The wire editor

Part 3 — Reference.

Functions ribbon tab → Wire manager, or Add connection to create wires

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18.1 What a wire is

A wire is one rule: an actor, one or more consumers, and a list of functions saying what happens when. Nothing to do with cable.

The model is in Chapter 2. This chapter documents the screens.

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18.2 Creating wires

1. Switch to the Function workspace tab.

2. Functions ribbon tab → click Add connection. It is a toggle — connectable icons turn green.

3. Press and drag from the actor to the consumer, and release.

4. Click Add connection again to stop.

An arrow on the line shows direction: actor → consumer.

Basic objects

Drag from the actor's icon to the consumer's. Timers and counters connect the same way.

Compound objects

Drag between two compound objects and a window opens showing the first object's basic objects on the left and the second object's on the right. Connect them individually there, then Close.

System devices

Timers, counters and programs live inside the central unit. Drag from the central unit icon to your target and a Select devices to create wires dialog opens — choose which timer, counter or program you meant.

Applying a macro as you draw

Tick Use selected macro and choose a macro. Every new wire whose actor type matches gets the macro's functions filled in automatically. See Tutorial 10.

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18.3 The Wire manager

Shows used / maximum wires at the top — a real limit on large projects.

Left — the wire list

Each row shows the actor, the consumer and the wire name.

Control	What it does
–	Deletes the selected wire
filter box	Shows only wires whose name, actor or consumer matches
x	Clears the filter

Reorder wires by dragging with the left mouse button. A green "Unit will be inserted here:" marks the drop position. Order matters when several wires react to the same event.

Right — the selected wire

Field	Notes
Name:	Name it. On a real project you will thank yourself.
Description:	Free text
Actor: / Consumer:	What it connects
Actors: / Consumers:	Counts, when there are several
Functions:	The rules on this wire

The function list columns are Action, User defined function and Restrictions.

Button	What it does
+ / Add function	Opens Wire function
pencil / Edit function	Opens Wire function for the selected entry
– / Remove function	Deletes it
Remove all	Clears the list

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18.4 The Wire function window

Where a rule is actually defined.

Field	What it is
Action:	Which event on the actor fires this. The list depends on the actor type.
User function:	What to do. Defined in Function manager.
Conditions	Optional gating
Relation:	How multiple conditions combine

OK stores it, Cancel discards it.

If the function you want is not offered, it was defined with the wrong Function type — a Digital function will not appear for an analog consumer. Fix it in Function manager.

Conditions

Add condition, then choose:

Button	Compares
Restriction value	a device's state against a value you type
Restriction object	a device's state against another device's state
Combination	groups conditions so they evaluate as a unit
Remove restriction	deletes one

Each condition row has four parts:

1. which device — a key opens the selector; you can also choose the wire's own actor or consumer

2. which input or output on it

3. the operator

4. the value

Operators:

Operator	Meaning
=	equals
<>	does not equal
>	greater than
>=	greater than or equal
<	less than
<=	less than or equal

With more than one condition, Relation: appears — A = AND, O = OR.

first	second	AND	OR
false	false	false	false
false	true	false	true
true	false	false	true
true	true	true	true

"In this case is allowed only AND operation" — or the OR version — means the structure you have built supports only one relation. Restructure, or use Combination.

Condition examples:

Goal	Condition
only when the output is off	Restriction value — output = OFF
only below 18 °C	Restriction value — sensor < 18
only at full brightness	Restriction value — dimmer = 100
only when two outputs agree	Restriction object — output A = output B

For digital devices the values are ON and OFF; for analog, the percentage; for temperature, the measured value.

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18.5 Virtual wires

Counted separately from ordinary wires in Prefernces (Wires count and VirtualWires count).

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18.6 Practical advice

Name every wire	The list is unusable otherwise
One wire, several actions	Better than several wires from the same button
Use the filter	Faster than scrolling on any real project
Mind wire order	It decides what happens first when one event drives several rules
Prefer groups over many consumers	Change the group once instead of every wire

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Next: Chapter 19 — Managers.