Get possible device commands/arguments via API

[fhempy]

Hi,

I want to use python-miio via API. To always support all integrated devices I would like to do a generic integration where I would like to get all possible commands via API. Is that possible?

I found a way to get device type and the possible commands, but not the options:

for device_class in DeviceGroupMeta.device_classes:
    print(device_class.get_device_group().name + ", cmds: " + str(device_class.get_device_group().commands.keys()))

It would be great if you could provide an API to get all possible commands and options for a device. Thanks!

[rytilahti]

Hi,

how about using annotations (e.g., Vacuum.add_timer.__annotations__) which also contain the types where available? Another option could be using the inspect class, but annotations & docstrings are something I would personally use.

>>> from miio import Vacuum
>>> Vacuum.add_timer
<function Vacuum.add_timer at 0x7f33563f4040>
>>> Vacuum.add_timer.__annotations__
{'cron': <class 'str'>, 'command': <class 'str'>, 'parameters': <class 'str'>}
>>> Vacuum.add_timer.__doc__
'Add a timer.\n\n        :param cron: schedule in cron format\n        :param command: ignored by the vacuum.\n        :param parameters: ignored by the vacuum.'

It would be great if there were a nicer API for this as well as for getting the available commands, so contributions are welcome!

[fhempy]

Thanks for the hint with annotations. I could finally manage to get everything I need via annotations. Find my implementation here:
https://github.com/dominikkarall/fhem_pythonbinding/blob/master/FHEM/bindings/python/lib/miio/miio.py#L34-L52

I'm using inspect to get all details of the function including parameters. There are still a few methods which don't use annotations for their parameters. I'm going to create PRs if I come across one.

[rytilahti]

Glad you got it working, PRs to add annotations are welcome! :-)

In the future, I think that the Device class should have introspection capabilities built-in, basically wrapping the annotation data (and @command() given information). Something like commands() giving a list of CommandMeta objects containing all the necessary information in a nice format to easily create dynamic UIs.