Ivie iFlex 2400 Series - Manual (Page 7)

A Word About Modes
The heart of the programming process within
Sonata
TM is based on the concept of input and
output “Modes”. Within Sonata TM modes provide
the flexibility to create complex systems, without
creating an infinit number of combinations, or
requiring complex boolean logic. Modes also
assist the designer in programming the system
by approaching the programming in a way that is
more familiar in it’s approach to accomplishing the
task than traditional programming.
Modes can be visualized by examining inputs and
outputs individually, and then determining what
changes in switches can affect that input or output.
Descriptive names for those changes are assigned
to the modes to make the state of the input or
output clear.
In the example of the ballroom, the output zones
can be in several modes of operation, depending
on the configuration of the doors. For simplicity
we’ll assume the designer has specified that all the
inputs of a given room are mixed together into a
single output for the zone. The possible modes for
the ballroom would then be:
1. Grand alone
2. Gold alone
3. Silver alone
4. Grand + Gold
5. Grand + Silver
6. Grand + Gold + Silver
Let’s also assume that the control template we
added in the upper right-hand corner of figure 4 is
a control that has a power switch to allow manual
operation of the zone levels independant of door
states. If we were to add this into the possible
modes, we would need to add:
7. Manual Grand
8. Manual Gold
9 Manual Silver
10. Manual Grand + Gold
11. Manual Grand + Silver
12. Manual Grand + Gold + Silver
Luckily, there’s a way to apply the manual mode
to the inputs in the room to simplify the number
of combinations. Only outputs zones have color
though, and the limitation to the simplification
would be that we would have no visual cues
during simulation that the control was working.
(If we created the extra output modes we could
visually see the zones change color as the switch is
activated).
This also highlights that the designer has the
flexibility to add logic that is purely for show.
He may wish to demonstrate the full working of
the system in the graphic simulation in order to
facilitate a sale with a customer. He may choose
to always include the logic in output zones to more
clearly help him debug his system. He may also
choose to create whole sections of his layout page
as a custom graphical user-interface for the end
user. It’s up to the designer.
There is more to learn about modes, their core-
level functioning in the mix, and methods for
defining systems. Please refer to the Sonata
TM user
manual for more detail.
For the current ballroom example we will put the
manual modes onto the inputs, and live without the
additional colors to the zones during simulation.
However, after completing the quick start guide,
the user may want to return and update the model
to include this feature as a programming exercise.