Good morning,
I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to evaluate if a command was completed and retry if it did not complete.
I have 14 iBlinds 3.1 z-wave controllers in my home. 95% of the time, they work just fine. Occasionally, I'll get a blind that does not open on the first attempt. When I go into Home Assistant, and manually open or close the blind, it works.
I have 3 reactions set up for each room. One to open, one to close, and one partial open for sun glare. Each of them is set up as below.
5afc9924-4300-4718-9e23-8855c4a3a9fd-image.png
The reactions are set up to wait for 5 seconds before going onto the next blind, so the z-wave network doesn't get overwhelmed.
In addition, the set command to run the reactions has "Wait for completion" checked.
3919fc06-c1f1-4c49-bf95-716028d18a27-image.png
I also have a routine set up whenever a z-wave device reports as non-functional (dead), it'll get pinged to wake it up. This usually works to wake them up.
16df4bff-c733-4ec2-a55c-c964238ada3b-image.png
Appreciate any ideas to make this more reliable.
I'm running:
Reactor latest-24190-bd310acc, Bare-metal on Fedora WaveJSController [0.1.23326] Home Assistant: 2024.7.0I think this feature request could be accomplished with the use of two or more rules, but it would be great if there was a way to wait for an event or trigger to occur before continuing on in the reactions.
For example, I have a rule that will turn on some exterior lights if you arrive home after the porch lights have been turned off. Right now this rule randomly will turn off between 5-10 minutes after the person has entered the geofence. On some occasions this 5-10 minutes isn't long enough, say if you are unloading the car or something. I would like to kick off the reaction, but pause it part way through and wait for the door to close and lock, then continue it on. Hubitat Rule Machine has a "Wait for event" option, but I really want to keep all my logic within MSR.
Good morning,
I'm going through my ruleset this morning, trying to get away from haas>blahblablah entries and completely migrate them all to zwavejs>xx-0 entries where possible.
I have 3 Aeon MultiSensor 6 devices in my home, all USB powered.
When using Haas entries, I see an entry for hass>binary_sensor_guest_bedroom_multisensor_home_security_motion_detection, and motion_sensor.state (primary)
Screenshot 2024-07-25 at 8.25.53 AM.png
Under ZwaveJS, this entry appears to be missing.
Screenshot 2024-07-25 at 8.26.51 AM.png
From the Entities page:
battery_power.level=1
battery_power.since=1721910337433
binary_sensor.state=false
humidity_sensor.units="%"
humidity_sensor.value=46
light_sensor.units="Lux"
light_sensor.value=5
tamper.state=false
temperature_sensor.units="°F"
temperature_sensor.value=73.8
x_debug.dt={}
x_zwave_values.Basic_currentValue=0
x_zwave_values.Battery_isLow=false
x_zwave_values.Battery_level=100
x_zwave_values.Binary_Sensor_Any=false
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_1_Battery_1=1
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_1_Humidity_64=1
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_1_Luminance_128=1
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_1_Temperature_32=1
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_1_Ultraviolet_16=1
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_2_Battery_1=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_2_Humidity_64=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_2_Luminance_128=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_2_Temperature_32=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_2_Ultraviolet_16=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_3_Battery_1=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_3_Humidity_64=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_3_Luminance_128=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_3_Temperature_32=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Report_Group_3_Ultraviolet_16=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Reporting_Interval_Group_1=3600
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Reporting_Interval_Group_2=3600
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Reporting_Interval_Group_3=3600
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Automatic_Temperature_Reporting_Unit=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Battery_Level_Threshold=10
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Current_Power_Mode_65280=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Humidity_Above_Lower_Limit_32=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Humidity_Below_Lower_Limit_2=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Humidity_Change_Threshold=10
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Humidity_Recover_Limit=5
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Humidity_Sensor_Calibration=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_LED_Blinking=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Lighting_Recover_Limit=10
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Lock_Configuration=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Low_Battery_Threshold=20
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Low_Temperature_Alarm_15_C=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Lower_Humidity_Limit=50
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Lower_Lighting_Limit=100
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Lower_Temperature_Limit_4294901760=320
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Lower_Temperature_Limit_Unit_3840=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Lower_Ultraviolet_Limit=4
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Luminance_Above_Lower_Limit_64=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Luminance_Below_Lower_Limit_4=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Luminance_Change_Threshold=100
