CumulusUtils: Difference between revisions

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The goal of ''CumulusUtils'' (abbr: Cutils) is to facilitate website creation for users of CumulusMX without exposure to coding in e.g. PHP or javascript. Having a meteo-website should not be privileged to users with great IT-skills. Making charts should not be demanding for programming skills in SQL or making it otherwise impossible to create charts without diving deep into the technique involved in CumulusMX (which actually is also the case with SQL).  
The goal of ''CumulusUtils'' (abbr: Cutils) is to facilitate website creation for users of CumulusMX without exposure to coding in e.g. PHP or javascript. Having a meteo-website should not be privileged to users with great IT-skills. Making charts should not be demanding for programming skills in SQL or making it otherwise impossible to create charts without diving deep into the technique involved in CumulusMX (which actually is also the case with SQL).  


''CumulusUtils'' positions itself as a configurable application for which the understanding of how to run it and how to configure it is the most important thing to know. For configuration ''CumulusUtils'' uses ''cumulusutils.ini'' file which resides in the CumulusMX directory. All other files related to ''CumulusUtils'' are in the utils directory.
''CumulusUtils'' positions itself as a configurable application for which the understanding of how to run it and how to configure it is the most important thing to know. For configuration ''CumulusUtils'' uses [[Cumulusutils.ini|''cumulusutils.ini'']] file which resides in the CumulusMX directory. If that file does not exist, it will be created. All other files related to ''CumulusUtils'' are in the utils directory.


== Assumptions ==
== Assumptions ==
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== Output ==
== Output ==
The output of ''CumulusUtils'' consists of mainly of text files (extension: .txt) which are generated on demand. In Cutils idiom [[modules|''modules'']]. These text files can be incorporated in a website the user has or is making. Ultimately when using the [[website generator]] feature,  ''CumulusUtils'' generates a complete website, uploaded to the user domain and extendable through a [[user defined  menu]]. When using the [[Charts Compiler|''Charts Compiler'']], the user can define his own charts and place the output where he wants just like other modules.
The output of ''CumulusUtils'' consists of mainly of text files (extension: .txt) which are generated on demand. In Cutils idiom [[modules|''modules'']]. These text files can be incorporated in a website the user has or is making. Ultimately when using the [[website generator]] feature,  ''CumulusUtils'' generates a complete website, uploaded to the user domain and extendable through a [[user defined  menu]]. When using the [[Charts Compiler|''Charts Compiler'']], the user can define his own charts and place the output where he wants just like other ''modules''.


== Installation ==
== Installation ==
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                 CumulusUtils Usage : utils/bin/cumulusutils.exe [args] (args case independent):
                 CumulusUtils Usage : utils/bin/cumulusutils.exe [args] (args case independent):
                   utils/bin/cumulusutils.exe
                   utils/bin/cumulusutils.exe
                       [SysInfo] [Forecast] [StationMap] [UserReports]
                       [[[SysInfo]]] [[[Forecast]]] [[[StationMap]]] [[[UserReports]]]
                       [pwsFWI][Top10][Graphs][Yadr][Records]
                       [[[pwsFWI]]][[[Top10]]][[[Graphs]]][[[Yadr]]][[[Records]]]
                       [NOAA][DayRecords][AirQuality][CompileOnly]
                       [[[NOAA]]][[[DayRecords]]][[[AirQuality]]][[[CompileOnly]]]
                       | [Thrifty] All
                       | [[[Thrifty]]] [[All]]
                       | CheckOnly
                       | [[CheckOnly]]


                 OR (in case you use the website generator):
                 OR (in case you use the website generator):
                   utils/bin/cumulusutils.exe [Thrifty] Website
                   utils/bin/cumulusutils.exe [[[Thrifty]]] [[Website]]


All modules mentioned in the  command will be described in their own pages here on the wiki and when available will be linked from here.
All ''modules'' mentioned in the  command will be described in their own pages here on the wiki and when available will be linked from here.


The commands represent the modules the user is asking for to be generated. The output is generated to the utils directory in the CumulusMX directory. When asking for the generation of the website, the user not only gets all modules available but also an ''index.html'' file accompanied with some javascript infrastructure. Everything together then is the website which, when copied to the webroot, is ready for use.
The commands represent the ''modules'' the user is asking for to be generated. The output is generated to the utils directory in the CumulusMX directory. When asking for the generation of the website, the user not only gets all ''modules'' available but also an ''index.html'' file accompanied with some javascript infrastructure. Everything together then is the website which, when copied to the webroot, is ready for use.


Copying to the webroot can also be done automatically through the FTP account of the user, much like CumulusMX itself copies e.g. the realtime.txt or the datafiles to the webroot. The FTP account and domain used are the same as present in the [[Cumulus.ini]] configuration.
Copying to the webroot can also be done automatically through the FTP account of the user, much like CumulusMX itself copies e.g. the realtime.txt or the datafiles to the webroot. The FTP account and domain used are the same as present in the [[Cumulus.ini]] configuration.


'''NOTE''': comments to this series of articles is welcome either by direct edit of the article (request an account) or by [https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=9016 PM HansR] via the forum.
== Additional remarks ==


[[Category:WebTools]][[Category:User Contributions]]
#As CumulusUtils itself runs in the Cumulus directory, the data directory (data) is one level below. CumulusUtils currently uses dayfile.txt, the monthly logfiles and incidentally the alltime.ini file. It also takes information from Cumulus.ini.  All output is written to the utils/ subdirectory. All logs are created in the utils/utilslog/ subdirectory.
#The output of CumulusUtils consists of UTF8 encoded text files. They can be brought to your website manually through some ftp tool (e.g. WinSCP) or by using the Extra Web Files functionality in the setting of Cumulus (deprecated) or by using the [[Internal FTP facility]].
#In case of problems there exists a [[Cumulusutils logfile]]. In case of problems you can check for yourself or ask on the forum with the log file as attachment. All logfiles are to be found in the directory utils/utilslog/ - which is automatically created if it does not exist - and they will have the name: ''yyMMddHHmmcumulusutils.log'' which sorts easily alphabetically. So that would be e.g. 2005271332cumulusutils.log. This gives the possibility to run CumulusUtils many times per day and if you find a problem later in one of the major runs at midnight, you still have that log. Logs will be kept for 2 days, giving you enough time to save the log you want to save. Errorlogging is governed by two inifile parameters: ''NormalMessageToConsole'' and ''TraceInfoLevel''. See the page on [[Cumulusutils.ini|''cumulusutils.ini'']].
 
'''NOTE''': comments to this series of articles is welcome either by using the Talk feature of the Wiki for that page, direct edit of the article (request an account) or by contacting the author of CumulusUtils [https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=9016 HansR] on the [https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=44 forum] or through PM.
 
[[Category:WebTools]][[Category:User Contributions]][[Category:CumulusUtils]]