maybe easier to use Dashboard replacement

[chromo23]

Ah never mind, I need more coffee

I did 'save as' on the GH page, but then it doesn't save the file, it saves the web page from Github....

That happens to the best of us. Which reminds me of making the file maybe a bit more accessible.

Hmm I uploaded the index.htm.gz (also the different versions of the fetch) to a 16M ESP32S3 due to the flash size.

Since the index.htm.gz is so small (about 11k) you can basically use any esp. In my house my "main" unit that hosts the file is an esp8266 with 4mb, but in other places it also runs on an esp8285 with 1mb of flash (but these are custom builds with only the stuff I need on the unit).

[TD-er]

Yep, but when right-click save the file from your GH page, you get a file of 200 - 400 kB.
That should have triggered some idea of "hmm I must be doing something wrong here"...

[ThomasB]

It's been three years since I tried this add-on. I just loaded it onto one of my projects. The interface is very nice, even without any customization.

I cannot figure out the meaning to the changing negative number on the right side of the web page title. What does it mean?

Is there a way to hide plugin values via HTML edits instead of changing their names in ESPEasy?

- Thomas

[TD-er]

Or maybe we should just add some extra options to alter specific layout terms per task and store it in a separate file on the file system.

[chromo23]

I cannot figure out the meaning to the changing negative number on the right side of the web page title. What does it mean?

I am not quite sure what you mean? Do you mean the unit number in the url? e.g.: "?unit=2"
If so, that is to bookmark a specific unit...

Is there a way to hide plugin values via HTML edits instead of changing their names in ESPEasy?

Unfortunately not... yet...

Or maybe we should just add some extra options to alter specific layout terms per task and store it in a separate file on the file system.

Which is why i made this PR: https://github.com/letscontrolit/ESPEasy/pull/5231
(but it is more an idea than a working PR)

[chromo23]

The interface is very nice, even without any customization.

I updated easyfetch (PWA app ability, auto colored sensortiles, thermostatslider) but didn`t release it yet
Could you test this for me? (Not necessarily for the new functions just to see if the layout still works as expected )

index.htm.gz

(11.86 KiB) Downloaded 87 times

[chromo23]

Or maybe we should just add some extra options to alter specific layout terms per task and store it in a separate file on the file system.

Is there a way to hide plugin values via HTML edits instead of changing their names in ESPEasy?

I might have an idea...

Teaser:

efc_test.gif (285.91 KiB) Viewed 15251 times

[TD-er]

And then fetch/save JSON?

[ThomasB]

I am not quite sure what you mean? Do you mean the unit number in the url? e.g.: "?unit=2"

I mean the negative number at the page title, which constantly changes. See image.

Screenshot showing numeric value at title.

Screenshot1.jpg (81.1 KiB) Viewed 15236 times

Could you test this for me? (Not necessarily for the new functions just to see if the layout still works as expected

Works the same as before, but now is in color rather than gray. The image above was captured with your test release.

- Thomas

[TD-er]

Maybe the negative number is the RSSI?

[Smotek7]

github ..
unit-name: the unit-name of the unit that is actual selected. next to it is the signalstrength in dBm of this unit.

[chromo23]

And then fetch/save JSON?

Yes, it will (hopefully) save a small json file on each device where you hit the save button. But i will keep the "old" functionality as well

Works the same as before, but now is in color rather than gray. The image above was captured with your test release.

Great! Next version you will be able to change/choose the colours yourself again

Maybe the negative number is the RSSI?

I mean the negative number at the page title, which constantly changes. See image.

maybe i should change this to a more human readable/understandable number/icon

[ThomasB]

Cool. Would never have guessed it was the device's RSSI. Apparently I missed the github info that said it was signal strength, so my bad.

maybe i should change this to a more human readable/understandable number/icon

Good idea. Maybe make it configurable so it can be turned on/off. And/or allow the user to add "dBm" to it.

- Thomas

[Smotek7]

When a discussion started here after a while and I wanted to try it two years ago, I started doing it.
@chromo23 it's perfect and simple.