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Luminance_Sensor_Calibration=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Motion_Sensor_Report_Type_to_Send=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_PIR_Sensitivity=3
x_zwave_values.Configuration_PIR_Sensor_Timeout=20
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Recover_Limit_Temperature_Unit_255=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Above_Humidity_Threshold_32=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Above_Luminance_Threshold_64=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Above_Temperature_Threshold_16=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Above_Ultraviolet_Threshold_128=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Below_Humidity_Threshold_2=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Below_Luminance_Threshold_4=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Below_Temperature_Threshold_1=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Report_Below_Ultraviolet_Threshold_8=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Reset_Parameters_101_103_to_Default_Values=null
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Reset_Parameters_111_113_to_Default_Values=null
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Reset_to_Factory_Default_Setting=null
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Selective_Reporting=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Sleep_State_255=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Temperature_Above_Lower_Limit_16=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Temperature_Below_Lower_Limit_1=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Temperature_Calibration_Offset_65280=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Temperature_Calibration_Unit_255=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Temperature_Change_Threshold_4294901760=20
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Temperature_Recover_Limit_65280=20
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Temperature_Threshold_Unit_3840=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Ultraviolet_Above_Lower_Limit_128=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Ultraviolet_Below_Lower_Limit_8=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Ultraviolet_Change_Threshold=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Ultraviolet_Recover_Limit=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Ultraviolet_Sensor_Calibration=0
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Upper_Humidity_Limit=60
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Upper_Lighting_Limit=1000
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Upper_Temperature_Limit_4294901760=824
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Upper_Temperature_Limit_Unit_3840=2
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Upper_Ultraviolet_Limit=8
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Wake_Device_for_10_minutes_After_Power_On=1
x_zwave_values.Configuration_Wake_Up_Timeout=15
x_zwave_values.Manufacturer_Specific_manufacturerId=134
x_zwave_values.Manufacturer_Specific_productId=100
x_zwave_values.Manufacturer_Specific_productType=258
x_zwave_values.Multilevel_Sensor_Air_temperature=73.8
x_zwave_values.Multilevel_Sensor_Humidity=46
x_zwave_values.Multilevel_Sensor_Illuminance=5
x_zwave_values.Multilevel_Sensor_Ultraviolet=0
x_zwave_values.Notification_Home_Security_Cover_status=0
x_zwave_values.Notification_Home_Security_Motion_sensor_status=0
x_zwave_values.Notification_alarmLevel=0
x_zwave_values.Notification_alarmType=0
x_zwave_values.Version_firmwareVersions=["1.17"]
x_zwave_values.Version_hardwareVersion=100
x_zwave_values.Version_libraryType=3
x_zwave_values.Version_protocolVersion="4.54"
x_zwave_values.Wake_Up_controllerNodeId=1
x_zwave_values.Wake_Up_wakeUpInterval=3600
zwave_device.capabilities=[32,48,49,112,113,114,128,132,134]
zwave_device.endpoint=0
zwave_device.failed=false
zwave_device.generic_class="Multilevel Sensor"
zwave_device.impl_sig="23326:1:22315:1"
zwave_device.is_beaming=false
zwave_device.is_listening=true
zwave_device.is_routing=true
zwave_device.is_secure=false
zwave_device.manufacturer_info=[134,258,100]
zwave_device.max_data_rate=null
zwave_device.node_id=53
zwave_device.specific_class="Routing Multilevel Sensor"
zwave_device.status=4
zwave_device.status_text="alive"
zwave_device.version_info=[null,"1.17"]
zwave_device.wakeup_interval=3600
I'm running:
Reactor latest-24190-bd310acc, Bare-metal on Fedora
WaveJSController [0.1.23326]
Home Assistant: 2024.7.0
I'm fetching certain data five past every hour, but I would like to do it closer to the hour, e.g. 1 or 2 past (but not at the hour).
I experimented with the following rule that almost works (triggers also at the hour which is not the intention). Any advice for a solution?
It would be nice to have an ability to bookmark a direct link to a dashboard item. In my case I would use this feature to access a virtual switch directly.
Hi @toggledbits
Would you please consider adding an extra sublevel in the rulesets?
I have grouped my rules in rooms/ areas. This works great for me, but I would also like to group rules for the same functionality (in a room). This would make the rules easier to find and name.
Please let me know if this is an option. Thanks!
@togglebits I am curious as to why the tilt_sensor.state (primary) = NULL. I believe it should show true or false. I have to use binary_sensor.state instead in my rules.
Again, not sure if this is related to Reactor/ZwaveJSController implementation or the actual Z-Wave JS UI docker version. I have copied, below, the attributes of the tilt sensor in hopes it can help.
Thanks in advance.
Reactor version 23302
ZWaveJSController version 23254
Z-Wave JS UI version 9.3.0.724519f
zwave-js version 12.2.3
@toggledbits,
I have this device attached to my system, but use a DSC panel. If you need testers to move forward, I'm happy to help.
