Domoticz TEXT sensor triggering

[Sushukka]

@tbowmo Thanks @tbowmo and everybody! This active community has really saved my day so many times. You rule guys and gals! :+1: :blush:
Here is a working script:

import paho.mqtt.client as mqttClient
import sys

irCommand = sys.argv[1]
print("Parameter is: " + irCommand)

client = mqttClient.Client("Python")  
client.username_pw_set(username="xxx",password="xxx")
client.connect("nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn", 1883)
client.publish('domoticz/out/HomeNum_IR/0/0/1/0/47', irCommand, retain=False)
# (ESP8266 "gateway" MQTT client -> node=0)

And call it from Domoticz virtual selector switch:

script:///home/pi/domoticz/scripts/python/hnumber_led_mode.py 7

Parameter is the desired mode for led animation. Made a similar on for IR remote commands.

Is there same ~25bit payload limit with MQTT too? I mean those NEC IR commands tend to be 32bit so probably cannot send them directly but need to be hardcoded in the sketch? Also planned to create a universal script for these needs where you could give also node number, child ids etc but then again...I chain myself even tighter to Domoticz shackles and again Domoticz should support this without scripting.

Couple of more questions:

• If you have several ESP8266 MQTT gateways, should one create a different topic for everyone or put them in the same MySensors queue? If so, will the MY_MQTT_CLIENT_ID make the separation?
• I installed nodered-contrib-mysensors and it seems very promising. Definitely going to play around with it. I probably still need some actual controller but Node-red seems to be important part whatever you're gonna do especially when using MQTT queues.
• When using MQTT instead of Ethernet GW, I lose small but very important check: node pinging. I can see from Domoticz log warning messages when some of my ESP8266 Ethernet nodes are down, but when using MQTT there are no warnings, just no data received. I assume this is quite logical because the MQTT node's address in Domoticz is actually broker's (Mosquitto) address + right MQTT topic. However, when sniffing Domoticz MQTT traffic, it seems to send PING messages quite regularly (but don't know if this triggers anything if the ping success or fails...):

// MQTT topic: domoticz/out/HomeNum_IR/#
PING
qos : 0, retain : false, cmd : publish, dup : false, topic : domoticz/out/HomeNum_IR/0/0/3/0/18, messageId : , length : 40

Update: Seems that the Domo has it's own requirements for MQTT queues and for preventing overlapping ESP8266 = GW = Node ID 0 have an option to have also Node ID in the MQTT queue definition. Still would be nice to be able to define the MQTT queue names freely in Domo...

Also my bad: MySensors payload size is 25 bytes, not bits... This seems to be because of NFR24L01 limitations. However, it would be nice to see an extended payload size for passing eg. longer text information with more advanced microcontrollers like ESP8266 in the future releases. Minor need though.

[tbowmo]

@kimot
So MQTT is not a common protocol? Or serial? What would the benefit be of a http request, over any of the other transport options, when the controller doesn't transmit when changed?

In my opinion then http requests aren't that usable as a transport in a home automation setup. MQTT is much better for this, if you really want to go over tcp/ip.

[Sushukka]

And update here about V_TEXT and OpenHAB: Yes it works like it should. When I update the V_TEXT sensor in OpenHAB, it will send the update without any extra scripts or hacks to the MySensors node.

However, after spending several days and nights setting up OpenHAB I have to say that it is far from being ready. MySensors seems not to be qualified yet in the list of "downloadable ready" bindings in PaperUI. Had several errors with MQTT nodes. It is customizable yes, but requires way too much time to set up and maintain. It seems to be more like an architectural masterpiece than easy-to-use home controller.

You can define nearly everything in PaperUI or HABmin like me (a hell of mouse clicking and scrolling) or define everything in multiple configuration files. When you finally have all the nodes and sensors defined (bindings, things, items), you have to build your own gui to see them in usable format. You can either use HabPanel for dashboards or configuration files for sitemaps. Dashboards, which has the best outlook imo, seems to have a problem of working with different devices. I tried to avoid the manual sitemap building by installing Imperihome binding. Connection ok, but alas, you have to manually tag every damn item you have to show them in Imperihome. With all manual configurations you actually need to define quite much of information and they are nicely connected making bigger future changes complicated. Having now around 100 sensors, all this stuff really takes time. Moreover it seemed that the reliability at least with MySensors Ethernet Gateways (one main for NFR24L01 nodes and several ESP8266s) was not in par with Domoticz. Startup problems, rebooting, lost nodes etc...And this was the last drop --> changed back to Domoticz.

