Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

day and night event... best approach?

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

    day and night event... best approach?

    I have events that is triggered on a day/night virtual switch that gets changed by another events based on he change between sunset/sunrise. It works when no one touches it but shouldn't there be a simplier way that simply state "If it's daytime then..." and "if it's night time then..." etc...?

    Having seperate events just to tell the system if it's day or night is tidious.

    #2
    Originally posted by dannieboiz View Post
    I have events that is triggered on a day/night virtual switch that gets changed by another events based on he change between sunset/sunrise. It works when no one touches it but shouldn't there be a simplier way that simply state "If it's daytime then..." and "if it's night time then..." etc...?

    Having seperate events just to tell the system if it's day or night is tidious.
    easytrigger will make it simple. you can set whatever schedule you want, set the schedule before sunrise or after sunrise...well worth the cost

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by dannieboiz View Post
      I have events that is triggered on a day/night virtual switch that gets changed by another events based on he change between sunset/sunrise. It works when no one touches it but shouldn't there be a simplier way that simply state "If it's daytime then..." and "if it's night time then..." etc...?

      Having seperate events just to tell the system if it's day or night is tidious.
      There are no triggers for "If it's daytime or If it's nighttime", since you cannot trigger on a block of time. By their very nature Triggers must be a "moment in time". Since HS Triggers are evaluated once a second "IF It is daytime" would trigger the Event 43,200 times on a 12 hour day. There are Triggers:
      • If the time is sunrise (the beginning of daytime)
      • If the time is sunset (the beginning of nighttime)

      There are also Triggers for "this before/after sunrise/sunset" if you want to offset it.

      Click image for larger version  Name:	Capture.PNG Views:	1 Size:	21.9 KB ID:	1238983


      Not to be argumentative, but I don't find two events controlling a virtual device to be tedious. I use that function in a number of events, to save the tediousness of having to add two time conditions to many events and to require editing a bunch of events if I want to change my offsets from sunrise and sunset That said, (as Wade suggested) Easy Trigger schedules are very useful because you can have the offset vary based upon the day of the week and you can easily edit a single schedule that is used in a number of events. There are also HS Conditions of "daytime" and "nighttime", if you want an Event to run only between sunrise and sunset or between sunset and sunrise.



      This is covered in the Event Clinic post on Time Conditions.

      Triggering by Easy Trigger schedules is done either when entering or leaving a schedule. You can use them as Conditions with the time either IN or NOT IN the schedule.

      The most important consideration in any HomeSeer Event is to determine what is to be the Trigger of the event. If you want a light to go on at sunset, the Trigger would be sunset. If you want a light to go on when you enter a room at night, the Trigger is motion, the Condition is nighttime. Sometimes a recurring trigger is the answer, if you need several Conditions to be met. The secret to a successful Event is determining exactly when it should run.
      Last edited by randy; August 9, 2018, 11:59 AM. Reason: typo
      HS4 Pro, 4.2.19.0 Windows 10 pro, Supermicro LP Xeon

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by dannieboiz View Post
        I have events that is triggered on a day/night virtual switch that gets changed by another events based on he change between sunset/sunrise. It works when no one touches it but shouldn't there be a simplier way that simply state "If it's daytime then..." and "if it's night time then..." etc...?
        What do you use the virtual switch for?

        Mike____________________________________________________________ __________________
        HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.548, NUC i3

        HW: Stargate | NX8e | CAV6.6 | Squeezebox | PCS | WGL 800RF | RFXCOM | Vantage Pro | Green-Eye | Edgeport/8 | Way2Call | Ecobee3 | EtherRain | Ubiquiti

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Uncle Michael View Post
          What do you use the virtual switch for?
          An example is to disable a certain motion sensor from either turning on or off the light.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by dannieboiz View Post

            An example is to disable a certain motion sensor from either turning on or off the light.
            You can enable/disable events from within another event. The VS is only needed if you want to have a simple toggle for manual control through an interface.

            Comment


              #7
              It feels like this conversation is taking a new track. The OP wrote:

              Originally posted by dannieboiz View Post
              I have events that is triggered on a day/night virtual switch that gets changed by another events based on he change between sunset/sunrise. It works when no one touches it but shouldn't there be a simplier way that simply state "If it's daytime then..." and "if it's night time then..." etc...?

              Having seperate events just to tell the system if it's day or night is tidious.
              It seems like he is saying his virtual device is a day/night device. Then he writes:

              Originally posted by dannieboiz View Post

              An example is to disable a certain motion sensor from either turning on or off the light.
              Last edited by randy; August 11, 2018, 02:50 PM.
              HS4 Pro, 4.2.19.0 Windows 10 pro, Supermicro LP Xeon

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by dannieboiz View Post

                An example is to disable a certain motion sensor from either turning on or off the light.
                Are you using the device state as a condition on events? Are you aware that there are built-in conditions for daytime and nighttime under 'The time is. . .'?

                Mike____________________________________________________________ __________________
                HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.548, NUC i3

                HW: Stargate | NX8e | CAV6.6 | Squeezebox | PCS | WGL 800RF | RFXCOM | Vantage Pro | Green-Eye | Edgeport/8 | Way2Call | Ecobee3 | EtherRain | Ubiquiti

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Uncle Michael View Post
                  Are you using the device state as a condition on events? Are you aware that there are built-in conditions for daytime and nighttime under 'The time is. . .'?
                  I'm aware of that option that's actually what I'm using to trigger the virtual device that I call day/night.

