Test of new weather sources

[Opus4]

Since weather.com announced that the weather data feed that SageTV uses is shutting down, I have created an updated weather solution that is now ready to test, consisting of a test STV and a JAR library plugin.


Note that this testing requires downloading and manually installing a couple files, so if you are not comfortable doing that, you can just continue using the existing weather solution until the weather.com feed is closed and a downloadable STV update makes the update a little more automatic.


The test files can be downloaded from these links:

Plugin manifest: <link removed; use the downloadable STV update + plugin>

This file should be copied to your SageTV server, not the client. Unzip this file to <SageTV Server Install path>\SageTV (where sagetv.exe is located). Note: this file will replace any existing SageTVPluginsDev.xml file, so if you already have a plugin dev file, add the contents of the downloaded file to your existing file.

Test STV: <link removed; use the downloadable STV update + plugin>

Unzip this file to the <SageTV Install path>\SageTV\STVs\SageTV7 folder.

This file is copied to your server or client, wherever you plan to test this.

When you load the STV, it should prompt you to install the weather plugin if it isn't already installed & it is found in the list of plugins.


The new weather system uses two separate sources:

1. National Weather Service (NWS): this source is only available in the US, providing a more detailed multi-day forecast but no current conditions. Enter your zip code when configuring this source. After entering your zip code, you will have an option to use the same zip code for the Google weather feed.
   
   
2. Google Weather: this source can be used for just about any location around the world, providing the current conditions and a brief forecast for the next few days. Enter a zip code, postal code, city,state, city,country, etc. when configuring this source.

Weather is displayed in the SageTV UI similar to before:

• The Main Menu displays the current condition + temp in the menu header.
• The weather menu displays the current conditions and short term forecast, if the Google weather location is configured.
• If the NWS weather location is configured, the weather menu will have an "Extended Forecast" button; use it to view the detailed forecast for the next several days.

Please post to this thread if you find any problems and thanks for testing.

- Andy

[gplasky]

I followed the instructions. And I get a dialog that says Weather Report now requires the installation of the Google Weather library plugin but it is not yet installed. My choices are Don't show this message again or Check again later.

I've looked in SageTV plugins-All Available Plugins-Library and it's not listed. And it's not listed anywhere else.

I had no other SageTVPluginsDev.xml in the SageTV folder. And I loaded the SageTV7_NewWeather.xml.

Any ideas?



Gerry

[Opus4]

This part isn't clear to me: have you downloaded & installed the zipped SageTVPluginsDev.xml from the first post?

- Andy

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by Opus4

This part isn't clear to me: have you downloaded & installed the zipped SageTVPluginsDev.xml from the first post?

- Andy

Yes.

Sorry-this is on my test Desktop PC client. Maybe I need to do this on the server first? I initially just wanted to test on the PC client.

Gerry

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Sorry-this is on my test Desktop PC client. Maybe I need to do this on the server first? I initially just wanted to test on the PC client.

Hold off on the client installation, then -- I need to double check that I've handled the client side properly.

The server should work, since that is where I'm using it, but if you can wait, leave the server until I fix the client so you still have the same test case as now. Thanks.

- Andy

[gplasky]

Not a problem. As a test I grabbed the jar and put it in place. I was able to configure Google weather and it works. Nice job. I'm removing the jar and will walk thru the install again for the PC client once you check everything out.

Gerry

[Opus4]

Oh! My instructions are wrong/incomplete -- put the SageTVPluginsDev.xml file on your server, then try the client again. Don't put that xml file on the client at all & see what happens.

- Andy

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by Opus4

Oh! My instructions are wrong/incomplete -- put the SageTVPluginsDev.xml file on your server, then try the client again. Don't put that xml file on the client at all & see what happens.

- Andy

Yes-that worked. Thanks. The dialog came up on the client and asked if I wanted to install the plugin.

Gerry

[rickgillyon]

Good, working fine thanks, but the graphics are pretty crappy...

[jusjoken]

Great job... this is sorely needed and is working great so far in my testing.

Any chance that the new API will support us getting the Icon type in a string so we can pull our own graphic like the current API does? It looks like we just get a URL that displays the Google icon. It would be nice to be able to optionally match an icon string to a stored graphic.

The API right now is returning "http://www.google.com/ig/images/weather/sunny.gif"

If that is not a direction you plan to go with this I am sure we can convert the result to map to 36.png to display the existing sunny icon... if so, is there a list available of the possibile icons Google may return.

Thanks
k

[Opus4]

The API for the weather.com feed never really did any icon translation -- they simply provided a number for the filename in the list of icon files they provided. Since there was a predetermined list of icons, it was easy to create replacements.

Both Google and NWS simply provide a URL for the icon; that's all the new API is storing & reporting. No translation of any sort is done by the API or the STV. If you want a different set of graphics, I think you'll need to split the URL to get the filename & use your own replacement.

Maybe I missed it somewhere, but I have seen no definitive list of all possible icons for Google or NWS weather, so I can't tell you what they all are. If you do create your own images + STV customization, some Google searching may return what all the images should be. I suppose if you do that, you could fall back on the URL image if an icon turns up that doesn't have a replacement.

- Andy

[n9cqs]

I'm still using SageMC... will this work for that?

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by n9cqs

I'm still using SageMC... will this work for that?

+1 to that. And can't use Phoenix until some of the capability that has been added using plugins in SageMC shows up in Phoenix....

[n9cqs]

I appreciate Opus4's work to continue weather. This plug-in will be a big help when weather.com pulls the plug.

I am hoping that someone would make up a weather plug-in that will take data from an xml file. I have been successful in downloading xml weather from worldweatheronline.com and storing the XML file on my LAN webserver, so that individual apps and web pages (only one page right now) can get the weather any time they want to from the locally cached copy, but my webserver only hits the net once per hour for weather.

I realize, as has been raised on this forum, that xml is not "created equal"... but xml files are fairly easily translated on the fly by third-party scripts. The other thing that would do is make it possible for a home-based weather station that produces data to feed into a computer to actually be the source of the "local conditions" if someone wished.

Just a few stray thoughts.

Thanks to all for the work that you do. I hope that Sage has a life well into the future, despite the Google acquisition!

Jeff

[Polypro]

Worked fine, thanks O4. Oh my previous icons (Diamond) were so beautiful

P

[tmiranda]

Works for me. Thanks Andy.

[voorhees]

Thanks so much Andy for the update. It looks like it is working fine.

One quick question though just so I understand what we are seeing (and I can explain it to the wife). Is the reason the "Short Term Forecast" is different from the "Extended Forecast" because the first one is coming from Google and the second one is coming from the NWS?

Again, thanks so much.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by voorhees

One quick question though just so I understand what we are seeing (and I can explain it to the wife). Is the reason the "Short Term Forecast" is different from the "Extended Forecast" because the first one is coming from Google and the second one is coming from the NWS?

Yes. And I believe you will find that almost all weather sources have slightly different forecasts.


BTW: I've moved the posts about customizations to the appropriate subforum(s).

- Andy

[gdippel]

I can confirm that the Weather.com plug has been pulled as of 11/5, but thankfully, the new STV and NWS and Google feeds work fine. Thanks Andy. You've saved me and the rest of the SageTV Couch Potato Nation from having to leave our La-Z-Boys to see what the weather is!

[Beaker]

I'm still using v6. Is there any hope for getting this to work?