@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''NOTE: everything in the CumulusUtils Wiki pages related to ExtraSensors are provisional as long as ExtraSensors are not released as a whole'''
-== Prerequisites ==
   {|align=right
    |__TOC__
    |}
+== Introduction ==
+This is the first page of the CumulusUtils Wiki. From here you should be able to find everything you need to know for this tool.
+If needed you can always go to the CumulusUtils Category page (see bottom of this page).
+== Prerequisites ==
 This paragraph describes what is required to use CumuluUtils (To be modified/extended by user experience).
 #A working CumulusMX environment on Windows, Linux (RPi) or MacOS
-##On Linux (and probably MacOS too) Mono 6 and up is required
+##On Linux (and probably MacOS too) Mono 6 and up is required. The user must verify whether [[SysInfo#Introduction|the application ''lshw'' has been installed]].
-##NOTE: no experience on MacOS exists
+##NOTE: no experience by the author on MacOS exists so be prepared to communicate
 #At least 32 days of data
 #For the ''[[Charts_-_Misc_charts|Miscellaneous Charts]]'' more data is required
-#A consistent date format in the logfiles
+#For the logfiles:
-##Mixed data formats in logfiles are not accepted by CumulusUtils
+##A consistent date format, mixed date formats in logfiles are not accepted by CumulusUtils
-##If a date format in a logfile is used which is not implemented, just request it
+##Consistent data and separator use
+##If a legal date format in a logfile is used which is not implemented, just request it
+#For longer data series check your locale creates consistent logfile entries and it will be usefull to run the [[Software#Create_Missing|CMX supporting application ''CreateMissing.exe'']] beforehand
 == Goals ==
-The goal of ''CumulusUtils'' (abbr: Cutils) is to facilitate website creation for users of CumulusMX without exposure to coding in e.g. PHP or javascript. Having a meteo-website should not be privileged to users with great IT-skills. Making charts should not be demanding for programming skills in SQL or making it otherwise impossible to create charts without diving deep into the technique involved in CumulusMX (which actually is also the case with SQL). Note that this does not  mean you can't use IT skills: the user configurable menu offers an opening to expand as far as you wish.
+The goal of ''CumulusUtils'' (abbr: ''Cutils'' or ''CUtils'') is to facilitate website creation for users of CumulusMX without exposure to coding in e.g. PHP or javascript. Having a meteo-website should not be privileged to users with great IT-skills. Making charts should not be demanding for programming skills in SQL or making it otherwise impossible to create charts without diving deep into the technique involved in CumulusMX (which actually is also the case with SQL). Note that this does not  mean you can't use IT skills: the user configurable menu offers an opening to expand as far as you wish.
 ''CumulusUtils'' positions itself as a configurable application for which the understanding of how to run it and how to configure it is the most important thing to know. For configuration ''CumulusUtils'' uses [[Cumulusutils.ini|''cumulusutils.ini'']] file which resides in the CumulusMX directory. If that file does not exist, it will be created. All other files related to ''CumulusUtils'' are in the utils directory.
@@ Line 37: / Line 43: @@
 # Then, on the domain for the website, the user needs to make two directories in the webroot: 'lib' and 'css'. In addition the distribution directory CUicons must be copied as a whole - with contents - to the webroot.
 # Updating ''CumulusUtils'' is done by completely overwriting the contents of the installation directory utils as if it were an installation. If you want to save the old installation, make a copy of the  utils directory.
+# NOTE a seemingly important issue: the datafiles (the naming and the contents) are dependent for their format on the locale / country setting of your machine. If you install and run from scratch and do not bother CMX will take the country setting from the settings of the computer. You may also give the country setting on the commandline when starting CMX. However, it is important to know that CumulusUtils does not handle datafiles with mixed languages and produces lots of errors. When starting with a new install this is not a big deal. But if you have years of old data which you wish to analyse as well you must consider carefully which country setting of CMX is required. Note that the language setting of CumulusUtils  is for display/language handling only and does not affect the reading of the data in any way apart for the monthly log file name. If you use a different locale than the one you use for CMX, the please fill in the parameter ''MonthsOfMiracleAndWonder'' (section [General]) with the abbreviated filenames of the locale you use for CMX.
