BCS programming without the BCS?

[Bsquared]

Anyone out there have a way to access the or a, BCS GUI interface and edit the processes without having the BCS on or available? Any virtual BCS shells or programs I can download and run?

I'd like to be able to edit a process, then save the file and then load that file on the the BSC at a later time. Right now I can only do this at home when I turn the BCS on.

BTW, Im not programing literate, so I wont be able to go in to text editor and write up a process, no matter how simple the programing language is.

 

[PLOVE]

This is something I'd like as well. Fine to be able to edit the processes at home while I'm connected to the BCS, but when I'm at work my home BCS is behind a firewall.

Does anyone know if it's possible to save the HTML code from the BCS and force it to read the config files? This might be a question for the ECC forum. Someone like JonW might know. . .

 

[Bsquared]

The BCS forum has been a little slow for responses lately, I figured I'd throw this up here and see if there were any suggestions.

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

I understand what you are trying to do, but why not just add a port forwarding rule to your firewall so you can access the BCS from anywhere?

Anyway, on to the programming side... the configuration files are comma delimited files, and the only documentation I've seen on how to parse them is http://wiki.embeddedcc.com/index.php/Bcs_proc.cfg, http://wiki.embeddedcc.com/index.php/Ucstate.dat, and http://wiki.embeddedcc.com/index.php/Ulstate.dat. My fermentation process looks like this:

BCS-460 v3.6.0 ,Fermentation ,Startup ,Wait ,Check Temp ,Compressor Run ,Chill ,Heat ,Ramp Up ,Ramp Down ,Compressor Wait , ,Cooling ON ,Heating ON ,Check Temp ,Reset Timer ,Ramp Up ,Ramp Down ,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,2,3,4,5,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,0,0,100,100,0,0,0,0,0,0............. etc

The first couple of lines are easy enough to figure out, process name, state names, timer names, button names... but then the numbers start getting a bit hard to decipher. Unfortunately I know of no emulator or file parser that will let you perform the offline editing you are looking for. It may be possible to extract the script that creates the configuration file from the html and use that to create a config file parser. I'll look into that in the next couple days.

 

[MrNatural]

And then there is this:
http://forum.embeddedcc.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1756

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

I remember seeing that post a while ago, looks awesome but I've never seen it posted for download (or purchase). If it is available somewhere, please let us know!

 

[MrNatural]

Maybe JonW will chime in...........

 

[JonW]

I have to agree with RiverCityBrewer.... why not just add a port forwarding rule and do the editing on the BCS. The app linked above (made by SamIam) is the closest I've seen to what you're requesting, but even that doesn't allow editing - it basically allows you to create a mapping of times & temps from your BeerSmith recipes to your BCS programming. I've not seen anyone make any efforts towards an offline BCS editor. It really just doesn't make sense. For the majority of people, they'll get their BCS to a point where their programming matches their brew day routine and then the only thing that changes it the times/temps of each recipe (thus the reason SamIam did his app).

The new V4.0 BCS software is going to incorporate a lot of new things for better UI and 3rd party integrations. The API is now based on JSON and the web interface is being based very closely on the design I did for the Visual Studio app that I've shown. Additionally, they're working to add variables for the temps/times so that you can either go to a single page to update your current recipe config for things like strike temp, mash temp, mash time, boil time, hop additions, etc. That would also make it a much simpler process to interface recipes like SamIam's app does. The 4.0 release is still quite a ways off, but it is looking really nice at this stage.

 

[sennister]

I have to agree with RiverCityBrewer.... why not just add a port forwarding rule and do the editing on the BCS. The app linked above (made by SamIam) is the closest I've seen to what you're requesting, but even that doesn't allow editing - it basically allows you to create a mapping of times & temps from your BeerSmith recipes to your BCS programming. I've not seen anyone make any efforts towards an offline BCS editor. It really just doesn't make sense. For the majority of people, they'll get their BCS to a point where their programming matches their brew day routine and then the only thing that changes it the times/temps of each recipe (thus the reason SamIam did his app).

The new V4.0 BCS software is going to incorporate a lot of new things for better UI and 3rd party integrations. The API is now based on JSON and the web interface is being based very closely on the design I did for the Visual Studio app that I've shown. Additionally, they're working to add variables for the temps/times so that you can either go to a single page to update your current recipe config for things like strike temp, mash temp, mash time, boil time, hop additions, etc. That would also make it a much simpler process to interface recipes like SamIam's app does. The 4.0 release is still quite a ways off, but it is looking really nice at this stage.

I assume that the new 4.0 is fully compatible with existing systems? I just got my 460 and am learning my way around it. I did the port forward technique so I can access it anywhere.

 

[JonW]

I assume that the new 4.0 is fully compatible with existing systems? I just got my 460 and am learning my way around it. I did the port forward technique so I can access it anywhere.

Yes, 4.0 is a firmware release (not new hardware).

 

[MrNatural]

JonW,
Thanks for the update. I too just received my 462 and have been rumblin', bumblin' and stumblin' through processes, states, set points, exits the past couple of days. Temp sensors are back ordered so I can't do wet "dry runs" on nearly ready brew stand and control box to see actual results of programming. Haven't ventured near ladder-logic at all, not a clue - yet.

4.0 sounds promising. Single page to view your entire recipe protocol would greatly simplify things. I'm still getting hung up setting variables for each state in a process without goofing up another state, and coming to the realization that "pause" my be a frequently used state.

 

[sennister]

Yes, 4.0 is a firmware release (not new hardware).

Yeah, I figured as much. It is just at times when the firmware makes a huge leap, there are times that the hardware may not be able to support it. For instance maybe the firmware code has grown to the point that there isn't enough flash memory to store it. Being I just got my BCS (arrived a week ago) I figured I would be safe from this but thought I would ask.