This page is part of archived documentation for openHAB 4.1. Go to the current stable version

# Configuration Descriptions

Specific services or bindings usually require a configuration to be operational in a meaningful way. To visualize or validate concrete configuration properties, configuration descriptions should be provided. All available configuration descriptions are accessible through the org.openhab.core.config.core.ConfigDescriptionRegistry service.

Although configuration descriptions are usually specified in a declarative way (as described in this section), they can also be provided as org.openhab.core.config.core.ConfigDescriptionProvider. Any ConfigDescriptionProviders must be registered as service at the OSGi service registry. The full Java API for configuration descriptions can be found in the Java package org.openhab.core.config.core. In addition to this there is a org.openhab.core.config.core.validation.ConfigDescriptionValidator that can be used to validate a set of configuration parameters against their declarations in the configuration description before the actual configuration is updated with the new configuration parameters.

Configuration descriptions must be placed as XML file(s) (with the ending .xml) in the bundle's folder /OH-INF/config/.

# Formatting Labels

The label and descriptions for things, channels and config descriptions should follow the following format. The label should be short so that for most UIs it does not spread across multiple lines. The description can contain longer text to describe the thing in more detail. Limited use of HTML tags is permitted to enhance the description - if a long description is provided, the first line should be kept short and a line break (<br>) should be placed at the end of the line to allow UIs to display a short description in limited space.

Configuration options should be kept short so that they are displayable on a single line in most UIs. If you want to provide a longer description of the options provided by a particular parameter, then this should be placed into the <description> of the parameter to keep the option label short. The description can include limited HTML to enhance the display of this information.

The following HTML tags are allowed -: <b>, <br>, <em>, <h1>, <h2>, <h3>, <h4>, <h5>, <h6>, <i>, <p>, <small>, <strong>, <sub>, <sup>, <ul>, <ol>, <li>. These must be inside the XML escape sequence - eg. <description><![CDATA[ HTML marked up text here ]]></description>.

# XML Structure for Configuration Descriptions

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<config-description:config-descriptions
    xmlns:xsi="https://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:config-description="https://openhab.org/schemas/config-description/v1.0.0"
    xsi:schemaLocation="https://openhab.org/schemas/config-description/v1.0.0
        https://openhab.org/schemas/config-description-1.0.0.xsd">

  <config-description uri="{binding|thing-type|channel-type|any_other}:bindingID:...">
    <parameter-group name="String">
      <label>String</label>
      <description>String</description>
      <context>String</context>
      <advanced>{true|false}</advanced>
    </parameter-group>

    <parameter name="String" type="{text|integer|decimal|boolean}" min="Decimal" max="Decimal" step="Decimal" pattern="String" required="{true|false}" readOnly="{true|false}" multiple="{true|false}" groupName="String" unit="A|cd|K|kg|m|mol|s|g|rad|sr|Hz|N|Pa|J|W|C|V|F|Ω|S|Wb|T|H|Cel|lm|lx|Bq|Gy|Sv|kat|m/s2|m2v|m3|kph|%|l|ms|min|h|d|week|y">
      <context>{network-address|serial-port|password|password-create|color|date|datetime|email|month|week|dayOfWeek|time|tel|url|item|thing|group|tag|service|channel|rule|location}</context>
      <required>{true|false}</required>
      <default>String</default>
      <label>String</label>
      <description>String</description>
      <unitLabel>String</unitLabel>
      <options>
        <option value="String">String</option>
      </options>
      <filter>
        <criteria name="String">String</criteria>
      </filter>
    </parameter>
  </config-description>

  <config-description uri="{binding|thing-type|channel-type|any_other}:bindingID:...">
    ...
  </config-description>
...
</config-description:config-descriptions>

Property	Description
config-description.uri	The URI of this description within the ConfigDescriptionRegistry (mandatory).
parameter	The description of a concrete configuration parameter (optional).
parameter.name	The name of the configuration parameter (mandatory).
parameter.type	The data type of the configuration parameter (mandatory).
parameter.min	The minimal value for numeric types, or the minimal length of strings. Note that the value of any options may be outside of this value (optional).
parameter.max	The maximum value for numeric types, or the maximum length of strings. Note that the value of any options may be outside of this value (optional).
parameter.step	The value granularity for a numeric value (optional).
parameter.pattern	The regular expression for a text type (optional).
parameter.required	Specifies whether the value is required (optional, default: false).
parameter.readOnly	Specifies whether the value is read-only (optional).
parameter.multiple	Specifies whether multiple selections of options are allowed (optional).
parameter.groupName	Sets a group name for this parameter (optional).
parameter.unit	Specifies the unit of measurements. The unit declaration in the parameter definition shown above contains the set of valid units. The unit must only be set if the type of the parameter is either integer or decimal (optional).
advanced	Specifies that this is an advanced parameter. Advanced parameters may be hidden by a UI (optional).
verify	Specifies that this is parameter requires a verification stage with the user before sending. Parameters flagged with verify=true could be considered dangerous and should be protected from accidental use by a UI - e.g. by adding an "Are you sure" prompt (optional).
context	The context of the configuration parameter (optional).
required	The flag indicating if the configuration parameter has to be set or not (deprecated, optional, default: false).
default	The default value of the configuration parameter (optional). If `multiple` is true you can define a list of default values, separating them by a comma (`,`).
label	A human-readable label for the configuration parameter (optional).
description	A human-readable description for the configuration parameter (optional).
unitLabel	The unit label represents a human-readable label for the unit. It can also be used to provide unit labels for natural language units as iterations, runs, etc. The unit label must only be set if the type of the parameter is either integer or decimal (optional).
option	The element definition of a static selection list (optional).
option.value	The value of the selection list element. Note that the value may be outside of the range specified in the min/max if this is specified.
multipleLimit	If `multiple` is true, sets the maximum number of options that can be selected (optional).
limitToOptions	If true (default) will only allow the user to select items in the options list. If false, will allow the user to enter other text (optional).
criteria	The filter criteria for values of a dynamic selection list (optional).
criteria.name	The name of the context related filter.

