The user interface for the WebBrick Gateway consists of panels with a mixture of display and input elements on it. Some elements may combine both display and input.
Here is an example home page:
Operation
Selecting any element on the screen may cause an action to occur or a new page to be displayed. If you are using a touch screen touching the interface element will select it. If using a mouse on a standard web browser then click and release is a select.
Here's an example UI panel, a heating control page:
Here's the same example with parts labelled:
Display elements
Depending on the target device or task the user interface will display different interface elements. These interface elements may be standard web browser elements or built up using a mixture of technologies. A lot of the simple elements consist of text and graphics, with the graphic being used to indicate some state or indication of what the element is connected with.
For simple devices that have a distinct number of number of states such as a light, i.e. on or off the graphic will vary depending on whether the device is:
- on
- off
- has been given a command and are waiting for a response
- the state can not be determined
For slightly more complex devices, i.e. garage doors where the door can be one of closed, open, ajar, error, unknown. Again simple graphics will be used with a wider range of possibilities. Look at the help page for current explanations on the graphics being used, again these may be changed to suit the installation i.e. French symbols.
Some user interface elements are both the state display and the command request element, i.e. a light switch.
Some user interface elements are just command request elements as they target multiple devices and therefore no single entity can be queried to update the element state. i.e. a Macro or job request.
For devices that can have a continuous range of output values, i.e. a light dimmer, the display can either be a textual display of the current value or a graphical display or a mixture of both.
User input elements
Most activities on the user interface consist of making requests for something to happen and therefore a simple button metaphor is used. Some limited system reconfiguration can be performed from the user interface, e.g. adjust heating schedules. These are performed using on screen keypads and selectors as follows, these are intended to be usable using traditional mouse or touch screen input. See also the previous section where some buttons are display and request elements.
Numeric keypad
This is used to enter a numeric value, i.e. a temperature in a heating schedule. A number can be entered by touching the
relevant numeric symbols and then select either Set or Cancel. The decimal point will be displayed if the target can accept
fractional numbers i.e. 21.5 for a temperature setting.
Time thumbwheel
This is used to enter a time value. It is a thumbwheel display and the up and down arrows above and below each digit are used
to select the desired time. The time entered will be in 24 hour format an attempt to enter a time greater than 23:59 will be
prevented by where necessary changing a digit as the user causes changes another digit that would result in a time
greater than 23:59.
Day selection
This is used to select one or more days of the week for some request, typically during schedule updates. Select each day to toggle its select
state and once the correct selections of days has been identified for the task in hand then select either Set or Cancel.
State request
This is used to select a state for an action, typically used as an action on a device as part of schedule. i.e. When the time for the schedule
entry occurs should this device be:
- switched On
- switched Off
- no change happen to the device
Operating an item
When you click/select an item, it is selected 'ready for command'. The command is not issued until you release the click within the area of the item control. So if you move your mouse or finger outside the item 'box' the select is cancelled. This feature helps to prevent accidental operation whilst brushing across or cleaning a touch screen. Here's what happens to an item that starts in the 'Off' state, and is properly 'click-released':
There are times when an item cannot be operated:
- Searching
This means that the WebBrick Gateway is searching for the item. Generally you'll
see this icon for two reasons, either the network to that WebBrick is down, or the WebBrick is powered off.
- Locked
This means that the item is locked out. This means the WebBrick
that controls the item has been set to locked out mode.
Macros/Jobs
The WebBrick Gateway can execute macros or jobs that consist of multiple actions
This is where:
- Several items are operated upon, configured within the WebBrick Gateway. A example would be a 'Twilight' job where items may be distributed over more than one WebBrick. Internally the WebBrick Gateway has a list of operations grouped into a 'job'
- Scenes, an element may drive the 'next' and 'prev' functions for set points and scenes.
There is no single point of feedback to show that a job has completed, therefore the click-release transition looks like:
Guide/Help
From most pages the following is available by selecting the Cog Icon in the top right corner of the display, yours may not look like this as it may have been modified by your installer to suit your location, i.e. use of german symbols.
