OWN OpenWebNet Language Reference

The OpenWebNet protocol was defined in 2000 by Bticino/Legrand to specify the communication with a Bticino domotic gateway, connected via LAN, RS-232 (serial) or USB.

Basic Syntax Rules

A Bticino gateway receives and sends OPEN messages:

• A message is a simple string, containing the characters asterisk (*), hash (#) and numbers from 0 to 9.
• each message begins with an asterisk (*) and ends with a double hash (##).
• within the message, fields are separated by an asterisk (*).

Example: *field1*field2*field3*...fieldN##

The following table shows the allowed syntax:

Message Type	Message	Note
ACK	*#*1##	Message accepted/understood
NACK	*#*0##	Message not accepted/understood
Standard	*WHO*WHAT*WHERE##	Standard message
Status Request	*#WHO*WHERE##	Request a state (e.g. if a light is ON or OFF)
Dimension Request	*#WHO*WHERE*DIMENSION##	Request a dimension
Dimension Write	*#WHO*WHERE*#DIMENSION*VAL1*VAL2*...*VALn##	Write a dimension

Standard Message

In the table above, we learned a Standard Message consists of *WHO*WHAT*WHERE## .

• WHO identifies the service, such as scenario, light or automation
• WHAT is the action to be performed, such as light ON/OFF or dimmer, shutter up/down etc.
• WHERE identifies the object, which can be an area, group, an environment, or just a single light or shutter etc. A WHERE field can also come with optional parameters, separated by a hash (#), e.g. *WHERE#PAR1#PAR2#...#PARn

Some Examples

*1*0*25##           Turn off light 2.5 on local interface (e.g. F
*1*1*47#4#01##      Turn on light 4.7 on interface 1 (#4#01)
*1*1*0415##         Turn on light 4.15 on local interface
*1*0*0##            Turn off all lights on local interface
*0*13*19#4#06##     Launch command 13 of Scenariolist 19 (e.g a F420 is addressed by 19) on interface 6
*2*1*91#4#03##      open (1) shutter 9.1 in on interface 3 (#4#03)
*#4*#1*#14*0225*3## Set heating zone 1 manually ON to 22.5°C

A Monitor Session with Python

To understand the OWN messages better, you should start a monitor session on your Raspberry Pi and watch the OWN messages flying in from your domotic system. Analyzing these messages gives you an idea how it works. Below is a simple monitor script in Python.

start editor nano and create monitor.py

nano monitor.py

Copy and paste the script below into that file and save it. After you saved the file, you have to make the file executable:

chmod 755 monitor.py

Copy the content of this script to moniotr.py

#! /usr/bin/python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
import socket

# IP address and port to connect to the gateway, please attapt to your environment
default_gateway_host = "192.168.60.201"
default_gateway_port = 20000

gateway_addr_port = default_gateway_host, default_gateway_port

def monitor():
    sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
    try:
        sock.connect(gateway_addr_port)
        data = sock.recv(1024)
        # expect ACK from gateway
        if data != "*#*1##":
            raise Exception("Did not receive expected ACK, but: "+data)
        # Switch session to MONITOR mode
        sock.send("*99*1##")
        data = ""
        while 1:
            # Read data from MyHome(R) BUS
            next = sock.recv(1024)
            if next == "":
                break               # EOF
            data = data + next
            eom = data.find("##")
            if eom < 0:
                continue;           # Not a complete message, need more
            if data[0] != "*":
                raise Exception("Message does not start with '*': "+data)
            print data
            msg = data[1:eom]
            data = data[eom+2:]
    finally:
        sock.close()

monitor()

Now start the monitor and watch the messages fly by. Exit with CTRL-C.

./monitor.py

The Tables of WHO WHAT WHERE

WHO	Service
0	Scenarios
1	Lighting
2	Automation
3	Load Control
4	Heating
5	Burglar Alarm
6	Door Entry System
7	Multimedia
9	Auxiliary
13	Device Communication
14	Light+shutters actuators lock
15	CEN MH200N
16	Sound System
17	Scenario Programming
18	Energy Management
24	Lighting Management
25	CEN F454
1000	Diagnostic
1001	Automation Diagnostic
1004	Heating Diagnostic
1013	Device Diagnostic

WHAT	Adress
	The WHAT table depends on the WHO service. Please click on the appropriate service in WHO table.

WHERE	Location
0	General
1..9	Zone 1 to 9
11..99	Light point 11 to 99
#1..#9	Group 1 to 9