Kodi Playlists

[Paul_Preston (Paul)]

Hi

Just curious if anyone has found a way of starting a Kodi playlist thru ST? My setup… kodi is on a dedicated windows machine along with event ghost. I know I can start the playlist with Eventghost no problem. I have tasker and Sharp Tools installed on a tablet. I think I have all or most of the tools… just want to see if anyone has tried this yet or maybe knows a better way.

Thanks

[joshua_lyon (Josh, SharpTools.io Dashboard)]

@Paul_Preston

I found a way to start Kodi playlist with Momentary buttons… Task on an android sees the button press and sends a HTTP post to Event Ghost on a PC. Anyways, it works great except ST sends 4 “presses” with each press, which in turns starts the playlist 4 times. Not a huge deal just wanted to see if you ran into anything like this before?

How is the Tasker profile setup? Would you mind posting a description export of the Tasker profile?
http://tasker.dinglisch.net/userguide/en/faqs/faq-how.html#q

How to Export a Profile:

• Ensure that Menu / Prefs / UI / Beginner Mode is unchecked
• Go to the main screen
• Long-click on the thing you want to export
• Open the menu and select Export > Description

Based on the above commentary, it sounds like you might be subscribing to one of the attributes in SharpTools and then reacting to it in Tasker using the ‘Thing State’ event plugin. How is the momentary butting being pressed.

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Edit: Have you considered using something like Pushbullet to directly send the SmartThings events to Eventghost? While I love seeing interesting use cases for SharpTools, I just wonder if going through SharpTools and Tasker is adding one additional hop that could be removed. (What if the phone dies or isn’t on the network when the events are triggered?)

It looks like there is an EventGhost Pushbullet plugin and there is a Pushbullet Notifier SmartApp for SmartThings.

[Paul_Preston (Paul)]

Hi Joshua

Sorry for the delay… busy week and it’s only Tuesday.

I’m using Tasker because I’m already using it on tablets around the house to display different apps for different home modes. I’ve never heard of Pushbullet but I’ll look into it.

Yes, I have subscribed to a Thing state… A virtual momentary button. It’s pressed directly on the ST mobile app. If the “task” is run directly from Tasker I only get one command sent to Event Ghost. If I use ST, I get 4 commands to sent EventGhost. Maybe I just need to find a way to have Tasker ignore the extra commands. Maybe ST just send 4 commands, I have no idea

What do you think?
Thanks for the help.
Paul

Profile: Start Playlist 3+ (17)
Event: Thing State [ Configuration:Thing: ALL
Attribute: ALL

The following variables are set when triggered:
%st_attr_name
%st_attr_value
%st_thing_id
%st_thing_name ]
Enter: Load Playlist 3+ (18)
A1: HTTP Post [ Server:Port:192.168.1.101:8081 Path: Data / File:Load Playlist 3+ Cookies: User Agent: Timeout:10 Content Type:Text Output File: Trust Any Certificate:Off ] If [ %st_thing_name ~ VS Playlist 3+ ]

[joshua_lyon (Josh, SharpTools.io Dashboard)]

@Paul_Preston

Event: Thing State 
Configuration:
  Thing: ALL
  Attribute: ALL

You may want to fill in the filters to prevent the event from getting tripped unnecessarily. What attribute(s) are you subscribed to?

[Paul_Preston (Paul)]

Hi

I’m subscribed to the modes and just one switch. The one switch is for just this setup. I’ll try adding the device name to narrow it down or would it be just an attribute I would be looking for?

…off topic… are you good with Tasker? I’m trying to setup a “profile” that will re-check all my profiles and re-open any apps that match. I already have it opening apps on mode changes. But if the app gets changed or closed I would love to see it re-open after x minutes of no activity. I tried searching on-line with no luck. Does that make sense?

Thanks again

[joshua_lyon (Josh, SharpTools.io Dashboard)]

@Paul_Preston

I’ll try adding the device name to narrow it down or would it be just an attribute I would be looking for?

Typically, the device name narrows things down most, but keep in mind you can add both filters.

• Device: VS Playlist
• Attribute: Switch

You may also want to consider using a conditional action to determine when to trigger your event. For example, if you are subscribed to a Virtual Switch, then you probably only want the event to occur when the switch is flipped ON and not when it goes back off. In that case, you’ll add a conditional action If %st_attr_value ~ on for the HTTP call in your Tasker profile. (tutorial link).

I would also recommend checking out this article I wrote which better explains how the Thing State event plugin works:

Event: Thing State - SharpTools - Tasker and Widgets for SmartThings

At the end of the article is a video that walks through how the Thing State event plugin works and how to use it.

The last section on Thing State Event Filters will be of particular interest to you. It explains how the various matching features work, a few examples of leaving each field blank, and how the partial content matching works.

@Paul_Preston

are you good with Tasker?

Even after developing SharpTools, I’m still amazed every day at the things people are doing with Tasker that I never thought of!

@Paul_Preston

I’m trying to setup a “profile” that will re-check all my profiles and re-open any apps that match.

Are you trying to have Tasker reopen apps on the Android device or send something to Event Ghost to have it open desktop applications?

[Paul_Preston (Paul)]

HI again…

I may have found the answer… In Tasker, I set a “cooldown” for each profile… I did 3 seconds. Seems to be working.

I’m trying to reopen apps on Android. For example, the music mode opens Yatse… Which is great, but if I go to a different app, I would like to see it go back to Yatse after a time out. I know I ask a lot

Thanks again for a great app.