I'm curious what your thinking the use case is for this. I currently have it integrated into HomeAssistant, and it works fine for the most part. The one thing I can't do is bypass zones, which I would like to have the ability to do.
Are you looking at more direct control for the panel, as opposed to having to jump through HA (or another system) first?
Build 21228 has been released. Docker images available from DockerHub as usual, and bare-metal packages here.
Home Assistant up to version 2021.8.6 supported; the online version of the manual will now state the current supported versions; Fix an error in OWMWeatherController that could cause it to stop updating; Unify the approach to entity filtering on all hub interface classes (controllers); this works for device entities only; it may be extended to other entities later; Improve error detail in messages for EzloController during auth phase; Add isRuleSet() and isRuleEnabled() functions to expressions extensions; Implement set action for lock and passage capabilities (makes them more easily scriptable in some cases); Fix a place in the UI where 24-hour time was not being displayed.I have the following ruleset which I though had been working well until this morning when I noticed it's not.
I've put four weather conditions in an in array and one of them is the current weather condition - but the rule is not true. Now the cloud cover percentage is not yet met but this is an or rule so as long as the "Current Conditions" are met then it should go true.
What's the obvious thing I'm missing here? (I've tried spaces/no spaces in the in and no difference.)
Hi,
Running the latest MSR latest-24152-3455578a with the latest HA 2024.6.1. When trying to call a service I get the following in the MSR logs. Is this a version mismatch? I am not seeing anything in the HA logs.
[latest-24152]2024-06-11T10:29:56.162Z <Rule:INFO> rule-Monitor-DHW (rule-lsvq5k3x in Central Heating) started [latest-24152]2024-06-11T10:29:58.625Z <HassController:WARN> HassController#hass unknown service opentherm_gw.set_hot_water_setpoint in x_hass.call_service action on Thermostat#hass>climate_living_room_otgw [latest-24152]2024-06-11T10:29:58.626Z <HassController:INFO> HassController#hass: sending payload for x_hass.call_service on Thermostat#hass>climate_living_room_otgw action: [Object]{ "type": "call_service", "service_data": { "gateway_id": "living_room_otgw", "temperature": 65 }, "domain": "opentherm_gw", "service": "set_hot_water_setpoint", "target": { "entity_id": "climate.living_room_otgw" } } [latest-24152]2024-06-11T10:29:58.627Z <HassController:ERR> HassController#hass request 1718101798626<6/11/2024, 12:29:58 PM> (call_service) failed: [Object]{ "id": 1718101798626, "type": "result", "success": false, "error": { "code": "invalid_format", "message": "extra keys not allowed @ data['entity_id']" } } [latest-24152]2024-06-11T10:29:58.627Z <HassController:WARN> HassController#hass action x_hass.call_service([Object]{ "service": "opentherm_gw.set_hot_water_setpoint", "data": "{ \"gateway_id\": \"living_room_otgw\", \"temperature\": 65 }" }) on Thermostat#hass>climate_living_room_otgw failed!Cheers Rene
Some background
I'm trying to integrate a Zigbee device into the MSR using zigbee2mqtt bridge and MQTTController. The device in question is a cheap mood light that has following properties that I'd like to control:
I'v already managed to get the switch part working and can toggle the light on/off. Also the brightness value is mapped back to MSR. In zigbee2mqtt it has a value range from 0 to 254, so this the reason for the expression:
expr: 'payload.brightness / 254'Here's the entity definition (don't know whether the type should be something else than the Switch)
zigbee-lidl-mood-light: name: 'Lidl Mood Light' friendly_name: 'Mood Light' type: Switch uses_template: lidl-moodlightAnd the corresponding template (NOTE: rgb_color has not been defined in this example):
lidl-moodlight: init: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%/get/state" query: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%/get/state" capabilities: - power_switch - toggle - dimming primary_attribute: power_switch.state events: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%": "power_switch.state": json_payload: true expr: 'upper(payload.state) == "ON"' "dimming.level": json_payload: true expr: 'payload.brightness / 254' actions: power_switch: "on": topic: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%/set/state" payload: 'ON' "off": topic: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%/set/state" payload: 'OFF' set: topic: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%/set/state" payload: expr: "parameters.state ? 'ON' : 'OFF'" type: raw toggle: topic: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%/set/state" payload: 'TOGGLE'The problem
In order to control the brightness or the RGB color values, I would have send a JSON payload in corresponding actions. But I have no idea how to define it in the template. The reason why the switch part is working is that the zigbee2mqtt accepts also plain ON / OFF / TOGGLE string payloads in that case.
