OpenHAB2 Binding Development - Thing-Types.xml

Add-ons Bindings
,
1

Hello,

I’m just getting started with openHAB2 binding development, and I have some questions with regard to the thing-type.xml files I am setting up for a new Insteon binding. I have 3 of them thus far: generic_dimmer.xml, generic_modem.xml, generic_switch.xml, which based upon what I found here: https://www.eclipse.org/smarthome/documentation/development/bindings/thing-definition.html and could Google.

Q1: What is the relationship of the xml to the actual code and openHAB?
Q2: What is the relationship between “channel id” and the channel “typeId”? Consider the example below.

<channels>
<channel id="foo" typeId="bar"?
</channels>

Q3: What’s the relationship between “channel-type id”, channel “item-type”, channel “label”, and channel “description”? Consider the example below.

	<!-- Sample Channel Type -->
	<channel-type id="sample-channel">
		<item-type>insteonplmItem</item-type>
		<label>InsteonPLM Binding Channel</label>
		<description>Sample channel for InsteonPLM Binding</description>
	</channel-type>

Q4: Do the below xml files appear correct in terms of how Insteon works? Answers to the above may make this self evident though. However, I’m most concerned with the Generic_Modem.xml as it seems to be a bridge-type, and I’m not clear how the bridge-type’s thing-type file should appear.

A. Generic_Dimmer.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<thing:thing-descriptions bindingId="insteonplm"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:thing="http://eclipse.org/smarthome/schemas/thing-description/v1.0.0"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://eclipse.org/smarthome/schemas/thing-description/v1.0.0 http://eclipse.org/smarthome/schemas/thing-description-1.0.0.xsd">

    <!--Generic thing for Insteon dimmer switches-->
    <thing-type id="Generic_Dimmer_Switch">
        <label>Dimmer switch</label>
        <description>Dimmer switch</description>
        <channels>
            <channel id="dimmer" typeId="brightness" />
        </channels>

        <config-description>
            <parameter name="InsteonID" type="text" required="true">
                <label>23.EF.0B</label>
                <description>The InsteonID uniquely identifies each Insteon device.</description>
            </parameter>
        </config-description>
    </thing-type>

    <!-- Channel Type for Generic Insteon Dimmer Switches-->
    <channel-type id="dimmer">
        <item-type>dimmer</item-type>
        <label>Dimmer switch</label>
        <description>Dimmer switch</description>
    </channel-type>

</thing:thing-descriptions>

B. Generic_Switch.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<thing:thing-descriptions bindingId="insteonplm"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:thing="http://eclipse.org/smarthome/schemas/thing-description/v1.0.0"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://eclipse.org/smarthome/schemas/thing-description/v1.0.0 http://eclipse.org/smarthome/schemas/thing-description-1.0.0.xsd">

    <!--Generic thing for simple Insteon on/off switches-->
    <thing-type id="Generic_Simple_Switch">
        <label>On/off switch</label>
        <description>On/off switch</description>
        <channels>
            <channel id="switch" typeId="switch" />
        </channels>

        <config-description>
            <parameter name="InsteonID" type="text" required="true">
                <label>23.EF.0B</label>
                <description>The InsteonID uniquely identifies each Insteon device.</description>
            </parameter>
        </config-description>
    </thing-type>

    <!-- Channel Type for Generic Insteon Simple Switches-->
    <channel-type id="switch">
        <item-type>switch</item-type>
        <label>On/off switch</label>
        <description>On/off switch</description>
    </channel-type>

</thing:thing-descriptions>

C. Generic_Modem.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<thing:thing-descriptions bindingId="insteonplm"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:thing="http://eclipse.org/smarthome/schemas/thing-description/v1.0.0"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://eclipse.org/smarthome/schemas/thing-description/v1.0.0 http://eclipse.org/smarthome/schemas/thing-description-1.0.0.xsd">

    <!--Generic thing for Insteon modems (PLM/PLC/Hub)-->
    <thing-type id="Generic_Modem">
        <label>Modem</label>
        <description>Modem</description>
        <channels>
            <channel id="command" typeId="command" />
        </channels>

        <config-description>
            <parameter name="InsteonID" type="text" required="true">
                <label>23.EF.0B</label>
                <description>The InsteonID uniquely identifies each Insteon device.</description>
            </parameter>
        </config-description>
    </thing-type>

    <!-- Channel Type for Generic Insteon Modems-->
    <channel-type id="command">
        <item-type>command</item-type>
        <label>Insteon command</label>
        <description>Insteon command</description>
    </channel-type>

</thing:thing-descriptions>
2

Channel type is mainly used to render channel status on UI and to create items of proper type. Channel Id is what you use when dealing with channel from your binding. e.g getThing().getChannel(channelId), updateState(channelId, OnOffType.ON) etc.