Updated a complex 2.5 installation to OH 3.3 - now what?

[mschlee (Martin)]

Hi all, I finally updated a rather complex 2.5 installation to OH 3.3. I have a couple of thousand lines rules in text files as well as about 30 items files. All things where created using the UI. At first: everything works in old style (sitemaps on tablets, smartphones and watches). However, I read about fancy things such as semantic models, automatically generate pages etc… My overview page is blank while I heard that it is automatically populated in other cases.

Where to go now ? How can I change my OH setup (items, rules) in order to use new features and make life easier than before ? Is there anything available to read for people in my situation (being familiar with all that file based config stuff) ?

My stuff is mostly homematic (IP), as well as about 20 Philips Hue devices. In addition Gardena robots, Samsung TVs, MyC devices, Denon AVRs, Daikin ACs and Zoneminder. I am making heavy use of OH’s Web API by bash files to transfer data from and to OH.

Thank you for sharing any thoughts - Martin

[Udo_Hartmann]

Well, the overview is to be created manually. Go to Settings->Pages->overview and add some cards.
There are three additional pages, which are created through the Semantic model, sorted in different ways (Where, Which, What)
To get this automagic Pages, first you have to create the semantic model.
The semantic model is using group Items to organize the items. So, the uid has to be an item name and it has to be unique.
You can setup properties per semantic group Item and openHAB will create the pages. It’s a nice feature, but you have to be precise when creating the model.
I’m not that familiar with the semantic model yet, but I think, a valid option is to create a tree for your site, i.e. one Group per building, one group per level (per building), one group per room (per level… per building) then assign the items, maybe create some groups for devices to show them together, set the properties properly… ;).
After creating the semantic model, you can change the look & feel for the pages (link pictures to the rooms and so on).

[rlkoshak (Rich Koshak)]

I highly recommend going through the Getting Started Tutorial. It mainly presents stuff through the UI perspective but nothing shown is impossible to do with text based configs. However, there are some things that, IMO, are not worth doing through text based configs, the semantic model being one of them.

Once you go through that tutorial you should have a good idea of the sorts of next steps you might want to take. It covers pretty much the end-to-end including Things, Items and the Semantic Model, MainUI, Rules, etc.

[mschlee (Martin)]

I have already made a structure like this:

Group   Home               "My home"          <house>                      ["Building"]

Group   AU                 "Automatik"           <settings>      (Home)       ["Automatik"]
Group   CE                 "Keller"              <cellar>        (Home)       ["Basement"]
Group   OU                 "Draußen"             <garden>        (Home)       ["Outdoor"]
Group   GF                 "Erdgeschoss"         <groundfloor>   (Home)       ["GroundFloor"]
Group   FF                 "Erster Stock"        <firstfloor>    (Home)       ["FirstFloor"]
Group   AT                 "Dachgeschoss"        <attic>         (Home)       ["Attic"]
Group   NW                 "Nordflügel"          <house>         (Home)       ["North Wing"]
Group   WW                 "Westflügel"          <house>         (Home)       ["West Wing"]
Group   SW                 "Südflügel"           <house>         (Home)       ["South Wing"]
Group   EW                 "Ostflügel"           <house>         (Home)       ["East Wing"]

Group   CE_Kitchencellar   "Küchenkeller"        <cellar>        (Home, CE)    ["Cellar"]
Group   CE_Winecellar      "Weinkeller"          <cellar>        (Home, CE)    ["Cellar"]
Group   CE_Oilcellar       "Ölkeller"            <cellar>        (Home, CE)    ["Cellar"]

Group   OU_Entryway        "Zufahrt"             <returnpipe>    (Home, OU)   ["Room"]
Group   OU_Garden          "Garten"              <garden>        (Home, OU)   ["Garden"]
Group   OU_SportsField     "Sportplatz"          <motion-open>        (Home, OU)   ["SportsField"]
Group   OU_GarageCJ        "Garage CJ"           <garage_detached_selected>    (Home, OU)   ["Garage"]
Group   OU_WestEntry       "Eingang West"        <frontdoor>     (Home, OU)   ["WestEntry"]
Group   OU_Patio           "Innenhof"            <terrace>       (Home, OU)   ["Outside"]

Group   GF_Entrance         "Eingangsbereich"    <frontdoor>     (Home, GF)   ["Room"]
Group   GF_Wardrobe        "Garderobe"           <wardrobe>      (Home, GF)   ["Room"]
Group   GF_Office          "Arbeitszimmer"       <office>        (Home, GF)   ["Room"]
Group   GF_Lounge          "Salon"               <sofa>          (Home, GF)   ["Room"]
Group   GF_Kitchen         "Küche"               <kitchen>       (Home, GF)   ["Kitchen"]
Group   GF_HWR             "Hauswirtschaftsraum" <washingmachine>    (Home, GF)   ["Room"]
Group   GF_Fireplace       "Kaminzimmer"         <fire>          (Home, GF)   ["Room"]
Group   GF_Library         "Bibliothek"          <office>        (Home, GF)   ["Room"]
Group   GF_GuestRoom       "Gästezimmer"         <parents_4_3>   (Home, GF)   ["Room"]
Group   GF_Bathroom        "Gästebad"            <bath>          (Home, GF)   ["Bathroom"]