But the brightness should be controlled with the following payload:
{"brightness": 196}And the RGB color like:
{"color":{"rgb":"46,102,150"}}Here's the link for the documentation (the Exposes part defines the messages).
So how should I define the JSON payload for example for the dimming action? It definitely should be some sort of expressions since I have to map the MSR real value (0...1) to (0...254) for the zigbee2mqtt.
actions: dimming: set: topic: "zigbee2mqtt/%friendly_name%/set" payload: expr: ????? type: jsonAnother problem is the RGB value. I could use the rgb_color capability for the setting but the problem is that the zigbee2mqtt only reports the current color in hue/saturation or xy coordinates.
Here's an example of published message after setting the color:
Topic: zigbee2mqtt/Mood Light QoS: 0 { "brightness":254, "color":{ "hue":240, "saturation":100, "x":0.1355, "y":0.0399 }, "color_mode":"xy", "color_temp":574, "linkquality":96, "state":"ON" }I would have to map those values back to RGB, but is it even possible with existing constructs in MQTTController's templates?
Help would be appreciated @toggledbits
br,
mgvra
That's probably more appropriate to post on Mantis for @toggledbits, but since I know there's at least @Crille publishing templates, my intent with this post is to open a broader discussion.
Long story short: I'm starting to slowly add new template for Shelly Plus and I noticed I'll end up with a dozen more templates, all similar but simply different in trivial details, all sharing a large amount of code and all needing special cares when fixing bugs/adding features (as the latest wifi_status addition).
So, I'm wondering if it's time to start thinking of some sort of inheritance in templates, where I could just create a generic shelly_gen1 and use it as a base for shelly_relay, and this be used as the base for shelly_relay_power and so on.
I could probably achieve this with some sort of scripting on my side to generate templates via code, but maybe there's a better way of doing this, or it's already on the radar.
I need a handful of victims volunteers to help test previews of the next build of Reactor. A long-standing request was for "a simple login mechanism," but in practice, adding user authentication and competent access control turned out to be a pretty big project with a lot of big changes on both server and client sides. It's a bit more than I'm comfortable testing myself and springing out to everyone at once, so I'd like to work with a small group to put it through "sea trials."
Major changes/features include:
User authentication with hashed password storage; User group configuration with application restriction (admin, dashboard, API); Detailed control over API access, with user- and token-based authentication/authorization; Improvements to the HTTPS service; Improvements to UI coordination with the core for Rules and Reactions.If this sounds like something you'd like to help with, drop me a reply here in this thread or privately.
[Solution: Reactor 24115 is not compatible with MQTTController > 24120]
Reactor latest-24115 bare metal.
All MQTT entities stop working after updating MQTTController to 24142, downgrade to 24120 and they are back. Templates and configured entities has not been changed between versions.
I'm not sure if uses_template should be replaced by ìnclude in entity configuration in reactor.yaml but I guess not, I've tried it and it did not do any difference.
I have not tried to update Reactor to userauth version.
Example entity in reactor.yaml that uses MQTTController included template:
entities: "takflakt_kallare": name: "Takfläkt källare" topic: "Källartemp" unit: "" uses_template: tasmota_generic_relay init: "cmnd/%topic%/POWER%unit%"Any hints? Do you need more info, please let me know.
Log from startup:
I'm slowly migrating all my stuff to MQTT under MSR, so I have a central place to integrate everything (and, in a not-so-distant future, to remove virtual devices from my Vera and leave it running zwave only).
Anyway, here's my reactor-mqtt-contrib package:
![](https://github.com/fluidicon.png)
Contrib MQTT templates for Reactor. Contribute to dbochicchio/reactor-mqtt-contrib development by creating an account on GitHub.
Simply download yaml files (everything or just the ones you need) and you're good to go.
I have mapped my most useful devices, but I'll add others soon. Feel free to ask for specific templates, since I've worked a lot in the last weeks to understand and operate them.
The templates are supporting both init and query, so you have always up-to-date devices at startup, and the ability to poll them. Online status is supported as well, so you can get disconnected devices with a simple expression.
Many-many thanks to @toggledbits for its dedication, support, and patience with me and my requests 🙂
Is the following config correct?
