Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Listening to and acting on device state change in Octoblu

Part 1: Use configuration events in Octoblu
Part 2: Creating custom devices in Octoblu
Part 3: Setting the state of an Octoblu device from a flow

Now we are on to Part 4 - Responding to state changes

If you are catching up, check out the previous posts.

In this post I am going to listen to state changes of an Octoblu device within a flow and then respond to that somehow.

I have my starter flow from last this that looks like this:


Now, I want to create a second flow, where I am going to simply wait for my key 'rooms' and then process that data.  In this flow I am listening to state changes to myDevice.

To begin with your new flow should look like this:


Turn on 'Use Configuration Events' but you don't need to turn on 'Use Incoming Messages' like you did in the first flow.  In this flow we are only listening, not sending messages to or modifying the properties of (like the previous flow).

Open a second browser window, open your previous flow and click the trigger.
Notice that in the debug of this flow, you get the same debug output.  Because you are listening for changes to the device (in both flows).

Now, add some operator after your device in the new flow, set it and modify your JSON in the first flow to send something you can begin to act on.  Use {{msg.rooms}} to reference my example value, but make your own, set multiples, have fun with it.

Quite honestly, it is that simple.
And what you have built is this special Thing, where you can now save JSON formatted data, and then catch when it changes in some other flow.

one to one, many to one, one to many.....
And this data is all yours, formatted by you.

Next up, some of the screwy ways I have dealt with JSON data.


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Listening to what you've written, still figuring out the context. But thanks for talking about Octoblu, as a Podio/GF user I'm interested in application examples.