How long will WebCoRE be available

ike2018 · 2019-10-21 07:43:20 UTC

Great question…

I don’t have any inside info on that one BUT we get very frequent updates on WebCore, that means Adrian and minions still actively working on things. I’d assume it will be around for a long time.

ipaterson · 2019-10-21 13:32:18 UTC

The unfortunate reality is that we do not have any control over the SmartThings platform that webCoRE runs on. It is likely extremely expensive for SmartThings to operate the Groovy platform and we have seen increasing performance issues over the last year as SmartThings transitions to a new model. A new API platform would shift a lot of the processing off of SmartThings, compared to the current arbitrary Groovy code hosting model. Once a new platform is viable we can be certain that a countdown clock will begin on shutting down the current Groovy platform, after which time the current webCoRE and all other smart apps will cease to function.

However, SmartThings is motivated to keep customers so it’s not just going to kill everything overnight and will probably work to provide a migration for popular smart apps. Adrian, the developer of webCoRE and its predecessor CoRE is employed by SmartThings now and we are starting to hear about the influence he has had to ensure that there is something for webCoRE users on the new API platform.

From SmartThings Developer emails:

We recognize the importance of webCoRE to our customers. We have taken the first steps to integrate the new Rules API into webCoRE to demonstrate the future architecture of the SmartThings Platform.

It sounds like SmartThings has forked webCoRE and spun up a demo for the new API. See the webCoRE session notes for more detail. After SDC at the end of the month we should have more information about whether this version of webCoRE will be available for use or if it is just a quick demo, and whether there will be any sort of migration for current pistons. It sounds early, so probably best to set expectations low.

Once the Groovy platform is shut down, webCoRE may continue to be supported by Hubitat Evolution. Much volunteer work has gone in to adapting webCoRE to run locally on HE hubs, and that community may continue to develop this version of webCoRE after it is no longer compatible with SmartThings.

ady624 · 2019-10-23 16:29:23 UTC

Hey guys, first and foremost, I want to apologize for being very quiet lately. Or missing, at times. Work is hard, you know Just wanted to bring a little light on things. As Ian mentioned, more things will be known after the SDC, but for now:

SmartThings is developing a new Rules API which works in a very similar way to webCoRE - nested blocks allowing for complex rules. This is happening. Nested IFs, etc.
ST did fork webCoRE and worked on making it work with the Rules API - this is however a demo, but an open source one - so anyone can pick it up and continue it. There are also discussions on getting webCoRE rebuilt from ground up to use the Rules API.
I personally don’t think a direct migration path exists (i.e. migrate existing pistons), mainly due to the fact that the initial run of Rules API will not have all the bells and whistles that webCoRE currently has. But I personally am invested into getting as many features in before we reach the sunset of Groovy. What you won’t see on day one are variables and expressions. But we’ve planned for them. Anyhow, do not expect a migration tool, or at least the chances for that are really low - but on the bright side, using a visual editor to build your rules should be fun, right? /s
Local execution - this will become a thing. Not on day one, but eventually - one of the main issues stopping local execution as it pertains to Groovy is that the hub is not the perfect environment for a heavy Groovy/Java environment which means SmartApps and DTHs could not run on hubs. We’re writing the Rules API in a language that natively runs on the hub, so we’ll get it running on the hub eventually. This means that rules will run locally assuming you’re only using devices that support local execution. And that list is getting larger.
No apps to install. I think this is the big winner here. You login with your ST/Samsung account via OAuth and boom, you’re in. I’ve pushed hard for this and it works beautifully. It takes the github, update, etc. out of the equation. No user maintenance is a good thing.

I’ll share more info after the SDC, pretty busy days right now. By the way, if anyone is interested in going to the SDC, I have 50% coupons, DM me if you want one (not allowed to share coupons publicly).

Let me know if you have questions or what your thoughts are.

Rizlah · 2019-10-23 17:24:41 UTC

I am sure there will be plenty people with many many questions regarding this topic, I know I do, but I will try not to bombard you just yet. So here are a couple of questions just for starters.

Since there is very unlikely to be a migration tool, how easy do you think it will be to get the pistons we have all written to work in the new environment, especially considering most of us use the tool to its max potential with variables, expressions and the many other advanced features that you have included with webcore.
Will we have some parallel runtime to allow us time to transfer everything over?
What is your view on us being able to achieve the same things we do now with the new environment?

I think that will do for now, as a technical consultant for IBM myself I understand how things can quite often be when change is imminent and people will no doubt be nervous of the change, however from what I have read I’m pretty sure what is curently being developed will eventually be easier, more user friendly and arguably better for the general public.

One last question, do you think the new env will appeal to us techies who like to get our hands dirty in the code?

Thanks for your reply, I do appreciate you taking the time to do so.

WCmore · 2019-10-23 17:35:53 UTC

It is good to see you here @ady624!!

Sighs… I think 99% of my 400+ pistons use variables and expressions…
I really hope they get added before the Groovy platform goes away…

Rizlah · 2019-10-23 17:37:45 UTC

Agreed, I don’t have anywhere near 400 pistons but it won’t be long until I really start to ramp them up.

Variables and expressions are a must really, as are switch, if and other conditional statements.

ady624 · 2019-10-23 17:37:46 UTC

In short, we’re at the stage where we’re actively adding features - there will most likely be a parity gap between what webCoRE now does and what it will be able to do. I’d venture to mention emails, NFL, etc. There is a chance Rules API will support calling external APIs that can add these features back. It is way too early to talk about these things and I don’t want to commit to things we haven’t yet settled on internally. But variables and expressions are almost certain (added almost as I don’t want to commit on behalf of others). There will be support for most complex conditions webCoRE has, including the stays ones.

From my internal feeling here, the mere fact that ST wants to provide a path forward conflicts with the idea of not providing a migration window. There will most likely be a migration window during which users need to migrate their rules.

There will be an initial gap where things webCoRE could do may not be achievable via Rules API, and these are most likely edge cases (I mentioned sending emails, NFL, etc) - I’m doing my best to ensure we raise to the expectations of existing webCoRE users. I can’t really promise anything, but I am feeling positive here.

