Multi-State Virtual Switch

[Chaz]

Is there a virtual device type that can handle 3 (or more) different states? My goal is to have one virtual switch that can represent each home state (home, night, away) for use with IFTTT.

I.e. State 1 = Home, State 2 = Night, State 3 = Away

Thanks!

[brumster (Paul)]

Must be possible if a thermostat can be off/heat/cool ???

[tgauchat (ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)]

Is there a virtual device type that can handle 3 (or more) different states?

A Switch is only “on/off”.

One possibility is a Virtual Dimmer… that gives you 100 values (0 to 100%); but you could break it into 4 ranges (0-24, 25-49, etc.).

[hikenbike]

where is this virtual dimmer? I don’t see any it in the device list. Are all virtual devices names starting with “simulated”

[JDRoberts]

Is there a virtual device type that can handle 3 (or more) different states? My goal is to have one virtual switch that can represent each home state (home, night, away) for use with IFTTT.

I.e. State 1 = Home, State 2 = Night, State 3 = Away

Thanks!

Yes, the “simulated” Device type handlers are virtual devices. The exact name doesn’t matter, that’s just up to the original author of that DTH.

Meanwhile, to go back to the question in the first post of this topic, there is now a community – created DTH that can handle up to 4 states but isn’t a dimmer. See the following

3 or more state virtual "button"?

I have found myself using virtual buttons to monitor and report states for simple applications. For example, "has the mail been delivered today." The buttons are triggered by rules in CoRE based on acceleration sensors, contact sensors, etc. I think this is a pretty common practice in this community. I have a few applications where a two-state on/off virtual button is not good enough. I'm looking for a way to do 3-or-more state buttons easily. Here's an example application. Our dog eats twice a day, once in the morning, once at night. I'd like to monitor whether or not my daughter has fed the dog. If she hasn't fed her by 8:30am, send a text. If she hasn't fed her a second time by 8;30pm, send another text. This is easy enough to do with CoRE but I'd also like a visible stat…

[tgauchat (ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)]

Meanwhile, to go back to the question in the first post of this topic, there is now a community – created DTH that can handle up to 4 states but isn’t a dimmer. See the following…

“Anybody” can write a DTH that is non-conforming to an official SmartThings Capability.

Such a DTH is not compatible with 3rd party SmartApps.

Of course, this is largely a problem of the non-evolving Capability structure of the SmartThings Platform.

(but…using a virtual dimmer simply layers on top of the “setLevel” Capability, and thus remains confirming).