Running devices

Each instance of a device is its own MQTT client. While it runs, it publishes its messages on every tick of its interval. You control instances from the top bar, from the menus in the device tree and from the instance view.

AutostartCopy Anchor Link

When a project opens, Senzor starts every device that has Autostart ticked in the device editor (autostart = true in the file, the default). Other devices stay stopped until you start them. A device you add while the project is open does not start by itself.

Opening another project, or starting a new one, stops every instance of the current project first. The new project's instances may use the same client IDs as the old ones, so Senzor waits until the old instances are offline before it starts the new autostart devices; meanwhile the top bar shows starting devices…. Commands you give with Start all or the menus during that wait are sent once the old instances are offline.

Start all and Stop allCopy Anchor Link

Start all starts every device, regardless of autostart. Devices with problems are skipped, and instances that already run are left alone.

Stop all stops every running instance. With availability set up, each instance that is online publishes its offline message, then disconnects. If you click Stop all while new devices are waiting for the previous project's to go offline, those devices do not start.

The device treeCopy Anchor Link

The Devices tab lists each device as its ID and instance count, for example office ×5, with its instances under it. A coloured dot shows each instance's status (see The window).

A device or instance can carry a note:

• office ×5 (has errors): the device has problems and cannot start. The Problems tab says why.
• restart to apply next to an instance: the instance runs with settings that differ from the current project. Restart it to apply your edits.
• device has errors or removed next to an instance: the instance is an orphan (see Orphans).

Devices with more than 50 instances start collapsed, because laying out thousands of rows makes the window slow. Click the arrow next to the device to expand it.

Device menuCopy Anchor Link

Right-click a device to act on all of its instances:

• Start starts the device's stopped and failed instances. It is disabled for a device with problems; hover over it to read Fix the problems in the Problems tab first.
• Stop stops every instance listed under the device: each one that is online publishes offline (if the template has availability) and disconnects.
• Restart stops each running instance and starts it again with the project's current settings. Stopped instances stay stopped. When no instance runs, the item is disabled with the hint No running instances to restart. A device with problems has no Restart.
• Kill drops the connection of every listed instance without publishing offline. If the template has availability, the broker then publishes the instance's Last Will, as it would for a device that lost power. See Availability and Last Will.

Instance menuCopy Anchor Link

Right-click an instance for Start, Stop, Restart and Kill for that one instance. Unlike the device menu, Restart here also starts a stopped instance.

The instance view has the same actions as buttons.

Editing while devices runCopy Anchor Link

Edits do not change instances that are already running. An instance keeps the settings it started with and shows restart to apply until you restart it; this includes changes to the broker settings. See Editing while running.

OrphansCopy Anchor Link

An instance that leaves the project while it runs keeps running as an orphan. That happens when you delete its device, when the device gets problems, or when a change to the device's ID, Count or Instance IDs gives the device a set of instance IDs without this one (lowering Count from 5 to 3 while office-3 runs, for example). An orphan carries a note:

• removed: the instance is no longer part of the project. Instances of a deleted or renamed device are listed last, under the old device ID followed by (removed). An instance dropped by a change to Count or Instance IDs stays under its device.
• device has errors: the device has problems; the instance keeps running with its last valid settings.

You can stop or kill an orphan, but not restart it, since there are no valid settings to start it with. Once an orphan stops, it disappears from the tree. For a (removed) entry, the device menu only offers Stop and Kill.

Closing the windowCopy Anchor Link

When you close the window, Senzor stops every instance cleanly before it exits, waiting up to 2 seconds for them, so your devices publish offline instead of leaving through their Last Will. If the project has unsaved changes, Senzor asks first (Files).