Cannot select unit conversion in HomeAssistant

[caco3]

Discussed in #3218

^{Originally posted by Lackmake September 1, 2024}
I have a few smartplugs where i can manually select how HA should display the power values, like this:

For the AI-on-the-edge entities however i cannot. The option is completely missing:

What i found is that the rate-sensor is missing the "device_class" attribute. That would have to be added here for both "rates", i think "power" would be correct as thats what my smartplugs report:

AI-on-the-edge-device/code/components/jomjol_mqtt/server_mqtt.cpp

Lines 187 to 198 in 67c3020

	// Group | Field | User Friendly Name | Icon | Unit | Device Class | State Class | Entity Category
	allSendsSuccessed |= sendHomeAssistantDiscoveryTopic(group, "value", "Value", "gauge", valueUnit, meterType, "total_increasing", "", qos);
	allSendsSuccessed |= sendHomeAssistantDiscoveryTopic(group, "raw", "Raw Value", "raw", "", "", "", "diagnostic", qos);
	allSendsSuccessed |= sendHomeAssistantDiscoveryTopic(group, "error", "Error", "alert-circle-outline", "", "", "", "diagnostic", qos);
	/* Not announcing "rate" as it is better to use rate_per_time_unit resp. rate_per_digitalization_round */
	// allSendsSuccessed |= sendHomeAssistantDiscoveryTopic(group, "rate", "Rate (Unit/Minute)", "swap-vertical", "", "", "", ""); // Legacy, always Unit per Minute
	allSendsSuccessed |= sendHomeAssistantDiscoveryTopic(group, "rate_per_time_unit", "Rate (" + rateUnit + ")", "swap-vertical", rateUnit, "", "measurement", "", qos);
	allSendsSuccessed |= sendHomeAssistantDiscoveryTopic(group, "rate_per_digitalization_round", "Change since last digitalization round", "arrow-expand-vertical", valueUnit, "", "measurement", "", qos); // correctly the Unit is Unit/Interval!
	allSendsSuccessed |= sendHomeAssistantDiscoveryTopic(group, "timestamp", "Timestamp", "clock-time-eight-outline", "", "timestamp", "", "diagnostic", qos);
	allSendsSuccessed |= sendHomeAssistantDiscoveryTopic(group, "json", "JSON", "code-json", "", "", "", "diagnostic", qos);
	allSendsSuccessed |= sendHomeAssistantDiscoveryTopic(group, "problem", "Problem", "alert-outline", "", "problem", "", "", qos); // Special binary sensor which is based on error topic
	}

But i am not 100% sure if that is the only reason why home assistant doesnt let me choose the unit....i also found this old thread about the "native_unit_of_measurement": https://community.home-assistant.io/t/unit-of-measurement-2022-4/409860/16

[caco3]

@Lackmake I updated the Device Class according your suggestions in #3332

Can you please test and see if it is ok now?
Please test the latest (most top) build from https://github.com/jomjol/AI-on-the-edge-device/actions?query=branch%3Asupport-homeassistant-2024.10

[Lackmake]

I now have a device_class of "volume_flow_rate" for my rate-sensors, thats not correct. Should be "power"

[Lackmake]

Ok, so i played around a bit more and changed the mqtt-discovery values with a mqtt client and noticed that AIOTE does report a "unit_of_meas" and not "unit_of_measurement". See here:

AI-on-the-edge-device/code/components/jomjol_mqtt/server_mqtt.cpp

Lines 122 to 124 in 67c3020

	if (unit != "") {
	payload += "\"unit_of_meas\": \"" + unit + "\",";
	}

When i set the device_class to "power" and fix the "unit_of_measurement" then it works as i hoped and i can select the unit in home assistant. Both fixes are needed, either one alone is not enough

[Lackmake]

The wrong device_class probably comes from here:

AI-on-the-edge-device/code/components/jomjol_mqtt/server_mqtt.cpp

Lines 193 to 197 in f6fd351

	/* Energy meters need a different Device Class, see https://github.com/jomjol/AI-on-the-edge-device/issues/3333 */
	std::string rate_device_class = "volume_flow_rate";
	if (meterType == "energy") {
	value_state_class = "power";
	}

I think in the if condition you wanted to set "rate_device_class" not value_state_class. Maybe a copypaste error from a few lines above :D

[caco3]

AIOTE does report a "unit_of_meas" and not "unit_of_measurement"

This is also correct according to the specification, see Supported abbreviations in https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/mqtt/#discovery-messages

[caco3]

I think in the if condition you wanted to set "rate_device_class" not value_state_class. Maybe a copypaste error from a few lines above :D

You are right.
it is now fixed in the latest version.

[Lackmake]

I can select the unit now, perfect, thank you very much :)

[caco3]

Fixed in #3332