How about the device supports a command to flash, which the device understands and is able to perform.
Have a look at @bravenel's response in my post just above yours.
My point is that there is no Device Capability of flash. (and I am using the capital letters on purpose) @krlaframboise is correct. You are using a home automation technical term with it's common, English definition and that is what is causing the confusion. I provided a link to the device capabilities that Hubitat supports. Do you see anything called Flash listed? No, cause it isn't there.
Look at your device drivers. There is a listing of the capabilities the device uses and the commands the device has. Flash will be listed as a command, not a capability.
Talking outside of HE, Hue bulbs support flash. You can issue a flash command to the bulbs through a curl command line and the bulbs will flash. How is that not a Device Capability? Curl certainly does not have the ability to flash the lights.
Because Device Capability is a specific term that has a specific use to mean a common capability supported by the platform. A device capability has a list of contained commands that do not have to be called out specifically in the listing of the custom commands for that device because it is understood that if a device has that capability it will support that list of commands. For example, the Switch capability supports the on() and off() commands. You don't have to list them under the list of commands because they are packaged in the switch capability.
I have said it twice now. You are using capability with it's common, English definition. But in the world of Hubitat, the word Capability has a much more specific and technical usage. Not that either one of them is wrong...but one is more right because of the context. And I point this out as to remove confusion because when you ask about the flash capability it will cause confusion because flash is not on the list of supported capabilities for hubitat, which I linked to above.
And yet Bruce says "Our built-in drivers for dimmers and bulbs include flash command. Not all devices support flash".
This isn't worth this much effort and we will need to agree to disagree.
He said COMMAND. NOT CAPABILITY. Why are you using those two words interchangeably? Are you even reading my responses?
@bravenel, can we get an official ruling? Is Flash a supported capability in Hubitat?
Everything @Ryan780 said is correct...
When you choose the flash action in the built-in Hubitat apps it lists all the devices with the "Switch" capability because there is no such thing as a "Flash" capability in Hubitat.
Almost all of the drivers for Sirens, Water Valves, Window Shades, etc. support the Switch capability because they all have "on/off" functionality which is why they're included in the device list for the flash action, but they obviously don't have a flash custom command so nothing will happen if you select them.
If the devices in that list are using a driver with a custom flash command they'll work with the flash action, otherwise they won't. Whether or not the device hardware has the ability to flash is irrelevant in this situation.
Almost all of the generic Z-Wave switch/dimmer drivers have a custom "flash" command which simulates flashing by turning the device on and off with delays. It works with several devices that don't have any type of built-in flash functionality, although since it's a simulated effect it's not that reliable.
I somehow missed this post, but Bruce went on to say "In some cases the driver does it." and "If the driver supports flash command, it will be on the device details page" which sums up what we've been saying.
In the Hubitat and SmartThings world, the device handler/driver determines the device's functionality, not the device itself. Just because a device's hardware supports a feature doesn't mean the driver exposes it and drivers sometimes simulate functionality that the device's hardware doesn't support, like the custom flash command in some of the built-in switch drivers.
From this post.
I am saying that some devices natively support a flash command. It is something the device understands and when HE issues the flash command the device all on its own will flash. Somehow you and Ryan disagree with that. How should I word it?
You're making the assumption that apps talk directly to devices and that's why you're wrong...
Except for integrations where the App creates the device, Hubitat Apps can not talk directly to devices, they can only talk to the driver being used by a device.
Every driver exposes a list of capabilities and based on that list, Hubitat apps like Rule Machine and Hubitat Safety Monitor know what commands and attributes are supported by the driver.
Those apps know nothing about the actual device that the driver is communicating with so it's up to the driver to make the device perform that action.
If the driver was written specifically for a device and that device has a flash command then the driver will execute the device's flash command, but it's the driver sending that command to the device, not the App.
There isn't a "flash" command for any z-wave devices so if a generic z-wave driver has a flash command it's executing that command by sending a series of on/off commands with delays.
The Aeotec LED Bulb 6 Multicolor doesn't have a flash command because it's a z-wave device, but the hardware has a configuration parameter that you can use to make it flash. Hubitat Apps know nothing about that parameter, but the dedicated driver for that device does so when the App executes the drivers flash command the driver sends the configuration parameter change to the device which makes it flash.
That separation between device and driver allows Hubitat apps to control devices without knowing anything about them.
The problem with the "flash" command is that none of the Hubitat Capabilities have a flash command so there's no way for a Hubitat app to list all the devices with that command so it's displaying all the devices that support the Switch capability instead.
Whether or not the devices in that list will actually flash is entirely up to the driver. The only way to determine if Hubitat can make that device flash is to check that device's details page and see if it has a flash button.
No I do not. Why are you saying that because a device can perform a command that that is also a Device Capability within Hubitat? Are you listening?!??!
How do you define the term Device Capability?
Device
noun
a thing made for a particular purpose; an invention or contrivance, especially a mechanical or electrical one.
Capability
noun, plural ca·pa·bil·i·ties
the quality of being capable; capacity; ability
Device Capability
a thing made for a particular purpose; an invention or contrivance, especially a mechanical or electrical one of the quality of being capable or has the capacity; ability.
Source: Dictionary.com
Actually, you're incorrect. In this context the term device capability is a set list of functions which contain a set of defined commands and attributes. But thanks for chiming in. Maybe if you read the whole thread rather than just disagreeing with me automatically you'd see that.
I'm not incorrect at all
I sited the source.
You're arguing with the dictionary.
You're jumping in the middle of a conversation without even reading the whole thing. There is a list of device capabilities that is supported by hubitat. Can we agree on that?
https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=Driver_Capability_List
If so, then Flash is not a device capability, correct?
NO....I'm answering your direct question with the dictionary
You guys really need to get out more.
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The question wasn't to you, so why are you answering it? I was asking him how he defines device capability because he said that Flash was a device capability, which it isn't.
So, why did you even bother chiming in?
