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=History of this page= | =History of this page= | ||
If you look at the history tab of this page, user '''Shamrockspider''' created this page at 12:55 on 27 August 2009 for the purpose of '''Documenting the cumulus.ini file content and its function.''' | |||
That is still the purpose of this page today, but the content of the file has changed dramatically, so this page had had to evolve too. | |||
==Steve Loft Era== | |||
This page was created for the legacy Cumulus 1 software (up to 1.9.4). | |||
When a beta version of Cumulus 1 was available, any parameters specific to that beta appeared in [[Cumulus.ini_(Beta)]]. That beta page was then briefly used for Cumulus 2. Finally, that beta page was used for Cumulus 3 (the MX beta). | |||
In beta MX: | |||
*Some of the parameters for Cumulus 1 were not used by MX | |||
*Some of the parameters for Cumulus 1 were used by MX | |||
*MX had only added 3 new parameters | |||
This was the position when Steve Loft ceased his involvement with Cumulus. This page related to Cumulus 1 and the beta page was for MX. | |||
==Mark Crossley era== | |||
When Mark Crossley brought MX out of beta, he started adding new features to MX: | |||
* Some used parameters that had been used for the legacy software | |||
* For others he created new parameters | |||
During this early development, it was possible for this single page to cover both Cumulus 1 and MX. | |||
The rapid development of MX by the new developer, made MX configuration start to increasingly diverge more and more from the legacy configuration, and this page had to be redesigned to cope, by introducing sub-sections (Cumulus 1 only, MX only, and both). | |||
Consequently, this page was emptied again, and made ready for new content to reflect how MX works from 3.10.1 onwards. | That design for this page started failing when new MX releases started to diverge from earlier MX releases. In other words, parameters that had existed at an early MX release, were no longer used by later releases. It was possible, but increasingly more and more difficult, to track new parameters to add that were added at particular releases, so the documentation got more and more obsolete. | ||
To sum up, it was impossible for this page to show information for the legacy software, for early MX releases, and for later MX releases. As MX diverged again, it was time to start splitting this page. | |||
==How this page was split== | |||
*The content relating to the legacy software (e.g. 19.4) has been moved to [[Cumulus.ini_(Cumulus_1)|this page]]. | |||
*The content relating to releases 3.0.0 to 3.7.x has been moved to [[Cumulus.ini(MX_3.0.0_to_3.9.7)|this page]]. | |||
**Please note, the various changes from 3.8.0 to 3.9.7, are not documented anywhere, but should be documented on that page, if anyone can be bothered! | |||
*From release 3.10.1, much of the information that was produced for earlier MX releases became invalid. MX 3.10.1 has added a lot of new settings, and it has made others redundant. | |||
**Consequently, this page was emptied again, and made ready for new content to reflect how MX works from 3.10.1 onwards. | |||
**This page is now only for release 3.10.1 onwards | |||
==How this page was laid out and why== | |||
For both [[Cumulus.ini_(Cumulus_1)|Cumulus 1]] and [[Cumulus.ini(MX_3.0.0_to_3.9.7)|early MX releases]], the content on this page was arranged assuming people were editing the file directly. | |||
Therefore, the file was described by working through the sections on the file, and explaining the parameters that could go in each section. For the longer sections, parameters might be split into separate tables to make it easier. | |||
Before release 3.10.1, there were two types of parameters in Cumulus.ini. | |||
#"read-only" settings were made directly in the "Cumulus.ini" file, there was no way to adjust these parameters using the settings screens/pages | |||
#"read-write" settings could be changed in two ways, either by editing the file with Cumulus stopped, or by finding the parameter on a setting screen (for MX, these are in admin interface). | |||
(You will see in the two pages split off from this page, how the parameters had to identify themselves as read-only or read-write). | |||
==How does MX work now, and why has this page been given a new structure?== | |||
#One big change in 3.10.1 is that all settings are now made via the [[MX Administrative Interface|Admin interface]]. | #One big change in 3.10.1 is that all settings are now made via the [[MX Administrative Interface|Admin interface]]. | ||
#*Therefore it makes no sense | #*Therefore it makes no sense any more to organise this page how someone editing the file directly might want. | ||
