Event Trigger - Value Less Than?

[YoYo]

Hi All,
I may be approaching this wrong, so I'd appreciate any suggestions...

I want to create an event that will automatically close my garage doors after 5 minutes when the outside temp is below say 50 degrees.

Closing the garage doors is no problem, I've got a script to cover that, but when I went to write the event trigger as above, I discovered that I could only specify a value equal to, not less than.

My outside temperature is stored in a virtual device and both DeviceString and DeviceValue are set to about the same thing. (DeviceValue is rounded to the nearest degree)

My thought is to only specify the "garage door open for 5 minutes" in the trigger, then call a script to work out the temperature part. Just didn't want to have another script run if it wasn't necessary. Should I be storing the temp differently?

Thoughts?

[Rupp]

I think you need to use "device value change" as the trigger type. Then you can use the less than type.

[YoYo]

Ahh yes.... I see it now. So I have to use "Device Value Change" as the type first, then tick the "Apply Conditions to trigger" box, so I can enter the rest of the criteria.

Thanks for the help!

[electron]

if you can't get it to work, take a look at the Super Trigger plugin, it is designed to do this kind of stuff.

http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=9

[YoYo]

Well, I may have jumped the gun a bit. As it turns out I can't use "Device Value Change" on less than 50, because then the event will only trigger when the outside temp actually drops below 50 once.

I went ahead and tried the Super Trigger plug-in as Electron suggested and was successful.

This seems to me to be a very basic capability oversight.

[Rupp]

YOYO,
How are you setting up the event? The event should trigger every time the value drops below 50. Does it not?

[YoYo]

YOYO,
How are you setting up the event? The event should trigger every time the value drops below 50. Does it not?

Hi Rupp,
Oh it does, but the temp will probably stay below 50 for the next several months, while the garage door will be open and closed several times during the same period. You see, the temp will not be changing to below 50; it's the garage door that does the changing.

The way I am forced to write the trigger if I want to compare a value is to use the "Device Value Change" type of trigger first. The problem is, the value probably won't change to below 50. When I need the event to trigger, it simply will be below 50. What is changing is the status of the garage door.

So... what I really need is to use "By condition" as the trigger type on the garage door being open for 5 minutes AND add to that the temperature comparision as in:

IF Device: Garage Door Status Has been OFF for exactly 0:05 hrs/mins
Device: Outside Temperature value is less than 50

Unfortunately, the only comparison choice is "value equals" so I was dead in the water until Super Trigger.

Seems a fairly basic omission to me, forces you to use a script for something I feel is fairly basic logic.

[sonypoolplr]

You could also set up a virtual device that gets set to "on" when the temperature goes below 50 degrees. Then use the "By Condition" trigger and have one of the conditions be the garage door being open for 5 mins and another condition being that virtual device being on.

[YoYo]

Hi sonypoolplr,

That is a great workaround!

[DC]

I agree ...

Unfortunately, the only comparison choice is "value equals" so I was dead in the water until Super Trigger.

Seems a fairly basic omission to me, forces you to use a script for something I feel is fairly basic logic.

YoYo, I agree with you. I have several situations that I need GT and LT comparisons. I can't understand why that isn't available. I've even made a formal request for it (via Help Desk ticket #1933, opened on 5/8/03) but it still hasn't been added. I know every feature requested can't be added to a software program, but this is so basic it seems it should be handled more as a bug fix than an enhancement request. Maybe there is a technical reason why they can't do it but I can't imagine what it would be. The logic is there to compare EQ, it doesn't seem that it would be difficult at all to add two other comparisons. Or really there should also be NE (not equal), GE (greater than or equal) and LE (less than or equal).

[Michael McSharry]

The mcsTemperature and the SuperTrigger plugins both provide this capability. The homeseer model for devices is essentially based upon a discrete set of values. The concept of a analog or continuous values goes beyond its current architecture. Of course it is only software and can be changed.