Category:Log Files

Below is a list of the Log files within Cumulus.

Descriptions, and tips, can also be found in the Help file within the Cumulus software.

CAUTIONS

Remember, if you edit any of these log files to obey cautions in the individual articles:

• stop cumulus before editing any file that Cumulus might be updating,
• don't use a word processor (that adds lots of unwanted control characters),
• don't change the format of files for example don't change format of dates or real numbers (using a spreadsheet, like Microsoft Office Excel or Libre Office Calc, don't let dates or special numbers be recognised),
• don't add 'Byte Order Mark' (traditionally, Microsoft and Google software treat a BOM as a required magic number and add a BOM when saving text as UTF-8. Google Docs also adds a BOM when converting a document to a plain text file for download.
• don't add blank lines to any Comma Separated Value files(the only 'blank' line in a log file is the final one, where Cumulus will later append the next item), (you can add blank lines to log files that contain "attribute=value" lines such as 'today.ini')
• don't add any header lines to any log files where Cumulus needs to read the file as well as update it (Cumulus reads all log files except Alltimelog.txt).

TYPES

Essentially, there are 5 types:

1. .ini files - these hold values that represent sums, counts, or extremes, for cumulus to read, and update, as it reads the weather observations, click on links below for details
2. .txt files - these are the logs that Cumulus updates at defined intervals to hold details of what has happened, but it can also read these files when requested, click on links below for details
3. .xml file - this holds the Cumulus 1 Weather_Diary. Although it uses standard XML, the component that Cumulus 1 uses also writes a special value that other XML editors will not understand.
4. .db file - there are two of these for Cumulus MX, click on links below for details
5. diagnostics .log files, see Cumulus 1 diagnostics and Cumulus MX diagnostics

CUMULUS 1 and MX differences

Most log files apply to both Cumulus 1 and Cumulus MX, but a few log files are only used by one flavour. For example Speciallog.txt is only Cumulus 1. For example cumumulusmx.db is only MX. For example Weather diary is stored in different files in Cumulus 1 and MX. For example, various .ini log files have different formats (for dates, times, decimals) in Cumulus 1 (where they take formats from Control Panel settings) and MX (where they ignore locale settings, and have a fixed format set in MX).

Cumulus MX also has some JSON files with data for its trends web page. See MX announcements for more details.

Moving files from Cumulus 1 to MX

Steve Loft designed MX so that in general it was able to read log files created by the original Cumulus.

See individual articles for more details on such differences.

Please note, the information for MX is taken from notes by Steve Loft, and applies to MX 3.0.0. Although, some updates have been made in line with release announcements by Mark, it is likely Mark has made other changes that affect the various log files that are not detailed in the release announcements, possibly making some content obsolete.

In particular internal changes mentioned in release announcements for versions 3.6.x, and 3.7.0, have made MX work significantly differently.

• If you move from Cumulus 1 to a version of MX up to 3.5.y, the transfer is likely to be significantly easier. This is because Steve Loft was keen to keep forward compatibility.
  • Cumulus 1 is tolerant of various separators for dates and times. Cumulus MX 3.0.0 insists all times use a colon separator (says Steve Loft), and all dates are in ISO format.
  • However, MX 3.0.0 will read the date/time entries in the Cumulus 1 format, and it will only change them to the new format when it needs to update a particular entry (e.g. an extreme) in that particular file. Consequently some files will have a different formats for the extremes that have existed for a while and for any new ones, meaning both formats will co-exist in those files.
• If you move from Cumulus 1 to a version of MX that is 3.6.z or higher, you may find that log files can no longer be read.
  • In particular 3.7.0 onwards releases are very fussy about symbols used to separate parts of dates, within times, and all must match the latest locale settings.

General points:

• Note that if you run MX on a UNIX based operating system (e.g. Linux or Raspberry Pi OS) all file names are case-sensitive, please read documentation to see where capital letters are required in those file names. Be aware that wiki pages change first letter to a capital even when a file that must be all lower-case is being described.
• Cumulus 1 is reasonably tolerant of numbers using a comma to separate the integer and decimal part of real number.
  • MX 3.0.0 will accept both decimal commas and decimal full stops in the standard log files, the extra sensor log files, and the daily summary log file.
  • In all versions of MX, the software expects periods/full stops in .ini files regardless of the locale in use, please see the Cumulus MX Announcements and Download - PLEASE READ FIRST for details, but generally if you want to transfer these files from Cumulus 1 to MX, it is best if you edit them so all decimal numbers have a "." between the integer and decimal parts.
• In individual articles, any differences in the precise content or format within individual files will be highlighted.

Moving Files from MX to Cumulus 1

When Steve Loft designed Cumulus 1, he had no expectation that one day he would create MX, so log files are not backwards compatible.

That said, there are some features in Cumulus 1 that are missing in MX, and there are Cumulus users who have migrated back either on a temporary basis (to use a missing feature before they return to MX) or in a very few cases decided to stay with Cumulus 1 (because they prefer it).