Organizing/ structuring rule sets and rules

[toggledbits]

Build 21095:

No PRs.

But... this build addresses an issue on Hubitat that created a problem setting modes, updates lexpjs with some minor fixes. I was going to release a fix for 0000133 (need to save rule after creating expression to be able to use expression in condition or action) as well, but the changes snowballed into a bunch of other code cleanups and tweaks and I don't feel good about releasing them yet.

Also, with respect to the "Reset Latched" action (which is not implemented in MSR as an explicit action)... I'm opening that for debate, but if there are no compelling arguments for, I'm going to close the two related PRs (39 and 160) and move on.

[toggledbits]

Build 21096:

• 0000133 Must save rule to get newly-created rule expression to appear in "Expression Value" condition or "Set Variable" action pickers.

This version also has the first attempt at reaction status. You'd better have good eyes; most reactions that don't have delays or HTTP requests will finish in a few milliseconds, so they appear and disappear in a flash. The house mode entity on Vera now has a primary value.

EDIT: @LibraSun reminded me of something I forgot to mention. The rules editor (triggers and conditions) was not correctly storing the rule ID on Expression Value conditions and Set Variable expressions. If you had a global variable with the same name as a rule-based variable, and you had selected the global, a later edit would incorrectly load the selector with the rule-based name, rather than the global name. This is now fixed, but it has the effect of breaking existing conditions on local variables. You can fix this just by selecting the correct variable again and saving the rule, and it will be fixed forever more. As part of this fix, you can now also select variables in any rule (in addition to globals), where previously, you could only select those variables that were local to the rule you were editing. This should make some expression and rule forms much easier to write and maintain.

[toggledbits]

Build 21101:

• 0000164: Rules watching variables in other Rules not triggering

A number of UI cleanups and fixes, as well as some internal cleanups. Lots of time on longer-term items, so the pace of new builds will be reduced to only when PR fixes or new features are ready for release (still not more frequently than daily, but also not less than weekly, going forward).

[toggledbits]

Build 21104

• 0000166 Hubitat: extra state for Tibber energy (example) not available
• 0000167 Interval with days not editable
• 0000168 Exiting edit of global reaction jumps to status display

Home Assistant is supported up to new version 2021.4.4. The "period" attribute for the Sun Information entity has been added ("day" or "night"; primary attribute). The expressions now support urlencode() and urldecode() functions. A UI error thrown when attempting to add a ruleset has been fixed (no PR). Ongoing code and documentation work.

[toggledbits]

Build 21105:

• 0000174 Reaction that contains only comment should stop counter-reaction
• 0000173 Importer crashes on trange condition "between" op
• 0000170 Exception when running Hubitat action (native, it turns out)
• 0000165 Provide support for Hubitat custom actions from drivers

NOTE: Just discovered an issue. I'm going to respin this build. Stay tuned. If you haven't upgraded yet, don't. False alarm! All OK. Upgrade when ready!

[toggledbits]

Build 21106:

• 0000177 Hubitat modes broken in 21105

Fixed an issue with (non-)presentation of the entity picker when clicked; fixed the bell click (broken by 0000168 fix); removed unused packages from configuration.

PLEASE RUN npm update --nosave AFTER UPDATING.

[toggledbits]

Build 21117

This build represents a significant update from previous builds. Principally, this build provides action groups in reactions, and action groups support constraints. So it now possible for the SET or RESET reactions in your rules to have conditionally-executed actions. This feature applies to rule-based reactions only; it is not a feature of global reactions (and for the removal of doubt, will not be in future). In addition, the following PRs are addressed:

• 0000186 Add quick-selects for weekends and weekdays to Week Day condition type.
• 0000184 Pushover now supports "device" parameter correctly.
• 0000180 Using left nav when active editor has no changes pending is now allowed.
• 0000179 Catch-all for a number of lexpjs (expression) fixes and enhancements.

This version also incorporates a lot of UI enhancements and cleanups; still much to do, though.

Also new, there are now three "official" Docker image builds available on DockerHub:

• toggledbits/reactor:latest-generic-amd64 -- Generic Intel/AMD Linux
• toggledbits/reactor:latest-synology-amd64 -- Synology-specific (see more below)
• toggledbuts/reactor:latest-raspbian-armv7l -- Raspian Buster (Raspberry Pi)

These Docker images can be downloaded using the usual docker pull <imagename> syntax.

For all images, when creating the container you must map /var/reactor to a local directory in which your Reactor configuration and storage files are located. You should also bind /etc/localtime to the same-path file on your local system to get the correct timezone in the container. If this is not possible or does not correctly set the timezone for your container, the TZ environment variable should be set.

