Method Reference

Includes all functions provided by the XML RPC API, split into logical entities.

System methods

class gearthonic.methods.SystemMethodsCollection(caller)

All XML RPC server provide a set of standard methods.

get_capabilities()

Lists server’s XML RPC capabilities.

Example output:

{
    'xmlrpc': {'specUrl': 'http://example.com', 'specVersion': 1}
    'faults_interop': {'specUrl': 'http://example2.com', 'specVersion': 101}
    'introspection': {'specUrl': 'http://example3.com', 'specVersion': 42}
}

Returns:A dict containing all information Return type:dict

list_methods()

Lists servers’s XML RPC methods.

Returns:A list of available methods Return type:list

method_help(method_name)

Returns the description of a method.

Parameters:method_name (str) – The name of the method Returns:The description of the method Return type:str

method_signature(method_name)

Returns the signature of a method.

Parameters:method_name (str) – The name of the method Returns:The signature of the method Return type:list

multicall(methods)

Call multiple methods at once.

Example list of methods:

[
    {'methodName': 'getValue', 'params': [13, 4, 'TEMPERATURE']},
    {'methodName': 'getValue', 'params': [3, 3, 'HUMIDITY']}
]

Return value of the multicall:

[22.0, 58]

Parameters:methods (list) – A list of methods and their parameters Returns:A list of method responses. Return type:list

General methods

class gearthonic.methods.GeneralMethodsCollection(caller)

All general methods.

get_service_messages(return_id)

Return all service messages.

This method returns all service messages that are currently active in Homegear (device unreachable, config pending, low battery, sabotage, ...).

Parameters:return_id (bool) – Recommended. If true, Homegear returns the peer ID instead of the “address” (serial number and channel separated by a colon). By default, the address is returned for compatibility reasons.

get_version()

Return Homegear’s version number.

log_level(level=None)

Get or set the current log level.

Valid values are:

• 0: Log nothing
• 1: Critical
• 2: Error
• 3: Warning
• 4: Info
• 5: Debug

Warning

Don’t use “debug” for normal operation as it slows down Homegear.

Parameters:level (int) – (optional) This is the log level that you want to set.

write_log(message, log_level=None)

Write a message to the Homegear log.

This method writes a message to Homegear’s log. It’s possible to set the log level. Valid values are:

• 1: Critical
• 2: Error
• 3: Warning
• 4: Info
• 5: Debug

Parameters:

• message (str) – This is the message you want to write to the log file. The date is automatically prepended.
• log_level (int) – (optional) This is the log level of the message. If Homegear’s log level value is lower than this value, no message is logged.

Device methods

class gearthonic.methods.DeviceMethodsCollection(caller)

All device related methods.

activate_link_paramset(peer_id, channel, remote_peer_id, remote_channel, long_press=False)

Simulate a remote key press.

This method can be used to simulate a remote key press. For most cases, set_value() should be sufficient. Use activate_link_paramset if you want to execute commands that can be configured only using the link parameter set.

Parameters:

• peer_id (int) – The ID of the actuator
• channel (int) – The channel of the actuator
• remote_peer_id (int) – The ID of a peer linked to the actuator or “0” if you want to use a virtual peer
• remote_channel (int) – The channel of a remote peer linked to the peer; use the same “channel” value if a virtual peer is specified.
• long_press (bool) – (optional) Set to “True” to simulate a long key press. The default setting is “False”.

add_link(sender_id, sender_channel, receiver_id, receiver_channel, name='', description='')

Create a link between two devices.

This method links two devices so that they can send commands to each other directly.

Parameters:

• sender_id (int) – The ID of the sending peer (e.g. a remote)
• sender_channel (int) – The channel of the sending peer or “-1”
• receiver_id (int) – The ID of the receiving peer (e.g. a switch)
• receiver_channel (int) – The channel of the receiving peer or “-1”
• name (str) – (optional) A descriptive name for the link
• description (str) – (optional) A short description of the link

get_all_config(peer_id=None)

Return all peer configuration parameters and some additional metadata.

This method returns all configuration parameter values and information about all configuration parameters for one or all peers. Variables are not returned. To get all variables, call get_all_values().

Parameters:peer_id (int) – (optional) When specified, only variables of this peer are returned.

get_all_values(peer_id=None, return_write_only_variables=False)

Return all peer configuration parameters and some additional metadata.

This method returns all variable values and information about all variables for one or all peers. Configuration parameters are not returned. To get all configuration parameters, call get_all_config().

Parameters:

• peer_id (int) – (optional) When specified, only variables of this peer are returned.
• return_write_only_variables (bool) – (optional) When specifed, write only variables are also returned.

get_value(peer_id, channel, key, request_from_device=False, asynchronous=False)

Return the value of the device, specified by channel and key (parameterName).

