Seems like I'm missing something obvious.
I would like switch B to switch ON, when Room Light rule A is switched off, but only when it is after dusk. I have accomplished what I need via Rule A in Room lighting and Rule for B in Rule machine.
However, I'm wondering if there is a more elegant, consistent way to accomplish this that I am missing.
Even though this is all lighting, I could not figure out any way to do this in the Room Lighting app, because:
Room Lighting does not give me the option to switch Light B on within Rule A when A is turned off
Room Lighting does not give me the option to create a new rule that is Activated by the same switch as Rule A, but when it is turned off - the only activation is Switch turned on.
Mode manager does not allow me to select a condition (after dusk)
My sense is that you may be asking too much of the Room Lighting app (which is more scene/transition-driven than rule-driven, IMHO), and should instead be looking at Rule Machine for this exercise.
Also, let me just remind you that Mode Manager is perfectly able to define additional modes based on time-of-day, such as Dusk, which you could then use as Conditionals in RM. Although the Conditional itself could just as well be time-based.
I set this up in RL and find it works as expected -- Switch A goes off during a certain time period, causing Switch B to turn on. I'll have to refer back to your OP to see what other moving parts I'm missing...
I like that solution even better! Uses an app (SA) that I had heard of but never seen or used myself. Seems extremely straightforward and suited to the task at hand.
Yes, as noted, I was able to do this in Rule Machine.
I don't know much about Mode manager, but I did see I can define a Mode as a Time of Day. However, I think I would need two definitions for this particular automation, so I could not figure that out.
THIS seems like the solution!!! I presume RL = Room Lighting. HOW do you do this?
When I go into Room Lighting, and click the "Means to Activate Lights" dropdown, "Command with Activator Device" is not one of the options. How do I get "Command with Activator Device" as an option????
Please help me understand. The RL and RM apps are already on my HE. SA is a new app I would need to download. I presumed that I should attempt to do everything I can with the official apps already on the HE, and try to limit downloading additional apps to preserve memory. Otherwise, if memory is not an issue, why doesn't the HE ship with all the HE official apps and device drivers preloaded?
Simple Automation is supplied. In App-->Built in Apps. Believe it or not, but many people believe there is too much displayed as is. Apps that aren't used would make those people unhappy,
I googled and poked around, but I can't find any directions on how to set up an "Activator Device" Can someone please post a link for the directions on how to use "Activator Devices"?
No matter what I enter in that lower right box, even if I use the exact name of a device I already have, it adds another device to my devices page...which seems wrong because why would one device have two entries?
An Activator Device is a virtual device created by the app, not one that already exists. It has to be a child device of the app for it to serve its purpose.
If you just want to use some other device to Activate, put that in as a Means to Activate -- like turning on a switch to Activate.
