README Contents 05-21-2003 WeatherLink 5.4V for Vantage Pro and Envoy Please note that WeatherLink version 5.4V ONLY supports the Vantage Pro and Envoy stations. WeatherLink 5.4V will not let you configure a weather station database as a Monitor, Wizard, or Perception. If you attempt to open or convert a Monitor, Wizard, or Perception database, you must allow WeatherLink 5.4V to configure the database for a Vantage Pro or else you will not be allowed to open the station. For information on purchasing the 5.4 upgrade that supports the Monitor, Wizard, Perception, Vantage Pro, and Envoy stations, contact Davis Instruments customer service at (800) 678-3669 or visit our web site at www.davisnet.com. Outside the U.S. and Canada you may have to contact your local dealer. Retrieving Data From the Data Logger (applies only to conversions with Vantage stations from versions 5.0 - 5.1 ) Retrieving Data From the Data Logger The archive memory in your Vantage Pro WeatherLink data logger contains data not used by WeatherLink 5.0 or 5.1, such as UV, solar radiation, and rain rate. Depending on the archive interval, you may have up to 200 days of this data in your logger. Using WeatherLink 5.2 this data can be downloaded and included in your WeatherLink data files. To incorporate this data into your WeatherLink data files: 1. Choose New Station in the File menu to create a temporary weather station folder. 2. Choose Download in the File menu or click on the download icon. WeatherLink will do a full download of all data stored in the data logger. 3. Choose Browse in the Window menu or click on the Browse icon. 4. Scroll to the beginning of the data file, and write down the time and date of the first entry in the database. 5. Open your original WeatherLink station using the Open Station command in the File menu. 6. Choose Browse in the Window menu or click on the Browse icon. 7. Choose Delete Records in the Browse Menu 8. Select the records for all the days following the earliest date in your temporary station database. Note: Do not select the records for the day on which your temporary database begins. We will individually delete the records for that day in the next step. 9. In the Browse Window, you will need to individually select and delete each record in the data base that is dated after the earliest record in your temporary database. 10. Once you have finished with the deleting, choose Download in the File menu or click on the Download icon to download data from the data logger. You should now have records in your data base up to the current time that include all the new information that has been stored in your data logger. 11. You can now delete the temporary station you created in Step 1. Time and Date Formats Supported Use the "Regional Settings" or "International Settings" in the Windows Control Panel. On the Time tab, select either 24 hour or 12 hour (am/pm) mode. You can also select a time separation character (usually it is ":") On Date tab, you can select one of the following date orders in the Short date style: Day-Month-Year, Month-Day-Year, or Year-Month-Day. Other date formats are not supported. You can also select a date separation character (typically it is "/", "-", or ".") Other aspects of Time and Date display are set in the program and can not be changed. Using the Included Sample Templates The master copy of the included sample Templates can be found in the directory "Sample Templates" in the installed program directory. There are several separate website examples in separate sub-directories. It is not intended that all included templates be used at the same time. We recommend that you copy the templates you intend to use into the "Templates" sub-directory in the station directory you intend to use. While this is not required in this release, because only one station at a time can upload to the internet, future releases may allow multiple stations to upload the same template file, which will need to be in separate directories to avoid collisions between the converted HTML files. Each sample template directory contains a file named "Template Description.txt" that describes how to use the templates in that directory and what WeatherLink settings to use. Copyright Notice The images created for upload are generated by version 1.3 of the gd library. The following copyright notice applies only to that feature of the WeatherLink software. COPYRIGHT STATEMENT FOLLOWS THIS LINE Portions copyright 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Funded under Grant P41-RR02188 by the National Institutes of Health. Portions copyright 1996, 1997, 1998, by Boutell.Com, Inc. GIF