I have been on the SmartThing platform from the beginning and was happy when Rule Machine was there. I really like the idea of local processing. I noticed the warning about running webCore on this platform and respect the reasons for not using it.
I am trying to understand the difference between webCore and Rule Machine. Doing so searches I don't see where Rule Machine supports user variables. Since I use webCore to store variables anywhere from temperatures but keeping track how much time is used for heating and cooling on the HVAC. along with filter hours. This is only one of many ways I make use of variables.
What I want to know, does Rule Machine support variables similar to webCore, and if not are there any plans to add that functionality?
If variables are important to your custom automations, I would encourage you to write your own custom groovy Apps. These will run incredibly efficiently and will offer an amazing amount of flexibility. While it may seem a bit complicated at first, after you get past the learning curve you’ll really find it fairly easy.
Thank You for the suggestion. It has been many years since writing code but may consider learning groovy for the more specialized routines. but I'm guessing Rule Machine could handle most of my automatons.
I just wrote my first app today... Actually I wrote 3, but they were similar.
If you start from a simple example, and read some of the literature on the smart things developers site, it really isn't that much more complicated than a good webcore piston is.
If your variables are for integer values between 0 and 100, Virtual Dimmers can act like variables and be used to store these values. If they are Boolean values, you can use virtual switches. Just have to get creative.
