Three Simple Programming Questions

[birdman]

I have been using my Issy99i for about 3 months and reading this forum for about the same but trying to get comfortable with some programming. I have 3 simple questions.

 

1. I am trying to test a very simple program which will turn on 3 lights on Friday night 9:30pm and then turn them off at 11:30 pm, and then on Saturday night at the same time 9:30 pm, I want the same lights to turn on, and at 11:30 pm on Sat. night, the same lights to turn off.

 

I set up a program called Test ON and wrote "If on Friday, time is 9:30 PM OR on Sat. time is 9:30 pm, THEN SET [certain lights] ON ELSE No actions"

I then set up a second program called Test OFF and wrote "If on Friday time is 11:30 pm OR on Sat. time is 11:30 pm THEN SET [certain lights] OFF ELSE No actions".

 

I am sure there is a more artful way of doing it, but will this work?

 

2. When I am in the Admin console, I have all of the Insteon lights under the heading "My Lighting". Is there a simple way of writing a program that would, for example, at night turn ALL my lights off, except for, stair lights? I looked in the "list" of Insteon items when I am writing a program for "My Lighting" but I only see each Insteon switch itemized separately. How would I do an ALL OFF command?

 

3. I have a few other programs which I run regularly but I do not want them to run, when I am running this test. Is the best way to stop a program from running, to go into the "Program Summary" tab and right click on the program to "Disable" it?

 

Thanx in advance for the help.

[oberkc]

I am sure there is a more artful way of doing it, but will this work?

 

This looks to me like it will work. An alternative (syntax is approximate):

 

if
on Friday from 930 to 1130
or
on Saturday from 0930 to 1130
then 
turn three lights on
else
turn three lights off

 

I will let you decide if this is more artful.

 

Is there a simple way of writing a program that would, for example, at night turn ALL my lights off, except for, stair lights?

 

I don't believe there is an "all lights except". I believe you can use "my lighting" in a program to turn every device off. This will probably cause complications, however, as you use insteon for things other than lighting. Instead, I suggest you create scenes with all lights that you want part of an "all lighting" button. For example, I have scenes for all interior lights, all exterior lights, and all guest lights. Then use the scene to control "all lighting". This scene may also prove useful in the future for troubleshooting.

 

I have a few other programs which I run regularly but I do not want them to run, when I am running this test. Is the best way to stop a program from running, to go into the "Program Summary" tab and right click on the program to "Disable" it?

 

That is the best way that I can think of.