Added OpticalSignal characteristic from homebridge-homematicip

[gkminix]

♻️ Current situation

The homebridge plugin for the HomematicIP system defines a custom characteristic named "OpticalSignal" which allows to activate a signalling mode lamp, like blinking etc.

💡 Proposed solution

Add support for this characteristic in hap-types.ts

⚙️ Release Notes

Use the following values with "OpticalSignal": OFF, ON, BLINKING_MIDDLE, FLASH_MIDDLE, BILLOW_MIDDLE
These modify the light of the HmIP-BSL device.

➕ Additional Information

If applicable, provide additional context in this section.

Testing

Which tests were added? Which existing tests were adapted/changed? Which situations are covered, and what edge cases are missing?

Reviewer Nudging

Where should the reviewer start? what is a good entry point?

[bwp91]

Hi @gkminix

The file that you have added the characteristic to is automatically generated from this script:

• https://github.com/homebridge/hap-client/blob/latest/scripts/gen-hap-types.ts

So if we were to accept this PR, then it would be reversed the next time the script is run.

Can I ask how you would plan to use this characteristic from hap-client if it were to exist there?

[gkminix]

Hi @bwp91,

thank you for your response. The German company eQ-3 sells a very popular smart home system called HomematicIP, which uses it's own radio protocol. There exists a Homebridge plugin to get all devices into Homekit:

https://github.com/marcsowen/homebridge-homematicip

One of the HomematicIP devices is a wall mounted switch with two builtin lights. Both lights are exposed as seperate Homekit accessories. They can get controlled by the usual characteristics like hue, brightness etc., but they can also act on one special characteristic called OpticalSignalBehaviour. With this characteristic it is possible to let each light automatically blink in various ways. The characteristic is implemented with a string type, but currently not exposed by Homebridge. My patch was intended to correct this, but I didn't realize that the patched file is generated automatically. Where would it be suitable to get included?

Thanks for your help, Gero

[bwp91]

Yes but what I am trying to ask is why do you need this particular characteristic added to hap-client? The plugin doesn't need it added here to work.

[gkminix]

OK, I should better cover the hole story. I'm using Node-RED for automations instead of Apple home app. The Node-RED plugin, which interfaces with homebridge, uses your hap-client library as well. And if this characteristic is not defined in the Characteristics array, it doesn't get exposed to Node-RED. Maybe it would be possible to simply remove the characteristics filter in line 484 of index.ts instead? Why is it in there in the first place?

[bwp91]

Something like this would be better:

• da98109

...and this is available in v5.2.3-beta.0 of this repo.