- id: time_series name: "Out temp" capabilities: temperature_sensor: attributes: value: model: time series entity: "hass>sensor_outdoor_temperature" attribute: "temperature_sensor.value" interval: 5 # minutes retention: 20 # minutes aggregate: wma primary_attribute: temperature_sensor.value type: ValueSensorSpecifically, is "depth" directive needed/mandatory here? Reason I'm asking is that I'm not getting a "final" value in MSR, only debug values are shown:
temperature_sensor.units=null temperature_sensor.value=null x_virtualentity.last_request_time=null x_virtualentity.request_failures=null x_virtualentity.template=null x_virtualentity.timeseries_debug=[{"time":1716537360000,"value":22.1},{"time":1716537660000,"value":22},{"time":1716537960000,"value":22},{"time":1716538260000,"value":21.9},{"time":1716538560000,"value":22}]Good morning,
I apologize if this subject has been covered. I did try the search, but I'm not coming up with any topics on my issue.
I'm running userauth-24137-57b41335, bare metal installation on Fedora 39 Server.
I have a rule set up to turn the Eco mode off on my Nest Thermostat when the thermostat is set to Away (Rule State: Away Mode), the user (Driver) presence in my car changes to true, and the destination is set to home.
93804f7c-62d6-42c0-ae04-ff602011a6fd-image.png
This works fine for most days, where I'm headed home from work (commute is about 45 minutes). What I don't want it to do is set change it to Eco mode if my ETA is more than an hour.
There is a sensor/entity for Time to Arrival when the Destination is set. What it appears to provide is the Time OF arrival/ETA, not time until arrival. If it was Time until Arrival, and it was a numeric value, I could simply test if the value is less than 60 and be done with it.
I pulled up the history through Home Assistant for my morning commute and this appears to be what it is providing.
c2a32739-c84f-4a05-95d9-73793ed818f5-image.png
So what I need to do is to do a calculation of the the ETA from the sensor value and subtract the current time, and get a value in minutes that I can determine if it's less than 60.
I believe I can do this with the local expression, but I don't see anything for the system time, or local time. Also, do the local expressions update themselves if the sensors do?
Good morning,
I'm running userauth-24137-57b41335 on Fedora 39, bare metal installation.
ZWaveJSController 0.1.23254
Home Assistant:
Core, 2024.5.3 Supervisor, 2024.05.1 Operating System, 12.3 Frontend, 20240501.1I'm trying to troubleshoot a Dynamic Group Controller and notification alert that I've set up for low battery level.
In my Reactor.config, I have the following lines:
name: "Dynamic Group Controller" implementation: DynamicGroupController config: groups: "zwavejs_dead": select: - include_group: "zwavejs" filter_expression: "entity?.attributes?.zwave_device?.status == 3" group_actions: true "low_battery": select: - include_capability: battery_power filter_expression: > entity.attributes.battery_power.level < 0.35The idea here is that I should only have members of this group that have a battery level below 35%. When I go into Entities, I show a whole slew of devices, none of which have a battery level below the threshold.
a77e445b-ab78-4752-a624-3c4117f34f90-image.png
I also tried setting up a rule to generate a push notification once a day, but with all of the group members, I've had to disable the rule. I believe I have it set up correctly, but I'm not 100% sure. I want the notification to tell me the battery level for that device as well.
289b4f68-03ba-49c0-8275-f0f197d13a3a-image.png
ce24a76e-6865-40bd-bd85-632e54d315a8-image.png dc837424-deb5-4ef7-8f0d-3676f1769535-image.png
Can anyone point to me what I may have misconfigured to get these results?
I should also note I'm only interested in ZWaveJS devices. It's showing me battery status for my iPad and car as well, which I don't need it to send me.
Approach to Rulesets, a philosophic question
-
Having just embarrassed myself to @toggledbits by asserting that the latest release somehow had a bug when in reality it was surfacing underlying issues with my approach to building out my rulesets and automations I wanted to ask the collective for their feedback on how they've designed their rulesets.
For me, I built out a list of Global Reactions that I commonly use. For instance, for mode changes I typically change the mode entity and write that mode to a variable for some future use. When building out a ruleset I just pull in that Global Reaction vs manually recreating the entity list as my ruleset Reaction. Example, for lighting:
Each of these contains the appropriate group of lights to turn on/off, etc.
I also have what I've dubbed my "Armed for..." rulesets. These are rulesets that can be referenced as true or false in other rulesets. Example, for my various lighting configurations in and out of the house I have these:
I think this is resulting in reactions stomping on other reactions creating race conditions that result in things looking like they're working when, in reality, they're one restart away from disaster.
So how are you all designing your superstructure, if you will, at a high level?
