Only connect to Wifi if there is NO connection

[espwx]

I have notice an issue when calling IOTAppStory::begin() when wifi is already configured on an ESP32. The connection is disconnected and IAS attempts to connect using its own internal routines. This can be annoying and interfere with the authors intent, By only calling when there is no connection, this can be avoided, without and greater impact to the library functionality.

##TLDR
Only connect if not already connected from some action before the IOTAppStory::begin() call. This helps avoids wifi managers interfering with each other - it's a quick hack but seems to work just fine.

[Onno-Dirkzwager]

Hi @espwx,

Thankyou for your pullrequest. I was already working on something very similar for different reasons:

Added a preset so you can decide to setup wifi on boot or not
IAS.preSetConnWifiOnBoot(false or true);
This sets our private bool _automaticWifiConnectOnBoot

Changed var from private to public
this->connected instead of this->_connected
So now you can do if(IAS.connected).....etc in your sketch

Added / made public our connect and disconnect functions
So now you can do IAS.WiFiDisconnect(); & IAS.WiFiConnect(); in your sketch.

And then in the same line as you suggested to change
if((_automaticWifiConnectOnBoot || this->boardMode == 'C') && !this->connected){

So this would let you do the same as you intended with your changes and lets others use our connect and disconnect functions when and if they want to.

You would do:
IAS.preSetConnWifiOnBoot(false);
and set
IAS.connected = true; in your code when connected
To let the library know you are connected and can callhome for updates.

Questions

• I am curious how you would have updated the this->_connected used in your if statement using your own wifi solutions before the IAS.begin()?
• are you using the configmode at all? If not how do you update certificates?
• Second do you agree that my code shown above would give you the "powers" you are looking for? Because after merging your pullrequest if will be overritten with my changes.

[Onno-Dirkzwager]

@espwx some extra info for the future:
After 2.1.0 and some minor following updates the library will splitt into multiple libraries used in the IAS wrapper.

This lets basic users use the library as it is right now. And let the more advanced users decide which parts / libraries they want to use. So in your case you could choose to use other wifi managers or only use the OTA update stuff.

[espwx]

Hi @Onno-Dirkzwager

Thanks for looking into this!

You would do:
IAS.preSetConnWifiOnBoot(false);
and set
IAS.connected = true; in your code when connected
To let the library know you are connected and can callhome for updates.

Yes, this should work.

* I am curious how you would have updated the this->_connected used in your if statement using your own wifi solutions before the IAS.begin()?

A very good question. The WifiMulti library seems to have done that. I did not specifically update that variable, but it did work and skip the this->WiFiSetupAndConnect(); statement, so it can only be the Wifi library?

* are you using the configmode at all? If not how do you update certificates?

I don't use the config mode (yet). I update the certificate by replacing the certificate file directly on the spiffs file system - this is quicker and less interactive.

* Second do you agree that my code shown above would give you the "powers" you are looking for? Because after merging your pullrequest if will be overritten with my changes.

Yes, agreed.

[Onno-Dirkzwager]

@espwx
Great thanks for your quick reply!