Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Delayed Device Action

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Delayed Device Action

    In a HomeSeer native Device Control action, a delay can be imposed on the action. This is only available on HomeSeer Device Control Actions, not on 3rd party (plug-in) Device controls.

    In an Event when you control a Device you are presented with "After Waiting:" where you can select from a second to several days or anything in between. Here I have imposed a delay of 5 minutes.

    Click image for larger version  Name:	DelayedDeviceStart.PNG Views:	1 Size:	30.6 KB ID:	1269859

    When the above Event is run the Action will be delayed by 5 Minutes. As in Delayed Events, HomeSeer will create a fresh Event with a time dependent Trigger. It will be placed in a special Event Group "Delayed Actions"

    Click image for larger version  Name:	DelayedActionGroup.PNG Views:	1 Size:	9.9 KB ID:	1269860

    Inside the group will be a new Event to perform the Action, with a time Trigger Exactly 5 minutes after the first Event has run.

    Click image for larger version  Name:	DelayedDeviceAction.PNG Views:	1 Size:	38.7 KB ID:	1269861

    You should also note that the Event has the advanced option "Remove This Event After Triggering" selected. In summation the steps are as follow:
    • The first Event runs with a Delay on the Device Action
    • A secondary (self-deleting) Event is created with a Time Trigger equal to the current time plus the Delay imposed in th action. In the above case 5 minutes
    • After the time has lapsed the secondary Event will run, performing the device action called for in the first Event
    • The secondary Event is deleted after running
    • Since the Delayed Device Action temporary Event has a time trigger, if HomeSeer is down at the time of the trigger, it will run the next day at that time.
    As you can see there are several steps involved in this process, making it somewhat inefficient for very short delays. For a short delay of 1-10 seconds a Wait Action is preferable as it saves the database writing and subsequent deleting of the delay Event. For longer delays, the Delayed Device Action is usually preferable to suspending an Event. It is important to understand that the Delay applies only to a specific Device. All actions are performed at the instant the Event is run, with delays built in to the Actions. In this Event Device1 will be turned on in 5 minutes, Device2 immediately and Device 3 after 1 minute. The Delays are independent and do not affect anything else in the Event.

    Click image for larger version  Name:	DelayedDeviceAction1.PNG Views:	1 Size:	39.5 KB ID:	1269862

    Any Delayed Device Action in the queue Group can be cancelled by the Event Action "Cancel a Delayed Device Action", before it runs. If you cancel a Delayed Device Action for a particular Device, all delayed Events for that device will be Cancelled. This will be covered in another Thread.
    HS4 Pro, 4.2.19.0 Windows 10 pro, Supermicro LP Xeon

    #2
    Thanks. Very helpful!

    Comment


      #3
      I have a question in relation to this and would like to know how to best achieve it.

      Ex. At 10PM I set a light to dim to 50%, then an hour later dim to 40%, then an hour later dim to 30%.

      What happens however is that if the light is manually turned off at any time within the interval it is then turned back on at the next interval time to that dim level.

      What is the best way to achieve this as I don’t want the light to turn back on if it is already off.

      Comment


        #4
        You could create a separate event:

        IF light changes and becomes off
        THEN clear delayed device actions for light
        -Wade

        Comment


          #5
          Ha! Great suggestion. Thanks so much.

          Comment

          Working...
          X