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*If you do need to edit the file, close Cumulus first to ensure you are working on latest contents, and your edit cannot conflict with any edit Cumulus may be making. When Cumulus restarts it will read the file again and see any edits you have made.
The parameters listed can change the look of Cumulus, can hold basic information about your location, can amend the way Cumulus interfaces with your weather station, can hold the settings used to interface with your website, and with various external websites.
==Is this documentation definitive?==
Later on this page there is a table showing parameters that may be in the configuration file, the default value for each attribute is mentioned, and it is made clear whether that parameter can be set through the settings screen in the software or must be manually added to the file. The list was created for Cumulus 1.x.y, and all of it applies to the final formal release. The majority of the parameters are also used by Cumulus MX, which can edit in its settings screens some that Cumulus 1 cannot edit. There are also extra parameters that only apply to MX, plus some extra values available for some attributes like weather station make.▼
▲Later on this page there is a table showing parameters that may be in the configuration file, the default value for each attribute is mentioned, and it is made clear whether that parameter can be set through the settings screen in the software or must be manually added to the file.
If you are using an older Cumulus 1 version, then ''checking the release information may be advisable'' to identify the sections applicable to your build, and to identify if the parameters allowed within those sections may be a subset of those listed below as available in latest release of Cumulus 1.▼
The list was created for Cumulus 1.x.y, and all of it applies to the final formal release. '''However, there is no guarantee that all configuration parameters that can be used are in this list, Steve Loft lost some of his documentation and admitted he could not remember all parameters his code could process.''' There is no source available for Cumulus 1, so nobody can check what read-only parameters might exist that are not documented below.
Similarly, the parameters available may vary between different versions/builds of MX, again ''checking the release information may be advisable'' to identify the sections applicable to your build, and to identify if the parameters allowed within those sections may be a subset of those listed below.▼
The majority of the parameters are also used by Cumulus MX, which can edit in its settings screens some that Cumulus 1 cannot edit. There are also extra parameters that only apply to MX, plus some extra values available for some attributes like weather station make. '''The configuration parameters available in MX are often changed by a new release'''. Any new read-write parameters introduced by a new release will be added to "Cumulus.ini" when you close MX, but unless someone manually adds them to this article they will not be documented here. However, the default for those read-write parameters might not agree with your preference. Any new read-only parameters added by a MX release will neither be added to your "Cumulus.ini", nor be added to this article, unless manual action is taken.
Anybody with a log-in for this Wiki can edit this page, and your contribution to improving this article is welcomed. The only rules are to follow existing table layout where possible, so the default value is shown in first column, to make it clear whether it is available in Cumulus 1 or not (ideally say from which version), to make it clear what version of MX introduces it (if available in MX).
▲If you are using an older Cumulus 1 version, then ''checking the release information may be advisable'' to identify the sections applicable to your build (because not all authors editing this article do that for you), and to identify if the parameters allowed within those sections may be a subset of those listed below as available in latest release of Cumulus 1.
▲Similarly, the parameters available may vary between different versions/builds of MX, again ''checking the release information may be advisable'' to identify the sections applicable to your build, and to identify if the parameters allowed within those sections may be a subset of those listed below (although authors contributing to this article are expected to give some version information).
== Creating Configuration File ==
When you download Cumulus 1 or MX, ''there is no configuration file included in the download''. So when you first use the software, either flavour of Cumulus, you will need to enter some settings, and that will lead to creation of the main configuration file. How to enter these minimum settings will be described next.
=== Cumulus 1 ===
#If you start Cumulus 1, without a configuration file, then it will open at the [[Cumulus_Screenshots#Station|station settings screen]]. Follow the link to see what the screen looks like for both old builds and newer builds (as 2 different screens are illustrated).
# At the very minimum, you must select a station type in the top left frame, and units in the middle of the screen.
# Most other entries on the screen have defaults, but you might want to change some of these. Click the '''Help''' button at bottom right of the screen for guidance on what each choice means.
# Back on the main screen, in the ''File'' menu click '''Exit'''. This is the action that creates the configuration file, the first part of the name is taken from the name of the executable, but the extension is '''.ini''' (instead of .exe).
# Restart Cumulus 1, it will read the configuration file, and connect to your weather station. Note that on this run, it does not read any archive data, it just reads what the weather station holds from now on. See [[FAQ#I.E2.80.99ve_just_installed_Cumulus.2C_and_it_didn.E2.80.99t_download_all_the_old_data_from_my_weather_station|this FAQ]] for a way to change this behavoir.
=== Cumulus MX ===
#As you can see, it is running, but it does not know what station type, so it cannot connect to it, and will not do anything more.
# At this stage, MX creates a very basic Cumulus.ini with the default settings (shown below).
#Open the
#At the very minimum, you must select a station type and units (as shown in image here)
#Optionally, move down the page, entering more settings, or move to other settings pages accessed from the menu seen in the image
# Optionally create a [[Strings.ini]] file (look up the cross reference if you want to do this now, but you can leave it to later) where you can tailor a number of texts that Cumulus produces.
# If you have a screen attached to the device running the MX engine, you can click in that screen and terminate Cumulus MX. Otherwise do whatever is needed to end the MX executable on your installation. This is the action that will create the main configuration file.
#Restart Cumulus MX, it will save your settings on exit, it will read
====Default Cumulus.ini====
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