Preview Version 0.9.13.0 Available – Triggers!
Hello!
I’ve finally managed to finish a first iteration of the new ‘Trigger’ mechanism as well as some smaller additions. I am also trialling an application installer so this preview version will be available both as a zip file but now also as a Windows installer file which can be installed like any other application. I would appreciate it if you could try the installer and report back any problems. In future, once this trial is successful, all versions will be distributed as installer files.
Please note that when you download and run the installer file your browser or firewall/anti virus program might warn you that you are running an unrecognised application. It should however give you the option to ‘Run anyway’ when you click on ‘More info’ or similar. The installer file is signed with my company ‘Code Signing Certificate’ which is in the name of ‘Red Eagle Solutions Ltd’ so this will let you see that it is coming directly from me. As there are many anti virus / firewall programs out there any feedback on this would be much appreciated!
In summary the latest preview version (0.9.13.0) now includes the following improvements:
- Addition of a new ‘Trigger’ mechanism -> This is a big addition – please see below for details
- Auto Video Creation -> user can now specify a custom folder where the video should be created
- Auto Video Creation -> The video can now be auto-deleted after a successful FTP transfer
- Day Sub Folder’ Prefixes -> The subfolders that AllSkEye can created to keep images of one night in a separate folder can now be prefixed with a custom prefix. This is available for both the FITS image archiving as well as the image conversions.
- Settings File Backup -> AllSkEye will now create a backup copy of your settings (in the same folder as the settings) every time the settings are successfully saved. This should hopefully give you access to the latest settings should the original settings file be corrupted. The file will be called AllSkEyeSettings.xml.bak and you can activate it by removing the ‘.bak’ extension at the back.
- Settings Tab -> All settings categories will now initially be collapsed when you open the settings tab. This should hopefully give you a better overview of the available settings (there is more work on the way to make the settings even easier to read).
- The manual has been fully updated to include the above changes
- Application Installer -> AllSkEye Windows installer now also available
Trigger Mechanism
In basic terms the trigger mechanism is a background task that, at regular intervals, checks if certain conditions are met, and if so, activates a script or executable which in turn carries out the action you desire. You can define any number of triggers, each of which will have a condition as well as actions to be carried out if the condition is met (or optionally not met).
At a predefined interval interval, the trigger mechanism checks all triggers and evaluates if a trigger action should be activated. For each evaluation the mechanism:
- Fetches the required input data (e.g. times, weather data, etc.)
- Evaluates the entered trigger condition
- Depending on whether the evaluation results in a ‘Condition is True’ or ‘Condition is False’ outcome, launch an external process (e.g. a script or application) as defined in the settings. Different actions can be defined for ‘True’ and ‘False’ outcomes (although you don’t need to specify both if not required).
For example, a trigger can be set to activate a script or executable:
- At a regular interval e.g. every 60 minutes
- At a specified time each day e.g. every day at midday
- At Sunset or sunrise (or a time offset from sunrise and sunset) e.g. every day 30 minutes after sunset
- When certain weather conditions have been met e.g. when the outside temperature is below 5 degrees
- …
Combinations are also possible e.g. you can define a trigger to run a script if the temperature drops below a certain value OR the humidity exceeds a certain value. The mechanism is not very complicated but please take some time to read through the ‘Trigger’ section in the user manual to fully understand on how to set it up.
As always should you have any questions or problems please get in touch on the support forum!
Kind Regards,
Mike
