Help requested for usage of dropdowns

[Didgeridrew]

There are a many ways to accomplish this with a single automation, the way that is right for you depends on your comfort and/or familiarity with different tools in HA. In the following options, #1 is the most new-user, UI Automation Editor friendly, but setting it up will feel repetitive and the end result can be a little hard to read if there are a lot of options. Option #2 will produce a much more compact automation, but it requires a little bit more understanding/learning about basic data structures, YAML configuration and templates…

Options:

1. Set up individual triggers for each program option in your dropdown, each with a specific ID, then use a Choose action that uses a Trigger condition for each option.
2. Use a script variable mapping to create a logical relationship between the options from your dropdown and the program ID needed for your action. Then use templates to fill in the data in the action based on the value passed from the trigger.

However, you don’t actually need an automation or a script if you use a Template Select.

Template Select Entities

Template Selects create an entity that acts like an Input Select Helper in the front end, but more like an automation behind the scenes. Their options list can be either static or dynamically generated by a template. Often, a helper entity will be required to store the state value for the Template Select. Either Input Text or Trigger-based Template Sensors can be used for this purpose. Template Selects in place of an automation This is the most general use type for a Template Select. Example…