User Specified End of Day Hour Option

[philbertp2]

Hi All,

I love the software with my WMR100A weather station.

Having taken observations manually for over 50 years at 7 am, I would suggest a modification to CUMULUS that would allow users to define a end of day hour option. That way I can compare my manual observations to the WMR station.

Yes, I am very old, starting my programming in FORTRAN and IBM Assembler in 1970. I have become pretty functional with spreadsheets, but fear learning Excel VBA. I am still poking around on the log files and hope someday to see a .csv option.

Good job!
Phil

P.S. Sorry about all the crazy weather in the UK and Europe. Weather in Oregon has been VERY dry, about 36% of average precipitation since October 1, 2013.

[steve]

Having taken observations manually for over 50 years at 7 am, I would suggest a modification to CUMULUS that would allow users to define a end of day hour option.

Yes, it's on the 'to-do' list - see the 'enhancement requests' section (link above).

I am still poking around on the log files and hope someday to see a .csv option.

Do you mean the Cumulus log files? They are already in CSV format.

[philbertp2]

Steve,

I am looking at mmmyylog.txt. Yes, indeed it is .csv, but they contain a .txt extension. By no means the end of the world, but the .csv triggers Excel to automatically ingest the dataset without any special handling. Right now, I can copy and rename the file to do processing. Probably a good idea to avoid data file use conflicts.

Finally, if you could include the header description of each column, and a .csv extension, that would complete the process.

Your code is running nicely on my system. Unfortunately, you now have me hooked to upgrade my system to 0.01" rain gauge resolution and other parameters.

All the best!
Phil

[mcrossley]

Probably a good idea to avoid data file use conflicts.

Yes, Excel locks the file whilst it has it open - even CSV and txt files.

Finally, if you could include the header description of each column, and a .csv extension, that would complete the process.

There is a file with the headers in the Cumulus folder, Steve cannot alter the data file format now without breaking all sorts of things.

[PaulMy]

Finally, if you could include the header description of each column, and a .csv extension, that would complete the process.

There is a file with the headers in the Cumulus folder, Steve cannot alter the data file format now without breaking all sorts of things.

And the [View] [Data logs] screen makes it easy to see and identify each of the columns

Paul

[philbertp2]

Hi Paul,

I took a look that the CUMULUS file headers and could not find the one for the MMMYYlog.txt file, but the monthlyfileheader.txt provides this information.
I copied it to a spreadsheet and parsed the header on the "vertical bar" and I am good to go.

I think a .csv clone of the monthlyfileheader named MMMYYlogheader.txt file might be useful in the CUMULUS folder.

Believe me, I understand the legacy of file formats. I worked on a format called SHEF back in the 1980s and it is a legacy format that will be supported almost forever!

Thanks!
Phil

[PaulMy]

Hi Phil,
In the [View] tab, then [Data log] then (load) at the bottom and select any monthly file. It is a nice presentation but it is for view and can't be copied so not what you were looking for. Just one of the many features Steve has built into Cumulus and many of us forget about them.

Glad you were able to get what you wanted for now.

Paul

[philbertp2]

Hi Paul,

I decided to jump into the web using a domain I reserved about 15+ years ago that sat idle.
I was able to use the wonderful CUMULUS web instructions to move the necessary files.
The link is http://www.climateservices.net/index.htm.
I didn't want to join any of the other groups - Weather Underground or WeatherBug at this time, so might as well use my domain.

Donation on the way!!
Phil

[sfws]

I am looking at mmmyylog.txt. Yes, indeed it is .csv, but they contain a .txt extension. By no means the end of the world, but the .csv triggers Excel to automatically ingest the dataset without any special handling.

There are various warnings in the Wiki and elsewhere in the forum about using Excel to edit Cumulus logs. Of course people do successfully use Excel, but I guess generally not by accepting its automatic handling.

I use the 'Calc' functionality of Libre Office (also available from Apache OpenOffice), for editing. I specify the CSV separators etc on opening and saving, and have never had any problems.

[mcrossley]

Of course people do successfully use Excel, but I guess generally not by accepting its automatic handling.

Correct, the big one to watch is to either import the date/time fields as text (safest), or be very particular about checking the date/time format that Excel uses matches what was in the original file (most prone to error). If you just automatically open the Cumulus data files in Excel then there is a great risk the format will be changed when you save the file again.

[philbertp2]

Hi All,

Well, I have gotten more done with my weather station in 1 week than 6 years!
I was able to activate a domain I reserved 15+ years ago and have put my data onto the Internet.
http://www.climateservices.net/index.htm

I figured out some of the .htm code, but cascading style sheets will be a challenge. Essentially the 3rd rail!
I did figure out how to put one of my many thousands of pictures onto the main page.

I am very happy with this package and have told others about it.

Phil