As far as getting dirty in the code goes, there will not be any ST side code to get dirty with, but the API is public. You can write your own UI for it, as well as collaborating to webCoRE - which in effect will become an UI to Rules API. The API is public, anyone can build a new UI to cater to different targets. So yeah, in effect, you can get down and dirty with code

ady624 · 2019-10-23 17:40:14 UTC

I think variables and expressions would be too large a gap, so I’m really confident we’re going to see them before sunsetting Groovy. Again, I cannot commit to any of these, as I could when I was the sole developer, I hope you understand. But we have planned for these two features, specifically.

WCmore · 2019-10-23 17:40:59 UTC

Thanks @ady624 for the update, and gracing us with your presence…

ady624 · 2019-10-23 17:42:47 UTC

Sorry I’ve been missing so long. I keep saying I’ll be more present, then work happens LOL

Rizlah · 2019-10-23 17:43:39 UTC

We’ve all been there, just remember you work to live, not the other way round… if only someone had told me this when I was younger LOL

ady624 · 2019-10-23 17:50:26 UTC

As I said, we’ve forked out webCoRE and coerced it into working with the Rules API:

It outputs JSON that is then sent via an API request to Rules API - which then subscribes to events and executes the code.

This is how the piston looks in Rules API JSON grammar:

{
  "name": "webCoRE Piston 1",
  "actions": [
    {
      "if": {
        "equals": {
          "left": {
            "device": {
              "devices": [
                "light-device-id-goes-here"
              ],
              "component": "main",
              "capability": "motionSensor",
              "attribute": "motion"
            }
          },
          "right": {
            "string": "active"
          }
        },
        "then": [
          {
            "command": {
              "devices": [
                "motion-sensor-device-id-goes-here"
              ],
              "commands": [
                {
                  "command": "on",
                  "component": "main",
                  "capability": "switch",
                  "arguments": []
                }
              ]
            }
          }
        ],
        "else": [
          {
            "sleep": {
              "duration": {
                "value": {
                  "integer": 30
                },
                "unit": "Second"
              }
            }
          },
          {
            "command": {
              "devices": [
                "light-device-id-goes-here"
              ],
              "commands": [
                {
                  "command": "off",
                  "component": "main",
                  "capability": "switch",
                  "arguments": []
                }
              ]
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

You’ll get access to the Rules API grammar and endpoint right after the SDC.

ady624 · 2019-10-23 17:56:55 UTC

It’s a fairly minimal version of webCoRE - lots of features missing, but it is a good start, meant as a proof of concept.

Rizlah · 2019-10-23 18:00:40 UTC

Its a start, I’m sure webcore didn’t start as it now stands.

ady624 · 2019-10-23 18:03:06 UTC

Let me show you. LOL

This is what CoRE looked like:

No web interface. webCoRE started with basic stuff and kept adding. Going through the release changes logs in the SmartApp code brings back fond memories