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I'm pretty much doing the same thing you are. Where these "Armed For" rules and the global reactions are used, I try to keep things as simple as possible. One trap I think people (myself included) get into is this notion that all actions have to done in one place for a specific event. For me, I like to spread the logic out in a lot of small rules, particularly because Reactor lets me enable and disable rules, so when rules are small and well-defined, if something is acting up during my implementation of some logic, I can turn a rule off (particularly if its causing problems for a device, like turning it on and off rapidly). It's easy for me to have a clear picture of conditions for each circumstance, as well.
Another thing that arose of the other discussion is that Reactor (MSR) is highly concurrent, meaning it can do a lot of things at once. This is unlike R4V, where things were pretty much single-threaded by the constraints of the OS and its plugin framework. That means a rule reaction that starts a global reaction will cause the two reactions to run concurrently. If one reaction has to wait for an action to complete (i.e. hub to tell it the command was received), the other action runs. And in fact, it's also possible that the action(s) completed thus far can cause a rule to be triggered -- rule evaluation is also eligible to be started in the "idle" time. That introduces the possibility that a rule could run during an interstitial state of another rule's actions -- work isn't done, but another rule kicks in. I think this was part of your problem -- rules need to be very tightly defined in these circumstances to prevent mis-firing in the interstitial states when another rule's actions haven't yet finished. One way to do this is to put conditions in a group, and use a stabilizing delay ("sustained for" on the enclosing group), to ensure that not only are the rule's conditions met, but they've stayed met and other pending changes didn't exclude the rule during the delay.
Example: I have a set of rules that when any primary kitchen light is turned on, the undercabinet and in-cabinet LEDs on MiLight controllers (secondary lights) are also turned on at 100%. When all kitchen lights are turned off, the LEDs are then turned off as well, unless it's Evening (defined by time in another rule set), where the undercabinet LEDs are set to 50%, and the in-cabinet LEDs are turned off. When Night is activated (we're all asleep), the LEDs are turned off, unless the house is in Guest Mode (a guest is spending the night) in which case the undercabinet LEDs on one side of the kitchen (the most-used/most-useful strip) go to 25%, and everything else is turned off (making an illuminated pathway to snacks and water if our guest gets up during the night). And when Party Mode is active, all automatic off actions are disabled (no "Last Call" effect that kills the party). And during Day mode, motion turns on the undercabinet LEDs for ambience. And of course, lack of motion in the kitchen for 10 minutes turns off all main lights (but not LEDs, and never in Party Mode). This is all a fairly intertwined set of requirements, but broken down it relies on mutually-exclusive states that are easy to test (Day vs Evening vs Night), overriding tests (Guest and Party modes), and transitive states (the conditions of the primary lighting devices). The transitive tests have stabilizing delays, because, for example, the rule and reaction that turns off the primary lights for lack of motion, if it occurs in the Evening, will turn off the LEDs and also trigger the rule and reaction that turns them on to 50%, and those two reactions will try to execute concurrently -- not good. Without the delay, I would very reliably get a mix of the undercabinet lights being on or off, rather than all on at 50%. But it's simple: the "Undercab Evening" rule just makes sure that all primary lights, as a group, have been off for a few seconds before it triggers and starts turning the LEDs on.
That may seem a bit complex, but the set of rules is actually pretty simple (I think). Here's how I've structured all that (typed-out since screen shots would be horribly large and long):
- Rule
Any Key Light On
is an OR group that is true when any of the three primary lights is on: sink, island, and main. This is an "Armed For" rule in your parlance (i.e. it has no reactions/actions of its own; its state is used by other rules). - Rule
Kitchen Recent Motion
is true when (triggers) the motion sensor trips; delay reset for 300 seconds. This is another rule that is only used by other rules, it doesn't have any reactions. - There are "global" rules for
Day
,Night
andEvening
periods as mutually-exclusive modes, andGuest Mode
andParty Mode
(just virtual switches). - Rule
Undercab Follower - On
turns on the LEDs to 100% whenAny Key Light On
is true. Just that simple. - Rule
Undercab Follower - Off
turns off the LEDs whenAny Key Light On
is false for a sustained two seconds. - Rule
Motionless Kitchen Off
turns off all primary lights and LED strips when (triggers) there has been no motion for ten minutes (Kitchen Recent Motion
is false sustained for 600 seconds) and Party Mode is false, and (constraints) whenAny Key Light On
is true on OR the always-used undercabinet LED strip is on. - Rule
Undercab Day Default
turns on the undercabinet LEDs (not in-cabinet) when (triggers) it'sDay
andKitchen Recent Motion
is true, and (constraints)Any Key Light On
is false (no primary lights are on); - Rule
Undercab Evening Default
turns on the undercabinet and in-cabinet LEDs at 50% when (triggers) it'sEvening
andAny Key Light On
has been false for at least 10 seconds (sustained for delay), and the always-used LED strip is not on. - Rule
Undercab Normal Night
turns off the LEDs when (triggers) Night is true and Party Mode is false and Guest Mode is false andAny Key Light On
is false. - Rule
Guest Mode Night
(should be calledUndercab Guest Night
for consistency, I suppose) turns on the always-used LED strip at 25%, all others off, when (triggers) Night is true and Guest Mode is true and the always-used LED strip has been off for at least 10 seconds.
