series3-watcher/README.md

A lightweight Python script that monitors Instantel Series 3 (Minimate) call-in activity on a Blastware server.

It scans the event folder, reads .MLG headers to identify unit IDs, and prints a live status table showing:

• Last event received
• Age since last call-in
• OK / Pending / Missing states
• Detected units (no roster required)
• Optional API heartbeat to Seismograph Fleet Manager backend

This script is part of the larger Seismograph Fleet Manager project.

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Requirements

• Python 3.8 (Windows 7 compatible)
• Blastware 10 event folder available locally
• config.ini in the same directory as the script

Install dependencies with:

pip install -r requirements.txt

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Usage

Run the emitter from the folder containing the script:

python series3_emitter.py

The script will:

1. Scan the Blastware event folder for .MLG files (within a max age window).
2. Sniff each file header for the unit ID.
3. Print a status line for each detected unit (OK / Pending / Missing).
4. Optionally POST a heartbeat payload on an interval when API_ENABLED=true.
5. Write logs into the emitter_logs/ folder and auto-clean old logs.

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Config

All settings are stored in config.ini.

Key fields:

• SERIES3_PATH — folder containing .MLG files
• SCAN_INTERVAL_SECONDS — how often to scan
• OK_HOURS / MISSING_HOURS — thresholds for status
• MLG_HEADER_BYTES — how many bytes to sniff from each .MLG header
• RECENT_WARN_DAYS — log unsniffable files newer than this window
• MAX_EVENT_AGE_DAYS — ignore events older than this many days
• API_ENABLED — enable/disable heartbeat POST
• API_URL — heartbeat endpoint
• API_INTERVAL_SECONDS — heartbeat frequency
• SOURCE_ID / SOURCE_TYPE — identifiers included in the API payload
• LOG_RETENTION_DAYS — auto-delete logs older than this many days
• COLORIZE — ANSI color output (off by default for Win7)

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Logs

Logs are stored under emitter_logs/.
Git ignores all log files but keeps the folder itself.

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Versioning

This repo follows Semantic Versioning (SemVer).

Current release: v1.2.0 — rosterless scanning with API heartbeat option.
See CHANGELOG.md for details.

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License

Private / internal project.