Creating a Thing

To enable a thing to connect using an application token for an application that does not have a default thing definition specified for automatic registration, you can create a thing with a thing key that the thing can specify to connect to Device Cloud.

When you add a thing, you specify a thing key that the thing must provide when it registers. For the Device Cloud agent, the value must match the value specified in the device_id file with the application name appended, such as bc24cea9-c96a-4767-957e-aac50c304129-device_manager_py. By default, any application that uses the Device Cloud library creates a thing key with the same convention. For information about valid values for the Key box, see Field Formats and Limitations.

Tags are used to filter the display of things. Select any of the existing tags, or type new tags. For more information on tags, see Tag cloud. Security tags are used to limit view access or update access to things. Select any of the existing tags or type new tags.

You must have already defined the thing definition you want to use for the thing.

To add new tags or security tags, you must have organization administrator privileges.

  1. From the Things page, click New thing. The Create a new thing page is displayed.
    Creating a Generic Thing
  2. Click Generic thing on the Creating a new thing page.
  3. Select either Next to go to the Create a new thing page or select Create new thing definition to go to the Adding thing definition page. For more information on adding new thing definitions, see Adding a New Thing Definition.
  4. On the Create a new thing page, click Identification and enter the following values:

    Values

    Description

    Key

    An ASCII unique identifier that must be globally unique within the organization. The key for the thing. Use one of the hardware identifiers, such as an IMEI, ICCID, MAC address, and so on. For more information on Thing Key formats and limitations, see Field Formats and Limitations.

    Name

    Enter the name of the thing.

    Identifier
    For things that are connections, you specify a mobile identifier from the identifier drop-down. The options include:

    • ICCID (Integrated Circuit Card Identifier)

    • ESN (Electronic Serial Number)

    • IMEI

    • MEID

    • IMSI

    Tags

    (Optional)To add or create a filter for the display of things, type a value or select an existing value in the Tags field.

    Security tags

    (Optional) To limit access to view or update the thing, type a value or select an existing value in the Security Tags field.
  5. Click Other.
  6. (Optional) Add a description of the thing.
  7. (Optional) To enable location-related features for the thing, select the Location Enabled check box.
  8. Click Add.

A thing can now register with the thing key you specified.