Correcting Extremes: Difference between revisions

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Correcting Extremes (view source)

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This page brings together text that was originally on other pages. It is designed to cover both
{{Version badge 1}} and {{Template:Version badge Mx}}, but do be aware that some terminology varies between the two flavours.


<div style="background: LemonChiffon;padding:5px; margin:2px;">
[[Category:Cumulus Files]][[Category:Ini Files]]
[[File:Crystal Clear info.png|40px]] This page contains information based on the legacy Cumulus, updated to cover the MX release in July 2020; that is no longer latest!


Appeal to contributors: Please work through all MX release announcements and work out any updates needed for this page,


recent releases have affected pages in the admin interface,


consequently, the whole page may even need either a replacement set of pages, splitting of this page into multiple pages, or just a redesign of some sections, for more recent releases!
</div>


=Introduction=


As Cumulus processes each reading from your weather station, it checks that value (and any [[Calculate_Missing_Values#Derived spot values|derived]] from it) against the extremes currently stored in various [[:Category:Log_Files|.ini files]], and if necessary updates the extreme records that are affected.


=Introduction=
All too often a mistake in one extreme record is propagated to other extreme records, so the purpose of this page is to cover all the necessary corrections in one place (previously the information was scattered amongst pages covering the various files).


As Cumulus processes each reading from your weather station, it checks that value (and any [[Calculate_Missing_Values#Derived spot values|derived]] from it) against the extremes currently stored in various [[:Category:Log_Files|.ini files]], and if necessary updates the extreme records that are affected. The extreme records that are maintained in this way are:
The extreme records that are maintained in this way are:


{| class="wikitable" border="1"
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
|-
!style="width:200px"|Period
!style="width:200px"|Period
!style="width:50px"|File
!style="width:50px"|File storing extremes
!style="width:50px"|Example web page
!style="width:300px"|How to correct
!style="width:200px"|Notes
!style="width:50px"|Link to web tag section
!style="width:300px"|Notes
|-
|-
|For current day so far
! scope="row"|For current day so far
|[[today.ini]]
|[[today.ini]]
| Editor for "Today's rain" (no editor for other derivatives)
|[[Webtags#Today|today.htm]]
|[[Webtags#Today|today.htm]]
|Many entries in this file get transferred to [[dayfile.txt]] at end of day
|Many entries in this file (for non-midnight rollover, use is made of [[yesterday.ini]] too) get transferred to [[dayfile.txt]] at end of day.
|-
! scope="row"| For past days
| [[dayfile.txt]]
| See [[Amending dayfile]]
| Web tags only exist for [[Webtags#Yesterday|yesterday]]
| Often used as source for corrections - see  [[#Accuracy Note]]
|-
|-
|For current month-to-date
! scope="row"|For current month-to-date
|[[month.ini]]
|[[month.ini]]
| Editor for "This month's records"
|[[Webtags#Monthly|thismonth.htm]]
|[[Webtags#Monthly|thismonth.htm]]
|
| Please see [[#Accuracy Note]]
|-
|colspan="5" style="background:pink;"|monthyyyyMM.ini are archived copies for past months
|-
|-
|For current year-to-date
! scope="row"|For current year-to-date
|[[year.ini]]
|[[year.ini]]
| Editor for "This year's records"
|[[Webtags#Yearly|thisyear.htm]]
|[[Webtags#Yearly|thisyear.htm]]
|
| Please see [[#Accuracy Note]] 
|-
|colspan="5" style="background:pink;"|yearyyyy.ini are archived copies for past years
|-
|-
|For all readings since a '''start date''
! scope="row"|For all readings since a '''start date''
|[[alltime.ini]]
|[[alltime.ini]]
| Editor for "All Time Records"
|[[Webtags#All_Time|records.htm]]
|[[Webtags#All_Time|records.htm]]
|See table below for start date
|See table below for start date
|-
|-
|For a particular month in all years
! scope="row"|For a particular month in all years
|[[monthlyalltime.ini]]
|[[monthlyalltime.ini]]
| Editor for "Monthly Records"
|[[Webtags#Monthly_All_Time_Records|monthlyrecord.htm]]
|[[Webtags#Monthly_All_Time_Records|monthlyrecord.htm]]
| Similar to previous row, but different start date, and separate extremes maintained for each month (regardless of the year)
|}
|}
Following the links in the second column leads you to more information about the relevant file. Following links in third column leads you to more information about the web tags associated with that period,  you can incorporate those in your own [[Customised_templates|templates]].
Explaining columns in above table:
# The first (label) column is self-explanatory
# The second column contains a link to the page that explains more about the file named there, which is where the extreme records are stored for that period
# The third column gives the name for the '''Edit''' menu item to choose to edit these extreme records
# The links in fourth column leads you to more information about the web tags associated with that period,  you can incorporate those in your own [[Customised_templates|templates]].
 
