> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://admin-things5.gitbook.io/things5/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://admin-things5.gitbook.io/things5/glossary.md).

# Glossary

### Device

The device is the main functional unit of the platform, it represents a physical device.

### Device group

A set of devices that is used for organisational purposes. The standard user will be able to access a limited number of groups, this way the admin can limit the visibility of each group by user.

### Event

Defines something that happens in a specific point in time, with no duration.\
Eg.: A system failure like "alarm\_2031" due to a mechanical problem.

### Firmware

The software that provides low-level control for the device's embedded hardware.\
It can be updated remotely using Things5 web platform or via API

### Metric

Any kind of value that contribute to describe a numeric measure like "speed" or "temperature".

### Parameter

The hardware parameters and settings that can be read and written on the control unit.

### Recipe

A recipe is the digital twin of a program that is available on the physical device: through the platform you can edit the parameters of an existing recipe, or you can create a new recipe that can be written on the device.

### State

A state is a variable that can assume different values of type string. \
A state variable defines the state of a device metric for a period of time, until the state variable assumes another value. Eg.: a "door\_status" state variable can assume the values "open" and "closed". \
A "compressor\_status" state variable can assume the value "on" "off". \
A "machine\_status" variable can assume for instances the values “on” | ”off” | ”stand\_by” | ”updating\_firmware”


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