Trigger Vera Scenes from Wink Relay Shortcut

Plugins & Plugin Development Unmaintained
#1

I would like to be able to trigger Vera devices and Scenes from a Wink Relay shortcut, but cannot think of a way to do this with current plugin as Wink Shortcuts cannot current be used as triggers. The only way I can see to do it is to have at least one ZWave device that is part of the action I want to trigger in the Wink network and then use the status change to trigger further actions in Vera, but that is only useful is the ZWave device is only part of the action I want to trigger, otherwise as I use it for other things it will trigger the actions when I don’t want it to. I don’t think I can create virtual ZWave devices in Wink, which would work.

Any one have any ideas on how I could do this?

#2

Wink Shortcuts are not specific to the Wink Relay…

The Wink Shortcuts are not triggers, they are analogous to a Vera Scene (and they are refereed to as scenes in the Wink API data).

You can NOT create a Wink Shortcute without assigning a device to it.

You CAN use the shortcut device created by the plugin as a scene trigger (select the shortcut device - the device is turned on or off).

You can also use the smart buttons on the relay as a scene trigger in a Vera scene.

#3

Thanks very much for the reply.

Yes, thanks, aware of that, just wanted to be clear about what I an trying to achieve.

Yes, but as Wink Shortcuts create “devices” in Vera and they can be selected as Triggers for scenes where you can choose “A shortcut is turned activated”, I assumed this could then be used to trigger a scene. It cannot in this way.

Yes, but I was hoping there was a way to create a virtual ZWave device in Wink that would then create an analogous device in Vera that could be then referenced for triggering a scene.

Yes, but if I take this approach then the “trigger device” can only be used in this scene as any other use of the device will trigger the scene. I could try to find some cheap ZWave lamp or appliance modules that work with Wink and use those as trigger devices only for the scenes I want to do this with, but that seems wasteful.

Yes, but in my setup I replaced a 2-gang box with the Wink Relay, so the 2 Relay Buttons are used as replacements for the 2 switches that were in the box.

#4

First… Let be clear…

  1. The Wink Shortcuts are exposed in Vera a a Binary Switch type device
  2. This Vera device can be used as a trigger in a Vera scene.

So this issue is NOT that the plugin does not allow Wink Shortcuts to trigger Vera scenes.

The issue is that the mechanism does not appear to operate the way you desire it to work.

Which brings us to:

This statement is contradictory.
The first sentence is correct… The shortcut device can be used as a scene trigger…
The second sentence, “It cannot in this way” is incorrect… In fact, in the first sentence you acknowledges that it does.

The trigger device in Vera is the Shortcut device.
The Shortcut device only does two things… It allows the triggering of an action in Vera when the shortcut is activated on the Wink, and it allows the Vera to activate the scene on the Wink (either manually from the UI for automatically from a scene).

I think you are confusing “devices” and “shorcuts”…
You associate a device with a shortcut… Activating the shortcut will activate the device…
Activating the device does NOT activate the shortcut…

On the Vera, you can use a shortcut device as a trigger for multiple scenes… When the shortcut is activated, all scenes that use the shortcut device will be triggered… If you activate the device that the shortcut controls (without using the shortcut to activate it), the shortcut is NOT activated, and the scenes will not trigger.

First… There is no known way to create a virtual device in Wink. You can simulate a virtual device in Wink, but does require a real device…

  1. Take a Z-Wave device that you have in Vera (of the same type as you want the “virtual” device to appear as in Wink), and excude it from the Vera. (This will change and invalidate any references to the device in scenes, etc on Vera)
  2. Add the Device to your Wink account. Make sure to name the device so that you can recognize it as a virtual device).
  3. Remove the device from the Wink network (DO NOT use the Wink Account to do this!). You can either factory reset the device, or use the Vera Add device wizard to force the device to exclude (by allowing the add device wizard to time out, then following the instructions to exclude the device).
  4. Add the device back to the Vera. You can then repair any scenes that used the device.

After doing this, the device will appear in your Wink account, but it is not controllable and will always show as offline, but it’s state will be controllable manually. If you do not have the plugin’s “exclude zwave” option enabled, this dummy device will also have a Vera device created for it.

#5

Thanks again for the detailed reply.

This is a great idea, turns out there is a way to create a “virtual” device in Wink :wink:

[quote=“cybrmage, post:4, topic:190536”]First… There is no known way to create a virtual device in Wink. You can simulate a virtual device in Wink, but does require a real device…

  1. Take a Z-Wave device that you have in Vera (of the same type as you want the “virtual” device to appear as in Wink), and excude it from the Vera. (This will change and invalidate any references to the device in scenes, etc on Vera)
  2. Add the Device to your Wink account. Make sure to name the device so that you can recognize it as a virtual device).
  3. Remove the device from the Wink network (DO NOT use the Wink Account to do this!). You can either factory reset the device, or use the Vera Add device wizard to force the device to exclude (by allowing the add device wizard to time out, then following the instructions to exclude the device).
  4. Add the device back to the Vera. You can then repair any scenes that used the device.

