Add Buttons to a Dimmer

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I just created and posted to github a plugin that maybe able to help with this.
It provides a single device, DimmerProxy, and has the following configuration options:
device_id - the id of an existing device which has the changeDimlevelTo action.
display_as - how the device should be displayed in the mobile-front-end. For now, it can be either switch or dimmer. This can be changed after its created, if need be.
*sync_name - should this device sync its name to the original device. If the original name of the device is changed, this device will change as well.

This device will update its state and dimlevel in sync with the original device. Commands to this device will be proxied back to the original device.

This doesn’t solve the problem of creating a second device. Using this device, though, eliminates messing around with rules and dummy buttons, which should make it fairly straightforward to create and us custom templates. If anyone wants to design one, I can add it to this plugin.

I just released this, so anyone willing to test is appreciated. (I tested it with a dummy dimmer device, and it worked fine.)

See: https://github.com/aap82/pimatic-dimmer-proxy

@amit-patel said in Add Buttons to a Dimmer:

osted to github a plugin that maybe able to help with this.
It provides a single device, DimmerProxy, and has the following configuration options:
device_id - the id of an existing device which has the changeDimlevelTo action.
display_as - how the device should be displayed in the mobile-front-end. For now, it can be either switch or dimmer. This can be changed

Nice. Instead copying your helper functions from one project to next, please consider publishing them as a package of its own - or even better: please have a look at lodash which is already contained in pimatic (lodash version 3) and covers most of your helper features.

https://lodash.com/docs

You can simply use it (package dependency needed) using the following import:

_ = env.require 'lodash'

@amit-patel wow this is some great work! Just tested it out and it works! I can set it up as a dimmer and as an on/off device. Now the next step is to have it all in one. So a slider and a dimmer as one device (on/off button and a slider next to it).

@Gratizzz said in Add Buttons to a Dimmer:

Now the next step is to have it all in one. So a slider and a dimmer as one device (on/off button and a slider next to it).

Which is doable with a custom UI template, however, to serve other user’s needs a generic UI device container is required which can render dynamically added UI elements - that’s my understanding of the “dummy generator” mentioned by @Nikolov

@mwittig said in Add Buttons to a Dimmer:

that’s my understanding of the “dummy generator” mentioned by @Nikolov

exactly, is it possible that there are Problems at the plugin Server? i cant connect Today?

Yeah I have the same problems with the plugin page. I installed the plugin directly from github.

@Nikolov said in Add Buttons to a Dimmer:

is it possible that there are Problems at the plugin Server? i cant connect Today?

Possibly. See https://forum.pimatic.org/topic/3304/timeout-for-plugin-section

@mwittig I’ve been meaning to publish it to npm for some time, but haven’t gotten around. I use a script to create new projects, and this folder gets copied over as part of the process, which works fine for me.

I’m aware of lodash, but not generally not a fan, and especially not a fan when using for projects that require older node and coffee-script versions where I can’t shake the unused lodash modules from my dependency tree.

@mwittig Yes, this makes sense. Having gone through the front-end and core pimatic codebase, it’s probably doable, but I think would require a significant amount of work (and time). It seems though that the core front end code has not been updated in 2 years, and dynamic templating would have to live there, no?

I intended this plugin as a stop-gap feature for anyone that may want to use different template versions for the same device today, without having to do a full blown re-creation of the original device.

I also tested another method that could work that would allow achieving the same result as this plugin using DeviceConfigExtensions. However, this approach still requires custom templates to be created, and would also require individual plugin owners to implement it to their device configs, which is why I like this plugin approach better.
The extension could look something like this (its very crude, and should be considered a proof of concept):

class DimmerUIDisplayExtension extends DeviceConfigExtension
    configSchema:
      xDimmerDisplayAs:
        description: "The mobile front end template to use for display"
        type: "string"
        enum: ['switch', 'dimmer']
        default: 'dimmer'
        required: yes
    apply: (config, device) ->
      if config.xDimmerDisplayAs?
        device.template = config.xDimmerDisplayAs
        if device.template is 'switch'
          device.attributes = _.cloneDeep(device.attributes)
          device.attributes.dimlevel.hidden = yes
          device.attributes.dimlevel.displaySparkline = no

Also, to all, this plugin hasn’t been published to npm yet. It needs to be installed directly from github, as it’s an alpha release, and requires far more testing. I literally started and finished it last night, so, i would like to see how it holds up for at least a week. Also, as mentioned, testers are certainly welcomed.

To install, first stop pimatic and from the root of the pimatic-app folder:

cd node_modules
git clone https://github.com/aap82/pimatic-dimmer-proxy.git
cd pimatic-dimmer-proxy
npm i

then re-start pimatic.

