Scenes

Eos controls your lights based on scenes that you define. A scene is referenced by name and you select it by sending the name as a command to the group's scene item. You can use Selection widgets in the sitemap, or another part of your home automation to send the scene commands.

When a group's scene item receives a command, a scene update will be processed for the group, and any enabled groups will have their scene item set to the "parent" scene unless they have follow_parent disabled.

If a group's scene item's state changes, a scene update will be processed for the group, but the new scene will not be propagated to child groups. This can be used, for example, to set the master scene based on Time of Day without changing any group scenes that have been set to something other than "parent".

A scene update involves evaluating the scene for every enabled light in the group and triggering a scene update for any enabled groups that have their scene set to "parent".

Built-in Scenes

Eos comes with two scenes configured already, "on" and "off". They are very simple scenes that will just turn a light on, or off, as their names suggest. You may override these scenes simply by defining your own settings for them.

There are also two special scenes in Eos called "manual" and "parent". These scenes have special behavoirs and cannot be changed. The "manual" scene does as it's name suggests and allows manual control of the lights in the group, Eos will not send any commands to the lights. The "parent" scene will cause the group to use the scene from it's parent group. This can be used to control an entire floor or your whole home from a single scene item, for example.

Types

There are 4 types of scene in Eos, determined based on what settings are found first. Each one uses different settings and determines the light state in different ways.

Fixed

Fixed type scenes are the simplest, the setting state is used as a fixed value for state when evaluating the scene.

A Fixed type scene is selected if Eos finds a state setting.

Any light type can be used with Fixed type scenes.

Threshold

Threshold type scenes add a bit of automation to light control. They require a state_above and state_below setting. You also need to specify a level_source item who's state will be used as the Level, most commonly this will be a lux level but you are not limited to this. Lastly you need a level_threshold, if the level is above the threshold, state_above will be used as a fixed value when evaluating the scene, otherwise state_below will be used.

A Threshold type scene is selected if Eos finds a level_threshold setting.

Any light type can be used with Threshold type scenes.

NOTE
Eos creates a rule when it initializes that triggers on changes to level_source item states. If you change the level_source setting without reinitializing Eos the scene will still be evalutated correctly, but Eos will not know when the item's state changes and will not update the light automatically.

Scaled

Scaled type scenes are the most powerful and offer dynamic control of your lights. As the name suggests, Scaled scenes allow Eos to dim a light based on a Level, most commonly a lux level but you are not limited to that. A level_source item provides the Level used for the scene. The level_high and level_low settings define a range of levels to scale between, and state_high and state_low set the range of states to scale between when the level is between level_high and level_low. If the level is outside that range, state_above and state_below will be used as fixed values for evaluating the scene if they are present, otherwise state_high and state_low will be used in their place.

A Scaled type scene is selected if Eos finds a level_high or level_low setting, or if it finds a state_high or state_low setting in a scene definition (depths 1-5).

Only Dimmer and Color type lights can be used with Scaled scenes.

NOTE
Eos creates a rule when it initializes that triggers on changes to level_source item states. If you change the level_source setting without reinitializing Eos the scene will still be evalutated correctly, but Eos will not know when the item's state changes and will not update the light automatically.

Alias

Alias type scenes are a special type of scene that allow you to reference another scene to use settings from. If Eos finds an alias_scene setting it will immediately switch to using settings from that scene. Normal scene evaluation then occurs, as if the alias scene had been set for the light. Aliases cannot be chained, only the first alias setting will be followed.

An Alias type scene is selected before any other scene type if Eos finds an alias_scene setting in a scene definition (depths 1-5).

Inferring Type

The scene type is inferred based on the settings Eos finds. Settings used to infer scene types are listed above for each scene type.

1. Eos will first look for an Alias type scene at depths 1-5. If it finds one it will switch to that scene name and continue at step 2.
2. It will then look for a Fixed type scene at depths 1-5 (see Search Pattern for a description of depths), if it finds a telltale setting it will assume the scene is a Fixed type.
3. If it did not find a Fixed type scene, and the light is a Dimmer or Color type, it will look for a Scaled type scene.
4. If it did not find a Scaled type scene or if the light is a Switch type, it will look for a Threshold type scene.
5. If a scene type has not yet been determined, Eos will repeat steps 2-4 at depths 6-10.