Projects and files

Part 3 — Reference.

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15.1 What a project is

One file, extension .elp, holding your entire configuration: every unit, address, name, floor plan, wire, function, group, program, timer and setting.

Internally an .elp is a ZIP archive of XML files — one for functions, one for wires, one for groups, one for programs, and so on, plus the project structure and gallery images. You will never need to open it that way, but it explains two things: .elp files compress well, and a corrupted archive loses the whole project rather than part of it.

Back up your .elp files. They are the one thing that cannot be re-downloaded or reinstalled.

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15.2 Creating and opening

All from the application menu [☰].

Item	Result
New	An empty project. Nothing predefined.
New from default	Based on the factory default — 61 predefined functions.
New from user default	Based on your own saved default.
Open	Opens an existing .elp. Dialog title: Select project to open.
Recent projects	The last few, listed in the menu.

The file dialogs filter on Projects (*.elp), with All Files available.

Prefer "New from default" over "New". An empty project makes you rebuild functions that already exist. See Tutorial 1 §Step 1.

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15.3 Saving

Item	Result
Save	Writes back to the same file.
Save as	Writes to a new file. Dialog title: Save project as.
Save as default	Stores the current project as your user default. Asks "Really save current project as default?"
Export IMM	Exports for the iNELS visualisation / multimedia system.

Save writes a file on your PC. It changes nothing in the building. To make a change live you must Save to central unit — see Chapter 23.

On exit iDM3 offers to save: "Save changes and close iDM3?", or "Save changes?" when only closing a project.

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15.4 Project settings

Project ribbon tab → Informations group → Set.

Project informations

Field	Notes
Name:	Shown in the ribbon while the project is open
Version:	Your version number
Increment version before save	Bumps the version automatically on every save

Turn on Increment version before save on real jobs. The version is how you tell whether the central unit is running the same build as the file in your hand.

Author informations

Field
Name:
Email:

Fill these in. On a site you did not commission, the author details are often the only way to find out who built it.

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15.5 Project resource limits

[☰] → Prefernces (spelled that way in the software) shows how much of the central unit's capacity your project uses, as progress bars:

Counted
AllModules count	AllDevices count	ThermoDrivers count
Users count	Cards count	Readers count
EZSZones count	Timers count	Counters count
Controllers count	PeriodicalProgs count	ContinualProgs count
TwoStateProgs count	WeekPlans count	DayPlans count
SystemBits count	SystemInts count	Groups count
UserFunctions count	Wires count	VirtualWires count
MessageIncome count	MessageOutcome count	MessageSMS count
Contacts count

Check this before a large project goes live. Running out of wires or system bits late in a job is an expensive discovery. See Chapter 27.

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15.6 Getting a project off a central unit

[☰] → Load from central unit downloads the project the CU is running — including all the names the original installer gave things.

This is worth knowing before you need it: you are never locked out of a system just because the .elp was lost. Connect, load, and you have the whole configuration back.

iDM3 asks "Load project from CU?" before overwriting what you have open.

See Chapter 23.

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15.7 Where files live

Projects	<install folder>\Projects\
Factory default	default.elp
Your default	userDefault.elp
Function block templates	funcBloks\ — not part of the project

Appendix F has the full layout.

Back up funcBloks separately. Function block templates live outside the project file, so a project that uses them is incomplete on a machine that lacks them. See Tutorial 10.

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Next: Chapter 16 — Device manager.