X-Git-Url: https://wylark.com/src/infoex-autowx.git/blobdiff_plain/ef0f21f960c930243323816ca4f99f98f3a8bf1a..e5c785f4ece402e97e1b3a2bad5dbde1732a52dc:/README.md

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e450275..edd134b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ This program fetches data from an NRCS SNOTEL or MesoWest station and
 pushes it into the InfoEx system using the new automated weather system
 implementation.
 
-License under the ISC license (see file: LICENSE).
+Licensed under the ISC license (see file: LICENSE).
 
 Disclaimer
 ----------
@@ -35,13 +35,26 @@ This design allows you to run a separate program instance for each NRCS
 or MesoWest weather station from which you'd like to automate the
 importation of data into your InfoEx subscriber account.
 
+To get started, copy the included example config file
+(`config.ini.example` in the root source directoy) and modify the values
+for your own use.
+
 To run ad-hoc (be sure to activate the virtual environment, as detailed in the
 Installation section):
 
-`./infoex-autowx.py --config [path/to/config-file.ini] [--dry-run]`
+`./infoex-autowx.py --config path/to/config-file.ini [--dry-run] [--log-level debug|info|warning]`
+
+**NOTE: Specifying --dry-run will not clean up the generated CSV file.**
+This is so that you can more easily debug any issues that arise in the
+setup process.
 
-**NOTE: Specifying --dry-run will also not clean up the generated CSV
-file.** This is so that you can debug any issues more easily.
+You can also specify `--log-level` as debug, info, warning. The
+log messages produced by the program will try to be logged to journald,
+but if that's not available, they will be printed to stdout. This output
+can be helpful early on in the setup process.
+
+Automation
+----------
 
 Here's an example of a crontab(5) with two SNOTEL sites, each of which
 will run once per hour (note that this will activate the virtual environment
@@ -124,7 +137,7 @@ Once you've chosen your elements, combine all of their respective
 "elementCd" values into a comma-delimited string and put that into your
 configuration file as the `desired_data` value.
 
-A complete example:
+A complete [station] section example:
 
 `[station]`  
 `type = nrcs`  
@@ -160,12 +173,12 @@ you want to import data. Here are the steps to do that:
 
 https://developers.synopticdata.com/about/station-variables/
 
-The MesoWest API supports on-the-fly unit conversion, so that can be
-specified to infoex-autowx via the configuration option `units`. This
-can be either 'english' or 'metric', with 'english' meaning imperial
-units as used in the United States.
+The MesoWest API supports on-the-fly unit conversion. If desired, that
+can be specified to infoex-autowx via the configuration option `units`.
+This can be either 'english' or 'metric', with 'english' meaning
+imperial units as used in the United States.
 
-A complete example:
+A complete [station] section example:
 
 `[station]`  
 `type = mesowest`  
@@ -178,6 +191,47 @@ indicates that I'd like to import "Temperature" and "Precipitation
 accumulated" from the MesoWest station at Santiam Pass, OR, into InfoEx,
 and that I want that data in imperial units.
 
+A note on supported measurements
+--------------------------------
+
+While this program supports several measurements, and will faithfully
+request all of the ones you specify (provided they're supported), the
+weather station may not record them. In this case, the data will simply
+be ignored (i.e. it will NOT log "0" when there's no measurement
+available).
+
+
+InfoEx provides a mechanism for inspecting your automated weather
+station data, so use that after setting this program up and compare it
+with the data you see in your web browser.
+
+Here's the list of measurements currently supported:
+
+**NRCS:**  
+PREC  
+TOBS  
+SNWD  
+PRES  
+RHUM  
+WSPD  
+WDIR  
+
+**MesoWest:**  
+precip\_accum  
+air\_temp  
+snow\_depth  
+pressure  
+relative\_humidity  
+wind\_speed  
+wind\_direction  
+wind\_gust  
+
+Future plans
+------------
+
+- Improve the documentation
+- Implement unit conversion for NRCS stations
+
 Version history
 ---------------
 
@@ -189,6 +243,12 @@ Version history
   hence the major version bump. Such changes are not taken lightly but
   given the desire to support multiple data sources, were necessary.
 
+  Other minor changes include:
+
+  - New switches: --log-level and --version.
+  - Better documentation.
+  - Expanded supported measurement types (from three to eight, in number).
+
 - 1.0.0 (Jun 2020)
 
   First released version. Cleaned up the program and design.