#*This page is now organised by how you change settings in the admin interface (i.e. similar to how settings have been explained in [[MX_Administrative_Interface#Changing_Settings]]). | #*This page is now organised by how you change settings in the admin interface (i.e. similar to how settings have been explained in [[MX_Administrative_Interface#Changing_Settings]]). | ||
#Another change is that some of the settings that used to be made on the “Station Settings” page, are now made on different pages in that interface. | #Another change is that some of the settings that used to be made on the “Station Settings” page, are now made on different pages in that interface. | ||
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'''Cumulus.ini''' is a text file containing initialization parameters used by the Cumulus MX software application. | '''Cumulus.ini''' is a text file containing initialization parameters used by the Cumulus MX software application. | ||
The file is a simple text file. It is divided into sections with section names in square brackets (e.g. [Station]). These sections can appear in any order, by default new sections are appended after all previous sections. | |||
== | Within each section, there are parameters. Each parameter is in format '''Attribute=Value''', and appears on a line to itself. | ||
The parameters, within a section, can be in any order, by default new parameters are appended at end of the relevant section. | |||
If MX finds a parameter it does not understand, it ignores that parameter. This means a Cumulus.ini file created by the legacy software, or by an old release of MX, can still be read by the current release of MX, it just ignores all the obsolete parameters. | |||
== How MX creates a Configuration File == | |||
When Cumulus MX is run for very first time, the file does not exist, as it is not included in the release distribution. | When Cumulus MX is run for very first time, the file does not exist, as it is not included in the release distribution. | ||
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So when you first use the software, you will need to enter all settings (some have defaults that might be right for you), and that will lead to creation of the main configuration file. | So when you first use the software, you will need to enter all settings (some have defaults that might be right for you), and that will lead to creation of the main configuration file. | ||
== | ==When does MX read the Configuration File== | ||
Whenever MX is restarted, it reads the ''Cumulus.ini'' that now exists. | Whenever MX is restarted, it reads the ''Cumulus.ini'' that now exists. | ||
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The settings it finds tell it what options you have selected, and which sections of the MX code apply for your selections of weather station type (input) and for your selections of what processing it should do, and for where you want it to send weather data to (output). | The settings it finds tell it what options you have selected, and which sections of the MX code apply for your selections of weather station type (input) and for your selections of what processing it should do, and for where you want it to send weather data to (output). | ||
If you go into any settings page, the settings that MX holds in the file determine what is shown on the page. | |||
== Add new parameters to file== | == Add new parameters to file== | ||
If a new release of MX adds new parameters, then they will be automatically added to Cumulus.ini when you | If a new release of MX adds new parameters, then they will be automatically added to Cumulus.ini when you save the settings page with that parameter. | ||
Some parameters have a valid default value. If you need to change that value, find the appropriate setting by looking in tables below. | Some parameters have a valid default value. If you need to change that value, find the appropriate setting by looking in tables below. | ||
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Some parameters have an initial illegal value, and you are forced to give these parameter a valid setting before MX will allow you to save settings. In some cases, these ‘’’missing’’’ values will even stop MX doing any weather data processing. | Some parameters have an initial illegal value, and you are forced to give these parameter a valid setting before MX will allow you to save settings. In some cases, these ‘’’missing’’’ values will even stop MX doing any weather data processing. | ||
==Remove | ==How to Remove Redundant parameters from file== | ||
Best done after, not before, you [[Updating MX to new version|upgrade]] MX, as installing a new release might add/remove parameters to/from Cumulus.ini. | Best done after, not before, you [[Updating MX to new version|upgrade]] MX, as installing a new release might add/remove parameters to/from Cumulus.ini. | ||
