In a large installation, it' becomes usefull to be able to filter your devices. e-Home CONTROLS includes three types of filters -

1/ System Zones. A 'zone' is an area of your property. For example, you may have a 'kitchen' zone.
2/ System Categories. A 'category' is used to describe the types of device. Default categories include 'lighting' and 'appliances'
3/ System Groups. These are completley customisable filters, you can assign a device or component to multiple groups.

From all of the client interfaces, you can apply filters to display a selection of your devices or components instead of the complete list. For example, you could display all lighting in the living room by selecting the corresponding zone and category.

Yes - e-Home CONTROLS is designed to complment your hardware, rather than replace or manage it. For example, if you are
using X10, then you will be able to use remotes or wall switches and operate your devices when e-Home CONTROLS isn't running.

Throughout the home automation community a 'scene' is typically used to describe the control of a group of lights or devices. A scene allows users to recall a lighting configuration at the press of a button (or voice command!). The e-Home CONTROLS system supports scenes and uses them as a type of event trigger. By using the event system you can configure complex scenes that encompass many different operations. For example, a 'movie' scene might typically lower all the lights in the living room. With e-Home CONTROLS you can also include actions to lower a projector screen, close the curtains, switch Vista Media Center to your DVD library and configure the OPUS multi-room audio system in preparation.

The term 'event' is used to describe an automated routine in the e-Home CONTROLS core system. An event consist of three components - triggers, conditions and actions. Event triggers can either be timed (scheduled) or object triggers (for example when a devices state changes). Event conditions must all be met in order for the event to run. There are many different types of event conditions available, such as which mode the house is in, what day of the week it is and the state of a specific device. Finally, event actions are the operations to execute if the event has been triggered and the conditions met. Actions include setting a device state, executing a function or setting a house mode. An example event might look like this -

Event - Put house to sleep
  Triggers
    - Scheduled every night at 22:00
    - House mode set to night
  Conditions
    - Is it a weekday? (Monday to Friday)
  Actions
    - Set 'door lock' device state to locked
    - Set 'all lights off' scene

A typical e-Home CONTROLS system consists of a core service and several clients and interfaces. These clients and interfaces are commonly known as 'components'. When a component connects to the central core service, it registers the types of devices it supports, as well as any functions, properties and events it provides. For example, the e-Home CONTROLS HDL Interface is a component and it registers device types (such as 4 channel relays, motion sensors and switches), functions (such as 'auto find') and properties (such as the TCP port it uses)

A device is one of the fundamental building blocks of any e-Home CONTROLS system. It provides the user with control over a piece of hardware, allowing them to turn it on/off, set levels, call functions and define properties. The most common device types are a dimmer or relay, although many other things can be thought of as a device such as a surveillance camera or wall switch.