Template with custom_templates import does not update correctly

[petro]

I’ve already explained it. A set does not execute code. It’s already set. When you import it, it does not run it. It just gets the value that it has. You have to use a macro to run anything. And because you have to use a macro, you have to account for the output always being a string when you use the macro.

[TheFes]

You can also doe | to_json at the end of the macro, and then | from_json when using it in a template

eg:

{%- macro alerts -%}
{{- expand(state_attr('binary_sensor.alerts','entity_id'))
               |selectattr('state','eq','on')|map(attribute='name')|list | to_json -}}
{%- endmacro -%}

{% from 'alerts.jinja' import alerts %}
{{ alerts | from_json }}

I would also reccomend to add hyphens everywhere you can in the macro, to avoid whitespace issues.

[petro]

Yes but that’s running potentially expensive operations when a split on a comma separated list isn’t too expensive.

Personally, I use to/from json as a last resort. I make all my macros perform the operations with simple returned values.

[TheFes]

wasn’t aware that there is such a difference in these operations

[petro]

To_json has to touch every object inside what your turning into json and from_json does as well.

[Mariusthvdb (Marius)]

so I changed that to:

{% macro alerts_macro() %}
{{ expand(state_attr('binary_sensor.alerts','entity_id'))
               |selectattr('state','eq','on')|map(attribute='name')|list }}
{% endmacro %}

but that makes

{% from 'alerts.jinja' import alerts_macro %}
{{ alerts_macro }}

return
<Macro ‘alerts_macro’>

maybe I am just better off using the this variable in these type of templates.

at least this works:

      - unique_id: alerts_notifying_this
        state: >
          {{this.attributes.alerts|count}}
        name: >
          {% set count = this.state|int(default=-1) %}
           {% set phrase = 'Alert' if count == 1 else 'Alerts' %}
           {{count}} {{phrase}} actief
        icon: >
          {% set count = this.state|int(default=-1) %}
          mdi:numeric-{{count}}-box
        attributes:
          alerts: >
            {{ expand(state_attr('binary_sensor.alerts','entity_id'))
               |selectattr('state','eq','on')|map(attribute='name')|list }}
          message: >-
            {% set count = this.state|int(default=-1) %}
            {% set alerts = this.attributes.get('alerts') %}
            {%- if count == 0 -%} Ok, geen alerts, alles is in orde
            {%- elif count == 1 -%}{{count}} Alert: {{alerts[0]}}
            {%- elif count == 2 -%}
              {{count}} Alerts: {{alerts[0]}} en {{alerts[1]}}
            {%- else -%}
              {{count}} Alerts:{{alerts[:-1]|join(', ')}}, en {{alerts[-1]}}
            {%- endif %}

… I am not sure though if this is just as efficient as using the custom_templates. as in, whether the attribute is evaluated only once, and not in every single config option of the template sensor

[petro]

You’re missing () in your macro call

[Mariusthvdb (Marius)]

@Mariusthvdb

{% from 'alerts.jinja' import alerts_macro %}
{{ alerts_macro }}

a yes that helps

but nw I have no way to count or iterate…

what should I change in the macro:

{% macro alerts_macro() %}
{{ expand(state_attr('binary_sensor.alerts','entity_id'))
               |selectattr('state','eq','on')|map(attribute='name')|list }}
{% endmacro %}

to be able to do that?

[petro]

Yes that will work but then you have to split the output…

@petro

split(',')

[Mariusthvdb (Marius)]

arghh, getting better, not quit there yet…

{% from 'alerts.jinja' import alerts_macro %}
{{ alerts_macro().split(',') }}


{% set count = alerts_macro().split(',')|count %}
{% set alerts = alerts_macro().split(',') %}
{%- if count == 0 -%} Ok, geen alerts, alles is in orde
{%- elif count == 1 -%}{{count}} Alert: {{alerts[0]}}
{%- elif count == 2 -%}
  {{count}} Alerts: {{alerts[0]}} en {{alerts[1]}}
{%- else -%}
  {{count}} Alerts:{{alerts[:-1]|join(', ')}}, en {{alerts[-1]}}
{%- endif %}

native the odd new lines, and the listing notation in the bottom part

[petro]

@TheFes

I would also reccomend to add hyphens everywhere you can in the macro, to avoid whitespace issues.