decompression code copyright 1990, 1991, 1993, by David Koblas (koblas@netcom.com). Non-LZW-based GIF compression code copyright 1998, by Hutchison Avenue Software Corporation (, info@hasc.com). Permission has been granted to copy and distribute gd in any context, including a commercial application, provided that this notice is present in user-accessible supporting documentation. This does not affect your ownership of the derived work itself, and the intent is to assure proper credit for the authors of gd, not to interfere with your productive use of gd. If you have questions, ask. "Derived works" includes all programs that utilize the library. Credit must be given in user-accessible documentation. Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. This software is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty. END OF COPYRIGHT STATEMENT DataSets.dat and DataLists.dat File Structure Each station has its own copy of the DataSets.dat and DataLists.dat files to record information about data values to plot and browse. The file DataSets.dat contains information about all the data values that can be plotted and browsed. This file contains the master list, including sensors that have not been selected in the station configuration dialog. The file DataLists.dat contains information about which variables to make available for plotting and browsing. Format of the DataSets.dat file The file consists of 3 sets of data variables. The first set contains variables related to archived data. The second list contains variables related to daily summary values. The third set contains information about the colors to use with overlay plots. The daily summary variables are not fully implemented. The first line of a data set is the name of the data set. The next lines contain the data variables, one on each line. The end of the data set is marked by a line with a single period ("."). The data variable definition is a tab delimited line with 12 fields. Field Type Comments Full Name Text The full name appears in plot titles Data ID Number This number identifies what data value to retrieve from the weather database. Do not modify this value ! Browser Line 1 Text The first line of the title used in the Browser. Use a "^" to indicate a blank line. Browser Line 2 Text The second line of the title used in the Browser. Use a "^" to indicate a blank line. Browser Width Number Width of the data column in the Browser. This value is in characters, and includes the padding value. Browser Pad. Number Number of spaces to add to the right of numbers in the browser. The Browser Width and Browser Pad values control the spacing and alignment of the browser display. To add padding to Browser titles, use space characters Short Name Text This text is used for the selection buttons in the plot window and in menus. Screen Color Color Value Color to use on the screen Color Printer Color Value Color to use on Color printers B&W Printer Color Value Color (grey scale) to use on Black and White printers Web Color Color Value Color to use on Internet graphics Line Style Number Not implemented While the Color Value is given in decimal in the DataSets.dat file, if it was converted to hex it would have the format 0x00bbggrr. bb, gg, and rr represent the intensities of Blue, Green and Red and can have values between 0x00 (0 = dark) and 0xFF (255 = light). When you use the color selector in the Plot and stripchart, the color selected is used for the Screen color, Color printer color, and Web color. At the same time an equivalent grey-scale color is created for the Black & While printer color. Davis does not provide any support for modifications of this file. The only fields that should be modified are the name and title fields to create custom names, the width and padding fields if the modified titles require them, and the color values if you want greater flexibility (i.e. to use a different color for web graphics). Do not remove or add lines to the DataSets file. If the DataSets.dat file is missing when the station is opened, a new one will be generated with the factory default values. Format of the DataLists.dat file The file consists of 5 lists of data variables. The first list contains variables to appear in the Browser. The second list is not implemented. The third list contains variables to appear in the Plot. The fourth list contains variables to appear in the Strip Chart. The Fifth list contains the Overlay variables. The first line of a data list is the name of the data list. The next lines contain the list entries, one on each line. The end of the data list is marked by a line with a single period ("."). Each