ady624 · 2019-10-23 18:03:59 UTC

/*
 *	10/09/2019 >>> v0.3.110.20191009 - BETA M3 - Load devices into dashboard in multiple batches when necessary, switch to FontAwesome Kit to always use latest version
 *	08/22/2019 >>> v0.3.10f.20190822 - BETA M3 - Custom headers on web requests by @Bloodtick_Jones (write as JSON in Authorization header field), capabilities split into three pages to fix device selection errors
 *	06/28/2019 >>> v0.3.10e.20190628 - BETA M3 - Reinstated dirty fix for dashboard timeouts after reports of increased error rates, NaN device status is back
 *	06/27/2019 >>> v0.3.10d.20190627 - BETA M3 - Reverted attempted fix for dashboard timeouts, fixes NaN device status on piston editing, dashboard tweaks for Hubitat by E_Sch
 *	05/22/2019 >>> v0.3.10c.20190522 - BETA M3 - Changed the device selection page in main app to fix timeout issues in Asia-Pacific
 *	05/14/2019 >>> v0.3.10b.20190514 - BETA M3 - Changed the device selection page to fix timeout issues in Asia-Pacific
 *	02/23/2019 >>> v0.3.10a.20190223 - BETA M3 - Added $twcweather to replace discontinued $weather, added new :twc-[iconCode]: weather icon set, fixed content type for local HTTP requests
 *	12/07/2018 >>> v0.3.109.20181207 - BETA M3 - Dirty fix for dashboard timeouts: seems like ST has a lot of trouble reading the list of devices/commands/attributes/values these days, so giving up on reading values makes this much faster - temporarily?!
 *	09/06/2018 >>> v0.3.108.20180906 - BETA M3 - Restore pistons from backup file, hide "(unknown)" SHM status, fixed string to date across DST thanks @bangali, null routines, integer trailing zero cast, saving large pistons and disappearing variables on mobile
 *	08/06/2018 >>> v0.3.107.20180806 - BETA M3 - Font Awesome 5 icons, expanding textareas to fix expression scrolling, boolean date and datetime global variable editor fixes
 *	07/31/2018 >>> v0.3.106.20180731 - BETA M3 - Contact Book removal support
 *	06/28/2018 >>> v0.3.105.20180628 - BETA M3 - Reorder variables, collapse fuel streams, custom web request body, json and urlEncode functions
 *	03/23/2018 >>> v0.3.104.20180323 - BETA M3 - Fixed unexpected dashboard logouts, updating image urls in tiles, 12 am/pm in time(), unary negation following another operator
 *	02/24/2018 >>> v0.3.000.20180224 - BETA M3 - Dashboard redesign by @acd37, collapsible sidebar, fix "was" conditions on decimal attributes and log failures due to duration threshold
 *	01/16/2018 >>> v0.2.102.20180116 - BETA M2 - Fixed IE 11 script error, display of offset expression evaluation, blank device lists on piston restore, avoid error and log a warning when ST sunrise/sunset is blank
 *	12/27/2017 >>> v0.2.101.20171227 - BETA M2 - Fixed 172.x.x.x web requests thanks to @tbam, fixed array subscripting with 0.0 decimal value as in a for loop using $index
 *	12/11/2017 >>> v0.2.100.20171211 - BETA M2 - Replaced the scheduler-based timeout recovery handling to ease up on resource usage
 *	11/29/2017 >>> v0.2.0ff.20171129 - BETA M2 - Fixed missing conditions and triggers for several device attributes, new comparison group for binary files
 *	11/09/2017 >>> v0.2.0fe.20171109 - BETA M2 - Fixed on events subscription for global and superglobal variables
 *	11/05/2017 >>> v0.2.0fd.20171105 - BETA M2 - Further DST fixes
 *	11/05/2017 >>> v0.2.0fc.20171105 - BETA M2 - DST fixes
 *	10/26/2017 >>> v0.2.0fb.20171026 - BETA M2 - Partial support for super global variables - works within same location - no inter-location comms yet
 *	10/11/2017 >>> v0.2.0fa.20171010 - BETA M2 - Various bug fixes and improvements - fixed the mid() and random() functions
 *	10/07/2017 >>> v0.2.0f9.20171007 - BETA M2 - Added previous location attribute support and methods to calculate distance between places, people, fixed locations...
 *	10/06/2017 >>> v0.2.0f8.20171006 - BETA M2 - Added support for Android geofence filtering depending on horizontal accuracy
 *	10/04/2017 >>> v0.2.0f7.20171004 - BETA M2 - Added speed and bearing support
 *	10/04/2017 >>> v0.2.0f6.20171004 - BETA M2 - Bug fixes for geofencing
 *	10/04/2017 >>> v0.2.0f5.20171003 - BETA M2 - Bug fixes for geofencing
 *	10/04/2017 >>> v0.2.0f4.20171003 - BETA M2 - Bug fixes for geofencing
 *	10/03/2017 >>> v0.2.0f3.20171003 - BETA M2 - Bug fixes for geofencing
 *	10/03/2017 >>> v0.2.0f2.20171003 - BETA M2 - Updated iOS app to add timestamps
 *	10/01/2017 >>> v0.2.0f1.20171001 - BETA M2 - Added debugging options
 *	09/30/2017 >>> v0.2.0f0.20170930 - BETA M2 - Added last update info for both geofences and location updates
 *	09/30/2017 >>> v0.2.0ef.20170930 - BETA M2 - Minor fixes for Android
 *	09/29/2017 >>> v0.2.0ed.20170929 - BETA M2 - Added support for Android presence
 *	09/27/2017 >>> v0.2.0ec.20170927 - BETA M2 - Fixed a problem where the 'was' comparison would fail when the event had no device
 *	09/25/2017 >>> v0.2.0eb.20170925 - BETA M2 - Added Sleep Sensor capability to the webCoRE Presence Sensor, thanks to @Cozdabuch and @bangali
 *	09/24/2017 >>> v0.2.0ea.20170924 - BETA M2 - Fixed a problem where $nfl.schedule.thisWeek would only return one game, it now returns all games for the week. Same for lastWeek and nextWeek.
 *	09/21/2017 >>> v0.2.0e9.20170921 - BETA M2 - Added support for the webCoRE Presence Sensor
 *	09/18/2017 >>> v0.2.0e8.20170918 - BETA M2 - Alpha testing for presence
 *	09/06/2017 >>> v0.2.0e7.20170906 - BETA M2 - Added support for the $nfl composite variable, fixed some bugs with boolean comparisons of null
 *	08/30/2017 >>> v0.2.0e6.20170830 - BETA M2 - Minor fixes regarding some isNumber() errors and errors with static variables using non-defined variables
 *	08/12/2017 >>> v0.2.0e5.20170812 - BETA M2 - Allowing global variables create device subscriptions (due to demand)
 *	08/11/2017 >>> v0.2.0e4.20170811 - BETA M2 - Support for quick set of local variables
 *	08/10/2017 >>> v0.2.0e3.20170810 - BETA M2 - Improved support for threeAxis and added support for axisX, axisY, and axisZ as decimal values
 *	08/08/2017 >>> v0.2.0e2.20170808 - BETA M2 - Fixed a bug with time restrictions for conditions/triggers (not timers) where day of week, hour, etc. would be compared against UTC making edge comparisons fail (Sun 11pm would look like a Mon 3am for EST, therefore not on a Sunday anymore)
 *	07/28/2017 >>> v0.2.0e1.20170728 - BETA M2 - Added the rainbowValue function to provide dynamic colors in a range
 *	07/26/2017 >>> v0.2.0e0.20170726 - BETA M2 - Added support for rangeValue() which allows quick inline conversion of decimal ranges to values coresponding to them (i.e. translate level or temperature into a color)
 *	07/25/2017 >>> v0.2.0df.20170725 - BETA M2 - Minor bug fixes and improvements - decimal display is now using a dynamic decimal place count
 *	07/24/2017 >>> v0.2.0de.20170724 - BETA M2 - Minor fixes regarding lists and is_equal_to can now compare strings as well as numbers
 *	07/22/2017 >>> v0.2.0dd.20170722 - BETA M2 - Added support for the Authentication header in HTTP(S) requests, support for image in local network requests (does not work yet)
 *	07/22/2017 >>> v0.2.0dc.20170722 - BETA M2 - Progress towards bi-directional emails and support for storing media (paid feature)
 *	07/17/2017 >>> v0.2.0db.20170717 - BETA M2 - Added two more functions abs(number) and hslToHex(hue(0-360°), saturation(0-100%), level(0-100%)), fixed a bug with LIFX when not passing a period
 *	07/16/2017 >>> v0.2.0da.20170716 - BETA M2 - Fixed a bug where clearing tiles higher than 8 would not work
 *	07/14/2017 >>> v0.2.0d9.20170714 - BETA M2 - Adds support for waiting on piston executions as long as the caller and callee are in the same webCoRE instance
 *	07/13/2017 >>> v0.2.0d8.20170713 - BETA M2 - Fixes for orientation triggers, variable lists referenced with $index, a weird condition where negative numbers would be inverted to absolute values, extended tiles to 16
 *	07/13/2017 >>> v0.2.0d7.20170713 - BETA M2 - Unknown feature added to tiles
 *	07/13/2017 >>> v0.2.0d6.20170713 - BETA M2 - Updated tiles to allow for multiple tiles and footers - this update breaks all previous tiles, sorry
 *	07/12/2017 >>> v0.2.0d5.20170712 - BETA M2 - Bug fixes and fixed a bug that where piston tile state would not be preserved during a piston save
 *	07/12/2017 >>> v0.2.0d4.20170712 - BETA M2 - Added categories support and piston tile support
 *	07/11/2017 >>> v0.2.0d3.20170711 - BETA M2 - Lots of bug fixes and improvements
 *	07/10/2017 >>> v0.2.0d2.20170710 - BETA M2 - Added long integer support to variables and fixed a bug where time comparisons would apply a previously set offset to custom times
 *	07/08/2017 >>> v0.2.0d1.20170708 - BETA M2 - Added Piston recovery procedures to the main app
 *	07/08/2017 >>> v0.2.0d0.20170708 - BETA M2 - Fixed a bug allowing the script to continue outside of timers, added Followed By support - basic tests performed
 *	07/06/2017 >>> v0.2.0cf.20170706 - BETA M2 - Fix for parsing string date and times, implemented local http request response support - local web requests will wait for a response for up to 20 seconds - JSON response, if any, is available via $response
 *	06/29/2017 >>> v0.2.0ce.20170629 - BETA M2 - Fix for broken time scheduling and device variables
 *	06/29/2017 >>> v0.2.0cd.20170629 - BETA M2 - [DO NOT UPDATE UNLESS REQUESTED TO] - Adds typed list support
 *	06/29/2017 >>> v0.2.0cc.20170629 - BETA M2 - Fixes to date, datetime, and time - datetime(string) was returning a 0, fixed it
 *	06/26/2017 >>> v0.2.0cb.20170626 - BETA M2 - Minor bug fixes (including a fix with json data arrays), and added string functions trim, trimLeft/ltrim, and trimRight/rtrim
 *	06/23/2017 >>> v0.2.0ca.20170623 - BETA M2 - Minor bug and fixes, UI support for followed by - SmartApp does not yet implement it
 *	06/22/2017 >>> v0.2.0c9.20170622 - BETA M2 - Added orientation support (not fully tested)
 *	06/22/2017 >>> v0.2.0c8.20170622 - BETA M2 - Improved support for JSON parsing, including support for named properties $json[element] - element can be an integer index, a variable name, or a string (no quotes), fixed a bug with Wait for time
 *	06/21/2017 >>> v0.2.0c7.20170621 - BETA M2 - A bug fix for boolean and dynamic types - thoroughly inspect their values rather than rely on the data type
 *	06/20/2017 >>> v0.2.0c6.20170620 - BETA M2 - Bug fix for timers - last time refactoring affected timers (timezone offset miscalculations)
 *	06/20/2017 >>> v0.2.0c5.20170620 - BETA M2 - Refactored date and time to be more user friendly and consistent to their data type. Added formatDateTime - see https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/i18n/format/simpleDateFormat.html for more details
 *	06/19/2017 >>> v0.2.0c4.20170619 - BETA M2 - Fixed a bug with LIFX scenes, added more functions: weekDayName, monthName, arrayItem
 *	06/18/2017 >>> v0.2.0c3.20170618 - BETA M2 - Added more LIFX methods like set, toggle, breath, pulse
 *	06/16/2017 >>> v0.2.0c2.20170616 - BETA M2 - Added support for lock codes, physical interaction
 *	06/16/2017 >>> v0.2.0c1.20170616 - BETA M2 - Added support for the emulated $status device attribute, cancel all pending tasks, allow pre-scheduled tasks to execute during restrictions
 *	06/14/2017 >>> v0.2.0c0.20170614 - BETA M2 - Added support for $weather and external execution of pistons
 *	06/14/2017 >>> v0.2.0bf.20170614 - BETA M2 - Some fixes (typo found by @DThompson10), added support for JSON arrays, as well as Parse JSON data task
 *	06/13/2017 >>> v0.2.0be.20170613 - BETA M2 - 0be happy - capture/restore is here
 *	06/12/2017 >>> v0.2.0bd.20170612 - BETA M2 - More bug fixes, work started on capture/restore, DO NOT USE them yet
 *	06/11/2017 >>> v0.2.0bc.20170611 - BETA M2 - More bug fixes
 *	06/09/2017 >>> v0.2.0bb.20170609 - BETA M2 - Added support for the webCoRE Connector - an easy way for developers to integrate with webCoRE
 *	06/09/2017 >>> v0.2.0ba.20170609 - BETA M2 - More bug fixes
 *	06/08/2017 >>> v0.2.0b9.20170608 - BETA M2 - Added location mode, SHM mode and hub info to the dashboard
 *	06/07/2017 >>> v0.2.0b8.20170607 - BETA M2 - Movin' on up
 *	06/03/2017 >>> v0.1.0b7.20170603 - BETA M1 - Even more bug fixes - fixed issues with cancel on piston state change, rescheduling timers when ST decides to run early
 *	06/02/2017 >>> v0.1.0b6.20170602 - BETA M1 - More bug fixes
 *	05/31/2017 >>> v0.1.0b5.20170531 - BETA M1 - Bug fixes
