Bob,
I am using Alexa and I want to update a lot of device names to be more natural. I am trying to determine the best method and overall approach.
What is the designed behavior for ISY devices/programs/variables device names and the plugin?
I have been able to find some answers through trial and error but I'd prefer to know what's supposed to happen and not just what appears to happen.
If devices are renamed in the ISY, they propagate to Homeseer.
If devices are renamed in Homeseer, it seems that the plug-in overwrites them upon Homeseer restart.
If variables are renamed in the ISY, does this only update upon a HS restart?
(that appeared to be the case for me just now)
Is there any way to update the location in HS and not have it be overwritten by the plug-in? This is particularly important for variables since I use the ":" to parse location and name, but I cannot use the ":" in variable names due to ISY restrictions. Also, I cannot use spaces in variable names on the ISY, but I want to add them in HS without fear of them all being overwritten without warning.
(OK- I just tested a theory and found that if I change the HS device names of a variable named "JANDY_Pool_temperature" to location "Pool" and device name "Temperature", it gets overwritten at Homeseer startup.)
If I edit and change the status text (let's say I define ranges and suffixes for a pool temperature variable from the ISY), will those changes get overwritten by the plug-in at some-point? Or are those only set upon device creation? They seem to stick when I change them but I am trying to make sure they won't change unexpectedly.
Thanks,
Tim
One more little question to work around the variable name problem: One idea I have is to shut down Homeseer and change EVERY device and program and variable in the ISY to use the underscore as the parsing character, so that I can have my variables assigned to rooms in Homeseer. Would I first configure the ISY plug-in to parse by underscore and then shut down Homeseer, rename everything in the ISY and restart Homeseer? Will the plugin work - will it correctly overwrite the devices with themselves? In other words, would "Master Bath:Light" that I use currently be recognized as the same device as "Master Bath_Light" upon restarting Homeseer? Would Homeseer still show the device "Light" in the room "Master Bath"?
I am using Alexa and I want to update a lot of device names to be more natural. I am trying to determine the best method and overall approach.
What is the designed behavior for ISY devices/programs/variables device names and the plugin?
I have been able to find some answers through trial and error but I'd prefer to know what's supposed to happen and not just what appears to happen.
If devices are renamed in the ISY, they propagate to Homeseer.
If devices are renamed in Homeseer, it seems that the plug-in overwrites them upon Homeseer restart.
If variables are renamed in the ISY, does this only update upon a HS restart?
(that appeared to be the case for me just now)
Is there any way to update the location in HS and not have it be overwritten by the plug-in? This is particularly important for variables since I use the ":" to parse location and name, but I cannot use the ":" in variable names due to ISY restrictions. Also, I cannot use spaces in variable names on the ISY, but I want to add them in HS without fear of them all being overwritten without warning.
(OK- I just tested a theory and found that if I change the HS device names of a variable named "JANDY_Pool_temperature" to location "Pool" and device name "Temperature", it gets overwritten at Homeseer startup.)
If I edit and change the status text (let's say I define ranges and suffixes for a pool temperature variable from the ISY), will those changes get overwritten by the plug-in at some-point? Or are those only set upon device creation? They seem to stick when I change them but I am trying to make sure they won't change unexpectedly.
Thanks,
Tim
One more little question to work around the variable name problem: One idea I have is to shut down Homeseer and change EVERY device and program and variable in the ISY to use the underscore as the parsing character, so that I can have my variables assigned to rooms in Homeseer. Would I first configure the ISY plug-in to parse by underscore and then shut down Homeseer, rename everything in the ISY and restart Homeseer? Will the plugin work - will it correctly overwrite the devices with themselves? In other words, would "Master Bath:Light" that I use currently be recognized as the same device as "Master Bath_Light" upon restarting Homeseer? Would Homeseer still show the device "Light" in the room "Master Bath"?
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