Author Topic: Newbie question - is this an option? (Read 4672 times)

WelshDragon · « **on:** May 09, 2011, 12:50:02 PM »

Hi Everyone - I'm new to this so please don't laugh at me

What I need to be able to do is this:

We have the Davis Vantage Pro with IP Logger Station at our Lifeboat Station. We are unable to install the Weatherlink software on the PC as it's locked down. The Station is successfully uploading data to the weatherlink.com website (http://www.weatherlink.com/user/tenbyrnl/) and all is good.

Now what we want we want to do is create a custom page on our website (www.tenbyrnli.co.uk) and know that the Weatherlink software can do it for us. I've installed Weatherlink on the Home PC and have it downloading the weather from the weatherlink site by going to Setup --> communications Port --> Web Download. We can't use remote IP etc so that's our only option.

What I can't get it to do it create the templates. I've followed the manual but it refuses to create them in a local folder in the Templates folder within my site.

Anyone got any tips/resolution?

Thanks

Bushman · « **Reply #1 on:** May 09, 2011, 01:58:36 PM »

If by templates you mean .htx files, those should have been on your install disk. WL uses them to generate the .htm files. You ask WL to do that my ticking the Local Option box in the upload function.

WelshDragon · « **Reply #2 on:** May 09, 2011, 02:24:04 PM »

Thanks for the reply! I have the template files on the disk and in a folder which is here:

C:\WeatherLink\TenbyLif\Templates

Now in the local upload option, I have specified that I want them created in a folder within the one above called website, so the path is:

C:\WeatherLink\TenbyLif\Templates\Website

However, when I see the 'Upload Progress' dialog box appear, the Upload Files box is never ticked - all that is ticked is 'Read current data' and both the 'Process Template Files' and 'upload Files' remain unticked. Now to me that means that all that is happening is that it's reading the current info and nothing else.

Any ideas?

johnd · « **Reply #3 on:** May 09, 2011, 04:29:09 PM »

Ben, so you're trying to do this with WL v5.9.3, is it? How have you got access to the Internet Settings with the coms port configured as a web station? Just using Ctrl E?

Basically I think that you're trying to do something that isn't properly supported by WL as yet (for web stations). However, I suspect that you haven't got the 'Download the weather station first' option checked in your profile. If you do check this then things might start to work for the history graphs.

The 'current data' step doesn't seem to have been properly sorted out as yet. It seems impossible to switch it off but it's not directly relevant to web station use which primarily uses archive/historical data and not current data. I think that what's happening is that, as part of the profile processing, WL is still looking for a source of current data even though there's no console/logger to be seen (in the web station context). I suppose in theory that when a web station is set then WL could ask wl.com for the latest available 'current conditions' packet and extract the current values from there. Or it could perhaps use values from the last available archive record. But I'm not sure that either of these options has been implemented yet.

Flag · « **Reply #4 on:** May 09, 2011, 09:01:52 PM »

This does work but you just need to watch how you setup the output as current data in this mode is read direct form the logger/console and of course this is not available via the web download. The downloaded data is generally going to be behind the time by typically up to an hour or so?

So you have copied the template HTX files from the same template directory to your station template directory etc? Even if none of the images are ticked then you should at least be getting a near blank HTM file? Are you getting the HTML file created in the station template folder where the HTX files are located?

WelshDragon · « **Reply #5 on:** May 10, 2011, 03:18:41 AM »

Hi guys - thanks for the help so far . . . . .

No I'm not getting anything in the station template folder at all!

johnd · « **Reply #6 on:** May 10, 2011, 03:53:33 AM »

You need to spell out a bit more exactly what the operating configuration is. eg which version of WL? What local path do you have set? (It's worth trying something very simple like C:\Test just to rule out any permissions problems.) Do you have local saving definitely enabled. etc

Personally I would start off _not_ trying to process a template, but just have the profile set to create a single trend graph like OutsideTempHistory.gif (which is the Outside Temp History of course) and nothing else. Until you can get this working then it's difficult to do any further troubleshooting.

WelshDragon · « **Reply #7 on:** May 10, 2011, 04:28:46 AM »

It WL v5.9.3 and I'm trying to save to a folder in My documents but have also tried c:\Weather Output too with no success. I have set it all up as the manual says and double-checked several times. I am also using Win 7 64bit - are there any know probs there?

I'll have a go at just the trend graph as you suggest and see what happens . . . . . .

Thanks

WelshDragon · « **Reply #8 on:** May 10, 2011, 08:07:02 AM »

Still nothing. I noticed that in the upload progress dialog box, it gets to and ticks 'Read current Data' and then the window closes. Surely I've got current data as when I click 'Browse Station Data' (I've got it downloading automatically via web download option) the data is there up until 12pm. The current/historic data is there as I can access it wether my PC is plugged into my Home Network or not so I just don't get why it won't create the files.

