Batch output
The Tethys display is great for outputting data from one set of data, giving you fine scale control over what is output, and instant access to the documents created in the database. However, what if you want to output Tethys data from several different PAMGuard datasets ? You could open each dataset with PAMGuard Viewer, add the Tethys module, then output the Calibrations, Deployments, and Detections. Or you could use the PAMGuard batch processor (version 2.0 or later) to automate the entire process and do the whole lot. This is particularly useful if the outputs take a long time, since the batch processor will run multiple ‘jobs’ sequentially, e.g. over night.
The batch processor is currently a PAMGuard plugin module which is installed separately from the main program. In future releases, it may be incorporated as a core module.
One installed, help pages for the batch processor will be available within the online help. Read the instructions on setting up batch processing for PAMGuard viewer tasks, then configure jobs (sets of PAMGuard data to process) you want to export to Tethys.
In your batch configuration psfx file (yes, you use a psfx file, for controlling Viewer tasks in the batch processor) add the Tethys module if not already present. A list of possible Tethys output tasks will then be added to the the Offline Tasks table. It is quite possible that the check boxes used to select the Tethys tasks will be disabled at this point. Hover the mouse over each task and it will tell you why, so that you can rectify the problem and proceed.The three main reasons why a Tethys task cannot operate are
- The Tethys server is not running.
- Instrument and array information has not been entered correctly
- Required information for the task (such as Deployment abstract information) has not been entered.
- ITIS Species codes have not been entered for Detections and Localisations output.
It is important that you set up the array for each job with correct Instrument / array information. This can be set for each task by right clicking on the appropriate line in the jobs table.
Once all the required information has been entered, you can select the tasks you want to run and start outputting to Tethys. There are a fair number of things that can go wrong at this stage, so it’s important that you check the output either in the Tethys Client, or by opening the PAMGuard datasets in viewer mode to check their Tethys output.
Note that this is very new functionality. Feedback is very much appreciated!