[Mariusthvdb (Marius)]

yes I did that now, and still producing:

["['Hall'", " 'Humidity Living low'", " 'Climate living alert']"]



3 Alerts:['Hall',  'Humidity Living low', en  'Climate living alert']

[123 (Taras)]

Ensure your macro template ends with join(',')

{%- macro alerts_macro() -%}
{{ expand(state_attr('binary_sensor.alerts','entity_id'))
  |selectattr('state','eq','on')|map(attribute='name')|list|join(',') }}
{%- endmacro -%}

[Mariusthvdb (Marius)]

@123

join(‘,’)

that is getting better again:

{% from 'alerts.jinja' import alerts_macro %}
{{ alerts_macro().split(',')}}


{% set count = alerts_macro().split(',')|count %}
{% set alerts = alerts_macro().split(',') %}
{%- if count == 0 -%} Ok, geen alerts, alles is in orde
{%- elif count == 1 -%}{{count}} Alert: {{alerts[0]}}
{%- elif count == 2 -%}
  {{count}} Alerts: {{alerts[0]}} en {{alerts[1]}}
{%- else -%}
  {{count}} Alerts: {{alerts[:-1]}}, en {{alerts[-1]}}
{%- endif %}

adding

  {{count}} Alerts: {{alerts[:-1]|join(', ')}}, en {{alerts[-1]}}

finally resulting in:

[petro]

Please, can you go back to my original response and reread it? I already explained everything you need to do in the first post. End your macro with a join, and split the macros result.

[petro]

@petro

you need the (), and I recommend a | join(',') so you can split(',') if you need to iterate the list of entity_ids. Otherwise it comes through as ['...','...'], with | join(',') it returns ...,... which you can easily get the entity_id’s out from. Also keep in mind, that returning a list of state objects is impossible via a macro, which you’re doing for critical_off and hubs_offline.

This post here

[Mariusthvdb (Marius)]

yes, thanks Petro and 123, sometimes one has to go over things oneself to truly grasp.

for the sake of completeness/reference:

wat is your opinion on this final template sensor using the macro in the custom_templates, compared to the version with the this variable, from an efficiency perspective?

I started this whole migration with that in mind after all…

[123 (Taras)]

Tip:

If you use join(', ') at the end of your macro’s template (that’s a comma and a space) then you can use this:

{% set alerts = alerts_macro().split(', ') %}
{% set count = alerts|count %}
{%- if count == 0 -%} Ok, geen alerts, alles is in orde
{%- else -%}
{{count}} Alert{{iif(count > 1, 's','')}}: {{' en '.join(alerts_macro().rsplit(', ', 1))}}
{%- endif %}

It takes advantage of the template in this post:

Apples, oranges, *and* bananas

Objective The last item in a comma-separated list should be prefaced with the word “and” as opposed to a comma. Example Convert this: Front, Garage, Patio, Yard to this: Front, Garage, Patio and Yard Applications Useful for creating more natural-sounding phrases for speech synthesis. For example: Front and Garage doors are open. as opposed to Front, Garage doors are open. Method Paste this into the Template Editor and experiment with it: {% set doors = 'Front, Garage, Patio, Yard' …

[Mariusthvdb (Marius)]

not yet there just yet…

consider this macro:

{%- macro critical_off() -%}
{{- expand(state_attr('switch.critical_switches','entity_id'))
                       |selectattr('state','eq','off')
                       |map(attribute='name')
                       |list|join(',') -}}
{%- endmacro -%}

and then no switches are off. this results in:

using:

      - unique_id: critical_switches_offline
        state: >
          {% from 'alerts.jinja' import critical_off %}
          {{critical_off().split(',')|count}}
        name: >
          {% from 'alerts.jinja' import critical_off %}
          {% set count = critical_off().split(',')|count %}
          {% set phrase = 'switch' if count == 1 else 'switches' %}
          {{count}} Critical {{phrase}} offline
        icon: >
          {% from 'alerts.jinja' import critical_off %}
          {% set count = critical_off().split(',')|count %}
           mdi:numeric-{{count}}-box
        attributes:
          message: >-
            {% from 'alerts.jinja' import critical_off %}
            {% set critical = critical_off().split(',') %}
            {% set count = critical_off().split(',')|count %}
            {%- if count == 0 -%} Ok, all critical switches are online
            {%- elif count == 1 -%}{{count}} Critical switch offline: {{critical[0]}}
            {%- elif count == 2 -%}
              {{count}} Critical switches offline: {{critical[0]}} and {{critical[1]}}
            {% else  %}
              {{count}} Critical switches are offline: {{critical[:-1]|join(', ')}}, and {{critical[-1]}}
            {% endif %}

cant it handle an empty list?, and the split there causing the empty list to be [''] which returns 1 when |count that. Note there is NO switch listed after the 1 Critical switch offline: (and that is actually correct)

It’s ok when I actually turn off 1:

Note the Koelkast keuken as listing of the entity

[123 (Taras)]

It seems to be due to the way the split method works If given an empty string and a delimiter, it returns a list with one item containing the empty string.

The first line of this template sets the variable to an empty list if the macro reports an empty string.

{% set alerts = alerts_macro().split(', ') if alerts_macro() != '' else [] %}
{% set count = alerts|count %}
{%- if count == 0 -%} Ok, geen alerts, alles is in orde
{%- else -%}
{{count}} Alert{{iif(count > 1, 's','')}}: {{' en '.join(alerts_macro().rsplit(', ', 1))}}
{%- endif %}