Development, Flutter

Paddinger: Flutter Padding widgets generator

Posted on by Emanuele

Paddinger is a new package to help you deal with Flutter paddings and here you’ll discover how!

flutter

Have you ever been tired of writing Padding and EdgeInsets boilerplate everytime you need to add padding to a widget? I was, so I started looking for something to simplify this task. Furthermore, the necessary code to create declarative UIs can become very long and difficult to read, so, if there is a way to reduce it even by a few lines it’s something always worth to be considered.

I found out I was not the only one who was tired of this Padding boilerplate because, searching for a solution, I found someone else struggling with the same problem. One of the solution I found was Padder, which is available on Github and on pub.dev. It’s a cool set of widgets which can help you dealing with paddings.

Unfortunately, it was not what I was looking for, but having found valid proofs that there was a problem affecting someone else other than me, I decided to build what I needed on my own, and so Paddinger was born.

What is Paddinger?

Paddinger is a code generator for Flutter: it builds Padding widgets for you based on the values you have in your design system. An example is worth a thousand words, so here it is. Assuming you have

const double PADDING_NORMAL = 8;

with Paddinger you will obtain a set of widgets like

NormalAllPadding
NormalLeftPadding
NormalTopPadding
NormalRightPadding
NormalBottomPadding
NormalHorizontalPadding
NormalVerticalPadding
NormalLeftTopPadding
NormalLeftBottomPadding
NormalRightTopPadding
NormalRightBottomPadding

just by annotating with @paddinger the constants you want the widgets to be generated for, like

@paddinger
const double PADDING_NORMAL = 8;

Then, you can use the generated widgets like every other one. Assuming you want to give a padding of 8 to a Text, instead of writing

Padding(
  padding: const EdgeInsets.all(PADDING_NORMAL),
  child: Text(
    'MyText',
  ),
)

you can just write

NormalAllPadding(
  child: Text(
    'MyText',
  ),
)

which imho is far easier to remember, to write, to read and IDE code completion will come to rescue!

How to use Paddinger in your project?

  • First of all, add Paddinger as a dependency:
dependencies:
  paddinger_annotations: [latestVersionHere]

dev_dependencies:
  paddinger: [latestVersionHere]
  • Create a file where you will add all your PADDING_ constants, the file could be named paddings.dart.
  • Add your favourite material or cupertino import like:
// ignore: unused_import
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
  • Add the part directive:
part 'paddings.g.dart';

Now run the code generation with flutter pub run build_runner build --delete-conflicting-outputs and your widgets will be generated and ready to be used!

You can have a look at the example in the Github repository or on pub.dev.

Happy Fluttering!

0
Android, Development, Kotlin, Test

Clear all Android SharedPreferences

Posted on by Emanuele

It may happen you would need to clear your all of your SharedPreferences without knowing in advance their keys.

archive

This can happen when you are writing tests: you don’t want your production code to publicly expose your SharedPreferences keys neither you need a clear() method, so you didn’t implement it. You may also need to clear third party SharedPreferences to which you don’t have direct access.

Without changing your production code there is something you can do:

  • access the app SharedPreferences folder
  • get the SharedPreferences editor for each file
  • clear the SharedPreferences

You can use the following code, called in a @BeforeEach annotated method, to be sure each of your tests will run in a clean environment.

private fun clearAllSharedPreferences(context: Context) {
    val sharedPreferencesPath = File(context.filesDir.parentFile!!.absolutePath + File.separator + "shared_prefs")
    sharedPreferencesPath.listFiles()?.forEach { file ->
        context.getSharedPreferences(file.nameWithoutExtension, Context.MODE_PRIVATE).edit { clear() }
    }
}

Notes:

  • Be sure to include androidx.core:core-ktx in your project to have that edit() method
  • If you are running your tests using Espresso you can access the app Context using InstrumentationRegistry.getInstrumentation().targetContext

Happy coding!

0
Android, Development, Java, Kotlin

How to debug an Annotation Processor in Android Studio

Posted on by Emanuele

Writing an Annotation Processor in Java/Kotlin is a very interesting task and debugging comes very handy, but unfortunately it seems not so easy to start a debug session.

rubber ducks

The following information are valid for Android Studio 3.6.3 and Kotlin 1.3.71. Gradle is the build tool used for the project.

First thing to do is setup a new Run/Debug Configuration in Android Studio:

  • Choose Run from the main menu
  • Choose Edit Configurations
  • Now click on the + symbol in the top left corner to add a new Configuration
  • Choose Remote from the list
  • Give it a friendly name (e.g. AnnotationProcessorDebugger)

Setup your breakpoints wherever you need them and then run this command from the terminal:

./gradlew --no-daemon -Dorg.gradle.debug=true :APP_MODULE_NAME:clean :APP_MODULE_NAME:compileDebugJavaWithJavac

Replace APP_MODULE_NAME with the name of the module having annotations which you want to debug. You will see the process will start and suddenly stop on > Starting Daemon waiting for you to do something.

Now, click on the Debug icon in the Toolbar (having selected the previously created AnnotationProcessorDebugger configuration) and the debugger will hit your breakpoints!

Additional info:

The clean task seems to be necessary.

Unfortunately, sometimes these steps are not enough, or simply don’t work, the debugger won’t hit your breakpoints. I see somebody else solved the issue after adding the following line to their gradle.properties file.

kapt.use.worker.api=true
0
modding

Add UEFI support to your AMD HD7970 to use Secure Boot

Posted on by Emanuele

Secure boot is a security standard developed by members of the PC industry to help make sure that a device boots using only software that is trusted by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). When the PC starts the installed software is being checked to see if its signature matches the one in the UEFI database and so is for the hardware: this case is about the BIOS of the Sapphire AMD HD7970 Vapor-X GHz Edition.

