Owner's Manual (Complete)

The Home Control Assistant 1
Glossary
controller
Something in your home that generates signals. This could be a keypad or a motion sensor for
example.
current
In HCA terminology, current means the schedule that is in effect, the one that is working or active
at the time.
design
In this user guide, refers to what you create using HCA to run your home. The design includes the
displays, devices, programs, groups, schedules, schedule entries, and so on. Your design is stored
in a file with the type HCA.
design pane
The left hand pane of the HCA main window. The design pane shows the names of all your
displays, devices, programs, groups, controllers, schedules, and schedule entries
device
The term used in HCA to represent something that receives signals. A device can be any item that
you want to control: a lamp, toaster, heater, etc. For more information, see the Devices Chapter.
display pane
The right hand pane of the HCA main window. This pane shows displays. Each display can be an
arrangement of icons, messages, or HTML.
DXF
Abbreviation for drawing interchange format. This is a widely used file format that was originally
developed for use with the AutoCAD program. DXF is also the standard file type/extension used
for typical floor plan drawing programs.
element
See program elements
entries
Schedules have entries. There are two ways to create schedule entries: through the Schedule Entry
Wizard, and with the Visual Scheduler. Refer to the Visual Scheduler chapter for more details.
execute
While a program is running, each element is executed, that is, whatever the element is supposed to
do, is done. If it is an element that turns on a light, when the element is executed, the light comes
on.
expression
A programming language like piece of text that assigns a value to a flag or tests the value of a flag.
See the expression chapter
flag
A persistent state object that can be manipulated in a program. In a traditional programming
language, this is called a variable. A flag can take on values that are dates, times, yes or no value,
numbers, or text. A program can use flags like pieces of note paper. Each flag has a name and a
value.
In the way that you might make notes to yourself while doing a complex task, programs can use
flags to record things. A program can set a flag to a value and that value remains true as long as
HCA is running. For example, one program can set a flag to Yes while it runs. Much later another
program can test the value of that flag to see if it’s Yes or No.