Catalog

The Catalog section holds the manufacturer product data (.knxprod files) that Tinkerbus knows about. It has two tabs: My catalog and Online. The catalog works without an open project; adding a product to a project needs one.

My catalog

Search products filters by product, order number, manufacturer or category. Select a product to see its details and the parameters of its application program. The parameters shown are the program defaults. Shown by default lists the visible ones, All includes settings that other values switch off. Nothing is stored in a project until you add the device. The signature of product data is not checked.

Getting product data

• Import product data takes the path of a .knxprod file, or Browse…. Zip files that contain a knxprod are unpacked.
• Find .knxprod files on this computer searches your Downloads and Documents folders and any folder you add under Searched folders. Tick the files you want and click Import n selected.
• Use the open project’s product data imports the product data that the open project itself carries for its devices.
• A coverage message tells you which products of the open project are not in the catalog yet. Its list Products you cannot find online has a link for each product, Tell the project it is missing, which opens a report.
• Imported files lists what you imported, with Remove… for each.

Manufacturer names and datapoint types come from the KNX master data. If it is not available, the page offers Download them. After you confirm, Tinkerbus makes one request to update.knx.org; nothing about you or your project is sent.

The option Download the manufacturer names automatically when they are missing does this without asking each time. It is off by default and is stored in the settings (masterDataAuto). When it is on and the catalog has files but no names, Tinkerbus fetches the master data once when you open the catalog. If that fails, it is not tried again until the program is restarted or you switch the option off and on; Download them retries by hand. The download is refused in the backend unless the option is on, and it is skipped when a copy is already stored.

Add to project

With a project open and a product selected, Add to project… asks for:

• Line: lines whose medium does not fit the product are disabled.
• Address: the individual address, for example 1.1.53.
• Name: optional, the product name by default.

The device is added with its parameters at the program defaults and no group objects linked. Link them in Devices and places. Programs with modules show the objects of their default module instances. The device counts as not downloaded yet (see the download reminder). The form warns that ETS 6 was not used to check the result and that the project signature is no longer valid. See Saving.

Online

The online catalog is a client for a knxprod-index service. It is off until you switch it on.

What is sent. When you switch it on, the words you search for and the ids of the files you install are sent to the service address. Nothing about your project is sent. You can switch it off again at any time. Unless you set another address, the built-in default https://index.tinkerbus.org is used; to use a different knxprod-index service, enter its address in the service address field (it is stored in the settings).

1. Enter the Service address and click Switch on. Test connection checks that the address answers like a knxprod-index service.
2. Search by product, article number or manufacturer. The ETS version filter limits the list.
3. Install downloads the stored copy. The checksum and size are checked against what the service announced, and a zip-wrapped knxprod is unpacked. Entries marked Link only have no stored copy; Open page opens the manufacturer’s page instead.
4. Pick the product of the file you want in the project and add it with the same Add to project form.

When a search finds nothing, a link Tell the project it is missing under the message opens a report with your search words and the ETS version filter.

The service address and a Switch off button stay available in the Service section.

Not done yet: a “Find online” button for products the open project lacks, and an update check for installed files.