Its official BIOS doesn’t have UEFI support as GPU-Z shows:

Looking online I couldn’t find any official information about Sapphire making BIOS updates neither making an update to support UEFI. So I started looking for unofficial solutions…

On TechPowerUp I found a database of all the users’ uploaded GPU BIOS and so I started looking into the Sapphire HD7970 list. Unfortunately, none of them was having UEFI support, but I saw there were versions more recent than mine! Then I started looking into other brand versions and I saw some Gigabyte BIOS having UEFI support and they should be official as they are available in the Gigabyte HD7970 support page. Nice work! Unfortunately, I’m not sure if it’s possible to flash a different brand BIOS even if the card model is the same, so I didn’t try this way.

I kept looking for unofficial solutions and eventually landed on a curious thread on overclock.net where a user says he is able to modify official BIOS to add UEFI support. After reading a lot of posts I found another interesting thread on Win-Raid.com where a user speaks about an automatic tool to add UEFI support to an original BIOS, whoa! No hex editing this time!

Want to read more about the GOP (Graphics Output Protocol) mentioned in that thread? Read it here on wikipedia.

So, next section is about what I did to successfully modify and flash the new BIOS! Do it at your own risk! It would be better if your VGA supports double BIOS so you can always revert your changes! Again, do it only if you know what you are doing and at your own risk, you could brick your card!

I downloaded the latest Sapphire HD7970 Vapor-X GHz Edition available on TechPowerUp which is version 015.037.000.000.000000 and can be found here. I flashed it with ATIFlash to be sure it worked, and here you can see the GPU-Z information.

Then, I used the GOP Update tool to add UEFI support to this BIOS. The procedure worked flawlessly as shown by tool output here

************************* GOPupd 1.9.6.5 *************************


************************ Update EFI GOP ************************


***************** Drop VBIOS file on this .bat *****************


File Not Found
The system cannot find the file specified.
Dumping info from = official_037.rom


ID of ROM file    = 1002-6798

No EFI ROM found!

No EFI ROM found or error on decompression !!!

***************************************************************
***                Extracting with GOPupd...                ***
***************************************************************

---------------------------------------------------------------

***************************************************************
***                Processing with GOPupd...                ***
***************************************************************

GOP is not present!!!


Do you want to update GOP to latest available? Y for yes or N for no: y

  Fixing last-image-bit in PCI Structure of Legacy ROM!

  Using AMD byte for checksum!

  Fixing ID for EFI image. No checksum correction is needed.

  Removing unnecessary end padding.


File "official_037_updGOP.rom" with updated GOP 1.67.0.15.50 was written!

Then, the new official_037_updGOP.rom BIOS was flashed with ATIFlash and GPU-Z showed UEFI support! Tada!

I found no issues at all with the modified BIOS and I was also able to disable CSM (Compatibility Support Module, read more here) from my motherboard BIOS which didn’t let me do it before due to the VGA lack of UEFI support!

If you have a different AMD VGA (or NVIDIA one, check the supported ones) you might be able to follow the same steps to modify your official BIOS. If you have the same card I have, I’ve uploaded the firmware on TechPowerUp so you can download it here.

0
HomeAutomation

Sleep automation with Mi Band and Home Assistant

Posted on by Emanuele

Have you ever thought about using your Mi Band to help you automate stuff? Read this article and you will know how you can use your Mi Band sleep detection to trigger automations in your Home Assistant!

You will need:

  • Tasker
  • Notify & Fitness for Mi Band
  • A Mi Band
  • An automation which creates a webhook and then publishes your sleep status on a MQTT topic
  • A sensor based on the MQTT topic previously defined (it can be avoided for the purpose of this automation but I prefer to have it to keep track of the sleep status)
  • Tasker profiles which react to your sleep status

Create a sleep_status.yaml file in your packages directory with the following content.

Replace [YOUR_NAME] and [YOUR_WEBHOOK_ID].

homeassistant:

automation:
  - alias: [YOUR_NAME] Sleep Status
    initial_state: true
    trigger:
      - platform: webhook
      webhook_id: [YOUR_WEBHOOK_ID]
      condition: []
    action:
      - service: mqtt.publish
        data_template: 
          payload: "{\"sleepStatus\": \"{{trigger.json.sleepStatus}}\"}"
          topic: "sleepstatus/[YOUR_NAME]"

sensor:
  - platform: mqtt
    name: "[YOUR_NAME] Sleep Status"
    state_topic: "sleepstatus/[YOUR_NAME]"
    value_template: '{{ value_json["sleepStatus"] }}'

Take now your phone, open Tasker and setup the following profiles which will send your sleep status events (when you wake up and fall asleep) to your Home Assistant.

Replace [YOUR_HOME_ASSISTANT_DOMAIN_NAME] and [YOUR_WEBHOOK_ID]

