Using the Timer agent

Use the Agents and Programming views to program this agent. The Timer agent lets you start, stop, or repeat a timer based on a given event and action. 

Example: A Motion Sensor turns on a light when it detects motion; use a timer to turn off the light after 15 minutes. Alternatively, you can set a timer to repeat an action whenever the timer expires, such as a Bathroom fan that restarts each time the Bathroom light turns on.

Prerequisites

The following devices are added and identified (with a network address) in the project:

• Controller
• Any device involved in the triggering event (for example, a Motion Sensor)

To set up the Timer agent:

1. Start Composer Pro and connect to a Director.

2. Click Agents.

3. (First time only) Click Add to add the Timer agent to the project.
4. Select Timer, and then click New.
5. Type the name of the new timer (for example, Bathroom Fan), and click Create.
6. In Interval, use the drop-down menu to set the timer in seconds, minutes, or hours (hh:mm:ss), and click OK.
7. Click Start to start the timer.
8. Click Programming.
9. Select the Timer Action in the Actions pane, and ensure the new timer options display in the Commands tab (Start, Stop, Reset, and Change).
10. Start, Stop, Restart, Reset, Resume, or Change the timer as needed.

The following table outlines how the timer behaves depending on the state of the timer when a command is executed.

Command executed is...	Timer is...	Then event(s) triggered	Effect on Timer
Start	Running	Reset	Restarts timer
	Stopped	Start	Starts timer
	Paused	Start	Restarts timer
Stop	Running	Stop	Stops timer
	Stopped	none	none
	Paused	Stop	Stops timer
Restart	Running	Stop, Reset, Start	Restarts timer
	Stopped	Reset, Start	Restarts timer
	Paused	Stop, Reset, Start	Restarts timer
Reset	Running	Reset	Restarts timer
	Stopped	Reset, Start	Restarts timer
	Paused	Reset	Reset timer value
Pause	Running	Puase	Pauses timer
	Not running	none	none
	Paused	none	none
Resume	Running	none	none
	Stopped	none	none
	Paused	Resume	Resumes timer

 

11. Program to connect the timer to an event and action, and choose to Start, Restart, or Stop the timer. 

See the example programming screens that follow. Notice how the timer is first used as an action, and then as an event.

Event screen:

Action screen: