Owner's Manual (Complete)

Chapter 13—Displays
The Home Control Assistant 5
To open a display from its icon, double-click on it. A double-click on the Rooms icon changes the
display pane:
About DXF files
If you have one, you can have HCA use a DXF file as the background for a display. There are a
couple of things you might want to know about DXF files before you start. One is how you can
use DXF files in HCA, the other is about how DXF files use layers.
Using DXF files in HCA
When you get to step 2 of the New Display wizard, HCA gives you a choice of the kind of display.
If you choose an Icon display you get the additional choice of the background. If you chose a
DXF background then you must select the DXF file and the program that produced it.
To jump ahead for a moment, during step 3 of the New Display wizard you must make an
important choice. You can either copy (import) the floor plan from the DXF file to HCA, or you
can link the DXF file to HCA, so that it reads in each time you open HCA. Each option has its
benefits and drawbacks, and you’ll probably want to decide in advance which to use:
Characteristics of linking:
 Changes to the DXF file show up in the Home Control Assistant each time you start HCA.
 This uses more memory, and has a slower display.
Characteristics of importing:
 Once you save the HCA file, all your information is in one place, in one file or on one disk.
 You can save the HCA file, and need move only one file to another location or PC.
 The saved file uses less memory, and provides a faster display.
 If you change your DXF file, those changes will not automatically appear when HCA is
started—you will have to re-import the file.