<TaskerData sr="" dvi="1" tv="5.9.rc">
<Profile sr="prof61" ve="2">
<cdate>1574199690392</cdate>
<clp>true</clp>
<edate>1574529186304</edate>
<flags>8</flags>
<id>61</id>
<mid0>63</mid0>
<nme>MiBand Fell Asleep</nme>
<Event sr="con0" ve="2">
<code>599</code>
<Str sr="arg0" ve="3">com.mc.miband.tasker.fellAsleep</Str>
<Int sr="arg1" val="0"/>
<Int sr="arg2" val="0"/>
<Str sr="arg3" ve="3"/>
<Str sr="arg4" ve="3"/>
</Event>
</Profile>
<Task sr="task63">
<cdate>1574199712492</cdate>
<edate>1574529096550</edate>
<id>63</id>
<nme>Send Asleep Payload</nme>
<pri>6</pri>
<Action sr="act0" ve="7">
<code>339</code>
<Bundle sr="arg0">
<Vals sr="val">
<net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES><StringArray sr=""><_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES0>%http_data
Data
Data that the server responded from the HTTP request.</_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES0><_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES1>%http_file_output
File Output
Will always contain the file's full path even if you specified a directory as the File to save.</_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES1><_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES2>%http_response_code
Response Code
The HTTP Code the server responded</_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES2><_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES3>%http_headers()
Response Headers
The HTTP Headers the server sent in the response. Each header is in the 'key:value' format</_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES3><_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES4>%http_response_length
Response Length
The size of the response in bytes</_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES4></StringArray></net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES>
<net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES-type>[Ljava.lang.String;</net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES-type>
</Vals>
</Bundle>
<Int sr="arg1" val="1"/>
<Str sr="arg2" ve="3">https://[YOUR_HOME_ASSISTANT_DOMAIN_NAME]/api/webhook/[YOUR_WEBHOOK_ID]y</Str>
<Str sr="arg3" ve="3">Content-Type:application/json</Str>
<Str sr="arg4" ve="3"/>
<Str sr="arg5" ve="3">{ "sleepStatus" : "Asleep" }</Str>
<Str sr="arg6" ve="3"/>
<Str sr="arg7" ve="3"/>
<Int sr="arg8" val="30"/>
<Int sr="arg9" val="0"/>
</Action>
</Task>
</TaskerData>
<TaskerData sr="" dvi="1" tv="5.9.rc">
<Profile sr="prof66" ve="2">
<cdate>1574200024388</cdate>
<edate>1574529166065</edate>
<flags>8</flags>
<id>66</id>
<mid0>65</mid0>
<nme>MiBand WokeUp</nme>
<Event sr="con0" ve="2">
<code>599</code>
<Str sr="arg0" ve="3">com.mc.miband.tasker.wokeUp</Str>
<Int sr="arg1" val="0"/>
<Int sr="arg2" val="0"/>
<Str sr="arg3" ve="3"/>
<Str sr="arg4" ve="3"/>
</Event>
</Profile>
<Task sr="task65">
<cdate>1574199886906</cdate>
<edate>1574529090100</edate>
<id>65</id>
<nme>Send Awake Payload</nme>
<pri>6</pri>
<Action sr="act0" ve="7">
<code>339</code>
<Bundle sr="arg0">
<Vals sr="val">
<net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES><StringArray sr=""><_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES0>%http_data
Data
Data that the server responded from the HTTP request.</_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES0><_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES1>%http_file_output
File Output
Will always contain the file's full path even if you specified a directory as the File to save.</_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES1><_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES2>%http_response_code
Response Code
The HTTP Code the server responded</_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES2><_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES3>%http_headers()
Response Headers
The HTTP Headers the server sent in the response. Each header is in the 'key:value' format</_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES3><_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES4>%http_response_length
Response Length
The size of the response in bytes</_array_net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES4></StringArray></net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES>
<net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES-type>[Ljava.lang.String;</net.dinglisch.android.tasker.RELEVANT_VARIABLES-type>
</Vals>
</Bundle>
<Int sr="arg1" val="1"/>
<Str sr="arg2" ve="3">https://[YOUR_HOME_ASSISTANT_DOMAIN_NAME]/api/webhook/[YOUR_WEBHOOK_ID]</Str>
<Str sr="arg3" ve="3">Content-Type:application/json</Str>
<Str sr="arg4" ve="3"/>
<Str sr="arg5" ve="3">{ "sleepStatus" : "Awake" }</Str>
<Str sr="arg6" ve="3"/>
<Str sr="arg7" ve="3"/>
<Int sr="arg8" val="30"/>
<Int sr="arg9" val="0"/>
</Action>
</Task>
</TaskerData>

Now, you can create a Node-RED flow which reacts to sensor.[YOUR_NAME]_sleep_status with Awake/Asleep value and executes your preferred stuff (e.g. turn off all the lights as soon as you fall asleep).

I have used my Mi Band 2 and it detects my sleep activity usually within 5 minutes so don’t use it for real-time automations.

Edit: it works on my Mi Band 4, too!

Let me know what automations you are going to create!

0
HomeAutomation

Light control using an Aqara Wireless Remote Switch with Home Assistant and Node-RED

Posted on by Emanuele

Home automation is nice, sending commands with your voice is very cool, but sometimes, especially at night, you might want to just use traditional methods like a wall switch. You can do it very easily without compromising your cool voice controls, and you can also customize the way it works to suit your needs!

smart_light

Let’s start, this is what you need:

The Aqara Wireless Remote Switch is a switch you can place anywhere because it doesn’t need any wire, it works with a small battery which will last a very long time. To make the following configuration you need to use the double rocker one: it has a lot of different click interactions you can customize.

This is the configuration you can have using the Node-RED flow shown in this post:

  • Left click: turn on/off the lights (toggle)
  • Right click: switch between a predefined set of colors
  • Left long click: decrease brightness
  • Right long click: increase brightness

This Node-RED flow should be pretty straightforward, anyway, let’s have some more details.

The first node is an event state node which reacts to the changes of the Aqara Switch: it can have different values like left, right, left_long, right_long, etc. Home Assistant detects it as a sensor.

The second node is a switch used to take different actions based on the type of click done on the Aqara switch.

Left Click scenario

A service call to toggle the lights, very easy!

Right Click scenario

This is the most interesting part, the state machine node! It is used to create a finite state machine of the colors and transitions you want the lights to have. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a way to make the state machine move to the next state based only on the current one, without taking care of the input value, so I managed to achieve it with a workaround!

