Page has been tested for compliance with INDUSTRY (not MS-only) standards, using the free, publicly accessible validator at validator.w3.org. Mostly passes.This page describes the ini file for FW004, the free "Far Watch Watcher" software for windows. (See FW004's main page for general information and help.)
"Far Watch Watcher" is a utility which increases the benefit you get if you have set up an Arduserver... which can cost as little as $16... or have a FarWatch webserver.
Or any other web server which includes a line with the data in the right format! (Explained on the FW004's main page. (Link just given, above.))
Here is a tweaked ini file from an instance of FW004 ver19305. I doubt that anything here would "disturb" an earlier version of the software. Some entries would be ignored! But not cause nuisance. I don't think.
Lines beginning with a semicolon... like...
;This is a comment
.. the above are merely comments. The computer will ignore them.
There are very few critical lines.
We start with three items which require quite a bit of discussion. After that, things become much easier!
In MainElements, "IPAddr=" is critical. That gives FW004 half of where to go for the webserver with the data. No "http://" needed, as you can see.
If you are having a little trouble getting FW004 to work, put...
sheepdogguides.com
into your ini file. Do not put a slash "\" or "/" after it.
(The easiest way to put it in the ini file is via the "Watched" URL" box on the main window of the application. And you must click the "Save Settings" button, when you've done that. Read on for a moment to learn more.
Also put a suitable entry on the "Page=" line. If you are trying the thing I suggest, use "index.htm". That goes in the "Watched page" box on the interface. (Click "Save Settings".)
Between "IPAddr=" and "Page=", we've told the program to look at...
http://sheepdogguides.com/index.htm
Moving on...
"WhereFmtCodeLineIs=" is critical. If you look at the source of the page returned by the data server, and count down to the line with the data, the number of the line is the number to put after "WhereFmtCodeLineIs=". If you use Firefox to access the server, right-click, choose "view Page Source", the lines are numbered for you. Count the first line as "1". Don't be fooled by any word wrap which splits a long "line" of the source into multiple "lines" on your screen.
The "right" value, for the "standard" Arduserver for FW004, is 8. And you must use a text editor, if you need to change it. Sigh. If using a text editor, to the edit while FW004 is not running.
Happily, it is unlikely that you will need to change the value of "WhereFmtCodeLineIs=". (I will try to get around to making it something you can do with an edit box.) Requests on the back of a $5 very welcome.
A moment ago, I said that if FW004 is being difficult, try "pointing it at" sheepdogguides.com/ssfw004-inifile.htm... the page you are reading!!.
On line 8 of that page, if I haven't messed up since writing this!.... you should find...
1234+1584567-0251<br>
That's a suitable data line!!
The stuff at the end (after the last of the hhhhsttthhhhstttb, after the "...0251" doesn't matter. (It would matter if there were anything on the line before the "1234+158...")
That is a suitable data line... but not a very interesting one. It will always say "1234+1584567-0251". But it will do for testing other aspects of FW004. Once all that is working... shouldn't be hard... then change the "IPAddr=" setting, and see if your server is giving you Good Stuff!
(That line, by the way, would indicate that, at the server....
Whew! That's the tough stuff out of the way!
"SaveToStaticFN=" and "SaveToStaticExt="
They can be modified "the easy way"... i.e. via a running instance of FW004.
The change procedure is a little different from the way you change any other values. Just click on the "Change Image File Destination" button.
Don't try to change the extension used, the ".jpg". If you want to save to, say, "MyImage.jpg", in the same folder the .exe is in, then put "MyImage" in the box on the pop-up window. No ".jpg" Not even "MyImage." (You don't want the "." on the right hand end.
If you want to save the image in a different folder, put the files name AND the path into the pop-up, all in the same box. E.g....
C:\Users\Fred\Documents\Graphics\MyImage
(That assumes that Windows has a user called "Fred", and that he has a "Graphics" folder in his "Documents" folder.
If the folder with the .exe had a folder in it called "TmpImgs", then you could use....
TmpImgs\MyImage
The application will tell you if you attempt to set an invalid path and filename... and leave the setting as it was before you made the attempt.
Moving on...
The following also appear in the .ini file. They do not, at this time, do anything useful. (The program derives from one for images from an IPCam. It not only repeatedly saved the latest picture in an image file, using a static name, constantly overwriting the previous one, but also saved pictures to files, adding a datestamp to a base name.
SaveToStaticFN=MyFW004GraphImage SaveToStaticExt=.jpg
The text in "WhatSourceIs=" appears on the graph, in the saved image. (And on the screen, on the PC running the application.) It is set interactively.
And that's it for the "MainElements" section!
The "Colors" section has to be configured by hand, using a text editor. Remember to stop FW004 before making changes, save the changes, restart FW004.
Two things can have their colors set...
The horizontal lines go at the level where a temperature datum of 60 degrees Fahrenheit would plot, and at the level where 70° would plot. (These may or may not... I think they will... "adjust", if you change the scaling or offset (see later section)
All of the colors are specified by 6 hex digits. The W3Schools Color Picker is a wonderful tool for getting just the shade you want.
FFFFFF is not a good choice. That's white, and the graphing area background is white.
FF0000 would give you the brightest, most saturated red possible. 00FF00 is green, 0000FF is blue. RGB. Easy.
AColor 0=000000 AColor 1=0000FF
... would make the 60° line black, and the 70° line red. "AColor" for "Axis color".
And then there are....
PColor 0=00A3CC PColor 1=00C000 PColor 2=00CCCC PColor 3=FF0000 PColor 4=00FF00
These set the color of the "Parameter" lines.