==How editing accuracy depends on source selected==
 
The editors built into Cumulus, for long term extremes (over a period of a month or more), give you the ability to display, for each extreme record:
# The (hopefully more accurate) figure taken from a search for that extreme by examining all entries in the [[dayfile.txt]] for that period
# The (usually less accurate) figure taken from a search for that extreme by examining all entries in the [[Standard log files]] for that period
 
Let me explain why the first returns the more accurate result (unless the '''dayfile.txt''' line, either was created with a rogue value, or has been corrupted):
* Using [[Standard log files]] as source for recalculating past extremes:
** Let us assume you are using the default logging interval of 10 minutes
** Unlike some other weather station software available (which logs highest and lowest since previous log), Cumulus logs spot values
** That means the [[Monthly log files]] do not capture any extremes recorded in the time (by default 599 seconds) between logs
** Therefore the detailed log files are not normally the most accurate source
** Please note, this less accurate way of deducing daily extremes/totals (to update dayfile.txt) is used by Cumulus software:
*** For Legacy Cumulus 1: [[Amending_dayfile#Create_Missing_on_legacy_dayfile_editor|Create Missing in legacy dayfile editor]].
*** For MX: [[Calculate_Missing_Values#CreateMissing.exe|CreateMissing.exe]] utility.
* Using [[dayfile.txt]] as source for recalculating past extremes
** MX typically processes data from your weather station every second (even if you use a weather station type that only reads its sensors every 40 or 60 seconds). Cumulus 1 processes data from your weather station at intervals that vary for the different station types, but we can assume it is at least every 60 seconds.
** Therefore extremes recorded in '''today.ini''' (and from there into '''dayfile.ini'') are based on the full sampling done by Cumulus
** This means none, or very few, extremes are missed
** In March 2021, a new utility '''Create Records''' was planned (for use with MX only), as at July 2021 no progress has been made in coding it.  It appears that this utility will read '''dayfile.txt''' and use the more accurate daily extremes it finds there, as a basis for updating longer term extremes in the other [[:Category:Ini Files|files like monthly-all-time and all-time]]. ''<big>Perhaps you my reader can be the contributor who updates this if the proposed utility becomes available</big>''.
 
However, if you either have had an electrical supply problem or there has been corruption of data within your weather station generating a rogue value, it is possible that the files currently being used by Cumulus get corrupted.  Provided you act, as soon as possible afterwards, [[Calculate_Missing_Values#Reading_archive_data|you can make use]] of the [[Backup folder|backups]] that Cumulus takes. All the extreme record files mentioned in the table above are backed up when Cumulus is restarted and (depending on which release you are using - see [[today.ini]]) - either with the end of day or start of day contents.  For this month and this year extreme records, it is often better to find the previous extreme by examining a backup copy, providing a true extreme has not happened since, than by using the values displayed in the editor as those might be corrupted in the same problem.
 
For all-time (and for MX only, monthly-all-time) extreme records, there is a log [[Alltimelog.txt]] (and for MX only,[[Monthlyalltimelog.txt]]) that logs each time the extreme is updated, so you can get an accurate previous value from there.


The purpose of this article is to help you to edit incorrect entries in any of the .ini files in the second column, to understand where else to investigate, and where necessary amend other log files.
==Arrangement of information on this page==


The article starts with corrections related to the penultimate entry in that table (all-time). That approach is partly because many Cumulus Users take a lot of interest when their all-time extreme records are broken, and partly as all-time is a good place to start as it can make subsequent edits easier (for example an edit to all-time indicates which month (or months) you need to edit in monthly-all-time; but an edit to monthly-all-time does not help you know whether an edit is needed to all-time).
The page continues by first describing corrections related to the penultimate entry in that table (all-time). That approach is partly because many Cumulus Users take a lot of interest when their all-time extreme records are broken, and partly as all-time is a good place to start as it can make subsequent edits easier (for example an edit to all-time indicates which month (or months) you need to edit in monthly-all-time; but an edit to monthly-all-time does not help you know whether an edit is needed to all-time).


There is more information in [[:Category:Log_Files]] and the pages relating to individual files, for all of the extreme holding files.
There is more information in [[:Category:Log_Files]] and the pages relating to individual files, for all of the extreme holding files.
{{TOCright}}


==Why might your extremes need to be corrected?==  
==Why might your extremes need to be corrected?==  


If there is a [[Correcting_Extremes#Rogue_value|rogue value]] read from your weather station (this could be due to noise affecting communications, or because a sensor has been knocked), it can get into any of those extreme record files and it might also make related derived value extremes wrong as well.
Sometimes a mistake is made in setting up or calibrating a sensor, or (despite the warnings within both flavours of Cumulus about getting your choice of units correct from the start), you decide to change your units. In both cases, you will identify a constant/multiplier adjustment to be applied to adjust all values (luckily times and dates of extremes are not affected) over the past period. In both cases, you need to correct past entries in any [[Extra Sensor Files]], any [[Standard log files]], in [[dayfile.txt]], plus the multiple [[Category:Ini Files|extreme record files]].
 
