Homebridge-config-ui-x: Change "config" to a visual web form of switches & inputs

Created on 24 May 2019 · 4Comments · Source: oznu/homebridge-config-ui-x

The biggest issue with homebridge for non-technical people is to manually edit the config files. Config files are scary to many people, they are easy to mess up.

It'd be relatively easy to convert config editing into a simple web form and it'd be a game-changer for homebridge (could be advertised as not requiring any technical skills).

For each plugin:

a true/false value would be a visual on/off switch
a numerical value would be a numerical input field
IP address would be a text field with format validation
a "+" button would add a new row for a variable name + value, etc.

there could be a switch to put a plugin's config into "Accessories" or "Platforms" section.

Then at saving, the plugin would take the values and save them properly into the config file, adding the necessary technicals like bracket closing, quotation marks, etc. - ensuring 100% that the config file is valid.

This would open up homebridge to a LOT of new potential users!

For most plugins it'd be very easy to just use REGEX to go line by line of their sample-config.json file and determine the required variables, their type and placement (platforms vs accessories section). In rare cases of plugins for which you cannot determine what variables they require, just start with an empty screen with a manual "+" button to add rows or add a multiline text box, for the user to be able to paste a config section.

Source

MBarti

All 4 comments

homebridge-config-ui-x has already implemented this. Plugins can provide a config.json.scheme that is used to generate the form. See https://github.com/homebridge/Documentation/blob/master/Schema.md.