Device Groups provide means of hierarchical organization of devices by some criteria like location, functionality, etc.

Overview

Device Groups provide means of hierarchical organization of devices by some criteria (location, business unit, functionality, etc.). This organization can be done "manually" by the user or can be managed by third-party Groups Provider registered in the system. Such providers can automatically organize devices by the criteria, mentioned above or map preexisting grouping of devices.

Features

The Device Groups features are:

  • a group can have any number of parent and child groups;

  • a device can belong to multiple groups;

  • each group belongs to a group type;

  • the group type determines:

    • what actions can be executed on groups belonging to it;

    • if groups can be created/removed, which of their properties can be edited;

    • what types of child groups and devices can be added to the group;

    • the icon of the group.

  • the group type can be user created or predefined as described in the next paragraphs.

Predefined Types of Device Groups

There are three predefined types of device groups:

  • Generic Groups type – the groups of this type are the most versatile and fully editable groups with no limitations on the type and number of their child devices and subgroups.

  • Directory Groups type – represents the mapping of the Device Tree Groups. Groups of this type are more limited. Unlike the other two types of groups they are the only groups, which have nodes in the RM Device Management Tree (see "Device Management Tree" in Control Units and Device Representation guide). The Directory groups are organized in tree (each group has only one parent of Directory type, but can have any number of parents from other Generic or User types). Also:

    • each device belongs only to one group;

    • if added to a new group, the device is removed from the old parent;

    • can have multiple subgroups of Directory and Filter types only.

  • Filter Groups type – represents the mapping of Dynamic Device Groups (for more information refer to "Using Dynamic Device Groups" section from System-Wide Device Management guide). Filter groups can be created only under groups of Directory Group type. No devices can be attached/detached to groups of that type. Instead, devices matching their control unit filter, will be listed as their children.

Information on how to create, edit or remove new group types, how to manage devices and their components through the Bosch IoT Remote Manager Console (Console) can be found in the User Guide.