Cumulus 1 development

[steve]

I've bought the latest version of Delphi - the development environment I use for Cumulus 1. A snip at £960.

I intend to do some more enhancements to Cumulus 1; note that this does not mean I have given up on Cumulus 2.

The solar sensor for my VP2 should be arriving shortly, and I intend to improve support for that in Cumulus (and probably for the UV sensor at the same time, although I don't have one of those). I plan to do some further enhancements as well. The latest version of Delphi has an improved Charting package. I've been playing with the look of the charts:

graph.png

The appearance is improved as it uses GDI+ (antialiasing etc). The background etc will be configurable; you may notice that I have been able to increase the thickness of the lines. There is also the option to repeat the left hand scale at the right side, which I know a few people have asked for. There are probably a number of other enhancements I can do thanks to the new charting package.

I'm also thinking of buying some new components to give Cumulus a face-lift. This would give a new wind speed gauge for the main screen, for example:

windgauge.png

Again, the colours would be configurable. I could add a 'gauges' screen similar to the one in Cumulus 2.

Something else I'm thinking of doing is replacing the main screen panels to make them look more like Cumulus 2:

rainpanel.png

Again, colours etc would be configurable.

While I'm doing these mainly 'visual' enhancements, I would probably do some 'functional' enhancements at the same time.

Any comments? Questions? Complaints?

[mcrossley]

Complaints - you bet, how could you consider changing C1, it's great as it is! If you feel like a break from C2, give it go - may need a new push on donations to pay for all this though, it would only be fair. I need to make a new contribution myself

[gwheelo]

Nice looking gauges and graphs. Do whatever makes you happy and interested in Cumulus - we will all benefit.

GW

[Gina]

I used to program in Delphi and before that the various versions of Turbo Pascal. Personally, I prefer the more readable languages like Pascal. I have programmed in C but don't really like it. Now I'm using Python which is fairly similar to code in though not as wordy. It also has the advantage for me of being free. As a pensioner, I'm afraid I can't afford the luxury of the latest Delphi with all it's superb graphics. Of course, Python being a scripting language and not compiled, doesn't have the speed of Delphi. But for this sort of application speed is not critical. For graphics I have been using Gnuplot (free) and ImageMagick (also free). I have yet to explore all the possibilities of these.

[Gina]

As for Cumulus, those new graphics will make it much nicer IMO. But like others have said - it's your call - do whatever give you the most pleasure. Good luck

[wd40]

I have limited experience in weather stations but that does not keep me from appreciating Cumulus 1. I think most of us will ride with you where ever you go.

I wonder if in a new version, if you would consider changing the colors of the wind direction meter to correspond with the green and red colors of the wind speed gauge pointers.

May not be a practical change or wanted. It just seems to me that if the gauge fields or related, the colors should match.

[silverview]

The samples look great, Steve. I'm looking forward to future C1 versions!

[beteljuice]

Bugger !

[bruce45]

just made another donation towards your costs and hope it helps. should we just uninstall c2 for now?

[raflec]

Steve, I think cumulous 1 is fantastic. It is stable ( much better than the competitors) and easy to use.
What is the benefit on working on two different versions for us as your customers. Surely dividing your time between two versions is surely half your time wasted (or am I missing the point here) If you worked on one version surely it could just get better and better, as I say not that I do not think it is good now, because I certainly do. You just never cease to amaize me on what you can do.
Please dont take this as a critisism of your work, it certainly was not my intention. I just do not understand why you are working on two programs.

[captzero]

I like the changes.

[DaveNZ]

Love the new looks you've suggested Steve, especially the graph. If you do go ahead with the changes I will be waiting in anticipation...

[steve]

should we just uninstall c2 for now?

You don't need to - but the next release of C2 won't be compatible with the current release anyway - it's up to you, really.

[steve]

I just do not understand why you are working on two programs.

No, neither do I

The problem is that I've been working on C2 for over 18 months now, and it's still nowhere near ready for use as a replacement for C1; I'm currently in the middle of yet another rewrite... In all this time Cumulus hasn't been getting any major new features, and I think it's time that changed. For one thing, I want to add more support for Davis solar sensors. I had hoped that by now C2 would be up and running and I could do any enhancements to that, but it hasn't worked out that way, and C2 is depressing me (again).

[M1DUL]

Those new graphics will make it much nicer IMO. But like others have said - it's your call - do whatever give you the most pleasure. Good luck