'''The instructions on this page will help you correct the extreme record files''' as there are relatively few edits to do for a single source value changing because of units, or a calibration multiplier. There is no change to when a maximum/minimum occured, nor does it affect any derived values.  For example a change in units, or calibration multiplier, for temperature or wind speed, does not affect calculations for wind chill and feels like temperature.  It is a bit more complex if you change a calibration offset, as that might affect threshold for calculation of some derivatives (e.g. changing an offset for temperature or wind speed also affects wind chill).  It is slightly more complicated changing units for temperature (as you may have many extra temperatures).
 
The easiest way to change entries in any Extra Sensor Files, any Standard log files, and in dayfile.txt, is to either write a batch editing script (see [https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=155539#p155539 changed rainfall units example]), or to use a spreadsheet (be careful not to affects dates or times) like '''Libre Office Calc''' where you can paste special a multiplier to all cells in a particular column.


It is also possible that you have discovered that you made a mistake in setting up or calibrating a sensor, and this leads you to identifying a constant/multiplier adjustment
If there is a [[Correcting_Extremes#Rogue_value|rogue value]] read from your weather station (this could be due to noise affecting communications, or because a sensor has been knocked), it can get into the daily summary file,  any of the extreme record files, and any related derived value extremes may become wrong as well.
to be applied to adjust all values over the past period.


A sensor might fail, and Cumulus does not recognise that "Null" (this might mean the weather station sends all bits set to zero or all bits set to one) values should be ignored when comparing against existing extreme records, and so set the extreme record to zero or maximum number that the number of bits can convey.
A sensor might fail, and Cumulus does not recognise that "Null" (this might mean the weather station sends all bits set to zero or all bits set to one) values should be ignored when comparing against existing extreme records, and so set the extreme record to zero or maximum number that the number of bits can convey.
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For simplicity, this article will only document the development of all-time functionality, it should be obvious that for other extremes mentioned in the introduction, full extreme record data was not available in all Cumulus releases for all the weather variables that the latest release reports. In general, daily extreme functionality was added first, this month/year extreme functionality followed that, and all-time was introduced before monthly-all-time.  Also, this section has intentionally been kept brief, and does not list all bugs that might result in incorrect extremes being stored, nor when such bugs were subsequently resolved.
For simplicity, this article will only document the development of all-time functionality, it should be obvious that for other extremes mentioned in the introduction, full extreme record data was not available in all Cumulus releases for all the weather variables that the latest release reports. In general, daily extreme functionality was added first, this month/year extreme functionality followed that, and all-time was introduced before monthly-all-time.  Also, this section has intentionally been kept brief, and does not list all bugs that might result in incorrect extremes being stored, nor when such bugs were subsequently resolved.


{{Version badge 1}}There were bugs introduced sometimes in builds of the original Cumulus (known now as Cumulus 1). Information about a few of the bugs and fixes can be found in [[File:Changes.zip]], although that does not cover any 1.7.x versions, and does not detail bugs created and fixed within the beta builds. More information may be found by searching within [https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=2 Cumulus forum announcements], but it will require a lot of effort as there are a lot of posts to search. (For historic interest only, one example is that what is stored in '''month.ini''' and '''year.ini''' depends on when they were first created, because they are initiated from the daily summary log for the relevant period, an individual parameter can only be initialised if the corresponding field is present in '''dayfile.txt''' for the whole of that period).  
[[File:Badge v1.png]]There were bugs introduced sometimes in builds of the original Cumulus (known now as legacy Cumulus 1). Information about a few of the bugs and fixes can be found in [[File:Changes.zip]], although that does not cover any 1.7.x versions, nor does not detail bugs created (and fixed) within the beta builds. More information may be found by searching within [https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=2 Cumulus forum announcements], but it will require a lot of effort (as there are a lot of posts to search). (For historic interest only, one example is that what is stored in '''month.ini''' and '''year.ini''' depends on when they were first created, because they are initiated from the daily summary log, dayfile.txt,  for the relevant period. Therefore, an individual parameter can only be initialised if the corresponding field is present in '''dayfile.txt''' for the whole of that period).  