I'm a Computer Engineer by trade but must confess - this WeatherLink software is not the easiest or logical to use!

johnd · « **Reply #9 on:** May 10, 2011, 08:42:44 AM »

Quote from: WelshDragon on May 10, 2011, 08:07:02 AM

I'm a Computer Engineer by trade but must confess - this WeatherLink software is not the easiest or logical to use!

The central problem is I think that you're trying to use WL outside of its expected scope, ie for what amounts to secondary webpage display (in the sense that if you're using a 6555 logger and not connecting to it directly across a LAN then the expectation is presumably that you would use the wl.com data presentations as your source of webpage data (placing the wl.com screens in iframes if necessary) and not also try to use templates.

The way that standard WL template processing is set up (at least in current versions of WL) is that WL automatically expects to be able to contact the logger direct in order to obtain 'current' data. But as per my comments above it obviously cannot do this for a web station.

Davis have tried to stop you even trying to use templates with a web station by greying out the Internet Settings menu option when a web station is set and so this ought to be an indication that web station + templates doesn't work (certainly robustly) at present.

None of this is to say that there might not be workarounds, but use of this combination doesn't sem to be invited at present.

WelshDragon · « **Reply #10 on:** May 10, 2011, 09:15:22 AM »

Hi John

Do you know of any specific workarounds i.e alternative software that I can use to create web pages? I could always import the data into SQL or Access and show the data in a tabular format on the page but I like the look of the guages!

I can't believe how inflexible WeatherLink is. We've spent around £1000 altogether and all we get is the standard www.weatherlink.com/tenbyrnl webpage!

johnd · « **Reply #11 on:** May 10, 2011, 09:47:37 AM »

The limitations you're seeing are unfortunately a consequence of how locked-down the PC(s) on the LAN to which the station is connected seem to be.

The standard way of working with a 6555 logger but needing webpage presentations in addition to those provided by wl.com would be to connect directly to the logger across the LAN and get the data that way.

I'm slightly surprised that you can't get your indirect configuration working nonetheless - I'm sure I've had it working in the past and it sounded like Flag might also have done so. If I get a chance at some point I may be able to take a look but other than an odd minute here and there I'm fully committed at present.

Maybe someone else has some suggestions? But NB: the configuration you're trying to use is an unusual one. Any alternative software _must_ be able to work with web station downloads from wl.com as the data source. Most people won't be familiar with this and may just assume that software that works in other contexts will also work here, whereas chances are that it won't. The only starting point that I'm pretty sure would work will be the Weatherlink DLL (part** of the WL SDK which is downloadable FOC), but that would obviously need to have an application built around it.

**Edit: Sorry I'm misremembering here - it's actually a separate download but in the same DLL/SDK area of the Davis website. But the DLL presumably won't be much use except in a Windows environment.

WelshDragon · « **Reply #12 on:** May 10, 2011, 10:21:06 AM »

Thanks for your help John. I'm gonna goto the station this evening and TRY to get something working over the Network.

I've already downloaded the SDK as I'm developing an Android App for WeatherLink (pretty much like the iPhone App) for myself and several others that have asked me about one so I'll see what I can come up with and let you guys know on here.

Thanks again for your help. Shame we couldn't come up with anything.

Ben

Bushman · « **Reply #13 on:** May 10, 2011, 10:22:34 AM »

Just a SWAG but would something like Teamviewer allow you to have "local" access??

dalecoy · « **Reply #14 on:** May 10, 2011, 11:19:22 AM »

Is there any helpful information in the log file? It usually contains "the software failed to do this" messages if there are problems.

If there are no such messages, consider the possibility that there is some "do this" option that you haven't selected.

Remember that the main purpose of this part of the WeatherLink software is to use a .htx file (which will have a file date of when you edited it), to create a .htm file (which will have a file date of "very recent"). That .htm file, plus the requested images, are uploaded to a web site.

The created images are usually in a folder \\........\WeatherLink\STATIONNAME\Images\Profile1 (or Profile2 or whatever).

Of course, you are asking WeatherLink to also keep local copies of all of this stuff.

Most of us have never tried to get WeatherLink to just produce the local stuff, without doing uploads. Most of us don't have access to WeatherLink.com data, directly through WeatherLink, because WeatherLinkIP is rather new.

Perhaps, since you're familiar with the field, you can step back, consider what WeatherLink was designed to do, and figure out in your situation how to persuade it to do what you want?

WelshDragon · « **Reply #15 on:** May 10, 2011, 01:50:53 PM »

Dalecoy: Thanks for the reply! I think that's what I'm gonna have to do - stand back, think about it and try to come up with a solution.

An update from earlier: I've just visited our Lifeboat Statio where the Weather Station and IP logger are situated with the plan of trying to Setup the same down there but connecting to the Logger over the Network via WeatherLink. Got it all installed and went to Communications Port ans selected Local Device ID and clicked find. Nothing Found! After Several attempts, I then ran an IP Scanner on the Network looking for the IP Address of the logger. Nothing Found!

