Dean Roddey
20-12-2005, 06:49 PM
Charmed Quark Systems, Ltd (http://www.charmedquark.com) is proud to announce the 1.5 release of CQC (the Charmed Quark Controller), its software-based control and automation system.
Charmed Quark System's automation products provide robust, flexible, and cost effective control of lighting, HVAC, security, home theater, media data, and other systems. It is available in various configurations, which will scale to meet your needs, whether large or small, open or secure, a single room or the whole home. Build your own hardware, or use our pre-built systems. Do it yourself or take advantage of our reasonable consulting and customization services, whatever fits your needs and budget.
In the remainder of this document some screen shots will be provided. These are of the interfaces created for various CQC-based automation solutions. Please note that there is nothing, visually or functionally, about these images that is intrinsic to CQC. They were created using the CQC interface designer, using arbitrary images chosen for their asethetics and the functionality provided is purely a matter of design, so they are not 'skins' providing alternate looks for a fixed set of functionality, nor are you in any way limited to a particular visual style. they are pretty significantly reduced in size and quality in order to avoid download overhead
http://www.charmedquark.com/Web2/Downloads/CQC1_5BlurbImages/DR_AudioOverlay_Preview.jpg
Click here for a full sized version (http://www.charmedquark.com/Web2/Downloads/CQC1_5BlurbImages/DR_AudioOverlay.jpg)
What's New Overview
---------------------------------------
The list of new features for 1.5 is not long, but some of them are very important and greatly extend CQC's automation capabilities.
Web Server. CQC now incorporates a zero configuration web server, so that you can access CQC from devices that only have a web server as a client interface, or remotely via any web browser. It implements digest style authentication and page access can be controlled based on CQC security as desired. Dynamic content pages can be served up via our CML macro language, and images can be accessed from the CQC image repository, as well as from on-disk image and HTML content.
Event System. CQC now supports network wide event handling, which allows it to respond to changes in the system automatically, throughout the network. These new 'triggered events' which complement the existing scheduled events, allow you to create very powerful automation logic. There is a simple but powerful filtering language to tell CQC what events should trigger a given action.
Web Browser Widget. The user interface system now supports a web browser widget, so you can embed web pages into your user interfaces. The widget supports standard web navigation commands and URL setting commands, so you can allow for easy access to specific web sites.
Graphical Text. The user interface system now supports special 'graphical text' effects. So you can now create gradient text, reflected text, blurs, and blurred drop shadows. These effects contribute greatly to the ability to create serious 'eye candy' interfaces.
Web Access Classes. The CML language runtime has been expanded to provide HTTP and URL classes. These allow CML based drivers and macros to easily access web-based content.
Standalone Viewer Mode. You can now install CQC on a client in 'standalone viewer mode', which just installs the support libraries and the interface viewer, without any background services. This is intended for clients such as tablet PCs or laptops, where you just want to view interfaces, without the extra overhead of background services.
New/Improved Drivers. New drivers are available for the Aprilaire 8870 RS-485 thermostat system, the Proliphix NT10e and NT20e IP based thermostats, the Sherwood 965 A/V processor, caller ID modems, Neothings Avalong A/V switcher, and the Elk M1 driver has been expanded significantly.
.Net Viewer Updates. The .Net Viewer has been brought into sync with the 1.5 release and now implements almost all of the interface widget types and functionality.
http://www.charmedquark.com/Web2/Downloads/CQC1_5BlurbImages/MS_NowPlaying.jpg
Web Server
---------------------------------------
The CQC web server is our own, not an existing server that we licensed, so it is fully integrated into CQC. It allows you to access file based images and HTML content, and to generate dynamic HTML on the fly via our CML macro language. File based HTML can use a simple replacement tokens in order to embed live system status values into the HTML, which makes it very easy to use standard HTML editing tools to create nice interfaces which display device status.
http://www.charmedquark.com/Web2/Downloads/CQC1_5BlurbImages/WebSrv1.jpg
Using CML, you can handle requests for pages and generate dynamic HTML on the fly, which can include device status or any other information you can get to and want to include in the HTML you generate. There is a CML base class that does most of the work, and you derive from it.
Security is based on CQC accounts. So you can limit particular pages to be available to users of particular privilege levels. This applies to both dynamic and file based content. In order to avoid the complexity of the .htaccess scheme used in servers like Apache, the CQC web server just has special areas of the 'URL space' that represent each user privilege level. Any URL not under these areas are freely accessible. Any URL under a particular user level area can be accessed by users of that level and above, as long as they have a valid CQC user name and web password. For security, separate passwords are assigned by the admin for web access. This allows the admin to both prevent any web access at all to particular users, and avoids the use of the CQC internal passwords during remote access over the net.
Event System
---------------------------------------
On the pure automation front, one way in which CQC always suffered in comparison to some of its competitors is that it did not offer an event system. It supported 'scheduled events', which run at given times, but not events that are triggered in response to some change in the state of the devices under control, i.e. things like "If the DVD player door closed and a DVD in in the drive, turn off the lights and switch everything to DVD viewing mode", and so forth. Partly this was due to the fact that CQC's networked architecture makes such event handling far more complex than in single box, single user architctures.
http://www.charmedquark.com/Web2/Downloads/CQC1_5BlurbImages/DR_MediaOverlay_Preview.jpg
Click here for a full sized version (http://www.charmedquark.com/Web2/Downloads/CQC1_5BlurbImages/DR_MediaOverlay.jpg)
This architectural hole has now been filled, and you can define 'triggered events' that will fire based on criteria that you express using a simple but powerful filter language. These filters can be quite simple or quite complex, according to need. The DVD in teh driver example above would be a fairly simple one. Other uses include reacting to motion detectors, reacting to a change in security zone status, to a change in a moisture sensor, and so forth.
