Switch that should show the state of a binary_sensor

Configuration
1

Heya I created a virtual switch that is running a script.
What I still trying to figure out is on how to change the state of the switch by the state of a binary_sensor:

- platform: template
  switches:
    markise:
      value_template: "{{ is_state('binary_sensor.wohnzimmer_sensor-markise_contact','on') }}"
      turn_on:
        service: script.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: script.logikmarkise
      turn_off:
        service: script.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: script.logikmarkise
      icon_template: >-
        {% if is_state('binary_sensor.wohnzimmer_sensor-markise_contact','on') %}
          mdi:blinds
        {% else %}
          mdi:blinds-open
        {% endif %}

right now the switch isn’t changing it’s value at all, it always stays off

2

What sets the binary_sensor to on?

3

it is a physical zigbee device that outputs on or off as the state of its own sensor

4

When you execute this:

        service: script.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: script.logikmarkise

Does the Zigbee device’s state change to on?

If executing the script fails to make the device change to on then the Template Switch will continue to report off.

5

If do your small snipped inside the devtools my sensor turns from off to on and if I call the script again it turns off after the blind is fully closed

here from the history view:

image
image1377×239 19.8 KB

6

Go to Developer Tools > States and find the binary_sensor in the Entity column. Confirm the spelling of its entity_id. Check if it actually contains a hyphen in the entity_id.

binary_sensor.wohnzimmer_sensor-markise_contact
                               ^
                               |
1 Like
7

it does, you can see the chosen entity above in my screen with the hyphen, but here again a screen directly from the entity page:

image

EDIT: ah… the friednly name is the problem, I see what you mean now :slight_smile:
EDIT2: tested and confirmed, working now… god damn, I will never use hyphens again!

1 Like
8

An entity_id contains only letters in lowercase, numbers and underscores (it’s known by the curious name ‘slug’ and there’s even a template function called slugify to convert text to a slug).

Your Template Sensor was configured to get its state from a binary_sensor that didn’t exist in your system (because the entity_id was misspelled).

For future reference, rely on Developer Tools > States to display an entity’s correct entity_id and friendly_name.

You can use hyphens in an entity’s friendly_name provided you remember that it will be converted to an underscore for the entity’s entity_id.

1 Like