Feature Request - Replace Device

[Robin]

So today one of my devices (in my tenants house) dropped off the grid (Fibaro RGBW micro module)… I tried resetting the device parameters, switching DTH and even the ST zwave replace function… but all failed!

I had to resort to manually resetting the device, re-adding it with a different name, and then manually changing 28 pistons to subscribe / control the ‘new’ device… took ages with my tenants breathing down my neck

Would be awesome if there was a function allowing me tell webCoRE to change all references to one device to become a different device (with matching capabilities)… I appreciate this is easier said than done, considering the pistons are stored in the ST cloud and WC cant see the content of a piston until opened, but I’m putting this out there just in case Gru (@ady624) can think of a way.

[borristhecat]

I had to do this before aswell as having to do it for the whole of smartthings as it was a ZigBee device . I thought about/ tried at the time being able to set a whole device as a global variable, that way you would just need to change the one reference. Is that even possible?

[Robin]

I thought about/ tried at the time being able to set a whole device as a global variable, that way you would just need to change the one reference. Is that even possible?

It’s possible but would massively slow down all your pistons and would prevent the piston name showing up in the ‘SmartApps’ tab when viewing a device in the ST app.

When a device is not specifically named in a piston, it doesn’t get saved in the storage app so every time the piston fires it has to log into the webCoRE servers, find the global variable and read the content, before it can run the rest of the piston.

When a device is specifically named in a piston (be it defined in a local variable or the body of the piston) then it all runs in the ST cloud without any need to talk to the WC servers, so naturally it runs a lot faster having cut out the middle man.

I also remember an issue with subscribing to global variables… where that couldn’t be used as a trigger (only a condition), but that was a long time ago and may no longer be the case? @ady624

[bthrock]

It’s possible but would massively slow down all your pistons and would prevent the piston name showing up in the ‘SmartApps’ tab when viewing a device in the ST app.

Is this still true? I have several pistons that use global variables to define devices and the piston name shows up in the ST app.

When a device is specifically named in a piston (be it defined in a local variable or the body of the piston) then it all runs in the ST cloud without any need to talk to the WC servers, so naturally it runs a lot faster having cut out the middle man.

Interesting! Any idea how long a delay this causes? Or is it network dependent?

I also remember an issue with subscribing to global variables… where that couldn’t be used as a trigger (only a condition), but that was a long time ago and may no longer be the case?

I remember this as well, but have had success recently using global variables in triggers, so I’ll be interested to know @ady624 answer to that one!

[smartie]

This would be nice. I believe there was a similar discussion talking about identification of devices that are no longer valid. Of course, I am sure this is easier said than done, but the people, including ady624, that put WebCoRE together are brilliant. It would also be beneficial if WebCoRE could notify the user that certain device(s) are no longer valid and need to be replaced or deleted…As of now, if you have a massive amount of pistons, as you indicated, you have to go into each one. Not complaining at all, but it has been an issue when I had device problems.