# OH3.3 - Semantic Model mess **URL:** \ **Category:** Beginners\ **Tags:** openhab3, semantic-model\ **Created:** [August 2, 2022, 5:43pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821 "2022-08-02T17:43:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hoerli](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/hoerli/32/43102_2.png) [@Hoerli](https://community.openhab.org/u/Hoerli)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 5:43pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/1 "2022-08-02T17:43:12Z")
Hello Forum, I have made the update from OH3.2 to 3.3. Had to recreate my Netatmo binding as well. Unfortunately, the update also seems to have broken my whole Semantic Model. Subgroups are missing or invisible, some have been moved to the top branch. I was now able to recreate the problem in a virtual machine. There were no noticeable errors during the update process so far. Tested with: - Raspberry Pi 4B - VM with Debian 11 64bit Is it possible to straighten this out or do I have to start everything from scratch now? ![Semantic Model](https://community-openhab-org.s3.dualstack.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/original/3X/c/a/ca08fee3bb178e737c065db7d5c3bbe133d65503.png) ---
**Author:** ![rlkoshak](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/rlkoshak/32/75251_2.png) [@rlkoshak](https://community.openhab.org/u/rlkoshak)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/2 "2022-08-02T19:33:59Z")
> [@Hoerli](#): > > Is it possible to straighten this out or do I have to start everything from scratch now? It’s hard to say. We don’t know what the model is supposed to look like and we don’t know how you created the Items. What specifically do you mean by “recreate Netatmo binding?” You had to recreate the Things? Did you ensure the Things kept the same UIDs? Did you have to recreate the Items? How did you recreate the Items? ---
**Author:** ![Hoerli](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/hoerli/32/43102_2.png) [@Hoerli](https://community.openhab.org/u/Hoerli)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 8:16pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/3 "2022-08-02T20:16:28Z")
The structure was as follows House ```auto -> Floor --> Room ---> Things ----> Items of Things -> Floor --> Room ---> Things ----> Items of Things ``` The Locations “Bad”, “Flur”, “Heizung”, “Kueche”, “Schlafzimmer”, “Wohnzimmer” are completely wrong. For example, I am also missing the second floor and the first floor as a whole. However, all items are still present. The new creation of missing locations does not work, because they are supposed to already exist. The Netatmo binding has changed, so it was recommended to recreate all of it. I was just about to set it up when I noticed the problem with the model. It probably has nothing to do with the actual problem here for now, I just wanted to note it. ---
**Author:** ![rlkoshak](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/rlkoshak/32/75251_2.png) [@rlkoshak](https://community.openhab.org/u/rlkoshak)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 10:04pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/4 "2022-08-02T22:04:48Z")
The Semantic Model is built using Groups with special tags. So you would have a Group with a “Floor” label of some sort. You’d have a second Group that is a member of the “Floor” Group with a “Room” Tag. There are no such thing as Things in the Semantic Model. What you have is a Group Item with a proper Equipment Tag. Then the Items that are linked to the Channels of the Things will each have a proper Point and optional Property tag and they will be a member of the Equipment Group Item. It’s _all_ Items. The hierarchy is defined using Group membership. Whether an Item represents a Location. Equipment, or Point is done using the Item tags. So you will have to go through all your Items and make sure the Group memberships are as you expect. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfgang\_S](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/wolfgang_s/32/52719_2.png) [@Wolfgang\_S](https://community.openhab.org/u/Wolfgang_S)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 6:18am UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/5 "2022-08-03T06:18:28Z")
How so you spell first floor? It has not to start with a number like 1. ---
**Author:** ![Hoerli](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/hoerli/32/43102_2.png) [@Hoerli](https://community.openhab.org/u/Hoerli)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/6 "2022-08-03T16:28:35Z")
Okay I think we have misunderstood each other here. My setup was as follows: ```auto - House -- first floor --- Heater --- Bathroom -- second floor --- Kitchen --- Livingroom -- third floor --- Livingroom --- Kitchen --- Sleepingroom -- Attic -- Staircase -- Outside -- Testarea - Other -- Some stuff ``` What is missing now? The subdivision per floor is completely gone. The living room on the second floor is gone. The groups of Things it contains are also gone. > By gone / no longer present I mean invisible, because the Things are still all present in the system. All other “rooms” have been pushed to the top branch of the tree. What seems to be still correctly present are the assignments to “Other” and everything at “Outside”. But since no answers have come here now according to the motto “Oh the error is known”, I am probably once again a single case? I could also reproduce the problem in a VM, so I exclude a single case but ehr. Unless there is something to salvage here, how can I really cleanly remove the current model and start a new one? ---