Web Download is the only thing that seems to work. IP Logger is definitely updating the website and in turn, I'm managing to get WeatherLink to Auto-Download too so have all the data on my PC. What I can't get my head around is if it's downloading the data to my PC, why it can't see the data to create the reports etc? I've even tried uploading them to my website via FTP through WeatherLink but they still don;t get created.

Bushman · « **Reply #16 on:** May 10, 2011, 02:15:01 PM »

SO .wlk files are being created on the local PC? If you FTP those to a remote PC, Weatherlink can use them.

WelshDragon · « **Reply #17 on:** May 10, 2011, 02:59:21 PM »

Yes I've got 2 .wlk files in 2 different locations (C:\Users\Ben\Documents\Weatherlink\TenbyLif and also in C:\WeatherLink\TenbyLif) but they are both named the same and the same sizes in each location. One is called 2011-04.wlk and is 128k in size and the other is 2001-04.wlk and is 42k in size. They seem to change size on each Auto-Download.

How would I go about telling WeatherLink to use these? They are on my Home PC which is the PC I'd prefer to use them on if possible. Are these files what WeatherLink nees to create the Images etc from the Templates?

Bushman · « **Reply #18 on:** May 10, 2011, 03:33:01 PM »

The file name is Year-Month.wlk do the 04 one is for April. Not sure what the other is. And yeah, WL uses those files. You can in fact, open others' files - I do that when someone sends me the wlk file from their station. You just open it and voila! - weather data.

Bushman · « **Reply #19 on:** May 10, 2011, 03:33:53 PM »

You can use this http://www.ruysfamily.com/WLKReaderWriter/WLKAppDownload.html to view the data in the .wlk files, too!

johnd · « **Reply #20 on:** May 10, 2011, 05:21:39 PM »

Quote from: WelshDragon on May 10, 2011, 01:50:53 PM

...so have all the data on my PC.

That's the issue - no you don't have all the data. You have access to the _archive_ data but not to the current data (which is a different category of WL data and necessary to get the templates working fully).

Plus I'm slightly confused about your attempts to reach the logger locally. Didn't you say that the LAN was locked down so that you couldn't do this? Maybe the discovery packets are being intercepted and blocked. If the logger is uploading data to wl.com then it will obviously have acquired an IP address. Did anyone make a note of this IP address when it was originally set up, If so then browsing to that IP address from a PC on the same subnet as the logger should reveal the logger's (very basic) HTML interface. (That doesn't get you too far but would establish that you can contact the logger locally.)

WelshDragon · « **Reply #21 on:** May 10, 2011, 06:24:38 PM »

Yes the LAN is locked down but not as far as the Tech guts at HQ would have us believe it seems

Not sure if you've used the IP Logger before but you don't actually need a PC to set it up (just a Network cable into the Switch) so we never found out what the IP Address was that the logger picked up.

Even though I don't have the current data, the archive stuff which, surely should let the Archive Templates working?

johnd · « **Reply #22 on:** May 11, 2011, 02:33:47 AM »

Quote from: WelshDragon on May 10, 2011, 06:24:38 PM

Yes the LAN is locked down but not as far as the Tech guts at HQ would have us believe it seems

Yes, I was wondering just how far the lock-down could actually go in practice.

Quote

Not sure if you've used the IP Logger before but you don't actually need a PC to set it up (just a Network cable into the Switch) so we never found out what the IP Address was that the logger picked up.

When you first (successfully) use the Find button it does actually report the IP address in a little messagebox. But I'll send you/Steve a link to a utility which can do this outside of WL and which might help further.

Quote

Even though I don't have the current data, the archive stuff which, surely should let the Archive Templates working?

Not necessarily - see my various comments upthread. In the past and except for this particular (and relatively new) web station mode of working, WL has always had access to the current data and it may well be the basic architecture of the WL Internet processes expect this still to be the case. Now maybe the introduction of the web station mode really calls for a complete restructuring of the WL processes, but that the necessary rewrite - which could be far more than a simple tweak - hasn't been done yet.

WelshDragon · « **Reply #23 on:** May 11, 2011, 02:46:45 AM »

Hi John - didn't realise that was you all along!

We didn't actually install WL initially - we just plugged in the logger. When we did install it, we used the Web Download method of getting the data so therefore we never tried the Find button.

That'd be great if you could send that link - prob best if you send it to ben@tenbyrnli.co.uk please as Steve is away in Plymouth all this week on Lifeboat trials. I have already tried a utility I found which was called 'WeatherLinkIP Network Information Utility v1_0' but this just produced the same results as typing "ipconfig /all" at a Command Prompt.

Cheers

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Author Topic: Newbie question - is this an option? (Read 4672 times)