Installing XTension is as easy as copying the application file to your Applications folder. If you run XTension from the Applications folder your database and all user data will be stored in the “XTension Support” folder inside your users “Application Support” folder. If you need to easily get to this folder in order to backup or move XTension to a new machine you can select the “Reveal Database In Finder” menu from the “Database” menu in the app. For legacy purposes XTension will also run happily from any other folder on your machine. If it is run from elsewhere than the Applications folder then the database and other associated files will be stored alongside the app in that same folder and not in the Application Support folder. If you ever need to move XTension to a new machine you only need to move the database and the application to the same location on the new machine.

XTension provides “Units” that can correspond to any real supported device. Units can also be a “pseudo” meaning that is has no connection to a real device but is a a place where you store other information. For example: “current temperature” might be a real Oregon Scientific temperature sensor, but “high temperature” might be a pseudo unit that you set the value of based on the incoming data from the temperature sensor.

XTension provides a scripting interface for you to attach your own decisions to. The scripting language is AppleScript and can control all your units in XTension as well as asking for data from and controlling other applications on your Mac. Do not fear the applescript! It can be very simple to start with, anybody can learn it and much help is available here on the wiki, the XTension mailing list members are eager to help you sort out more complicated ideas and lastly Apple maintains their own applescript specific scripting discussions and mailing lists for even more esoteric questions.

Fully featured “Scheduled Events” provide time based events that can turn on or off lights or run other scripts.

An index of the articles in this section in order:

• Installation
• The Interface
• The Unit
• The Scheduled Event

• Do Read the What You Need page
• Do look at some example scripts, and notice the dictionary. (Use the Script Editor to view it if you don't want to read it here)
• Browse some of the Menus buttons and scripts of the Demo Database
• Read the next chapter on Just The Facts Otherwise, study the manual and the tutorials and articles on the website http://www.shed.bz/
• PLEASE Note that XTension must be active at all times. If you shut down your Mac, XTension cannot function!
• XTension does not download to the CM11A or Insteon interfaces.
• Please do not use the Demo Database as the foundation of your system. Always start with a 'fresh' database:

On startup, if XTension cannot find a file named XTension Database, it will create a new empty one. So just rename the Demo Database, or move it out of the XTension folder.