Virtual Devices.. what does one use them for

[JohnneyBoy]

Hello,

I beleive I have worked out how to create virtual devices, but am at loss of their real value.

I wonder if anyone could give some good examples of their use.

I have had some idears, but it seems I can facilitate most actions I need via scripts.. humm.. I must be missing something, other than the bit between the ears :-)

Regards John

[w.vuyk]

Johnney,

As one sample on how I use virtual devices:

I created a virtual device holding three values: Day, Evening and Night.
Events are controlling the device:

- daytime is set half an hour after sunrise
- evening is set half an hour before sunset
- night is set at the time I should think going to bed

My light settings are controlled based on dark signal + the part of day. If it gets dark and it is day time lights will respond different than when it is evening.
When it is Night, lights will dim more or have other coloursettings compared to day of evening period.

That is just one sample of virtual devices I use.

HTH

Wim

[randycboone]

I use a few virtual devices. I've labeled one "Motion Sensing" and it can be set to "on" or "off". I use it as a condition in many of my events which are triggered by physical motion sensors. The event will only fire if the "Motion Sensing" virtual device is on.

Example: If I've dimmed the lights to watch a movie, I will toggle the "Motion Sensing" device "off". That way, if I have to go for popcorn, the physical motion sensors in the house won't turn the lights back on.

[mrhappy]

With HS3 and timers/counters there may be less of a need for virtual devices than perhaps there once was, if global variables persisted when HS was restarted them there would be likely to be no need (I would far prefer this) for them but enough about that.

I just use them as a temporary data store, storing little bits of information that I can then use in events. Devices to tell me whether I am at home or not, whether I am at work, information about HS (uptime etc) there is all sorts. I guess that there is a difference between devices that do not have a real physical representation so in a sense is virtual (the latest lottery numbers etc) compared to something that is used conditionally in events, they both could be considered virtual but the latter is likely to be able to be evaluated.

[Rotech]

With HS3 and timers/counters there may be less of a need for virtual devices than perhaps there once was, if global variables persisted when HS was restarted them there would be likely to be no need (I would far prefer this) for them but enough about that.

Mrhappy

Can you give an example how timers and counters could be used as virtual devices?

[mrhappy]

Mrhappy

Can you give an example how timers and counters could be used as virtual devices?

I meant in certain circumstances that devices people used in HS2 to count values could instead be used in HS3 as counters. I have a virtual device in HS2 that contains a count of a water meter as a value. In HS3 you would be able to use a counter and as such no need for the virtual device.

[Uncle Michael]

Depending on how involved one wants to get in linguistics, it is an easy argument to claim that ALL HS 'devices' are virtual. The distinction that most of us make is that some HS devices correspond to an actual physical device, like a light or a door sensor. Others do not. In my setup I have devices that I use to determine if the criteria for a room to be occupied have been met or not. I have one that registers whether we are all in bed or not. Others reflect if we are at home or away, if it's summer or winter, if we have visitors, or if some arcane criterion or another has been satisfied, such as, Is it later than 15 minutes past sunset but earlier than 30 minutes before sunrise?

In addition, as others have noted, I have 'devices' that are really just places to store values. They function just as a global variable would.

[JohnneyBoy]

Hello Everyone...

Thank you for all your replies, it's quite interesting, I'm currently working on integrating a RG-11 rainsensor, and was wondering how to keep a log of the last time a 'it's raining' event happens, I did wonder if these virtual devices were the answer, but wanted to make sure I had got 'it'.

It seems they are persistent variables, why not call them that, ho humm, I have also started looking at them for simple interactive parameter definition, which it seems they can facilitate.

Regards John

[mmn]

I meant in certain circumstances that devices people used in HS2 to count values could instead be used in HS3 as counters. I have a virtual device in HS2 that contains a count of a water meter as a value. In HS3 you would be able to use a counter and as such no need for the virtual device.

Exactly what I'm doing. I had a virtual device for this in HS2 and now it's a counter. Using a couple of them this way.