Typical to run:

# For generic:
docker run -d -p 8111:8111 -v /my/reactor/data:/var/reactor --mount type=bind,src=/etc/localtime,target=/etc/localtime toggledbits/reactor:latest-generic-amd64

# For Raspian:
docker run -d -p 8111:8111 -v /my/reactor/data:/var/reactor -e TZ=America/New_York toggledbits/reactor:latest-raspbian-armv7l

---

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR SYNOLOGY DOCKER IMAGE UPGRADE (ONLY):

I will no longer be making the manual-download image available for Synology. Upgrading from the previous manual-download image is not a straight line, but can be done pretty quickly and without losing your configuration and other data. It's basically a redo of the original install. The steps are as follows:

1. Stop the existing container (under Containers in the Synology Docker app).
2. Make a note of where your current config/storage data is stored on the NAS. You can find this by clicking on the container row, then clicking the "Details" button. Click the "Volume" tab on the details dialog, and note the path associated with /var/reactor. Copy-paste this to a safe location or write it down. Close the dialog.
3. Click on the container row and choose "Delete" from the Actions dropdown menu.
4. Go to the Image tab and delete the toggledbits/reactor:latest image.
5. Go to the Repository tab and search for "toggledbits". The toggledbits/reactor entry should be listed in the results.
6. Click the entry row and then click "Download".
7. Once the image has downloaded, select the image in the Image tab and click "Launch".
8. Leave the defaults on the "General Settings" dialog, and click the "Advanced Settings" button.
9. On the Advanced Settings dialog, click "Enable auto-restart".
10. Click the "Volume" tab, and then "Add Folder". Select the directory you saved in step 2 above (where your data and config files are stored); for the mount path, enter exactly /var/reactor.
11. Click the "Port Settings" tab, and change the "Auto" to 8111 under "Local Port".
12. Click the "Environment" tab, and then "+" to add an environment variable. Name it "TZ" (caps), and then set the value to the name of your local time zone. Typically these are "Area/Locale", like "America/New_York". A full list is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones
13. Hit the Apply button and it will put you back on the General Settings dialog. Hit "Next" and then "Apply" (the checkbox to start the container should be checked already), and the container should start.
14. Access the container via your NAS' IP address on port 8111.

---

USING DOCKER-COMPOSE TO RUN CONTAINERS

Here's a sample docker-compose file. You'll need to modify it to have the correct image tag and directory where your data are stored.

# Multi-System Reactor template docker-compose.yml
version: '3'

services:
  web:
    container_name: reactor
    environment:
      REACTOR_DATA_PREFIX: /var/reactor

    # Change the image below to the one you are using, if necessary.
    image: toggledbits/reactor:latest-generic-amd64
    restart: always
    network_mode: "bridge"
    expose:
      - 8111
    ports:
      - 8111:8111
    # Modify the first entry below (only before the colon; do not modify the rest) 
    # to the path where you want config/data stored. Make sure the directory
    # exists before starting the container.
    volumes:
      - /my/reactor/data:/var/reactor
      - type: bind
        source: /etc/localtime
        target: /etc/localtime
        read_only: true
    tmpfs: /tmp
    logging:
      driver: "json-file"
      options:
        max-file: 5
        max-size: 2m

[toggledbits]

Build 21118

• 0000190 Validation sync issue between group and children on reaction with constraint
• 0000191 Two or more groups with constraints will stomp on each other

Install/Upgrade Instructions

[toggledbits]

Build 21120

• 0000193 Rule and expression state problem can cause reset reaction run on edit/save
• 0000195 Reload of expression value condition in action group constraint fails with JS error
• 0000198 (Vera) Siren1 device type doesn't have MSR power_switch capability

Docker users can pull the updated images from DockerHub.

Synology Docker users, you can either upgrade using the Docker app, which I find a bit cumbersome (there's no "Update/Download Again" for existing images in the app), or do the following:

1. Stop the container in the Docker app.
2. Log in to your NAS via SSH.
3. Pull the new image by running sudo docker pull toggledbits/reaction:latest-synology-amd64
4. Clear the container (in the Docker app, select the container, then "Clear" from "Actions").
5. Start the container.
   .

[toggledbits]

Build 21123

• 0000084 Ruleset click-to-expand needs visual cue (also done for reactions and entities with similar behavior)
• 0000199 (Hass) Cover device missing position MSR capability/attribute (Hass-native was available, however)

The range operator '..' (e.g. 1..10) is now available in expressions and produces an array.

[toggledbits]

Build 21130

• 0000202 Duplicate IDs assigned to cloned groups and other actions
• 0000201 Allow renaming of outermost group constraints

The new performAction() function allows an action to be performed on an entity from within an expression. Additional UI tweaks.

[toggledbits]

Reactor 21138

• 0000208 Cloning action in group clones group rather than action;
• 0000206 Restrict sun condition offset results to current day (prevents overrun and state lock when very large offsets are used);
• 0000204 Button text and color consistency on editors;

Documentatation (Installation) updates; IP filtering for API access; code refactoring/cleanup; bless Hass to 2021.5.4; UI improvements (autogrow input fields, improve expand/collapse aesthetics); log message cleanup.

Docker images are available on DockerHub as (now) usual. Generic package downloadable via Download button in the bug tracker.

[toggledbits]

Build 21139:

• 0000211 Injection caused while fixing Sun conditions for 206.
• 0000209 Cloning rule leaves "Set Variable" actions tied to source rule's expressions.

