Cumulus Support

Hi all
What a great program Cumulus is, I’m very impressed and will be sending a small donation.
I have inherited a website for our sailing club and have set up two USB webcams connected to a PC which is permanently on (couldn’t afford a server). This uploads snapshots taken every 30 secs to our website at
http://www.balasc.org.uk/weather.html
So having the facility for the webcams meant it should be relatively easy to get the PC to upload weather data as well.
We recently fitted a Maplin 1080 USB Wireless weather station and this sends a wireless signal (each minute I think) to an LCD display which is connected via USB to the PC. Cumulus is run on the PC and links to the weather station just fine. Using the excellent help files in Cumulus I was able to set up a webpage on our website at
http://www.balasc.org.uk/cumulus/
this updates every minute and works well.
What I would like to do is to have the average wind speed and direction displayed as text in a box underneath the webcams. Now I only have a basic knowledge of HTML and a bit of javascript , but the Cumulus forum mentions WebTags, PHP, AJAX which is all too complex for me. Is there any SIMPLE way I can display the information using HTML or javascript, if so can anyone tell me. How do I grab the information from the cumulus directory and display if on the webcam page.
You must get the question asked a lot so sorry if I’m being a bit dim, hope you aren’t going to tell me to learn PHP.
Many thanks, David
PS: Also how did the index.html page get into the website cumulus directory, I didn’t put it there. Was it created by cumulus and loaded up, how is it updated.

fuzzybunny wrote:What I would like to do is to have the average wind speed and direction displayed as text in a box underneath the webcams. Now I only have a basic knowledge of HTML and a bit of javascript , but the Cumulus forum mentions WebTags, PHP, AJAX which is all too complex for me.

I'm afraid that using web tags is as simple as it gets (you don't need PHP or Ajax). For the data to appear in a simple HTML page, Cumulus has to process the page and upload it, and the web tags are the placeholders which tell it what data to put where. If you look at the supplied indexT.htm file, you should get an idea of how it works.

So, to get Cumulus to add data to your own page, you need to create a version of your page with web tags at the appropriate points. Then you list your page on the files tab of the internet settings - click on help for a brief description of the fields. If you set that up correctly, Cumulus will then process that page (replacing the web tags with actual data) and upload that page at the same time as standard pages.

Also how did the index.html page get into the website cumulus directory, I didn’t put it there. Was it created by cumulus and loaded up, how is it updated.

It's uploaded because you told Cumulus to upload it. When you supply your ftp details and tick 'auto update', Cumulus periodically processes and uploads the standard set of web pages and corresponding image files.

If you haven't found the wiki yet, it has useful info about the basic web pages, and a list of web tags that you can use in your own pages - see the menu above for a link.

Hmm. my reply got lost !

.. you may want try this short-term https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2729

.. although later you may want to go back to a 'Template' so you create your own comments / warnings

beteljuice wrote:.. you may want try this short-term https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2729

But doesn't that assume he's using Yawcam? And even if he is, isn't it almost as easy, but much more "configurable", to edit the weather.html page to add a few web tags and get Cumulus to upload that?

Haha, SNAP!!

As Beteljiuce and Steve have implied, I have just done this using Cumulus and Yawcam. Unfortunately you wont be able to view the results till tomorrow morning my time as yawcam shedules my webcam to stop uploading overnight. When its back up check out:

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~storerfa ... ebcam.html

although you can see a black image now.

I've just added total rainfall for the day too. It was too easy with Steve and this forum's help!

Actually, having looked at Phil's page, maybe that is the neatest way to do it, assuming David's webcam software has that facility

steve wrote:Actually, having looked at Phil's page, maybe that is the neatest way to do it, assuming David's webcam software has that facility

Thanks folks for the helpful and fast replies. My webcam software is 'watcher for you' by Comctech, not sure if it allows general file upload. I'll have a look at Yawcam and consider the webtags as well. I'll let you know how I get on.
Cheers, David

If you look at Yawcam, it can service 2 or more webcams, you just have to install it twice or more times in different folders. There are notes on the yawcam forum on how to do this.

I just had a quick look at watcherforyou, hows this for a testimonial:

First of all, it can alarm the criminal that your house has video surveillance; Secondly, it can notify you as soon as a criminal enters your house; The last, it can help the police to catch the murderer faster since it has recording to identify the criminal."

hills wrote:If you look at Yawcam, it can service 2 or more webcams, you just have to install it twice or more times in different folders. There are notes on the yawcam forum on how to do this.

I just had a quick look at watcherforyou, hows this for a testimonial:

First of all, it can alarm the criminal that your house has video surveillance; Secondly, it can notify you as soon as a criminal enters your house; The last, it can help the police to catch the murderer faster since it has recording to identify the criminal."