Have to say that after a couple of years OpenHAB could maybe be the number one open source home automation controller, but it requires lots of more work for getting there. Now it's too much of engineering and configuration porn vs. the real benefits it gives. Also I'm little bit afraid that the they are getting lost to this super elegancy by trying to be everything and pleasing everybody. PaperUI, HABmin, HomeBuilder, HabPanel, Basic UI, Classic UI, some third party UIs, configuration files... The concept is nice, but as with any product, you need to focus somewhere or otherwise you are just semicore in all areas. Domoticz has its problems, but at least it is reliable and allows putting the most of the available tinkering time to the actual node building than tuning the controller.

[monte]

@sushukka why don't you use configs? It's not too hard to write them and you don't need to find options in incomplete gui. But I agree that their approach doesn't suit well for tinkering and building system step by step adding few devices every couple of days, or changing the layout. I guess it has more use for complete systems that doesn't require adding new things more than once in few months.
I have to say that I like Domoticz' way of setting things up more, but the fact that it's almost not developing and amount of lag and unpolished corners here and there...It doesn't feel robust enough to suggest it to someone else than myself or people like ones on this forum.

[Sushukka]

@monte True that. Thing is that people like to use the guis instead of configuration files. That's probably the reason why OpenHAB "fastly" evolves in that direction.

For all the not-so-technical home automation builders I would myself suggest Domoticz as the choise for open source controller. OpenHAB maybe for the ones who buys ready-made stuff from Ikea, zWave etc and just want to control the stuff from one place. But still I'm pretty sure that many of those are not really interested or have required knowledge to start tinkering with OpenHAB. For MySensors users, as you said, it creates lots of additional work for little extra over Domoticz. Domo has this stupid V_TEXT sensor limitation and some people like that the default graphing stuff is limited. However, OpenHAB has nothing without setting up persistence services and their separate databases and definitions...and you can have the praised Influx-Grafana integration also for Domo. My personal opinion is that the normal Domo gui is still pretty useful plus you can have Imperihome, Dashticz type of connections or build your own with Rest API. With OpenHAB you don't have anything usable without manually building it first. I'm myself using Imperihome which basically gives little to complain about gui usability and visual aesthetics. With Domo you install MyDomoAtHome which has all the mappings done so that you can just start playing around with your Imperihome gui. With OpenHAB...
https://github.com/openhab/openhab2-addons/tree/master/addons/io/org.openhab.io.imperihome
The tagging part is not a small work to do...and this pretty much underlines the problem with OpenHAB. You can tune everything, but basically spend huge amount of time on doing that...or even getting things to work on basic level. The OpenHAB community seems to be active, but it has to, as there seems to be lots of problems too.

But not bashing OpenHAB more: I want to like it, but it's just making liking it too hard for now. However, it has Eclipse foundation backing it up and has started evolving to the right direction out of the pure configuration file based setup/tuning. After year or two I believe it's much more user-friendly and more widely used. If not and Domo won't be developed anymore there is always the middleware/MQTT/NodeRed/cloud options to go...

[monte]

@sushukka I'm using Domoticz myself at home, but have chosen OpenHAB as a platform for my friend's home automation project I'm working on. We are using some KNX modules and for now only openhab has native support for it (among platforms that are kept developing). Another big advantage of openhab is number of different bindings for different hardware and community that is willing to write the new ones. On the other hand developers of Domoticz either ignore your suggestions or tell you to implement them yourself. Can't see a bright future with such an attitude.

[Sushukka]

@monte I fully agree with this. I have tried to get some explanation to this V_TEXT problem through multiple channels and no one is really answering anything. Either the developers have dumped the whole project or are just nasty dwarfs in a cave. GitHub shows some activity but the project seems to lay very heavily on "gizmocuz" shoulders who probably has a nasty attitude but has also answered to this V_TEXT question 7/2017 not easily implemented -> Best to help with development...so it seems that they are lacking hands...but in other hand, if the attitude is bad there aren't probably many willing to come to help.

So...same here, I'll continue using Domoticz, but actively seeking a better alternative for it and trying to build as little as possible Domoticz specific stuff.

[gohan]

I have to say that domoticz is pushing out one or 2 updates for beta on a weekly basis, so something is moving. But yes, it seems there aren't many people actively developing it.

[Sushukka]

Here is the latest update:
https://github.com/domoticz/domoticz/issues/2380
At least got some response...do it yourself.
Darn sad: a good, reliable and widely-used product, but the developers are just pricks or don't give shit. With better attitude this could be so much more and most likely there would be lots of more contributors helping with them.

[gohan]

Agreed, that is bad but on the other side consider it is a feature not used much actually.

[Nca78]

@gohan said in Domoticz TEXT sensor triggering:

Agreed, that is bad but on the other side consider it is a feature not used much actually.

Well I don't use it at the moment, but only because it's a PITA with Domoticz...

[GertSanders]

@gohan I would love to have that feature so I can send updates to a LCD equipped sensor, without the "switch" hack.
Polling is really inefficient, one should be able to send V_TEXT just like V_STATUS.

[gohan]

Don't get me wrong, I understand, I was just considering that it a feature not needed by many people and it is still on the feature request list

[alowhum]

I built a partial solution for this in the Aurora theme for Domoticz. With it you can just change the vText variable value in the interface.

• Install Aurora
• Go to Utility tab
• click on the text value. It will change into an edit field. Click outside of it when you're done.

The node still needs to poll Domoticz periodically to request the new value. But at least you can change the value easily this way.

[Sushukka]

YEEEEEEESSSSHHH!!! This is now implemented in Domoticz!
https://github.com/domoticz/domoticz/issues/2380

You can change the V_TEXT sensor value from Domoticz via JSON, Scripts and Blocky and the update will be sent directly to the node without any hacks!!! This is big update; you can pass lots of information, parameters etc directly to the nodes without extra steps. And @alowhum you don't need that poll anymore in the sketch. :) LCD screen updates, speech-to-text commands...now we just need bigger payload size for MySensors... :D

[alexsh1]

@gertsanders said in Domoticz TEXT sensor triggering:

@gohan I would love to have that feature so I can send updates to a LCD equipped sensor, without the "switch" hack.
Polling is really inefficient, one should be able to send V_TEXT just like V_STATUS.

you ca do it now with the latest update

[alowhum]

What other things are bi-directional with Domoticz?

Fo example I'm looking to receive a setpoint value from Domoticz for a node that is an oven controller. Dresenting a s_hvac and then setting a new temperature in Domoticz, does that automatically get sent back to a node? Or is there a setpoint something?

[tbowmo]

@alowhum

If I remember right, then domoticz sends the new temperature to the device, but only updates the gui when it receives a value from the node. So your node sketch have to reply the set command from your controller, with another set command, which sends the value back to your controller.

[gohan]

@alowhum those kind of values should be sent automatically to the node if they are changed in domoticz

[kimot]

@alowhum

bool MySensorsBase::WriteToHardware(const char *pdata, const unsigned char length)
{
	const tRBUF *pCmd = reinterpret_cast<const tRBUF *>(pdata);
	unsigned char packettype = pCmd->ICMND.packettype;
	unsigned char subtype = pCmd->ICMND.subtype;

	if (packettype == pTypeLighting2)
	{
		//Light command

		int node_id = pCmd->LIGHTING2.id4;
		int child_sensor_id = pCmd->LIGHTING2.unitcode;

		if (_tMySensorNode *pNode = FindNode(node_id))
		{
			_tMySensorChild *pChild = pNode->FindChild(child_sensor_id);
			if (!pChild)
			{
				_log.Log(LOG_ERROR, "MySensors: Light command received for unknown node_id: %d, child_id: %d", node_id, child_sensor_id);
				return false;
			}

			int light_command = pCmd->LIGHTING2.cmnd;
			if ((pCmd->LIGHTING2.cmnd == light2_sSetLevel) && (pCmd->LIGHTING2.level == 0))
			{
				light_command = light2_sOff;
			}
			else if ((pCmd->LIGHTING2.cmnd == light2_sSetLevel) && (pCmd->LIGHTING2.level == 255))
			{
				light_command = light2_sOn;
			}