[toggledbits]

Build 21140

• 0000213 Timer change causes queue stall on Vera actions (seen as stalled reactions in Status panel)

[toggledbits]

Build 21146

• 0000214 Fix "each" examples in documentation
• 0000144 Feature: per-entity overrides/exceptions for Vera
• 0000143 Feature: per-device overrides on name, capabilities, primary attribute

Documentation updates; UI usability/consistency tweaks.

[toggledbits]

Build 21153

• 0000215 Hubitat connections may stall after hub reboot when "Hub Login Security" is enabled. See #215 for details.

Also: updates to lexpjs to allow min()/max() of array arguments; fix to pushbutton attributes for Hubitat; installation doc updates.

BARE-METAL (NOT DOCKER) USERS -- PLEASE RUN npm update --no-save IN YOUR REACTOR DIRECTORY AFTER UPDATING/BEFORE RESTARTING.

SYNOLOGY DOCKER USERS: Build 21160 (next week) will be the last build of the Synology-specific image (latest-synology-amd64). After that, Synology will be supported exclusively via the generic-amd64 image. If you are currently using the latest-synology-amd64 image, you will need to rebuild your container using the latest-generic-amd64 image (soon).

[toggledbits]

Build 21158

• 0000217 Fix path handling for Windows causing error loading Notifiers. This only applies to Windows

Documentation tweaks; header now shows both host (MSR server) and browser time.

[toggledbits]

Build 21163

• Fix 0000219 On Weekday conditions, the quick-set links for Weekday and Weekend don't stick unless you do other edits.
• (No PR fix) The UI's host time display now shows the "engine" time, which is the host time unless test_time is in effect, in which case the current test time is shown.

Debug log level 5 messages for Engine have been enhanced to more clearly show actions in reactions as they execute, and in particular, can now be more easily used to tell what rule or reaction is causing another reaction to run (i.e. if a global reaction can be run by several different rules, you'll be able to tell which started it). Support for Telegram notification is now native and this no longer requires the Vera plugin (or a Vera, for that matter); please see the dist-config/notification.yaml for configuration information. There is also a new Shell Command action in reactions, but since it carries with it some potential security risks (e.g. arbitrary code execution), its use requires that you add allow_shell_action: true to the engine section of your reactor.yaml configuration file. By default, shell actions will not be run (although you can still put them in your reactions; they just won't run).

Other things to note:

• As previously advertised, the Synology-specific docker container latest-synology-amd64 is no longer being updated. Please switch to latest-generic-amd64.
• All docker images have grown a bit in size as a result of best-practice recommendations for stable builds of docker images. As part of these changes, all containers now run nodejs version 14.17 (current LTS) on Alpine 3.13 (except the RPI image, where 3.12 is used due to certificate issues). Additional changes are coming! Currently, the service runs as root within the docker container, and while running in a container has to-date constrained the risk normally associated with privileged services, the addition of the Shell Command action changes the risk potential dramatically. As a result, likely starting with the first build in July, all containers will run the service as a non-privileged user. I'm still pondering all of this, and there are several potential paths to consider.

[toggledbits]

Build 21168

• 0000220 Using default values on Telegram notification action causes UI to (incorrectly) flag error in field.
• 0000222 A broken reference in the "Run" action may cause an exception.

An experimental (still) exporter/feeder for InfluxDB is also available for testing.

POTENTIAL BREAKING CHANGE FOR HOMEASSISTANT

Because "state" values on HomeAssistant can be any data type, the data type for the value_sensor capability attribute value was destabilized; it's supposed to be numeric. But some Hass entities were assigning string values, because they were generally being identified as a sensor class device, but had non-numeric state values. The float-iness of value_sensor.value is now enforced (and once again consistent across all controllers). But this enforcement means any non-convertible string (string that doesn't contain a number) will result in null in value_sensor.value. To make sure that the original string is still available, a new string_sensor capability has been added, and Hass sensor class devices where the type cannot be explicitly determined from the device class will have both the value_sensor (with a float, if possible) and string_sensor (with the string) capabilities/values. What this change may break is any condition in triggers or constraints that use string tests against the value_sensor.value attribute (e.g. testing if value_sensor.value is equal to the word "idle"). You will need to switch those conditions to use string_sensor.value. Numeric tests are not affected by this change and so do not need to be modified. You will only run into trouble if you have been testing a value_sensor against a string. A check has been added with a warning notification to simplify finding these cases in your rules if you have any.

[toggledbits]

Build 21189

• 0000224: Unable to save rule set or reaction is only change is to switch a notification profile (doesn't enable save button)
• 0000223: Support for newer-style Hass color mode attributes (RGB[W] devices)

Fix an issue with the /variable/set HTTP API throwing an error (not new, but newly discovered and no PR open; attn @cw-kid ). Support for Hass up to 2021.7.1. Updated to new lexpjs with numeric coalesce operator. Internal improvements in the loading of extensions (notifiers, controllers, etc.). Update icon library to latest version. Now supports InfluxDB natively.