# Finding an Item's Thing and locate a different Item in Rules **URL:** \ **Category:** Scripts & Rules\ **Created:** [September 11, 2019, 10:32am UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/finding-an-items-thing-and-locate-a-different-item-in-rules/81698 "2019-09-11T10:32:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 2
**Author:** ![rossko57](https://community.openhab.org/user_avatar/community.openhab.org/rossko57/32/70263_2.png) [@rossko57](https://community.openhab.org/u/rossko57)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 10:37am UTC](https://community.openhab.org/t/finding-an-items-thing-and-locate-a-different-item-in-rules/81698/2 "2019-09-11T10:37:30Z")
A non-thing method, exploiting an Item naming convention. > [@Design Pattern: Associated Items](https://community.openhab.org/t/design-pattern-associated-items/15790): > > Edit: Updates for OH 4 Please see [Design Pattern: What is a Design Pattern and How Do I Use Them](https://community.openhab.org/t/design-pattern-what-is-a-design-pattern-and-how-do-i-use-them/40319) for how to read and use DPs. Problem Statement Often one will have a number of separate Items which are all related to each other in some way. For example, one might have a Contact on a door and a DateTime to represent when the last time the door was opened. This is easy enough to keep track of if there are only one or two such Items, but if one has a lot of similar Items or is using a lot of gener… --- _[View the full topic](https://community.openhab.org/t/finding-an-items-thing-and-locate-a-different-item-in-rules/81698)._