 *	05/31/2017 >>> v0.1.0b4.20170531 - BETA M1 - Implemented $response and the special $response.<dynamic> variables to read response data from HTTP requests
 *	05/30/2017 >>> v0.1.0b3.20170530 - BETA M1 - Various speed improvements - MAY BREAK THINGS
 *	05/30/2017 >>> v0.1.0b2.20170530 - BETA M1 - Various fixes, added IFTTT query string params support in $args
 *	05/24/2017 >>> v0.1.0b1.20170524 - BETA M1 - Fixes regarding trigger initialization and a situation where time triggers may cancel tasks that should not be cancelled
 *	05/23/2017 >>> v0.1.0b0.20170523 - BETA M1 - Minor fixes and improvements to command optimizations
 *	05/22/2017 >>> v0.1.0af.20170522 - BETA M1 - Minor fixes (stays away from trigger, contacts not found, etc.), implemented Command Optimizations (turned on by default) and Flash
 *	05/22/2017 >>> v0.1.0ae.20170522 - BETA M1 - Minor fix for very small decimal numbers
 *	05/19/2017 >>> v0.1.0ad.20170519 - BETA M1 - Various bug fixes, including broken while loops with a preceeding exit statement (exit and break statements conflicted with async runs)
 *	05/18/2017 >>> v0.1.0ac.20170518 - BETA M1 - Preparing the grounds for advanced engine blocks
 *	05/17/2017 >>> v0.1.0ab.20170517 - BETA M1 - Fixed a bug affecting some users, regarding the new LIFX integration
 *	05/17/2017 >>> v0.1.0aa.20170517 - BETA M1 - Added egress LIFX integration
 *	05/17/2017 >>> v0.1.0a9.20170517 - BETA M1 - Added egress IFTTT integration
 *	05/16/2017 >>> v0.1.0a8.20170516 - BETA M1 - Improved emoji support
 *	05/15/2017 >>> v0.1.0a7.20170515 - BETA M1 - Added a way to test pistons from the UI - Fixed a bug in UI values where decimal values were converted to integers - those values need to be re-edited to be fixed
 *	05/12/2017 >>> v0.1.0a6.20170512 - BETA M1 - Pistons can now (again) access devices stored in global variables
 *	05/11/2017 >>> v0.1.0a5.20170511 - BETA M1 - Fixed a bug with time scheduling offsets
 *	05/09/2017 >>> v0.1.0a4.20170509 - BETA M1 - Many structural changes to fix issues like startup-spin-up-time for instances having a lot of devices, as well as wrong name displayed in the device's Recent activity tab. New helper app added, needs to be installed/published. Pause/Resume of all active pistons is required.
 *	05/09/2017 >>> v0.1.0a3.20170509 - BETA M1 - DO NOT INSTALL THIS UNLESS ASKED TO - IT WILL BREAK YOUR ENVIRONMENT - IF YOU DID INSTALL IT, DO NOT GO BACK TO A PREVIOUS VERSION
 *	05/07/2017 >>> v0.1.0a2.20170507 - BETA M1 - Added the random() expression function.
 *	05/06/2017 >>> v0.1.0a1.20170506 - BETA M1 - Kill switch was a killer. Killed it.
 *	05/05/2017 >>> v0.1.0a0.20170505 - BETA M1 - Happy Cinco de Mayo
 *	05/04/2017 >>> v0.1.09f.20170504 - BETA M1 - Various improvements, added more expression operators, replaced localStorage with localforage, improvements on parent app memory usage
 *	05/03/2017 >>> v0.1.09e.20170503 - BETA M1 - Added the formatDuration function, added volume to playText, playTextAndResume, and playTextAndRestore
 *	05/03/2017 >>> v0.1.09d.20170503 - BETA M1 - Fixed a problem where async blocks inside async blocks were not working correctly.
 *	05/03/2017 >>> v0.1.09c.20170503 - BETA M1 - Fixes for race conditions where a second almost simultaneous event would miss cache updates from the first event, also improvements on timeout recovery
 *	05/02/2017 >>> v0.1.09b.20170502 - BETA M1 - Fixes for async elements as well as setColor hue inconsistencies
 *	05/01/2017 >>> v0.1.09a.20170501 - BETA M1 - Some visual UI fixes, added ternary operator support in expressions ( condition ? trueValue : falseValue ) - even with Groovy-style support for ( object ?: falseValue)
 *	05/01/2017 >>> v0.1.099.20170501 - BETA M1 - Lots of fixes and improvements - expressions now accept more logical operators like !, !!, ==, !=, <, >, <=, >= and some new math operators like \ (integer division) and % (modulo)
 *	04/30/2017 >>> v0.1.098.20170430 - BETA M1 - Minor bug fixes
 *	04/29/2017 >>> v0.1.097.20170429 - BETA M1 - First Beta Milestone 1!
 *	04/29/2017 >>> v0.0.096.20170429 - ALPHA - Various bug fixes, added options to disable certain statements, as per @eibyer's original idea and @RobinWinbourne's annoying persistance :)
 *	04/29/2017 >>> v0.0.095.20170429 - ALPHA - Fully implemented the on event statements
 *	04/28/2017 >>> v0.0.094.20170428 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug preventing timers from scheduling properly. Added the on statement and the do statement
 *	04/28/2017 >>> v0.0.093.20170428 - ALPHA - Fixed bugs (piston state issues, time condition schedules ignored offsets). Implemented more virtual commands (the fade suite)
 *	04/27/2017 >>> v0.0.092.20170427 - ALPHA - Added time trigger happens daily at...
 *	04/27/2017 >>> v0.0.091.20170427 - ALPHA - Various improvements and fixes
 *	04/26/2017 >>> v0.0.090.20170426 - ALPHA - Minor fixes for variables and the eq() function
 *	04/26/2017 >>> v0.0.08f.20170426 - ALPHA - Implemented $args and the special $args.<dynamic> variables to read arguments from events. Bonus: ability to parse JSON data to read subitem by using $args.item.subitem (no array support yet)
 *	04/26/2017 >>> v0.0.08e.20170426 - ALPHA - Implemented Send notification to contacts
 *	04/26/2017 >>> v0.0.08d.20170426 - ALPHA - Timed triggers should now play nice with multiple devices (any/all)
 *	04/25/2017 >>> v0.0.08c.20170425 - ALPHA - Various fixes and improvements and implemented custom commands with parameters
 *	04/24/2017 >>> v0.0.08b.20170424 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug preventing subscription to IFTTT events
 *	04/24/2017 >>> v0.0.08a.20170424 - ALPHA - Implemented Routine/AskAlexa/EchoSistant/IFTTT integrations - arguments (where available) are not processed yet - not tested
 *	04/24/2017 >>> v0.0.089.20170424 - ALPHA - Added variables in conditions and matching/non-matching device variable output
 *	04/23/2017 >>> v0.0.088.20170423 - ALPHA - Time condition offsets
 *	04/23/2017 >>> v0.0.087.20170423 - ALPHA - Timed triggers (stay/stays) implemented - need additional work to get them to play nicely with "Any of devices stays..." - this never worked in CoRE, but proved to might-have-been-helpful
