Running a script from the UI

Setup, Configuration and Use Beginners
, ,
1

Hi all.

I can’t find the answer to this question, so please forgive me if I’m repeating an existing question/answer.

I’m new to OpenHab, and thus far I’ve gotten about 24 Philips Hue bulbs and 5 Belkin WeMo devices all controllable through OpenHab with a basic sitemap. What I’m trying to do now is mimic the scene feature of the Hue system in OpenHab: Press one button in the UI and the lights associated with that turn on to a set color.

Near as I can tell, I can accomplish the “turn on these bulbs and set a color” with a script, but I can’t figure out how to run a script from the UI.

What am I missing? Or am I thinking too hard and there’s a better/easier way to do this?

Thanks!
–Brian

2

Hello Brian,
first: what you are looking for is called “rule” in openHAB and yes, that’s exactly what will help you do what you desire. The solution consists mainly of two parts: an item and a rule.

  1. Define an extra item that is not linked to a binding, some call this a “virtual item”
Switch Lighting
// or
Number LightingPreset

I actually showed two options here. If you just want a Switch to "switch multiple lights on or off" use the first, if you are looking to define multiple presets, you can represent these by a Number.
  1. Add the new item to your sitemap
Switch item=Lighting
//or
Switch item=LightingPreset mappings=[0="Off", 1="Dim", 2="Party"]
  1. Build a rule to act on this newly created input. I’ll give one example:
rule "Lighting Preset"
when
  Item LightingPreset received command
then
    switch (receivedCommand){
        case 0: {
            logInfo("RULE", "Lights off")
            //Group gLights is where all my lamps are in
            gLights.members.forEach(item |
                item.sendCommand(OFF)
            )
        }
        case 1: {
            Lamp1.sendCommand(ON)
            Lamp2.sendCommand(OFF)
        }
        case 2: {
            ...
        }
    }
    createTimer(now.plusSeconds(3)) [|
        //this will unselect the pressed button in your GUI, which might be something you'll like
        LightingPreset.postUpdate(-1)
    ]
end

Please be aware that these are just examples to show the concepts. You might need to modify things slightly.

Further details:
You can read about items, sitemaps and rules in the openHAB 1.8 wiki and in the openHAB 2 documentation:

http://docs.openhab.org/features/items.html
http://docs.openhab.org/features/sitemap.html
http://docs.openhab.org/features/automation/ruledsl.html

1 Like
3

Thanks so much. The virtual item concept is awesome! Off to the designer to play!

Thanks again!
–Brian