Simplerulebuilder - now private

It is definitely not working. The lights do not turn on or off with the door. The light doesn’t show anything hitting it from the rules engine.

How can I debug this?

Todd

This is what I have set. It is definitely not working, but when I had the same thing set up using native ST, it worked fine.

I don’t have any contact sensors, so testing there has been non-existent, thanks for bearing with me. I found a bug related to how the data from contact sensors was being saved in the rules engine. Can you try it now and see if it works?

Hi @JoeC, I’ve been using it for a while now and it seems reliable.

Another feature request! I would like to have an HTTP trigger so that an event from another system (like Kodi) can trigger an action (like dimming the lights) [and this is where the rules come in] at certain times of the day.

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It seems to be working now!

Thanks!

-Todd

Yes, seems to be working because my garage door opened when I arrived home after my security system was disarmed.

Just updated the rule engine to use modes, and added the alarm capability type.

Modes can be a trigger, condition, or action:

Trigger: Mode changes TO ____ or Mode changes FROM ____
Condition: Mode Is ______ or Mode is not _______
Action: change Mode to ______.

Try it out and let me know what you think.

Also, my house was burglarized yesterday, a guy kicked my door in and took some things. (everyone is OK, drop cam saw the whole thing (then was stolen!)) On the plus side, this prompted me to buy a z-wave alarm and further prompted me to build support into the rules engine. Only minimal testing on this so far, but it seems to work.

In addition to all of that, I’ve decided to open it up to more users. PM me if you’d like to use the rules builder.

Next up, days and times as conditions. Daylight savings time is coming up, I’m confident that time scheduled triggers will be a little off on Sunday. Should be fine after that, but we’ll see.

Thanks for all of your feedback so far!

I am sorry to hear that. Thanks for all your work and hope you were able to recover.

@JoeC Sorry to hear about that. Glad to hear that everyone is OK. Looking forward to using the modes!

So sorry to hear that. Hope they get him. But I hope the dropcam uploaded pictures??? I ordered one today rather than other fancy gadget and hope it’s a good investment.

I’m glad everyone is okay. Knowing that makes the part where they got recorded by the camera as they stole it kind of funny. (We have to laugh to keep from crying, right?)

Also, 2 days ago I came home and my heater wasn’t on. I was like hey! Then I realized it was above 40 degrees! So, that worked great.

Looking at the logs, though, I see it sending On all day long even when it is already on, so I think I should add a if it is off condition so it’s not spamming my house all day.

Might be a good recommended best-practice for users.

Todd.

Most importantly no one was hurt. Take care and I hope they get him!

Is there a way to get a timer in the conditions. So If something was turned on or off, or a mode changed and after a certain amount of time it would do something else? I do not see the option for timer or time of day in the conditions area.

Here is what I am envisioning for time:

Trigger:
Time of Day becomes ____ (already done)

Conditions:
Time of day is less than ____
Time of day is greater than ____
Day of week is ___ (show a checkbox for each day of the week)

Action
This wouldn’t be a true action (we can’t change the time of day yet, right?), but an action modifier.

It would be an additional option for another action, in the form of: Wait X minutes, then do action.

Example: Trigger: front door unlocks, Condition: Time is greater than 8:00 pm, Action: Wait 5 minutes, lock the front door

I hadn’t thought about a condition like ‘if the mode has been Away for more than x hours’, or ‘switch has been on for more than x hours’. Would anyone else out there find that useful? I’m not sure how I would execute on that yet, but the idea is interesting. Is this an edge case or a common situation?

“Run for X minutes” (or the equivalent “turn off after x minutes”) is a really common home automation scenario, although it introduces many opportunities for users to set up conflicting rules and hurt themselves.

Some of the ones recently discussed in the forums:

In the morning, run on-demand water heater for x minutes, then shut off.

When feeding aquarium fish, turn off circulating pump for x minutes (to give fish time to feed), then turn back on.

When someone goes in the kitchen, turn lights on for 5 minutes, then turn off after 5 minutes of no motion. Similar use cases for bathrooms, porch lights, etc.

When window opens, sound alarm for 5 minutes, then turn off.

Late at night when motion is detected next to bed, turn off zone alarm along interior path to kitchen, then turn back on in x minutes.

When door is unlocked with code, turn off entry zone alarm for 3 minutes ( to allow time for pin entry disarm), then rearm.

When message received, turned notify light red for 5 minutes, then turn back to white.

When Up24 steps goal achieved, turn on power to TV for 90 minutes, then turn off.

When humidity threshhold falls below a certain point, turn on humidifier for 30 minutes. (Usually this is a dumb humidifier plugged into a smart switch.)

When assistance needed condition detected (usually for a child or person with disability), voice or blinking light alert caregiver in other room for two minutes, then turn off.

There are more, but that gives some examples.

@JDRoberts Agreed a timer function is esstintial.

I’ve already told @JoeC but this works great! SmartThings needs to pay this guy!
:dollar: :dollar: :dollar: :dollar: :dollar: :dollar: :dollar: :dollar:

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I have to agree. Yesterday, I took the time to transfer the a majority of my SmartApps to the Web-based rules engine and things have been running smooth, About to add a bunch more stuff this weekend. Excellent work @JoeC.

This is great. Rules make total sense.

I agree on the need for timer.

It also needs end conditions, (i.e. start at 11pm and end at 4am, or start when motion x is detected, but end when motion y is detected

@JoeC is it some how possible to pass a more descriptive entry in the activity log. Perhaps the name of the rule. I hope that is not a noobie statement that maybe should be a question? :relieved: