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→NOAA style Report Naming
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= NOAA style Report Naming =
The files that hold the report content, have to indicate which month, or year, they cover. This means the file names consist of a fixed [[#The prefix literal|prefix literal]], then a [[#The date modifier between the literals|code representing a date]], and finally the literal ".txt" to confirm to the operating system that the report is a text file.
Microsoft Operating Systems use file extensions (that by default are hidden) to indicate file types,
▲Microsoft Operating Systems use file extensions (that by default are hidden) to indicate file types, so all report names must end with the literal ".txt" toconfirm to the operating system that the report is a text file.
Cumulus (both 1 and MX) allow the prefix, and date specifying, parts of the file name to be customised. '''However, if you use the [[New Default Web Site Information|MX Default Web Site]] or third-party [[:Category:User_Contributions|User Contributions]], then these assume you are using the default configuration settings for the release of Cumulus when they were written.''' For example, this means the date specifier must be purely numerical (to avoid coping with language variants).
The table later will explain all the possibilities for the date specifier. For now, it is important to stress that all parts of the file name are parsed by the date interpreter, and that is why the prefix and suffix to the date specifier must be quoted as literals.
==The prefix literal==▼
* For MX, this means all parts of the file name for the report must be understandable when processed by a C# date format parse.
* The legacy Cumulus uses Delphi to interpret the file name.
<br>
The monthly reports have a default prefix literal of "NOAAMO". Some people have changed this into their own language.▼
For simplicity, the codes recommended by this page will work for both the C# date format parser, and the Delphi interpreter:
# The capital letter "M" is the basis for identifying month (e.g. MM is a 2 digit month number)
# The lower case "y" is repeated to indicate the number of digits to be used to represent the year
# Any fixed text is enclosed by quotes to be treated as a literal.
==Viewing reports locally==
The yearly reports have a default prefix literal of "NOAAYR". I have found Cumulus will actually accept alternatives, you might want to use 'Blwyddyn' (Welsh language) or "Année" (French language) or the equivalent in your language.▼
The local report viewer is able to display these reports, if you customise the file name (because it can find out how you have configured the file name):
Cumulus accepts single or double quotes to define a literal for these report names.▼
* The [[MX Administrative Interface|MX local interface]] report viewers for monthly and annual reports have access to [[Cumulus.ini]]
* The [[Cumulus_Screenshots#View_Menu|Cumulus 1 report viewers]] have access to [[Cumulus.ini (Cumulus 1)]]
So if you are only viewing the reports locally, you can customise the file names.
==Viewing reports on your web site==
==The date modifier between the literals==▼
The configuration file contains information like passwords, so it must not be accessible to your web site. The latest file name for your monthly and annual reports are available by using [[Webtags#Miscellaneous|web tags]] so can be included in a [[Cumulus template file]] that is [[Customised_templates#What_is_meant_by_.27Cumulus_processes_templates.27|processed by Cumulus]] and therefore that information can be passed to your web site.
The default selected by Steve Loft is '''MMyyyy''' and '''yyyy''' respectively (expressed in a way that suits both Cumulus 1 and MX) so the inserted part is all numerical. Here is a table showing the main alternative options for date modifier, and how they look with the fixed literal prefix and the text file type literal suffix as required for the box in settings.▼
As stated earlier, the default web site provided with MX, and third party report viewers for your web site, assume that the files containing the report text are named by the default names. Third party report viewers will also make assumptions about the encoding used, based on the Cumulus default encoding at the time the third party viewer was written, '''that may not''' be the default MX now uses, or the default in Cumulus 1.
If you customise any part of the file name, you must write your own script to be able to interpret the file name to find reports for displaying on your web server. If you want to see these reports on your web server and are not able to write your own scripts, don't modify anything, and skip all instructions about possible alternatives.
▲==The prefix literal==
As stated earlier, although the prefix can be customised as explained below, you must leave these at the default if you are using web pages provided by MX or by third-parties to display these reports on your web site.
▲Cumulus MX accepts single or double quotes to define a literal for these report names.
▲The yearly reports have a default prefix literal of "NOAAYR".
▲The monthly reports have a default prefix literal of "NOAAMO".
▲==The date modifier between the literals==
The default selected by Steve Loft is '''MMyyyy''' and '''yyyy''' respectively (expressed in a way that suits both Cumulus 1 and MX) so the inserted part is all numerical. As already emphasised, you must keep these defaults if you want to use the MX default web pages, or a third-party supplied report viewing script for your web site. The report viewer in both the legacy Cumulus and the current MX release will accept all options shown here.
▲
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
!style="width:150px" | {{Version badge 1}}Delphi Specifier for Cumulus 1.9.x
!style="width:
!style="width:
!style="width:150px" |
!style="width:
|-
|colspan="5" style="background:lightgray;"|Yearly report
|YYYY or yyyy
|yyyy
|This is the default mentioned above, and must be used for standard web page viewers. Only Cumulus 1 is case insensitive, use lower case for full compatibility.
|"NOAAYR"yyyy".txt"
|NOAAYR2010.txt
|YY or yy
|yy
|This represents a 2 digit year number alternative format, if you really feel the need to be different. People using old Microsoft Windows Operating Systems selected this because they needed to keep file names short, at only 8 characters.
|"NOAAYR"yy".txt"
|NOAAYR10.txt
|mmyyyy (or MMYYYY)
|MMyyyy
| This is the standard date specifier, and must be used for any standard web pages for viewing these reports. Note the difference between the case used by MX and the default used by Cumulus 1, that caused some problems for those migrating from Cumulus 1 to early MX releases who kept their cumulus.ini file.
|"NOAAMO"MMyyyy".txt"
|NOAAMO032010.txt
|mmyy (or MMyy or mmYY or MMYY)
|MMyy
|
Note if you are using Cumulus 1: use the legacy software to change the Cumulus 1 specifier, to match the MX one, certainly before you migrate.
|"NOAAMO"MMyy".txt"
|NOAAMO0310.txt
|yyyy-mm (or YYYY-MM)
|yyyy-MM
|
|"NOAAMO"yyyy-MM".txt"
|NOAAM2010-03.txt
|-
|yyyymm (or YYYYMM)
|yyyyMM
| This is a variant on the previous, it just takes the default and then swaps year and month, again this naming format is popular as it results in files being in chronological sequence when listed by file name, again remember that this will not be recognised by any third-party web page script, nor by the MX default web page script.
|"NOAAMO"yyyyMM".txt"
|NOAAM201003.txt
|-
|yymm (or YYMM)
|yyMM
| This is another variant on the previous two used by those who prefer short file names, again this naming format is popular as it results in files being in chronological sequence when listed by file name, again remember that this will not be recognised by any third-party web page script, nor by the MX default web page script.
|"NOAAMO"yyyyMM".txt"
|NOAAM201003.txt
|-
|MMMyyyy (or mmmyyyyy or mmmYYYY or MMMYYYY)
|MMMyyyy
| This alternative, loses the numerical representation of a month, and inserts a short month name instead. For some locales this abbreviated month will end in a full stop (e.g. '''Feb.''' in Australian English), for others it will be just 3 or 4 letters (e.g. ''Feb'' in British English). Of course, the locale might produce the month abbreviation (with or without the full stop) in another language (e.g. '''févr.''' in French).
Although you may feel this provides a more readable file name, remember it will not work with the standard scripts for your web site.
|"NOAAMO"MMMyyyy".txt"
|
|-
|_MMMM_yyyy (other case variants)
|_MMMM_yyyy
| In theory, you could have very long file names, with the full month name. In practice, I doubt if anyone chooses this. It is normally unwise to have unnecessary long file names.
|"NOAAMO"_MMMMyyyy".txt"
|NOAAMO_February_2010.txt (for some English locales)
|}
▲If you migrate from Cumulus 1 (where case does not matter) to Cumulus MX (where case does matter), from version 3.3.0 onwards the NOAA default monthly name if it reads "NOAAMO'mmyy'.txt" (MX believes "mm" '''means minutes''', not month) is changed into "NOAAMO'MMyy'.txt" (which works on both Cumulus 1 and MX).
=A brief history of these reports =
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