This isnt a real important one, but just bringing it up as a possible "quality-of-life" improvement.
Selecting a "different driver" could be streamlined. I feel like an end user should not, by default, be able to pick "any driver" for a device. The list is kind of daunting and wouldnt make much sense to newer users.
Drivers have device/function mapping built in, and it seems like that could be used to make things more simple. I'm sure this very basic idea has a lot of problems but something like:
Device is a Zooz Zen71
When clicking the driver drop-down the options should be:
The default HE driver for that device
Any User-Drivers with a matching device ID
Any Generic drivers which works for the basic functionality (capability) of the device
"Show all drivers (these may not operate your device properly)"
This is a great idea. The drivers list is insanely long and bound to get longer in the future.
Adding a "Show All Drivers" check box for those that want to see everything is also a good idea.
I think the fundamental issue is how the HE hub identifies the device. This is done through fingerprinting. ZigBee and Z-Wave devices provide a "unique" string during setup that the hub keys off of. These fingerprints are manually added to the driver. I'm sure there's some variable to this (like just reading part of the string). Either way, it's a mapping: Fingerprint A is compatible with XX driver(s). It's not an exhaustive list.
All that to say, the best user experience is that you connect your device and the most appropriate driver is selected for you. The hub already does that. If you are poking around the device driver list, then the presumption would be that you know what you're looking for.
All of this goes out the window when talking about non-Zwave/Zigbee devices.
I am too. I'm just brainstorming why it wouldn't work
Another issue would be:
The driver informs the hub what the device is capable of. So, the menu selection would be predicated by what capabilities the current driver supports. That doesn't mean that the options would support all capabilities of the device. Additionally, that doesn't really help much since I'd wager there are device types in the double or triple digits that support some of the more generic capabilities (e.g., contact, switch).
along those lines - if the driver drop down list had a 'capability' check box, you could select for example: then if the checkbox is checked, only drivers that have that capability show. well. its a start anyways. Long ago I pointed out there was no precendent on capability. is a switch more inportant than a contact? whats priority? the whole thing about drivers was poorly thought out in general.
OK, I'll bite and join in on another pointless "If I were King here's what I'd do!" topic.
In the scope seeking incremental/simple driver selection improvements that would be trivial to implement:
Make the drop-down list filtering capability clearer. Filtering is very fast, works well, and is very helpful. But I'm not sure that most users recognize/use it enough. The cursor does rest there, but adding a "Start typing to filter list by brand or device" or similar next to the "Type*" field name is a very small change that might help a lot, and won't cause any harm.
Change the field name from "Type" to "Driver." I know the intent is to be friendly to non-techie peeps, but I think it ends up where everyone is saying "Oh, I get it, when they say 'Type' they mean driver." When users come to this forum for help they get bombarded w/discussions and references to "Drivers" not to "Types." ("Excuse me, but can you tell me where to find more Types?") Let's simplify and call a spade a spade.
EDIT: And just to make my point, from a post today just a day or so later that clearly illustrates the issue I'm talking about:
What driver is the bulb using? This is listed under "Type" on the device detail page.
There, I'm done. And in the spirit of all great leaders I now freely surrender my throne, as long as I receive a small annual stipend and free use of the palace pool.
The list got me recently. I wrote my fist driver and couldn’t find it in the list. I scrolled past System to User and it wasn’t there. I assumed I did something wrong in my code. After a lot of head scratching and Googling I finally noticed a third section in the list for Virtual drivers.
