Alltime.ini and Year.ini: Difference between pages
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[[Category:Log Files]] |
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The file now known as alltime.ini was originally in a different format as alltime.rec. |
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[[File:Crystal Clear info.png|40px]] This page was written for the (legacy) Cumulus 1 software. It has been partially updated to cover MX, but that was for a MX release that is no longer latest! |
[[File:Crystal Clear info.png|40px]] This page was written for the (legacy) Cumulus 1 software. It has been partially updated to cover MX, but that was for a MX release that is no longer latest! |
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= Introduction = |
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== Introduction == |
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Cumulus maintains a number of 'all time records' for the station -- highs and lows and their timestamps for many of the readings. For ''more information'' on this file see in the '''Cumulus help''' file, in the section “The Data log files”. |
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{{TOCright}} |
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==Which build are you using? == |
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The log file "year.ini" (introduced by 1.9.1 beta builds) is where Cumulus software tracks the extremes for this year. Like [[alltime.ini]] (which has been present since very early builds) this log file has section headings with lists of properties (attribute = value). |
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=== Up to Build 920 (version 1.8.9) === |
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You may find it useful to read the [[Month.ini|month.ini]] page, which goes into slightly more detail as much of that applies to this file too. |
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The highs and lows were stored in a database file (alltime.rec), this was efficient for Cumulus 1 to read and update, but being in binary code made it hard for any corrections to be made outside Cumulus. |
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Build 920 (28 Feb 2010) initiated the use of a log of changes to the "alltime.rec" records, called [[alltimelog.txt]], which can be found in the '''data''' folder. An entry is added to this file every time an all-time record changes, with details of the old and new records. This log can then be used to 'backtrack' if spurious data causes an all-time record to be broken incorrectly. It is also a useful log of when records were actually broken. |
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For more information on this file see in the Cumulus 1 help file, in the section “Data log file format”. MX has changed to an ISO date format for each new time-stamp, but otherwise the file works the same way. |
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Builds 921, 922, and 923 were never released, so in fact the next change was seen in the next public release as described next. |
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The sections (after the first [General]) can be in any order, Cumulus will maintain whatever order the sections are currently in. For readability you can insert blank lines into this file, Cumulus will not mind. Do not however introduce any punctuation nor change the format of any parameter line. |
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=== From Build 924 (4 March 2010 beta version 1.8.9) === |
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== Content == |
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Starting with Build 924 (still version 1.8.9, as said above in-between beta builds were never formally released) the Cumulus highs and lows and their timestamps are stored in a text file "alltime.ini" which can be easily edited if needed. The first time you run Build 924, or later build, of Cumulus 1 it will convert any '''alltime.rec''' file it finds in the data folder into an '''alltime.ini''' file and use that .ini file going forward. |
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This log file holds the information that feeds the [[Webtags#Yearly]] for the 'thisyearT.htm' web template. So '''you won't find the yearly rainfall total in this file''', that is not in that template. |
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Although there were no changes to this file in the next few builds, there were some issues, so then another change was made as described next. |
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== Differences between Cumulus versions for this log file == |
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=== From build 927 (8 March 2020 beta version 1.8.9)=== |
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This year extreme record functionality is not present prior to Cumulus 1.9.1 (build 958 - Mon 01 Nov 2010), so this file only exists for that and later builds of Cumulus 1, and all MX builds. |
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The alltime.ini file is now explicitly located in the "data" sub-folder of the path where your Cumulus.exe is installed. If you cannot find the file [[FAQ#I_can.E2.80.99t_find_my_data_files.21|see this FAQ]]. |
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Some of the notes about problems with '''month.ini''' in particular builds apply equally to '''year.ini'''. An editor for this file is not available in MX until version 3.2.5 build 3061. |
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=== Cumulus MX === |
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The sections that are included in this file vary by version. There are more for MX than there were for Cumulus 1. The sections are same as for [[Month.ini|month.ini]]. |
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The alltime.ini file is located in the "data" sub-folder of the path where your Cumulus.exe is installed. If you are moving to MX from Cumulus 1, you can copy the contents of the Cumulus 1 "data" folder into the MX "data" folder, but you will need to edit this '''alltime.ini''' file as described below. |