After the state machine node there is a switch node which checks if the state machine already did its transition checking a value which is put into the payload object in the following function node. This function node also put the current state machine value as payload of the message, so the state machine can correctly move. In doing so, the second time the flow will go to another function node which generates the light settings based on the value the state machine now has. Then, the last node simply sets this configuration to the lights.

Left long click scenario

A current state node which gets the current brightness of the light followed by a function node which calculates the increased brightness value. In the function node you can customize the brightness interval and the minimum brightness you would like to reach. The last node is a service call which sets the new brightness to the light.

Right long click scenario

Same as the left long click scenario but this time the light brightness is increased, so the function node calculates the increased value the light will have. Customization for brightness interval and maximum brightness are available here as well.

Enjoy your wireless switch!

smart switch node red flow
[
    {
        "id": "63038ca5.043d84",
        "type": "server-state-changed",
        "z": "ebd2b060.28c27",
        "name": "SmartSwitch1",
        "server": "b0807fb3.bda6d",
        "version": 1,
        "entityidfilter": "sensor.smartswitch1_click",
        "entityidfiltertype": "exact",
        "outputinitially": false,
        "state_type": "str",
        "haltifstate": "",
        "halt_if_type": "str",
        "halt_if_compare": "is",
        "outputs": 1,
        "output_only_on_state_change": true,
        "x": 110,
        "y": 160,
        "wires": [
            [
                "e4f033f6.02139"
            ]
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "e4f033f6.02139",
        "type": "switch",
        "z": "ebd2b060.28c27",
        "name": "click is",
        "property": "payload",
        "propertyType": "msg",
        "rules": [
            {
                "t": "eq",
                "v": "left",
                "vt": "str"
            },
            {
                "t": "eq",
                "v": "right",
                "vt": "str"
            },
            {
                "t": "eq",
                "v": "left_long",
                "vt": "str"
            },
            {
                "t": "eq",
                "v": "right_long",
                "vt": "str"
            }
        ],
        "checkall": "true",
        "repair": false,
        "outputs": 4,
        "x": 290,
        "y": 160,
        "wires": [
            [
                "c92d98e8.8de858"
            ],
            [
                "bbcdb78.3712348"
            ],
            [
                "752f2116.e5b66"
            ],
            [
                "a10c6932.4ae3a8"
            ]
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "c92d98e8.8de858",
        "type": "api-call-service",
        "z": "ebd2b060.28c27",
        "name": "toggle living room lights",
        "server": "b0807fb3.bda6d",
        "version": 1,
        "service_domain": "light",
        "service": "toggle",
        "entityId": "group.living_room_lights",
        "data": "",
        "dataType": "json",
        "mergecontext": "",
        "output_location": "",
        "output_location_type": "none",
        "mustacheAltTags": false,
        "x": 530,
        "y": 60,
        "wires": [
            []
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "515a6b84.e21c54",
        "type": "api-call-service",
        "z": "ebd2b060.28c27",
        "name": "set brightness to living room lights",
        "server": "b0807fb3.bda6d",
        "version": 1,
        "service_domain": "light",
        "service": "turn_on",
        "entityId": "group.living_room_lights",
        "data": "",
        "dataType": "json",
        "mergecontext": "",
        "output_location": "",
        "output_location_type": "none",
        "mustacheAltTags": false,
        "x": 1200,
        "y": 220,
        "wires": [
            []
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "752f2116.e5b66",
        "type": "api-current-state",
        "z": "ebd2b060.28c27",
        "name": "",
        "server": "b0807fb3.bda6d",
        "version": 1,
        "outputs": 1,
        "halt_if": "",
        "halt_if_type": "str",
        "halt_if_compare": "is",
        "override_topic": false,
        "entity_id": "light.left_living_room",
        "state_type": "str",
        "state_location": "data",
        "override_payload": "msg",
        "entity_location": "data",
        "override_data": "msg",
        "blockInputOverrides": false,
        "x": 560,
        "y": 200,
        "wires": [
            [
                "91a6b4b5.c19558"
            ]
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "ba574398.cc6a",
        "type": "function",
        "z": "ebd2b060.28c27",
        "name": "calculate increased brightness",
        "func": "const BRIGHTNESS_INTERVAL = 100;\nconst BRIGHTNESS_MAX = 255;\n\nlet brightness = msg.data.attributes.brightness;\nlet entityId = msg.data.entity_id;\nbrightness = brightness + BRIGHTNESS_INTERVAL\nif (brightness > BRIGHTNESS_MAX) {\n    brightness = BRIGHTNESS_MAX\n}\nmsg.payload = {\n    \"data\": {\n        \"brightness\":brightness\n        \n    }\n}\nreturn msg;",
        "outputs": 1,
        "noerr": 0,
        "x": 870,
        "y": 260,
        "wires": [
            [
                "515a6b84.e21c54"
            ]
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "91a6b4b5.c19558",
        "type": "function",
        "z": "ebd2b060.28c27",
        "name": "calculate decreased brightness",
        "func": "const BRIGHTNESS_INTERVAL = 100;\nconst BRIGHTNESS_MIN = 1;\n\nlet brightness = msg.data.attributes.brightness;\nlet entityId = msg.data.entity_id;\nbrightness = brightness - BRIGHTNESS_INTERVAL\nif (brightness < BRIGHTNESS_MIN) {\n    brightness = BRIGHTNESS_MIN\n}\nmsg.payload = {\n    \"data\": {\n        \"brightness\":brightness\n        \n    }\n}\nreturn msg;",
        "outputs": 1,
        "noerr": 0,
        "x": 870,
        "y": 200,
        "wires": [
            [
                "515a6b84.e21c54"
            ]
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "a10c6932.4ae3a8",
        "type": "api-current-state",
        "z": "ebd2b060.28c27",
        "name": "",
        "server": "b0807fb3.bda6d",
        "version": 1,
        "outputs": 1,
        "halt_if": "",
        "halt_if_type": "str",
        "halt_if_compare": "is",
        "override_topic": false,
        "entity_id": "light.left_living_room",
        "state_type": "str",
        "state_location": "data",
        "override_payload": "msg",
        "entity_location": "data",
        "override_data": "msg",
        "blockInputOverrides": false,
        "x": 560,
        "y": 260,
        "wires": [
            [
                "ba574398.cc6a"
            ]
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "bbcdb78.3712348",
        "type": "state-machine",
        "z": "ebd2b060.28c27",
        "name": "bulb color state",
        "triggerProperty": "payload",
        "triggerPropertyType": "msg",
        "stateProperty": "topic",
        "statePropertyType": "msg",
        "outputStateChangeOnly": false,
        "throwException": false,
        "states": [
            "white",
            "yellow"
        ],
        "transitions": [
            {
                "name": "white",
                "from": "white",
                "to": "yellow"
            },
            {
                "name": "yellow",
                "from": "yellow",
                "to": "white"
            }
        ],
        "x": 540,
        "y": 140,
        "wires": [
            [
                "10c6a2fd.57b7dd"
            ]
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "f1efc70d.5de9e8",
        "type": "api-call-service",
        "z": "ebd2b060.28c27",
        "name": "set color to living room lights",
        "server": "b0807fb3.bda6d",
        "version": 1,
        "service_domain": "light",
        "service": "turn_on",
        "entityId": "group.living_room_lights",
        "data": "",
        "dataType": "json",
        "mergecontext": "",
        "output_location": "",
        "output_location_type": "none",
        "mustacheAltTags": false,
        "x": 1340,
        "y": 120,
        "wires": [
            []
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "10c6a2fd.57b7dd",
        "type": "switch",
        "z": "ebd2b060.28c27",
        "name": "has state ben processed",
        "property": "data.attributes.state_machine_processed",
        "propertyType": "msg",
        "rules": [
            {
                "t": "true"
            },
            {
                "t": "else"
            }
        ],
        "checkall": "true",
        "repair": false,
        "outputs": 2,
        "x": 770,
        "y": 140,
        "wires": [
            [
                "41cecb0c.bbfbe4"
            ],
            [
                "f4044d2d.8f0a6"
            ]
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "f4044d2d.8f0a6",
        "type": "function",
        "z": "ebd2b060.28c27",
        "name": "set topic as payload",
        "func": "msg.payload = msg.topic\nmsg.data = {\n    \"attributes\": {\n        \"state_machine_processed\" : true\n    }\n}\nreturn msg;",
        "outputs": 1,
        "noerr": 0,
        "x": 1040,
        "y": 140,
        "wires": [
            [
                "bbcdb78.3712348"
            ]
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "41cecb0c.bbfbe4",
        "type": "function",
        "z": "ebd2b060.28c27",
        "name": "create color data as payload",
        "func": "whitePayload = {\n    \"data\": {\n        \"kelvin\": 6000\n    }\n}\n\nyellowPayload = {\n    \"data\": {\n        \"kelvin\": 3000\n    }\n}\n\nlet payloadToUse;\nswitch(msg.topic) {\n    case \"white\": \n        payloadToUse = whitePayload;\n        break;\n    case \"yellow\":\n        payloadToUse = yellowPayload;\n        break;\n    default:\n    \n        break;\n}\n\nmsg.payload = payloadToUse;\nreturn msg;",
        "outputs": 1,
        "noerr": 0,
        "x": 1060,
        "y": 100,
        "wires": [
            [
                "f1efc70d.5de9e8"
            ]
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "b0807fb3.bda6d",
        "type": "server",
        "z": "",
        "name": "Home Assistant"
    }
]
0
Android

