X10 Community Forum

🖥️ActiveHome Pro => Plug-ins => Smart Macros => Topic started by: freeballer on May 11, 2011, 01:39:55 PM

Title: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: freeballer on May 11, 2011, 01:39:55 PM
I've tried to do this several times. I have an idea why its not working, but I'd like to ask some advice.
I want the motion sensor to trigger an email on certain days of week, at certain times.
I work all days but sun/mon @ 5pm-2am. I setup a conditional macro between hours 5pm-2am, tues-sat
triggered by g16 (motion sensor), email myaddress@gmail.com

If I turn off the conditions it works fine. So its my fault
I wonder if two macros are needed (one for 5pm-12mid and another for 12mid-2am)
but I don't know how to make those macros interact.
Can someone help so that I won't have a hundred email in my inbox?
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: Noam on May 11, 2011, 02:01:13 PM
I've tried to do this several times. I have an idea why its not working, but I'd like to ask some advice.
I want the motion sensor to trigger an email on certain days of week, at certain times.
I work all days but sun/mon @ 5pm-2am. I setup a conditional macro between hours 5pm-2am, tues-sat
triggered by g16 (motion sensor), email myaddress@gmail.com

If I turn off the conditions it works fine. So its my fault
I wonder if two macros are needed (one for 5pm-12mid and another for 12mid-2am)
but I don't know how to make those macros interact.
Can someone help so that I won't have a hundred email in my inbox?

From my experience, (although others have reported otherwise), conditions that pass midnight work better when split up.
In your case, since you also need a day of the week condition, I'd set up two macros, using the same trigger address. That will cause it to work as an if-then-else statement. The weekday condition complicates things, because after midnight, the day changes, so you might not get the results you want.
I assume you want it to work tues-sat from 5pm to midnight, and also wed-sun from 12am-2am, right?
If so, here is how I would set up the conditions on the two macros:

First Macro:
If Day is Tue/Wed/Thu/Fri/Sat,
AND time is between 5:00PM and 11:59PM

Second Macro:
If Day is Wed/Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun,
AND time is between 12:00AM and 2:00AM

Keep in mind that if you test it by clicking on the "Run Macro" button in AHP, it ignores the conditions.
Use a PalmPAd or another plug-in controller to activate it for testing.
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: freeballer on May 11, 2011, 03:18:56 PM
yes. thats exactly right. I've dealt with similar setup with a POS system, but wasn't sure how macros interacted (if at all)
I used a palmpad, and my own body to trigger it but it didn't work. Even after I changed the timeframe (meaning before current time).
I can see in activity monitor "g16 on" and both macros triggered as well but no email. Email address verified.

Here's what I have:

macro 1
Trigger conditions "g16 on" and
the day of the week is TUE, WED, THU, FRI, SAT and
The time is between 5pm-11:59pm
End Trigger Conditions
Send E-mail notification - [address] - [subject]



macro 2
Trigger conditions "g16 on" and
the day of the week is SUN, WED, THU, FRI, SAT and
The time is between 12:00am-02:00am
End Trigger Conditions
Send E-mail notification - [address] - [subject]



Both run from pc (obviously)
both reside in "bedroom"
both are using the right trigger
and no security or "else" options are enabled.


It looks correct to me... So what could be happening?
oh. I verified the active home pro (usb) adapter does have correct
timezone and the time is correct. I updated the interface though. Just in case.
I used the condition wizard just in case I messed it up.
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: Noam on May 11, 2011, 03:54:17 PM
Ok, a few things:
1) When you run it manually (by clicking "run macro" from within AHP), does it send out the e-mail correctly?
2) Have you made sure that the Date, Time, and Timezone are correct on your PC, as well?

If all that is correct, but it simply ignoring the time-based condition, you might be experiencing the problem that a few others here are experiencing with their CM15A ignoring time-based conditions.

Let me know if that's the case, and I'll let the developers know about it. They have been trying to collect examples of that bug, but I don't know where they stand in their efforts.
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: Noam on May 11, 2011, 07:45:43 PM
Send a Private Message to "ErikP".He is the developer who is looking into this.
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: freeballer on May 11, 2011, 08:25:16 PM
yes. my pc time/date are correct and syncronized to the cm15a.
and triggering with run macro definitely works or without any conditions

I just saw a thread about this, so I was pretty sure when I saw this it was the same thing.
I'll write and hopefully they can get it cleared up.
I'd love to get this working. Kind of fustrating start to x10 :/
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: orcusomega on May 11, 2011, 09:54:35 PM
Take this with a grain of salt, but here is how I have solved the "rolling past midnight" issue.

