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Trigger or condition on active calendar event. I need the straight dope

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    Trigger or condition on active calendar event. I need the straight dope

    Can one trigger or condition an event by a calendar event being active with a certain name, or contains certain words, or is from a certain calendar? The Vera plugin for Google Calendar does nothing more than turn a virtual device on when an active event contains specified words and it works well..... if it doesn't really do too much. If I'm understanding things correctly I need to put a ton of code into an event or email to trigger an event that already exists. Is this the case?

    If not, what are people actually using this plugin for?
    Originally posted by rprade
    There is no rhyme or reason to the anarchy a defective Z-Wave device can cause

    #2
    I too am curious about this. While I don't mind doing some of the suggested formatting of event descriptions in google calendar, I think having it trigger as @S-F suggests would be nice as well. This is especially needed for my Wife who won't even consider taking the time to "program" google calendar and homeseer to do something (an I don't blame her). A great use case would be:


    HS event looks if there is an event happening that has the word "Doctor" in it. That morning (or maybe some time before), the event can fire and speak out a reminder through the house. It could also look for any events that day with those keywords and when we wake up speak "Reminder: [google calendar description] at [Google calendar description] (I realize that the action may need to be a script).

    That said, I guess some of this could be handled by script (as I believe there is a way to get the calendar entries for the day through script).

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by S-F View Post
      Can one trigger or condition an event by a calendar event being active with a certain name, or contains certain words, or is from a certain calendar? The Vera plugin for Google Calendar does nothing more than turn a virtual device on when an active event contains specified words and it works well..... if it doesn't really do too much. If I'm understanding things correctly I need to put a ton of code into an event or email to trigger an event that already exists. Is this the case?

      If not, what are people actually using this plugin for?
      You should be able to do this.
      If you create a handler in the plugin and use a trigger phrase of "Doctor" then the plugin will execute the before/after commands for any event with the word "Doctor" in the name.
      Cheers,
      Bob
      Web site | Help Desk | Feature Requests | Message Board

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Blade View Post
        You should be able to do this.
        If you create a handler in the plugin and use a trigger phrase of "Doctor" then the plugin will execute the before/after commands for any event with the word "Doctor" in the name.

        Sounds promising. I'm currently unemployed, so I won't start the trial until I know I can pay for it if I decide to keep it. My Wife was fully on board with this though if I could use it to remind her of her schedule for the day.

        Comment


          #5
          OK let me know if you run into any issues when you are testing
          Cheers,
          Bob
          Web site | Help Desk | Feature Requests | Message Board

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Blade View Post
            You should be able to do this.
            If you create a handler in the plugin and use a trigger phrase of "Doctor" then the plugin will execute the before/after commands for any event with the word "Doctor" in the name.
            OK, so I am new at this as well, and like S-F, come from Vera where things are relatively simple in this regard and work very effectively.

            I am trying to have the app do exactly what S-F mentioned, and have a calendar event turn on a virtual device, then turn it off when the event has ended. I am assuming that I will require 2 handlers for each virtual device that I want to control, one to turn it off, and one to turn it on.

            I have 'attempted' to make this work, and I'm half way there.

            In my Google calendar I have all the holidays defined with the word 'Holiday' in the description. Therefore, I would be looking for the trigger word 'Holiday' to make the magic happen, so I enter that into the 'Trigger'. dialog box In my instance, I just want to turn on the virtual switch 'Holiday' so I enter the script
            Code:
            HS[ControlDevice~Holiday~On]
            into the before/after commands section.

            I called this 'Holiday On' so I entered that into the Handler Name.

            This works. But...

            I did the same for 'Holiday Off', changing the Control function to Off instead of On and having it trigger at the end of the calendar event using the check box. As soon as I do this, it seems to ignore the 'use end time' function and it fires them both at the same time, essentially cancelling each other out at the beginning of the event. As soon as I erase the Off trigger and I manually turn off the virtual device, it will turn it on at the correct time.

            I suppose that I could create delays, but seeing as these are used to track very long 'events' such as spring break, Christmas break, and the period of time that my son spends at my house as apposed to his mothers, these would create VERY long delay times. It would be much more effective if the 'end time' function worked correctly, or more probably that I used it correctly.

            I would appreciate some help here!

            Thanks in advance

            Vodden

            Comment


              #7
              Did you try putting the off in the after commands box?

              If it does not work you will have to capture the issue with debug logging turned on in the plugin. Log a help desk ticket on my web site and attach the debug log zipped to the ticket
              Cheers,
              Bob
              Web site | Help Desk | Feature Requests | Message Board

              Comment


                #8
                I tried putting both the off and on commands in the after box, but no dice. I will send you the files you requested ASAP

                Vodden

                Comment


                  #9
                  Blade

                  I have also noticed that once the Handler is saved and then re-opened for editing, the 'Use End Time' check box disappears.

                  Just an FYI

                  Vodden

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Blade

                    Where will I find the log files you require?

                    Vodden

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Vodden View Post
                      Blade

                      Where will I find the log files you require?

                      Vodden

                      On the options tab of the plugin you will need to check debug logging. Then once your error has occurred you uncheck the option. and at the root of your HS3 folder there will be a file called BLGData_Detailed or something like that. That's the debug log needed.
                      Originally posted by rprade
                      There is no rhyme or reason to the anarchy a defective Z-Wave device can cause

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Found it S-F

                        Thanks dude.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Should have posted this a while ago but thought it was important to share that @Blade helped me work thru this and we managed to get it working in the manner that @S-F and I are accustomed to from over at Vera.

                          We did a bunch of testing and found that in order to make it work correctly and have the app turn on a device at the beginning of a schedule and then off at the end, you need have either a start time offset or a start and finish time offset entered into the offset entry boxes. I tried every combination; no offsets, start offset only, both offsets, and finish offset only. Then, enter the command you want to occur in the top command box, and the end command in the bottom command box. Blade has stated that he will try to make it function without the need for the offsets entered.

                          For me, this is satisfactory, as I am using it for 'big' events like holidays and spring break/summer break, so a minute here and there doesn't make a difference. If using it for more precise timing, this could be an issue.

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