mitch236

I am using the network module to run programs based on my alarm system status changes so it can be done. Can you link the status of the Elk to a program? IOW, for my setup I created an empty program called Alarm Armed Away. Then, I linked the alarm's armed away status to the program (that's the part you have to see if you can do). That way, the status of the program is true when the alarm is armed away and false when not. Then you can write any number of programs using the status of Alarm Armed Away as the If statement.

Why not change the program to

Unfortunately, I need to add those If commands to my Folder Programs to get them to run when the condition of the alarm changes. IOW, when arming the alarm to Armed Away, I need the ISY to make changes to my lighting system to reflect the fact that nobody is home. I have my HVAC units reset, lighting turned off (with some random programs). When I return home and disarm the alarm, I need the ISY to reinstate the programs in the Disarmed Folder to get all the devices up to speed. It's really a programming dilemma!

I'm embarrassed to post this but I did figure out why this was happening. The isyDSC interface that io_guy wrote had the issue. I was trying to have my alarm communicate with the ISY and the isyDSC interface was written to do that. But the way the interface stayed in synch with the ISY caused problems. Whenever the alarm had any status change, even if a door was opened and then closed, the isyDSC would send commands to the ISY. The commands caused the problem. If the alarm was disarmed and ready it would send: Run Program 'Disarmed (Then path) Run Program 'Armed Away (Else path) Run Program 'Armed Stay' (Else path) So every time I opened and then closed any door, my Disarmed Folder would run its Then path. I have communicated this issue with io_guy and we are working towards a solution that keeps the ISY synched with the DSC without running any programs. Thanks all!

No bug in REST. If you create a folder that has the If statement "If Program Alarm Disarm is True" then whenever the program is true, the ISY will evaluate the folder's programs and run whatever programs need running. Say you have a hall light that is On from Sunset to Sunrise the following day in the Then statement and hall light Off in the Else statement in that Folder. Whenever the ISY gets a statement that the status of the alarm is Disarm, it will act on the hall light. If the user (or his wife!!) turns on the hall light during the day and someone opens and then closes the front door, the ISY gets the Disarmed statement and runs the hall light program and turns off the light. That's the problem. The issue is in the DSC interface. There needs to be a way to keep the ISY in sync with the DSC without the DSC sending commands to the ISY.

Here's the problem. We have an alarm and it sends info to the ISY by way of the REST interface. In order to keep the ISY and the alarm in sync, every time the alarm has any change to its status, it sends three commands: Run Program Alarm Away (Then or Else path), Run Alarm Stay (Then or Else path), and Run Program Disarmed (Then or Else path). The Then or Else path would be dictated by the status of the alarm. If the alarm were armed away it would run the Then path for Alarm Away and the Else path for the other two. What we need is a way to keep the ISY sync'ed with the alarm without sending the Run Programs because every time a Run Program is sent, the ISY re-evaluates the Folder that is True and resets all the devices to their programmed settings regardless of whether the user has changed the device locally or not. This makes the interface useless as it is now. I'm sure someone can come up with a solution to keep the ISY sync'ed without running programs to do so.

Ok, I can't make the alarm interface work for my folders and I figured out why. Whenever any door opens in my house, it must have some impact on the ISY that causes it to re-assess all the programs that are true even if they were already true before the door was opened. Here's what I did: I left the alarm in Disarmed state. I turned on the porch lights and then opened a door then closed the door. The programs in my Alarm Armed False folder ran even though the status of that folder hadn't changed. Here's a copy of the Event viewer if someone can tell me why the alarm caused the ISY to re-evaluate and run programs in the folder that shouldn't have changed status, I would really appreciate it!

I have the two folders set up so that the true/false statements only involve the Alarm Away status but I find the ISY still assesses the true folders even when the status change doesn't change the validity of the folder's If statement. IOW, if the alarm status changes from Alarm Stay to Disarmed the DSC sends a status change to the ISY and the ISY responds and runs the program folder that has the If statement, "If status Alarm Away is False" even though that folder is already running. The ISY's programming for this would be better if the If statement could be made to say, "If the status changes to Alarm Away is False" Your other suggestion of creating a Scene for controlling my Alarm Away lighting has an issue. If you look at my program you will see I put a bunch of 5 second waits in there to give the ISY time to keep up with all the changes. I could write a repeat into the program but it may not run because of the Stop command at the end.

Then I realized I had another problem. Every time I changed the alarm from Disarmed to Armed Stay, the Alarm Away False folder reassessed its contents and changed all the thermostats to their programmed setting regardless of whether they had been changed manually. So I am trying to trick the ISY into not realizing that the alarm has changed statuses. Here are the programs I wrote to accomplish this: I wrote am empty program to give the ISY/DSC interface something to update. I disabled this program. I called it Alarm Stay Trick. Then I wrote a program to keep the status of Disarmed true: My question is will the program Alarm Stay Trick still update this program even though it is disabled?

