Can someone explain to me how this private rule work?

#1

Good day everyone,

I have a rule that turns on the hallway lights when coming into the house form the garage door at night time. It works like a charm but because the door has the self closing mechanism, then when opening the door again to grab more stuff from the car, the trigger kicks in and turns off the hallway lights (push button on Lutron system). I was told that I can use a private boolean to fix this but I cannot find a way to get it to work. I am software developer so I was thinking I can create a variable that will hold a true or false boolean value for 15 minutes or so (whatever I define) and then I can use that boolean variable in my rule.

Thanks in advance.

#2

There's some terminology overlap here...

Private Boolean is a feature that's been in RM since the platform was created a year ago.

Global Variables are new. You get to create them.

BOTH features provide a mechanism for stitching together rules. As you know by now, Rules are like Lego's and you may want multiple Lego's to build a cool item. Global Variables are Binary or numeric, while Private Boolean is binary only. Prior to Global Variables, many of us used a virtual dimmer as a means of storing numbers.. count up or count down. Neither RM feature is available outside of RM, so 'signalling' an app would still benefit from the use of a virtual device as intermediary.

#3

Thanks for the info. Maybe global variables is what I need for my specific scenario, where do I define them?

#4
#5

Awesome, thanks a lot.

#6

Cool, global variables worked for me.

#7

Now I have another problem which requires me to check the status of a light (on or off) in the Lutron system. How I can accomplish that?

#8

You have a Lutron Caséta Pro bridge?

#9

I have RA2 Select without a Pro Bridge yet but I have to mention that I can see the status of them in devices under events. How do I access this info from the RM?

It looks like this:

buttonLed on DEVICE 2019-03-13 02:12:25.370 PM PDT

#10

The Lutron integration will allow you to control lights and keep their status in sync with Hubitat. You can then use that in RM or write custom apps.

https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=Lutron_Integrator

#11

I have spent quit a bit of time reading the documentation and I had to come up with my own way to keep track if the lights in my hallway are on or off. I couldn't find a way to retrieve the status of the keypad button (led lit or not lit), even though the information is already there in the device as shown in screenshot below:

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Maybe our Hubitat Elevation developers can include a way to access the status of the led light in the keypad button to make our automations much easier.

Thanks

#12

I have a feeling there’s already a way. @bravenel will know if there is.

#13

This information is available to an app. The keypad driver sends out "buttonLED" events with the led number and whether it is on or off. This is used in our Button Integrator app. There is no way to access the current state of the LED, but an app can keep track of its state by subscribing to these events.

#14

Hi bravenel, are you referring to the Button Controller Built-In App?

#15

Never mind, found it :slight_smile:

#16

How do I define the Main Repeater again?

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#17

Hi bravenel, Now we are taking. I was able to use the Button Integrator and it is working like a charm. I was able to automate things like turning on my garage light when movement is detected at night with alarm disarm. Also turning on the chandelier at night when opening the front door at night. Additionally turning on the hallway lights when opening the house from the garage door, and lastly turning on the accent lights of the kitchen when walking towards it at night. The cool thing is I did all this without the need of Global Variables or Private Booleans. Pretty cool stuff. I found some bugs in Hubitat but I know they are going to be fixed in the future.

Thanks a lot!!!

Next is Alexa but I see two Build-In Apps, so I guess it is the second one?

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Screen Shot 2019-03-13 at 9.53.09 PM.png2710×722 56.3 KB

#18

If the skill is available in your country in the Alexa App, then you use the Amazon Echo Skill. If not then you use the Amazon Echo App.