VISUALWEATHER Weather Station Software

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1. If VisualWeather reports are filling up a hard drive, what can be done?

   If the computer’s hard drive is filling up, check the C:\\Campbellsci\\VisualWeather\\sys\\bin\\ogs folder. This folder contains the communication logs created by VisualWeather, which can grow quickly. All of the files in this folder can be deleted. To delete the files, it may be necessary to stop VisualWeather temporarily to prevent some files from remaining open.

   If the VisualWeather Reports folder (typically C:\\Campbellsci\\VisualWeather\\Reports) is filling up with old reports, delete any reports that do not need to be saved.

   To prevent automatic report creation, follow these steps:

   1. On the main VisualWeather screen, click the Reports menu and select Batch Reports….
   2. The Batch Report Schedule window will open. The batches listed here can be either manually run or run on a schedule. Batch reports are often used to add additional reports to a website generated by VisualWeather.
   3. The far right column of the table is labeled Next Report Time.
   • If there is a time stamp in the cell of this column, then the report is being run automatically.
   • If Manually Generated is displayed in the column cell, then the batch is only run when the Run button is clicked.
   4. For each listed batch report that is automatically run, select the report by clicking it.
   5. Click the Edit… button.
   6. The Batch Report Selection window will open. In the middle on the bottom, there is an area labeled Output As. These are the output options for the batch reports.
   • The batch reports that have the Web option checked are transmitted to the designated website.
   • The batch reports with the .bmp or .jpg boxes checked are created in the VisualWeather Reports folder. To prevent the batch from creating these reports when it is run, clear the .bmp and .jpg checkboxes.
   7. Click the Save Batch button.

   If all the .bmp and .jpg checkboxes are cleared, no reports should be saved in the VisualWeather Reports folder unless a batch is manually run.

2. What should be done in the VisualWeather program if the website data is not updating?

   Make sure that the station is set up to collect data automatically:

   • From the main VisualWeather screen, select the Collection Status link, and verify that automatic collection is set up.
   • Verify that the Pause Scheduled Data Collection for All Stations box is not checked.

   If data collection needs to be set up, edit the station using the Weather Station Network link on the main VisualWeather screen.

3. Using VisualWeather, how can more reports be added to the website of a weather station?

   Add reports by following these steps:

   1. On the main VisualWeather screen, click the Reports menu and select Batch Reports….
   2. On the Batch Reports Schedule screen, click the New… button.
   3. On the Batch Report Selection screen, select a weather station.
   4. Select a Report Type option.
   5. Select the Generate According To Schedule option.
   6. In the Interval field, set an interval, such as 1 hour.
   7. On the right side of the screen, checkboxes are selected based on what data is available from the station. Select or clear reports by checking the boxes.
   8. In the Output As: section, check the Web box.
   9. Click the Create Batch button.
   10. Enter a name for the batch.

   When the batch runs, files are created in the web folder, transferred automatically via FTP to the website, and added automatically to the web page. They are listed as additional options on the drop-down report that is displayed after clicking the weather station name in the top left corner.

4. What determines which information is displayed on the active and passive screens?

   When a station is created in VisualWeather, either a station is selected that VisualWeather knows about or VisualWeather is told about a custom station that has been created. Part of this process involves telling VisualWeather what data is being collected at the station.

   Based on the station information, VisualWeather maps the data from the station to controls that can display that data. This data is displayed when the station data is viewed by either of these methods:

   • Connecting to the station and looking at Current Conditions (active monitoring)
   • Clicking the Station Data link on the main screen (passive monitoring) 
5. Where is there an available trial version of VisualWeather?

   The method for obtaining the fully functional 30 day trial version is slightly different for current Campbell Scientific customers and for those who are currently not customers. Both methods are described below.

   For current Campbell Scientific customers, follow these steps:

   1. If not already logged in, log in to the Campbell Scientific Customer Center.
   2. If not already viewing the list of VisualWeather downloads, navigate to the Downloads section of the Support tab on the VisualWeather product page.
   3. Click the Download Now link to the right of the title to start the download.
   4. Save the file to a location that is memorable.
   5. When the download is complete, browse to the selected location where the installation file was saved.
   6. Double-click the file to run the installation.
   7. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.

   For those who are not Campbell Scientific customers, follow these steps:

   1. If not already viewing the list of VisualWeather downloads, navigate to the Downloads section of the Support tab on the VisualWeather product page.
   2. Click the Add to List link to the right of the title.
   3. A new screen will open. Complete the fields in the Contact Information section, and click Submit. Note: There is no obligation associated with this process, and this information is not shared with, or sold to, third parties.
   4. An automated email message containing a link for the download, a login username, and a password will be sent to the user-provided email address. These credentials are valid for five days.   
   5. Click the download link in the email message.
   6. Type in, or copy and paste, the username and password supplied in the email message.
   7. After logging in, the download process should begin automatically.
   8. Save the file to a location that is memorable.
   9. When the download is complete, browse to the selected location where the installation file was saved.
   10. Double-click the file to run the installation.
   11. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.
6. Can a trial version of VisualWeather be upgraded or unlocked to become a purchased version?