 When installed you are ready to run. The first run after an install or an update MUST be without [[Thrifty - Cutils Command Qualifier|Thrifty]].
@@ Line 63: / Line 70: @@
 Beside the libraries the distribution contains:
 #CUserAbout-example.txt : as an example of the user about file - when used rename to ''CUserAbout.txt''
-#CUsermenu-example.txt : as an example of the menu structure
+#CutilsMenu-example-for-use.def : as an example of the menu structure - when used rename to ''CutilsMenu.def''
 #CutilsCharts-default-for-use.def : when used rename to ''CutilsCharts.def''
 #CutilsCharts-examples.def : not intended for direct use, contains some more elaborate examples of the [[ChartsCompiler]] possibilities
@@ Line 70: / Line 77: @@
 === Manually installing without FTP ===
-NOTE: Not using FTP is disadvised. Because CumulusUtils is datadriven it requires the JSON files and the realtime.txt and realtimegauges.txt from CMX. BEsides those, if you are using the UserAskedData feature of CumulusUtils there will be additional JSON files required for the server and without FTP your will need a way to get them there. There is no copy feature like CMX has as CumulusUtils is designed as a website tool and FTP is implicitely assumed present. However, manual handling can be done but is not supported.
+NOTE: Not using the automatic upload system is disadvised. Because CumulusUtils is datadriven it requires the JSON files and the realtime.txt and realtimegauges.txt from CMX. Besides those, if you are using the UserAskedData feature of CumulusUtils there will be additional JSON files required for the server and without the upload module your will need a way to get them there. There is no copy feature like CMX has as CumulusUtils is designed as a website tool and an upload method is implicitely assumed present. However, manual handling can be done but is not advised.
-All required installation and generated files are present in the utils directory and copied with FTP to the server during a run of CumulusUtils.
+All required installation and generated files are present in the utils directory and copied with ''FTP'' or ''PHP upload'' to the server during a run of CumulusUtils.
-If you don't use FTP you will have to copy manually.
+If you don't use ''FTP'' or ''PHP upload'' you will have to copy manually.
 === Files involved ===
@@ Line 85: / Line 92: @@
 | index.html || <webroot>
 |-
-| gauges.js || <webroot>/lib || Despite the same name this file is very different from the one in CMX
+| CUgauges.js || <webroot>/lib || Despite the same name this file is very different from the one in CMX
 |-
-| language.js || <webroot>/lib
+| CUlanguage.js || <webroot>/lib
 |-
 | HighchartsDefaults.js || <webroot>/lib
@@ Line 93: / Line 100: @@
 | suncalc.js || <webroot>/lib
 |-
-| tween.min.js || <webroot>/lib
+| CUtween.min.js || <webroot>/lib
 |-
-| steelseries.min.js || <webroot>/lib
+| CUsteelseries.min.js || <webroot>/lib
 |-
-| RGraph.rose.js || <webroot>/lib
+| CURGraph.rose.js || <webroot>/lib
 |-
-| RGraph.common.core.js || <webroot>/lib
+| CURGraph.common.core.js || <webroot>/lib
 |-
-| gauges-ss.css || <webroot>/css
+| CUgauges-ss.css || <webroot>/css
 |-
 ! Generated File !! Destination !! Remark
@@ Line 120: / Line 127: @@
 |-
 | extrasensorsdata.json || <webroot>
+|-
+| customlogsRecentdata.json || <webroot>
+|-
+| customlogsDailydata.json || <webroot>
 |-
 | CUserdataRECENT.json || <webroot>
@@ Line 136: / Line 147: @@
 |-
 | extrasensorsrealtime.txt || <webroot> || When Extra Sensor devices are configured [2]
+|-
+| customlogsrealtime.txt || <webroot> || When Extra Sensor devices are configured [2]
+|-
+| meteocamrealtime.txt || <webroot> || When Extra Sensor devices are configured [2]
 |}
 [1] : These files may be served by CMX in another directory (just like the CMX JSON data files). In that case the relative location is specified in the  inifile parameter ''CumulusRealTimeLocation''.<br/>
@@ Line 142: / Line 157: @@
 == Running CumulusUtils ==
+CumulusUtils is - up to v6.x.y - a [https://www.mono-project.com/ ''mono''] executable.
