What do you use for documenting your system?

[Guest FredrikKarlsson]

Hi,

 

Eventually, the system you build up will need documenting. Otherwise, you will not remember where and what everything is, and how everything is set up.

I use associations and alarm frames for a lot of the simple automation, so this is one thing that can get out of hand. And, the link between devices and scenes (if I exchange or reconfigure this device, what will be affected?).

 

What do you use for this?

 

Fredrik

Edited September 13, 2016 by FredrikKarlsson

[Sankotronic 2,370]

I use excel table where I keep list of all devices, scenes and variables added to the system. Still no dependencies between them.

[tinman 1,070]

on HC2 actually 3 things:

 

- toolkit

- set of LUA scenes to capture all the missing links (unfortunately i can not post them), simply to have an overview of dependencies

- HC2 backups (we always do backup, which we can restore within 5 min. to virtual HC2 to have in-front the system as it was before "something has changed")

 

on HCL screenshots ... and lot of paper

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[Guest FredrikKarlsson]

On 2016-09-13 at 11:28 AM, Sankotronic said:

I use excel table where I keep list of all devices, scenes and variables added to the system. Still no dependencies between them.

 

Sorry for bumping / restarting an old posting like this, but I think this is an important aspect of domotics that need to be adressed. 

 

I guess having a HomeTable set up, and a copy of it in a file, is one part of a dokumentation of a system. But, it does not show the dependency between scenes for example.

 

For instance:

1 - I have one simple scene that is just a script to turn on external lights.

2 - Two other scenes turns the window lights on or off

3 - Then there is a scene for turning all inside lights off 

4 - and a scene for making sure that fans and AC is turned off.

 

Naturally, there is a dependency tree created then if you for instance want a "leaving home in the morning" scene, which is most likely like 3, a small delay 2 a larger delay and then 1, 

but a "Going away for some extended period of time" may be 3 and 4 and then 1,2 kept managed by a separate timer scene. Or something like that.

 

These scenes will of course depend on specific devices being present, or even device states, and in the example above I am still only including dependencies within a Z-wave domain. Add a harmony remote hub and a hue bridge and it's all of a sudden not even obvious why the lamp is turned on and what may be broken when it does not. Especially for a person not currently developing the system.

 

I'm just thinking that these kinds of systems quickly will be a bit difficult to maintain without documentation of dependencies between "things" in the system, and I would still like to know more about what people are using.