cv27 wrote:I'm assuming the Centro-8M documentation and working will be close to the Centro-8's. So, here are some questions, based on this assumption.
One central point to my personal confusion is this. Given that a project needs to be uploaded to the Centro, it seems any device (PC, IOS, Android), without requiring a local copy of the project, that initiates a Web communication with the Centro would have access to the project (similar to terminal mode).
There is no way to access the .pad project file, no. An app without the project file will be able to send basic commands (IR, relay etc) but would have no details of timed events, flags etc. If by 'web' communication you mean the browser interface, this can be password protected, but only gives the user interface similar to the app.
cv27 wrote:At the same time, it seems that IOS and Android devices with the project loaded locally could share variables (flags, numbers, labels) stored centrally on the Centro.
Centrally shared variables are 'ticked' in the designer software. They each have a processor variable ID. Providing this ID matches, any iOS/Android device will keep those values in sync - even if the iOS/Android devices are running different projects.
cv27 wrote:
Some of the following questions may not be relevant given the answer to the first question, but here goes anyway:
* How is sync done between Centro, PC and IOS/Android devices for:
1) Values
2) Variable creation & deletion, and renames
Values are kept in sync by the app - whenever a value changes, it tells the Centro, and the Centro then tells all connected apps. When an app first connects to a Centro, it asks for the current state of all shared variables.
Variable renames are not relevant, nor deletion, as the variable IDs will not be reused in a project. You just need to make sure all app devices have the latest project on so it knows which new variables to sync. The Centro does not need to know about which variables, it stores everything it is told to - it is the apps that initiate the sync.
cv27 wrote:
* How does a client device know to get a variable's value from the Centro?
* "In order to ensure that variables (perhaps spread over several iOS/Android projects) are kept in sync, all variables require a unique 'Processor ID'": not clear on the role of that Processor Id, more details would be appreciated
For variables which are 'ticked' - the app knows to request their values from the Centro, and to store them on the Centro when they change. The ID is only used when you have different projects loaded to several apps - to make sure they sync correctly. Eg a Flag might have an ID of 20 representing an alarm status. If you create a new project for an iOS device & add a flag called 'alarm status', you want to give it the ID 20 as well so that it matches the other project.
cv27 wrote:
* Uploading to the Processor: How does it know which PC to load from? Normally, the device app config tells it what address and port to load from, but there seems to be no place to specify that on the Centro
You send a project to the Centro, it doesn't pull it like the app does. You use the 'upload to processor' option & choose the Centro to upload to it.
cv27 wrote:
* Uploading to the Processor / Upload Web Interface Pages: what pages, where?
A Centro is capable of being controlled via a web browser. You get the same interface as the app - but if you want to use this, you need to enable the web server, and also upload the web interface images to the Centro. These are options on the upload to processor screen.
cv27 wrote:
* "The processor will initially boot up using DHCP to obtain its IP address. You will need to change this to a static IP address": is there any way to retain the DHCP approach? I tend to manage IP addresses centrally on my router, using DHCP reservations for cases like this that need a fixed address.
Yes you can leave it on DHCP in Step 1, but the apps need to know which IP address to connect to obviously - so provided it doesn't change, it will be fine.