Charmed Quark System's automation products provide robust, flexible, and cost effective control of lighting, HVAC, security, home theater, media data, and other systems. It is available in various configurations, which will scale to meet your needs, whether large or small, open or secure, a single room or the whole home. Build your own hardware, or use our pre-built systems. Do it yourself or take advantage of our reasonable consulting and customization services, whatever fits your needs and budget.
In the remainder of this document some screen shots will be provided. These are of the interfaces created for various CQC-based automation solutions. Please note that there is nothing, visually or functionally, about these images that is intrinsic to CQC. They were created using the CQC interface designer, using arbitrary images chosen for their asethetics and the functionality provided is purely a matter of design, so they are not 'skins' providing alternate looks for a fixed set of functionality, nor are you in any way limited to a particular visual style. they are pretty significantly reduced in size and quality in order to avoid download overhead
http://www.charmedquark.com/Web2/Downloads/CQC1_5BlurbImages/DR_AudioOverlay_Preview.jpg
Click here for a full sized version (http://www.charmedquark.com/Web2/Downloads/CQC1_5BlurbImages/DR_AudioOverlay.jpg)
What's New Overview
---------------------------------------
The list of new features for 1.5 is not long, but some of them are very important and greatly extend CQC's automation capabilities.
Web Server. CQC now incorporates a zero configuration web server, so that you can access CQC from devices that only have a web server as a client interface, or remotely via any web browser. It implements digest style authentication and page access can be controlled based on CQC security as desired. Dynamic content pages can be served up via our CML macro language, and images can be accessed from the CQC image repository, as well as from on-disk image and HTML content.
Event System. CQC now supports network wide event handling, which allows it to respond to changes in the system automatically, throughout the network. These new 'triggered events' which complement the existing scheduled events, allow you to create very powerful automation logic. There is a simple but powerful filtering language to tell CQC what events should trigger a given action.
Web Browser Widget. The user interface system now supports a web browser widget, so you can embed web pages into your user interfaces. The widget supports standard web navigation commands and URL setting commands, so you can allow for easy access to specific web sites.
Graphical Text. The user interface system now supports special 'graphical text' effects. So you can now create gradient text, reflected text, blurs, and blurred drop shadows. These effects contribute greatly to the ability to create serious 'eye candy' interfaces.
Web Access Classes. The CML language runtime has been expanded to provide HTTP and URL classes. These allow CML based drivers and macros to easily access web-based content.
Standalone Viewer Mode. You can now install CQC on a client in 'standalone viewer mode', which just installs the support libraries and the interface viewer, without any background services. This is intended for clients such as tablet PCs or laptops, where you just want to view interfaces, without the extra overhead of background services.
New/Improved Drivers. New drivers are available for the Aprilaire 8870 RS-485 thermostat system, the Proliphix NT10e and NT20e IP based thermostats, the Sherwood 965 A/V processor, caller ID modems, Neothings Avalong A/V switcher, and the Elk M1 driver has been expanded significantly.
.Net Viewer Updates. The .Net Viewer has been brought into sync with the 1.5 release and now implements almost all of the interface widget types and functionality.
http://www.charmedquark.com/Web2/Downloads/CQC1_5BlurbImages/MS_NowPlaying.jpg
Web Server
---------------------------------------
The CQC web server is our own, not an existing server that we licensed, so it is fully integrated into CQC. It allows you to access file based images and HTML content, and to generate dynamic HTML on the fly via our CML macro language. File based HTML can use a simple replacement tokens in order to embed live system status values into the HTML, which makes it very easy to use standard HTML editing tools to create nice interfaces which display device status.
http://www.charmedquark.com/Web2/Downloads/CQC1_5BlurbImages/WebSrv1.jpg
Using CML, you can handle requests for pages and generate dynamic HTML on the fly, which can include device status or any other information you can get to and want to include in the HTML you generate. There is a CML base class that does most of the work, and you derive from it.
Security is based on CQC accounts. So you can limit particular pages to be available to users of particular privilege levels. This applies to both dynamic and file based content. In order to avoid the complexity of the .htaccess scheme used in servers like Apache, the CQC web server just has special areas of the 'URL space' that represent each user privilege level. Any URL not under these areas are freely accessible. Any URL under a particular user level area can be accessed by users of that level and above, as long as they have a valid CQC user name and web password. For security, separate passwords are assigned by the admin for web access. This allows the admin to both prevent any web access at all to particular users, and avoids the use of the CQC internal passwords during remote access over the net.
Event System
---------------------------------------
On the pure automation front, one way in which CQC always suffered in comparison to some of its competitors is that it did not offer an event system. It supported 'scheduled events', which run at given times, but not events that are triggered in response to some change in the state of the devices under control, i.e. things like "If the DVD player door closed and a DVD in in the drive, turn off the lights and switch everything to DVD viewing mode", and so forth. Partly this was due to the fact that CQC's networked architecture makes such event handling far more complex than in single box, single user architctures.
http://www.charmedquark.com/Web2/Downloads/CQC1_5BlurbImages/DR_MediaOverlay_Preview.jpg
Click here for a full sized version (http://www.charmedquark.com/Web2/Downloads/CQC1_5BlurbImages/DR_MediaOverlay.jpg)
This architectural hole has now been filled, and you can define 'triggered events' that will fire based on criteria that you express using a simple but powerful filter language. These filters can be quite simple or quite complex, according to need. The DVD in teh driver example above would be a fairly simple one. Other uses include reacting to motion detectors, reacting to a change in security zone status, to a change in a moisture sensor, and so forth.