Per default the value is read from the local cache of Homegear. If the value should be read from the device, use request_from_device. If the value should be read from the device, this can be done asynchronously. The method returns immediately and doesn’t wait for the current value. The value will be sent as an event as soon as it’s returned by the device.

Error codes:

• Returns -2 when the device or channel is unknown
• Returns -5 when the key (parameter) is unknown

Parameters:

• peer_id (int) – ID of the device
• channel (int) – Channel of the device to get the value for
• key (str) – Name of the parameter to get the value for
• request_from_device (bool) – If true value is read from the device
• asynchronous (bool) – If true value is read asynchronously

Returns:

The value of the parameter or error code

Return type:

unknown

list_devices()

Return a list of devices.

Returns:List of devices Return type:list

set_value(peer_id, channel, key, value)

Set the value of the device, specified by channel and key (parameterName).

Parameters:

• peer_id (int) – ID of the device
• channel (int) – Channel of the device to set the value for
• key (str) – Name of the parameter to get the value for
• value (unknown) – The value to set

Returns:

• None on success
• -2 when the device or channel is unknown
• -5 when the key (parameter) is unknown
• -100 when the device did not respond
• -101 when the device returns an error

Pairing methods

class gearthonic.methods.PairingMethodsCollection(caller)

All pairing related methods.

add_device(serial_number, family_id=None)

Pair a device without enabling pairing mode.

This method pairs a device by its serial number, but this does not work for all devices.

Parameters:

• serial_number (str) – The serial number of the device to be paired
• family_id (int) – (optional) ID of the family you want to add the device to; if not specified, “addDevice” is executed for all device families that support it.

create_device(family_id, device_type, serial_number, address, firmware_version)

Create a device manually.

This method manually creates a new device. It is not supported by all device families, and it is also not supported for all devices. createDevice can be used to create virtual devices in the family “Miscellaneous”.

Parameters:

• family_id (int) – This is the ID of the family you want to create the device in. See: list_families().
• device_type (int) – The type ID of the device as specified in the device’s XML file
• serial_number (str) – The serial number of the new device
• address (int) – This is the physical address of the new device. Depending on the device family, this parameter might be optional. If it is not needed, set it to “-1”.
• firmware_version (int) – This is the firmware version of the new device. Depending on the device family, this parameter might be optional. If the firmware version is “1.2”, set this variable to 0x12 = 18. If it is not needed, set it to “-1”.

get_install_mode(family_id=None)

Return the time left in pairing mode.

This method returns the remaining amount of time the central will be in pairing mode.

Parameters:family_id (int) – (optional) This is the ID of the family for which you want to get the remaining time in pairing mode. If not specified, the remaining time in pairing mode of the first central for which pairing mode enabled is returned.

get_pairing_methods(family_id)

Return the pairing methods supported by a device family.

This method returns all pairing methods supported by the specified device family.

Parameters:family_id (int) – The ID of the family for which you want to get the supported pairing methods

search_devices(family_id=None)

Start a device search for all supported device families.

When you use this method, Homegear searches for new devices in all device families that support the method.

Parameters:family_id (int) – (optional) This is the ID of the family that you want to search for devices.

set_install_mode(on, family_id=None, duration=60)

Enable pairing mode.

This method enables or disables pairing mode for all device families if it is supported by the device family.

Parameters:

• on (bool) – When this is true, pairing mode is enabled. Otherwise, pairing mode is disabled.
• family_id (int) – (optional) This is the ID of the family for which you want to enable pairing mode. If it is not specified, pairing mode will be enabled for all device families.
• duration (int) – (optional) This is the duration in seconds that the central should remain in pairing mode. The minimum duration is 5 seconds, and the maximum duration is 3600 seconds. The default duration is 60 seconds.

Family methods

class gearthonic.methods.FamilyMethodsCollection(caller)

All pairing related methods.

list_families()

Return information about all device families (ID, name, pairing methods).

This method returns information about all available device families. Use this method to get the ID of a family if you have only the name or only the ID. You can also use this method to get the pairing methods supported by the family.

Event Server methods

class gearthonic.methods.EventServerMethodsCollection(caller)

All EventServer related methods

client_server_initialized(interface_id)

Check if an RPC client’s RPC server was successfully registered and if it still is registered.

This method checks if an RPC client’s RPC server is registered and connected to Homegear. You can register your RPC “event” server by calling init().

Parameters:interface_id (str) – The interface ID as specified in init()

init(url, interface_id, flags=None)

Register a client’s RPC server with Homegear to receive events.

This method is used to register or unregister an RPC event server with Homegear. After calling this method, Homegear’s RPC client starts sending events and device updates to the registered server. It is not necessary to call “init” for MQTT or WebSockets.

