The UPS plugin provides a connection between XTension and a UPS that is compatible with the built in OSX support for such devices. If you see a battery level in the system for a UPS connected via USB then the same UPS will be compatible with the UPS plugin for XTension.

The UPS plugin is included in demo mode in the release version of XTension, only a plugin serial number purchased from sentman.com is necessary to unlock it for full time functionality. The demo mode will run for only 1 hour before turning itself off during any given session with XTension. So you can verify that it works with your UPS device before purchasing.

By providing a pseudo unit associated with AC Power availability you can take action in response to a power failure or power restoration, even a short duration one which may require that problem appliance modules be reset as they can turn on if the power flickers. The time to empty value can be used to give warnings of immanent shutdown.

For more information on dealing with UPS's and power failures with the Macintosh and XTension please see Dealing With Power Failures

Create a new interface in XTensions preferences and select “ups” as the device type. No port selections or other setup is required, just give it a more descriptive name. In order to make available all the information that the plugin can provide you'll need to create 6 units. Assign them to the ups interface you created earlier and give them addresses A1 through A6.

• A1 = AC Power (not dimmable)
• A2 = Capacity in percent currently in the battery (dimmable)
• A3 = Max Capacity (dimmable) some devices will simply peg this at 100%, but others will indicate the health of the battery by reducing this top percentage as the battery ages.
• A4 = Time To Empty (dimmable) presented in minutes left at current load and will count down until the machine shuts down. This is likely to be not completely accurate so dont wait for 0 to do any cleanup or notification that you wish to do. It may also display 0 if the UPS is receiving AC power.
• A5 = Time to full charge (dimmable) how long before the battery is fully charged. If the battery is already charged the value may be 0
• A6 = Is Charging (not dimmable) Some UPS's seem to just always have this on when power is applied, others will turn it off when the battery reaches 100% and cycle as necessary.

If you have more than one UPS connected they will be assigned to the next house code, B1-B6, C1-C6 etc. Note that if you change where they are plugged into the USB bus then they may load in a different order than they did before.