How to activate commands within a device

I'm new to hubitat, so this is probably a simple question -- how do you use the commands within a device from a Dashboard. For example, I have a powerstrip that has multiple outlets (Aeon powerstip). Each outlet is individually controllable. They work correctly within the device when I click a command button, but I can't figure out how to activate those commands without going into the device from the Devices tab.

If it's a standard command, you can use the applicable Dashboard template to make that tile run those commands. For example, the "Switch" template provides a button you can use to run on() or off(), and the "Dimmer" template provides a slider you can use to run setLevel(). This requires a bit of guessing/knowledge but is mostly pretty intuitive as far as what might run what command (or display certain attributes--some tiles like "Temperature" templates are view-only). However, I'm not aware of any mechanism to make these work with custom commands, which are commands that don't come "standard" as part of a so-called "capability" on Hubitat, which is probably more than you need to know at this point but is ultimately where these standard commands (and attributes) come from.

In an ideal world, the Hubitat driver for your Aeon SmartStrip would behave like the newer driver for the Zooz ZEN20 power strip and create "child devices" for each outlet. These can effectively behave as their own switch device in Hubitat automations, including Dashboard. They will display under "Component Devices" at the bottom of the device page as well as display, indented, under the parent device on the "Devices" page itself if you're in list view.

Unfortunately, the Aeon SmartStrip was one of the earliest devices Hubitat added support for, before they implemented the parent/child device feature. So, instead, it relies on custom commands to turn on/off each outlet, all on the "parent" (or really only) device, like on1() and off1() for the first outlet. You have a few options that could coerce it into working as you want on Dashboard:

  • create a virtual/"proxy" device (virtual switch or possibly virtual button) for each outlet, then use some automation to sync that virtual device with the real one to the best you can (a Simple Lighting/Simple Automation Rules app or two that turns the outlet on/off when the virtual button is pressed or when the virtual switch turns on would be an easy way to set this up)
  • use a a user (custom) driver for this device that implements the parent/child model; there appear to be a couple options in this thread: Aeon Smartstrip driver update?
  • wait for Hubitat to update this device to this parent/child model as they suggested they probably would, without a timeline, a couple years ago :slight_smile:
3 Likes

I ended up in this thread researching individual control of the outlets also like I had with ST. What did you end up doing @bob?