# Supported Contexts

Context is used to provide some semantic details about the parameter. The UIs use it to render different kind of input widgets. The following contexts require a specific format of the content:

Name	Type	Format	Sample implementation
network-address	text	IPv4,IPv6, domain name	`<input type="text"/>`
serial-port	text	Serial port name, e.g. COM1	custom input field
password	text	alphanumeric characters	`<input type="password"/>`
password-create	text	alphanumeric characters	custom password input
color	text	#000000 - #ffffff (hex color)	`<input type="color"/>`
date	text	YYYY-MM-DD	`<input type="date"/>`
datetime	text	YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm	custom input field
email	text	[email protected]	`<input type="email"/>`
month	text	month of year	custom input field
week	integer	week of year	custom input field
dayOfWeek	text	MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI, SAT, SUN	custom input field
time	text/integer	hh:mm:ss/milliseconds since epoch	`<input type="time"/>`
telephone	text	telephone number	custom input field
url	text	web url	`<input type="url"/>`
item	text	Item name	custom input field
thing	text	UID of a thing	custom input field
group	text	group name to which this parameter belongs
tag	text	tag name	custom input field
service	text	service name	custom input field
channel	text	UID of a channel	custom input field
rule	text	UID of a rule	custom input field
location	text	latitude,longitude[,altitude]	custom input field

Further, the item context can contain criteria to filter the list of items. For example:

<filter>
  <criteria name="type">Switch,Dimmer</criteria>
  <criteria name="tag">Light,Heating</criteria>
</filter>

In the case of above filter only those items will be shown that satisfy the filter's conditions. The above filter is evaluated as follows:

(type=Switch OR type=Dimmer) AND (tag=Light OR tag=Heating)

Similarly, the Channel context can contain criteria to filter channels based on kind field. The value of kind can either be STATE or TRIGGER. For example:

<filter>
  <criteria name="kind">STATE|TRIGGER</criteria>
</filter>

Groups allow parameters to be grouped together into logical blocks so that the user can find the parameters they are looking for. A parameter can be placed into a group so that the UI knows how to display the information.

Property	Description
group.name	The group name - this is used to link the parameters into the group, along with the groupName option in the parameter (mandatory).
label	The human-readable label of the group. (mandatory).
description	The description of the group. (optional).
context	Sets a context tag for the group. The context may be used in the UI to provide some feedback on the type of parameters in this group (optional).
advanced	Specifies that this is an advanced group. The UI may hide this group from the user (optional).

The full XML schema for configuration descriptions is specified in the openHAB config description XSD (opens new window) file.

Hints:

Although the attribute uri is optional, it must be specified in configuration description files. Only for embedded configuration descriptions in documents for binding definitions and Thing type descriptions, the attribute is optional.

# Example

The following code gives an example for one configuration description.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<config-description:config-description uri="thing-type:my-great-binding:my-bridge-name"
    xmlns:xsi="https://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:config-description="https://openhab.org/schemas/config-description/v1.0.0"
    xsi:schemaLocation="https://openhab.org/schemas/config-description/v1.0.0
        https://openhab.org/schemas/config-description-1.0.0.xsd">

  <parameter-group name="connection">
    <label>Connection</label>
    <description>Connection settings.</description>
  </parameter-group>

  <parameter-group name="authentication">
    <label>Authentication</label>
    <description>Authentication settings.</description>
  </parameter-group>

  <parameter name="ipAddress" type="text" required="true" groupName="connection">
    <context>network-address</context>
    <label>Network Address</label>
    <description>Network address of the device.</description>
  </parameter>

  <parameter name="port" type="integer" min="0" max="65535" multiple="true" groupName="connection">
    <label>Port</label>
    <default>80,443,8080</default>
  </parameter>

  <parameter name="userName" type="text" required="true" groupName="authentication">
    <label>User Name</label>
  </parameter>

  <parameter name="password" type="text" required="false" groupName="authentication">
    <context>password</context>
  </parameter>

</config-description:config-description>

Caught a mistake or want to contribute to the documentation? Edit this page on GitHub (opens new window)