WDL v3 Released

Archive Weather Display Live Discussion/Questions
1

v3 of Weather Display Live has just been released on the Weather Display website. Enhancements to this version include -

Forecast display - if you’re using a Davis VP
Improved graphing component
Solar and UV graphs - if you have the sensors and are showing the instruments
30 day graphs for rain, wind, pressure and temperature
Option to combine Windchill and Temp on a graph
Total number of graphs available is now 17
Improved loading routines including a preloader that works properly :slight_smile:
Option to show rainrate in inches/hr
Italian language
New look buttons
New look dropdown menus
Webcam viewer
Apparent temperature instrument
Plus a few enhancements behind the scenes

This version requires the latest version of Flash (v7) for your visitors. Included in the download package are files allowing you to check for this when they come to your site. If they don’t have the correct version WDL will not load or display incorrectly.

If you are upgrading a current installation you’ll need to add the following to your config file to use the new features -

in the configuration section add


0
1

0
9




120


50
262
0
100


temp

And this line in the txtRainRate tag -

0

These tags and their use is explained in the configuring WDL pdf file.

There is now a third clientraw text file called clientrawdaily. This includes the data which only changes once a day and consequently reduces the upload bandwidth required by WDL. If the 30 day graphs are not displaying correctly make sure you are using at least WD v10.18t and that the clientrawdaily file is being produced correctly. If you use WD FTP you’ll also need to use a new real time ftp vers 3.2 from http://www.weather-display.com/downloadfiles/clientrawrealtimeftp.zip, but its also inluded in the latest version of WD (which is now 10.18u to add the windspeed last 30 days).

Julian

2

Is there any way of checking for the correct version of Flash and offering a download if it’s not the correct version all from the same HTML file? My WDL is embedded into my main web site and it’s messy to provide multiple links into the viewer that people might not follow.

Perhaps there’s a PHP page which will do it all in one? If there isn’t a page that does this, I’ll have a think about how to do this.

3

You could try putting the flash_detection.swf at the top of the WDL page but I doubt this would be reliable as it would depend upon the order which the client browser processed the page - it may be worth a try. Alternatively there are 3rd party components, such as Browserhawk for asp, which will detect Flash versions, but that component certainly relies upon a redirect to the correct page. Another option is you could try putting the WDL page in an iframe on the test page. I didn’t change any links on my site but just renamed the WDL page and gave the Flash detection page the original WDL page name. You can stop search engines from indexing the WDL page (so viewers have to go through the test page) by adding this code between the tags -

If you’re happy to rely upon your visitors having javascript turned on then you could use the script here -
http://www.johngaltstools.com/learn/fp/a003.asp

Julian

4

How does flashtest.html call the WDL page (if the correct Flash version is installed) or the offer of installation (if it isn’t). I think it’s done by…

flash_detection.swf?flashContentURL=index.html&altContentURL=flashno.html

Does flash_detection.swf call index.html if the right version is installed and flashno.html if it’s not?

It’s difficult for me to test this, because I’ve got the right version of Flash installed!

5

That works with the right version of Flash installed, so hopefully my hunch is correct. This way appears to work OK on my site as well :smiley:

6

Yes that’s correct! I tried to explain it in the configuring_wdl.pdf file but I’ll re-word it better for the next release. :oops:

Julian

7

Documentation :roll: I hope you’re not suggesting I’m the kind of person who needs to read doc files? Never in all my years of computer usage have I been so insultified. Doc files are for other people to read :wink: :wink:

8

I forgot to mention another neat feature of the graph - if you are looking at a graph with 2 traces and find the legend is obscuring the display you can now simply click and drag it out of the way :slight_smile:

Julian

9

Noticed with the released version that my hi-low of heat index is missing now.

The beta didn’t have it missing…

The first tag below is what should be providing this… The other two are there.

	<txtHeatMinMax>
		<x>398</x>
		<y>365</y>
		<show>1</show>
		<size>100</size>
	</txtHeatMinMax>
	<txtWindChillMinMax>
		<x>458</x>
		<y>365</y>
		<show>1</show>
		<size>100</size>
	</txtWindChillMinMax>
	<txtTempMinMax>
		<x>515</x>
		<y>335</y>		
		<show>1</show>
		<size>100</size>
	</txtTempMinMax>

junk26.gif

10

But the 0 isn’t explained (I can’t find it). What does it do?

11

If you want to display rain rate /hr change the value to 1 -

1

If you want it /min change to 0 (the default) -

0

This must match the setting in WD to work correctly.

Julian

12
Noticed with the released version that my hi-low of heat index is missing now.
The min/max for heat index only appears above 17 degree C. I haven't changed this part of the code in v3.

Julian

13

Didn’t know that. I only noticed now, because its been cool around here the last few days.

14

Hi
I would just like to say a BIG thankyou to Julian for all his hard work!!!