Strange problem - Device String not updating on Virtual devices

[Seer1001]

I am running HS4 on Windows 10.
I have several virtual devices that work fine, But am now up to 3 that suffer from this problem.
From the devices page in HS4 I have several control buttons that should set the device value, graphic and the device sting. See screen shot.
If I click one of these buttons the device value and the device graphic update BUT the device string does NOT update.
The really strange part is that these devices were working fine when first created but just stopped, I don't think i changed anything.
I have 2 devices, created prior to version 4.1.8.0 when virtual devices where created as Device Version = 3.2 and 1 device created after 4.1.8.0 as Device Version = 4.

Not sure if it is relevant but I normally use the tasker plugin to update these virtual devices from my android phone.
SetVariable %HSSetdevicevalue = 1
SetVariable %HsRef = 3066

Per the device page in HS4 this will set the device value, graphic but NOT device string that corresponds to the device value.
I can FORCE the device string with
SetVariable %HSSetdevicestring = Test
SetVariable %HsRef = 3066

When I first created this device id=3066 just setting the device value via the tasker plugin would also set the device string per the status/Graphics page in HS4 but it just seem to stop working after a few days.

I am not sure this problem is caused by the tasker plugin. The device string does not get updated with the buttons on the devices page in HS4 (no tasker plugin involved)

Does anyone have any ideas what is wrong here?





Thanks
Tom

[Michael McSharry]

DeviceString is an independent property that is not updated based upon HS UI except for the case where the UI is a text box to update the DeviceString. Most things reflect the DeviceValue. If Value Status Pairs are setup then HS will show the text of the VSP for the Status. If Value Graphic Pairs are setup the it will show icons that correspond to the DeviceValue. If at any time DeviceString property is set to something other than blank then the Status shown will be the DeviceString rather than the VSP text.

[Seer1001]

Thanks Michael for the quick response.
I am trying to understand this. Please let me know if I got this right.

"DeviceString is an independent property that is not updated based upon HS UI except for the case where the UI is a text box to update the DeviceString"

" Most things reflect the DeviceValue. If Value Status Pairs are setup then HS will show the text of the VSP for the Status."

Like a simple on/off device.



if the device value is set to 0 then HS will set the status to Moe. This is what I was expecting.


" If Value Graphic Pairs are setup the it will show icons that correspond to the DeviceValue."



This works as I expect.

BUT...

" If at any time DeviceString property is set to something other than blank then the Status shown will be the DeviceString rather than the VSP text."

If I set the DeviceString to something (like I can do with the tasker plugin) then HS will no longer use the VSP to set the status based on the device value. At this point the DeviceString becomes an independent property and is no longer determined by the Devicevalue?

This is unexpected! Does Homeseer document this anywhere? Even for HS3 (I assume this is the same in HS3 and HS4). As a user of HS4 it is very hard to find documentation.

Is their anyway to force HS back to using the VSP to determine the status.

Side questions:
Do you know what the Control Use field in the Edit Status/Controls table is for?
Do you know what the Label field in the Edit Status/Graphics table is for?

Thanks again for your help understanding this.

Tom

[Uncle Michael]

I agree; this is not well-documented.
With regard to virtual devices, Randy Prade put together a fairly detailed set of posts here.
With regard to the Device String vs Device Status display, there are probably dozens of threads. Here is one.

[Seer1001]

Thanks Michael,
I will review these posts.

Tom