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Some Cumulus 1 builds did not store correct values for those using 9am/10am rollover, see [[alltime.ini]] for some examples. |
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Just as the sections in the file varied with different Cumulus 1 versions, so in MX a new [FeelsLike] section was added by version 3.6.0. |
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Any date/time entries are in different formats for Cumulus 1 and Cumulus MX as illustrated for [[month.ini]]. That page also tells you that MX can read the Cumulus 1 date/time formats, so if you move a "year.ini" from Cumulus 1 you do not need to edit the date/time entries, MX will update them when its hits the first new extreme to record for the year. |
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== Format of the file == |
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The format consists of a number of sections (section title is delimited by square brackets [...]), with each section having a number of properties (consisting of attribute name, an equals sign and a value) each on a separate line. Blank lines can be added for readability, they are ignored in these .ini type log files. |
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If you do move "year.ini" from Cumulus 1 to Cumulus MX and were using a comma as your decimal separator (e.g. 12,1) you will need to edit your file and change each (e.g. 12,1) to use a full stop before MX can read it (e.g. 12.1). |
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[[File:Badge vMx.png]]Decimal formatting always uses a period/full stop in Cumulus MX. Cumulus MX shows date/time in ISO 8601 format of "yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss" (using the net specifiers that MX uses). |
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== Dealing with errors == |
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[[File:Badge v1.png]]Date, Time and Decimal formatting is as per your regional settings on the PC running Cumulus. |
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Thus if you want to swap from Cumulus 1 to Cumulus MX, and you previously used a comma as your decimal separator (e.g.12,3) you will copy your existing Cumulus 1 "data" folder to within your MX installation, but you then need to manually edit your '''alltime.ini''' file so all the values entries are converted to use a full stop as decimal separator. The following table shows just one section from the file, that dealing with wind, as an example of the two formats with the Cumulus 1 side showing use of the comma that MX will not accept. |
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You do not need to edit the date/time entries as MX can read those in Cumulus 1 format, they will only change in "alltime.ini" when a new all-time extreme occurs and MX rewrites the file. |
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{| class="wikitable" |
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|- |
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! [[File:Badge v1.png]] !! [[File:Badge vMx.png]] |
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|- |
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| [Wind] || [Wind] |
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|- |
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| highwindvalue=44,0676460266113 || highwindvalue=9 |
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|- |
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| highwindtime=09/02/2020 07:51:08 || highwindtime=2016-03-07T11:49:52 |
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|- |
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| highgustvalue=62,0693855285645 || highgustvalue=29 |
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|- |
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| highgusttime=09/02/2020 07:31:50 || highgusttime=2019-03-14T02:53:00 |
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|- |
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| highdailywindrunvalue=477,365875244141 || highdailywindrunvalue=89.6165924072266 |
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|- |
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| highdailywindruntime=09/02/2020 23:59:00 || highdailywindruntime=2014-03-26T23:59:00 |
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|} |
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The wind speed and gust speed may be shown as integers if that is how your weather station outputs them, and you have not asked Cumulus to calculate them in different units. |
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The two columns shown represent different locations, that is why the contents do not match, this table is just to illustrate different formats. |
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== How alltime.ini is used == |
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If you restart Cumulus 1 during the day it will read this file at startup, so it can resume tracking extremes of the key parameters starting from latest stored values in alltime.ini. Equally, if you close Cumulus 1 during the day it will write the final values for highs and lows and their timestamps to alltime.ini as part of the close down process. Remember, while Cumulus 1 is running, the values shown in the table will usually be up to date, but there may be some time lag as it can hold values in an internal memory. |
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For Cumulus MX, the developers have not documented how it works, and I have not examined the code to this detail, but I believe it reads this file at start up and updates the file when necessary as it processes the various reads from your weather station. I saw no evidence of it being featured in the close down process. |
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== Editing this log file == |
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For full details see [[Correcting Extremes]] page. |
For full details see [[Correcting Extremes]] page. |
