Id #
The Id field shows the internal number of the interface under which it is saved. When creating a new interface, the field is empty. The type of interface is displayed behind it. Both parts are for information purposes only.
Name #
The name of the interface. The name is displayed in selection lists and may also be displayed to users in interface notifications.
Comment #
The comment field is for free use by the integrator. It is used exclusively to document the configuration. You can enter information here, e.g. the purpose of the interface, any special features, etc.
Options #
Here you will find a single checkbox: Deactivated. If you set this checkbox, the interface is deactivated as far as possible. Channels of the interface are still available in the system, but write accesses are no longer passed on to the hardware and read accesses return no value or the last available value.
Deactivating an interface can be helpful if the hardware is no longer connected/defective, or if you want to try something out without the physical devices being addressed.
Connected box #
Here you enter the system ID of the box to which the interface is to be connected. You can find the system ID in the system settings (of the box you want to connect to).
Shared channels #
This list contains the channels that are passed on to the connected box. You can specify for each channel whether reading and/or writing by the connected box is permitted.
| Value | Effect |
|---|---|
| Read-Only | Value changes to the channel are passed on to the connected box. Any write accesses by the connected box are always ignored. |
| Write-Only | Value changes to the channel are not passed on to the connected box. Write accesses of the connected box are executed. |
| Read/Write-Only | Value changes of the channel are passed on to the connected box and write accesses of the connected box are executed. |
For each channel, you can specify how often value changes are sent to the connected box. The real-time setting means that every change to the channel value is sent immediately. This can generate considerable network traffic for channels that change frequently. The other settings limit the forwarding of value changes to a minimum of the specified interval.
With the real-time setting, each change is sent individually. If an interval is set, the changes of several channels are sent together in one message whenever possible. This considerably reduces the network traffic. Depending on the billing procedure of a mobile provider, each individually sent value can cause up to approx. 3kb of traffic on a mobile connection (as at least two TCP packets are generated, one with the data and a response from the TCP protocol). Although the messages are usually much smaller, mobile providers may bill each TCP packet as 1500 bytes, regardless of the actual data content.
Please note that the setting only affects the sending of value changes to the connected box. Write accesses by the connected box always take place immediately (if permitted).
Import channels from another box #
Channels that have been released to the box by the connected box can be imported using the Import function in the configuration. Select the Box-2-Box interface there and the channels released by the connected box will be imported. Names, write/read, data type etc. are automatically set during import in the same way as they were released by the other box.