   No. The purchased version is separate from the trial version. However, any files created using the trial version are stored in the C:\\Campbellsci\\VisualWeather folder and will be available for use when the purchased version is installed.

7. Using VisualWeather version 3.1 and a remote computer, why does a Windows error appear when rolling over objects with hints?

   This is a bug caused by the Delphi development tools used to create VisualWeather. Campbell Scientific released a patch (VisualWeather 3.1.3) that added a control to turn off tool tips (Tools | Options | Show Hints) to work around this bug. To view and download software patches for VisualWeather, go to the Downloads section of the Support tab on the VisualWeather product page.

8. Where can version information for VisualWeather be found?

   For all versions of VisualWeather, the version information is displayed during startup. As an alternative, version information can be viewed through VisualWeather Help:

   1. On the main VisualWeather screen, click the Help menu and select About (VisualWeather versions 2.2, 2.3) or About VisualWeather (VisualWeather version 3).
   2. On the About screen, the version and build information are displayed.
   3. For version details about the VisualWeather components, click the Versions button.
9. How can VisualWeather be used to get data from a weather station to a website?

   There are three steps for transferring data from a weather station to the Web:

   1. Collect the data from the weather station.
   2. Format the data into reports and screens.
   3. Move the formatted screens and reports to a location that can be accessed using the Internet, such as a website.

   Step 1 (collecting the data) is accomplished when the station is created in VisualWeather. The last screen in the setup process is the Scheduled Collection screen. There is a checkbox for enabling scheduled collection and a place to indicate the scheduled collection interval. If the box is checked and the VisualWeather program is running, once every interval the software will access the station, collect the data, and store it in the VisualWeather database.

   Step 2 (formatting the data) is done automatically. When data is collected, the Passive Monitoring screen is automatically updated with the new values. If batch reports are generated on a schedule, those are also done automatically.

   Step 3 (moving the formatted data) is a little more complicated because several elements are required. The first needed element is a place–a location on a web server–where files can be put for later access via the Internet. This requires two things:

   1. There must be a location–disk space on a server–where the VisualWeather program can send the report and screen files. The server will be the host for the files. When Internet users browse to the website’s URL address and request the files, the server will provide them.
   2. There must be an account on the server. VisualWeather sends files to a server using FTP (File Transfer Protocol), which requires that the program have an account with permission to put files on that server. The FTP process requires:
      • the URL (the address) of the server where the space is
      • the user ID of an account that has FTP access to the website (often this can be anonymous)
      • the password for the account
      • the FTP protocol that VisualWeather should use to transfer the files via FTP
      • the destination folder (or the remote folder) on the server where the VisualWeather files will be stored

   After obtaining a location on the server to put the website files and an account on the server to transfer the files via FTP, the next step is to set up the remote location and the VisualWeather program so that they can operate automatically.

   Setting up the remote location requires the transfer of some files via FTP from VisualWeather to the remote location. This process only needs to be done once. The VisualWeather Help describes it this way: “Note:  In order to set up the web page, the user will initially need to copy default.htm and the working directory\\Web\\yui directory to the FTP location. These will not be copied automatically.”

   For example, if the working directory on a computer is C:\\Campbellsci\\VisualWeather\\, the files that need to be sent to the remote site (the “yui” folder and the “default.htm” file) are stored at C:\\Campbellsci\\VisualWeather\\Web\\.

   The yui directory contains all of the javascripting called by the default.htm file used to set up the page on the website and to handle the page features (such as menus and tabbing). Note: It may be helpful to rename the default.htm file to index.htm on the website so that it loads automatically when visitors browse the site.

   After the default.htm file and yui folder are copied to the website, the javascripting contained in them will automatically handle the display and formatting each time the data is collected.

   The final step is to get the web output enabled and the FTP process going. This can be done using the Web Output Options screen:

   1. On the main VisualWeather screen, click the Tools menu and select Web Output Options….
   2. Check the Web Output Enabled box. This will cause VisualWeather to create the components for use in the website screens, such as chart and report images.
   3. Do not change the default location listed in the Local Output Folder field.
   4. Under Output Images Of, select Station Data Screens.
   5. On the lower half of the screen, check the FTP Enabled box. Fill in the address of the website and the ID and password needed to transfer the data from the local output folder to the website via FTP.
   6. Click the OK button.
   7. When exiting the Web Output Options screen, there will be a message indicating that the window needs to remain active for the transfer to work.
   8. Do not close the VisualWeather and data screen; however, they can be minimized.
10. Does VisualWeather work on Windows 7 (64 bit)?

    VisualWeather was tested on Windows XP, Vista, and 7. To date, there have been no reports of customers experiencing problems using VisualWeather on Windows 7 (64-bit).

    To test whether VisualWeather will work in a particular Windows environment, download the 30 day trial version in the Downloads section of the Support tab on the VisualWeather product page.