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The diagnostic logs (for cumulus 1 in [[Diags folder]]) record before and after values for updates to highs and lows for monthly and annual extreme records, and can help if this file is corrupted by a false extreme. The stored values can be corrected in Cumulus 1 using the ''This month's records'' screen on the '''Edit''' menu. In MX the equivalent editor is accessed via the user interface you see in a browser. |
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It is possible that rogue values read from your weather station will cause this log file to show an incorrect extreme. As mentioned earlier, there is a log of changes to the "alltime.ini" records, called [[alltimelog.txt]], so look at that to see when your rogue value was processed and what was the previous extreme that you should reset to in "alltime.ini". |
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The stored values can be corrected using the functionality available in both Cumulus 1 and MX for editing this year's records. |
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Also note that the timestamp shown in alltime.ini includes a calendar date, so if you use a 9 or 10am rollover and you are trying to correct highs or lows for times between midnight and rollover, don't forget you need to look for the ''meteorological date (the date before the calendar date for those early hours)'' when seeking the relevant line in the daily log (dayfile.txt) to check in case if it too needs updating. |
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These lows and highs and their timestamps can be seen by picking the ''Highs and Lows - This year'' screen from the '''View''' menu (Cumulus 1 only - see picture on [[month.ini|this page]]). |
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If you cannot find the file when using Microsoft Windows [[FAQ#I_can.E2.80.99t_find_my_data_files.21|see this FAQ]]. |
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=== Editing alltime.ini within Cumulus === |
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Remember, normally any rogue values are corrected in the monthly or daily log files first, and then resulting lows and highs are copied across to this all time log file using the in-built editor. However, you can also just edit any low, high or timestamp in this log file manually after looking at [[Alltimelog.txt]] for current and previous values. |
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Both Cumulus 1 and MX have internal editors for this file. |
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Expanding what it says in FAQ: [[FAQ#How_do_I_correct_my_all-time_.28or_monthly.29_records.3F]], the stored values can be corrected in Cumulus 1 using the ''All time records'' screen on the '''Edit''' menu. |
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For Cumulus MX the editor is found in the admin interface. |
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*Both Cumulus editors allow you to read from the [[dayfile.txt|daily log]] or the monthly [[Standard_log_files]], in case you created rogue values there first as advised above. |
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**In the cumulus 1 editor you can click to copy figures across, |
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**in the MX editor you can only manually overwrite with the revised figure. |
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=== Editing alltime.ini outside Cumulus === |
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It is unlikely that you need to do this, given the functionality of the in-built editor. |
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'''Tips''' -- take a copy of the original log file before you work on it outside Cumulus. |
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Edit the original file using an editor that treats all fields as text [either any text editor, or a spreadsheet program that can be instructed ''not'' to recognise special field (like date) types]. All values have to be specified in the correct section, see [[#Post_Build_924_(version_1.8.9)]] above and follow the format of the property lines in the example below. Note that figures are held internally in Cumulus in binary, and converted to Base 10 numbers for the value shown. Since fractional binary values cannot be converted exactly to base 10 decimals, real numbers appear to be given to a strange decimal resolution with multiple decimal places. |
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== Viewing the all-time highs and lows == |
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[[File:Cumulus_1_View_menu.png]] [[File:Badge v1.png]]Select ''Highs and Lows - All time'' from '''View''' menu. |
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== Example of a larger part of the Cumulus 1 file == |
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<pre>[Temperature] |
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hightempvalue=30.7999992370605 |
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hightemptime=27/06/2011 12:58:00 |
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lowtempvalue=-12.5 |
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lowtemptime=20/12/2010 07:17:00 |
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lowchillvalue=-12.5 |
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lowchilltime=20/12/2010 07:17:00 |
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highmintempvalue=17.2999992370605 |
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highmintemptime=10/07/2010 |
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lowmaxtempvalue=-4.30000019073486 |
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lowmaxtemptime=20/12/2010 |
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highapptempvalue=33.7999992370605 |
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highapptemptime=27/06/2011 12:50:00 |
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lowapptempvalue=-15.8000001907349 |
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lowapptemptime=20/12/2010 07:17:00 |
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highheatindexvalue=34.2000007629395 |
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highheatindextime=27/06/2011 13:09:00 |
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highdewpointvalue=21.8999996185303 |
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highdewpointtime=27/06/2011 13:09:00 |