**Author:** ![JustinG](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/justing/32/55948_2.png) [@JustinG](https://community.openhab.org/u/JustinG)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 5:08pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/7 "2022-08-03T17:08:58Z")
> [@Hoerli](#): > > I could also reproduce the problem in a VM, so I exclude a single case but ehr. The configuration of your system is still unique to you, so yes, this is likely a single case. So we have to know about your system. There are many known reasons why items disappear from the model page and probably many more unknown. Each one has a different cause and solution. > [@Hoerli](#): > > The groups of Things it contains are also gone. > [@rlkoshak](#): > > There are no such thing as Things in the Semantic Model. We can’t really give you specific help until we understand both your system and the problem. Unfortunately, OH is a very complicated program and so for us to be able to communicate about the problem we all have to be very precise. You simply cannot have a “group of Things”, that is an impossibility in OH because `group` and `thing` have very specific meanings which are not compatible. So we don’t yet know what you mean. Perhaps looking through this will help you: > [@openHAB Glossary](https://community.openhab.org/t/openhab-glossary/130036): > > Perhaps it is just my years of experience teaching a vocabulary heavy subject, but it seems to me that many of the beginner questions that show up on the forums (and even some of the more advanced ones) result from struggles with all the terminology. Many beginning users stumble when attempting to use docs and even users who have read the help docs sometimes come away with only partial understanding unless they are already fully steeped in the language of openHAB. With the goal of alleviating … > [@Hoerli](#): > > But since no answers have come here now according to the motto “Oh the error is known” This is not case; you have gotten responses from two top contributors here who have helped answer thousands of questions combined. There have been several attempts at answers even though we still only have partial information. If you want more specific answers than you need to provide more specific information. > [@rlkoshak](#): > > It’s _all_ Items. The hierarchy is defined using Group membership. Whether an Item represents a Location. Equipment, or Point is done using the Item tags. > > So you will have to go through all your Items and make sure the Group memberships are as you expect. > [@Wolfgang\_S](#): > > How so you spell first floor? > It has not to start with a number like 1. This is where the details of YOUR system some into to play. You will notice that both of the answers rely on details that are specific to how you built and configured the system. There is a difference between just telling us vaguely what it _should_ look like and telling/showing us the configuration you have done to make it look like that. > [@Hoerli](#): > > Is it possible to straighten this out or do I have to start everything from scratch now? I’m sure it is possible, but give us more and be as precise in your terminology as you can so that we can help you. What sort of information do we need? - Did you use the UI or items files to create all these items in the first place? - Can you find these missing location items in the items page? If so can you show us the configuration from the item details page? - Are there errors in the browser console? What do they say? - Have you noticed if the missing rooms all contain items linked to one particular binding? Other than netatmo, what other bindings do you use? - We know you have a vm running debian, but nothing else about your system. Has your java version changed recently? How did you install OH in that vm? You CANNOT share too much information. If there’s a bit that’s not helpful we can ignore it, but we cannot guess at information that is not there. ---
**Author:** ![rlkoshak](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/rlkoshak/32/75251_2.png) [@rlkoshak](https://community.openhab.org/u/rlkoshak)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/8 "2022-08-03T17:47:01Z")
It might help to re-review the Concepts section of the docs so we are all using the same terms for the same things. Perhaps skim through the first few pages of the Getting Started Tutorial as well to reinforce the relationship between binding, Things, Channels, Items, and the Semantic Model. I also asked a bunch of questions in my initial reply that you never answered. We tend not to ask rhetorical questions. If we ask, we expect an answer. Not answered from my first replay: - Did you ensure the Things kept the same UIDs? - Did you have to recreate the Items? - How did you recreate the Items? Something went wrong and we need a _ton_ more details from you to understand where things went wrong. At this point, it’s like taking a _picture_ of your car to a mechanic and saying “it’s making a weird noise, can you tell me how to fix it?” ---
