Get rid of these error-popups

[weatherc]

Hi Tom,

Please, get ride of theese damn error-popups what stalls the whole thing until someone clicks the damn OK-button.

I have now "Runtime error 62, Input past end of file". Theese should be logged, not popping up those popups. Many of us runs WXSIM on headless computers and we log in to them only rarely. If not access to remote access when note it it can take some time before it can be "fixed".

Henkka

[Tom Ehrensperger]

Hi Henkka,

I'm not sure how to handle that error when I don't know what's causing it.  I have options to suppress my own message boxes, but this is error is produced by VB, not by anything I wrote.  It's probably something that would prevent the forecast from being made.  It sounds like some file got damaged, but I don't know which one.  Is there anything else in the message?  When did it occur - that is, what was the program doing when it happened?  Can you send a screen shot showing the background?  Please give me whatever information you can so I can try to solve the problem.

Tom

[gwwilk]

They used to drive me mad, too, Henkka.  I was leaving the WXSIM and WXSIMATE programs running 24/7 rather than closing them and opening them just before their scheduled runs.  I now use System Scheduler, http://www.splinterware.com/products/wincron.htm, to open WXSIM and WXSIMATE 5 minutes prior to their scheduled runs.  WXSIM and WXSIMATE are then configured to close after their respective runs.  If this closure fails for some reason, e.g. a damn popup, System Scheduler can not only run programs but kill them as well.  20 min. after WXSIM or WXSIMATE should have closed I have System Scheduler check to see if this actually has happened, and if it hasn't to kill the remnant.  Ergo, no more hung forecasts due to the essentially useless popups.  Sometimes things go wrong with WXSIMATE's downloads and this causes errors in WXSIM that triggers a popup which can be useful in a debugging environment but are a deal-breaker in a production environment.  I agree that an error log with a flag to indicate a new entry while the program gracefully resets or exits would be much friendlier to users, but meanwhile this is my best compromise.  And I find WXSIM too useful not to compromise with its idiosyncrasies.

I also use System Scheduler to run cURL to trigger entries into Jim McMurray's WXSIM Temp. Comparison Script's time-dependent logs.  It works like a charm.

[jahuff]

Good Morning,

I am having a similar problem with pop-ups in WXSIMATE that gwwilk is having. It seems that it's a data problem. I also use System Scheduler to run cURL to trigger entries into Jim McMurray's WXSIM Temp. Comparison Script's time-dependent logs.  It looks like WXSIMATE is not running in auto mode because of this pop-up issue. I just ran it manually and found the pop-up I have attached. I also had one about "buoy data".

I am running the latest version of WXSIMATE.

You can see the results at http://www.johnsnhweather.com/wxcompare.php

Thanks,

John

[jmcmurry]

John,

In the very top box of your screen cap you have what appears to be a coolwx.com url?  My browser won't connect to coolwx.com so maybe that is the problem.  In that box I have

http://www.atmos.albany.edu/weather/data1/surface/sao/12072211_sao.wmo

which I don't believe I have ever changed.  Maybe try that?

- Jim

[jahuff]

Hi Jim,

I have http://www.atmos.albany.edu/weather/data1/surface/sao/12072212_sao.wmo in that line. It looks like I can connect to it.

Thanks,

John

[chucl1932]

Later in the am I am also having problems with the FSU site. L would like to change to the http://www.atmos.albany.edu/weather/data1/surface/sao/12072211_sao.wmo, but I can not find how to change. It must be how  Tom set it up.
Chuck

[weatherc]

I'm not sure how to handle that error when I don't know what's causing it.  I have options to suppress my own message boxes, but this is error is produced by VB, not by anything I wrote.  It's probably something that would prevent the forecast from being made.  It sounds like some file got damaged, but I don't know which one.  Is there anything else in the message?  When did it occur - that is, what was the program doing when it happened?  Can you send a screen shot showing the background?  Please give me whatever information you can so I can try to solve the problem.

Tom,

Sorry, i have no screenshot of it, forgot to take that.

Only text/content of the popup was that "Runtime error 62. Input past end of file."-text, nothing else.
If i not remember totally wrong, it was on top of WXSIM.
Seems to happen for me not very often but every now and then, and of course it can take hours before i note it, often i note by wondering why first forecast's dayname on frontpage are wrong...

I use SystemScheduler, will take a look at it if it can be able to force kill WXSIM/WXSIMATE also with popups open after say 20 min of running.

Henkka

[jahuff]

Hi All,

I am wondering if our problem is related to this  "ARL Ready data - Power Outage this weekend (July 20-22)" problem?

John

[Tom Ehrensperger]

Hi Everybody,

Well, one of these has an easy solution, at least!

The buoy data message is because the buoy data web site was down.  I will try to find a smoother way to handle it, but meanwhile you can cure that by simply unchecking the Buoy Data box.  That data is not particularly critical, anyway (though it's helpful at the beginning of a forecast for coastal sites).

Tom

[Tom Ehrensperger]

The buoy data seems to be back up, so maybe you don't need to uncheck it now.

Tom

[jahuff]

Hi All,

I just did a manual run and everything ran fine, I think we may be out of the woods.

John

[Tom Ehrensperger]

I'm glad the site's back up, but I just did some experimenting using my source code.  I deliberately made the URL wrong to trigger the error.  I indeed got the error message IF I was running it manually OR if I did NOT have the "Suppress Error Messages" box ticked on the Schedule form in WXSIMATE.  In other words, I think the solution is already available right there on that form.  I made this an option because some users might indeed want the message to come up if data is missing (I'm not sure, but I did want it to be an option).

If you have the box ticked, the behavior should simply be that the program quietly moves on without the data.  This particular problem will not produce error messages later in either WXSIMATE or WXSIM, as buoy data is not critical.  I did not just check all the other data types, and it's possible there's a loophole or exception somewhere, but this safeguard already exists as an option in WXSIMATE.

The WXSIM error #62 that Henkka mentioned earlier is another matter.  I currently have no idea how that one happened.

Tom