TIL: OpenZWave exists, and it’s rev’d to 1.6
I’ve never run across OpenZWave before so the specifics of what it does are still a bit fuzzy (if you’ve used this, and know exactly what it does please let us know). It looks like a C++ (with .NET wrapper available) library which allows anything that wants to interact with a Z-Wave network natively, to do so. If this is correct, it’s probably more for app developers than hobbyists.
This is a long overdue release, with several major new enhancements, lots of work on core OZW code and of course bug fixes. Basic functionality is retained with 1.4 meaning that application does not necessary have to update code to use 1.6, but several features would not be available to the end user.
With the release of 1.6, a significant set of new features has resulted in the Device Config Files changing slightly. Due to developer resource constraints, we will no longer be accepting updates to the 1.4 version config files. From a application perspective this means that you will not be able to offer support for the latest devices unless you choose to maintain 1.4 database yourself. We encourage you to update to 1.6 as quickly as possible to take advantage.
We also plan to add approx. 1300 new devices (with full config file support) to the OZW Device Database very soon after the release of 1.6.
It is part of a lot of open source z-wave software – i.e HomeAssistant which was (or still probably is) one of the most active projects on github. It is more of a behind the scenes thing that I think most would not be aware of as it isn’t usually directly advertised on the software that uses it. I think you summed it up well.
Thanks.
I think what was said by @godsfshrmn is close enough.
OpenZWave is an Open Source Z-Wave stack that provides Z-Wave functionality for numerous home automation projects, of which Home Assistant is likely the biggest open source one. Some closed source applications use OZW also.
There is a .net wrapper, there is also a JAVA wrapper and the Python wrapper that Home Assistant and Domoticz use, among others.
1.6 is the most recent release. 1.4 had been around for a few years.
It was created before Sigma released a lot of the Z-Wave specs by many many hours of reverse engineering to allow the Open Source community to leverage, for free, Z-Wave for Home Automation projects.
@FishWaldo (on github) is the lead developer/creator of the project.