list entry consists of two numbers separated by a tab. The first number is the set number (starting with 0) found in the DataSets.data file. The second number is the position within the data set. For example the entry (0 10) is in the 11'th entry in the first data set which is Wind Chill. If this file is missing, a new one will be generated based on the settings in the Station Configuration dialog. Data File Structure What follows is a technical description of the weather database files. This is of interest mostly to programmers who want to write their own programs to read the data files. // Data is stored in monthly files. Each file has the following header. struct DayIndex { short recordsInDay; // includes any daily summary records long startPos; // The index (starting at 0) of the first daily summary record }; // Header for each monthly file. class HeaderBlock { char idCode [16]; // = {'W', 'D', 'A', 'T', '5', '.', '0', 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 5, 0} long totalRecords; DayIndex dayIndex [32]; // index records for each day. Index 0 is not used // (i.e. the 1'st is at index 1, not index 0) }; // After the Header are a series of 88 byte data records with one of the following // formats. Note that each day will begin with 2 daily summary records // Daily Summary Record 1 struct DailySummary1 { BYTE dataType = 2; BYTE reserved; // this will cause the rest of the fields to start on an even address short dataSpan; // total # of minutes accounted for by physical records for this day short hiOutTemp, lowOutTemp; // tenths of a degree F short hiInTemp, lowInTemp; // tenths of a degree F short avgOutTemp, avgInTemp; // tenths of a degree F (integrated over the day) short hiChill, lowChill; // tenths of a degree F short hiDew, lowDew; // tenths of a degree F short avgChill, avgDew; // tenths of a degree F short hiOutHum, lowOutHum; // tenths of a percent short hiInHum, lowInHum; // tenths of a percent short avgOutHum; // tenths of a percent short hiBar, lowBar; // thousandths of an inch Hg short avgBar; // thousandths of an inch Hg short hiSpeed, avgSpeed; // tenths of an MPH short dailyWindRunTotal; // 1/10'th of an mile short hi10MinSpeed; // the highest average wind speed record BYTE dirHiSpeed, hi10MinDir; // direction code (0-15, 255) short dailyRainTotal; // 1/1000'th of an inch short hiRainRate; // 1/100'th inch/hr ??? short dailyUVDose; // 1/10'th of a standard MED BYTE hiUV; // tenth of a UV Index BYTE timeValues[27]; // space for 18 time values (see below) }; // Daily Summary Record 1 struct DailySummary2 { BYTE dataType = 3; BYTE reserved; // this will cause the rest of the fields to start on an even address // this field is not used now. unsigned short todaysWeather; // bitmapped weather conditions (Fog, T-Storm, hurricane, etc) short numWindPackets; // # of valid packets containing wind data, // this is used to indicate reception quality short hiSolar; // Watts per meter squared short dailySolarEnergy; // 1/10'th Ly short minSunlight; // number of accumulated minutes where the avg solar rad > 150 short dailyETTotal; // 1/1000'th of an inch short hiHeat, lowHeat; // tenths of a degree F short avgHeat; // tenths of a degree F short hiTHSW, lowTHSW; // tenths of a degree F short hiTHW, lowTHW; // tenths of a degree F short integratedHeatDD65; // integrated Heating Degree Days (65F threshold) // tenths of a degree F - Day // Wet bulb values are not calculated short hiWetBulb, lowWetBulb; // tenths of a degree F short avgWetBulb; // tenths of a degree F BYTE dirBins[24]; // space for 16 direction bins // (Used to calculate monthly dominant Dir) BYTE timeValues[15]; // space for 10 time values (see below) short integratedCoolDD65; // integrated Cooling Degree Days (65F threshold) // tenths of a degree F - Day BYTE reserved2[11]; }; // standard archive record struct WeatherDataRecord { BYTE dataType = 1; BYTE archiveInterval; // number of minutes in the archive // see below for more details about these next two fields) BYTE iconFlags; // Icon associated with this record, plus Edit flags BYTE moreFlags; // Tx Id, etc. short packedTime; // minutes past midnight of the end of the archive period short outsideTemp; // tenths of a degree F short hiOutsideTemp; // tenths of a degree F short lowOutsideTemp; // tenths of a degree F short insideTemp; // tenths of a degree F short barometer; // thousandths of an inch Hg short outsideHum; // tenths of a percent short insideHum; // tenths of a percent unsigned short rain; // number of clicks + rain collector type code short hiRainRate; // clicks per hour short windSpeed; // tenths of an MPH short