For each device there is a Name and a Label field however only the Label field seems to have an obvious use as it is the name used for the device in smart apps and within the ST app.
What is the name field for and where is it used? What is the best naming convention for the two fields? When I notice they differ, I just copy and paste my label into the name field as well. When you add a device via the mobile app, I believe it updates label to match whatever name you pick and it uses the device type name for the device name. In the picture below, when I added the fan controller, it was discovered as “Dimmer Switch”. I changed the name to Office Fan and selected a different DTH from the default Dimmer Switch so that is how I ended up with what is shown below.
BTW, if we’re going by network engineering conventions, the label would be dynamic and the name would not. But that doesn’t mean that’s what happens in the SmartThings world.
So all dimmers would have a Name that identifies them as the type of device they are - ie ZWave Dimmer - and the Label would identify it as the specific device it is - ie Kitchen Light. If so, that makes total sense. Not sure where in the IDE/App this would come into play but I can see how it simplifies things without needing to 1) look at the name of the DTH; 2) know what the label is referring to (Kitchen light label does not say whether it is a dimmer or switch… so in my case one would have to look at the DTH.
