Raw Socket

Initialization Data: A total of up to 3 parameters each separated by a single space character. The first parameter is the IP to connect to, the second parameter is the Port, and the third parameter is a flag of either 0,1, or 2 controlling the use of escape sequences within received data. If you omit the third parameter, a value of 0 is assumed. You also have the option of leaving the initialization data blank and manually connect later through controller commands after PowerHome and the plugin have been loaded. An example of initialization data might look like: "192.168.0.11 8200 1" without the quotes.

This plugin provides raw socket connectivity for PowerHome. If parameters are supplied in the Init Data, then a connection will be established when the plugin is loaded. Otherwise, you can initiate a connection manually using the ph_picmd function after the plugin is loaded.

Controller Commands supported:

Command Number	Description
1	Writes data to the socket. Parm1 contains a timeout value in seconds. For no timeout, use 0. Parm3 contains the data you wish send.
2	Applies new Initialization Data and connects the socket. Socket must not already be connected. Parm1 contains the port. Parm2 contains the escape sequence flag (0, 1, 2). Parm3 contains the IP.
3	Disconnects the socket
4	Returns the connection status. Returns "0" if connected. Returns " -2" if disconnected
5	Returns the current IP for the socket
6	Returns the current Port for the socket
7	Returns the current Escape flag
8	Sets a new value for the Escape flag. Parm1 contains the new value
9	Forcibly disconnect socket
10	Writes data to the socket but allows for the passing of escape characters. A character is escaped by using the "\" character followed by a 3 digit decimal number representing the ASCII value of the character or using the "\" character followed by an "x" followed by a 2 digit hexadecimal number representing the ASCII value. Parm1 contains the timeout in seconds (Use 0 for no timeout) and Parm3 contains the data to send with special characters escaped.
11	Returns the current socket timeout value
12	Set the socket timeout value. Timeout value is in Parm1
13	Returns the current "Mode". The mode is a number of 0, 1, or 2 and represents how the plugin alerts PowerHome of events (Error, Data received, etc). A value of 0 (default) will fire a plugin trigger. A value of 1 will fire a PowerHome Windows event which can be intercepted by a PowerHome trigger. A value of 2 will result neither a trigger or a Windows event.
14	Sets the current "Mode"
100	Returns the current data in the receive buffer
101	Returns the last error number
102	Returns the last error string

Generic Plugin triggers fired (when Mode = 0):

Command	Option	Description
1	1	Fires when data is received by the socket.
1	2	Fires when the socket connect
1	3	Fires when the socket disconnects
1	4	Fires when an error occurs

The Escape flag parameter accepts values of either 0, 1, or 2 and controls how data received by the socket is "escaped". PowerHome is not able to handle non-printable ASCII characters so if you need to see these characters, they must be escaped. A value 0 tells the plugin to NOT escape out of range ASCII characters. Any character outside of the ASCII values of 9, 10, 13, or the range 32 to 125 will simply be dropped from the received data. A value 1 tells the plugin to escape the out of range characters. Characters outside the range of ASCII values 9, 10, 13, the range 32 to 125, and the "\" character (92) will be escaped by a "\" followed by a 3 digit decimal ASCII value. The ASCII character represented by decimal 15 would be escaped as \015 if the escape value is 1. An escape value 2 tells the plugin to escape EVERY character received by the socket. This parameter has nothing to do with how characters are sent to the socket. Whether characters that are written to the socket are escaped or not is controlled by the controller command number. See commands 1 and 10 above.

The Mode value is initially set to 0 but can be changed either 0, 1, or 2 by controller command 14. A Mode value of 0 (the default) tells the plugin to fire one of the generic plugin triggers above when an event occurs. A value of 1 tells the plugin to instead send a Windows command to the main PowerHome window handle allowing for the firing of a "WM_USER" Trigger Type and a "Trigger 1" Trigger ID. The TEMP3 system variable will contain the Index of the plugin (this is determined by the order the plugin is loaded. The first plugin loaded is index 1, the second is index 2, etc. The load order is determined by the "Load Order" column in the "Setup Plugins" screen. The TEMP4 variable will contain a value matching the Option value in the Generic Plugin triggers table above. For example, if the plugin has a "Load Order" of 40, the Mode value is 1, and data is received by the socket, a Windows message will be posted to the PowerHome window allowing a trigger of type WM_USER with a trigger ID of "Trigger 1" to be fired. The TEMP3 system variable will contain the number 4 (Load Order / 10)and the TEMP4 variable will contain the number 1 (Option 1 in the Plugin table is fired when data is received). A Mode value of 2 tells the plugin to NOT fire a Generic Plugin trigger nor a post a Windows message. PowerHome will receive no notification of incoming data, connect, disconnect, or errors.