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Concept of Channels related to Items and Things [message #1716238]

Wed, 02 December 2015 12:07

Videonisse Name

Messages: 1
Registered: December 2015

Junior Member

First of all, many thanks for developing this fantastic peace of software! Smile

I'm trying to understand the logical sub-parts of a Thing and how for example a Dimmer would be represented. The physical dimmer could be Zwave or KNX. For me, the long term the goal is to use OH2 as multi-protocol GW and should be able to integrate with for example Apple HomeKit. I'm not a sw dev.

My first impression was that a Channel with category DimmableLight would represent one dimmable channel of for example a four channel KNX actor. Grouping of 4 Channels would represent the full capability of the actor. They are then a sub-part of a Thing, which is a virtual device of the physical KNX actor.

But reading different forum threads and the documentation I get confused. Here is some questions I have:

1. Is above example correct?

2. Are the features/capabilities of the dimmer channel all defined in the connected Item and is it always 1 item per channel?

3. How can the capabilities of a Channel (or Item) be queried?

4. The role of the Channels seems to be a little weak. For example I read that it's never possible to write directly to them but should be done via an Item. At the same time it seems also be possible to skip the Channel and connect an Item directly to a Thing.

5. Channels is just briefly described in the Concept part of the documentation and focus seems to be on Items and Things. Is this intentionally or might more info be added later when released?

6. Is there a reason to why Category isn't mandatory for Channels? (source: xml-reference)

7. Can Channels be compared to "Capabilities" in Samsung SmartThings or "Service" in Apple HomeKit?

I add a picture of the ESH framework I found in another old thread.
index.php/fa/24140/0/

Attachment: SmartHome_Thing_Concept.png
(Size: 17.66KB, Downloaded 341 times)

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Re: Concept of Channels related to Items and Things [message #1717392 is a reply to message #1716238]

Sat, 12 December 2015 18:19

Markus Rathgeb

Messages: 105
Registered: August 2014

Senior Member

You could e.g. using the REST API to get all the informations you need. Perhaps you want to install the openHAB runtime and see them live? IIRC there is also an example running on an URL, but I do not remember that demo URL. As a developer I am using it on my machine.

There are thing-types that describe a thing and that channels.
Items are bound to channels for visualization and to control it.

If you have the dimming part as a channel, you could e.g. use a NumberItem to visualize the current state without the option to change them. You could use a DimmerItem to change them. You could use another item that gives you different levels etc.

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