Importing temperature curves

[nick_wilko]

Hi, I understand that there currently isn't any way of interfacing directly between the app and a multimeter outputting temperature readings from the roast. But is there any way of importing a temperature curve that has been saved elsewhere (say in excel or .csv file)?

Cheers
Nick

[Danny Hall]

Hi Nick

At the moment, no - all of the formats Roastmaster imports and exports are binary, not text (except for label descriptions). I wrote the import/export system, though, to be flexible so that it could be expanded to add support for something like this.

I can definitely see how this might help a lot of folks. Can you send me a sample CSV file your datalogger outputs?

Danny

[nick_wilko]

Hi Danny,
Thanks for the quick reply. I'm currently using Roast Logger (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/green_bean/coffee/roastlogger/roastlogger.htm) as the go between the computer and the multimeter. This is purely because it is able to record the temp reading automatically at pre determined time intervals and save it to a file once the roast is complete.

I've attached an example .csv output that is produced.

Cheers
Nick.

[Danny Hall]

Hi Nick

Got it. Is your desktop a Mac or PC?

[nick_wilko]

Currently using Mac.

[nick_wilko]

Hi Danny, any progress on being able to import temperature curves that have been saved elsewhere using a datalogger?

Otherwise, any progress on linking up a multimeter via usb to the ipad (using the something like the camera adaptor or something)?

Really enjoying the app!

Cheers
Nick.

[Danny Hall]

Hey Nick

Glad to hear!

Actually, yes - have a look. Just posted it tonight.
http://youtu.be/gAcgcidw-9k

There is still not much in the way of manufacturer support for iOS, but I've learned a lot and there may be loopholes for existing devices. I'll disclose more on the blog soon.

I asked your platform so I could do a little proof of concept test for you and me both. See attached ZIP file.

I did it a couple days after we last spoke, but didn't post it for a few reasons. It's more of a novelty at the moment, certainly not a permanent solution. I plan to get real CSV import code worked into Roastmaster soon.

Here are the drawbacks...
1. You'll need to create a dummy profile to import into as a go-between (you can't import directly to a roast in Roastmaster at the moment). From there, just copy and paste into a roast.
2. I'm going to beef up the swipe selection algorithms for the upcoming probe support. Now folks will have a lot more nodes to deal with, and swipe selecting across that many nodes is slowwwww in the roasting graph.
3. Finally, the app is not yet optimized for that many nodes. I'm working on basing out nodes values for curves, so that thousands of nodes aren't loaded into memory when working in the app.

It won't hurt anything to use it, at worst node-heavy curves might slow it down somewhat, but feel free to experiment. Any problems let me know.

Cheers
Danny

[nick_wilko]

Thanks Danny, for some reason when I import the converted file to dummy profile, it doesn't show up with any nodes.

Am i doing something wrong?

Cheers,
Nick.

[Danny Hall]

So you got the CVE output file?

I based it on the sample you sent, so if the format varies, it might fail. At the moment it's not very smart.

The text file needs to be comma-separated. (Tab delimited won't work). My code just loops through each line looking for "Elapsed". Once it finds that, it tries to build a node from every following line. It separates each line based on the commas, and uses the first value as the time in the format 00:00, then uses the second value as the temp (assuming Celsius).

I'm assuming the output format might be variable, and a little different from the one you sent. If so, let me know what can be expected to change and I can adjust to compensate for that.

[nick_wilko]

Yep got the CSE file. The only difference in the files was the number of data points. I've attached the new file and the CSE for you.

For a quick fix, this seems like a pretty easy process to import the data. Its a really great tool. So thanks again!

Looking forward to more info on the wireless multimeter input!

Cheers,
Nick.

[Danny Hall]

Both of them worked for me, so Roast Logger must be writing out windows style carriage returns that are getting converted to mac/unix style when I download the file.

Try this version with "Windows" selected for line feeds. The code is really simple, so I think this will fix it.

It's easy to do the import, but you still have to copy and paste to the roast. I plan on wiring it right into the import screen, where you'll be able to import it directly into a roast.

Let me know how this works out.

[nick_wilko]

Hmmm, not sure what I'm doing wrong then. It's still not working.

I've created a dummy profile under my roaster. Then I have emailed the cse file to myself so I can open the file on the iPad. It asks if I want to import it to a profile or program, and I choose profile. Then I select the dummy profile that I've created and import. From there the dummy profile gets a new curve, but it doesn't have any nodes.

I've tried it now using the new converter under both Mac and windows settings, but still no luck.

Let me know if there's anything else I can send to help identify the problem.  I'm probably just doing something wrong!

Cheers
Nick

[Danny Hall]

No - I doubt it's you doing anything wrong. As long as you're dragging the file to text field, and getting a CSE output, you're doing it right.

I believe the problem lies in the line endings. Can you ZIP the CSV file first, then send it to me. That will keep any mime decoders from changing the raw format so I can see the raw text that Roast Logger is spitting out. Also, check the output in the app - it will tell you how many nodes it encountered.

You could optionally download one of the CVE files you uploaded to the forum and try that. It would probably be the same format I'm seeing on my end.

We'll get it working! Thanks for the help - this is exactly what needs to happen to weed out the unknowns for the live version.

Danny

[nick_wilko]

Yep you're right! I downloaded one of the csv files i posted to the forum, and did exactly the same thing and it worked!!!

See attached for a zip file containing a couple of csv files as requested.

I won't start spamming the forum to upload and download the files just yet,  .

Cheers,
Nick.

[Danny Hall]

It was a line ending issue coupled with an older string encoding. I should have know that when I saw the crazy symbol where a copywrite symbol should be.

This version uses the older encoding that Roast Logger uses, and tries both line endings to account for files that may have been opened on OS X (and converted in the process) and then saved.

Give this a whirl. Let me know how it works out for you. Thanks for working through this with me!!

Danny