You don't, in FW004 ver 19305 get a line for parameter 0, the first hhhh value.
PColor 1 determines the color for the first temperature, 2 the color for the second hhhh value, 3 for the second hhhh, and 4 for the Digital input's state.
I got a bit tricky here.
At the top of the graph, there are four captions. They appear in the color. What those captions are is determined by the entries in this section. You have to use a text editor to change them.
Here's the tricky bit...
Channel 0 and Channel 2 have their colors set by AColor0 and AColor1, and the captions should be "60 deg F" and "70 deg F", because those lines will be in those colors.
Channel 1 and Channel 3 will have their colors set by PColor and PColor1 and 3. (The number synchrony is a COINCIDENCE. I just wanted the two temperature lines "captionable", and the temperature parameters just happened to be channels 1 and 3.)
In the example, the captions for the two data driven lines are rather boring. But suppose you were using this to monitor, let's say, two barrels of fermenting wine. (Nice thought!) The captions could be "Red Barrel" and "Green Barrel".
To change these, you must use a text editor.
I'm not sure if they have any effect in FW004, ver 19305.
Eventually, they will "shift" (offset) and "squeeze" or "stretch" (ScaleFactorx1000) the graphs for each parameter, selectively.
ScaleFactorx1000? If you want, say, to squash the values to 0.8 of what the server reported, you'd set the scale factor to 800.
Note: If you change these, the temperature plots may change... but the 60° and 70° reference lines may fail to move.
Try it! Tell me what you get!
That leaves just...
The entries in WindowsPosnAndSize are managed for you "by the system". It "remembers" how you had your windows arranged, and restores that layout when you restart the application.
If a window "just disappears", have a look at these entries. (There should be three windows on the screen, when FW004 is running.)
I do not think that anything in the "Times" section has any effect on FW004, vers 19305. (They controlled a daily schedule in the application FW004 derives from.)
I do not think that anything in the "OtherParamSettings" section does anything in FW004, vers 19305.. yet. But FW004 is a Work In Progress!
Here's a complete FW004ini.txt for you...
[MainElements] ;The following shows what to do if the server ;responds on port 1200. If in doubt, leave off the ":1200" ;Following 3 items critical... IPAddr=MyArduServer.dyndns.org:1200 Page=index.htm WhereFmtCodeLineIs=8 ;------------------------------------------------------ ;The following gives the name, with, before it, ;optionally, a path. The [name} and path define ;where the application stores the image file with ;a datestamped copy of the graph showing on ;the FW004 screen. SaveToStaticFN=MyFW004GraphImage ;Do not try to change the extension used SaveToStaticExt=.jpg ;=--- ;Appears as part of the text on the saved image WhatSourceIs=Ttures etc in my fishtank ;---- ;I'm not sure that the following 4 have ;any effect on FW004, vers 19305... yet! CodeForTypeOfDataSource=6 HowOftenCrudeControl=3 SaveTo=tmp ;Do not try to change the extension used Extension=.jpg ;=============================== [Colors] ;Colors specified by 6 hex digits, for RGB ;FFFFFF not a good choice if background also FFFFFF (white) ;AColor... color for horizontal lines showing ;scale of Y *A*xis AColor 0=000000 AColor 1=0000FF ;PColor... color for graphing *P*arameter PColor 0=00A3CC PColor 1=00C000 PColor 2=00CCCC PColor 3=FF0000 PColor 4=00FF00 ;================================== [GraphCaptions] Channel 0=60 deg F Channel 1=Tture P0 Channel 2=70 deg F Channel 3=Tture P1 ;================================== [PointPlotting] Offset 0=1 Offset 1=50 Offset 2=1 Offset 3=1 Offset 4=1 Offset 5=1 Offset 6=1 Offset 7=1 ; ScaleFactorx1000 0=8 ScaleFactorx1000 1=1000 ScaleFactorx1000 2=8 ScaleFactorx1000 3=1000 ScaleFactorx1000 4=1000 ScaleFactorx1000 5=1000 ScaleFactorx1000 6=1000 ScaleFactorx1000 7=1000 ;=================================== [WindowPosnAndSize] ;These are managed by "the system" ;If a window "just disappears", have ;a look at these entries. (There should ;be three windows on the screen, when ;FW004 is running) MainLeft=140 MainTop=89 MainWidth=700 MainHeight=481 ; ReadingsLeft=695 ReadingsTop=166 ReadingsWidth=433 ReadingsHeight=388 ; GraphLeft=417 GraphTop=393 GraphWidth=713 GraphHeight=227 ;================================== [Times] ;I do not think that anything in the "Times" ;section has any effect on FW004, vers 19305... StartHr=5 LastHr=21 ;=================================== ;I'm not sure these do anything in FW004, vers 19305 [OtherParamSettings] DataTypeCode 0=1 DataTypeCode 1=1 DataTypeCode 2=1 DataTypeCode 3=1 DataTypeCode 4=1 DataTypeCode 5=1 DataTypeCode 6=1 DataTypeCode 7=1
As ever, please let me know how you get on? In particular, if something wasted your time until you figured out what it did, thanks to a poor explanation above, please let me know, so that the next reader is spared your pain. Please cite the page's URL: http://sheepdogsoftware.co.uk/ssfw004-inifile.htm.
Page has been tested for compliance with INDUSTRY (not MS-only) standards, using the free, publicly accessible validator at validator.w3.org. Mostly passes.
AND passes...