 *	04/23/2017 >>> v0.0.086.20170423 - ALPHA - Subscriptions to @global variables
 *	04/22/2017 >>> v0.0.085.20170422 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug with virtual device options
 *	04/22/2017 >>> v0.0.084.20170422 - ALPHA - NFL integration complete LOL (not really, implemented global variables though)
 *	04/21/2017 >>> v0.0.083.20170421 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug introduced during device-typed variable refactoring, $currentEventDevice was not properly stored as a List of device Ids
 *	04/21/2017 >>> v0.0.082.20170421 - ALPHA - Fixed a pseudo-bug where older pistons (created before some parameters were added) are missing some operands and that causes errors during evaluations
 *	04/21/2017 >>> v0.0.081.20170421 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug preventing a for-each to work with device-typed variables
 *	04/21/2017 >>> v0.0.080.20170421 - ALPHA - Fixed a newly introduced bug where function parameters were parsed as strings, also fixed functions time, date, and datetime's timezone
 *	04/21/2017 >>> v0.0.07f.20170421 - ALPHA - Fixed an inconsistency in setting device variable (array) - this was in the UI and may require resetting the variables
 *	04/21/2017 >>> v0.0.07e.20170421 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug with local variables introduced in 07d
 *	04/21/2017 >>> v0.0.07d.20170421 - ALPHA - Lots of improvements for device variables
 *	04/20/2017 >>> v0.0.07c.20170420 - ALPHA - Timed conditions are finally working (was* and changed/not changed), basic tests performed
 *	04/19/2017 >>> v0.0.07b.20170419 - ALPHA - First attempt to get 'was' conditions up and running
 *	04/19/2017 >>> v0.0.07a.20170419 - ALPHA - Minor bug fixes, triggers inside timers no longer subscribe to events (the timer is a trigger itself) - triggers should not normally be used inside timers
 *	04/19/2017 >>> v0.0.079.20170419 - ALPHA - Time condition restrictions are now working, added date and date&time conditions, offsets still missing
 *	04/18/2017 >>> v0.0.078.20170418 - ALPHA - Time conditions now subscribe for time events - added restrictions to UI dialog, but not yet implemented
 *	04/18/2017 >>> v0.0.077.20170418 - ALPHA - Implemented time conditions - no date or datetime yet, also, no subscriptions for time events yet
 *	04/18/2017 >>> v0.0.076.20170418 - ALPHA - Implemented task mode restrictions and added setColor using HSL
 *	04/17/2017 >>> v0.0.075.20170417 - ALPHA - Fixed a problem with $sunrise and $sunset pointing to the wrong date
 *	04/17/2017 >>> v0.0.074.20170417 - ALPHA - Implemented HTTP requests, importing response data not working yet, need to figure out a way to specify what data goes into which variables
 *	04/17/2017 >>> v0.0.073.20170417 - ALPHA - isBetween fix - use three params, not two, thanks to @c1arkbar
 *	04/16/2017 >>> v0.0.072.20170416 - ALPHA - Quick fix for isBetween
 *	04/16/2017 >>> v0.0.071.20170416 - ALPHA - Added the ability to execute routines
 *	04/16/2017 >>> v0.0.070.20170416 - ALPHA - Added support for multiple-choice comparisons (any of), added more improvements like the ability to disable event subscriptions (follow up pistons)
 *	04/15/2017 >>> v0.0.06f.20170415 - ALPHA - Fix for wait for date&time
 *	04/15/2017 >>> v0.0.06e.20170415 - ALPHA - Attempt to fix a race condition where device value would change before we even executed - using event's value instead
 *	04/15/2017 >>> v0.0.06d.20170415 - ALPHA - Various fixes and improvements, added the ability to execute pistons in the same location (arguments not working yet)
 *	04/15/2017 >>> v0.0.06c.20170415 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug with daily timers and day of week restrictions
 *	04/14/2017 >>> v0.0.06b.20170414 - ALPHA - Added more functions: date(value), time(value), if(condition, valueIfTrue, valueIfFalse), not(value), isEmpty(value), addSeconds(dateTime, seconds), addMinutes(dateTime, minutes), addHours(dateTime, hours), addDays(dateTime, days), addWeeks(dateTime, weeks)
 *	04/14/2017 >>> v0.0.06a.20170414 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug where multiple timers would cancel each other's actions out, implemented (not extensively tested yet) the TCP and TEP
 *	04/13/2017 >>> v0.0.069.20170413 - ALPHA - Various bug fixes and improvements
 *	04/12/2017 >>> v0.0.068.20170412 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug with colors from presets
 *	04/12/2017 >>> v0.0.067.20170412 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug introduced in 066 and implemented setColor
 *	04/12/2017 >>> v0.0.066.20170412 - ALPHA - Fixed hourly timers and implemented setInfraredLevel, setHue, setSaturation, setColorTemperature
 *	04/11/2017 >>> v0.0.065.20170411 - ALPHA - Fix for long waits being converted to scientific notation, causing the scheduler to misunderstand them and wait 1ms instead
 *	04/11/2017 >>> v0.0.064.20170411 - ALPHA - Fix for timer restrictions error
 *	04/11/2017 >>> v0.0.063.20170411 - ALPHA - Some fixes for timers, implemented all timers, implemented all timer restrictions.
 *	04/10/2017 >>> v0.0.062.20170410 - ALPHA - Some fixes for timers, implemented all timers, their restrictions still not active.
 *	04/07/2017 >>> v0.0.061.20170407 - ALPHA - Some fixes for timers (waits inside timers) and implemented weekly timers. Months/years not working yet. Should be more stable.
 *	04/06/2017 >>> v0.0.060.20170406 - ALPHA - Timers for second/minute/hour/day are in. week/month/year not working yet. May be VERY quirky, still.
 *	03/30/2017 >>> v0.0.05f.20170329 - ALPHA - Attempt to fix setLocation, added Twilio integration (dialog support coming soon)
 *	03/29/2017 >>> v0.0.05e.20170329 - ALPHA - Added sendEmail
 *	03/29/2017 >>> v0.0.05d.20170329 - ALPHA - Minor typo fixes, thanks to @rayzurbock
 *	03/28/2017 >>> v0.0.05c.20170328 - ALPHA - Minor fixes regarding location subscriptions
 *	03/28/2017 >>> v0.0.05b.20170328 - ALPHA - Minor fixes for setting location mode
 *	03/27/2017 >>> v0.0.05a.20170327 - ALPHA - Minor fixes - location events do not have a device by default, overriding with location
