Map - Users of CumulusUtils

Introduction

One module a user cannot choose is the Map which displays the CumulusUtils users with some basic info, notably the site name, address and latitude/longitude. There are more users but they either did not choose to be on the map or they run Win 7 (which can not do the required HTTP transfer) and do not wish to upgrade.

Operation

There is no specific command for the Map. The map is activated when the user uses data driven modules like pwsFWI or Yadr etc... or when generating the Website for which command the map is implicit. As a last action, CumulusUtils sends a signature file to the meteo-wagenborgen site. A signature file typically looks like this:

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <Station>
   <Name>De Wilgen - Wagenborgen (NL)</Name>
   <Description>Weerstation De Wilgen te 'Wagenborgen (Groningen)</Description>
   <Website>https://meteo-wagenborgen.nl/</Website>
   <Latitude>53.25888888888889</Latitude>
   <Longitude>6.9313888888888888</Longitude>
   <Date>16-04-2021 18:49</Date>
 </Station>

(Currently) once per hour, all existing signature files are read and assembled in the map file which is created and exists on meteo-wagenborgen.nl from where all sites can download it when CumulusUtils is run.

NOTE: The description is taken from the Cumulus.ini parameter LocDesc, This string may NOT contain an ampersand (&).

Output

There is no local output of the map. The file maps.txt exists on meteo-wagenborgen.nl and is downloaded at each run.

Inifile parameters

The Map module has the following parameters:

 [Maps]
 Website=                      => Contains the URL of the website of the user or if he is using modules the URL of one of the modules, preferably pwsFWI
 Participant=true | false      => When true the station appears on the map, when false the Map is skipped and the signature file is not send.
 DoneToday=15-05-21            => Date when the last signature file was sent. 

NOTE: DoneToday is not configurable but is set/read by the application. Any value you put here will be modified. The signature file will not be transferred to the website if the value is today or in the future. So if you want to resend the signature file, it is best to remove this parameter and have it reinitialised by CumulusUtils.

Inner working

Once per hour at hh:45 a program runs on meteo-wagenborgen (a hidden command in CumulusUtils) to actually assemble the map from the signature files.

Signature files are NOT created if any of the following information is not present:

1. Name (which comes from the Cumulus.ini parameter LocName)
2. Website (which comes from the inifile parameter Website)
3. Latitude and Longitude (which are both taken from the CumulusMX configuration Cumulus.ini)

If these are not present a message is written to the logfile and the program exits, no files are uploaded. The user cannot generate a Website (for which the map is compulsory) and can only generate the wanted modules if Participant is set to false. Users without this information do exist so, sorry for them but usage of CumuluUtils then is limited.

Once the signature file is send the user only has to wait until a quarter to and then either manually download the map from meteo-wagenborgen.nl or run CumulusUtils again to do it automatically.