Enable the new Android Auto UI

Posted on by Emanuele
android auto logo

In the last few weeks the new Android Auto UI is being released by Google but it’s not yet available for everyone. There are some tricks you can use to force enable it before Google releases it to everyone.

One of these tricks is explained here on Reddit.

It works on my OP6 running Android Pie, but those commands need to be executed each time I want to use the new Android Auto UI, otherwise I see the old one.

To overcome this little issue I made a Tasker profile to automatically run those commands when the smartphone is connected to a power source, so they are executed before Android Auto starts.

Here the Tasker profile! Just import it in your Tasker and enjoy the new Android Auto UI!

<TaskerData sr="" dvi="1" tv="5.8.3">
<Profile sr="prof21" ve="2">
<cdate>1566724247086</cdate>
<edate>1566724464417</edate>
<id>21</id>
<mid0>17</mid0>
<mid1>17</mid1>
<nme>On power change AA to new UI</nme>
<State sr="con0" ve="2">
<code>10</code>
<Int sr="arg0" val="0"/>
</State>
</Profile>
<Task sr="task17">
<cdate>1566723956355</cdate>
<edate>1566724006352</edate>
<id>17</id>
<nme>New AA UI</nme>
<Action sr="act0" ve="7">
<code>123</code>
<Str sr="arg0" ve="3">sqlite3 /data/data/com.google.android.gms/databases/phenotype.db "INSERT OR REPLACE INTO Flags (packageName, version, flagType, partitionId, user, name, intVal, committed) VALUES ('com.google.android.projection.gearhead',45592854,0,0,'','Boardwalk__launch_experiment_id',15592854,1);"</Str>
<Int sr="arg1" val="0"/>
<Int sr="arg2" val="1"/>
<Str sr="arg3" ve="3"/>
<Str sr="arg4" ve="3"/>
<Str sr="arg5" ve="3"/>
</Action>
<Action sr="act1" ve="7">
<code>123</code>
<Str sr="arg0" ve="3">sqlite3 /data/data/com.google.android.gms/databases/phenotype.db "INSERT OR REPLACE INTO Flags (packageName, version, flagType, partitionId, user, name, boolVal, committed) VALUES ('com.google.android.projection.gearhead',45592854,0,0,'','Boardwalk__enabled',1,1);"</Str>
<Int sr="arg1" val="0"/>
<Int sr="arg2" val="1"/>
<Str sr="arg3" ve="3"/>
<Str sr="arg4" ve="3"/>
<Str sr="arg5" ve="3"/>
</Action>
</Task>
</TaskerData>
0
HomeAutomation

