Network addressable appliance interface device

A system, comprising:

• one or more data processors;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructions which when executed on the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform operations including:
• obtaining, using an appliance interface of an interface device on a network, a type category and a usage category, wherein the type category and the usage category are associated with an identification number that corresponds to an activity performable by an appliance device that is coupled to the network using the interface device, wherein the type category is indicative of a format of how a current value is obtained by the interface device, and wherein the usage category is indicative of how the interface device can interact with the current value;
• storing the type category and the usage category as value attributes in a database;
• obtaining the current value associated with the identification number, wherein obtaining the current value includes transmitting a get value command specifying the identification number and receiving the current value;
• and
• using the current value to transmit a status corresponding to the activity performable by the appliance device, wherein the status is transmitted over the network.

A computer-program product tangibly embodied in a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, including instructions configured to cause a data processing apparatus to:

• obtain, using an appliance interface of an interface device on a network, a type category and a usage category, wherein the type category and the usage category are associated with an identification number that corresponds to an activity performable by an appliance device that is coupled to the network using the interface device, wherein the type category is indicative of a format of how a current value is obtained by the interface device, and wherein the usage category is indicative of how the interface device can interact with the current value;
• store the type category and the usage category as value attributes in a database;
• obtain the current value associated with the identification number, wherein obtaining the current value includes transmitting a get value command specifying the identification number and receiving the current value;
• and
• use the current value to transmit a status corresponding to the activity performable by the appliance device, wherein the status is transmitted over the network.