Why do certain HS devices not show status matching options?

[MikeMatthews]

In designer I have an image that I set to mirror a device using 'status tracking normal'. This works, and the image shown (green garage) matches the image in HS. But then when I go to StatusImages, and Add a statusimage, I do not get any options at the Status drop down under 'misc'. There is definitely a status in HS, as made clear by the text 'closed' just above the green garage.



If I do this with a different device in homeseer, I do see options in the status drop down menu. The only difference I can find between these two devices is that one has controls.

[Eman]

May be related : https://help.homeseer.com/help/HSTou...tatus_tracking


Eman.

[MikeMatthews]

Thanks Eman, but this guide claims every HS devices should behave the same way. BTW, Using HS 4.2.8.0

[jgreenberg01]

If the device is set up with status/graphics then they should show in HSDesigner.

Are you sure you are not selecting the root device? If you do that then there will be no Status options shown in the collection drop-down box just as your screenshot shows.

Make sure you are selecting the right device - the root device is also in the list.



On a side note - I have seen cases where StatuTracking did not work as expected when using MatchStatus. The only way I was able to get it to work was using MatchValue.

I wish I could tell you under what circumstances this happened, but there didn't seem to be a pattern. 95%+ of the time, MatchStatus works as expected.

[MikeMatthews]

Thanks jgreen, but I'm not using the root device. I decided to check a variety of devices, and it seems that ALL devices without controls do not show options in the status drop-box. That is true for both value or status under MatchStatus. For example, I have numerous devices created by rnbWeather, and none of those allow status matching options. Note that the graphic or text IS inherited from the hs device when StatusDeviceTracking is set, so clearly the info about status or value is there!
When I choose a device which has controls, the drop-box is correctly populated.

I created a new virtual device in HS and it worked fine in the designer. Then when I deleted the controls (but kept the status/graphics), it does not work. Does this match your experience? As it stands, a majority of my devices do not have controls (such as rnbWeather, sensors, etc).

[Guest]

Did you copy/paste the element and modified it? If so I would recommend creating a new element as copies can generate association issues. In any case try starting a new element just to be sure it's not an element specific issue.

[jgreenberg01]

Thanks jgreen, but I'm not using the root device. I decided to check a variety of devices, and it seems that ALL devices without controls do not show options in the status drop-box. That is true for both value or status under MatchStatus. For example, I have numerous devices created by rnbWeather, and none of those allow status matching options. Note that the graphic or text IS inherited from the hs device when StatusDeviceTracking is set, so clearly the info about status or value is there!
When I choose a device which has controls, the drop-box is correctly populated.

I created a new virtual device in HS and it worked fine in the designer. Then when I deleted the controls (but kept the status/graphics), it does not work. Does this match your experience? As it stands, a majority of my devices do not have controls (such as rnbWeather, sensors, etc).

I use StatusTracking for devices with no control values in many screens (ie: weather data, door sensors, etc.), but the default image was always what I needed displayed.

I tried what you did: created a new device with controls, and the MatchStatus dropdown box populated as expected.

When I deleted the controls, but left the images, the MatchStatus dropdown box was empty. So my experience was the same.

I suppose that makes sense though because, if there are no values or statuses to choose from, there's nothing to base the image off of in HSTouch.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the issue, do you have a particular use in mind for a device like that?

[MikeMatthews]

Thanks for reproducing this effect jgreen. I do have many devices without controls (weather, doors, etc), and they do have values or statuses which are worth knowing. Your question is key: What is the usefulness of customizing graphics or text at the HStouch client vs at the HS server? My answer is that I have different clients with different interfaces, screen sizes, etc. While most things seem to scale pretty well, I want them more customized. I'm also not a big fan of having to upload new graphics to the server since it requires another step, and a lot more button pushes.
I would even turn the question around: What is the reason for providing the ability to change the image/text using matchstatus/value, if it can inherit the server's properties? I think the reason is exactly mine. How do others use this capability?

[jgreenberg01]

OK, I get it.

I had the same problem at one point: I had my "normal" HSTouch screens, but the geek in me decided that I should also have an LCARS interface.

You can change the default status/graphics images for the devices, but as you said, that requires the extra step of adding the graphics in the appropriate HS3/4 Images folder first.

My workaround for that - specifically for those LCARS screens - was to create a virtual device that held the same values as the original device. In my case, they mimicked door sensor notifications. Then used those alternate devices in those specific screens.

Keeping the devices in sync can be done via events or scripting.

I totally forgot about having to do that because the geek in me couldn't justify maintaining two sets of screens as the system grew, and I abandoned the LCARS version a while ago.

Since HSDesigner is being re-worked as we type this, it's worth requesting the ability to use MatchStatus on devices that have no controls. Maybe in this thread: https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/ho...l-for-features

[ewkearns]

I'm pretty sure that I had this issue in spades when I tried HS4 for the first time. HST changed the way that Touch, Designer, and HS4 look at and/or for images. This made (at that time) Designer lock up and Touch became unusable as it would lock up, too, continuing (I think) to find icons it could not find. No change from HS3, which would work fine (verified during a rollback). HS4 was an unmitigated disaster in this regard.

After HST ghosted me on this, I finally found a fix in jon00 's "Jon00 Status Graphics Editor for Homeseer 4". I would take a look at this, found on Jon's server, and see if that wouldn't fix things.

[MikeMatthews]

Thanks for giving me some paths forward!