I inherited a project where nothing is named. Which addresses are status?
How to tell a status address from a control address when nobody named them
The flags are strong evidence, not proof. Use them to decide which addresses to check first.
Short answer. A status address is one a device sends on to report its state. Look at the flags of the objects linked to the address. A status object usually has C, R and T set, and no W. That is a typical pattern, not a rule.
Why it matters
You have an inherited project with hundreds of group addresses. The names are
Licht 12, Schalten neu, and many are blank. You need to know which ones you
can write to and which only report.
If you write to a status address, it is a logical conflict: you are giving an order to an address that the device uses to report. The light may do something you did not want.
Three kinds of evidence
The name. Weak. Status, Rückmeldung, Feedback, RM, _st, or blank. Every integrator has a different habit, and the habit changes inside one project.
The address range. A hint. Many integrators keep status in its own middle group, or a fixed step from the command address. This helps when the project clearly follows a pattern. It does not prove one address. A project built in stages by two firms may not follow it.
The flags. The best evidence. Each object has flags: C (communication), R (read), W (write), T (transmit), U (update). Typical patterns:
- Status object: C, R, T. No W. The device reports.
- Command object: C, W. The bus writes to it.
Flags are often set wrongly. And a transmit-only object is not always status. A switch or sensor output is also transmit-only, and it is a command source. So always look at what the object does, not only at the letters.
Cases that stay unclear
Some addresses carry both. A central-off address or a scene address can have writers and reporters. A few are linked only to objects that do nothing. List these as unclear and look at them by hand. A wrong guess is worse than a note that says “look here”.
What to do next
- Name the ranges, so the next person does not repeat this work.
- Pair each command address with the status address for the same output.
- List the commands that have no status. Those outputs work, but never confirm anything. See why a KNX light shows the wrong state.
Check this now
In ETS, open a device and go to its list of communication objects. Read the flags (C R W T U). Then open the group monitor (Diagnostics), operate the output at the wall, and see which address sends the telegram.
What Readback reports
Readback types every group address by the flags of the objects linked to it. It lists the unclear ones separately. It also finds the address pattern your project uses and says how sure it is. If it is not sure, it does not run the checks that depend on the pattern. It reads the file and changes nothing.
Run a free Readback. Readback is free to use today.
Next note: Two group addresses with the same name
Which addresses report, which command — every group address classified by the flags of the objects bound to it, and a list of the ones that are genuinely ambiguous.