Make your washing machine smarter with Home Assistant

Posted on by Emanuele
washing machines

Do you own an old washing machine and do you ever think about how to make your washing machine smarter? Would you have better information about the current washing cycle?

Well, you can do it today, you just need a couple of things:

  • a smart plug with energy monitoring feature
  • an Home Assistant instance running somewhere (e.g. on your raspberry)

SMART PLUG INTEGRATION

Each smart plug is different from another so you have to figure out how to integrate your into Home Assistant.

In my setup I used a TP-Link HS-110 and I integrated it into my Home Assistant as shown here.

After the successful integration you should have a new sensor which reports the current consumption, and this is the one you are going to use to monitor your washing machine!

WASHING MACHINE INTEGRATION

The following snippet of code is an Home Assistant package, you can just copy-paste it into a whatever_you_want.yaml file into your packages directory; the only thing you need to do is to replace PUT_YOUR_ENERGY_CONSUMPTION_SENSOR_NAME_HERE with your current consumption sensor name!

homeassistant:
  customize_glob:
    "*washing_machine*":
      icon: mdi:washing-machine

input_text:
  washing_machine_enriched_status:
    name: 'Washing Machine Enriched Status'
    initial: Off
    
sensor:
  - platform: template
    sensors:
      washing_machine_status:
        friendly_name: 'Washing Machine Status'
        value_template:  >
          {% if states.sensor.PUT_YOUR_ENERGY_CONSUMPTION_SENSOR_NAME_HERE .state | float > 3.0 %}
            {{ "Running" }}
          {% elif states.sensor.PUT_YOUR_ENERGY_CONSUMPTION_SENSOR_NAME_HERE .state | float > 1 %}
            {{ "On" }}
          {% else %}
            {{ "Off" }}
          {% endif %}
      washing_machine_info:
        friendly_name: 'Washing Machine Info'
        entity_id: sensor.time
        value_template:  >
          {%- macro as_formatted_elapsed_time(now, other_date_time) %}
          {% set duration = as_timestamp(now) - as_timestamp(other_date_time) %}
          {% set seconds = (duration % 60) | int %}
          {% set minutes = ((duration / 60) | int) % 60 %}
          {% set hours = (duration / 3600) | int %}
          {{ [hours, "hours", minutes, "minutes", seconds, "seconds"] | join(' ') }}
          {%- endmacro %}
          {% if states.input_text.washing_machine_enriched_status.state == "Running" %}
            Washing machine running for: {{ as_formatted_elapsed_time(now(), states.input_text.washing_machine_enriched_status.last_changed)}}
          {% elif states.input_text.washing_machine_enriched_status.state == "On_After_Running" %}
            Clothes left in the washing machine for: {{ as_formatted_elapsed_time(now(), states.input_text.washing_machine_enriched_status.last_changed)}}
          {% elif states.input_text.washing_machine_enriched_status.state == "On_After_Off" %}
            {{ "Washing machine ready to start" }}
          {% else %}
            {{ "Washing machine is off" }}
          {% endif %}

automation:
  - id: '1556314846684'
    alias: Refresh Washing Machine Info
    initial_state: true
    trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: sensor.washing_machine_status
    action:
      - service: input_text.set_value
        data_template:
          entity_id: input_text.washing_machine_enriched_status
          value:  >
            {% if trigger.to_state.state == "Running" %}
              {{ "Running" }}
            {% elif trigger.to_state.state == "On" and trigger.from_state.state == "Running" %}
              {{ "On_After_Running" }}
            {% elif trigger.to_state.state == "On" and trigger.from_state.state == "Off" %}
              {{ "On_After_Off" }}
            {% else %}
              {{ "Off" }}
            {% endif %}

DETAILED EXPLANATION

Let me explain a bit about what this package does:

Here we are just telling Home Assistant to use a washing machine icon for all the sensors containing the string washing_machine

homeassistant:
  customize_glob:
    "*washing_machine*":
      icon: mdi:washing-machine

Here we declare a sensor, washing_machine_status, to keep track of the status of the washing machine. There are three possible status: Running, On and Off. You would need to tune the watts value according to your washing machine to detect when it’s running or just turned on.

washing_machine_status:
        friendly_name: 'Washing Machine Status'
        value_template:  >
          {% if states.sensor.PUT_YOUR_ENERGY_CONSUMPTION_SENSOR_NAME_HERE .state | float > 3.0 %}
            {{ "Running" }}
          {% elif states.sensor.PUT_YOUR_ENERGY_CONSUMPTION_SENSOR_NAME_HERE .state | float > 1 %}
            {{ "On" }}
          {% else %}
            {{ "Off" }}
          {% endif %}

