Think about idempotent updates to cloud variables

[gregulator]

When a cloud variable has not actually been changed, but is reported back to the server, we need a way to distinguish it from an actual "event"/"sample".

[gregulator]

One option:
Clients keep a "dirty flag" for each local copy of each cloud variable, and only send the cloud variables that have been "touched" locally.

[gregulator]

Another option:
We give the client information about remote time. Big time synchronization problem here! But it has the nice property of always knowing what is the latest data vs. old data.

[gregulator]

Another option:
Have two types of cloud variables. A "normal" variable when reported to the server gets ignored if it has the same value as it previously had. A "trigger" variable always causes the server to record a data point.

I'm not sure either one is what we really want.

[gregulator]

Votes are in for option 1 because it is fairly straightforward to implement and behaves close to the ideal behavior.