Macro 1:
Condition: P2 ON
Set Flag 16

Macro 2
Condition: P2 OFF
Clear Flag 16

Then I create a dummy switch, usually an XPS, with the address P2.

Quick stop here.  This is what I call the "daytime" flag because when this flag is set, it is a defined period of time.  This makes it real simple to add timers to this flag, and use it as a condition in another macro

So, in your case, you would assign a timer to the P2 dummy switch, that looks something sorta like this:

ON at 5:00 PM Tuesday
OFF at 2:00 AM Wednesday
ON at 5:00 PM Wednesday
OFF at 2:00 AM Thursday
ON at 5:00 PM Thursday
OFF at 2:00 AM Friday
ON at 5:00 PM Friday
OFF at 2:00 AM Saturday
ON at 5:00 PM Saturday
OFF at 2:00 Sunday

In essence, your "flag" is set when you are at work, so the G16 on macro would be very simple: if G16 trips, and the flag is set, then send the email.

Think that might help your situation?

Bob
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: Noam on May 12, 2011, 06:48:02 AM
Bob -
That's a great way to fix it, but the developers are still looking for examples of the time-based conditions not working, so they can track down and fix the underlying cause.
If you are also having that issue, send a PM to "ErikP" (one of the X10 developers), and he will get back to you with more information about which files he wants you to send to him.

--Noam
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: freeballer on May 12, 2011, 11:46:23 AM
I'll have to try it later when I can play around. From what I understand it should fix the issue,
after a fashion. My box (pc) is on a shelf. I'll vnc into and post the results

I have msg that member, and waiting for response. I assume there has to be a log / debug
that I can send. If they are looking for an eg. I can reproduce the problem every single time.
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: orcusomega on May 12, 2011, 01:19:15 PM
Bob -
That's a great way to fix it, but the developers are still looking for examples of the time-based conditions not working, so they can track down and fix the underlying cause.
If you are also having that issue, send a PM to "ErikP" (one of the X10 developers), and he will get back to you with more information about which files he wants you to send to him.

--Noam

Noam:

I gotcha, but in a pinch, I am sure freeballer would like a backup while development works on a fix.  Depending on the difficulty of reproduction, available developer cycles, who knows how long that could be - hopefully a quick turn around, but having something is better than nothing while grabbing troubleshooting info.

Freeballer: At any rate - hope you get it working one way or the other!

Bob


Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: freeballer on May 13, 2011, 09:32:00 PM
thank you, I hope so too.
I was playing with it the other night but wasn't finished.
at any rate the devs have my info, and if they need me to reproduce the issue I'll gladly help

Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: Noam on June 12, 2011, 01:18:55 AM
AHP version 3.315 was released this past Thursday (6/9/2011), and is supposed to have a fix for the time-based macro conditions.
Please try it out, and report back here.

--Noam
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: freeballer on July 24, 2011, 01:54:48 PM
I had been checking the software update in the application and neglected to check the forums until today, when I was going to
ask about the release. lol
So far the time based macros ARE working. For the record I'm using both time & date range to email and alert.
On a related note; I tried the myhouse application and that doesn't seem to connect. Its the same issue
prior to installing the beta. Thought I'd mention it in case the devs want to look into it.
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: freeballer on August 03, 2011, 03:07:22 AM
edit: myhouse is now WORKING
it seems to be up and running after I came home from work
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: freeballer on August 10, 2011, 05:14:13 PM
Today I had to reload the smart macros because my system crashed and (apparently) my last changes
were not saved. It saves only one of the two conditions when using the wizard.

same macro as the first post:

tigger g16
email to: [email] / [subject]
tues-sun
5pm-2am.

It only saves the time of day, and not the day of week
I tried it in different order, and using ONLY days of week. Anytime I save days of week its
missing from the macro description window at the bottom and fails to trigger.

I downloaded the latest version of ahp, which at first fixed the issue.
I've re-installed and started the configuration from scratch.

Is anybody having the same problem?
Geo
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: Noam on August 10, 2011, 09:35:16 PM
If the version of SmartMacros that you re-installed was earlier than the version of AHP that you already had, then I think it (at least partially) downgrades AHP.