+From v7.0.0 and up it runs under [https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/ ''dotnet (.NET 8)''].
+Both environments are very different and not interchangeable. However running CumulusUtils is pretty similar on both environment and mono and dotnet can co-exist on the same machine. See the CMX installation on how to install either mono or dotnet. CumulusUtils assumes the correct installation of either environment.
+Mono is an open source implementation of Microsoft's .NET Framework based on the ECMA standards for C# and the Common Language Runtime.
 ''CumulusUtils'' runs on any operating system CumulusMX runs on and it '''MUST''' run in the CumulusMX directory (as ''working directory'').
 Running ''CumulusUtils'' is done from the commandline in a command window (under any OS).
-''CumulusUtils'' takes one or more commandline parameters (in short: commands) and must be like (square brackets means: ''optional''):
+''CumulusUtils'' takes one or more commandline parameters (in short: commands) and must be like (see NOTE 1 below; square brackets means ''optional'' so DON'T TYPE THEM):
-                 ''utils/bin/cumulusutils.exe [command]''
+                 ''utils/bin/cumulusutils.exe [command]''  (the ''mono'' syntax - this assumes mono is already active)
+                ''dotnet utils/bin/cumulusutils.dll [command]''  (the ''.NET'' syntax - ''dotnet'' is obligatory on the commandline. Note the '''dll''')
+Below is described for ''mono'', when using .NET, please change the command as above. Note you will have to carry this on in scripts as well. Using the dotnet command in crontab requires using the explicit path to the dotnet command or defining the PATH environment variable in the crontab script which does not know the environment (a bit awkward).
 If no commands are given the application responds with:
@@ Line 157: / Line 182: @@
                        [ [[pwsFWI]] ][ [[Records - Top10|Top10]] ][ [[Graphs]] ][ [[Yadr]] ][ [[Records]] ]
                        [ [[NOAA]] ][ [[Records - DayRecords|DayRecords]] ][ [[AirLink]] ][ [[UserAskedData]] ]
-                       [ [[ChartsCompiler|CompileOnly]] ] [ [[Extra Sensors|ExtraSensors]] ]
+                       [ [[ChartsCompiler|CompileOnly]] ] [ [[Extra Sensors|ExtraSensors]] ] [ [[Custom Logs|CustomLogs]] ]
-                       | [ [[Thrifty - Cutils Command Qualifier|Thrifty]] ] [[All]]
+                       | [ [[Thrifty - Cutils Command Qualifier|Thrifty]] ]
                  OR (in case you use the website generator):
@@ Line 169: / Line 194: @@
 Commands to CumulusUtils - the module names - are case independent but the author prefers [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_case Upper Camel Case] (or Pascal Case).
-Copying to the webroot can also be done automatically through the FTP account of the user, much like ''CumulusMX'' itself copies e.g. the realtime.txt or the datafiles to the webroot. The FTP account and domain used are the same as present in the [[Cumulus.ini]] configuration.
+Copying to the webroot can also be done automatically through the FTP account of the user, much like ''CumulusMX'' itself copies e.g. the realtime.txt or the datafiles to the webroot. The FTP account and domain used are the same as present in the [[Cumulus.ini]] configuration. The PHP upload as exists in CMX can also be used with CUtils and it works exactly the same.
 === Considerations with CMX configuration ===
@@ Line 176: / Line 201: @@
 The things it is looking for are realtime.txt and realtimegauges.txt. Those are sent by CMX to the directory you configure in ''Settings=>Web/FTP Site''.
