Feature request: Way of combining controls into one sitemap element

I recently opened an issue on Github with a feature request. It would be nice to hear other people’s ideas around this. Like, is this something you would want as well? If you do want this, and The general way (more about this below) is implemented, what would you use it for? Are there actual problems with this that prevent it, or that need to be solved before an implementation could be made? Do you have a better idea to achieve the same thing? Any developers who would like to attempt to implement this? Anyway, I’ll just copy the github issue text below, and please chime in with any opinion or idea you might have:

It’s pretty common for home automation software to have items for e.g. dimmable lights that combine functionality into the same element in a way that openHAB does not. Both Fiabaro Home Center, Z-Way, ImperiHome and Vera have elements that combine dimmer level (e.g. a slider) with an ON/OFF switch. (I understand that WebUI has this, but that it isn’t really a ON/OFF switch, so much as a shortcut for 0 and 100 on the slider.)

In an openHAB sitemap, this has to be two separate elements, each with their own control and their own label, taking up twice the UI real estate and making the interface slightly awkward.

I see two ways of going about it if there is an interest in implementing something like this:

1: The specific way: This is probably mostly going to be used for adjustable lights (and often in this case, both controls link to the same item). Today many people have a Dimmer item for the light, and a Slider element and a Switch element referring to the same Dimmer item. The specific way, would be to create a kind of SliderSwitch element that incorporated both of these controls into the same element.

Example sitemap code:

SliderSwitch item=FF_Hallway_Light_Dimmer

Such an element could be rendered like this, in Basic UI:

SliderSwitch rendered

2: The general way: Maybe someone wants something like a SliderSwitch element, but the Slider part and the Switch part can’t refer to the same item. Or maybe someone wants to combine other controls, like Selection and Setpoint, for example. The general way would be to create something syntactically like a block element. But instead of the element rendering as a link to a new view with the contained elements, it would incorporate the controls of the elements within the curly braces into the parent element.

Example sitemap code:

Compound label="Thermostat" icon="temperature" {
    Selection item=FF_Bedroom_Thermostat_Mode
    Setpoint item=FF_Bedroom_Thermostat_Setpoint
}

The general way brings a lot more possibilities to the table, but there is one thing that would need to be worked out: namely the Compound element’s stateformat, like in label="Some label [%d %%]". There are a few possibilities here. One is to say that stateformat isn’t supported for Compound elements. Another is to say that it is supported in unambiguous cases – like if both subelements are linking to the same item, or only one of them supports the format type selected. A third is to say that ambiguous (or all) cases need some determined qualifier to clarify which subelement’s value is being displayed, for example as a separate parameter to the Compound element.

I would personally prefer The general way, with the latter stateformat solution, but it would also be very nice with The specific way. (Also, they are not mutually exclusive, of course, so it’s quite possible to go for The specific way short term and The general way long term, if need be.)

You probably need to file this issue on the Eclipse Smarthome repo. That is where the UI code it implemented I believe. Though of course there will need to be issues on both of the phone app repos as well.

Personally, I’m of the opinion that if you want that sort of control over the UI you should be using HABPanel in the first place where widgets like this already exist.

Also, I don’t use Dimmers much so I could be wrong, but I don’t think there actually is a difference between sending ON/OFF to a Switch linked to a light versus sending ON/OFF to a Dimmer linked to a light. So assuming one had the ability to use a Slider element to send ON/OFF commands (as works in ClassicUI according to the docs) you would get the behavior you seak.

Ok, thanks. I’ll repost the request there.

One could say that about almost any UI feature request, really. But HABPanel is much more laborious to set up (if there was no benefit of using the others, they would hardly be maintained). For better or worse, HABPanel is about designing a graphical dashboard in a much more detailed graphical fashion than when creating a sitemap. Also, sitemaps are universal, they work across different UIs, perhaps most importantly the phone apps.

You could be right (for The specific way), but the documentation is a bit ambiguous on that point. It says:

But for e.g. Z-Wave dimmers, “on” is not 100 – “on” is 255, which in many cases means turning the light back to the intensity it was before it was powered off. And in Classic UI there is no slider, it seems, only up and down buttons. Still though, making use of the switchSupport parameter in the other UIs, rendering a switch control next to the slider sending proper on and off commands, would be sufficient for the light control case.

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Hi,

Has anything been done with the request? The specific way is exactly what I’m looking for. But the General way would also suffice for me.

Not really helpfull to reactivate a 4 years old topic.
Please note that this was for openHAB 2.x and we are about to release 3.2 in a couple of days.

Hi Hans-Jörg,

Thanks taking the time to reply. From the answer you give I gather that in all those 4 years nothing has been done about it.

Have a safe day,

Not for openHAB 2.x and BsicUI in openHAB 3. But with the new openHAB 3 Main UI, you can simply create your own widget with combined controls. Please check our marketplace for user created widgets as an example.

Thanks very much, I’ll look into that. It might solve my problem.

Happy Holydays.