Action Block Queries

[dhj49er]

1. Are Action Blocks included in Autosave?

2. Are action blocks restored with variables set or cleared?

3. Is there a way to save individual action blocks like you can for macros and categories?

4. I've noticed that action blocks are not included in the variables list only macros. Will this be updated in the future or not? Action blocks and macros can have identical names which might be an issue , but using colour to differentiate action blocks from macros in the variable list might resolve the issue.

 

[tanutanu]

1. Are Action Blocks included in Autosave?

2. Are action blocks restored with variables set or cleared?

3. Is there a way to save individual action blocks like you can for macros and categories?

4. I've noticed that action blocks are not included in the variables list only macros. Will this be updated in the future or not? Action blocks and macros can have identical names which might be an issue , but using colour to differentiate action blocks from macros in the variable list might resolve the issue.

Jamie answered. Take a look please.
Post in thread 'Action Blocks'

Action Blocks

I was reading the MacroDroid Wiki and I ran across Action Blocks. Just when I was thinking of how I was going to implement functions in MacroDroid, apparently they already have a way of doing it. For the life of me, I cannot find the panel or home screen for this, or how to create action blocks...

www.macrodroidforum.com

 

[dhj49er]

Jamie answered. Take a look please.
Post in thread 'Action Blocks'

Action Blocks

I was reading the MacroDroid Wiki and I ran across Action Blocks. Just when I was thinking of how I was going to implement functions in MacroDroid, apparently they already have a way of doing it. For the life of me, I cannot find the panel or home screen for this, or how to create action blocks...

www.macrodroidforum.com

I couldn't find the answers.
My queries aren't feature requests but asking what the situation is.
Including action blocks with autosave is very important. If it's not currently available, I will not use action blocks, as I would not be able to fully restore Macrodroid in the event of a factory reset.
So do you know if action blocks are included in autosave?

 

[dhj49er]

I have used the term autosave.
The function I am referring to is auto backup.
So please use auto backup instead of autosave in my posts in this thread.

 

[tanutanu]

I couldn't find the answers.
My queries aren't feature requests but asking what the situation is.
Including action blocks with autosave is very important. If it's not currently available, I will not use action blocks, as I would not be able to fully restore Macrodroid in the event of a factory reset.
So do you know if action blocks are included in autosave?

I'm talking about 2. and 3.

Currently Action blocks have no local variable field. Jamie suggested me to "abuse" the output variable as a temporary local variable. It means they don't store initial or current values in local.
If you need, you can use global variable for the purpose same as regular macro as my testing. It is managed in the different area of .mdr macro data structure, so it should be natural to be write back when you restored it from a backup. If not, it is a bug or a lack of consideration in its design.

I requested import/export features. That's why it is impossible at this moment. However, you know my extractor, it can export Action Blocks as well. Because It has the same data structure as normal macros.
Once you extract an Action block, MD can import as a macro, then you can transform it to an Action block.

EDITED: I confirmed a local variable can be created when I add a Set variable action with new variable on the dialog. However, there is no way to refer the local variable. So, it is meaningless and masked currently.

 

[MacroDroidDev]

Answers below:

1) Yes Action Blocks should be saved in any kind of backup that you make. If for any reason this does not happen please let me know as it is most certainly a bug

2) An action block does not retain any variable state between different runs. Therefore if you are setting the value of an output variable this value will be cleared back to the default the next time the action block is "run"

3) Currently there is support for sharing an action block to a nearby device. I have to confess that it is more of an oversight that there is not a way to share via the conventional mechanism. I will try to add this soon.

4) This is purely an oversight and the global variables should also reference any action blocks that are relevant to the macros. Thanks for flagging this, I will fix ASAP.

 

[dhj49er]

Thank you for the detailed reply.

 

[dhj49er]

Thanks for the fast update..to include action blocks in the variables listing. It works very well.

 

[MacroDroidDev]

Also just added the same support to stop watches which I previously forgot as well!