			if ((light_command == light2_sOn) || (light_command == light2_sOff))
			{
				std::string lState = (light_command == light2_sOn) ? "1" : "0";
				if (pChild->presType == S_LOCK)
				{
					//Door lock/contact
					return SendNodeSetCommand(node_id, child_sensor_id, MT_Set, V_LOCK_STATUS, lState, pChild->useAck, pChild->ackTimeout);
				}
				else if (pChild->presType == S_SCENE_CONTROLLER)
				{
					//Scene Controller
					return SendNodeSetCommand(node_id, child_sensor_id, MT_Set, (light_command == light2_sOn) ? V_SCENE_ON : V_SCENE_OFF, lState, pChild->useAck, pChild->ackTimeout);
				}
				else
				{
					//normal
					return SendNodeSetCommand(node_id, child_sensor_id, MT_Set, V_STATUS, lState, pChild->useAck, pChild->ackTimeout);
				}
			}
			else if (light_command == light2_sSetLevel)
			{
				float fvalue = (100.0f / 14.0f)*float(pCmd->LIGHTING2.level);
				if (fvalue > 100.0f)
					fvalue = 100.0f; //99 is fully on
				int svalue = round(fvalue);

				std::stringstream sstr;
				sstr << svalue;
				return SendNodeSetCommand(node_id, child_sensor_id, MT_Set, V_PERCENTAGE, sstr.str(), pChild->useAck, pChild->ackTimeout);
			}
		}
		else {
			_log.Log(LOG_ERROR, "MySensors: Light command received for unknown node_id: %d", node_id);
			return false;
		}
	}
	else if (packettype == pTypeLimitlessLights)
	{
		//RGW/RGBW command
		_tLimitlessLights *pLed = (_tLimitlessLights *)pdata;
		//unsigned char ID1 = (unsigned char)((pLed->id & 0xFF000000) >> 24);
		//unsigned char ID2 = (unsigned char)((pLed->id & 0x00FF0000) >> 16);
		unsigned char ID3 = (unsigned char)((pLed->id & 0x0000FF00) >> 8);
		unsigned char ID4 = (unsigned char)pLed->id & 0x000000FF;

		int node_id = (ID3 << 8) | ID4;
		int child_sensor_id = pLed->dunit;

		if (_tMySensorNode *pNode = FindNode(node_id))
		{
			_tMySensorChild *pChild = pNode->FindChild(child_sensor_id);
			if (!pChild)
			{
				_log.Log(LOG_ERROR, "MySensors: Light command received for unknown node_id: %d, child_id: %d", node_id, child_sensor_id);
				return false;
			}

			bool bIsRGBW = (pNode->FindChildWithPresentationType(child_sensor_id, S_RGBW_LIGHT) != NULL);
			if (pLed->command == Limitless_SetRGBColour)
			{
				int red, green, blue;

				float cHue = (360.0f / 255.0f)*float(pLed->value);//hue given was in range of 0-255
				int Brightness = 100;
				int dMax = round((255.0f / 100.0f)*float(Brightness));
				hue2rgb(cHue, red, green, blue, dMax);
				std::stringstream sstr;
				sstr << std::setw(2) << std::uppercase << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::hex << red
					<< std::setw(2) << std::uppercase << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::hex << green
					<< std::setw(2) << std::uppercase << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::hex << blue;
				return SendNodeSetCommand(node_id, child_sensor_id, MT_Set, (bIsRGBW == true) ? V_RGBW : V_RGB, sstr.str(), pChild->useAck, pChild->ackTimeout);
			}
			else if (pLed->command == Limitless_SetColorToWhite)
			{
				std::stringstream sstr;
				int Brightness = 100;
				int wWhite = round((255.0f / 100.0f)*float(Brightness));
				if (!bIsRGBW)
				{
					sstr << std::setw(2) << std::uppercase << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::hex << wWhite
						<< std::setw(2) << std::uppercase << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::hex << wWhite
						<< std::setw(2) << std::uppercase << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::hex << wWhite;
				}
				else
				{
					sstr << "#000000"
						<< std::setw(2) << std::uppercase << std::hex << std::setfill('0') << std::hex << wWhite;
				}
				return SendNodeSetCommand(node_id, child_sensor_id, MT_Set, (bIsRGBW == true) ? V_RGBW : V_RGB, sstr.str(), pChild->useAck, pChild->ackTimeout);
			}
			else if (pLed->command == Limitless_SetBrightnessLevel)
			{
				float fvalue = pLed->value;
				int svalue = round(fvalue);
				if (svalue > 100)
					svalue = 100;
				std::stringstream sstr;
				sstr << svalue;
				return SendNodeSetCommand(node_id, child_sensor_id, MT_Set, V_PERCENTAGE, sstr.str(), pChild->useAck, pChild->ackTimeout);
			}
			else if ((pLed->command == Limitless_LedOff) || (pLed->command == Limitless_LedOn))
			{
				std::string lState = (pLed->command == Limitless_LedOn) ? "1" : "0";
				return SendNodeSetCommand(node_id, child_sensor_id, MT_Set, V_STATUS, lState, pChild->useAck, pChild->ackTimeout);
			}
		}
		else
		{
			_log.Log(LOG_ERROR, "MySensors: Light command received for unknown node_id: %d", node_id);
			return false;
		}
	}
	else if (packettype == pTypeBlinds)
	{
		//Blinds/Window command
		int node_id = pCmd->BLINDS1.id3;
		int child_sensor_id = pCmd->BLINDS1.unitcode;