 *	03/27/2017 >>> v0.0.059.20170327 - ALPHA - Completed SHM status and location mode. Can get/set, can subscribe to changes, any existing condition in pistons needs to be revisited and fixed
 *	03/25/2017 >>> v0.0.058.20170325 - ALPHA - Fixes for major issues introduced due to the new comparison editor (you need to re-edit all comparisons to fix them), added log multiline support, use \r or \n or \r\n in a string
 *	03/24/2017 >>> v0.0.057.20170324 - ALPHA - Improved installation experience, preventing direct installation of child app, location mode and shm status finally working
 *	03/23/2017 >>> v0.0.056.20170323 - ALPHA - Various fixes for restrictions
 *	03/22/2017 >>> v0.0.055.20170322 - ALPHA - Various improvements, including a revamp of the comparison dialog, also moved the dashboard website to https://dashboard.webcore.co
 *	03/21/2017 >>> v0.0.054.20170321 - ALPHA - Moved the dashboard website to https://webcore.homecloudhub.com/dashboard/
 *	03/21/2017 >>> v0.0.053.20170321 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug where variables containing expressions would be cast to the variable type outside of evaluateExpression (the right way)
 *	03/20/2017 >>> v0.0.052.20170320 - ALPHA - Fixed $shmStatus
 *	03/20/2017 >>> v0.0.051.20170320 - ALPHA - Fixed a problem where start values for variables would not be correctly picked up from atomicState (used state by mistake)
 *	03/20/2017 >>> v0.0.050.20170320 - ALPHA - Introducing parallelism, a semaphore mechanism to allow synchronization of multiple simultaneous executions, disabled by default (pistons wait at a semaphore)
 *	03/20/2017 >>> v0.0.04f.20170320 - ALPHA - Minor fixes for device typed variables (lost attribute) and counter variable in for each
 *	03/20/2017 >>> v0.0.04e.20170320 - ALPHA - Major operand/expression/cast refactoring to allow for arrays of devices - may break things. Also introduced for each loops and actions on device typed variables
 *	03/19/2017 >>> v0.0.04d.20170319 - ALPHA - Fixes for functions and device typed variables
 *	03/19/2017 >>> v0.0.04c.20170319 - ALPHA - Device typed variables now enabled - not yet possible to use them in conditions or in actions, but getting there
 *	03/18/2017 >>> v0.0.04b.20170318 - ALPHA - Various fixes
 *	03/18/2017 >>> v0.0.04a.20170318 - ALPHA - Enabled manual piston status and added the set piston status task as well as the exit statement
 *	03/18/2017 >>> v0.0.049.20170318 - ALPHA - Third attempt to fix switch
 *	03/18/2017 >>> v0.0.048.20170318 - ALPHA - Second attempt to fix switch fallbacks with wait breaks, wait in secondary cases were not working
 *	03/18/2017 >>> v0.0.047.20170318 - ALPHA - Attempt to fix switch fallbacks with wait breaks
 *	03/18/2017 >>> v0.0.046.20170318 - ALPHA - Various critical fixes - including issues with setLevel without a required state
 *	03/18/2017 >>> v0.0.045.20170318 - ALPHA - Fixed a newly introduced bug for Toggle (missing parameters)
 *	03/17/2017 >>> v0.0.044.20170317 - ALPHA - Cleanup ghost else-ifs on piston save
 *	03/17/2017 >>> v0.0.043.20170317 - ALPHA - Added "View piston in dashboard" to child app UI
 *	03/17/2017 >>> v0.0.042.20170317 - ALPHA - Various fixes and enabled restrictions - UI for conditions and restrictions needs refactoring to use the new operand editor
 *	03/16/2017 >>> v0.0.041.20170316 - ALPHA - Various fixes
 *	03/16/2017 >>> v0.0.040.20170316 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug where optional parameters were not correctly interpreted, leading to setLevel not working, added functions startsWith, endsWith, contains, eq, le, lt, ge, gt
 *	03/16/2017 >>> v0.0.03f.20170316 - ALPHA - Completely refactored task parameters and enabled variables. Dynamically assigned variables act as functions - it can be defined as an expression and reuse it in lieu of that expression
 *	03/15/2017 >>> v0.0.03e.20170315 - ALPHA - Various improvements
 *	03/14/2017 >>> v0.0.03d.20170314 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug with caching operands for triggers
 *	03/14/2017 >>> v0.0.03c.20170314 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug with switches
 *	03/14/2017 >>> v0.0.03b.20170314 - ALPHA - For statement finally getting some love
 *	03/14/2017 >>> v0.0.03a.20170314 - ALPHA - Added more functions (age, previousAge, newer, older, previousValue) and fixed a bug where operand caching stopped working after earlier code refactorings
 *	03/13/2017 >>> v0.0.039.20170313 - ALPHA - The Switch statement should now be functional - UI validation not fully done
 *	03/12/2017 >>> v0.0.038.20170312 - ALPHA - Traversing else ifs and else statements in search for devices to subscribe to
 *	03/12/2017 >>> v0.0.037.20170312 - ALPHA - Added support for break and exit (partial, piston state is not set on exit) - fixed some comparison data type incompatibilities
 *	03/12/2017 >>> v0.0.036.20170312 - ALPHA - Added TCP = cancel on condition change and TOS = Action - no other values implemented yet, also, WHILE loops are now working, please remember to add a WAIT in it...
 *	03/11/2017 >>> v0.0.035.20170311 - ALPHA - A little error creeped into the conditions, fixed it
 *	03/11/2017 >>> v0.0.034.20170311 - ALPHA - Multiple device selection aggregation now working properly. COUNT(device list's contact) rises above 1 will be true when at least two doors in the list are open :D
 *	03/11/2017 >>> v0.0.033.20170311 - ALPHA - Implemented all conditions except "was..." and all triggers except "stays..."
 *	03/11/2017 >>> v0.0.032.20170311 - ALPHA - Fixed setLevel null params and added version checking
 *	03/11/2017 >>> v0.0.031.20170310 - ALPHA - Various fixes including null optional parameters, conditional groups, first attempt at piston restrictions (statement restrictions not enabled yet), fixed a problem with subscribing device bolt indicators only showing for one instance of each device/attribute pair, fixed sendPushNotification
 *	03/10/2017 >>> v0.0.030.20170310 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug in scheduler introduced in 02e/02f
 *	03/10/2017 >>> v0.0.02f.20170310 - ALPHA - Various improvements, added toggle and toggleLevel
