Coming from a guy who has coped as a career paramedic with dyslexia and have managed quite well, this rule machine 5.1 is kicking my butt. I am even using my notebook and pen to draw myself maps for the most simple of tasks but expressions and symbols are just eluding me for some reason. First off, is there a youtube video? a class? a hands on or visual approach to help me learn rather than coming here and being pest? I have to write things down and come up with my own way so my brain can process. I have created a simple rule to run my shades up and down in the am at sunrise +10 min. I would like to not fire this rule if it is below 25 degrees outside. I think I got it right but maybe there is a better way, in my mind all the rules are backwards. Any guidance or tips would be appreciated
Change the "<" to ">" in your Required Expression. Rules only run when the Required Expression is True (If you define a Required Expression). So the way you set your required expression the rule will only run when the temperature is below 25.
Stephan, so this becomes true when a condition is met, it says false now but that is based on the temp sensor not meeting the value I desire at this time of writing the rule. My brain was telling me I need to make the rule true when my variable will make the rule true when conditions are met. I literally had to write that down. So this is above 25 degrees 10 minutes after sunrise will work, any way to add in this rule close at sunset or does that need to be a PM rule all by itself?
There is a way to modify the rule above to make the shades close at sunset. But it is important to realize that "rules are free". This is a term that has been used around here, and it simply means there is no disadvantage to having two seperate rules, especially if it makes things easier.
So in this case, you could just make a second rule to close the shades at sunset. That is probably what I would do.
The (F) [FALSE] is telling you two things:
(F) : the specific condition you created is currently evaluating false
[FALSE] ; the entire Required Expression is evaluating false
In this specific case you only defined one specific condition so the (F) and the [FALSE] will always evaluate the same.
To help you better understand (F) and [FALSE}, look at these two examples:
In the above examples the (F) and the (T) are simply informing you if the specific condition is evaluating as True or False. The [FALSE] and [TRUE] are informing you if the entire required expression (in this case made up of two conditions) is evaluating true or false. In the first one the entire expression evaluates [FALSE] since both conditions need to be true (that is what the word "AND" means). In the second one the entire expression evaluates [TRUE] since one of the conditions is true (that is what the word "OR" means).
The (T), (F), [FALSE], [TRUE] are informing you of their current state, they will change as the conditions change. Most users just like to see how they are evaluating at the very moment they are creating the rule. It can help making sure the logic is correct.
You make a good point, and with my brain a good naming convention had come in handy. I agree I think and ON / OFF - OPEN / CLOSE rule is the best idea going forward, and they are free LOL Thank you!
As @pseudonym has shown there are ways to modify your existing rule to make it work for both sunrise and sunset.
If you are new to RM and have it working then that is great!!! There are always many ways to accomplish an automation with HE. Especially if we are talking about Rule Machine. I don't want to discourage you from using your existing rule, cause if it works that is great and all that is required.
Having said this I only use "Required Expressions" when I feel they are necessary. In this case I wouldn't use one and make the rule like this:
This rule always triggers at sunrise, it does a quick test to determine if the temperature is above 25, if it is, it opens the shades. Since you probably always want your shades to close at sunset. Your sunset rule would not even need the temperature check. This keeps everything super simple.
I'm a big fan of using multiple rules. I think that will be a lot easier, especially if it is already a bit confusing. It's more clear what a rule is doing and if you want to make edits you never have to worry that you will accidently screw up the part that is already working.
I prefer everything in one rule especially if it's a simple rule. It makes sense to me to have everything in one place. That said, I do have some multiple rule automations where it makes sense or is easier to accomplish. Per Stephan.J's comments about not using a Required Expression, you could also use something like this:
Actions to Run
IF (Temperature > 25) Open: SHADE...
Wait for event: When time is Sunset
Close: SHADE...
If you open the shades later in the day then they will close at sunset. If you never open the shades, it's not an issue to send a close command to something that isn't open.
@HobbesIL as you can see from this thread, there are a lot of different ways you could make HE do the automation you desire. Different users will have different preferences.
If you are new to RM, congratulate yourself when you create a rule that works as you intended. Once you become more experienced you will develop your own preferences for how you like to accomplish things. This is what makes Hubitat such a fantastic platform, it really allows the user to not only create any automation they desire, but it also allows them to create the automation in the logical manner they desire. Although I find this awesome, it can be daunting to new users.
