[App] Pocket Forecast 1.2.6

[digitaldon37]

Current Version: 1.2.6

Description: Pocket Forecast is a weather application that supports mutliple locations, multiple languages, QVGA AND VGA display, cached AND user defined updates, customized theme, AND is open source written in Basic4PPC.

Source code and CAB installer at: http://pocketforecast.codeplex.com/

Last update: 1/16/10



Description

Pocket Forecast is a weather application that supports mutliple locations, multiple languages, QVGA AND VGA display, cached AND user defined updates, customized theme, AND is open source written in Basic4PPC.



Features

1. Multiple locations (supports up to ten locations)
2. Finger swipe to scroll through locations
3. Cached weather feeds for each location
4. Skinnable themes - background images, colors & fonts
5. Uses Yahoo/Weather.com RSS feed
6. Open source - written in B4PPC
7. Configurable interval for updating weather feed
8. Integrates with S2U (custom weather setting)
9. QVGA and VGA support
10. Multi-language support
11. Integrates with AppToDate
12. Integrates with Levenum's Today Screen plug-in
13. Pocket PC and PC versions

[OceanSpray]

Hi, nice weather
can u tell me where i get
Requires: http.dll, formlib.dll, FilesEx.dll
also need: .NET3.5 and NETCFv35.Messages.EN.cab

hope can add few features:
WIND <- this one pls :D
RealFeel <-this one no rush :rolleyes:
Presure & ETC

[AthenaLod]

really nice, how about an addition for maps, just the like marsware's weather panel if you've ever used it, there they ask for the URL of the map image and they just keep fetching it.

[bluemetalaxe]

Doesent work:Error Loading Program

[YoLoLo]

Pocket Weather is the commercial name of SBSH's app....

You'd better find another name for this soft...

Why not :
Pocket Hurricane
Pocket Forecast
TTWWY : Take The Weather With You
TTWWU : Take The Weather With U
T2W2U : Same, but more like modern apps... ;) A_C

;)
Hope this will help...

[digidigi123]

Doesent work:Error Loading Program

The same here. I have only NET CF2.0, I think the app need CF3.5

[davehutch]

really nice, how about an addition for maps, just the like marsware's weather panel if you've ever used it, there they ask for the URL of the map image and they just keep fetching it.

If we already have Marsware that doesn't need NET CF3.5, why not just keep this one nice and simple.
Once youo start adding features galore it just get too resource hungry (memory!)

[digitaldon37]

Hi, nice weather
can u tell me where i get
Requires: http.dll, formlib.dll, FilesEx.dll
also need: .NET3.5 and NETCFv35.Messages.EN.cab

hope can add few features:
WIND <- this one pls :D
RealFeel <-this one no rush :rolleyes:
Presure & ETC

Sorry about that - I did not use the correct compiler options when compiling to the Pocket PC platform. I have recompiled and the DLLs were merged into the executable.

I will have to troubleshoot the CF3.5 - I didn't target that framework so it should not asking for that. It may be related to the missing DLLs issue, since both require the B4PPC compiler to use "optimized" options.

I have re-uploaded into post #1 - thanks for testing.

[digitaldon37]

really nice, how about an addition for maps, just the like marsware's weather panel if you've ever used it, there they ask for the URL of the map image and they just keep fetching it.

This sounds like an interesting idea. Do you have a URL for the marsware's weather panel? I am not familiar with this.

[digitaldon37]

Pocket Weather is the commercial name of SBSH's app....

You'd better find another name for this soft...

Why not :
Pocket Hurricane
Pocket Forecast
TTWWY : Take The Weather With You
TTWWU : Take The Weather With U
T2W2U : Same, but more like modern apps... ;) A_C

;)
Hope this will help...

Thanks! I like "Pocket Forecast" and will use that (if it's not in use already). I wrote a wiki application called "Pocket Wiki" so I wanted to stick with the same naming convention.