It’s possible to configure the communication between Homegear and the client’s RPC server by using flags. The following (bitmask) flags are available:

• 0x01: keepAlive: Do not close the connection after each packet.
• 0x02: binaryMode: Send RPC data in binary format. Equivalent to “binary://” or “binarys://”.
• 0x04: newFormat: (Recommended) Send device’s ID in broadcast methods instead of the serial number and activates variable types ARRAY and STRUCT. This is recommended because serial numbers are not necessarily unique.
• 0x08: subscribePeers: If this is set, Homegear will send events only for peers subscribed with subscribePeers to the event server.
• 0x10: jsonMode: Send RPC data in JSON format.

So if you want to enable binaryMode and subscribePeers, you have to provide 10. If you want to set newFormat additionally, provide 14. And if you want to enable jsonMode additionally, provide 30.

Parameters:

• url (str) – The URL of the event server that you want to register, including “http://” and the port. If you use “binary://”, RPC data is sent in binary format. If you pass “https://” or “binarys://”, SSL is enabled.
• interface_id (str) – This is an arbitrary name for the interface. To unregister an event server, pass an empty string to interfaceId.
• flags (int) – (optional) Used to configure the communication between Homegear and the registered server.

list_client_servers(interface_id=None)

Return information about all RPC servers registered with Homegear by clients.

This method returns an array with one entry for each RPC server registered with Homegear.

Parameters:interface_id (str) – (optional) This is the interface ID of the RPC server as it was passed to init(). If it is specified, only the information for this server is returned.

subscribe_peers(event_server_id)

Subscribe peer events that are to be sent to an event server.

This method is used to subscribe peer events after calling init() with the subscribe_peers flag set.

Parameters:event_server_id (str) – This is either the url specified in init() or the WebSocket client ID.

trigger_rpc_event(event_method)

Send an RPC event to all RPC event servers.

This method manually calls an RPC event method on all RPC event servers. Currently supported methods are deleteDevices, newDevices and updateDevice.

Parameters:event_method (str) – This is the method you want to call.

unsubscribe_peers(event_server_id)

Unsubscribe peer events.

This method is used to unsubscribe peer events after subscribe_peers() has been called.

Parameters:event_server_id (str) – This is either the url specified in init() or the WebSocket client ID.

Physical Interface methods

class gearthonic.methods.PhysicalInterfaceMethodsCollection(caller)

All methods related to the physical interface.

list_bidcos_interfaces()

Exist only for compatibility reasons.

This method exists only for reasons of backward compatibility with the CCU and has no real function.

list_interfaces(family_id=None)

List all physical interfaces with status information.

This method returns a list of all physical interfaces. It can be used to determine if an interface is available.

Parameters:family_id (int) – (optional) The ID of the family for which you want to get interfaces

set_interface(peer_id, interface_id)

Set the physical interface Homegear uses to communicate with a peer.

This method sets the physical interface that Homegear is to use to communicate with a peer.

Parameters:

• peer_id (int) – The ID of the peer you want to set the interface for
• interface_id (str) – This is the ID of the physical interface as defined in the family interface settings. If it is empty, the physical interface is reset to the default interface.

Metadata methods

class gearthonic.methods.MetadataMethodsCollection(caller)

All metadata related methods.

delete_metadata(peer_id, data_id=None)

Delete previously stored metadata.

Parameters:

• peer_id (int) – The ID of the peer for which the metadata is stored.
• data_id (str) – (optional) The dataId

get_all_metadata(peer_id)

Return all the metadata of one peer.

Parameters:peer_id (int) – The ID of the peer for which you want to get metadata

get_metadata(peer_id, data_id)

Retrieve previously stored metadata.

This method returns metadata that was previously stored with setMetadata().

Parameters:

• peer_id (int) – The ID of the peer for which you want to get the metadata
• data_id (str) – The data ID

set_metadata(peer_id, data_id, value)

Store metadata for a peer.

This method can be used to store metadata for devices in Homegear’s database. You can retrieve this metadata later by calling get_metadata().

Parameters:

• peer_id (int) – The ID of the peer for which you want to store metadata
• data_id (str) – A name of your choice
• value – The value you want to store

System variables methods

class gearthonic.methods.SystemVariableMethodsCollection(caller)

All system variables related methods.

delete_system_variable(name)

Delete a system variable.

This method deletes a system variable created with set_system_variable().

Parameters:name (str) – The name of the system variable to be deleted

get_all_system_variables()

Return all system variables.

get_system_variable(name)

Get the value of a system variable.

This method returns a system variable’s value that was previously stored with set_system_variable().

Parameters:name (str) – The name of the system variable

set_system_variable(name, value)

Create or update a system variable.

This method can be used to store arbitrary data in Homegear’s database. You can retrieve this data later by calling getSystemVariable().

Parameters:

• name (str) – A name of your choice
• value – The value to be stored