In an earlier article, we took a look at Particle Functions and Variables. We wrote a simple application that can blink an LED with a function and read the value of a photoresistor with a variable.
Although you can easily call the function or read the variable with the Particle CLI or with a REST call (using cURL for instance), you might want an easy web-based experience to work with your device. Porter (http://porterapp.com/) might be the answer!
I’ll quickly describe how Porter works. It’s so easy to use though that it doesn’t need much describing. After signing up and linking to Particle, you can add your devices. In the screenshot below, you can see my device:
The cool thing is that Porter automatically finds all your functions and variables and exposes them to you. Using the Customize option, you have some control over the UI elements. In the above screen, I changed the Led function to use on and off buttons instead of the default text input field where you need to type the parameter to the function (on or off). The variable is exposed as well and you can obtain the most recent value with the refresh icon.
Porter also has a mobile app that exposes the same functionality:
You can also work with Particle events. We discussed events in a previous post where we published events based on a threshold of 2000 for the photoresistor value. The events will show up in the Events tab (Web UI shown below):
Based on these events, you can define all sorts of Actions:
In the above screen, an action is defined that sends a notification when the lights on event is received. This noticification works together with the Porter app on your phone to notify you of the event. Other actions are:
- Web Request: HTTP PUT or GET with variable request data using tokens such as [data], [time], [device_name] and so on
- Send an e-mail
- Send an SMS
Note that Porter is a paying service and that e-mails and SMSs require a specific plan. They have a 30-day trial.
As you can see, it’s very easy to use Porter and for quick access and control of your prototypes, it’s a great service. It’s not very difficult to build a quick web UI for your device yourself but it all comes down to gettng off the ground quickly and focusing on what matters in the early stages.
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