I have a question, if I put a standard website on port e.g. 88
Is it possible to set the fetch to be on 80?

[chromo23]

Is it possible to set the fetch to be on 80?

No, the web server port that is set in the settings is the one where easyfetch can be reached...

[chromo23]

And then fetch/save JSON?

I need some help. My idea was to save the config.json on each esp. But since easyfetch uses one esp as the main unit and sends everything through that device I get CORS errors when trying to save a file to another esp.
Any idea how to solve this apart from storing all config data on one device?

[chromo23]

I still need help with saving the json files. Any info/idea is welcome.

Easyfetch is progressing and most things are working as intended. It got a lot easier to customize.

efc2.gif (2.03 MiB) Viewed 14874 times

[ThomasB]

That is nice!

- Thomas

[TD-er]

We could also add some extras for the easyfetch.
For example we already have SettingsArchive, where you can select what is allowed to download from somewhere.
I guess we could add some extra features to define what is allowed.
And then add some p2p command to get/set the ESPEasyFetch preferences.
This way you can just call a command via one node to set some settings on the other one.

Or we can open Pandora's box to try and fix it using CORS.

[chromo23]

And then add some p2p command to get/set the ESPEasyFetch preferences.
This way you can just call a command via one node to set some settings on the other one.

Or we can open Pandora's box to try and fix it using CORS.

Whatever it will be, i think it is important that every device keeps its own settings.
Implementing pandora seems to be the fastest option
More elegant could be a p2p command for adding settings.
Advantage of the file version right now is, that i can easily gzip the json file for saving space.

Anyhow, my biggest problem right now is, that no matter the solution, it will take time that i don’t have. From the middle of march on i will not be able to take care of easyfetch for quite some time, so i was hoping to finish it before. So anyone’s help is appreciated

Edit: Full file control would also mean that i could add some snippets for additional features right into the rules files. But i am aware, that this would be security wise a tiny bit controversial

[ThomasB]

The latest changes (that allow custom layouts) looks amazing. Hopefully you will be able to finish it before your March deadline. I can help test, but that is all.

- Thomas

[chromo23]

The latest changes (that allow custom layouts) looks amazing. Hopefully you will be able to finish it before your March deadline. I can help test, but that is all.

- Thomas

Hey Thomas, i really appreciate your offer. I am almost finished but my code is usually like a rusty water pipe. Everytime i sealed a leak, it starts to leak somwhere else
Testing is very important as I cannot try every possible layout myself. So please feel free to play around with easyfetch.

My solution to store the settings for now:

On the "main" unit, easyfetch creates a file called "main_efc.json.gz" which contains all the information for each node.
In parallel, easyfetch stores an individual file called "efc.json.gz" on the remote node that has been customized. (So one can customize a node and deploy it as a standalone somewhere else.
The JS for the customization is loaded via CDN to keep easyfetch as small as possible. So internet is required for customizing the nodes

Now the thing

Pandora's box

Pandora's box has already been opened without anyone noticing.
I was so happy that my files were stored on the remote nodes, even with a CORS error. But so does a rules.txt. I don't think I need to explain what that means.

Edit: Unfortunately the fix to this issue will again take the easy out of easyfetch

[ThomasB]

Please post the code when you are ready to release it. I will test.

I currently don't have a need for multiple node support. It's just one device that monitors my home's HVAC (heating/cooling) system.

- Thomas

[chromo23]

I currently don't have a need for multiple node support.

That's fine. Maybe other people like to test and report that


Get your easyfetch: https://github.com/chromoxdor/easyfetch/tree/FS

short manual:

desktop:

• right click on any tile: opens the context menu.

• right click outside the tiles: undo not yet saved changes

• left click outside the tiles: applies changes without saving

smartphone:

• two finger short click outside the tiles: activates/deactivates the customization

• longer touch on tile: opens context menu

• touch somewhere else: applies changes without saving

Better highlighting (now all values of a task are highlighted for easier orientation) and a nicer context menu:

ef2.gif (720.21 KiB) Viewed 13898 times

[ThomasB]

Testing was a success. I created a layout that works well for my application. No issues, was intuitive.

