Speed control device

I am trying to write plugin with a speed control device. (indigo 7)
Try as I might, am am not able to get it to have either a slider for speed (0-100) or more than 4 speed indexes.
The documentation is a little confusing as well.

Property Type Writable Description
onState boolean No indicates whether the device is on - shortcut to dev.states['onOffState']
speedIndex integer No indicates the current speed index for devices that support some fixed # of speeds - shortcut to dev.states['speedIndex']
speedIndexCount boolean No indicates the number of indexes available for this device
speedLevel boolean No indicates the level the device is set to (0-100) - shortcut to dev.states['speedLevel']

It says the speedLevel is a boolean.. and then it says it should be 0-100
May I suggest a better naming for the class properties, more in the line with the dimmer devices ?
SupportsSpeedLevel


Anyway, I would be greatful for a hint how to do this.. for now I just made it a dimmer device...
P.S. This is to control a pump motor with variable speed.

Devices.xml

Code: Select all

 <Device type="speedcontrol" id="speed0" address="300">
        <Name>Motor Speed 1</Name>
        <ConfigUI>
        <Field id="address" type="textfield" defaultValue="300" readonly="true">
            <Label>Module Address:</Label>
        </Field>
        </ConfigUI>
        <UiDisplayStateId>speedLevel</UiDisplayStateId>
    </Device>


And plugin.py

Code: Select all


    def deviceStartComm(self, dev):
           self.debugLog(u"deviceStartComm: %s (%s)" % (dev.name, dev.deviceTypeId))
           props = dev.pluginProps
            props["onState"]    = False    # Wether the device is on - shortcut to dev.states['onOffState'
            props["speedLevel"] = 100      # Level the device is set to (0-100) - shortcut to dev.states['speedLevel']
            props["speedIndex"] = 0               # Current speed index for devices that support some fixed # of dev.states['speedIndex']
            props["speedIndexCount"]  = 11 # number of indexes available for this device

         
             dev.replacePluginPropsOnServer(props)

SpeedControl devices are meant for ceiling fan type devices which have a limited number of speeds available. For a 0-100 type device, dimmer is your best base class.

Thanks, that is what I am using (dimmer) , but I would like to be able to use a set amount of speeds, and more than the 4 that seem to be the default.
The question is more on how it can be done, since the docs say it is possible

[matt (support)]

speedIndexCount (which should be documented as an integer not boolean) is currently a read-only property for the speed control device. It is always 4 (0 = off, 3 = highest speed). On our API request list is to further finish out the speed control device to allow for an arbitrary number of discrete speed values.

As a side note, the technique your code snippet of using dev.replacePluginPropsOnServer isn't correct. To change a device state value (onOffState, speedIndex, or speedLevel) you have to use dev.updateStateOnServer. The only one of the four in your example that replacePluginPropsOnServer would work for is speedIndexCount since it is the only one that isn't a state.... but it won't work for that one since it is currently read-only.

Thank you very much. I am still learning.

Just to make sure I get the concept correctly

dev.replacePluginPropsOnServer(props)

is to change the class properties and the

dev.updateStateOnServer

to change the device state. Correct ?

I was trying to fix/set the class properties without a configUI.

[matt (support)]

That is correct. If you haven't already then check out the Indigo SDK download. It includes several documented examples of plugin devices. The thermostat is a good example as it includes calls to both replacePluginPropsOnServer and updateStateOnServer.

Any way to change the 4 to 6? can I do it by updating the pluginProps?

Speedcontrol is better than dimmer for my purposes--have a six speed and that includes reverse.

Any way to change the 4 to 6? can I do it by updating the pluginProps?

No and No. The native Indigo device only supports 4 (off/low/medium/high).