Now for the Alarm Off state: First I realized I had to write a program that stops the Alarm On programs that are on timers: Here's my solution to the HVAC issue with the help of sub-routine: Here are some concerns I have: -If I arm the alarm and then disarm it within 10 minutes, will all the timed programs in the Armed folder stop and will all the programs within the Disarmed Folder work as expected? -Will my Alarm Toggle solve my front light issue? -Does my program cause any instabilities? I ask all this because last night, I set the Alarm and the indoor lighting didn't turn off. I had to disarm and then re-arm the alarm for that program to run. I wonder if there is a timing issue with how the folders become true and when the folder contents run. The other problems I had I think I solved by writing the Alarm Toggle programs and the Stop Alarm Away. Anyway, ever since I integrated the alarm into the ISY, things have become much more complicated but exciting at the same time. I finally can see a day when my house is completely integrated with the ISY at the wheel! Its just going to take some creative programming to make it happen and be bullet proof!

Ok, I'm almost at wit's end. Last night I tested what I thought was ready for prime time two Folder system with Alarm status settings. But it didn't work. I ended up having timed programs roll over from the Alarm Away Folder to the Alarm Disarmed Folder and causing all kinds of havoc! Anyway, I think I wrote enough programs to shore this thing up but I would appreciate it if the brain trust could look it over and point out any weaknesses and possible better solutions. I will post some examples of how this is structured. First I have two main Folders, This is what the Alarm Off Folder has as an If statement: Then my Armed Folder: Then I wrote a toggle program (which resides outside of both folders) to turn off my front lights in case I disarm the alarm before the Alarm On program turns off the front lights: I had to write another program to enable the Alarm Off Toggle: Here's one of the main programs in the Alarm On Folder: Here's an example of a thermostat program in the Alarm On Folder: And a light random program for Alarm Away:

Tim, I was thinking the same thing, that I should only have two states for my alarm status. Either Home or Away since the Alarm Stay state really requires no change in any programming anyway! I think it would be best to change that at the DSC interface so the ISY doesn't see a state change when the alarm is changed from Disarmed to Alarmed Stay or visa versa.

Next problem! Ok, so now I have the thermostats figured out. I have a new issue. There are three possible states the alarm can be in; Armed Away, Armed Stay and Disarmed. I only need two main folders to handle this, one for Armed Away (when nobody is at home) and Disarmed/Armed Stay (when someone is home). Nothing should change when the alarm is changed from Disarmed to Armed Stay because the occupants haven't changed. So for the Armed Away folder's If statement I used If Alarm Away is true but for the Alarm Stay/Disarm folder I used the statement If Alarm Away is False thinking that if the status of the alarm changes from Disarmed to Alarm Stay nothing would happen (since the status of the If statement has not changed) but any change in the alarm's status causes the folder's contents to be reassessed. Is there a way around this?

Awesome!! Thanks!

Even though those programs reside in the folder named in the If statement?

How does this look? For the Alarm Off state: For the Alarm On state:

So what you're saying is that if I write a program like this: And put it in my Alarm Off folder it will run if the folder becomes true at 10:00pm and change the thermostat to the above criteria? Also, if I decide (while the Alarm Off folder is true) that I want to change the thermostat manually to 76 degrees at 10:00pm it will not revert to 80 degrees as soon as the ISY sees the changed thermostat?

Rand, I'm so sorry but I'm not getting this. If I have a program in my Alarm Off folder that looks like this: And at 10:00pm I decide the room is too cold and turn the thermostat up to 80, wouldn't the ISY see that change and change it back to 76?

Am I doing something wrong?

It would be great if there were a way to have a program run based on a change in status. Like an If statement: If status Alarm changes from On to Off Then.....

I was thinking that would work but it would preclude any changes within the house. IOW, if you are sitting in the bedroom and decide it is too cold and change the thermostat, wouldn't it reset itself back to the programmed setting?

Ok guys another question about folders. I am using two main folders that run when alarm conditions are met. If the alarm is off, the Alarm Off folder runs and if the alarm is on the Alarm On folder runs. In the alarm On folder I have thermostat settings that are designed to save electricity. In the Alarm Off folder the thermostats settings are designed for comfort. The question is this: If the alarm is on and then is turned off at 9:00pm , the Alarm Off folder becomes true at 9:00pm. But I have a thermostat change program at 8:00pm in the Alarm Off folder. Is there a way to get those programs to run even though the time to run them has past?

If I put a line in a program that says: Run Program 'Outside Lights' (If) Will it run the Then portion of 'Outside Lights' if the If portion is true?

Got it, thanks. I was using my command "arm away" instead of the DSC status "armed away". All working now!

I have integrated my DSC alarm system with my ISY thanks to io_guy! Now I would like to build folders that run based on the condition of the alarm. In other words, when the alarm is disarmed, one folder would run its contents. If the alarm is armed, a different folder would run. The problem is, I can't figure out which If statement to use. Once the program, Alarm off is run, it becomes true. But if Alarm On is run, alarm Off remains true. Any ideas?