I don't want to use any application names similar to the great programs A_C writes. I'm not worthy. :)

[OceanSpray]

Alot weird stuff coming out missing \themes\conditions\
and some #.gif files if change the zip code

zip code not working and location code either
only 77095 but no icons show up now
font is out of margin or place
HTC Touch wm6.1 rom

[digitaldon37]

The same here. I have only NET CF2.0, I think the app need CF3.5

I uninstalled Microsoft CF3.5 on my PDA and ran the updated ppcWeather (11/14/08 v.18) - it works for me. That said, applications seem to always work on the developer's systems all the time so that isn't much of a test.

Could you please retest with the updated version?

Thanks to everyone for their help and feedback.

[digitaldon37]

Alot weird stuff coming out missing \themes\conditions\
and some #.gif files if change the zip code

zip code not working and location code either
only 77095 but no icons show up now
font is out of margin or place
HTC Touch wm6.1 rom

Thanks for catching that.

I just tested that and that seems to be a new bug after I recompiled with the "optimized settings" - I am not sure what is causing this because the desktop version doesn't do this. Same code, different target environments.

The weather.ini settings themeDir, httpTimeout, and refreshInterval are getting blanked, but the location ids are not. This is strange...

I am going to have to check with the Basic4ppc support team to see why this is doing this.

[OceanSpray]

Now i got zip code working need some setting
need Theme [default]
but still no icon


LOL need move \theme\default\condition folder out to \theme\
should work like charm and also the theme.ini i dont is that cause

[bluemetalaxe]

your new Version works now

[digitaldon37]

Thanks for catching that.

I just tested that and that seems to be a new bug after I recompiled with the "optimized settings" - I am not sure what is causing this because the desktop version doesn't do this. Same code, different target environments.

The weather.ini settings themeDir, httpTimeout, and refreshInterval are getting blanked, but the location ids are not. This is strange...

I am going to have to check with the Basic4ppc support team to see why this is doing this.

The code is reading a form textbox variable for the settings that were getting blanked out - I'm not sure why some are ok and others are not. As a work-around, I added code to check to see that there is a value for the form textbox before saving it. Uploaded v.19 and am pursuing this on the B4PPC forums.

Thanks for the testing and feedback!

[digitaldon37]

Now i got zip code working need some setting
need Theme [default]
but still no icon


LOL need move \theme\default\condition folder out to \theme\
should work like charm and also the theme.ini i dont is that cause

The first line in the "weather.ini" file should be "themeDir=default". If it says "themeDir=" then won't find the weather icons.

Thanks for the testing feedback.

[OceanSpray]

WOW v.19 work great now no error

misc. need
Multi-switch location
missing "%" on HUMIDITY
(personal) sry no offense dont like degree on WIND :o
Current and Forecast the "Close" can be change to "BACK" :D
delete zipcode or location wont delete cache file

[chuma]

Very good program - thanks!

Take my fixed icons. they look more good in white or black background.
http://slil.ru/26333444

My ini:
themeDir=Chuma
mainWeatherCode=RSXX0091
mainWeatherUnits=c
Location1=RSXX0091
Location2=THXX0015
Location3=THXX0002
Location4=
Location5=
refreshInterval=0
httpTimeout=20

and
Bugs:
- Most does not change a city. I choose Bangkok, but alwys shows Peter (unless hands ini not changed)
- Always go 2 internet then started (why not remember old weather info?)
- Weather details - CURRENT: the inscription "sunrise :..." - incorrect view
- Not work skin color
- In the absence of weather is not an icon (you can put NA icon frommy pack ...)
Feature need:

- Fast switching between the cities of (right-left d-pad, for example)
- Choose to update weather for all or update for concrete city
- Link to Web with a list of cities (GOOGLE helps you) =)
- need radiobutto "DO NOT update on start"
- need option - update when you connect to PC via AS
- In the skins add the ability to install jpeg instead background and buttons
- at weather.exe change icon or name of file (like "Wsynk") for difference with main file.

[OceanSpray]

Very good program - thanks!