Here we setup an automation to store in an input_text (couldn’t find a better way) the enriched status of our washing machine: the enriched status is a status which keeps track of the previous one. So for example, if the washing machine was off and you turn it on, the status would be On, but the enriched status would be On_After_Off

automation:
  - id: '1556314846684'
    alias: Refresh Washing Machine Info
    initial_state: true
    trigger:
      platform: state
      entity_id: sensor.washing_machine_status
    action:
      - service: input_text.set_value
        data_template:
          entity_id: input_text.washing_machine_enriched_status
          value:  >
            {% if trigger.to_state.state == "Running" %}
              {{ "Running" }}
            {% elif trigger.to_state.state == "On" and trigger.from_state.state == "Running" %}
              {{ "On_After_Running" }}
            {% elif trigger.to_state.state == "On" and trigger.from_state.state == "Off" %}
              {{ "On_After_Off" }}
            {% else %}
              {{ "Off" }}
            {% endif %}

This is just the simple declaration of the variable holding the enriched status of the washing machine.

input_text:
  washing_machine_enriched_status:
    name: 'Washing Machine Enriched Status'
    initial: Off

Here we declare another sensor, washing_machine_info, which will keep us informed of the washing machine’s current status and will also tell us more information (e.g. for how long the washing machine is running). The sensor will be updated every minute since it has a dependency on sensor.time: you can customize this behaviour adding another automation to refresh it faster or slower, but I think every minute is enough. as_formatted_elapsed_time is a macro used to display the elapsed time between two moments.

     washing_machine_info:
        friendly_name: 'Washing Machine Info'
        entity_id: sensor.time
        value_template:  >
          {%- macro as_formatted_elapsed_time(now, other_date_time) %}
          {% set duration = as_timestamp(now) - as_timestamp(other_date_time) %}
          {% set seconds = (duration % 60) | int %}
          {% set minutes = ((duration / 60) | int) % 60 %}
          {% set hours = (duration / 3600) | int %}
          {{ [hours, "hours", minutes, "minutes", seconds, "seconds"] | join(' ') }}
          {%- endmacro %}
          {% if states.input_text.washing_machine_enriched_status.state == "Running" %}
            Washing machine running for: {{ as_formatted_elapsed_time(now(), states.input_text.washing_machine_enriched_status.last_changed)}}
          {% elif states.input_text.washing_machine_enriched_status.state == "On_After_Running" %}
            Clothes left in the washing machine for: {{ as_formatted_elapsed_time(now(), states.input_text.washing_machine_enriched_status.last_changed)}}
          {% elif states.input_text.washing_machine_enriched_status.state == "On_After_Off" %}
            {{ "Washing machine ready to start" }}
          {% else %}
            {{ "Washing machine is off" }}
          {% endif %}

Finally, you can just put your new sensor washing_machine_info into your UI and you will get very useful information about your washing machine, making it actually smarter.

Furthermore, you can use the statuses we collect here, and their time-based changes, to make other automations like send you a Telegram notification when the washing machine cycle ends, but at the moment that’s left to your imagination!

0
Android

Build your smart car’s on-board computer!

Posted on by Emanuele

Reading this post you will be able to create your smart car’s on-board computer, for example you will be to able to ask your Google Assistant (from your device or from an Android Auto head unit) the temperature of your car’s coolant liquid! Woa!

smartcar lights

 

What do you need:

  • an Android device (with Google Assistant or Android Auto since your going to use this in your car)
  • Torque
  • Tasker
  • Join
  • An IFTTT account
  • an OBD2 device

Such a long list of stuff!

Let’s start!

IFTTT AND TASKER INTEGRATION

Thanks to Join, a new app from joaomgcd, you can create a URL to push information to your devices in a very easy and powerful way! Read his well written tutorial here  and you will be able to generate a URL to use in the Webhook that action of IFTTT.

As reference, I’d like to report the old way of doing this, so everyone can read it and understand how much Join has simplified and improved this process!

TASKER AND TORQUE INTEGRATION

Now, you will need to make Tasker able to read your car’s data using Torque. To accomplish this, open Torque and set it up to log your car’s data to a file on your sdcard (you can do it making changes in the Settings – Data Logging and Upload section)

Now Tasker will be able to read your car’s data reading that log file using the following task which you could import into it.

