Smart Home: openHAB 4.0 Unifies the Configuration
openHAB 4.0 brings together various updates and improvements to the popular smart home platform. While there isn’t a single major innovation like the Main UI in openHAB 3, users can now utilize all supported scripting languages for transformations and profiles. The support for units of measurement (UoM) has also been enhanced in this version. Additionally, openHAB 4.0 introduces an upgrade to Java 17.
Numerous Changes “Under the Hood”
The openHAB development team has not only released the 4.0 version but has also made significant changes to the core framework of the software. This framework is considered the “heart” of openHAB. In the new release, the core framework received 260 pull requests, 68 bug fixes, and 94 improvements. This amounts to a total of 13,171 lines of code added. The improvements aim to enhance performance and address any existing errors. Components such as the watch service and event handling have undergone extensive refactoring.
Units of Measurement and Scripting
openHAB 4.0 ensures consistent handling of units within the software. The introduction of unit metadata allows for a defined unit for specific elements. The unit described in a state description is only used for display purposes and no longer influences the internal handling of the element state. Additionally, the handling of transformations has been improved by introducing a profile. Developers can now use any scripting language to create transformation scripts and utilize these scripts as profiles when linking channels and elements.
Auto-updating with “Thing Upgrades”
In the past, users had to delete and re-add “Things” when changes occurred in a binding when using managed UI-configured things. This required a complete reconfiguration, including channel links. However, openHAB 4.0 introduces “Thing Upgrades” which allow for automatic updates of things when openHAB is updated. Add-on developers can provide instructions for these upgrades. While this feature covers many changes in the release, it does not apply to all of them.
Additional Information
For more information on the other innovations and improvements in openHAB 4.0, users can refer to the openHAB blog and release notes. The download page also provides access to the stable 4.0 release as well as a snapshot of openHAB 4.1.0.
