Using the same mapping repeatedly in sitemaps

  • Platform information:
    • openHAB version: 2.3
  • Issue of the topic:
    I have several rooms which can select from the same set of audio sources, controlled by an Extron MAV88 8x8 audio matrix. For each Item, I have connected an ‘audioin.map’ which lists the potential inputs.

However, for the sitemap, I currently have repeated lines for each room like:
Selection item=GF_RoomName_AudioSelect label=“Audio Source” mappings=[1=“TV”, 2=“Games console”, 3=“Alexa”, 4=“Radio”, 5=“CD”]

Is there a neater way to do this, so that when I reconfigure inputs I can just change a single map file rather than having to change the above list of selections for each room?

I suppose another example would be TV channels, it would be good to have a single list of channel numbers to names which could be used for any TV channel selector.

I saw a request for this in OH1 which was closed when OH2 came out, but it doesn’t seem to have been carried forward.

Nope, there’s no easy way to do this, and there may never be one in the sitemaps. See my post here and the ensuing discussion. Basically, Sitemap functionality is not slated to get any updates, because they’re an OH1 construct (as is the Basic UI). Unless they get updated to a new format, or superseded completely by Habpanel, we’ll continue to have to deal with mappings the current way…BTW, I feel your pain - I have some 15 LED strips, with over 30 different effects selectable via the UI - search/replace helps, but it’s still annoying to have to do each time I change the list.

I hadn’t realised sitemaps were legacy, thanks for explaining.

I’ve found them a really quick way to expose functionality consistently and efficiently on screen space, and consistently between android app use and browser control, so it’s a shame they are on the way out.

I’ve done some habpanel layouts but there’s a lot more fiddling required to make them, and a lot more clicks to use them as the controls are larger. Also as a UI designer there are a lot of ways to make really hard to use panels :slight_smile: I’d probably have been put off switching from misterhouse to OH2 if that was my UI.

Is there a roadmap for a functionally equivalent replacement to sitemaps, where new users can start by having groups or tagged items with sensible controls for the item type and then add sophistication later? If there is, I’ll start to use it instead.

Thanks for the fast reply