Yes, I'll sleep easier in my grave knowing my murderer was caught on camera.

Actually I was just watching things get underway there, can you ask that guy in the black hat to get out of the way of the camera!

EDIT: its ok he's gone now!

Another option that might be of interest to you is with yawcam and xml/swf slidwshow you can give your viewers the option to replay the last specified number of images ending with the current image. I have put a "replay last hour" and "replay last 24 hours". This way you'll be able to review the last days activity.

Great webcam page Phil

Thanks Gerard, now I just need a chainsaw to get rid of those pine trees! Then you'll be able to see to the horizon.

fuzzybunny wrote:SNIP
What I would like to do is to have the average wind speed and direction displayed as text in a box underneath the webcams. Now I only have a basic knowledge of HTML and a bit of javascript , but the Cumulus forum mentions WebTags, PHP, AJAX which is all too complex for me. Is there any SIMPLE way I can display the information using HTML or javascript, if so can anyone tell me. How do I grab the information from the cumulus directory and display if on the webcam page.
You must get the question asked a lot so sorry if I’m being a bit dim, hope you aren’t going to tell me to learn PHP.
Many thanks, David
SNIP

Hi David,

I am new to PHP too. But after following the wiki etc here it was quite easy to create a web page using the data from Cumulus.

I hope you don't mind but if you go here: http://www.biglow.co.uk/weather/php/weather.php you will see what I think you are trying to achieve, I hope

If you know how to look at the page source you will see if you scroll down through the code my comments where I've added the necessary code. Please note 2 things
1. Do not just copy and paste the page source code as you see it, as php has already updated the page and served it to you. More on that later.
2. The data is being pulled from my site not Bala's which is why the Metcheck is missing even though the codes there.

What next??

First you need to download the cumulus web tag php file and put that in the same directory as your weather.html file on your server. I have also added it to my data folder in the cumulus program as back up. The next thing to do is to go to the configuration - internet on Cumulus. You have already configured the Sites/Options Tab for your site to be working OK. Now you need to simply get Cumulus to send 2 files to your server by clicking on the Files tab. you will
Assuming you have loaded Cumulus into the program files folder:
In the first box titled Local filenames type the following C:\Program Files\Cumulus\data\cumuluswebtags.php
This is the file you downloaded earlier.
In the second box below in local filenames type C:\Program Files\Cumulus\realtime.txt
Now in the first box in the column Remote file names type just the folder you put your index file in
example /public_html/cumuluswebtags.php
And the same below for the realtime.txt /public_html/realtime.txt
Check that the check boxes Process and FTP are both ticked Click OK

OK so far ???

You now have to download my weather.php file and load it up to your server.
If you open it an editor (make a copy) you will see the php tags and how they are put in.
Remember to delete your weather. html file.

If the page does not display then you need to find out if your server supports php

I'll leave the demo page up for a couple of days then take it down.

I use Yawcam and overlay data onto the updating image all done with simple php script. Yawcam sends my webcam image to Cumulus and then Cumulus serves that to the server.
http://www.biglow.co.uk/weather/php/webcam.php

For reference I've made another simple page with just the data you need, here:
http://www.biglow.co.uk/weather/php/example.php

Hope that's of help.

Peter.

Thanks peter thats very helpful indeed.
I had given up for the time being on this whilst awaiting inspiration.
a few questions come to mind
1. where do i find the location to download the cumulus web tag php file
2. how do I download your version of the weather.php file keeping it intact.
3. Does yawcam allow more than one webcam of the same type, I currently use two Logitech pro 5000
Thanks again for your help you are a star!
Cheers, david

fuzzybunny wrote:Thanks peter thats very helpful indeed.
I had given up for the time being on this whilst awaiting inspiration.
a few questions come to mind
1. where do i find the location to download the cumulus web tag php file
2. how do I download your version of the weather.php file keeping it intact.
3. Does yawcam allow more than one webcam of the same type, I currently use two Logitech pro 5000
Thanks again for your help you are a star!
Cheers, david

Hi David.

1. If you go to the wiki and under Customization you will see Web Tools, click. Then you will see the link to PHP web tags. Follow the instructions there to download and install. Mine are not as clear as those of the wiki.

2. Click this link to download a zipped file that I use. http://www.biglow.co.uk/weather/php/weather.zip
Unzip and upload to server.

3. Might need some help from others here. I just use 1 Logitech webcam with Yawcam. I'm not too sure on my facts here but the Yawcam tends to leave ftp details "open" to others so what I do is to get Yawcam to send the captured jpg file to Cumulus and then that gets loaded up when Cumulus sends its stuff up.

Cheers Peter.