@amit-patel said in Add Buttons to a Dimmer:

Also, to all, this plugin hasn’t been published to npm yet.

The plugin can also be installed using npm by using “method 1” as described in https://forum.pimatic.org/topic/1114/updated-how-to-install-a-plugin-from-github-using-npm-or-git

The advantage of this method is the package can be simply updated later via pimatic frontend at later stage when the package will have been published. Using git directly will require removal of the installation directory from the file system.

@mwittig said in Add Buttons to a Dimmer:

The plugin can also be installed using npm by using “method 1” as described in https://forum.pimatic.org/topic/1114/updated-how-to-install-a-plugin-from-github-using-npm-or-git

I’m aware it can, but don’t like encouraging it. IMHO, if it’s not a real release, meaning ready for the prime-time, it should be used/tested by those willing to do a little extra.

@mwittig said in Add Buttons to a Dimmer:

The advantage of this method is the package can be simply updated later via pimatic frontend at later stage when the package will have been published. Using git directly will require removal of the installation directory from the file system.

II thought i disabled debug in my prod instance, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I’ll remove that. Apologies.

@amit-patel said in Add Buttons to a Dimmer:

I use a script to create new projects, and this folder gets copied over as part of the process, which works fine for me.

Well, fair enough, but when you need change or extend your helper code you need to apply the changes in multiple place or your code will proliferate.

I’m aware of lodash, but not generally not a fan, and especially not a fan when using for projects that require older node and coffee-script versions where I can’t shake the unused lodash modules from my dependency tree.

Lodash has grown constantly over the years. Note, you can use the lodash submodule packages if you just need a small fraction of the provided functionality. See https://knpw.rs/blog/using-lodash/ and https://www.npmjs.com/browse/keyword/lodash-modularized. Note, beyond pimatic plugins do not need to depend on lodash as lodash is “inherited” via pimatic env.

What I like about lodash:

• Documented
• Tested and Performance Tested (due to the nature of JS the obvious solution is not always the fastest
• Portable - which is more of an issue if you write frontend code

What I don’t like:

• It is a legacy of its own. Major releases have introduced breaking changes and it is a pain in the neck to update a large code base accordingly as we did for pimatic in the past
• Lodash started out as the better alternative to “underscore”, however, some of the newer parts are not excellent design which may be one of the reasons for the breaking changes in the past
• Some parts of lodash have become obsolete with newer versions of Node.js, but this isn’t well documented and portability is left to the developer. Developers will get deprecation warnings instead (reminds me of Java). In such cases I prefer using ES5 polyfill libraries.

@amit-patel said in Add Buttons to a Dimmer:

@mwittig Yes, this makes sense. Having gone through the front-end and core pimatic codebase, it’s probably doable, but I think would require a significant amount of work (and time). It seems though that the core front end code has not been updated in 2 years, and dynamic templating would have to live there, no?

Agree with your thoughts and, yes, the frontend code has not been changed much for two years despite cosmetic stuff and bug-fixing. Adding news features like dynamic templates is a significant amount of work. We also discussed a complete re-design using a different state-of-art framework, but we’re lacking resources right now. Note, there is an alternative frontend based on angular, but this has limited functionality and it is based on angular v1.5

I like your PoC DeviceConfigExtension! This could be a good starting for providing alternative UI templates for some device types.

@mwittig said in Add Buttons to a Dimmer:

I like your PoC DeviceConfigExtension! This could be a good starting for providing alternative UI templates for some device types.

Thank you! I thought so as well. However, relying on the other owners of the other plugins to implement the change seemed a bit optimistic.

Also, my pathological, perhaps even maniacal, need for efficiency lead me to conclude that this plugin might be a better way.

As an example, say I have a single device that uses a certain template, at a single location on a single page, but may want to display it using an alternate template. The extension option would work for that.

Now say I have that same device, but I want to display it differently on 2 different pages in different forms. The extension option wouldn’t allow me to do that, and I would have to recreate the core device to display the second. Using a plugin to mirror and leverage the original, with complete synchronicity, I can achieve that goal fairly efficiently, assuming the device provided by this plugin is more efficient than the original.

That said, I think having both is beneficial. But I’m not one to mess with the core pimatic codebase, alas I offer this.

@mwittig said in Add Buttons to a Dimmer:

Note, you can use the lodash submodule packages if you just need a small fraction of the provided functionality. See https://knpw.rs/blog/using-lodash/ and https://www.npmjs.com/browse/keyword/lodash-modularized. Note, beyond pimatic plugins do not need to depend on lodash as lodash is “inherited” via pimatic env.

I’m well aware. I didn’t want to say it, but I prefer the actual implementation (code) of the helpers I use over lodash. Some may be the same, but others may be (as I think, perhaps irrationally) implemented better.