 *	03/10/2017 >>> v0.0.02e.20170310 - ALPHA - Fixed a problem where long expiration settings prevented logins (integer overflow)
 *	03/10/2017 >>> v0.0.02d.20170310 - ALPHA - Reporting version to JS
 *	03/10/2017 >>> v0.0.02c.20170310 - ALPHA - Various improvements and a new virtual command: Log to console. Powerful.
 *	03/10/2017 >>> v0.0.02b.20170310 - ALPHA - Implemented device versioning to correctly handle multiple browsers accessing the same dashboard after a device selection was performed, enabled security token expiry
 *	03/09/2017 >>> v0.0.02a.20170309 - ALPHA - Fixed parameter issues, added support for expressions in all parameters, added notification virtual tasks
 *	03/09/2017 >>> v0.0.029.20170309 - ALPHA - More execution flow fixes, sticky trace lines fixed
 *	03/08/2017 >>> v0.0.028.20170308 - ALPHA - Scheduler fixes
 *	03/08/2017 >>> v0.0.027.20170308 - ALPHA - Very early implementation of wait/delay scheduling, needs extensive testing
 *	03/08/2017 >>> v0.0.026.20170308 - ALPHA - More bug fixes, trace enhancements
 *	03/07/2017 >>> v0.0.025.20170307 - ALPHA - Improved logs and traces, added basic time event handler
 *	03/07/2017 >>> v0.0.024.20170307 - ALPHA - Improved logs (reverse order and live updates) and added trace support
 *	03/06/2017 >>> v0.0.023.20170306 - ALPHA - Added logs to the dashboard
 *	03/05/2017 >>> v0.0.022.20170305 - ALPHA - Some tasks are now executed. UI has an issue with initializing params on editing a task, will get fixed soon.
 *	03/01/2017 >>> v0.0.021.20170301 - ALPHA - Most conditions (and no triggers yet) are now parsed and evaluated during events - action tasks not yet executed, but getting close, very close
 *	02/28/2017 >>> v0.0.020.20170228 - ALPHA - Added runtime data - pistons are now aware of devices and global variables - expressions can query devices and variables (though not all system variables are ready yet)
 *	02/27/2017 >>> v0.0.01f.20170227 - ALPHA - Added support for a bunch more functions
 *	02/27/2017 >>> v0.0.01e.20170227 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug in expression parser where integer + integer would result in a string
 *	02/27/2017 >>> v0.0.01d.20170227 - ALPHA - Made progress evaluating expressions
 *	02/24/2017 >>> v0.0.01c.20170224 - ALPHA - Added functions support to main app
 *	02/06/2017 >>> v0.0.01b.20170206 - ALPHA - Fixed a problem with selecting thermostats
 *	02/01/2017 >>> v0.0.01a.20170201 - ALPHA - Updated comparisons
 *	01/30/2017 >>> v0.0.019.20170130 - ALPHA - Improved comparisons - ouch
 *	01/29/2017 >>> v0.0.018.20170129 - ALPHA - Fixed a conditions where devices would not be sent over to the UI
 *	01/28/2017 >>> v0.0.017.20170128 - ALPHA - Incremental update
 *	01/27/2017 >>> v0.0.016.20170127 - ALPHA - Minor compatibility fixes
 *	01/27/2017 >>> v0.0.015.20170127 - ALPHA - Updated capabilities, attributes, commands and refactored them into maps
 *	01/26/2017 >>> v0.0.014.20170126 - ALPHA - Progress getting comparisons to work
 *	01/25/2017 >>> v0.0.013.20170125 - ALPHA - Implemented the author field and more improvements to the piston editor
 *	01/23/2017 >>> v0.0.012.20170123 - ALPHA - Implemented the "delete" piston
 *	01/23/2017 >>> v0.0.011.20170123 - ALPHA - Fixed a bug where account id was not hashed
 *	01/23/2017 >>> v0.0.010.20170123 - ALPHA - Duplicate piston and restore from automatic backup :)
 *	01/23/2017 >>> v0.0.00f.20170123 - ALPHA - Automatic backup to myjson.com is now enabled. Restore is not implemented yet.
 *	01/22/2017 >>> v0.0.00e.20170122 - ALPHA - Enabled device cache on main app to speed up dashboard when using large number of devices
 *	01/22/2017 >>> v0.0.00d.20170122 - ALPHA - Optimized data usage for piston JSON class (might have broken some things), save now works
 *	01/21/2017 >>> v0.0.00c.20170121 - ALPHA - Made more progress towards creating new pistons
 *	01/21/2017 >>> v0.0.00b.20170121 - ALPHA - Made progress towards creating new pistons
 *	01/20/2017 >>> v0.0.00a.20170120 - ALPHA - Fixed a problem with dashboard URL and shards other than na01
 *	01/20/2017 >>> v0.0.009.20170120 - ALPHA - Reenabled the new piston UI at new URL
 *	01/20/2017 >>> v0.0.008.20170120 - ALPHA - Enabled html5 routing and rewrite to remove the /#/ contraption
 *	01/20/2017 >>> v0.0.007.20170120 - ALPHA - Cleaned up CoRE ST UI and removed "default" theme from URL.
 *	01/19/2017 >>> v0.0.006.20170119 - ALPHA - UI is now fully moved and security enabled - security password is now required
 *	01/18/2017 >>> v0.0.005.20170118 - ALPHA - Moved UI to homecloudhub.com and added support for pretty url (core.homecloudhub.com) and web+core:// handle
 *	01/17/2017 >>> v0.0.004.20170117 - ALPHA - Updated to allow multiple instances
 *	01/17/2017 >>> v0.0.003.20170117 - ALPHA - Improved security, object ids are hashed, added multiple-location-multiple-instance support (CoRE will be able to work across multiple location and installed instances)
 *	12/02/2016 >>> v0.0.002.20161202 - ALPHA - Small progress, Add new piston now points to the piston editor UI
 *	10/28/2016 >>> v0.0.001.20161028 - ALPHA - Initial release
 */

ady624 · 2019-10-23 18:10:18 UTC

It took 12 releases to implement “delete” piston ha ha
Expressions took about 30.
Took about 150 iterations to get to a working state.

Those days…

prjct92eh2 · 2019-10-23 18:15:51 UTC

One advantage of future webCoRE using the Rules API is it will work correctly with all of the new cloud integrations that are coming online that don’t currently work with Groovy. Think TP-Link Kasa, Mysa, Awair, Bond Home, etc. Probably not a big deal for those of us that shop specifically z-wave and zigbee devices, but lots of newcomers are currently being pointed to webcore only to find their cloud connected devices don’t work with it.

I look forward to seeing your presentation at SDC Adrian

Rizlah · 2019-10-23 18:17:40 UTC

I got TP Link to work by using a device handler, as soon as I did the I was able to access the device in webcore

Rizlah · 2019-10-23 18:18:39 UTC

yeah the life of a developer eh

Hopefully with the resources you will now have available to you, it will become easier, only thing that will be rather frustrating for you is the politics.