                  It's been so long I don't remember why I did everything the way I did. But I do remember using just the "the time is" trigger didn't properly work all the time for me.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by dannieboiz View Post
                    But I do remember using just the "the time is" trigger didn't properly work all the time for me.
                    Was that in HS2? I recall that 'The time is exactly...' triggers were sometimes unreliable, especially if the event engine was busy during the critical second when the trigger needed to be evaluated. That does not appear to be an issue in HS3, at least in my experience.

                    Mike____________________________________________________________ __________________
                    HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.548, NUC i3

                    HW: Stargate | NX8e | CAV6.6 | Squeezebox | PCS | WGL 800RF | RFXCOM | Vantage Pro | Green-Eye | Edgeport/8 | Way2Call | Ecobee3 | EtherRain | Ubiquiti

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Uncle Michael View Post
                      Was that in HS2? I recall that 'The time is exactly...' triggers were sometimes unreliable, especially if the event engine was busy during the critical second when the trigger needed to be evaluated. That does not appear to be an issue in HS3, at least in my experience.
                      I've never used HS2 only HS3. I'm not sure exactly what happened at the time. But since the way my sensors are setup now works I never bother investigating.

                      Also, I have HS3 runnning as service on startup. If the PC hard reboot (which happens more often than I like) the day/night trigger sometime gets mixed up. I have to restart HS3 or the computer gracefully to make everything sync again. Having this VD for day/night I can simply toggle it and it'll work properly again.

                      Here's what my even looks like, I know there's a lot going on here for a single device/event but it's what works.

                      Click image for larger version  Name:	Day_night.jpg Views:	1 Size:	61.5 KB ID:	1239480

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by rprade View Post
                        There are no triggers for "If it's daytime or If it's nighttime", since you cannot trigger on a block of time. By their very nature Triggers must be a "moment in time". Since HS Triggers are evaluated once a second "IF It is daytime" would trigger the Event 43,200 times on a 12 hour day. There are Triggers:
                        • If the time is sunrise (the beginning of daytime)
                        • If the time is sunset (the beginning of nighttime)

                        There are also Triggers for "this before/after sunrise/sunset" if you want to offset it.

                        Click image for larger version Name:	Capture.PNG Views:	1 Size:	21.9 KB ID:	1238983


                        Not to be argumentative, but I don't find two events controlling a virtual device to be tedious. I use that function in a number of events, to save the tediousness of having to add two time conditions to many events and to require editing a bunch of events if I want to change my offsets from sunrise and sunset That said, (as Wade suggested) Easy Trigger schedules are very useful because you can have the offset vary based upon the day of the week and you can easily edit a single schedule that is used in a number of events. There are also HS Conditions of "daytime" and "nighttime", if you want an Event to run only between sunrise and sunset or between sunset and sunrise.



                        This is covered in the Event Clinic post on Time Conditions.

                        Triggering by Easy Trigger schedules is done either when entering or leaving a schedule. You can use them as Conditions with the time either IN or NOT IN the schedule.

                        The most important consideration in any HomeSeer Event is to determine what is to be the Trigger of the event. If you want a light to go on at sunset, the Trigger would be sunset. If you want a light to go on when you enter a room at night, the Trigger is motion, the Condition is nighttime. Sometimes a recurring trigger is the answer, if you need several Conditions to be met. The secret to a successful Event is determining exactly when it should run.
                        Been reading this on my phone and never noticed those photos... Just caught this now...


                        My "the time is.." does not have all those. I wish it did. Assume that's Easy trigger on the 2nd photo?

                        This is all I have with mine like the first photo. I trialed EasyTrigger but let it expire since I only have 1 event that requires this day/night. I couldn't justisfy paying for Easy Trigger.

                        Click image for larger version  Name:	timeis.jpg Views:	1 Size:	46.7 KB ID:	1239482

                        Comment


                          #13
                          You're looking at the trigger (IF); he's showing the condition (AND IF)

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by dannieboiz View Post

                            Been reading this on my phone and never noticed those photos... Just caught this now...


                            My "the time is.." does not have all those. I wish it did. Assume that's Easy trigger?

                            This is all I have with mine.

                            Click image for larger version  Name:	timeis.jpg Views:	1 Size:	46.7 KB ID:	1239482
                            No those are standard HS Conditions. They are not Easy Trigger. You are showing a Trigger, Conditions are different. A Trigger must be a moment in time where a Condition can be a range of time.

                            That is why I wrote above "The most important consideration in any HomeSeer Event is to determine what is to be the Trigger of the event. If you want a light to go on at sunset, the Trigger would be sunset. If you want a light to go on when you enter a room at night, the Trigger is motion, the Condition is nighttime. Sometimes a recurring trigger is the answer, if you need several Conditions to be met. The secret to a successful Event is determining exactly when it should run."
                            HS4 Pro, 4.2.19.0 Windows 10 pro, Supermicro LP Xeon

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by zwolfpack View Post
                              You're looking at the trigger (IF); he's showing the condition (AND IF)
                              OMFG... I see it now. Oh boy how much I don't know the the capacity of HS. Going to poke at this for a little bit. Thanks guys this will open more doors for sure.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X