Devices and places

Browse and edit buildings, rooms, areas, lines, devices, parameters and group object links.

The Devices & places section has a tree on the left and an editor for the selected item on the right.

The tree

Two views, chosen with the buttons above the tree:

  • By place. Buildings, floors and rooms with their devices, and a Not placed node for devices without a place. Building adds a building at the top level.
  • By line. Areas and lines with their devices.

A filter box narrows the tree. A dot next to a device means its settings still have to be downloaded into the real device (see Download reminder). Export… writes all devices with their place to a CSV file.

Editing places

Select a place to add a place inside it, rename or delete it, or see the devices in it. Drag a device onto a place, or use the place selector in the device editor, to move it.

Editing areas and lines

In the line view you can add, rename and delete areas and lines. A line has a medium (twisted pair, IP and so on, as in the project).

Editing a device

Select a device to see its product and manufacturer, choose its Place, and open Edit name, description and comment, which also holds the device’s individual address (a device can be moved to another address in the project). Deleting a device asks for confirmation.

Tabs of a device:

  • Group objects. Each object shows its number, name, flags (C communication, R read, W write, T transmit, U update, I read on init) and the group addresses it is linked to. Type a group address and press Link to link, or the x to unlink. While you type, a list offers the group addresses of the project that contain the words you typed in their address, name or description, have the same main data type as the object (or none) and are not linked yet; an address you type in full is linked exactly as typed. When an object is linked to several addresses, the first one is the one the object sends to. With more than twelve objects, Only linked objects hides the rest. A device added from the catalog that has modules (for example an actuator with channels) shows the objects of the default module instances. They are listed with their numbers and names, and the first link, or the first change of a module parameter, stores the module instance in the project.
  • Parameters. The parameter pages of the application program. Active shows the parameters that are visible with the current values; All includes the ones other values switch off. Changed values are marked and show the program default. Only changed filters, and Reset all… sets all changed parameters of the device back to the defaults. Values are stored in the project only; nothing is sent to the device.
  • Routing. Only for line and area couplers. See Routing preview.
  • Program. Load this device from the project into a real device. See Programming.
  • On the bus. Read mask version, manufacturer, serial number and order information from the real device. See Diagnostics.

Download reminder

Tinkerbus remembers which devices of a project still have to be loaded into the real device.

  • A device added from the catalog counts as not downloaded yet.
  • After a successful full download from the Program tab, Tinkerbus stores a fingerprint of what was loaded: the octets written, the filter table, the IP settings and the address. If the settings of the device (or, for couplers and IP devices, anything in the project they depend on) no longer produce the same image, the device is changed since the last download. Names and comments do not count.
  • Devices in one of these states get a dot in the device list, a banner with the reason in the device editor, and a count in the top bar (n to download, which shows the device list). The banner offers Open Program tab and Mark as downloaded.
  • Mark as downloaded records the current settings as what the device holds. Use it for a device you loaded with ETS or another tool; later changes are then reported.

Loads that do not bring the device to the project’s settings are not recorded: partial loads on one side, loads without group address links, and loads with program defaults. A parameters-only load therefore does not clear the marker. Devices without any record are not flagged, because nothing is known about what they hold. The records are kept in downloads.json (see Settings), by project and device, so a copy saved with Save as… keeps them.

Limits

  • Parameter translations, nested modules, repeated parameters and calculated parameters are not handled.
  • Channel instances of module objects are not written to the project, because their format could not be checked.
  • Group object sizes can show the program default instead of the real size.
  • Selecting several devices at once is not possible yet.