**Author:** ![HannesFE](https://community.openhab.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/49beb7/32.png) [@HannesFE](https://community.openhab.org/u/HannesFE)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 6:57pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/9 "2022-08-03T18:57:24Z")
Hi @all, I got the exact same problem after the update. It seems, that the problem is based in the name of groups and items. I got a few errors like this: > 2022-08-03 20:38:08.280 [WARN] [ore.common.registry.AbstractRegistry] - Cannot add “NumberItem” with key “1OG\_MotionSensor\_BatLvl”: The specified name of the item ‘1OG\_MotionSensor\_BatLvl’ is not valid! after reboot. So a Number as the first character for an ID is not allowed anymore. In my understanding it’s necessary to create the groups and items with a new ID, because restoring a backup will not work out without the ability to change the ID. Maybe its easier with the backup, because the model is correct and you can change the parent group. Or does anyone has another better idea? Cheers Hannes PS: I defined everything via UI. The Items are missing in the Items page as well as the semantic model. ---
**Author:** ![rlkoshak](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/rlkoshak/32/75251_2.png) [@rlkoshak](https://community.openhab.org/u/rlkoshak)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/10 "2022-08-03T19:23:21Z")
> [@HannesFE](#): > > So a Number as the first character for an ID is not allowed anymore. It was never allowed (I don’t know the specific technical problem but it’s been in the docs since OH 1.x). It’s just now that checks were put into place to ensure that such Item names are rejected instead of leaving them to cause what ever problems these Item names cause. > [@HannesFE](#): > > In my understanding it’s necessary to create the groups and items with a new ID, because restoring a backup will not work out without the ability to change the ID. You have a few options to deal with it. But ultimately you cannot really rename an Item, only delete and recreate it. Since the Item doesn’t appear in the UI, you’ll have to either use the API Explorer or the karaf console to delete the old Item(s) that start with a number. Then you can recreate them without the leading number as the first character. You _could_ search through your jsondb files and edit them by hand but given these are just semantic model Groups and likely not used anywhere else, it’ll be just as fast and safer to do it by deleting and recreating. ---
**Author:** ![Hoerli](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/hoerli/32/43102_2.png) [@Hoerli](https://community.openhab.org/u/Hoerli)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 9:34pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/11 "2022-08-03T21:34:25Z")
@JustinG Did you use the UI or items files to create all these items in the first place? - I use the UI Can you find these missing location items in the items page? If so can you show us the configuration from the item details page? - Yes all items are still there Are there errors in the browser console? What do they say? - No errors in the browser console Have you noticed if the missing rooms all contain items linked to one particular binding? Other than netatmo, what other bindings do you use? - No i use a view Bindings like Bose, MQTT-Broker, ExecBinding, Wifi LED Binding, … We know you have a vm running debian, but nothing else about your system. Has your java version changed recently? How did you install OH in that vm? - Yes the VM did a java-update. I ran this first and was able to use openHAB normally afterwards. After the Java update everything was still normal. I have installed openHAB via repository. (apt install openhab …) @rlkoshak - Did you ensure the Things kept the same UIDs? They should have kept the same UIDs. I have not checked this, as I cannot remember them all 100% accurately. Did you have to recreate the Items? - No, I have not done that yet. I wanted to know first if you can still save something here before I set up everything again. @HannesFE I think you just found the error. I have the entries too. `2022-08-03 15:36:53.123 [WARN] [ore.common.registry.AbstractRegistry] - Cannot add "GroupItem" with key "3OGKueche": The specified name of the item '3OGKueche' is not valid!` As @rlkoshak already wrote, you should not be allowed to start IDs with a number. But you can do that via UI and openHAB seems to have no problem with that. But as it looks, openHAB has a problem with version 3.3. In fact, I started my floor subdivision with a number in the ID and - I need to check this first - probably on one or two other items as well. ---
**Author:** ![rlkoshak](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/rlkoshak/32/75251_2.png) [@rlkoshak](https://community.openhab.org/u/rlkoshak)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 10:03pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/12 "2022-08-03T22:03:02Z")
> [@Hoerli](#): > > But you can do that via UI and openHAB seems to have no problem with that. There is a PR that fixes that to prevent it in the works already. As I said, it’s not been allowed since the beginning but it’s never been enforced. > [@Hoerli](#): > > They should have kept the same UIDs. I have not checked this, as I cannot remember them all 100% accurately. This isn’t related to the Semantic Model problem but it could be a different problem. Go to the Thing’s page, click on Channels. All the Channels that are successfully linked will have a blue dot with a 1 in it (or 2 or three if it happens to be lined to more than one Item). If it does not then your Things were created with a different UID (most Thing UIs contain a randomly generated segment so if you didn’t change the ID when accepting the Thing from the Inbox it likely has a different UID. > [@Hoerli](#): > > No, I have not done that yet. I wanted to know first if you can still save something here before I set up everything again. That is part of my confusion. When you said regarding Netatmo “it was recommended to recreate all of it.” it wasn’t clear if that meant Items or, you perhaps did not understand the link between Items and using “Create Equipment from Thing” which generates Items for you. But I think you probably have found your root problem. You cannot start an Item with a digit, only a letter. See my post above for how to recreate these location Groups. You don’t necessarily need to delete the old ones but if you want to get rid of those errors in the logs you’ll need to. ---
