Cumulus Support

Is the caution against using a local realtime.txt still in place? I'm using the local realtime and have updated the .ini file to reflect the location of the realtime.txt file (c:\cumulus\realtime.txt).

When I stop and then restart the gadget, it continues to prompt me for settings. When open the settings using the gadget "wrench" icon, the file name/location in the "url" field is corrupted. The above file becomes: c:cumulusealtime.txt. The ini file is perfectly correct.

Any hints? Thank you.

I don't think Ib was able to get it working reliably with a local file. But a tip for when backslashes get stripped out of file paths is to 'escape' them with another backslash, thus: C:\\cumulus\\realtime.txt

This may help or may just confuse things further...

alaparos wrote:Is the caution against using a local realtime.txt still in place? I'm using the local realtime and have updated the .ini file to reflect the location of the realtime.txt file (c:\cumulus\realtime.txt).

When I stop and then restart the gadget, it continues to prompt me for settings. When open the settings using the gadget "wrench" icon, the file name/location in the "url" field is corrupted. The above file becomes: c:cumulusealtime.txt. The ini file is perfectly correct.

Any hints? Thank you.

Yes: the caution against using a local realtime.txt is still valid. The gadget will run for a while, then hang.

The filename in the .ini file will be corrupted if you use backslash.
Just use forward slash, e.g. c:/cumulus/realtime.txt. That should work.

Hi,

I have managed to install the gadget succesfully but when I try to point it to my website and the realtime file it just hangs!
My website address is http://www.trevorpaulwilson.co.uk/Weather/realtime.txt.
I can disply the realtime file if I put the full address in IE.
Any suggestions

trevor63 wrote:Hi,

I have managed to install the gadget succesfully but when I try to point it to my website and the realtime file it just hangs!
My website address is http://www.trevorpaulwilson.co.uk/Weather/realtime.txt.
I can disply the realtime file if I put the full address in IE.
Any suggestions

Can't see anything wrong with your realtime.txt, nor with the gadget (as you can see below).
Try a re-install and a fresh .ini file.

Tried re-install and fresh ini file. No luck, still hangs.
Does it use a lot of bandwidth? I am in Malawi so have a fairly slow connection?

trevor63 wrote:Tried re-install and fresh ini file. No luck, still hangs.
Does it use a lot of bandwidth? I am in Malawi so have a fairly slow connection?

It uses very little bandwidth AFAIK: the realtime.txt file is very small - only 1 record.
Where/when does it "hang"? do you see the "settings" screen? does it open the settings menu when you hit the wrench? does it close the settings menu?

trevor63 wrote:Does it use a lot of bandwidth? I am in Malawi so have a fairly slow connection?

It depends what you class as a lot.

Looking at my realtime.txt file it uses 246 bytes, which is tiny. However if you decided to do realtime updates every 5 seconds that equates to 121 Mb of bandwidth per month. Updates every 30 seconds would be about 20Mb per month

It allows me to open the settings box but hangs once you click the OK button.
I have left it set to 30 seconds.
I have tried setting the URL using the settings box and also by editing the ini file but either way it hangs when you click OK.
When you start the gadget it always comes to the enter settings screen and doesn't show any data even if I set the url in the ini file.

When you start the gadget it always comes to the enter settings screen and doesn't show any data even if I set the url in the ini file

No data in the settings screen? the default settings should be my realtime.txt file and an interval of 30 seconds.
If you don't see that, then your settings.ini is incorrect.

No sorry, misled you there.
When you click the settings icon it shows the URL that is in the ini file and the interval that is in the ini file but, even if you don't alter these, when you click OK then it hangs.
What meant is every time you start the gadget from fresh it always comes to blue box with the "please enter settings"
I have other gadgets (clock and currency) that run fine.

What happens if you leave the settings at the default, i.e. my realtime.txt?

Exactly the same problem (so must be something to do with my laptop or internet settings?).

Maybe a problem with your network? is it very slow?
Please try to run a debug log:
- create an empty debug.txt file in the cumulusih folder (where the settings.ini and all the other files are)
- start the gadget
- when it hangs: close the gadget
If there is something in the debug.txt log, pls send it to me (ib@harmsen.dk)

Findings so far re Trevor's problem:
- the gadget runs against a local realtime.txt
- the gadget runs OK at home
- the gadget hangs at work, trying to do a synchronous xmlHttpRequest(method: HEAD) if the realtime.txt file is found - but responds immediately if the file does not exist
Very weird