The GUI editor is nice, but can the registry be modified in a yaml file? It would make life easier to be able to do a global replace. For example, I had an issue with a sensor and had to exclude/include it again. My sensor now has a different node ID. If the registry were in yaml format, it would be easier to make changes with any editor. And using the yaml format is a lot easier on the eyes.
This would probably require functions to covert between yaml and xml.
As I already said, the registry GUI is nice, but one problem I have is I like to preserve the original values somewhere, and that’s not possible with the GUI. Yaml would make it a snap.
It’s unlikely the development team will change the files from JSON to YAML because, quite simply, they’re not meant to be edited by users. Files in the .storage directory are edited via Home Assistant’s UI (see the Configuration menu). It’s also where Home Assistant registers entities found via automatic discovery.
Nevertheless, they can be edited (while Home Assistant is shutdown) because they are, as mentioned, simply text files whose contents are in JSON format. Any good text editor can provide JSON syntax highlighting to make it more legible.
Hmmm. I guess you can only rename entities using the registry. Bummer. For some reason I thought you could do it in the yaml. https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/configuration/customizing-devices/
It used to be yaml. So many people complained and wanted it in the interface. For a full year, it was the number one topic on these forums: “How do I name/rename?”. Home assistant is moving towards an interface and yaml will most likely get left in the dust when that fully happens.
If you turn off home assistant, you can edit it and do global name changes. Just make sure you don’t screw up the format and that you properly name things.
It would be nice to have a way to swap one zwave device for another, or specify the nodeid it will get. Sometimes I have to exclude/include a device and then I have to rename every entity within that sensor, or global replace my automations.
I seriously hope they never get rid of yaml, or text based files. That’s one of the attractions of HA.
If you delete all the sensors associated with the zwave device and the zwave device, then add the zwave device and rename it, it will update all the sensors. Otherwise you just gotta go through each one, one by one. Or do what @AhmadK said and modify the json files.
