[Help Index]

Configuring Images :

This feature can be used for monitoring images from cameras you may have installed, or simply images from a web source such as a weather radar, or forecast image.  If the image is a cam image, then you might want to associate it with relevant triggers to include as 'evidence' in an alert.

X10Dispatcher supports monitoring up to four images at varying refresh intervals.  The images may come from your hard drive or from the web.  For image (captures) on you hard drive or network, simply browse for them using the '...' button.  For web based images, enter the url like 'http://weather.com/myarea/forecast.jpg' (without quotes). 

Enable Image Panel : This feature tells X10Dispatcher to include a region at the bottom of the main screen for displaying images.  By default it will show two image slots but you can choose the four-image mode later.  The default two-image mode can be used even if you only have 1 image, the other image will just be blank.

Timer Resolution : All of the images in X10Dispatcher are based on muliples of this Timer Resolution.  If you only need some pictures every 1 minute and others every 60 minutes, then you might set the resolution to 60 seconds, and mulipliers of 1 and 60 respectively.  If you need some images refreshed every 3 seconds you will need to lower the Timer Resolution to 3 seconds and raise the intervals on the other images until they multiply out.  The calculations of the effective refresh rates are displayed interactively to make it easier to tweak these settings.

Log Diagnostic Images : This setting causes alot of extra logging information to be sent to the Status Log, informing you that images were refreshed.  This can be useful when first troubleshooting your image configuration, but should later be disable to keep this area clean for other diagnostic message (this feature creates a lot of status log entries and you might miss more important status information if you leave this on). 

Timestamp Local/Timestamp Web : Possibly a better diagnostic feature, you can use these timestamp features to display a timestamp for the last time that image was refreshed.  This is useful since alot of cams dont change much and its hard to tell if and when they have refreshed.  For local cameras (on your hard drive or network), this timestamp represents the last time that image was modified (not displayed), this helps to verify the camera capture itself is working properly.  For web based images timestamps, this time represents the last time that image was requested/displayed.

Keep updated copies of images in /img_cache directory : This feature is strictly for external applications.  Do not use it if you don't need it, it will only make X10Dispatcher do more work than is necessary.  This feature was added to help users of ActiveHome's iWitness camera plugin.  It keeps copies of the images which are currently being displayed on the hard disk in an img_cache subdirectory of X10Dispatcher.  Since ActiveHome iWitness Autostills captures all have different filenames, these img_cache images keep the same filenames and can be uploaded to a web site using an automated uploader program like the one included with X10Dispatcher (FTP Scheduled uploader).  If you want to auto-upload your images to a website, try doing so without using this feature, and if you can't, then you can try using it with the img_cache images by enabling this feature.

Image Filenames and Intervals : Here you specify the images to put in each respective image slot.  For local file-based images you would enter the full pathname (like c:\image captures\latestcapture.jpg).  For web based images you would enter the url here (like http://weather.com/myarea/forecast.jpg).  For ActiveHome iWitness Autostills images you would enter a filter here.  Additionally you specify the Timer Interval (Multiplier) for this image. Only by using the up and down arrows on the intervals will you see the effective calculated refresh rates, so if you cant wait for them, then estimate, and then tweak with arrows to verify the effective refresh rate.

Enable 4-Image Display Mode : This feature unlocks two additional image slots for simulatenous, refreshed display of 4 image slots.  In order to keep a reasonable amount of space for log messages, you should probably be running your desktop in a resolution around 1280x1024 to use this mode.  The vertical resoltion of over.. say 900 being the most important factor).  This four display mode is to be used when you have 3 or four images specified.

iWitness Autostills : Each iWitness camera has a unique name and the filename always includes that name but adds extra characters to the filename for encoding the time of the capture.  Therefore you would enter a mask like *Kitchen Wide Eye* here to tell X10Dispatcher to grab the latest image matching that filter.  These filters do not include any directory names, that is specified in the iWitness Autostills Base Directory setting at the bottom of this tab.

iWitness Autostills Base directory : This is the top level directory where your Autostills puts its image directories.  X10Dispatcher knows which subdirectory contains the latest images.  The exact image which is relevant is determined above, in the Filenames/Autostills Filters textbox, where you would enter your Filter.