Structure APIs on Android

Structure APIs may be accessed through the Home APIs for Android. Import these packages into your app:

import com.google.home.Home
import com.google.home.Id
import com.google.home.Structure

Error handling

Any method in the Home APIs can throw a HomeException, so we recommend that you use a try-catch block to catch HomeException on all calls.

When handling HomeException, check its error.code and error.message fields to learn what went wrong. There may be sub-error codes as well, so call the getSubErrorCodes() method and check the result.

Any unhandled exceptions will result in your app crashing.

For more information, see Error handling.

Sample calls

Get a list of structures

Once initialized, a structures() call returns a Flow of structures accessible to you:

// Get a flow of all structures accessible to the user
val allStructuresFlow: HomeObjectsFlow<Structure> = home.structures()

// Calling list() on a HomeObjectsFlow returns the first Set of elements.
val allStructures: Set<Structure> = allStructuresFlow.list()

The structures() API is a flow that may not immediately return a valid list of structures. If your app is reactive and subscribes to that flow to drive the UI, a valid list of structures should eventually be returned. There are other situations where an empty structure list could be returned, for example if the user's phone loses connectivity or if the user has revoked permissions to your app. You should be sure to handle these cases in your app.

Alternatively, if imperative programming is strongly required instead of reactive programming, a terminal flow operator can be used:

val everyStructure = withTimeout(5000) { home.structures().first { it.isNotEmpty() } }

This call waits for a valid list of structures to come through the flow and times out if the list is not received within an app-designated timeout.

Get structure properties

With the list of structures in hand, you can access the properties for them:

// Get a flow on a structure. Flow emits new values on structure metadata changes: name.
val structureFlow: Flow<Structure> = home.structures().itemFlow(myStructureId)

// Get a snapshot of the structure.
val structure: Structure = structureFlow.first()

// Get structure properties
println("id ${structure.id}")
println("name ${structure.name}")

Find a structure by name

If you know the name of a structure, you can also access it using the name property:

val myHome = home.structures().list().first { it.name == "My home" }

From there, properties, rooms, and devices for each structure are accessible.

Work with multiple structures

To use more than one structure, get a separate reference to each structure:

var structure1: Structure? = null
var structure2: Structure? = null

try {
  structure1 = home.structures().list().firstOrNull { it.name == "Main House" }
} catch (e: HomeException) {
  // Code for handling the exception
}
try {
  structure2 = home.structures().list().firstOrNull { it.name == "Guest Cottage" }
} catch (e: HomeException) {
  // Code for handling the exception
}

Get a list of rooms

With a structure in hand, you can get a list of rooms and access the properties for them:

val allRoomsFlow: HomeObjectsFlow<Room> = structure.rooms()
val allRooms: Set<Room> = allRoomsFlow.list()
val room: Room = allRooms.first()

println("id ${room.id}")
println("name ${room.name}")

Create a room

To create a new room:

val testName = "Test Room Name"
val newRoom: Room = structure.createRoom(testName)

Delete a room

Or, alternatively, you can delete a room:

val roomToDelete = structure.rooms().list().filter { it.name == "room_id1" }.firstOrNull()
    structure.deleteRoom(roomToDelete!!)

You can also delete a room with just an ID:

val roomToDelete1 = allRooms.filter { it.id == testRoomId }.firstOrNull()
structure.deleteRoom(roomToDelete1!!)

If a room with devices is deleted, the devices will still be in the structure but no longer assigned to a room.

Move devices to a different room

Once you have a structure, you can move devices to a different room within that structure:

val room2 = structure.rooms().get(Id("room_id_other_structure"))
    val device1 = structure.devices().get(Id("device_id1"))
    structure.moveDevicesToRoom(room2!!, listOf(device1!!))

If you only have device and room IDs, you can also move devices:

structure.moveDevicesToRoom(Id("room_id_other_structure"), listOf(Id("device_id1")))

Change the name of a room

Call the setName() method to change the name of a room:

livingRoom.setName("Living Room")

Names will be truncated if over the 60 Unicode code point (character) limit and no errors will be thrown. Developers are responsible for handling long names and, for example, can decide if they want to inform users names will be truncated.

Automations

The entry point to the Automation API is through a structure. To learn more about Automations in the Home APIs, see Automation API on Android overview.