set of the newest Insteon devices.
12. The parts file now includes a generic Insteon switch and module for use with devices that get released between HCA releases.
13. Insteon devices with alternative X10 addresses now show in the House and Unit code inventory dialog.
14. Protocol, bridges from X10 and UPB can now control KeypadLinc LEDs

Many other changes

1. Improved Visual Programmer toolbox.
2. New Send Mail Visual Programmer element. This element can send emails or SMS messages.
3. X10 wireless "security" devices are now added like any other device type.
4. Improved inspector messages now "link" to open the object that generated the error.
5. Global option for double-click on icon action. This is set in HCA Properties and can be overridden on an object by object basis.
6. There is an option for a program to be run after a weather observation. If you selected such a program for this, that there was no way to unselect it. In HCA 9 this has been corrected.
7. Thermostat operations are now retried automatically if they failed.
8. Support for newly released UPB devices.
9. Many changes to the HCA object model to expand what programs and scripts can do with the HCA Objects.
10. Change-Icon element in programs can now change the displayed icon for any device, program, or group. In HCA 8 this element could only change the icon for the program it was in.