2009-05-03
Another roasting company wanted to use Typica, but they didn't want to invest in a Mac when they already had a perfectly good PC running Windows XP. That seems reasonable enough to me and since Typica was written with no Mac-isms in the code, it's possible to just recompile the source on Windows and use it. (Typica also works on Linux. No source code changes required.) I've put together this archive with a pre-compiled version of Typica for Windows. Just install NIDAQmx Base (the version appropriate for your DAQ, it's tested with either the NI USB 9211 or the NI USB 9211A), PostgreSQL, then download Typica, run the executable, and start logging your coffee roasting data, managing your coffee inventory, and tracking your batches.
While the vast majority of testing been on the Mac (it's what I use to write the software and it's what I'm using it on every day), I'm told that the Windows version really does work.
2009-02-08
While the example configuration files provided with Typica 1.2 do work, I have just noticed that the table in the single probe example configuration has one column more than is required. What can I say? I use the two probe configuration most of the time. In any event, all that is needed to fix this is to delete line 40 of oneprobe.xml (it should read <column>Air</column>) or download the replacement file here. If downloading, make sure you're downloading the file. Some browsers try to interpret the file and fail miserably.
2009-01-27
Typica is a data logging program that I wrote at Wilson's Coffee & Tea. This new version features support for communicating with a PostgreSQL database and the configuration system has been changed to make it easier to specify more complex user interfaces.
Version 1.2 is available in both source code and Mac OS X binary releases.
The binary release of Typica requires two other pieces of software: PosgreSQL and NI-DAQmx Base.
Typica will work with the National Instruments USB 9211 or USB 9211 A. If the device came with software for Mac OS X, install that software. Otherwise, download and install the appropraite version.
NI-DAQmx Base 2.1 (for USB 9211)
NI-DAQmx Base 3.2 (for USB 9211 A)
To use the database features of Typica, download and install PostgreSQL. Once the software is installed, an empty database should be created. In this example, the database is called inventory, but the name does not matter. This example also uses the user postgres, but if you would prefer to create a different user for Typica to use, this would be the time to do that.
Open Terminal (found in /Applications/Utilities/) and type:
cd /Library/PostgreSQL/8.3/bin ./psql -U postgres (enter password) CREATE DATABASE inventory; \q
Copy Typica and its configuration files to the Applications directory. Open the program. The program should request the information it needs to connect to the database. The host name should be set to localhost. Once you click Connect, Typica will attempt to connect to the database. If a connection is successfully established, Typica will remember the connection details and will attempt to use them in future invokations of the program rather than asking each time it is run. The program will then request a configuration file. Typica comes with two example configurations. These are nearly identical with oneprobe.xml expecting to be connected to a roaster with a single thermocouple and twoprobe.xml expecting to be connected to a roaster with two thermocouples.
At this point, Typica is ready to use for basic data logging. To use the database, some information needs to be entered.
To create the required tables in the database, click Setup Database. Next, click New Roaster and enter a name and number to identify the machine Typica is connected to.
To add green coffee items, click Purchase Green Coffee and enter the purchase details from your invoices. The quantity in stock can be adjusted by clicking Update Inventory. This is most conveniently done when a bag of coffee has been emptied and the number of bags remaining can be entered as the inventory rather than the number of pounds.
An item representing a roasted coffee can be created by clicking New Roasted Coffee Item.
To start roasting coffee, click Roast Coffee. If the database has information on the coffee being roasted, select the New Batch menu and enter the details of the batch. If the database has a roast profile associated with a roasted coffee item, click the Load Profile button. This will result in the target profile being loaded in the logging window. Clicking the Start Batch button will start cause the program to start logging data. The batch info window (now behind the logging window) will be updated with the time the batch was started. When the Stop Batch button is clicked, the logging will stop, the duration of the batch will be entered in the batch info window, and that window will be moved to the top of the stack. Once the weight of the roasted coffee, any desired annotation, and any preliminary approval of the batch has been entered, click the Submit button.
It is possible to create multiple batch info windows (for example, to start a new batch while the previous batch is still cooling). Also, no information about a batch is sent to the database until the Submit button is clicked.
Once the database has information regarding batches of coffee, this information can be retrieved by clicking Batch Log. A table containing details of every batch in the database will be presented. Double clicking on any row will show a window with details of the batch and a pair of buttons. To view the record of the batch, click View profile. The other button sends that record to the logging window for use as a target roast profile.
2008-10-22
Perhaps the most important change for the next release of Typica is that there will be a Mac binary distributed in addition to the usual source code release. With current releases, to use the program it is necessary to install developer tools, download Qt, and figure out how to get the program compiled. Nothing hard, but if you aren't a programmer it can be a little off puting. Starting with the next version of Typica, this will be simplified to installing the software that comes with the DAQ and then downloading and running Typica. That is only planned for Macs mainly because that's what I have to work with. It should work on modern Windows and Linux systems, but you'll have to either compile it yourself or hire someone to do that for you if you want to use those platforms.
Typica will be moving to the Qt 4.4.x series of releases. As of 4.4.3 (possibly earlier) improvements have been made to Qt in two important areas. The scripting environment no longer gets itself stuck as could happen randomly with extended use with the 4.3.x series. Problems with the graphics view architecture have also been fixed, allowing me to go back and get rid of the awful nasty hacks needed to get things to look right. If you tried a previous version of Typica and found it to unbearably awful to look at on your system, this should not be an issue with the next version.
Of course, there are functional changes in the Typica code base as well. So far these are minor things such as bothering to scale the graph when the size of the graph view changes.
There are several other changes that I hope will be ready for the next release, but I'd rather not mention specifics until they are in the code and working rather than have to cut announced features if things don't work out. Watch this space for further details.
2008-08-11
Typica is a data logging program that I wrote at Wilson's Coffee & Tea. I have been using it daily with our roasters. Version 1.1 introduces a scripting engine which allows the interface and data flow to be customized to a variety of roasting configurations more easily than the previous release. Example scripts are included.
Complete source code and documentation for Typica 1.1 is available here. This is what you want if you plan to use the software.
Those only interested in viewing the code can view the documentation. Note, this is not user documentation. This is the program source code and information on how it works.
2008-06-21
Typica is a data logging program that I wrote at Wilson's Coffee & Tea. I have been using it daily at the production roaster and recently got it working with our sample roaster.
Complete source code and documentation for Typica 1.0 is available here.
Those only interested in the source code can view the documentation.
Watch this space for more information.