When adding and removing things - like replacing a light bulb with a new bulb - Tiles get broken. While the big Question Mark is really helpful to know you've broken things - it would be very useful if the tile itself (inside the dashboard) stored a json value generated at time of creation as a backup name - so you can ID what a broken tile used to hold.
Or, maybe we should add a feature that warns you before you remove a device in use by a Dashboard. That way, you could do something about it before you get the ? in a tile!
Oh, oops, that feature already exists.
lol. you're a great developer but a lousy end user.
To be fair, the process that Bruce talks about addresses issues that can arise not just in Dashboards, but any app where a device is referenced.
Perhaps it is worth working through the process you have used to remove / replace devices to understand if there are any gaps in the platform warning you of the implications of removing the device.
That said, I can appreciate it would be useful... if you do ignore any warnings.... or remove a device on a remote hub involved in hub mesh.... that being the last opportunity to assess the use of a device can be a little limiting. I could support a "soft-delete" of a device, allowing for some representation of it in the UI, even if only for a period of time.
and the "in use by" is not always correct. Even after removing from all apps it will alert "in use by", even when the device page shows nothing at the bottom
@sburke781 I think you should be an 'ambassador'. You walk the line so well. I understand the sarcasm from @bravenel. Work is work - I get that. I just post things I think might be helpful - someday.
Re: the pre-warn - without being in the beta test group I can't easily point at specific circumstances where dead tiles slip through. I do a lot of virtual device testing, and device to device, copies of tiles, individual childs with different attributes displayed, device childs from apps, all seem like sources where devices simply just show up.
As experienced dev's you all surely never see any accidents I'm sure. But the user base spans the gamut from zero experience to @bravenel god level. I always programmed for the LCD.
I am 100% sure I'm not the only one who's run into them regardless from whence they came.
I appreciate your comments and observations. Keep them coming.