		if (_tMySensorNode *pNode = FindNode(node_id))
		{
			_tMySensorChild *pChild = pNode->FindChild(child_sensor_id);
			if (!pChild)
			{
				_log.Log(LOG_ERROR, "MySensors: Light command received for unknown node_id: %d, child_id: %d", node_id, child_sensor_id);
				return false;
			}

			if (pCmd->BLINDS1.cmnd == blinds_sOpen)
			{
				return SendNodeSetCommand(node_id, child_sensor_id, MT_Set, V_UP, "", pChild->useAck, pChild->ackTimeout);
			}
			else if (pCmd->BLINDS1.cmnd == blinds_sClose)
			{
				return SendNodeSetCommand(node_id, child_sensor_id, MT_Set, V_DOWN, "", pChild->useAck, pChild->ackTimeout);
			}
			else if (pCmd->BLINDS1.cmnd == blinds_sStop)
			{
				return SendNodeSetCommand(node_id, child_sensor_id, MT_Set, V_STOP, "", pChild->useAck, pChild->ackTimeout);
			}
		}
		else {
			_log.Log(LOG_ERROR, "MySensors: Blinds/Window command received for unknown node_id: %d", node_id);
			return false;
		}
	}
	else if ((packettype == pTypeThermostat) && (subtype == sTypeThermSetpoint))
	{
		//Set Point
		const _tThermostat *pMeter = reinterpret_cast<const _tThermostat *>(pCmd);

		int node_id = pMeter->id2;
		int child_sensor_id = pMeter->id3;
		_eSetType vtype_id = (_eSetType)pMeter->id4;

		if (_tMySensorNode *pNode = FindNode(node_id))
		{
			_tMySensorChild *pChild = pNode->FindChild(child_sensor_id);
			if (!pChild)
			{
				_log.Log(LOG_ERROR, "MySensors: Light command received for unknown node_id: %d, child_id: %d", node_id, child_sensor_id);
				return false;
			}

			char szTmp[10];
			sprintf(szTmp, "%.1f", pMeter->temp);
			return SendNodeSetCommand(node_id, child_sensor_id, MT_Set, vtype_id, szTmp, pChild->useAck, pChild->ackTimeout);
		}
		else {
			_log.Log(LOG_ERROR, "MySensors: Blinds/Window command received for unknown node_id: %d", node_id);
			return false;
		}
	}
	else if (packettype == pTypeGeneralSwitch)
	{
		//Used to store IR codes
		const _tGeneralSwitch *pSwitch= reinterpret_cast<const _tGeneralSwitch *>(pCmd);

		int node_id = pSwitch->unitcode;
		unsigned int ir_code = pSwitch->id;

		if (_tMySensorNode *pNode = FindNode(node_id))
		{
			_tMySensorChild* pChild = pNode->FindChildByValueType(V_IR_RECEIVE);
			if (pChild)
			{
				std::stringstream sstr;
				sstr << ir_code;
				return SendNodeSetCommand(node_id, pChild->childID, MT_Set, V_IR_SEND, sstr.str(), pChild->useAck, pChild->ackTimeout);
			}
		}
		else {
			_log.Log(LOG_ERROR, "MySensors: Blinds/Window command received for unknown node_id: %d", node_id);
			return false;
		}
	}
	else
	{
		_log.Log(LOG_ERROR, "MySensors: Unknown action received");
		return false;
	}
	return true;
}```