Tiles: Read-Only vs. Read+Write

As explained in the Points article, device points can be either read-only or both readable and writable (we sometimes call the latter simply "writable" since all points are readable).

But in Motion Platform, users do not typically interact with points directly. Instead, they should interact with tiles, which act as wrappers around points and therefore provide multiple layers of functionality and security around points.

So how do you prevent a Motion user from writing values to a point that is writable?

Since end users use tiles, not points, in day-to-day interaction with Motion, you have the ability to configure a read-only tile in Motion even if its underlying point supports writing values, thus giving end users the ability to see the current state of any given tile (and by extension, the point it represents) while also preventing them from making any changes.

To accomplish this, change the Writability setting to "Read-Only" in the tile configuration:

The writability setting for this set point tile is set to "Read-Only" and therefore prevents users from changing the current value.

Conversely, while Motion Platform will let you set the Writability setting to "Read+Write" for a tile whose underlying point is a read-only point (determined by the device manufacturer and, often, simple logic—for example, it wouldn't make sense for a point that represents the current humidity reading of a room to be writable), writing to such points will be rejected by the device and have no effect.