Notice, for example, that I didn't make the effort to make a monolithic rule for
Motionless Kitchen Off
that figures out if it'sDay
,Evening
, orNight
, and ifParty Mode
orGuest Mode
were in effect, and set the LEDs accordingly. Rather, MKO just turns the lights off, and the other rules turn things back on after a small delay. This serves two masters: it keeps the complexity low, and it allows recovery from a manual operation (i.e. all the lights are turned off manually rather than by the rule) without the need for an additional rule to detect and act on that manual change. Sure, it's a little "flashy" (LEDs turn off, then may come back on shortly after, rather than just going directly to the new terminal state), but it's also very easy to understand and maintain, and spouse-approved. I have no love or desire for any more complexity than is required by my own sensibilities and the WAF. Anyway, I think a lot of people get bogged down thinking they have to handle everything on one condition (i.e. when the lights are turned off, I need to implement every possible terminal state right there in the rule where that's detected), and that's not the case. I was also able to develop these rules incrementally and without the complexity going non-linear with every new requirement I added.In computing we would say Reactor's rules and reactions are not "atomic." Atomic, in the computing sense, generally means an indivisible part — an operation that will be done without interruption. Rules and reactions in MSR aren't atomic. A reaction does not take over the CPU and run until the reaction is done. The reaction may give up the CPU at any step to allow other things to happen, as I said. This can affect how you write conditions for rules, particularly when the conditions involve devices you are modifying in the rule's reactions. For example, if you have two devices A and B that are always in opposite states by your requirements (A-on/B-off or A-off/B-on), and you use two reactions to set them to one state or another, there is always a period where they are in an interstitial state, where one has been modified and the other is about to be, therefore both are on or both are off. It is in the space between those two actions that things can go wrong. If you think in your mind that A and B are always opposite and therefore it's safe in a rule to just test A's state alone before launching into some other action(s), that rule may trigger in that interstitial state and cause who-knows-what problem, perhaps even something disastrous. The key here is don't assume the computer works the way your brain wants to think about it. Even though you may think A and B are always in opposite states, make sure your rules enforce that expectation as well -- both devices tested for their expected state.
Also, leave yourself a lot of comments in your rules and reactions, and if there are special conditions or actions, make sure to mention them. I think a lot of missteps occur when, for example, a reaction is written for a rule that only executes the reaction at night. Six months later, you have some need to do a similar thing during the day, so you decide to invoke that reaction to do your day work as well, but it does something else that you don't want, maybe something subtle that you don't notice right away, and a week or more later you start noticing and wondering why the landscape lights are on in the middle of the day. At that point, you've forgotten that you've re-used that reaction, and you've long-since forgotten that that reaction also turns on the landscape lights. Leave comments, and when reusing a rule or reaction, look at it and review what it does. Oh, and in this case, remember that the logs are your friend. Pretty much all device actions are logged at this point, so it's easy to spot the sequence of events leading up to a device being manipulated.
One thing I can do to make things a little easier with regard to the concurrency is give you the option of making reactions started from other reactions wait for completion. That's already in the Engine, it's just not exposed in the UI. That would keep a single reaction from lighting off too many concurrent reactions; it would not, however, eliminate the possibility of other rules evaluating while those reactions are in mid-stride. That's a completely different problem (and for the moment, best handled with those "sustained for" delays). But I'll make sure the wait option is in the next release.
Sorry for the firehose/text wall...
- Rule
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@toggledbits This. This is exactly the response I was hoping to evoke from not just yourself but others who have been using the system for a while now.
What works for you?
What would you do differently?
What was a horribly wrong path?Your lighting example makes me think of my living room curtain and the TV. I prefer the curtain to be open during the day because of the view, but once it's dark outside and the lights are on inside then I'm the view lol
So, at sunset I want the curtain to close halfway. Once the TV goes on, close all the way down to the cat door (still allowing him access to his precious screened room.) But what if I was already watching TV before sunset. I still wanted the curtain open since it was daylight out but now I want it to close all the way down to the cat door at sunset. But once the TV goes off I don't want the curtain opening back up again.
