Alltime.ini: Difference between revisions

This page is about the file where all-time extreme records are tracked. The file now known as '''alltime.ini''', was originally in a binary format when it was named '''alltime.rec''' (and this latter file will be described first).

 

 

= Which Cumulus 1 build are you using? =

 

== Up to Build 920 (version 1.8.9)  ==

 

The highs and lows were stored in a database file ('''alltime.rec'''), this was efficient for Cumulus 1 to read and update.

 

As the file format was in binary code, it was hard for any corrections to be made outside Cumulus.

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.  That file was in text format and it was easier to see changes to all-time extreme records there. It is also a useful log of when records were actually broken. 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.  

== From Build 924 (4 March 2010 beta version 1.8.9) ==

Starting with Build 924 (still version 1.8.9) 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, if will look for a "cumulus\data\alltime.rec" file. If it finds that file, it will read it, converting the database records into the text format used by '''alltime.ini''' file, which it creates.

If it does not find a "cumulus\data\alltime.rec" file, or it it finds both "cumulus\data\alltime.rec" file and  '''alltime.ini''' file, then it simply uses the latter file whenever it needs to update an all-time extreme record.

There was a major issue with this change, some people installed Cumulus 1 into a write protected folder (C:\Program Files) and in this case with build 924 Microsoft Windows might create the new file in a folder where writing was permitted, meaning Cumulus could not find the file when it tried to read/update it. Please [[FAQ#I_can.E2.80.99t_find_my_data_files.21|see this FAQ]].  

 

The alltime.ini file is now explicitly located in the "data" sub-folder of the path where your Cumulus.exe is installed, to stop Microsoft Windows relocating it.

 

 

 

The alltime.ini file is located in the "data" sub-folder of the path where your CumulusMX.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.

 

[[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!

 

Please can a contributor 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.

= Format of the file =

This is as described at [[:Category:Ini_Files]], where some differences between the legacy Cumulus and MX are noted. Therefore if you use decimal commas and are migrating this  '''alltime.ini''' file from Cumulus 1 to MX, you need to do an edit 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.

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.

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

For Cumulus MX the editor is found in the admin interface.

 

*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. 

**in the MX editor you can only manually overwrite with the revised figure.

[[Category:Ini Files]]