Send Email Event Action variables

[rmasonjr]

When creating a Send Email Event's Action, it would be nice to have access to some 'variables' related to the event to cut down on the number of events I have to create.

For example, I have 5 DS10a water leak detectors. Rather than create a single event for each one's device change, I'd like a single event called 'leakDetector' that has an email action. Within the message of the email, I'd like it to be generic:

Water leak detected by $deviceUnit $deviceCode when status changed to $status at $time

etc.

Any thoughts? Is there a current way to do this - maybe via script?

[Rupp]

Check out "Using Replacement Variables" in the HS help files and see if this helps.

[rmasonjr]

I must have a different version. I searched on "replacement variables" and get no topics found.

I'm on HS 2.2.0.66

[Rupp]

Try searching on "substitution variable"

[rmasonjr]

Found it - thanks Rupp!!!

[VirtualPanther]

So, a few years later, where are we with these variables in emails? How can I insert a problem device name into email?

[Uncle Michael]

How can I insert a problem device name into email?

I don't think there is a substitution variable for that. How are you determining that you have a 'problem device'?

[VirtualPanther]

I don't think there is a substitution variable for that. How are you determining that you have a 'problem device'?

Sorry for being unclear. What I am trying to do is actually quite simple, comparing to what i found on this board

I just bought four leak sensors that were on sale in HomeSeer store. I have well water and must add chlorine to my toilets manually or all kind of bugs will grow there. Chlorine eats rubber, toilets may leak. One actually did last year; so badly that buying sensors now is an extremely cheap solution.

But, back to my dilemma. I want to receive an e-mail if leak is detected. Obviously, I want the message to tell me which if the sensors detected a leak. Especially so since I plan to add a few more: sump pump, water heater, etc... The only way I know how to do that right now is to create individual event -- one per sensor -- that would have an e-mail notification as an action when sensor alarm device changes to ON. the name of sensor in the subject of e-mail message and place "leak detects at $time on $date" in the body of message. Works great. The only problem: event cluttering.

If there was a way to have a replacement variable for device name, without specifying device ahead of time, so that the e-mail could tell me which sensor alarm device was changed to ON, then I would only need one event for all of them. I can easily add multiple triggers to event (senors 1 device status changes to on OR sensor 2, OR sensor 3, etc.) but how do I get the notification to tell me which one of my trigger devices changed to on?

[rmasonjr]

Looks like I just created a separate event for each leak detector - cant remember why I couldnt create a single event like I wanted:

[VirtualPanther]

Looks like I just created a separate event for each leak detector - cant remember why I couldnt create a single event like I wanted:

Darn... I will have over 10 leak detectors. That's just too many identical events to maintain

[Rupp]

Darn... I will have over 10 leak detectors. That's just too many identical events to maintain

What's to maintain once they are created?

[VirtualPanther]

What's to maintain once they are created?

If nothing changes (e-mail address, action I want the event to take, etc.) then not much. Still , quite a clutter when a single group of identical devices with identical responses requires 10 different events. But it is quite feasible that at some point my preferred contact email for notifications may change, or with a new iOS coming out in a couple of months, I may no longer be able to use Growl plug-in the same way to deliver pop-up messages to our iPhones. So, when any of the above occurs, I will have 10 events to edit manually--just for this group of sensors--instead of one!

Consolidation is usually not a bad idea. Not having means of doing it is quite possible, but that is just the downside of HomeSeer.

[nightwalker]

Having 857 different events, not including 21 scripts I for one have never found it to be clutter. Like Rupp says once it's set there isn't much to do.

What I do for some events that have the same action, like an email, but different triggers is add that action as a separate event and call that same event from all the rest. This makes it a lot simpler since then if your email changes there is only one place you have to change it, instead of in multiple events.

[VirtualPanther]

Having 857 different events, not including 21 scripts I for one have never found it to be clutter. Like Rupp says once it's set there isn't much to do.

What I do for some events that have the same action, like an email, but different triggers is add that action as a separate event and call that same event from all the rest. This makes it a lot simpler since then if your email changes there is only one place you have to change it, instead of in multiple events.

That makes sense. However, in case of leak sensors, if the e-mail is a separate event, then I would be receiving the same email, regardless of which sensor detected a leak and subsequently called upon the e-mail event to send me a message. The email content does not change in your scenario, right?

[Uncle Michael]

This is what I've done for a slightly different situation. When one of our gates is opened it triggers an event (one event per gate) that has two actions. The first action is to set the device string of a virtual device to correspond to which gate is open. The second action is to call an event that displays the device string in a message on a screen and also announces it.

In your case, I think you could do something similar, but incorporate the appropriate device string into the email.