[QOL] Format Home Assistant entity names without _

[blakadder]

Currently Home Assistant entity names are generated with _ which is perfectly functional but doesn't look that great in the UI and more importantly when using device triggers in automations.

While it is possible to change the names manually in Lovelace it would become quite a chore proportional to number of entities a device creates.

I'm proposing a simple change of _ into a space when generating name: value autodiscovery payload so the end result would be:

[Koenkk]

I think this highly depends on how people name their entities. Personally I prefer to use snake_case for the friendly_name as I dislike the spaces, e.g. kitchen_climate_sensor, having this to appear as kitchen_climate_sensor temperature feels strange to me.

Something we can do is to use a space instead of _ when the friendly_name contains a space. Does that sound like a good approach?

[blakadder]

Excellent solution!

[Koenkk]

Maybe even more fancy (not sure if this is desired):

• Sonoff Motion -> Sonoff Motion Battery (capital B)
• sonoff motion -> sonoff motion battery
• Default _battery

[blakadder]

Perhaps, personally I'm not bothered by case...

Also what if it's "Sonoff motion" ?

[Koenkk]

I've took that from your example in the OP.

I've implemented this now, assuming this can be closed.

Changes will be available in the latest dev branch in a few hours (https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/how_tos/how-to-switch-to-dev-branch.html)

[crowbarz]

I had been manually converting that _ to a space in the friendly_name for every generated entity via devices.yaml overrides. This feature will eliminate the need to continue to do that - thanks!

However, a small pre-upgrade question, what happens with entities whose name is just a single word? Will these continue to need manual modification either in devices.yaml, HA entity settings, or Lovelace?

[Koenkk]

However, a small pre-upgrade question, what happens with entities whose name is just a single word? Will these continue to need manual modification either in devices.yaml, HA entity settings, or Lovelace?

It will only be done when the friendly name contains a space (so not in this case)