**Author:** ![Hoerli](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/hoerli/32/43102_2.png) [@Hoerli](https://community.openhab.org/u/Hoerli)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 10:11pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/13 "2022-08-03T22:11:24Z")
> [@rlkoshak](#): > > There is a PR that fixes that to prevent it in the works already. As I said, it’s not been allowed since the beginning but it’s never been enforced. Okay, I hope the fix goes live soon. Otherwise, probably more people run into the error, which do not know. As a simple user, you use the UI to set up everything conveniently - bang - it’s broken after the update. > [@rlkoshak](#): > > This isn’t related to the Semantic Model problem but it could be a different problem. Go to the Thing’s page, click on Channels. All the Channels that are successfully linked will have a blue dot with a 1 in it (or 2 or three if it happens to be lined to more than one Item). If it does not then your Things were created with a different UID (most Thing UIs contain a randomly generated segment so if you didn’t change the ID when accepting the Thing from the Inbox it likely has a different UID. I just checked, the channels are still linked, even for those that are no longer visible in the model. > [@rlkoshak](#): > > That is part of my confusion. When you said regarding Netatmo “it was recommended to recreate all of it.” it wasn’t clear if that meant Items or, you perhaps did not understand the link between Items and using “Create Equipment from Thing” which generates Items for you. I only wanted to mention the problem with Netatmo briefly to rule out the possibility that it could be due to a broken binding. Then I will probably now given to work and build my model from scratch. Too bad, that now needs a few hours time. ---
**Author:** ![rossko57](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/rossko57/32/70263_2.png) [@rossko57](https://community.openhab.org/u/rossko57)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 12:05pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/14 "2022-08-04T12:05:16Z")
Comment, for info only - invalid Item names beginning with digits have been seen to cause “mysterious” problems with DSL rule triggers, old-style sitemaps, and persistence services. All of those are difficult issues to solve until someone reveals/spots the invalid name, so I for one welcome the new stricter validation 😃 Background > > > In the docs under \[Items -\> Name\](https://www.openhab.org/docs/configuration/ite…ms.html#name) there is the following sentence: > > \> "The Item name is used to uniquely identify an Item. The name must be unique across all .items files in your openHAB configuration. The only characters permitted in an Item name are letters, numbers and the underscore character. Names must not begin with numbers. Spaces and special characters are not permitted." > > \*\*It is therefore forbidden to begin the name of an item with a number?\*\* > > > In the code (openHAB-core) there is the function "isValidItemName" in "ItemUtil", which checks for the following conditions: > 1. itemName != null > 2. !itemName.isEmpty() > 3. itemName.matches("\[a-zA-Z0-9\_\]\*") > > This is the code \[ItemUtil.java#L56\](https://github.com/openhab/openhab-core/blob/main/bundles/org.openhab.core/src/main/java/org/openhab/core/items/ItemUtil.java#L56): > \`\`\`java > /\*\* > \* Returns {@code true} if the specified name is a valid item name, otherwise {@code false}. > \* \ > \* A valid item name must \only\ only consists of the following characters: > \* \ > \* \a-z\ > \* \A-Z\ > \* \0..9\ > \* \\_ (underscore)\ > \* \ > \* > \* @param itemName the name of the item to be checked (could be null or empty) > \* @return true if the specified name is a valid item name, otherwise false > \*/ > public static boolean isValidItemName(final @Nullable String itemName) { > return itemName != null && !itemName.isEmpty() && itemName.matches("\[a-zA-Z0-9\_\]\*"); > } > \`\`\` > > However, the regex only checks: > > \> A valid item name must only consist of the following characters: > \> \* a-z > \> \* A-Z > \> \* 0..9 > \> \* \_ (underscore) > > \*\*However, no attention is paid to whether the item name starts with a number or not.\*\* > > In some of my projects I also use item names that start with a number and never had any problems with that. > > Now I wanted to ask which of these is correct? > \- Are the item names that start with a number allowed and we have to adapt the documentation? > \- Are the item names that start with a number not allowed and we have to adapt the code? ---
