Multiple ModeSets? Global Variables?

General Discussion
1

Is there any way at all to have more than one Mode? I need to be able to track multiple “states” across my SmartApps, states that don’t relate to each other and whose permutations makes it impossible to store everything in a single global state.

States like:

  • HomePresence: ParentHome,TeenagerAlone,NobodyHome
  • TimeOfDay: Day, Night,Dusk,Dawn
  • Security: Disarmed, Arming, Armed, Tripped
  • DoNotDisturb: On, Off

I should be able to set each of these ”global variables”/“ModeSets” individually and use their present value in any scripts. This is incredibly easy everywhere but with Smartthings….

Has anyone found a way to track virtual states across SmartApps at all? Maybe with a Virtual Device?

I’m really getting discouraged with SmartThings - after almost a year, I have been able to do less than 5% of what I could do with MisterHouse and X10. I expected a learning curve, but not total roadblocks with simple concepts like global state variables.

2
Has anyone found a way to track virtual states across SmartApps at all? Maybe with a Virtual Device?

Perhaps ｙou can create some device types from On/Off Button Tile, one of the Device Type Examples available in IDE. I use that verbatim myself because I only need two values for each state: home/away, day/night, but I believe you can extend that example to have more values.

3

Is http://build.smartthings.com/forums/topic/unofficial-smartthings-arduino-documentation-collection/ the best tutorial for this?

Could you describe the process for creating this and using it?