And what about that blind to the right of the TV - the one that allows the neighbors to look right in as you watch TV? Nice people but I still don't need them watching ME watching TV. So the blinds get tilted whilst the TV is on... but it's after sunset... I could go on but you get the idea.
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I have a similar approach (smaller rules, global reactions with groups and lots of comments). But I used a very complex one (dozen of triggers and constraints) on a couple of other situations, that I regret now.
I over complicated things because I was porting code, but when I have free time (an exceedingly rare event nowadays), I'll try to break them. I usually write simpler rulesets to get the state, and a reaction to execute the logic, that's invoked by other reactions (or even MQTT, as I documented previously). What attracted me to a single ruleset was the ability to write local variables (I use them a lot, being a programmer at heart), but you'll end up pretty soon with conflicting logic and problems in debugging the state.
What convinced me to move my logic to MSR was the multi-threading capabilities, because I'm mixing lot of things together and I'm comfortable with multiple actions/rulesets being execute simultaneous, but I agree it's tricky if you're not used to concurrency. I agree virtual switches are the best help and I hope to see native virtual devices in MSR soon.
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I wanna answer your question so badly, but fear my input at this juncture would be invalid since I no longer have a use-case for MSR. Oh, it's still running 24/7 in a Docker container over on my Synology NAS... but once I finalized the transition from Vera over to Hubitat (THANK YOU 1000x @toggledbits !), and ported all my my old logic into my new C7 hub, my "fiddling" days abruptly ended.
Do I still have Rulesets in place (but disabled) on MSR Reactor (Multi-hub) latest-21307-1746e27? Yep. Are the Rules they contain worth mentioning, since 49% involved Vera and 49% were extremely/overly experimental in nature, with 2% marked for "Testing"? Nope.
And did I ever try to Register another username on the old long-forgotten ezlo Forum after being excommunicated 4x? AW HELL NAW!
But I will mention that MSR comes to mind periodically, such as earlier today, when I realized Hubitat lacks a native way to generate and send email messages to its users. And at other times when I delve into heavyweight plug-ins (the HE community calls them User Apps) like WebCore, I think to myself, "Hot damn, this would be waaaay easier to accomplish over in MSR."
Mostly, I'm posting this reply just to SAY HI TO THE GANG, whom I miss, and to let you guys know that all of the time (Vera tweaking) and headaches (ezlo PTSD) I've spared myself over the past year was invested in buying and riding a new electric bike (the Priority Current with Enviolo CVT), so now I know what the outdoors looks like.
PEACE and lemme know if my answer here raised more questions.
- Libra
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Hear hear. Always good to "see" you, @LibraSun
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@toggledbits said in Approach to Rulesets, a philosophic question:
spouse-approved
It is the best comment
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I think there should be almost a unanimity to build small Reactions that are triggered by Rules, great practice for maintenance, and repetition of tasks.
What I've been doing is using delay in the calls when I want to have a sequencing of execution, i.e., in @toggledbits 's example of A and B being opposite, I know that there will be the interval of the two being equal, but managing the delay, I try to have greater control of the execution.
Another reason to use delay in the shots is as I have already reported in other posts, I see that shooting many simultaneous actions, generates failures, and some devices are not being triggered. Again @toggledbits intervened and improved a lot the communication between MSR and HE, but I ended up keeping the delay to a few seconds that I control in Rule.
What works for you? Use of delay to control the sequence;
What would you do differently? I think the path is very similar for everyone, I follow most of the simplification and many small rules;
What was a horribly wrong path? In my case, not having execution control on simultaneous executions. -
A short summary of my rulesets; first of all I'm using quite many rulesets (e.g. "lights outside", "lights inside", "sonos alerts", "statistics & alerts") that themselves contain a lot of rules ("statistics & alerts" contain 47 rules, that mainly send telegram messages when certain event happens). But one aspect of MSR that I haven't quite figured out yet is the use of global reactions. I have none of those.
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@tunnus I use global reactions in situations wherein, for instance, I'm triggering the color-changing smart lights I have for landscape lighting. I've created global reactions for each light and each color I typically use. The global reaction contains four different settings (which would be a pita to add to five lights) that make up each color. I then just call that global reaction when I need that color at a specific light.
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@therealdb said in Approach to Rulesets, a philosophic question:
I agree virtual switches are the best help and I hope to see native virtual devices in MSR soon.
You've now got your wish (22258)!
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@toggledbits I’ll try them soon. I’m quite busy at work, but I hope to remove a couple of virtual devices from my Vera and move ha bridge and my dashboard to native MSR http commands. Thanks for the addition!
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T toggledbits locked this topic on