QuakeWatch File Output Client


     The QuakeWatch File Output Client ("QWFileOutClient") connects to a QWServer, receives messages, and outputs them to individual files (one file per message).  The "conf/QWFOutClientConfig.xml" file contains the configuration parameters for the program, including the parameters described below and the connection parameters for the client.  See the "QWConnParams.html" file for a description of the QuakeWatch Connection Parameters.  The QuakeWatch File Output Client distribution contains the following files:

QWFileOutClient.jar - Program "jar" file for the client.
startClient - Unix script for starting the client.
stopClient - Unix script for stopping the client.
startStopClient - Unix script for starting/stopping the client.
run - Unix script for running the client interactively.
run.bat - Windows batch file for running the client.
conf/QWFOutClientConfig.xml - Sample configuration file for the client.
doc/QWFileOutClient.html - This documentation file.
doc/QWConnParams.html - Documentation for the "QuakeWatch Connection Parameters".
test/TestLoginInfoFile.txt - Test file for client-server login authorization.
QWFileOutClientSrc.zip - Source code for the client.

     The program jar file "QWFileOutClient.jar" contains all the resources needed to operate (except for the "conf/QWFOutClientConfig.xml" file).

File Output Client Parameters

     The following parameters are specified in the "<Settings>" element of the "conf/QWFOutClientConfig.xml" configuration file for the QuakeWatch File Output Client (in addition to the QuakeWatch Connection Parameters).

outputMsgFilesDir = "dirname"
     The output directory for message files.  The filenames will be in the form "m###msg.xml", where "###" is the message number for the message.  Additional characters may be added to the filename to make it unique.  When a message is received, it contents are written to a file in the "processMsgFilesDir" directory, and then the file is moved to the "outputMsgFilesDir" directory.  If this parameter is not specified then the value will default to "msgOutput".

processMsgFilesDir = "dirname"
     The process directory for message files.  When a message is received, it contents are written to a file in the "processMsgFilesDir" directory, and then the file is moved to the "outputMsgFilesDir" directory.  If this parameter is not specified then the value will default to "msgProcess".

unpackQWMessageFlag = true/false
     Set 'true' to "unpack" the contents of the "<QWmessage>" element of the received message.  All messages in the QuakeWatch system contain the message data inside of a "<DataMessage>" element surrounded by a "<QWmessage>" element.  If this flag is 'true' then the message data is "unpacked", resulting in the child-elements of the "<QWmessage>" element being written to the message file.  If this parameter is not specified then the value will default to 'false'.  If the "unpackQWMessageFlag" parameter is 'false' then the "unpackDataMessageFlag" and "unpackEQMessageFlag" parameters will be ignored.

unpackDataMessageFlag = true/false
     Set 'true' to "unpack" the contents of the "<DataMessage>" element of the received message.  All messages in the QuakeWatch system contain the message data inside of a "<DataMessage>" element surrounded by a "<QWmessage>" element.  If this flag is 'true' then the message data is "unpacked", resulting in the child-elements of the "<DataMessage>" element being written to the message file.  If this parameter is not specified then the value will default to 'false'.  If the "unpackQWMessageFlag" parameter is 'false' then the "unpackDataMessageFlag" parameter will be ignored.

unpackEQMessageFlag = true/false
     Set 'true' to "unpack" the contents of the "<EQMessage>" element of the received message (if found).  Messages in the ANSS-EQ-XML format will contain an "<Event>" element surrounded by an "<EQMessage>" element.  If this flag is 'true' then the message data is "unpacked", resulting in the "<Event>" element being written to the message file (the other child-elements of the "<EQMessage>" element are not included).  If this parameter is not specified then the value will default to 'false'.  If the "unpackQWMessageFlag" or "unpackDataMessageFlag" parameter is 'false' then the "unpackEQMessageFlag" parameter will be ignored.

prependDeclarationFlag = true/false
     When this parameter is set to 'true', the content of all outputted messages will be preceded by the value of the 'prependDeclarationText' parameter.  If this parameter is not specified then the value will default to 'false' (no prepended text).

prependDeclarationText = "text"
     When the 'prependDeclarationFlag' parameter is set to 'true', the content of all outputted messages will be preceded by the value of the this parameter.  If this parameter is not specified then the value will default to "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>\n" (the standard XML declaration).  Note that to specify this text in the configuration file, the open and close bracket characters must be substituted with "escaped" codes, as follows:  "&lt;?xml version=\"1.0\"?&gt;\n"


Note:  For this client, the 'maxServerEventAgeDays' parameter defaults to 0.000001.  This value effectively disables the fetching (at startup) of old server messages if none were previously received, while still enabling the fetching of messages sent since last previously-received message.

2/11/2008 - Eric Thomas, Instrumental Software Technologies, Inc. - info@isti.com