**Author:** ![rlkoshak](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/rlkoshak/32/75251_2.png) [@rlkoshak](https://community.openhab.org/u/rlkoshak)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 2:53am UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/15 "2022-08-05T02:53:11Z")
> [@Hoerli](#): > > Then I will probably now given to work and build my model from scratch. > Too bad, that now needs a few hours time. well, you could do that. Or you could one of the options I mentioned in post 10 to delete the old ones and create new ones in their place. ---
**Author:** ![tophee](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/tophee/32/56734_2.png) [@tophee](https://community.openhab.org/u/tophee)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2022, 5:50am UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/16 "2022-08-06T05:50:29Z")
> [@HannesFE](#): > > > 2022-08-03 20:38:08.280 [WARN] [ore.common.registry.AbstractRegistry] - Cannot add “NumberItem” with key “1OG\_MotionSensor\_BatLvl”: The specified name of the item ‘1OG\_MotionSensor\_BatLvl’ is not valid! > > after reboot. > So a Number as the first character for an ID is not allowed anymore So just to understand what happened: is it correct to say that the “semantic model mess” of the OP was caused by item names starting with a number (which was forbidden long before OH3.3, but not enforced until now)? ---
**Author:** ![mstormi](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/mstormi/32/55857_2.png) [@mstormi](https://community.openhab.org/u/mstormi)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2022, 10:51am UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/17 "2022-08-06T10:51:21Z")
> [@Hoerli](#): > > Okay, I hope the fix goes live soon. > Otherwise, probably more people run into the error, which do not know. > As a simple user, you use the UI to set up everything conveniently - bang - it’s broken after the update. This only happens to people that didn’t read the docs. Yes we all are lazy or inattentive at times and yes it’s a lot of work and stressful keeping up but if you get hit by something that you would have avoided by reading the docs, it’s your very own fault. Don’t account this to anyone else but yourself, please. It’s extremely hard for developers to determine and document all the no-gos, and impossible to wrap a complex system like OH in code or UI that catches any bad input. ---
**Author:** ![rlkoshak](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/rlkoshak/32/75251_2.png) [@rlkoshak](https://community.openhab.org/u/rlkoshak)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/18 "2022-08-06T14:42:47Z")
> [@tophee](#): > > So just to understand what happened: is it correct to say that the “semantic model mess” of the OP was caused by item names starting with a number (which was forbidden long before OH3.3, but not enforced until now)? yes, and if you are caught up in this trouble, see post 10 above. I also posted how to delete and recreate theses on the 3.3 release thread where I provided a bit more detail. ---
**Author:** ![Hoerli](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/hoerli/32/43102_2.png) [@Hoerli](https://community.openhab.org/u/Hoerli)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2022, 4:15pm UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/19 "2022-08-06T16:15:36Z")
@rlkoshak I have now recreated the linked channels of the no longer existing locations, so that openHAB is usable again. So far it seems to work again. I haven’t looked directly into the JSON data yet to see if there are any leftovers there. @tophee That is correct. Apparently I am also not the only one who had the problem now. Stupid but happens. Don’t want to know how many out there now also have this problem. @mstormi That is correct. I made the mistake and also really did not read the docs. Therefore I am also to blame for the error. The stupid thing is that I always find such mistakes in the stupidest way. Even if the development of everything is difficult and takes time, some parts need to be build idiot-proof, so that something like this does not happen again. So I think it’s good that such errors - even if self-inflicted - are revealed, so that in the future the openHAB users are protected from it 🙂 A developer does not have the idea to start an ID with a number, because he knows the problem. A stupid user like me however can do it. ¯\_(ツ)\_/¯ Therefore, I can now say that through the tip of @HannesFE the error was found and the system is now running again. Therefore, thanks to all for the input. ---
**Author:** ![peterhoeg](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/peterhoeg/32/74334_2.png) [@peterhoeg](https://community.openhab.org/u/peterhoeg)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2022, 9:54am UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/oh3-3-semantic-model-mess/137821/20 "2022-08-17T09:54:32Z")
I’ve seen a similar problem which is related to the order in which openhab reads the files. Imagine you define a location Foo in “a.items” and an item Bar in “b.items” and of course Bar is supposed to be in location Foo. _Sometimes_ openhab will read a.items before b.items and sometimes the other way around. If “b.items” is read first, you will end up with a broken semantic model where everything is showing in the root of the tree. The only way to work around this is to restart openhab rather than mess with the files while it’s running as at least the items are read in alphabetical order in start-up.