After doing this, the device will appear in your Wink account, but it is not controllable and will always show as offline, but it’s state will be controllable manually. If you do not have the plugin’s “exclude zwave” option enabled, this dummy device will also have a Vera device created for it.[/quote]

[quote=“cybrmage, post:4, topic:190536”]First… Let be clear…

  1. The Wink Shortcuts are exposed in Vera a a Binary Switch type device
  2. This Vera device can be used as a trigger in a Vera scene.

So this issue is NOT that the plugin does not allow Wink Shortcuts to trigger Vera scenes.

The issue is that the mechanism does not appear to operate the way you desire it to work.[/quote]

Possibly I was not completely clear and this has lead to confusion on this, I understand what you have stated, the issue is that if you:

  1. Create a Shortcut in Wink
  2. The Resync the Plugin and the Plugin creates a device in Vera that is a Binary Switch (same name as Shortcut in Wink)
  3. The Binary Switch in Vera can then be set as a Trigger for a Scene in Vera
  4. When I execute the Shortcut in Wink, the state of that switch being activated, is not communicated to Vera (at least in testing waiting for about 5 minutes)

Therefore a Wink Shortcut, that the Plug In creates a Binary Switch for in Vera cannot act as a Scene Trigger in Vera (at least reliably) when executed from Wink. This may be due to the Wink API, or other reasons, but it remains that the state of the Binary Switch in Vera, while being able to be chosen as a Scene Trigger in Vera, does not report the state of the Binary Switch appropriately to trigger the Scene in Vera when executed from Wink (at least in my systems).

Are you saying in your experience the Wink Shortcut, when executed from Wink, that the associated Binary Switch in Vera should trigger the Vera Scene and update properly and in a reasonable time in Vera to allow this? The problem I was highlighting assumes that the Binary Switch in Vera does not trigger the scene in Vera properly, if this is supposed to work, it is not for me.

[quote=“cybrmage, post:4, topic:190536”]I think you are confusing “devices” and “shorcuts”…
You associate a device with a shortcut… Activating the shortcut will activate the device…
Activating the device does NOT activate the shortcut…[/quote]

I am not confusing Devices and Shortcuts (it actually seems more like you are confusing Vera Scenes with Wink Shortcuts in how you read my comments); What I was trying to say is, if I need to include a ZWave device in a Wink shortcut, that I can then use as a Trigger in Vera for a scene, every time that Device (which is included in the Wink Shortcut and is also used as a Trigger for the Vera Scene) changes state to the state I referenced in the Scene Trigger in Vera, that associated Scene will execute in Vera. So for example:

  • Wink Shortcut - Wink Bedtime - Includes ZWave Light - Stairs - set to On
  • Stairs - ZWave Light in Wink Shortcut is turned on when Wink Shortcut is executed
  • Vera Scene - Vera Bedtime - Trigger is set for Stairs → On

If set up as above then every time I turn the Stairs to On regardless of how, Vera will execute the Vera Bedtime scene.

Thanks again, really appreciated the responses and the Plugin. If the Wink Shortcut can be used as a Trigger for a Vera Scene, when triggered from Wink then I might have some system issues, but if not the work around you proposed seems like a good choice for how to achieve what I am trying to do.

#6

[quote=“Chimpware, post:5, topic:190536”]the issue is that if you:

  1. Create a Shortcut in Wink
  2. The Resync the Plugin and the Plugin creates a device in Vera that is a Binary Switch (same name as Shortcut in Wink)
  3. The Binary Switch in Vera can then be set as a Trigger for a Scene in Vera
  4. When I execute the Shortcut in Wink, the state of that switch being activated, is not communicated to Vera (at least in testing waiting for about 5 minutes)[/quote]

So… the actual issue is… Something is wrong…

The Wink shortcuts should NOT create a binary switch… They should be created as a custom device (The shortcut device, in the Vera UI, should show the same blue icon as used by the Wink App, and only has an “activate” button).

I added a new shortcut to my Wink… and… doesn’t work…
So… checked for plugin problems… and found that the Wink API no longer sends notifications when a shortcut is activated.

So… Due to changes in the Wink API, it is no longer possible to have the shortcut device trigger a scene…

#7

Thanks for checking, go it.

Will use your idea for a work around based on adding and removing a ZWave device from Wink.