Notifications

Author: Tobias Bräutigam

Available since: 0.11.0

Description

The state-notification element in the meta-area of the configuration allows to create notifications when a new value for a widget is uploaded from the backend. These notifications can be displayed as a pop-up or as an entry in the notification center.

As soon as there are messages in the notification center, the number of messages is displayed at the top right of the browser window and in the favicon (in the browser tab). If messages of higher priority are underneath, this is indicated by a colored background.

A simple example shows a message in the message center when the living room lamp is on

 <meta>
    <notifications>
        <state-notification target="notificationCenter" unique="true">
            <title-template>Light Livingroom</title-template>
            <message-template>switched on at {{ time }} o'Clock</message-template>
            <condition>1</condition>
            <addresses>
                <address transform="OH:switch">Light_FF_Living</address>
            </addresses>
        </state-notification>
    </notifications>
    ...
</meta>

Hint

The <address> elements used here are exactly the same, as they are used in the widgets. In the examples on this page addresses for the openHAB backend are used. An equivalent example for the default backend would be: <address transform="DPT:1.001">12/0/3</address>

Explanation:

Via the address element (several are possible) it is specified that a message is generated for incoming status updates for this address. A message consists of a title and the message content. The two elements title-template and message-template determine the content of the two message parts. The templates are mustache templates, where specific placeholders can be placed anywhere in the text. The following placeholders are available:

Name	Content
address	Address from which the status update came
value	Value of the status update
date	Date of receipt
time	Time of receipt

The example would generate the following message:

Light Livingroom
switched on at 12.45 o'Clock

Via target="notificationCenter" it is determined that this notification will be displayed in the message center at the left edge of the visu. Another possible value would be popup to display the message as a popup.

unique="true" specifies that the message will be displayed only once, and only if the value of the status update equals <condition> set ON, it means the message is displayed when the lamp is turned on, when it is turned off, the message is automatically deleted.

Explanation of the attributes in the state-notification element

Element	Attribute
	Name	Content	Description
state-notification	name	string	Name is required when unique=true
	target	popup, notificationCenter or speech	popup: Show message as popup notificationCenter: Show message in notification center speech: Say message with text-to-speech
	unique	true or false	Show only one message for this update (name is required)
	deletable	true or false	User can delete this message
	skip-initial	true or false	Ignore initial state update
	severity	urgent, high, normal or low	Messages with higher priority are marked with different colors
	icon	string	Show this icon with the message.
	icon-classes	string	Additional CSS-classes to customize the icon.

Further examples

Complex example with mapping

Complex example with notifications for movements incl. Mapping

<meta>
    <mappings>
        <mapping name="Motion_name">
            <entry value="Motion_FF_Corridor">Floor OG</entry>
            <entry value="Motion_FF_Kitchen">Kitchen</entry>
            <entry value="Motion_FF_Dining">Dining room</entry>
        </mapping>
        ...
    </mappings>
    ...
    <notifications>
        <state-notification name="motion" target="notificationCenter" unique="true" severity="high">
            <title-template>motion alarm</title-template>
            <message-template>motion detected: {{ address }}, {{ time }}</message-template>
            <condition>1</condition>
            <addresses address-mapping="Motion_name">
                <address transform="OH:switch">Motion_FF_Dining</address>
                <address transform="OH:switch">Motion_FF_Corridor</address>
                <address transform="OH:switch">Motion_FF_Kitchen</address>
            </addresses>
        </state-notification>
    </notifications>
</meta>

This example shows a notification when one of the motion detectors provides a movement with high priority (severity="high", turns orange).

To bring the somewhat cryptic address name into a readable format, a Mapping is used. If the motion detector named Motion_FF_Corridor now signals a movement, the message would have the following content:

Example of a message in the message center

Speech

Output of the message via the text-to-speech engine of the browser

    <meta>
        <mappings>
            <mapping name="Motion_name">
                <entry value="Motion_FF_Corridor">Floor OG</entry>
                <entry value="Motion_FF_Kitchen">Kitchen</entry>
                <entry value="Motion_FF_Dining">Dining room</entry>
            </mapping>
            ...
        </mappings>
        ...
        <notifications>
            <state-notification name="motion" target="speech">
                <message-template>Motion at {{ address }}</message-template>
                <condition>1</condition>
                <addresses address-mapping="Motion_name">
                    <address transform="OH:switch">Motion_FF_Dining</address>
                    <address transform="OH:switch">Motion_FF_Corridor</address>
                    <address transform="OH:switch">Motion_FF_Kitchen</address>
                </addresses>
            </state-notification>
        </notifications>
    </meta>

This example generates speech output via the text-to-speech engine built into modern browsers. In this case, if one of the motion detectors identified by the three address entries returns ON, the following message is output.

Motion at Floor OG