Features in ETS

A helpful tip for creating and setting up your GAs is to functions  to be used in ETS.

This is a new feature in ETS, which is still under development at the time of writing this guide. However, it has huge potential and it will change the way you work in ETS as well as the visualization.

A function in ETS is basically a way of grouping GAs into one function with some additional parameters such as the type of function (eg switching / dimming / heating / socket) with group addresses containing information such as data point type and roles.

This tells ETS exactly which GA is used for shifting and feedback and enables automatic pairing.

This will be an important aspect in the future when creating visualizations and for associating group addresses with IoT devices or other protocols.

It used to be difficult for a visualization to automatically create things like buttons for your lighting or heating controls for your heating circuits. You had to create the object yourself by selecting the function, placing it in a room, attaching all GAs to it etc.

A function allows you to define all of this by assigning roles to your GAs.

For example, the company XXTER recently implemented this feature so that they can very quickly create a complete visualization where you get the room structure, the function (such as lighting in the room) and also what you can do with it.

Another very important aspect of this is that it also makes programming much faster and easier in ETS with less debugging issues.

In the image above you can see 7 functions in the kitchen. And when you open the functions, you can see the group addresses associated with the function - and also whether the GA are associated with objects.

Features give you a really good overview of what's happening in a specific room.

Another great advantage of these features is that if you have devices that support channels, you simply drag a feature onto a channel and the linking is done automatically.

This helps to speed up the whole ETS programming process even more.

KNX Group address structures using BEMI .'s KNX design and planning tool

The KNX Design and Planning Tool from DRINK offers KNX professionals a much faster, simpler and more reliable system to create, configure and manage KNX group address structures.

BEMI's KNX Tool allows you to get your GA naming right and create functions automatically – then import the project details directly into ETS.

With the KNX Design and Planning Tool you can effortlessly set up the main and middle structure and play with the different profiles to achieve the desired result.

In this example below you can see that we have 3 different profiles for this particular project – Building, Function and Device based.

But in your current instance, you are more likely to have two different structures. One for small projects and one for large projects.

Once you start organizing all the features you have in your projects, you can quickly see how everything will fit together. And you can also customize your main and center structure.

After you've created your main and middle structure, you can start building your group address set. When you place the subgroups in the main and middle structure, you quickly get a detailed overview of how everything fits together.

After you've created the group addresses, it's time to test the structure.

You can do this very easily by simply opening a project with some components, then selecting a component and filling in the channel information, such as the “SHUTTER” function for a Shutter channel, as well as other information such as the name of the room. and the channel name.

This creates the group address structure with the correct naming of the group addresses and functions ready to be imported into ETS.

OTHER KEY FEATURES OF THE KNX DESIGN AND PLANNING TOOL

BEMI's KNX Design and Planning Tool is an all-in-one solution that allows you to design, plan, manage, budget and document KNX system installations with a single piece of software.

The KNX Design and Planning Tool uses a drag-and-drop interface, allowing you to graphically design and plan KNX projects with speed, accuracy and simplicity.

You can then import all KNX project information such as your devices, building structure, topology, functions and group addresses (complete with all relevant channel texts, IDs, tags, etc.) directly into ETS.

Information for each of your KNX installations is automatically formatted into professional looking documents as you use the tool – ready to be saved, shared or printed at the click of a button.

Documentation can then be used for project budgeting, product ordering, billing purposes, installation guides, user guides, project management, etc.

✅ EASY TO USE DRAG AND DROP DRAWING PANEL TO DESIGN A WIDE RANGE OF KNX SYSTEMS

✅ SPECIALIZED KNX GROUP ADDRESS FUNCTION READY TO IMPORT DETAILS IN ETS

✅ HELP END USERS UNDERSTAND AND VISUALIZE THE FEATURES OF KNX WITH DETAILED FUNCTION DESCRIPTIONS AND IMAGES

✅ DIRECT REPORTING AND PRINTING ALL NECESSARY KNX DOCUMENTS

✅ BUSINESS LABELS FOR KNX PUSH BUTTON

✅ PLUS MUCH MORE!

The best ALL-IN-ONE solution for designing, planning, budgeting and managing the technical requirements and workflows for every phase of a KNX project from start to finish.