Since the AHP installer will update the plugins to the latest version, it is important to make sure you are installing the correct version of each.
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: freeballer on August 13, 2011, 11:32:09 AM
I downloaded a fresh copy of ahp and the plugins after I uninstalled everything. I would assume at the time of the last release
the smart macro version on the site would be "compatible" with the lastest ahp
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: Noam on August 15, 2011, 10:05:52 AM
I downloaded a fresh copy of ahp and the plugins after I uninstalled everything. I would assume at the time of the last release
the smart macro version on the site would be "compatible" with the lastest ahp
Yes, downloading both at the same time would get you the same version.
I was unclear with one of your earlier posts.
Did you create a brand-new AHX file after you did the reinstall?
Your old file might have some corruption in it.
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: freeballer on August 19, 2011, 11:21:20 PM
yes, I did recreate the settings folder when the old file didn't work
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: freeballer on October 22, 2011, 05:15:02 PM
Anybody?
this issue is still happening and I've seen no updates to the software or replies to the topic
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: Brian H on October 22, 2011, 05:41:49 PM
AHP is up to 3.318. What version are you running?
The Autoupdate feature is still not working.
Can be found here.
http://www.x10.com/support/support_soft1.htm
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: mike on October 23, 2011, 08:47:17 AM
Anybody?
this issue is still happening and I've seen no updates to the software or replies to the topic

my time and day conditions hadn't worked for like 8 years;  I knew their software was NFG on it.  I resoted to making my own day/nite with a fake switch with timer on it and two macros that set flag 1 on for day off for nite and used that all this time.  Whenever I would hear the next fw update fixed it I would change my macros back to using thei conditions, just to get 20 emails a day again. 

That said, fw 3.318 FIXED it,  and I am using the conditions once again, after like 8 years, and I no longer get 20 emails a day telling me a door opened during the day thinking it is nite.  So my vote goes to 3.318 fixed this over the last 3.316 or so.  So are you SURE you are using 3.318?
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: Noam on October 23, 2011, 04:20:06 PM
There was a bug with time-based conditions not working (the logic was actually REVERSED) for macros that were set to run from the PC.
Macros stored in the interface worked fine.
However, that bug was fixed in version 3.315, which was released on 6/9/2011.
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: freeballer on December 20, 2011, 07:46:57 PM
I'm running v3.318, and they've never worked for me. And I'm absolutely positive...
I used the update utility to upgrade it. Then later wiped out all references to x10, activehome and reinstalled it
using fresh downloads...

Unfortunately the macros I'm trying to use require the pc as they are emailing me when the door is triggered.
I tried a similar timer/macro but that didn't work for me at all. Maybe user error, dunno... But I tried it twice
using the info provided on the forum.
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: Noam on December 21, 2011, 01:50:27 PM
I'm running v3.318, and they've never worked for me. And I'm absolutely positive...
I used the update utility to upgrade it. Then later wiped out all references to x10, activehome and reinstalled it
using fresh downloads...

Unfortunately the macros I'm trying to use require the pc as they are emailing me when the door is triggered.
I tried a similar timer/macro but that didn't work for me at all. Maybe user error, dunno... But I tried it twice
using the info provided on the forum.

Have you tried creating a brand-new AHX file, clearing the CM15A's memory, and re-downloading?
When you say they don't work, does the trigger fail (and nothing happens), or the condition is ignored, and the macro ALWAYS runs (even when it shouldn't)?

When you click on a macro in AHP, it ignores the conditions, and runs the commands regardless (which is good to test that the actions do what they should). You need to trigger it with a remote or some other device that can send PLC (perhaps the SDK - I haven't tested that) in order to have it evaluate the conditions.

Are there any other actions in the macro (besides sending the e-mail)?
Are you still using the 5pm-2am condition, or did you split it up into two macros (one for AFTER 5 PM, the other for BEFORE 2 AM)?
Have you tried putting a 0-second delay (or a longer one, if you wish) as the FIRST command in the macro?
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: freeballer on January 26, 2012, 12:47:43 AM
yes. I've done all that. Started from square on, deleted all folders/files with x10, activehome, etc.. Clearing the unit, updating the system time/zone
the trigger on its own, without time/day references, works fine.. And I can trigger them by issuing
a command on a remote. There aren't any other commands on the macro and I've tried different times of day
because of my previous posts about the 12/midnight "cut off". Despite all this it still fails to turn on the devices.

