Press and long_press actions

[szymonzdziabek]

Hi,
First of all, after flashing my first OXT T262 device I haven't been this happy with something new in the Home Assistant world since I launched my first automation :) Congratulations, really appreciate your work! I think after adding double_press action which was asked by some user, your firmware meets 100% of most users expectations.

I tried to prepare an automation in NodeRed that acts different way for press and long_press actions. What I found is that when I long press the momentary configured button, sensor gives my firstly "press" action" and then additional "long_press". Is this intensional? How can I separate that? I think I can programmatically check what event occurred immediately before "released", but IMHO it complicates things a bit.

[andrei-lazarov]

Hi, thanks for the feedback!
Yes, it's intentional, so users have the immediate action from the initial press.
The triggers for your automation should be:

• single press: when action changes from press to released
• long press: when action changes from long_press to released

It's easy to do in HomeAssistant, but I don't have NodeRed to guide you.

I'll think of making this easier to use, like other remotes in Z2M

[szymonzdziabek]

It's easy to manage this in NodeRed as well as directly by HA, so never mind :) The small disadvantage is that in this case the reaction is on the releasing than pushing the button, but that's not the issue at all in my case. Thanks!

[andrei-lazarov]

This is exactly why we give you the option..
You have to choose:

• Fast reaction on initial press
• Or slower reaction, to be able to differentiate between single press or long press

It's impossible to have both, without triggering both events

If you don't want long press, the single press trigger becomes 'when action changes from released to press'

Double press will add an additional delay. So when we add it, it will be optional

[szymonzdziabek]

Completely understood your words, but I'm just thinking why it is impossible to have separate messages from the switch:

• press - when I push the button, what allow me to immediate reacting
• release - when the button is released
• single_press - when the button was pressed and then released in let's say between 20 - 500 ms
• long_press - when the button was pressed and then released in more than 500 ms

This way would be ease to deliver double_press, triple_press and whatever people need just from the switch. Or am I wrong? :)

[andrei-lazarov]

I see. Yes we will rework this.
I think the sensor should only give the position of the switch: pressed / released
And we can additionally use proper actions / events like all other Z2M devices, where we basically rename the release based on timing, as you said 🙂

• Short press events: initial_press, short_press
• Long press events: initial_press, hold, long_press
• Double press events: initial_press, double_press
  Etc

[Wyfeld]

can you roughly describe how to distinguish between the short press and the long press in an automation?
If i check the mqtt log i can't see any event triggered of the short press but only for the long press when the relay is addressed

[andrei-lazarov]

Add them to endpoint 1, same as lights. Not 2

For a custom switch with 1 channel:
1 = button = sends commands
2 = relay = receives commands

For 2 channels: 1,2 - buttons, 3-4 relays. Etc.

You always bind source to destination. So buton to relay: 1 -> 2

You will probably want toggle_smart_sync as well

[Wyfeld]

Can I bind a short press command "bulb on/off" on the same source endpoint and at the same time with a long press command?

The short pressed button shall not trigger the other switches relay but the long pressed button aka self triggered relay

[andrei-lazarov]

I see what you mean. Bind short_press to something, and long_press to something else. No, that's not currently possible.

We would need 3 endpoints per button: initial_press, short_press, long_press, which might become too confusing for users.
It's a known request, I'll keep it in mind.

Maybe we could implement it exactly like you tried to do there.. bind the relay to something -> toggle that something when relay is turned on

[Wyfeld]

i would love to see that feature and start updating all my devices :)
I have several multi-way-connections in my house and want to keep the relays in sync (to ensure the old behavior) and to just turn off the smart bulbs to have them available for several automations

Actually by switching them off via the relay they are not available at all

[andrei-lazarov]

Actually by switching them off via the relay they are not available at all

If your switches don't have Neutral, you will encounter issues like that.
You need to increase the load connected to the switch, or lower its power consumption, by switching to end-device firmware. Or connect Neutral