What a connection is
A connection is the wire to one source: a broker, a server, a machine network. You set connections up under Settings → Connections.
Three levels, and why that matters
Section titled “Three levels, and why that matters”| Level | What it is | Who decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Connector type | the protocol: MQTT, TCP, more later | the program or a plugin |
| Connection | one concrete source, several per protocol | you, in the interface |
| Tag | a value that belongs to exactly one connection | you, per tag |
You may create as many connections of the same protocol as you need — one per hall, plus a public one for a machine that reports over the internet. Every tag names the connection it belongs to.
The form comes from the protocol
Section titled “The form comes from the protocol”Which fields a connection has is announced by the connector type itself, labels included, in both languages. That is why a new protocol appears on this page as soon as its plugin is installed and switched on. It needs no new release of the program.
Name, password, state
Section titled “Name, password, state”Name. Yours to choose, for example Broker hall 1. Tags reference the connection’s stable
id internally, not its name — renaming breaks nothing.
Password. Stored encrypted and never handed back out. The form only shows
•••••• (set) afterwards. Without a key file the installation cannot store a password at all
and says so in the form. A backup is the database and the key file.
State. Every connection reports its own state, right in the list:
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| connected | the source answers |
| connecting … | the link is being established |
| offline | the source stopped answering; this connection’s tags count as bad |
| error | the last attempt failed with a message |
| not running | no runtime for this protocol exists on this installation |
The list also names how many tags depend on a connection. Before you delete one you see exactly that figure: that many tags fall silent.
Switching a connection off is the gentler move. The configuration stays, only the link is no longer established.
Direction sits on the tag
Section titled “Direction sits on the tag”Whether a value comes in, goes out, or both, is decided by the tag, not by the connection. Writing to an inbound-only tag is refused, not silently dropped. A tag whose direction got lost only reads — the safe half.
What exists today
Section titled “What exists today”- MQTT — part of the program.
- TCP — as the plugin
tcpwith its own Python process. - Further protocols arrive as plugins; this page does not change for them.
Linked systems in the left rail
Section titled “Linked systems in the left rail”If this instance is coupled to others, they are listed in the left rail below the menu, each with its state. With the rail collapsed to icons there is one icon per system; point at it and its name and its state appear. Collapsing loses nothing, not even the news that a coupling is down.