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Tutorial 10 — macros and function blocks

Part 2 — Tutorials. Continues the project from Tutorial 9.

What you will build

The same behaviour you have already built — but packaged so you never build it by hand again.

By the end you will have a macro that programs a light switch in one drag, a function block for your standard dimmer, and a default project that starts every future job half-finished.

14.1 Four levels of reuse

iDM3 gives you four, and picking the right one matters:

Level
Reuses
Scope
Use for

User function

one effect + its parameters

the project

DIGITAL_IMPULSE_2MIN

Macro

a set of actions + functions + conditions

the project

"every light switch works like this"

Function block

a whole logic structure with system devices

any project

dimmer control, blind control

Default project

everything

every new project

your company standard

Rule of thumb: functions for a single effect, macros for a repeated wire pattern, function blocks for anything involving timers, counters or conditions, default project for everything you want on day one of every job.

14.2 Macros

A macro is a saved bundle of actions and functions. Applied to a wire, it fills that wire in automatically — instead of adding three or four functions by hand every time.

Create one

  1. Functions ribbon tab → Macro manager.

  2. The left side lists macros. Use the add, copy and delete buttons above it.

  3. Click add. The right side becomes editable.

  4. Fill in:

    • Name — STANDARD_LIGHT_SWITCH

    • Type — the actor type this macro applies to

  5. Under Functions, use Add macro / Edit macro / Copy macro — each opens the same Wire function window you already know. Add:

    • Action Short down → DIGITAL_SWITCH

    • Action Long down → DIGITAL_GROUP_OFF

  6. Confirm.

Type is the actor type, not the consumer. A macro built for a button will not be offered when the actor is a temperature sensor. Get this wrong and the macro simply never applies.

Use it

  1. Functions ribbon tab.

  2. Tick Use selected macro and pick STANDARD_LIGHT_SWITCH from the dropdown.

  3. Click Add connection and draw wires as usual.

Every wire whose actor type matches the macro is filled in automatically. Ten light switches become ten drags instead of forty dialog visits.

  1. Untick Use selected macro when you want plain, empty wires again.

The macro is copied into the wire, not linked to it. Editing the macro afterwards does not change wires already created. Get the macro right before you draw fifty wires with it.

14.3 Function blocks

Macros only carry actions and functions. They cannot carry timers, counters, system bits or conditions — so the corridor light from Tutorial 8, which needed a timer and three wires, cannot be a macro.

That is what function blocks are for: a complete logic structure, with its own internal system devices, saved as a template you can drop into any project.

Blind control and dimmer control are the classic examples — both need internal state.

The Function block manager

Functions ribbon tab → Function block manager. Two tabs.

Used blocks — the blocks in this project:

Control
What it does

+

add a block from the template list

–

delete a block

Connect

make the block active — available once its inputs and outputs are defined

Disconnect

deactivate it so you can edit its inputs and outputs

✓ / ✗

confirm or discard changes

Below the buttons is the list of the block's inputs, outputs and system devices. Click the blue plug icon beside each to connect it to a real device in your project.

Connect is the step people miss. A function block does nothing until every input and output is plugged in and Connect has been pressed. Until then it is inert.

User-defined templates — the library:

Control
What it does

↑

export selected templates to a .fncb file

↓

import a .fncb file

Wires detail

open and edit the block's internal logic

Add all to iNELS 3 export

mark every device in the template for export

Delete all to iNELS 3 export

the reverse

You can also edit a template's name, and the height and width of its icon on the Design tab.

Hold Ctrl and click to select several templates before exporting.

Editing a block's internals

Click Wires detail on a template to open Function block wire detail:

  • inputs on the left, outputs on the right, system devices along the bottom

  • click any label to see every connection coming from it — that device acts as the actor

  • click a single wire to see its actions, functions and conditions

  • click the pencil to edit actions, conditions, system devices and function parameters

  • ✓ / ✗ at the top right to confirm or discard

It is the same actor→action→function→consumer model as everywhere else, drawn as a block diagram.

Sharing blocks between machines

Templates live in the funcBloks folder — they are not part of the project file.

That has a consequence worth planning around: open a project that uses your custom block on a colleague's PC, and the block's template will not be there.

So:

  • Export your templates to .fncb with ↑ and keep them with the project

  • Give colleagues the .fncb files, which they import with ↓

  • Back up funcBloks — it is not covered by backing up your .elp files

There is a related setting: Settings → Save function blocks templates to project file. Turning it on embeds the templates in the .elp, which solves the portability problem at the cost of a larger file.

14.4 The default project

The biggest reuse of all. Every job starts from a project — make it start from yours.

You have already used this: Tutorial 1 began with New from default, which is why 61 functions were waiting for you.

Save your own

  1. Build a project containing everything you want on every job — your functions, your standard groups, your naming conventions, your macros.

  2. Remove anything site-specific — devices, addresses, floor plans.

  3. Project ribbon tab → Save as default.

  4. Confirm at the prompt.

From then on, [☰] → New from user default starts every project from it.

Menu item
Starts from

New

nothing — an empty project

New from default

the factory default with its 61 functions

New from user default

your saved default

You can also choose which of these a new project uses by default, in Settings → Init project from: — Default project, User default, or Empty project.

A good user default is the highest-value hour you will spend on iDM3. Ten minutes saved on every job, plus consistency across every installation your company has ever done.

14.5 What belongs in a company default

Suggested contents, from most to least obvious:

Include
Why

Custom user functions — your impulse times, ramp rates, blind travel times

rebuilt on every job otherwise

Standard groups — ALL_LIGHTS_DIGITAL, ALL_LIGHTS_ANALOG, ALL_BLINDS_UP / _DOWN

naming stays consistent across sites

Standard macros for light switches and blind buttons

the biggest time saver

System bits you always use — HOLIDAY_MODE, NIGHT_MODE

A naming convention, visible in what is already there

the next engineer copies what they see

No devices, addresses or floor plans

those are always site-specific

What you learned

  • Four levels of reuse: function, macro, function block, default project

  • Macros carry actions and functions; function blocks carry timers, counters and conditions too

  • Use selected macro fills wires in as you draw them — but the macro is copied, not linked

  • A function block does nothing until its inputs and outputs are plugged in and Connect pressed

  • Templates live in funcBloks, outside the project — export .fncb files and back the folder up

  • Save as default, then New from user default, and every job starts ahead

Try this

  1. Build STANDARD_LIGHT_SWITCH and rewire your whole tutorial project with it.

  2. Export a function block template to .fncb and re-import it — confirm the round trip works.

  3. Strip your tutorial project down to functions, groups and macros, and Save as default.

End of Part 2

You can now program the system: devices, wires, functions, groups, dimming, blinds, heating, schedules, logic, alarms, messaging, and reuse. That is the whole working vocabulary of iNELS3.

Part 3 documents every screen in detail — read it when you need a specific field explained. Start with Chapter 15 — Projects and files, or jump to whatever you need from the index.

Before a real installation goes live, work through Chapter 29 — Commissioning checklist.

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