-  In ''Settings=>Web/FTP Settings=>Interval Settings'': Tick both options to enable realtime FTP
+  In ''Settings=>Web/FTP Settings=>Interval Settings'': Tick both options to enable realtime Upload
   In ''Settings=>Web/FTP Settings=>Interval Settings=>Standard File settings'': Disable both options (for CumulusUtils, if you have websites which use those, leave it enabled)
   In ''Settings=>Web/FTP Settings=>Interval Settings=>Graph File Settings'': Enable all (both ''Generate'' and ''Transfer'') except ''availabledata.json'' and ''airquality.json''
@@ Line 210: / Line 235: @@
 Automating the run of CumulusUtils on the Raspberry Pi is typically done through [https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man5/crontab.5.html ''crontab'']. Below is the crontab of the author of CumulusUtils to be used as an '''example'''!
+===== For dotnet =====
+1 * * *  cd /home/CumulusMX; /usr/share/dotnet/dotnet utils/bin/cumulusutils.dll thrifty website
+-51/10 * * * *  cd /home/CumulusMX; /usr/share/dotnet/dotnet utils/bin/cumulusutils.dll sysinfo UserAskedData UserReports
+===== For mono =====
 1 * * *  cd /home/CumulusMX; utils/bin/cumulusutils.exe thrifty website
--59/10 * * * *  cd /home/CumulusMX; utils/bin/cumulusutils.exe sysinfo UserAskedData  09 * * * *   cd /home/CumulusMX; utils/bin/cumulusutils.exe sysinfo UserAskedData
+-51/10 * * * *  cd /home/CumulusMX; utils/bin/cumulusutils.exe sysinfo UserAskedData UserReport
-9 * * *    /home/cumubackup.sh > cumubackup.log 2>&1
 ==== Windows: Using the scheduler ====
+===== How to create a scheduled task =====
+Prior to doing this we need to also create the script that the task will use.
+Open notepad or your favourite text editor (preferred use: Notepad++).
+You can copy paste the below and save as cumulusutils.bat
+(It can be a filename of choice but must have extension of .bat, if using windows notepad, underneath the File name: option, will need to set Save as type: option to All Files (*.*). This way when the File name: is set as cumulusutils.bat it will save it as that and not cumulusutils.bat.txt)
+====== Batch file code of cumulusutils.bat ======
+</br>
+ REM This batch file script checks for the process CumulusMX.exe is running, if yes, then runs the "cumulusutils.exe", otherwise exit</br>
+ REM Set the current working session to the folder C:\CumulusMX</br>
+   cd\</br>
+   cd C:\CumulusMX</br>
+ REM Check for CumulusMX.exe is running, if yes goto :runutils, otherwise goto :end</br>
+   tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq CumulusMX.exe" 2>NUL | find /I /N "CumulusMX.exe">NUL</br>
+   if "%ERRORLEVEL%"=="0" GOTO runutils</br>
+   GOTO end</br>
+ REM Set as working directory C:\CumulusMX and run cumulusutils.exe in folder C:\CumulusMX\utils\bin, with the desired command or commands as per the wiki</br>
+ :runutils</br>
+   START /D C:\CumulusMX C:\CumulusMX\utils\bin\cumulusutils.exe Website</br>
+ :end</br>
+   exit</br>
+NOTE: The command shown here is ''Website''. The user can put any command he likes in here (with or without ''Thrifty'') depending on what he wants to achieve. Possibly he has to create multiple tasks (e.g. UserAskedData specifically runs on a higher frequency than website). These commands then require their own batch files.
+===== Task creation process =====
+Within the Task Scheduler Library
+#Create “New Task…” (actions pane), or right click middle pane and choose “Create New Task” (not Create Basic Task).
+##On the General tab of the new task (General information about the task).
+##Set desired name for the Task (Example name CumulusUtils, can also set description if desired).
