Does anyone know the status of Smartthings support long term for custom device handlers like this?
My Device and Application is still running but I can’t access much of it through the new App any more.
Also GitHub seams dead and the level of discussion on this site seems way down.
Hey Keith
I know you were moving and hopefully settled in at this point. I was curious if you’ve made some progress?
Ron,
Funny you should ask, while I still have many boxes left to unpack, I’m finally starting to get my head above water and I set aside some time this weekend to get the device wired up. As you can see in the photos, I now have a completely portable PE653 setup that I can even use to control 5 plug-in loads.
I paired it to SmartThings last night and as expected, the new App just sits there with a dumb look on its face when I select this device. Next step is to install the new CLI tool and start working on making the 2 place nice together. I’ll be traveling the next week but after that I hope to dig into this further.
–Keith
@mswlogo, I’m still here and will continue to do my best to support this integration. Even though I don’t have a pool any more, thanks to the generosity of many fine folks on this forum (and especially Ron), I have a lab setup that should allow me to continue to troubleshoot and expand the device handler. In fact, I believe my setup looks similar to your setup for your chlorine pump.
The current issue is indeed the new App. I’m anticipating I’ll need to create at least one “Custom Capability” to make the new App display reasonably. The UI will no doubt look quite different from the old one but hopefully even better.
–Keith
Rock on Keith!
I have a hack in place, I exported mine to Hubitat so I have control should ST completely kill the original app. This also allowed me to pair it to Alexa so voice also works.
Happy hunting!
After a series of updates this week (ST) it looks like the integration is completely undone.
@KeithR just started following this project, thanks for the work! New pool owner here so I still have good ole Mechanical Intermatics in place. With all the changes ST is implementing, does it look like you will be successful at this? Right now it looks like intermatic is the only option if I want to do Z-Wave and ST, but there’s other options if you think that will be hard to achieve with all the new “features”.
SmartThings Pool Enthusiasts,
I am posting a preliminary DTH Pool Control for use with the “New App”. This has been a much more involved process than I ever imagined. The new developer tools to support the New App are not for the faint of heart. I am also not particularly happy with the limited set of UI controls available to external developers. The result is a UI that looks entirely different from the nice compact layout you are used to in the legacy App. It is basically just a long list switches, state displays and a slider for VSP. Just scroll through the list and you’ll get the idea. My hope is that over time that Samsung will give us developers more control over the layout, and in particular, the ability to logically group UI controls in a more compact way, similar to how some of the ST published device handlers can.
Please consider this an “Alpha” version. I have only done rudimentary testing so far. Considering that the old DTH is essentially dead at this point since the introduction of the New App , I do not want to further delay putting something out there, and this group has historically very supportive in their testing efforts.
The source for this new version is in a different namespace (ST assigns one in the CLI whether you want it or not). You can pull the source code and install it from this link:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/KeithR26/SmartThingsPublic/master/devicetypes/futuredance12594/intermatic-pool-control-new-app-smartthings.src/intermatic-pool-control-new-app-smartthings.groovy
I look forward to any feedback you have…
Keith
@jaragonCR , I didn’t reply earlier because I was honestly unsure how successful the exercise would be. I am now pleased to say that the app is working for me in the New App. I’m quite an enthusiast for the Intermatic Z-Wave controller, even if Intermatic themselves have scaled back support for it. It has worked very well for me.
@Rapfaff , I am anxious to get your feedback once you get a chance to try out the new version. Many on this forum contributed to this effort but your generous support was over the top. We all owe you a hearty thank-you!
Keith
@KeithR understood, thanks for all the hard work! Budgeting a controller right now. Since u don’t own a pool or need a controller would it be fair to set up a paypal/something for continuous improvement?
Sorry Keith, didn’t see the post. I’ll load the device driver tonight.
Post 856 has a gofundme link. He no longer has a pool and is doing this for US. Please contribute for his time spent.
@KeithR
I added the new device handler and pointed the controller to the NEW device handler. the controller and all child devices show “checking…”. When I open the controller it is connected but none of the child devices are connected nor do the have an off/on button.
I may need to go in and set the “device type” on each child device or perhaps remove them and rediscover them?
Pausing here for directions from you.
Edit
@KeithR - What do you know, overnight the controller now looks right although all child devices still say (checking…). I’ll try changing some settings there.
@Rapfaff , You experienced a small bit of the bane of ST developers - caching issues. I had hoped it would not also apply to installers of already existing device handlers. There are some things we go through to force a cache reset, but other times there’s nothing you can do but wait. Glad the main screen is appearing (and appears functional - let me know). For the children, see below…
ST Pool Control folks, @Rapfaff reminded me of an important point around moving up the the new App. You must destroy and recreate the child devices in the new App or they will not work. This was a bit laborious before (manually deleting each child by hand), but today I added a new “Setting” (Under the 3-dot menu - upper right) called “Child Device Generation” (just below the Debug setting. This gives you 4 choices for child devices (All, Switches Only, Thermostats Only, None). Most users will want All. But you can now use this to remove all your child devices by temporarily changing the setting to None, then exit “Settings”, then re-enter and set to All (or one of the other options). First you must upgrade to version 4.1.1 here:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/KeithR26/SmartThingsPublic/master/devicetypes/futuredance12594/intermatic-pool-control-new-app-smartthings.src/intermatic-pool-control-new-app-smartthings.groovy
Happy… Happy… Happy. worked like a charm. I have a lot of devices so after setting to “none” users may need to chill for a minute until they are all removed. I had 1 of the switches that several minutes. In fact I had time to log into IDE and check to see if it was stuck and while I was looking the app finely removed it.
I only use 2 of the 5 switches, can I comment out the other 3 in the device handler? I suppose I can just delete them after everything is to my liking?
This is some outstanding work and I really appreciate your work and really encourage everyone to send a couple bucks to @KeithR on post 856.
I have a fairly sizable team in your neck of the woods, after we start traveling again perhaps I could buy you a dinner!
@Rapfaff Try deleting the unneeded switches manually, but then go back into and out of settings to make sure they don’t come back again. If they do, let me know, I have a simple fix in mind. You “could” modify the source to reduce the count in the for loop in createChildDevices(), but I generally discourage making changes because you’ll just have to keep reapplying them with every update.
I do appreciate your support and endorsements. I would like to further expand my device with an expansion module so I updated my GoFundMe page (but not you - you have already been more than generous).
Let me know when you’re in Florida, I would love to meet up.
@KeithR - works as expected for the child devices although they remain on the parent device which isn’t my true concern. With the new setting is is nice and easy to bring them back should I add a new device.
Again, I can’t express my appreciation enough especially since you no longer have a pool and did this 100% for the community.
If your reading this and using the fine work from @KeithR please send a contribution.
You’re a thoughtful man!!!
@KeithR Like @Rapfaff I very much appreciate your work on making the Intermatic automation work in the new app. I loaded the new device handler (v 4.1.1) and on my iphone/ipad devices I do not see the new capabilities (based on new settings screen I am running the new device handler). Is there anything special I need to do to activate the custom capabilities you created. Thanks
