DIADvisor Operation FAQs
In the Sites and Sensors Definition dialog, why is the site picture not completely viewable?
DIADvisor does not resize this dialog or stretch or compress your pictures. Therefore, the image must be sized to approximately 300 x 240 pixels using a photo editing tool such as Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Paint or Microsoft PhotoDraw.
Can I use a rain display interval that is greater than 4 days?
No. The rain display calculation is process-intensive and is limited to four days in order to prevent it from interfering with the application's ability to quickly process newly collected data.
Why can't I register?
Check your DIADvisor CD case for the information you need to fill out the registration window. The fields on the registration screen are not case sensitive but the spelling and punctuation of your customer name must be entered EXACTLY how it appears on your CD label. The customer ID must also be entered the same as it appears on your CD label. And don't forget to select the add-on options you've purchased.
When I try to run DIADvisor why do I get the registration dialog even though I did not reinstall it?
The registration information for DIADvisor 2.51 and earlier is stored in the Registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER. This means is that if you log in as someone other than the user who installed DIADvisor it will not be registered to you. If multiple users will be logging into the machine then each user will need to re-register DIADvisor using the information on the CD case.
NOTE: In version 2.6 we have changed the location where registration information is stored in the registry so
My daily database maintenance routines keeps failing.
DIADvisor is unable to close the database and re-open it with exclusive access. The most likely cause is that Access has been left running with the database open or some other process is keeping the database open. If you are querying from a web server or running an automated report it must monitor the "flag" file to avoid this problem. The flag file is written to the DIADvisor directory as "swatch2.mok" when it is OK to open the database. When the maintenance routine starts, this file is renamed "swatch2.mno" and all active processes must close their connection to the DIADvisor database within 5 minutes to prevent a maintenance failure. Then when "swatch2.mok" reappears the connection may be re-established.
How does notification work on clients?
Notification capabilities and features vary depending on the type of client.
- Ordinary FTP clients receive alarm information from the host; alarms are established and maintained on the FTP host and can only be viewed on the client. However, notification - the action taken in response to an alarm - is established and maintained individually from each client. FTP clients can page, send e-mail, or launch programs in response to an alarm detected on the host.
- Basic LAN clients act only as a display for alarm notification statuses that are set and maintained on the LAN host. Paging, e-mail and other notification actions are not available from the client, but it is possible to view the host's settings LAN clients can acknowledge the host's alarms, if that option is selected on the connection control page.
- Independent clients, whether LAN or FTP, have their own alarm and notification capabilities. Alarms and notifications can be derived from the host, or they can be defined and edited locally. Unique paging, e-mail and program launching can be established for each client. It is not possible to see or to acknowledge the host's alarms from an independent client.
Why do I sometimes see a message saying "Another Uploader May Be Running" when my DIADvisor host re-starts? What do I do?
Running more than one Uploader to the same FTP site at the same time will seriously corrupt the data being downloaded by clients. To be absolutely certain that two instances of the Uploader are not running on the same machine, a 5 minute waiting period is imposed before an uploader can restart automatically. If you are re-booting the machine or are otherwise absolutely sure that no other instance of the Uploader is running, click the "Retry" button and the Uploader will start normally. If you click "Cancel" the Uploader will NOT start!
Why does the FTP Uploader need "read" permissions on the FTP site?
Actually, the FTP Uploader must have full permissions to the FTP site because it may need to read files to determine if another uploader is in use or how far back in time to go to start building data files. It also must be able to overwrite files and delete them as they become obsolete.
How do I configure my system so that DIADvisor starts automatically when I re-boot my machine?
Create a shortcut to the "swatch25.exe" file by rightclicking on it and selecting "Create Shortcut." Then drag this shortcut file into the ..\Start Menu\Programs\Startup folder under the desired user profile. This folder will be located under C:\WINNT\Profiles in Windows NT and under C:\Documents and Settings in Windows 2000. IMPORTANT NOTE: If your normal DIADvisor configuration includes the Uploader or Failover, then shortcuts to "FTPUpload.exe" and/or "Failover.exe" must also be moved to the Startup folder.
Why can't I see the blue overlay on my DIADvisor system?
- First, open the Tasks menu and confirm that Rain Display On and Area Rain Averaging are on.
- Next go to Setup, Rain Displays and be sure that you have a rain display defined and that it rained during the selected display period.
- Go to View, Overlay Grid to confirm that you have an overlay defined. If the grid of lines does not appear, go to Setup, Overlay and define it.
- Be sure that the sensor group containing the precipitation gages is properly assigned. Go to Setup, Sites and Sensors, and click on the Groups Tab. Check that the group containing the rain sensors shows "Rain Overlay" in the operation field.
Keep in mind that rain displays are only calculated 'going forward'; if any of the above items are fixed, the rain overlay display will appear at the next interval, and will not include any of the rain occurring before the most recent interval.
If none of these steps solves the problem, contact DIAD. It will be helpful to know if records are being added to the tables named "Interval" and "IntervalAreaAvg".