<TaskerData sr="" dvi="1" tv="5.2.bf6">
  <Task sr="task43">
    <cdate>1432225457845</cdate>
    <edate>1531597970703</edate>
    <id>43</id>
    <nme>ReadCarEngineCoolantTemperature</nme>
    <pri>100</pri>
    <Action sr="act0" ve="7">
      <code>342</code>
      <Int sr="arg0" val="5"/>
      <Str sr="arg1" ve="3">/storage/emulated/0/torqueLogs/trackLog.csv</Str>
      <Str sr="arg2" ve="3">%TORQUE_LOG_EXISTS</Str>
      <Int sr="arg3" val="0"/>
    </Action>
    <Action sr="act1" ve="7">
      <code>123</code>
      <se>false</se>
      <Str sr="arg0" ve="3">tail -1 /storage/emulated/0/torqueLogs/trackLog.csv</Str>
      <Int sr="arg1" val="0"/>
      <Int sr="arg2" val="0"/>
      <Str sr="arg3" ve="3">%OBDLOG</Str>
      <Str sr="arg4" ve="3"/>
      <Str sr="arg5" ve="3"/>
      <ConditionList sr="if">
        <Condition sr="c0" ve="3">
          <lhs>%TORQUE_LOG_EXISTS</lhs>
          <op>0</op>
          <rhs>true</rhs>
        </Condition>
      </ConditionList>
    </Action>
    <Action sr="act2" ve="7">
      <code>590</code>
      <Str sr="arg0" ve="3">%OBDLOG</Str>
      <Str sr="arg1" ve="3">,</Str>
      <Int sr="arg2" val="0"/>
      <ConditionList sr="if">
        <Condition sr="c0" ve="3">
          <lhs>%TORQUE_LOG_EXISTS</lhs>
          <op>0</op>
          <rhs>true</rhs>
        </Condition>
      </ConditionList>
    </Action>
    <Action sr="act3" ve="7">
      <code>547</code>
      <Str sr="arg0" ve="3">%EngineCoolantTemp</Str>
      <Str sr="arg1" ve="3">%OBDLOG2</Str>
      <Int sr="arg2" val="0"/>
      <Int sr="arg3" val="0"/>
      <Int sr="arg4" val="0"/>
      <ConditionList sr="if">
        <Condition sr="c0" ve="3">
          <lhs>%TORQUE_LOG_EXISTS</lhs>
          <op>0</op>
          <rhs>true</rhs>
        </Condition>
      </ConditionList>
    </Action>
    <Action sr="act4" ve="7">
      <code>559</code>
      <Str sr="arg0" ve="3">Engine coolant temperature is %EngineCoolantTemp degrees</Str>
      <Str sr="arg1" ve="3">default:default</Str>
      <Int sr="arg2" val="3"/>
      <Int sr="arg3" val="5"/>
      <Int sr="arg4" val="5"/>
      <Int sr="arg5" val="1"/>
      <Int sr="arg6" val="0"/>
      <Int sr="arg7" val="0"/>
      <ConditionList sr="if">
        <Condition sr="c0" ve="3">
          <lhs>%TORQUE_LOG_EXISTS</lhs>
          <op>0</op>
          <rhs>true</rhs>
        </Condition>
      </ConditionList>
    </Action>
    <Action sr="act5" ve="7">
      <code>559</code>
      <Str sr="arg0" ve="3">E C U connection not established!</Str>
      <Str sr="arg1" ve="3">default:default</Str>
      <Int sr="arg2" val="3"/>
      <Int sr="arg3" val="5"/>
      <Int sr="arg4" val="5"/>
      <Int sr="arg5" val="1"/>
      <Int sr="arg6" val="0"/>
      <Int sr="arg7" val="0"/>
      <ConditionList sr="if">
        <Condition sr="c0" ve="3">
          <lhs>%TORQUE_LOG_EXISTS</lhs>
          <op>0</op>
          <rhs>false</rhs>
        </Condition>
      </ConditionList>
    </Action>
  </Task>
</TaskerData>

This task will check for that log file on your external memory and:

  • if it founds it, it make your speakers say the last engine coolant temperature read by Torque
  • if it doesn’t found it, it make your speakers say there is no connection between Torque and you car ECU (your OBD2 adapter).

Another task that you will need is one that deletes that log file when the Torque app closes, so the next time you ask Tasker to read that file your are sure the data is new, and if there is no file, a new connection with your car wasn’t established.

<TaskerData sr="" dvi="1" tv="5.2.bf6">
  <Task sr="task47">
    <cdate>1525023939110</cdate>
    <edate>1529001057169</edate>
    <id>47</id>
    <nme>DeleteTorqueLog</nme>
    <pri>100</pri>
    <Action sr="act0" ve="7">
      <code>406</code>
      <Str sr="arg0" ve="3">torqueLogs/trackLog.csv</Str>
      <Int sr="arg1" val="0"/>
      <Int sr="arg2" val="0"/>
    </Action>
  </Task>
</TaskerData>

GOOGLE ASSISTANT AND IFTTT AND TASKER AND TORQUE INTEGRATION

Now the last part! We have all the pieces, let’s put them together!

Login to IFTTT and create a new applet!

Click on this and look for Google Assistant, then click on it. Select the Say a simple phrase trigger and write your custom question(s) and response; click then on Create trigger

Click now on that and look for Webhooks, then click on it. Select the Make a web request action and use the URL you generated as explained in the joaomgcd’s tutorial. Click on Create action, then on Finish and your recipe is ready!

Open your Google Assistant and say the phrase you just put in the IFTTT recipe, your device should say you’re not connected to the ECU, you got the push notification, that’s great!

Now go to your car, turn it on, make Torque pair with your OBD2 adapter…. when it’s ready ask Google Assistant again to read your engine coolant temperature and now you should hear it! Wonderful, it works!!!

FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS OF YOUR SMART CAR

The recipe on IFTTT and the task on Tasker could be improved by using parameters and so making you able to ask for and listen to different details of your car, which could now be called a smart car!

0
Android

AndroidAutoAlerts – Simple alerts app for Android Auto

Posted on by Emanuele

AndroidAutoAlerts is a very simple app for Android Auto I have developed to test my Android Auto unit. Please read through the article to check it out!

What it does and how it works

As I said, the app is very simple and at the moment it has only one functionality: it will notify the driver if the speed limit is exceeded. Wow!

The driver can set the maximum speed limit through the app’s settings (you can also choose the name of your virtual assistant!)

androidautoalerts settings

Then, go back to the main screen and start the notification service. A service will run (and will keep running in the foreground using a system notification when you exit the app or attach your device to your Android Auto unit).

androidautoalerts mainscreenandroidautoalerts foregroundnotification

So, now, using the speed taken from the GPS sensor, when the app catches you going faster a notification will be displayed on your Android Auto unit from your virtual assistant! Tap it and listen to what it has to say to you! Please slow down, you have exceeded your speed limit!!

androidautoalerts notification

 

Where to get it

At the moment, the app is not following all of the Android Auto requirements (see them here) and Google only allows music and messaging Android Auto apps. For this reason I had to create the notification like a messaging app, like you are going to reply to it, even if you are not. Furthermore, I’m not going to publish it on Google Play at the moment (till apps of this kink will be accepted on it), but you can check its source code which I shared here on github.

Future development

Let’s wait for Google to accept other kinds of apps on the Android Auto platform and let’s hope this platform will become more and more interactive, full of useful apps (maybe some which can control car’s features, would be amazing!) and used by more and more people! I already love it, can’t live without it!

0