[Support WITHDRAWN] GCal-Search: Google Calendar Event contact sensor/switch

UPDATE: @infofiend has taken up this project as his own. You can find his support thread [UPDATED 3/27/17] GCal Search

I happen to use my ST setup as my alarm clock. It’s so much harder to hit snooze if your bedroom light is on! But because of random days off or late start days I’d have to keep modifying the routine. Thus GCal-Search is born. I created a Google Calendar and can stick events on it that my routines can deal with via virtual switches and/or contact sensors.

If the polling/scheduling continues to improve this should end up working out well. Thus far I’ve had it run all weekend looking at my calendars and it hasn’t failed yet. crosses fingers

The app works by creating sub-apps that have a virtual device with the contact and switch capabilities. This will allow you to select a single calendar per sub-app and also create a search string so that you can have it only look at events that match instead of all events. This allows me to have a single calendar that I look for entries for Holiday for one virtual sensor and a second one that looks for LateStart as a second sensor.

https://github.com/mnestor/GCal-Search

I use this in combination with RuleMachine and even Routines. So that my Rules/Routines don’t activate if the sensor/switch is open/on. And since it acts as a switch/sensor you can trigger other rules to happen at the time.

Why not use IFTTT?

  • More customization and 1 less link in the chain that can break.

Installation with GitHub Integration:
To get the latest updates for GCal-Search, the best way is to enable the GitHub Integration in your IDE, and then:

  1. Go to My SmartApps in the IDE
  2. Click on Settings
  3. Click on Add New Repository
  4. Owner=mnestor, Name=GCal-Search, Branch=master
  5. Goto My Device Handlers in the IDE
  6. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4

I have been bad about keeping this updated. @MichaelS has contributed a lot towards a better UI for us and fixing and refixing minor bugs dealing with the ST API. The updates aren’t anything required at this point (20160304) but you can never be too sure.

Updates:

  • Device

    • 20160302.1 - Versioning information listed now
  • SmartApps:

    • 20160304.1 - Various UI changes
  • Both:

    • 20160229.1 - UI/UX improvements and custom icons all contributed by @MichaelS
  • 20160223.2 - Don’t make a quick change and forget to test

  • 20160223.1 - Error checking - Force check for Device Handler so we can let the user have a more informative error

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This is fantastic. Definitely send a Pull Request!

Thank you. I’d like to do that eventually. I still feel as if I need a bit more polish done first as well as ST really needs to have the polling/scheduling issues resolved or this won’t work as well as it should.


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Holy cow! I just started sweating over here. “please work, please work…”

Is this the ST version of Reddit Gold?

2 Likes

Ha! This is so awesome Mike…no wait, it’s Way better than Awesome. :wink:

I get “failed to save page: select calanders” after setup GCAL Search Trigger

@flakhany, can you give me the steps you did to get that error?

Just add a bit though. You only need to install the GCal Search and configure that. GCal Search will create instances of GCal Search Trigger on it’s own so you never create that yourself.

I performed following:

a. Published the apps as per instructions.
b. From my apps ran GCAL search and authenticated the google account
c. Clicked New GCAL Search and selected the calandar and assigned the name and pressed DONE
d. got a message in green that GCal Search Trigger is setup and running

  • after D, the screen should close. If i press “DONE” again i get the error “Failed to save page: select calendars”

@flakhany, hmm. This is where I’m going to wish I had a second ST hub so I don’t have to destroy all my settings.

Can you watch your Live Log screen when you do that and send the entries to me?

I don’t see any virtual devices created in my things

My hub just went offline so I can’t check this till I get home but I just pushed to git a possible reason for this. If you get the latest it may fix it.

I had a funny error trying to create my first calendar device too, but that was because I only published the smart apps and didn’t create the 3rd thing, the device handler gcal-event-sensor.src. After that, everything worked great.

Yeah, there are a few too many pieces here to make it work the way I’d envisioned. Wish I could have made an easier install process!

I updated from git, and issue is still the same. checked the live log. nothing generated on live log.

oh. i didn’t created the device handler :frowning:
let me check and update

This is the coolest toy yet, Mike. :wink: Having a few parts isn’t so bad, but you might want to include the src links in your setup guide.

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awesome! love this idea. been wanting to do this for a while. check this out @ashutosh1982

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Hey !!! It works perfectly. Thank you so much Mike and Keith :slightly_smiling:

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