How to store additional info in ITEM?

[rlkoshak (Rich Koshak)]

I just wrote this up as a Design Pattern:

Design Pattern: Encoding and Accessing Values in Rules

Edit: Added link to item_init library. Please see Design Pattern: What is a Design Pattern and How Do I Use Them for how to read and use a DP. Problem Statement Often a user has the desire to be able to store and retrieve a series of constants or other values in a Rule. For example, a user may have an RFID reader and want to store the list of authorized and disallowed IDs in a flexible manner. As another example, one may be sending commands to a gateway and need to include the ID of the target…

For better or worse, encoding the value in the Item name IS the elegant solution.