WorldWeather Lite (4 Viewers)

[Micropolis]

Hi Dadeo,
thanks for your feedback.

... Is it easy to support #WorldWeather.ForecastProviderImage in WWL? ...

Sure, I don't need more than 30min. for development and test. This option was removed to dissolve the dependency to the skin path media\worldweather\provider. Do we want use the same location here or the media folder? Personally I prefer the first solution, because it makes no sense to save the same images (for WorldWeather Lite and WorldWeather) in different locations.

... I am having problems with some locations...

That's a good point. The API return values of supported weather providers follow different standards (e.g. international weather code or Where On Earth ID), the next provider require the country name, another the city name in a special style (see provider comparison sheet and required input parameters). WorldWeather doesn't have the chance to solve this problem completely. Unfortunately, this can of course lead to the described problems. Let me give a overview of my best practice rules:

• always try to take the English place names without country code abbreviations
• primarily use the international codes (e.g. CAXX0165 from your example)
• use country names, which you can select in the combobox of the configuration dialog (in case entries should be missing, please send me information)
• fill longitude/latitude values, if the parameters cannot be determined automatically

... They will work in one provider but not another (usually not for Weather Underground). I am using v0.2.0. Example: Goderich, Canada...

I can check your example at weekend, currently I do not have access to my development machine and/or HTPC.

... Sometimes city code works with one provider but not another (no results), sometimes WOEID works, sometimes I need to spell 'city' name differently or country code, etc. Is that correct?...

"Correct" is not the right word, here it is more the problem that each provider makes it a little bit different. But these small differences can lead to problems in the sum.

Cheers, Micropolis

 

[Dadeo]

Sure, I don't need more than 30min. for development and test. This option was removed to dissolve the dependency to the skin path media\worldweather\provider. Do we want use the same location here or the media folder? Personally I prefer the first solution, because it makes no sense to save the same images (for WorldWeather Lite and WorldWeather) in different locations.

I agree with using the same location (i.e. World Weather subfolder) I have to apologize though, because I thought WWL installed some new provider images. I completely forgot I had updated World Weather and it had added them. DUH! So I didn't realize my 'request' was actually bigger than I thought - thanks for considering it anyways.

That's a good point. The API return values of supported weather providers follow different standards (e.g. international weather code or Where On Earth ID), the next provider require the country name, another the city name in a special style (see provider comparison sheet and required input parameters). WorldWeather doesn't have the chance to solve this problem completely. Unfortunately, this can of course lead to the described problems. Let me give a overview of my best practice rules:

• always try to take the English place names without country code abbreviations
• primarily use the international codes (e.g. CAXX0165 from your example)
• use country names, which you can select in the combobox of the configuration dialog (in case entries should be missing, please send me information)
• fill longitude/latitude values, if the parameters cannot be determined automatically

I'll be sure to copy those 'best practices' to wiki when we do the docs , but how do you enter longitude/latitude values in WWL?
Maybe it is also important to note that you can get different results when using the 'Detect' button depending what you enter in the City/City Code/Country fields. (at least I can ) I use the comparison sheet a lot - I find it really helpful.

Probably most people just select one location and one provider, and they are good to go. However I like to add the locations of my family and friends around the world, and quite often it is difficult to get accurate weather for all locations from a single provider. So I end up switching providers quite a lot and then forget that provider doesn't work, or does not provide good info, for that location

Ofc India is a good test case because very few APIs work well for locations here other than the major cities. Often even the websites provide only 'observations' from 500-1000 km away even if there is a weather station down the road It's even more annoying when their 'free' API provides quite different data than that provided on the website. But ofc, users like me should 'upgrade' to World Weather because many of the additional providers provide better data for locations outside America/Europe.

 

[Micropolis]

Hi Dadeo,

... So I didn't realize my 'request' was actually bigger than I thought ...

Provider images are supported now, the latest build can be found at the first post of this thread.

... I'll be sure to copy those 'best practices' to wiki when we do the docs ...

The are some more things (e.g. see the discussion here), which must be documented in a understandable way.

... but how do you enter longitude/latitude values in WWL? ...

The best practice overview was for WorldWeather itself, not for the lite version. There is no way to enter longitude/latitude values yet, except you change the location profile in WorldWeather.xml manually.

... It's even more annoying when their 'free' API provides quite different data than that provided on the website ...

Understandable, but it can not be solved by the plugin.

Cheers, Micropolis

 

[vuego]

Cheers, Micropolis. Nice Area 51

Will there be overlay icons on other screens of Titan with, for example current temperature?

I noticed that WorldWeather Lite doesn't respect the language setting in MediaPortal. I've selected English in MediaPortal Configuration - GUI - Languange Settings but the GUI plugin screen is still displayed in Swedish.

 

[Micropolis]

Hi vuego,

... Will there be overlay icons on other screens of Titan with, for example current temperature? ...

I don't know, what you mean. Could you explain me this a little bit more, maybe with a mockup?

... I noticed that WorldWeather Lite doesn't respect the language setting in MediaPortal ...

I'm sure, you have selected the language setting "English (United Kingdom)". That's a bug, I'll correct this asap.

Cheers, Micropolis

 

[vuego]

Yes, I see now that I already have the current temperature right next to the date in Titan
However I remember some skins did also show the weather icon here, like the sun, rain or cloud icon. I'm not sure how well it will fit in Titan though...

I did actually select English (United States) but I guess it's part of the same problem

 

[Micropolis]

Hi vuego,

... I did actually select English (United States) but I guess it's part of the same problem ...

You can fix this for yourself very quickly. The "bug" is not more than the absence of the language file "strings_en-US.xml" (and "strings_en-GB.xml"), you can duplicate the file "strings_en.xml" and after this all must work as expected.

Cheers, Micropolis

 

[guytpetj]

I'm really pleased that team MediaPortal went for a lite version of the World Weather plugin, and that they made it compatible with the full version for easy upgrade.

Great job guys.

 

[vuego]

the absence of the language file "strings_en-US.xml" (and "strings_en-GB.xml"), you can duplicate the file "strings_en.xml" and after this all must work as expected.

Thanks, that works

I noticed that the forecast displays the max and min temperatures but "Current" only shows current Could we get a max + min for today as well?

 

[Micropolis]

Hi vuego,

I noticed that the forecast displays the max and min temperatures but "Current" only shows current Could we get a max + min for today as well?

No, sorry. Actually none of the supported providers publish appropriate values.

Cheers, Micropolis