I tried it earlier with a 5 second delay but that was before clearing the folders/config/files.. I can try again if you feel it could help?


Also, I don't know if its related, but when I receive an email from the x10 in its current configuration (no date/time settings, only email trigger)
the date/time says 12:23:11 on january 1, 1969. (Time is correct though). When I try to trigger the chime unit on trigger it crashed the entire
program. I have tried the motion sensors and the door units; both crash it.

So its far from isolated. I don't know if the hardware itself is the cause of the timestamp issue but there are some bugs in the program.
I hope a developer might msg me in an attempt to test it out. Its a cool geek toy, but its been fustrating for me.
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: Noam on January 26, 2012, 09:04:04 AM
yes. I've done all that. Started from square on, deleted all folders/files with x10, activehome, etc.. Clearing the unit, updating the system time/zone
the trigger on its own, without time/day references, works fine.. And I can trigger them by issuing
a command on a remote. There aren't any other commands on the macro and I've tried different times of day
because of my previous posts about the 12/midnight "cut off". Despite all this it still fails to turn on the devices.
Does the Activity Monitor show anything when it fails to trigger?

Quote
I tried it earlier with a 5 second delay but that was before clearing the folders/config/files.. I can try again if you feel it could help?
it certainly can't make it worse, right?

Quote
Also, I don't know if its related, but when I receive an email from the x10 in its current configuration (no date/time settings, only email trigger)
the date/time says 12:23:11 on january 1, 1969. (Time is correct though).
I'm not sure what that's about. I don't use the e-mail function in any of my macros.

Quote
When I try to trigger the chime unit on trigger it crashed the entire
program. I have tried the motion sensors and the door units; both crash it.
If you are using the SC546A chime unit (defined in the "Other" module section, that's a bug. (There is a link to the "bug list" in my signature). Try defining it as a "Pro Remote Chime PHH02," from the "Pro Modules" section. The functions should be identical, but the PHH02 doesn't seem to crash AHP for some people.

Quote
So its far from isolated. I don't know if the hardware itself is the cause of the timestamp issue but there are some bugs in the program.
There are *plenty* of bugs in the program. Check out the "Bug List" link in my signature.

Quote
I hope a developer might msg me in an attempt to test it out. Its a cool geek toy, but its been frustrating for me.
Not likely, but you can always hope. I've been working with one of the developers for nearly two years now, and I've also been trying to act as a "liaison," to try and get some additional assistance when those of us volunteers haven't been able to figure something out. I'm happy to ask the developer to look at this, but I don't know how quickly he might have some time.
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: Noam on January 26, 2012, 09:16:16 AM
I sent an e-mail off to the developer, asking him if he can take a look at this thread, and possibly shed some light on it.
Also, I know you've checked, and re-checked, but please confirm (one more time), that you are using AHP 3.318.
Just to be sure, you can try re-downloading the updater from this link:
ftp://ftp.x10.com/pub/applications/activehomepro/setup_ahp_update.EXE

Save it somewhere on your computer, and then run it. It *should* make sure that everything you have is the latest version (it doesn't hurt to make a backup copy of your AHX file first, of course).

Try doing a full reset on your CM15A. Unplug it from the wall and the USB, and remove the batteries.
Wait a few minutes.
Put the batteries back in (if they are at all weak, put in fresh ones), and then plug it back in to the wall and the USB.
Re-open AHP, and double-check that your location is still correct in AHP. Re-download your programming to the CM15A, and try again.
Title: Re: smart macro - motion sensor (e-mail) at certain times/days
Post by: freeballer on January 30, 2012, 12:55:23 AM
post 1/2

sorry if this is a double post but its 2am and I'm very tired.
yes, I am using the last version. I tried the update program just before posting.

Yes, the log shows a trigger and if you are looking at the program the macro shows triggered on screen.
Another thing, I think I mentioned it in prior posts, while I program it in condition wizard with time of day, week
it does not show in the summary window below the editor window.

I've also programed the chime from the pro section but haven't tried a macro yet.
Trying it last before doing the reset/battery pull, or the delay because I'm planning on doing file->new for a new .ahx
I will post those results tomorrow and thank you for emailing the dev and keeping up to date on my post

Geo