+##Click “Change User or Group…”.
+##Type in here the word system (click on “Check Names” if desired, to confirm it is correct and it should then display as SYSTEM in capitals).
+##Click OK to use this user account.
+##Note in Security options part of the new task creation process it should now state under. When running the task, use the following user account: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM <br/>(Convenient reason for this is that when the task runs, it runs is running as system account and so is not seen popping up on screen when it is running.)
+##“Configure for:” not required to be changed, can be changed to version of operating system.
+#On the Triggers tab of the new task (Setting when and how often the task runs).
+##Click on “New”, to create a new launch time and frequency of the task.
+##Begin the task: option should default to “On a schedule”, this is the desired option.
+##Under the settings section choose “Daily” option.
+##Start: date can be left as is, set the desired start time of the task. Set to “12:00:15 am”.</br>(Reason for this setting with 15 second delay is trying not to compete with CumulusMX upload tasks).
+##In the advanced part, enable Repeat task every: and choose desired interval.</br>With the option for a duration of: default setting of “1 day” is used.
+##Set Stop task if it runs longer than: to “30 minutes” (if the task runs longer than the time set, it is stopped. This applies to the individually triggered task, and not the overall routine of this scheduled task, with it’s repeating trigger times).
+##Confirm that the Enabled options is ticked to make active this trigger routine.
+#On the Actions tab (Setting what the task is to do).
+##Click on “New…” to create a new action.
+##Action: should default to “Start a program” this is correct.
+##In the Program/Script: part, type the path to the program to run, or click “Browse” to navigate and select the program to run. (example C:\CumulusMX\batch_files\cumulusutils.bat).
+#On the Conditions tab (setting other conditions).
+##Under Power, untick Start the task only if the computer us on AC power</br>(This then enables the task to start and run even if on battery. It will automatically untick Stop if the computers switches to batter power.)
+#On the Settings tab (additional other settings for the task).
+##Confirm ticked for Allow task to be run on demand.
+##By default Stop the task if it runs longer than: is already ticket and set as 3 days.Change to 1 hour (the behaviour here is the same as instruction 3.f.)
+##Confirm ticked for If the running ask does not end when requested, for it to stop.
+##Default setting of “Do not start a new instance” Is OK.
+#Click on OK down the bottom to complete and commit the creation of this new task.
+===== Customisation =====
+One can also customise/fine tune the task further by exporting it, default export format is XML. Then can edit in favourite text editor and reimport when done. May be useful in particular for fine tuning the repetition times of the task.
 == Additional remarks ==
+#(on NOT Windows) When mono is already active (as daemon or from command line in another process) you can start any mono executable without having it prepended by the mono command. As normally (if you did not uninstall it) xsp4 is running as a daemon, mono is always available so you can run mono executables as normal linux executables. You won't notice the difference. However if you don't have the x bit set, you get access refused when trying to execute. Without the x bit set you have to prepend mono as in: ''mono utils/bin/cumulusutils.exe''. Then it executes without the x bit set because then it is an argument to the mono command.
 #CumulusUtils is written in C#, HTML and javascript. All HTML and javascript is embedded in the C# code and generated on execution of ''CumulusUtils''. The cumuluscharts.txt charts library was based on the cumuluscharts.js originally distributed with ''CumulusMX'', probably the version a bit before April 2020 and has been modified since. With the appearance of the [[ChartsCompiler]] the name cumuluscharts.txt has been preserved but the technique of creating the charts has been changed.
 #As CumulusUtils itself runs in the Cumulus directory, the data directory (data) is one level below. CumulusUtils currently uses - a copy of - dayfile.txt, the monthly logfiles and incidentally the alltime.ini file. It also takes information from Cumulus.ini.  All output is written to the utils/ subdirectory. All logs are created in the utils/utilslog/ subdirectory. It also uses the AirLink.log and the ExtraLog files in a similar way when the user has such devices.

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Revision as of 11:40, 6 April 2024