Block Switch

This control element is used to operate a switch. What is operated is defined during configuration. This can be a light, a switchable socket, etc.

This control element comes in two variants, Presence operation and Standalone operation. In the Standalone variant, the Clock and Presence settings are not available. See also Presence general.

The control element is available in two different views, Block and Basic Screen. Depending on the design of the visualization, the element is displayed in the following two variants:

Switching is done by clicking on the switch (Block view) or via the icon at the top right in the Basic Screen view. In the Basic Screen view, the dialog is also shown with a long click.

The switch is used to switch on and off; depending on the configuration, other texts can also be displayed here, as these are freely parameterizable.

In the title bar of the dialog, the functions Time switch, Presence and Settings can be accessed via the respective icons.

Time switch

With the Time switch function, the lighting can be switched in a time-controlled manner. To add a new switching time, press the symbol at the bottom left; to delete switching times, click on the symbol at the bottom right.

Using the calendar icon in the switching time list, switching times can be imported from a calendar file (iCal, *.ics) - via a link (including Google Calendar, Apple iCloud, Google Drive and Dropbox), from a file or from the clipboard. One on (value 1) and one off (value 0) switching time are created per event. For details on the import see Block Time switch; where to find the calendar links in the respective services is described in the help of the Holiday time clock.

In the first line, the symbols for the type of clock and presence are shown. On the left side the type of clock is set. The type can be set to Week clock, Date and Sunrise/Sunset. On the right side it is set when the clock should be active (dark background means active).

On the right side it is set when the switching time should be active: Present, Absent and Holiday. This can be used, for example, to select that a switching time is only executed when you are present, but not when Absent or on Holiday. If none of the three symbols is active, the switching time is not executed; the overview then shows Clock deactivated.

Under Execute, once or always can be selected. With once, the symbols Present, Absent and Holiday are deactivated again after execution, and thus the switching time is also deactivated.

If the brightness input of the function block is linked, switching times of type weekly clock offer an additional Brightness setting that determines when the switching time is executed: Always, When bright or When dark. The corresponding thresholds are defined in the settings under Brightness. Without a linked brightness input the selection is not shown and the switching time is always executed.

The configured time is the earliest possible switching moment. If the condition is already fulfilled at that time (for example it is already dark at 19:00), switching happens immediately. If it is not yet fulfilled, the switching time is queued and executed as soon as bright or dark is detected - in the example only at nightfall. The queued switching time expires after six hours; if it does not get dark by then, no switching takes place. It is also discarded as soon as another switching time of the same element is executed - the more recent switching time always takes precedence. The brightness is checked every ten seconds. If Execute: Once is set as well, the switching time is only used up after it has actually switched.

Presence

Via this dialog, various light values can be set when the Present status changes. For example, when switching from Present to Absent or Holiday, the light is switched off in the example above. When switching from Absent to Present, the light is switched on, but only when it is dark.

For each of the three states Present, Absent and Holiday it is set via the respective symbol whether a value should be executed when switching to this state (dark background is active).

Value: Switching state On or Off that is set when switching to the respective state.
Execute: Defines when the value is executed: Always, If bright or If dark. This selection is only shown when the input Brightness is connected at the function block.

Tip: The Dark or Light setting is only displayed if the Brightness input is linked on the function block. The threshold for Dark/Light is defined in the settings.

Settings

Settings are made via this dialog.

Presence simulation

The presence simulation can be used to switch the light on and off during absence to simulate that the building is occupied and thus deter possible burglars. The light is switched on and off randomly here.

With the symbols for Present, Absent and Holiday it is set whether the simulation should be started. In the example above, the right-hand symbol Holiday has a dark background, so the simulation is started as soon as a switch to Holiday occurs.

Start / End: With Start and End, the time during which the simulation is active is set.
Start only when dark: With this setting (Yes/No) the simulation only starts when darkness is also detected at the start time. For this the input Brightness must be connected at the function block. The threshold when Bright / Dark is detected is set in the Brightness section.
Number from/to: Here the number of switching operations can be set. The number is varied randomly within this range and also distributed randomly over the time from/to.
Duration from/to: Here the duration of the switching operations in minutes can be set. The duration is varied randomly within this range.

Brightness

This setting is only available if a value has been linked at the input of the function block. Here two thresholds define from when on a distinction is made between Bright and Dark. This switching threshold applies to all settings on the control element in which Bright/Dark can be selected.

Threshold bright: If the measured brightness (in Lux) exceeds this value, it is considered bright.
Threshold dark: If the measured brightness falls below this value, it is considered dark.

Switch-on time / Maintenance

In the Switch-on time section it can be set after which operating time a maintenance is due. For example when the light should be checked. Once the operating time is reached, this is indicated by a yellow symbol on the control element.

Switch-on time: Shows the currently accumulated operating time in hours (not editable).
Maintenance after: Operating time in hours after which the maintenance indication is triggered.
Reset counter: With the button Reset the accumulated switch-on time is set back to 0, e.g. after maintenance has been carried out.

Configuration

This control element is used to realize an on/off function.

This control element comes in two variants, Presence operation and Standalone operation. Presence is linked to the corresponding logic block, see function block Structured Block Switch, Standalone without linking. With Presence, the variables are linked to the function block, see also Presence general, with the Standalone variant directly with the control element. First create the corresponding function block and link the variables, then right-click on the control element and select the function block to link the control element.

Display
Display	Display Block, Basic Screen or List.
Text top	Text to be displayed above the switch. If the field is left empty, no text is displayed. The size of the text is automatically scaled with the control element. Line breaks can be inserted with the special character "\n", for example "Line1\nLine2"; a maximum of 2 lines is possible.
Text bottom	Text to be displayed below the switch. The size of the text is automatically scaled with the control element. Line breaks can be inserted with the special character "\n", for example "Line1\nLine2"; a maximum of 2 lines is possible.
Connected variables See Structured Block Switch

See also General properties of all control elements