Sunbird Screenlet (Ubuntu)

[gumm]

Hi all,

I created a screenlet, that I use under Ubuntu to give me real time updates on my weather station at home.
I is written in Python, and makes use of the Screenlets software for gnome.

Here is a link to the relevant page, from where you can download it.

http://www.screenlets.org/index.php/Sunbird

Regards
Gumm

[aadal]

Hi
I have an Ubuntu server going and i am testing out thise.

[gumm]

Hi,

Let me know if it works for you please.
I am not a software developer, and have not tested this on anything other than my own site, so you are my first guinea pig

Regards

[steve]

It's very nice. I want a Vista Gadget like that. Maybe I'll write one...

Steve

[gumm]

Hi Steve,

I am some way down the line to being able to deliver a Yahoo! Widget of the same. Ever since you implemented the realtime.txt functionality things like this got a whole lot easier You may note that in order for this to work nicely I still have to post the following data fields via the regular FTP "Auto Update" functionality:

Code: Select all

<#longitude>|<#latitude>|<#sunrise>|<#sunset>|<#update>|<#location>

I also delimit these fields with a pipe because something like the location may have spaces in the name itself. If somewhere along the line these fields can be added to realtime.txt (in a way that does not break its intended use) that would make using this widget a "one button operation" from Cumulus's side

Vista gadget? not sure I would know how... but the Yahoo one is on its way.

Regards
Jan

[steve]

I don't use Vista gadgets for much, I could switch to Yahoo Widgets

Re: adding those items to realtime.txt - I guess I could. Originally realtime.txt was supposed to be just a very small file that contained the basic current weather data, but it's become much more than that now.

Steve

Edit: By the way: the format of <#latitude> and <#longitude> has changed in the latest 1.8.4 builds, it now has non-breaking spaces (i.e. &nbsp;) instead of spaces. Does this cause you any problems?

[gumm]

Hi Steve, I'll have to check if this parses it OK.
In all cases I don't think it will be a big problem to read the Cumulus version and build (both already included in realtime.txt) and just adjust the way the data is parsed accordingly.

...and there you were, wondering why anybody would want the version number in a realtime upload

[TNETWeather]

Edit: By the way: the format of <#latitude> and <#longitude> has changed in the latest 1.8.4 builds, it now has non-breaking spaces (i.e. &nbsp;) instead of spaces. Does this cause you any problems?

The easiest way is to use decimal formatted coordinates, they don't have spaces in them. Most web based mapping systems prefer decimal format coordinates as well as they are easier to enter and format. One field instead of 3.

[steve]

I realised that it wasn't <#latitude> and <#longitude> I changed, those are decimals, I change the text versions <#LatTxt> and <#LonTxt>.

Steve

[gumm]

Hi all, (although I think "all" is a bit of an overstatement here - I think there is one other Sunbird Screenlet user in the world - if that )

I updated the Sunbird Screenlet to version 0.8.
The direct download link is here: http://www.faqawi.com/sunbird/screenlet ... 0.8.tar.gz
or via the Screenlets project page here: http://www.screenlets.org/index.php/Sunbird

Change log:

• Parses dates better - to determine day/night icons
  Expanded the observation descriptions - this means that all description phrases as listed here http://www.weather.gov/xml/current_obs/weather.php will be mapped to a weather icon
  Expanded the available weather icons, and depreciated the use of Yahoo Icons. All icons are now proprietary and unique to Sunbird
  Added the ability to see the condition descriptions in words. This is useful for debugging. I am struggling to find a definitive list of possible weather condition descriptions from Wunderground, so it may (probably will) happen that a description is not mapped to an icon. If this happens, please mail me and I will include it.

Please give feedback as you see fit

Kind regards
Gumm

[ioxfords16]

Dagsê Jan

This is probably me being a dunce

I have been using your screenlet on Ubuntu since getting my weather station. It is great – baie dankie vir jou inset!

I downloaded at the end of December 2008 - so your latest release I think

One set of data that does not display for me is the rainfall data. It comes out as zero on my screenlet display. I have looked at the realtime.txt data on the web site and the rainfall data does look to be correct there in positions 19, 20 and 21 http://kophill.com/weather/realtime.txt

Everything seems to display OK on http://kophill.com/weather/today.htm

Is there something I maybe made a mess of when installing in Ubuntu, or do you have a clue where I can look? This is not a big deal – would just be lekker to get it working right!

Baie dankie by voorbaat. Lekker dag verder
Groetnis
Stef

[gumm]

Hello Stef,

Wow! Dis heerlik om Afrikaans op hierdie forums te lees! En nogal 'n Ubuntu Screenlet gebruiker ook...

You may not believe this, but it could very well be a bug in my code, and the simple reason why I have not picked it up yet, is because we have not had any rain in a *very* long time. I looked at your data, and it as you say - all good except for the daily rain reporting, and the problem does not lie in the realtime.txt data.

I'll have a look tonight, and report back here soon.

Groete
Jan

[ioxfords16]

en wil jy glo ek kan selfs biltong hier in Oxford koop!

Thanks for checking into this Jan - laat weet as ek kan help.
Lekker aand verder daar in die Kaap! Ek kry sommer heimwee as ek na jou avatar kyk.
Groete
Stef

[gumm]

Hi all,

I released a minor update to the Ubuntu Screenlet (latest version is now 0.85 - available here: http://faqawi.com/sunbird/screenlet/Sun ... .85.tar.gz)
This update removes rounding on the rain-rate, and rain-today fields, which rounded these fields to a single decimal place.
This rounding caused these fields to display 0 when the values are very small, as will be typical for stations that are configured to present these values in inches.
The realtime.txt positions in question are: pos. 9 - current rain rate, and pos. 10 - rain today

Thanks for picking this up Stef

Kind regards
Gumm

[ioxfords16]

Hi Jan

Bakgat ou maat - werk soos 'n droom

Wow - how's that for responsiveness ! Reported at 14h20 and fixed by early evening the same day!

I updated the screenelt and it works like a dream Gumm.

Many thanks for your help. I owe you some beers when I next get to Cape Town

Groete
Stef