Dayfile.txt: Difference between revisions

* The (meteorological) date format uses ''two digits for the year''. Edit this file using an editor that treats all fields as text (a text editor or a spreadsheet program that can be instructed ''not'' to recognise special field types).  For software (e.g. Excel) with default of recognising formats, ensure that such recognition is turned off, as it is likely to change the dates to either a number representing days since e.g. 31 Dec 1899, or to have four figure years, and then Cumulus will no longer be able to use the log file. (Also the month must be the middle figure, USA convention cannot apply within logfiles). [[File:Open office (editing cumulus log files).png]] If you wish to use "Calc" in 'Apache Open Office', "Libre Office", or similar, select the field separator you use (in this illustration comma is selected, but your file might use semi-colons between fields, don't select commas if your real numbers use comma between integer and decimal parts) and leave "Detect Special Numbers" unselected. 

* Times are in ''format hh:mm'' (Be aware you will have problems if you, or your editing software, add seconds).

* If you insert a ''lowest or highest value'' for a new day, where there was no record before, insert a ''time-stamp'' too, as a dayfile.txt row is only accepted by the Cumulus editor if each value has any related time-stamp are either both present or both absent. (Use a time-stamp of your rollovertime 00:00, 09:00 or 10:00 if you have not looked up the precise time).

* Nulls (2 field separators without something between them ',,') are not allowed within the part of the line with values and time-stamps, so if you do not know the value for a particular field within the line, then type in a zero for integer values and an extreme with opposite value (e.g. -999.9 for a signed decimal maximum, and 9999.9 for a decimal minimum) for decimal format (replace the full stops with your decimal separator).

**Cumulus itself will use zero for any parameters (e.g. solar) not provided by your station, and will repeat the last valid value if the station fails to send a value it should provide, so if a station fails to send a value for more than a day, dayfile.txt may show the same value as the previous day.

**Some third-party scripts read the file to calculate averages or other statistics, and their authors suggest you remove rogue values (creating the ',,' that Cumulus objects to). My suggestion is use the 'External Program' facility to create a copy of ''dayfile.txt'' and make any such changes only on that copy, and set the third-party script to read this copy.  Alternatively, do as I do, upload the file into a database, with validation code checking for the -999.9 etc, and store a '''NULL''' value as default in the database if that validation finds such an obviously invalid figure.

* Make sure that any editing does not create any ''blank lines'' in the file (can have 1 empty line at end).