Two things I couldn't figure out: (1) How to restore a fully hidden tile. (2) How to colorize switch-input tiles (off state) and empty tiles.

BEFORE:

BEFORE (earlier easyfetch)

before.jpg (69.19 KiB) Viewed 13846 times

AFTER:

AFTER (latest easyfetcy)

after.jpg (64.36 KiB) Viewed 13840 times

Thanks for the new features. This thing rocks!

- Thomas

[chromo23]

(1) How to restore a fully hidden tile.

There is the show button and the you could use the restore button of the tile or uncheck the hide option and

(2) How to colorize switch-input tiles (off state) and empty tiles.

Actually not on my list because i want them to be visually distinguishable from the other tiles. Maybe later...


Here a gif of unhiding a device:

efc_hide.gif (311.77 KiB) Viewed 13792 times

[ThomasB]

Thanks for tip to restore a hidden tile.

From a fresh start, I have to temporarily modify an existing tile in order to see the "Show" control button. Not an obvious thing to do (at least to me). So it would be a good idea to mention this when you update the user instructions on GitHub.

Thanks again for creating this fantastic ESPEasy GUI.

- Thomas

[chromo23]

From a fresh start, I have to temporarily modify an existing tile in order to see the "Show" control button. Not an obvious thing to do (at least to me). So it would be a good idea to mention this when you update the user instructions on GitHub.

Fixed!
"Save" and "Reset" now appear as soon as you right click a tile. The "hide/show" button now only appears when something is hidden.
You don't need to do something since the config script is served via CDN but i also did a bit of fixing to easyfech itself (20250219/efc6).
If you encounter issues try to download the new index.htm.gz first...

Thanks again for creating this fantastic ESPEasy GUI.

Thanks

[ThomasB]

Thank You. Existing code has your new changes for the Show control. No need to download anything.

- Thomas

[chromo23]

I made some updates:
(minimum easyfetch version 20250221/efc6 is needed)

• order everything
  order style: 1,2,3,4,...,0,0,0,-1,-2,-3,... (default value is "0" for all tiles)

• choose single values and group them to "bigSingles"

• address single tiles of "big values" by right clicking a second time on the tile

efc_updates1.gif (895.71 KiB) Viewed 12898 times

[ThomasB]

Big Values is something I can use. Thanks for adding it.
- Thomas

[ThomasB]

I've installed version 20250221/efc6 and I don't see the new features. Do I have to do something extra to enable them?

- Thomas

[chromo23]

I've installed version 20250221/efc6 and I don't see the new features. Do I have to do something extra to enable them?

- Thomas

Hey Thomas,
have you tried hard reloading the page? Because the config component is loaded from a cdn, it gets cached in your browser. To force the browser to get the new version, you need to do the hard reload.

[ThomasB]

I've tried F5 reload and also manually clearing cache. Also switched browsers. No joy.
Here is what I see when I try to edit Delta-T:

Delta-T

delta.jpg (56.52 KiB) Viewed 12250 times

- Thomas

[chromo23]

Can you show what are your options in the dropdown menu?

[ThomasB]

Apologies, but I don't know which menu you need. Here is what I see when I right-click SYSTEM:

screenshot.jpg (43.18 KiB) Viewed 12207 times

I also experience random ESPEasy reboots while editing. Not a big problem, just wanted to note that.

- Thomas

[TD-er]

Reboots on what kind of ESP board?
If ESP8266, Could you try to use a 'normal' build of the 2nd heap build from this GH Actions build?
https://github.com/letscontrolit/ESPEas ... 3460676096

[chromo23]

Apologies, but I don't know which menu you need. Here is what I see when I right-click SYSTEM:

I need to see the content of the list of this dropdownmenu:

dropdown.png (99.24 KiB) Viewed 12145 times

I also experience random ESPEasy reboots while editing. Not a big problem, just wanted to note that.