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lowdewpointvalue=-13.5 |
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lowdewpointtime=20/12/2010 07:20:00 |
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hightemprangevalue=20.3999996185303 |
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hightemprangetime=20/04/2011 |
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lowtemprangevalue=1.29999995231628 |
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lowtemprangetime=31/12/2010 |
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[Rain] |
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highrainratevalue=114.300003051758 |
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highrainratetime=23/09/2010 14:13:00 |
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highdailyrainvalue=34.9000015258789 |
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highdailyraintime=17/07/2011 22:19:00 |
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highhourlyrainvalue=15.8000001907349 |
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highhourlyraintime=23/09/2010 22:08:00 |
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highmonthlyrainvalue=103.599998474121 |
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highmonthlyraintime=01/02/2011 |
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longestdryperiodvalue=17 |
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longestdryperiodtime=24/04/2010 |
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longestwetperiodvalue=16 |
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longestwetperiodtime=16/02/2011 |
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[Pressure] |
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highpressurevalue=1043.30004882813 |
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highpressuretime=26/01/2010 10:44:00 |
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lowpressurevalue=965.700012207031 |
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lowpressuretime=08/11/2010 15:42:00 |
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[Humidity] |
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highhumidityvalue=100 |
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highhumiditytime=23/01/2010 01:10:00 |
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lowhumidityvalue=21 |
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lowhumiditytime=24/04/2010 12:10:00 |
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</pre> |
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[[Category:Log Files]] |
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Revision as of 10:19, 6 April 2021
This page was written for the (legacy) Cumulus 1 software. It has been partially updated to cover MX, but that was for a MX release that is no longer latest!
Please can a contributor redesign this page and update content, so it is more friendly for those using latest release, while still helping those using older MX releases and the legacy Cumulus software.
Introduction
The log file "year.ini" (introduced by 1.9.1 beta builds) is where Cumulus software tracks the extremes for this year. Like alltime.ini (which has been present since very early builds) this log file has section headings with lists of properties (attribute = value).
You may find it useful to read the month.ini page, which goes into slightly more detail as much of that applies to this file too.
For more information on this file see in the Cumulus 1 help file, in the section “Data log file format”. MX has changed to an ISO date format for each new time-stamp, but otherwise the file works the same way.
The sections (after the first [General]) can be in any order, Cumulus will maintain whatever order the sections are currently in. For readability you can insert blank lines into this file, Cumulus will not mind. Do not however introduce any punctuation nor change the format of any parameter line.
Content
This log file holds the information that feeds the Webtags#Yearly for the 'thisyearT.htm' web template. So you won't find the yearly rainfall total in this file, that is not in that template.
Differences between Cumulus versions for this log file
This year extreme record functionality is not present prior to Cumulus 1.9.1 (build 958 - Mon 01 Nov 2010), so this file only exists for that and later builds of Cumulus 1, and all MX builds.
Some of the notes about problems with month.ini in particular builds apply equally to year.ini. An editor for this file is not available in MX until version 3.2.5 build 3061.
The sections that are included in this file vary by version. There are more for MX than there were for Cumulus 1. The sections are same as for month.ini.
Some Cumulus 1 builds did not store correct values for those using 9am/10am rollover, see alltime.ini for some examples.
Any date/time entries are in different formats for Cumulus 1 and Cumulus MX as illustrated for month.ini. That page also tells you that MX can read the Cumulus 1 date/time formats, so if you move a "year.ini" from Cumulus 1 you do not need to edit the date/time entries, MX will update them when its hits the first new extreme to record for the year.
If you do move "year.ini" from Cumulus 1 to Cumulus MX and were using a comma as your decimal separator (e.g. 12,1) you will need to edit your file and change each (e.g. 12,1) to use a full stop before MX can read it (e.g. 12.1).
Dealing with errors
For full details see Correcting Extremes page.
The diagnostic logs (for cumulus 1 in Diags folder) record before and after values for updates to highs and lows for monthly and annual extreme records, and can help if this file is corrupted by a false extreme. The stored values can be corrected in Cumulus 1 using the This month's records screen on the Edit menu. In MX the equivalent editor is accessed via the user interface you see in a browser.
The stored values can be corrected using the functionality available in both Cumulus 1 and MX for editing this year's records.
These lows and highs and their timestamps can be seen by picking the Highs and Lows - This year screen from the View menu (Cumulus 1 only - see picture on this page).
If you cannot find the file when using Microsoft Windows see this FAQ.