[[File:Badge vMx.png]]Cumulus MX had lots of bugs in its early builds. So if you ever used Cumulus MX versions 3.0.0 to 3.3.0, you cannot rely that all all-time extreme records
[[File:Badge vMx.png]]Cumulus MX had lots of bugs in its early builds. So if you ever used Cumulus MX versions 3.0.0 to 3.3.0, you cannot rely that all all-time extreme records
reported correctly take into account any records broken on a date prior to 19 Feb 2020. Also there have been some changes in how some derivatives are calculated, and these might invalidate other 2020 dated entries.  The '''updates.txt''' that is part of each MX release distribution has brief details of when the very many issues were fixed. Again, searching all the posts in [https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=40 the relevant support forum] will yield more information in return for a lot more effort.
reported correctly take into account any records broken on a date prior to 19 Feb 2020. Also there have been some changes in how some derivatives are calculated, and these might invalidate other 2020 dated entries.  The '''updates.txt''' that is part of each MX release distribution has brief details of when the very many issues were fixed. Again, searching all the posts in [https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=40 the relevant support forum] will yield more information in return for a lot more effort.


[[Image:Icon info.png|left|30px]]The '''start date''' referenced in the last bullet in the introduction, is generally when you first started using Cumulus. However, as Cumulus has developed it has added more extreme records to those it was previously monitoring, so if you were using Cumulus software before 28 Jul 2020, you should check the following table. For any parameter you select in the table, the monitoring of all-time extreme records started whenever you decided to install the release shown in the following table, or a later release:
[[Image:Icon info.png|left|30px]]The '''start date''' referenced in the last bullet in the introduction, is generally when you first started using Cumulus. However, as Cumulus has developed it has started monitoring more extreme records compared to those it was previously monitoring, so if you were using Cumulus software before 28 Jul 2020, you should check the following table. For any parameter you select in the table, the monitoring of all-time extreme records started whenever you decided to install the release shown in the following table, or a later release:


{| class="wikitable" border="1"
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
|-
!style="width:200px"|Parameter
!style="width:300px"|Parameter
!style="width:50px"|First released
!style="width:200px"|First released
!style="width:50px"|First in Version
!style="width:100px"|First in Version
!style="width:50px"|First in Build
!style="width:100px"|First in Build
|-
|-
|highest/lowest apparent temperature
! scope="row"|highest/lowest apparent temperature
|26 Oct 2010
|26 Oct 2010
|1.9.1 beta
|1.9.1 beta
|957
|957
|-
|-
|highest/lowest feels like temperture
! scope="row"|highest/lowest feels like temperature
|24 June 2020
|24 June 2020
|3.6.10
|3.6.10
|3086
|3086
|-
|-
|highest Canadian Humidity Index (humidex)
! scope="row"|highest Canadian Humidity Index (humidex)
|28 Jul 2020
|28 Jul 2020
|3.7.0
|3.7.0
|3089
|3089
|-
|-
|highest minimum temperature
! scope="row"|highest minimum temperature
|15 April 2004
|15 April 2004
|1.2.2
|1.2.2
|(lost)
|(lost)
|-
|-
|highest USA heat index
! scope="row"|highest USA heat index
|29 Aug 2010
|29 Aug 2010
|1.9.0 beta
|1.9.0 beta
|955
|955
|-
|-
|wettest month
! scope="row"|wettest month
|5 April 2004
|5 April 2004
|1.2
|1.2
|(lost)
|(lost)
|-
|-
|highest daily windrun
! scope="row"|highest daily wind run
|3 Jul 2011
|3 Jul 2011
|1.9.2 beta
|1.9.2 beta
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Of course, it is possible that the old value in '''Alltimelog.txt''' is not appropriate. It might be that after the rogue value was stored in '''alltime.ini''', a new extreme was seen, and this new extreme was different to the previous value stored in '''Alltimelog.txt''', but it did not cause an update in '''alltime.ini''' because of the rogue value that was stored there being more extreme.
Of course, it is possible that the old value in '''Alltimelog.txt''' is not appropriate. It might be that after the rogue value was stored in '''alltime.ini''', a new extreme was seen, and this new extreme was different to the previous value stored in '''Alltimelog.txt''', but it did not cause an update in '''alltime.ini''' because of the rogue value that was stored there being more extreme.
Please see [[#Accuracy Note]] for other accuracy points.


===Looking at graphical representations===
===Looking at graphical representations===
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'''Build''' number in Cumulus 1 and 3 (MX), was used to identify each release, and historically alpha, beta, and bug fixing, releases could all share the same version number. For recent MX releases, the developer has changed version number every time there is a new build released.
'''Build''' number in Cumulus 1 and 3 (MX), was used to identify each release, and historically alpha, beta, and bug fixing, releases could all share the same version number. For recent MX releases, the developer has changed version number every time there is a new build released.
[[Category:Log Files]][[Category:Cumulus MX]]
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