Group   FF_Hallway         "Korridor"            <corridor>      (Home, FF)   ["Corridor"]
Group   FF_MasterBedroom   "Schlafzimmer"        <bedroom_red>   (Home, FF)   ["Bedroom"]
Group   FF_MasterBathroom  "Masterbad"           <bath>          (Home, GF)   ["Bathroom"]
Group   FF_GuestRoom       "Gästezimmer"         <parents_4_3>   (Home, FF)   ["Room"]
Group   FF_Bathroom        "Gästebad"            <bath>          (Home, FF)   ["Bathroom"]
Group   FF_KidsRoom        "Kinderzimmer"        <girl_3>        (Home, FF)   ["Room"]
Group   FF_Studio          "Atelier"             <firstfloor>        (Home, FF)   ["Room"]

Group   AT_Bathroom        "Gästebad"            <bath>          (Home, AT)   ["Bathroom"]
Group   AT_Studio          "Dachstudio"          <attic>        (Home, AT)   ["Room"]

Group   NW_Office1         "Büro 1"              <office>        (Home, NW)   ["N01"]
Group   NW_Office2         "Büro 2"              <office>        (Home, NW)   ["N02"]
Group   NW_Shower          "Dusche"              <bath>          (Home, NW)   ["Shower"]
Group   NW_Lab             "Labor"               <line>          (Home, NW)   ["N03"]
Group   NW_Korridor        "Korridor"            <corridor>      (Home, NW)  
Group   NW_GardenKitchen   "Gartenküche"         <kitchen>       (Home, NW)
Group   NW_Heating         "Heizungsraum"        <gas>           (Home, NW)   ["Room"]

Group   WW_Bathroom        "FeWo Badezimmer"          <bath>          (Home, WW)   ["Bathroom"]
Group   WW_Livingroom      "FeWo Wohnzimmer"          <sofa>          (Home, WW)   ["Room"]
Group   WW_Bedroom         "FeWo Schlafzimmer"        <bedroom_blue>  (Home, WW)   ["Bedroom"]
Group   WW_Korridor        "FeWo Korridor"            <corridor>      (Home, WW)   ["Corridor"]
Group   WW_Workshop        "Gartenwerkstatt"     <greenhouse>        (Home, WW)   ["Gartenwerkstatt"]

Group   SW_Studio          "Musikstudio"         <firstfloor>   (Home, SW)
Group   SW_Barn            "Scheune"             <house>   (Home, SW)   ["Scheune"]
Group   SW_GarageMS        "Garage MS"           <groundfloor>            (Home, SW)   ["Garage2"]
Group   SW_MPR             "Mehrzweckraum"       <groundfloor>  (Home, SW)

Group   EW_Storage         "Abstellraum"        <pantry>  (Home, EW)
Group   EW_Stable          "Pferdestall"         <garage_detached>   (Home, EW)

Group   gSignalstaerke     "HM Signal"          <qualityofservice> (Home)
Group   gWiFiSignal        "WiFi Signal"        <qualityofservice> (Home)

Group:Switch:OR(ON, OFF) gBatterie  "Batteriestände [%d]"   <battery> (Home)

Group:Switch:OR(OFF, ON) gNetwork "Offline [%d]" <error> (Home)

Group:Contact:OR(OPEN, CLOSED) gFenster "Offene Fenster [%d]" <window> (Home)

My sitemaps connect groups of items (as things) and items to the respective locations.

What would be the best way to put this into a semantic model ? I am afraid that Openhab 4 or 5 will finally force me to get rid of text files - in addition it takes quite a while to create them, so if the semantic model saves time in the future I am willing to invest preparation time now.

[hafniumzinc (T)]

@mschlee

What would be the best way to put this into a semantic model ?

Via the UI, as Rich mentioned (you can import Items from text files into the UI - check the tutorials).

Or setup the semantic model in your text files:

[OH3] Semantic Model setup via tags in configuration Items files

Foreword If you are unsure of what the Semantic Model is, or what it can do for you in openHAB 3, then check the documentation here. This post is my notes on creating a Semantic Model via the configuration files (*.items files), rather than the UI. Background I read this post, and used this list in order to work this all out. General The Semantic Model is made up of Items with extra bits of information tagged on to them. These extra bits of information tell openHAB a little bit more about wha…

[mschlee (Martin)]

Great, that’s what I was hoping for. Will give it a try.