Thats odd because the interaction with ESPEasy didn't change. It is still only fetching json every 2 seconds.
Reasons for reboots can be:
- running out of flash
-running out of ram
- issues with rules

[ThomasB]

I need to see the content of the list of this dropdownmenu:

Dooh! I didn't look in there. And that is where it is. Works great too.

I use a ESP32-DevKit-C with 20241221_climate_ESP32_4M316k. I'm not worried about the reboots because they are seldom/random. Only happen when I am busy making changes to the easyfetch GUI.

- Thomas

[chromo23]

Only happen when I am busy making changes to the easyfetch GUI.

Word of advice: When you customize, try to finish customization first before saving the settings. Every time you click the green "save" button, the settings file gets written onto the device.
But I also remember having problems with older ESPEasy versions of this time that randomly rebooted. (But not because of easyfetch)

[ThomasB]

Advice noted. Thanks.

- Thomas

[chromo23]

Last feature before i leave the country for a while:
charts (and the option to hide value names)

charts can only be displayed when "stats" are enabled in ESPEasy.
I would appreciate some testing....
Get you copy from this branch: https://github.com/chromoxdor/easyfetch/tree/FS_chart

efc_chart.gif (426.91 KiB) Viewed 11026 times

efc_chart2.gif (414.07 KiB) Viewed 11026 times

[TD-er]

Looks nice

[ThomasB]

Very nice.

I loaded the new release and I could not get the charting to work. I can see the graph in the plugin's stats, but the chart box in the GUI remains blank.

Also, reloading the page or saving changes causes the ESP32 to become non-responsive. Requires a reboot. Reverted back to release 20250221 and this behavior is gone.

The demo videos are very helpful, but a bit too fast for me. Is there a way to slow them down (for us old guys)?

- Thomas

[chromo23]

I loaded the new release and I could not get the charting to work. I can see the graph in the plugin's stats, but the chart box in the GUI remains blank.

Thanks for trying it out. Can you tell me which version of ESPEasy you are using? Older builds (like mine from ESP_Easy_mega_20241017) have a bug where the Json is not generated correctly so easyfetch falls back to the version without the chart data in it. Thats why the chart fields are blank even when "stats" are enabled.

Also, reloading the page or saving changes causes the ESP32 to become non-responsive.

What do you mean by that? ESPEasy shouldn't become non-responsive at any point.
With easyfetch, there may be conditions that I have not taken into account which could cause it to stop working.
Can you show me the console output in the developer tools of your browser? I would like to see what error message is coming up...

The demo videos are very helpful, but a bit too fast for me. Is there a way to slow them down (for us old guys)?

I understand. I thought the repetitions make up for the speed

[chromo23]

Reverted back to release 20250221 and this behavior is gone.

I updated the code for better error handling
You need to download a new index.htm.gz (20250305/efc_chart1)
https://github.com/chromoxdor/easyfetch/tree/FS_chart

But I am pretty sure you need to update ESPEasy as well, since the fix for the broken JSON was merged by TD-er on the 17th of January.(https://github.com/letscontrolit/ESPEasy/pull/5227)

EDIT: There is still an issue with easyfetch, so don't donwload yet!

[chromo23]

Fixed.
Should be all good in: 20250305/efc_chart2

[ThomasB]

[1] Upgraded ESPEasy
Was: mega_20241221_climate_ESP32_4M316k
Now: mega_20250224_climate_ESP32_4M316k

[2] Installed 20250305/efc_chart2

Success! Charting is working. Thanks!

- Thomas

[ThomasB]

I see you made another update a few minutes ago.

Warning Message

Screenshot 2025-03-05 121253.jpg (23.76 KiB) Viewed 10751 times

Installed it, no problems encountered.

Thomas

[chromo23]

I see you made another update a few minutes ago.

Yes... since there are now two parts for easyfetch it makes sense to have a version check instead of telling people the whole time to update via the forum