hiWindSpeed; // tenths of an MPH BYTE windDirection; // direction code (0-15, 255) BYTE hiWindDirection; // direction code (0-15, 255) short numWindSamples; // number of valid ISS packets containing wind data // this is a good indication of reception short solarRad, hisolarRad;// Watts per meter squared BYTE UV, hiUV; // tenth of a UV Index BYTE leafTemp[4]; // (whole degrees F) + 90 short extraRad; // used to calculate extra heating effects of the sun in THSW index short newSensors[6]; // reserved for future use BYTE forecast; // forecast code during the archive interval BYTE ET; // in thousanths of an inch BYTE soilTemp[6]; // (whole degrees F) + 90 BYTE soilMoisture[6]; // centibars of dryness BYTE leafWetness[4]; // Leaf Wetness code (0-15, 255) BYTE extraTemp[7]; // (whole degrees F) + 90 BYTE extraHum[7]; // whole percent }; Notes: Always check the dataType field to make sure you are reading the correct record type There are extra fields that are not used by the current software. For example, there is space for 7 extra temperatures and Hums, but current Vantage stations only log data for 3 extra temps and 2 extra hums. Extra/Soil/Leaf temperatures are in whole degrees with a 90 degree offset. A database value of 0 = -90 F, 100 = 10 F, etc. The rain collector type is encoded in the most significant nibble of the rain field. rainCollectorType = (rainCode & 0xF000); rainClicks = (rainCode & 0x0FFF); Type rainCollectorType 0.1 inch 0x0000 0.01 inch 0x1000 0.2 mm 0x2000 1.0 mm 0x3000 0.1 mm 0x6000 (not fully supported) Use the rainCollectorType to interpret the hiRainRate field. For example, if you have a 0.01 in rain collector, a rain rate value of 19 = 0.19 in/hr = 4.8 mm/hr, but if you have a 0.2 mm rain collector, a rain rate value of 19 = 3.8 mm/hr = 0.15 in/hr. Format for the iconFlags field The lower nibble will hold a value that will represent an Icon to associate with this data record (i.e. snow, rain, sun, lightning, etc.). This field is not used. Bit (0x10) is set if the user has used the edit record function to change a data value. This allows tracking of edited data. Bit (0x20) is set if there is a data note associated with the archive record. If there is, it will be found in a text file named YYYYMMDDmmmm.NOTE. YYYY is the four digit year, MM is the two digit month (i.e. Jan = 01), DD is the two digit day, and mmmm is the number of minutes past midnight (i.e. the packedTime field). This file is found in the DATANOTE subdirectory of the station directory. Format for the moreFlags field The lowest 3 bits contain the transmitter ID that is the source of the wind speed packets recorded in the numWindSamples field. This value is between 0 and 7. If your ISS is on ID 1, zero will be stored in this field. WindTxID = (moreFlags & 0x07); Time values and Wind direction values in Daily Summary records These values are between 0 and 1440 and therefore will fit in 1 1/2 bytes, and 2 values fit in 3 bytes. Use this code to extract the i'th time or direction value. See below for the list of i values. fieldIndex = (i/2) * 3; // note this is integer division (rounded down) if (i is even) value = field[fieldIndex] + (field[fieldIndex+2] & 0x0F)<<8; if (i is odd) value = field[fieldIndex+1] + (field[fieldIndex+2] & 0xF0)<<4; A value of 0x0FFF or 0x07FF indicates no data available (i.e. invalid data) The time value represents the number of minutes after midnight that the specified event took place (actually the time of the archive record). The wind direction bins represent the number of minutes that that direction was the dominant wind direction for the day. Index values for Daily Summary Record 1 time values Time of High Outside Temperature 0 Time of Low Outside Temperature 1 Time of High Inside Temperature 2 Time of Low Inside Temperature 3 Time of High Wind Chill 4 Time of Low Wind Chill 5 Time of High Dew Point 6 Time of Low Dew Point 7 Time of High Outside Humidity 8 Time of Low Outside Humidity 9 Time of High Inside Humidity 10 Time of Low Inside Humidity 11 Time of High Barometer 12 Time of Low Barometer 13 Time of High Wind Speed 14 Time of High Average Wind Speed 15 Time of High Rain Rate 16 Time of High UV 17 Index values for Daily Summary Record 2 time values Time of High Solar Rad 0 Time of High Outside Heat Index 1 Time of Low Outside Heat Index 2 Time of High Outside THSW Index 3 Time of Low Outside THSW Index 4 Time of High Outside THW Index 5 Time of Low Outside THW Index 6 Time of High Outside Wet Bulb Temp 7 Time of Low Outside Wet Bulb Temp 8 (Time value 9 is not used) Index values for Dominant Wind direction bins in Daily Summary Record 2 N 0 NNE 1 NE 2 ... NW 14 NNW 15