Take my fixed icons. they look more good in white or black background.
http://slil.ru/26333444

My ini:


and
Bugs:
- Most does not change a city. I choose Bangkok, but alwys shows Peter (unless hands ini not changed)
- Always go 2 internet then started (why not remember old weather info?)
- Weather details - CURRENT: the inscription "sunrise :..." - incorrect view
- Not work skin color
- In the absence of weather is not an icon (you can put NA icon frommy pack ...)
Feature need:

- Fast switching between the cities of (right-left d-pad, for example)
- Choose to update weather for all or update for concrete city
- Link to Web with a list of cities (GOOGLE helps you) =)
- need radiobutto "DO NOT update on start"
- need option - update when you connect to PC via AS
- In the skins add the ability to install jpeg instead background and buttons
- at weather.exe change icon or name of file (like "Wsynk") for difference with main file.

Nice icon Chuma
icon 20.png only seen the blue fog part, but on PC can see fog ;)

[digitaldon37]

Very good program - thanks!

Take my fixed icons. they look more good in white or black background.
http://slil.ru/26333444

My ini:


and
Bugs:
- Most does not change a city. I choose Bangkok, but alwys shows Peter (unless hands ini not changed)
- Always go 2 internet then started (why not remember old weather info?)
- Weather details - CURRENT: the inscription "sunrise :..." - incorrect view
- Not work skin color
- In the absence of weather is not an icon (you can put NA icon frommy pack ...)
Feature need:

- Fast switching between the cities of (right-left d-pad, for example)
- Choose to update weather for all or update for concrete city
- Link to Web with a list of cities (GOOGLE helps you) =)
- need radiobutto "DO NOT update on start"
- need option - update when you connect to PC via AS
- In the skins add the ability to install jpeg instead background and buttons
- at weather.exe change icon or name of file (like "Wsynk") for difference with main file.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. The theme colors are still on my 'to do' list to implement. I will have to work on the jpeg background option, as I can set the form to load one but then the labels and buttons don't have opacity (so they will cover up the background image)

The caching is something I did as an afterthought - the program attempts to load from the web and if that fails it loads the cache (that is why sometimes your city doesn't switch). I think I'll change it so it loads the cache by default and then update from the web (either manually or if the refresh setting is > 0)

I'm going to start a "suggestions" list and add your comments. Thanks!

[digitaldon37]

WOW v.19 work great now no error

misc. need
Multi-switch location
missing "%" on HUMIDITY
(personal) sry no offense dont like degree on WIND :o
Current and Forecast the "Close" can be change to "BACK" :D
delete zipcode or location wont delete cache file

This is good feedback and I will add to my suggestions list to work on. The caching was an afterthought so that is a good catch on your part to delete the cache for any location/zip that is deleted.

[AthenaLod]

This sounds like an interesting idea. Do you have a URL for the marsware's weather panel? I am not familiar with this.

Thanks for your interest, here you go:
http://www.marsware.net/WeatherPanel/main.htm

[digitaldon37]

Version .20 has been uploaded to the main post.

1. Portrait/Landscape mode (repaint screen when switching between two)
2. Finger-swipe down opens configuration screen (the tiny weather icon is still there until this is fully tested)
3. Button and misc. messaging changes (per suggestions)
4. Cache (if available) is loaded on application start-up - updates can be done manually or configured every X minutes
5. Location cache are deleted if the location/zip code is deleted
6. RetrieveRSS functions (remote/local) rewritten

Next to do: apply theme settings (theme.ini)

[AthenaLod]

This sounds like an interesting idea. Do you have a URL for the marsware's weather panel? I am not familiar with this.

Here are also a couple of screenshots for the skin I am using with weather panel, as there are many. these are zoomable and draggable, and an animation is made with the sequence of downloaded images, you don't have to be that fancy though.

[digidigi123]

I uninstalled Microsoft CF3.5 on my PDA and ran the updated ppcWeather (11/14/08 v.18) - it works for me. That said, applications seem to always work on the developer's systems all the time so that isn't much of a test.

Could you please retest with the updated version?

Thanks to everyone for their help and feedback.

Test the new version, now all works fine.

Thanks

[chuma]

Please DO NOT add a map. There is no need to do another program-monstra. We have hundreds - ALL-IN-ONE of programs.
digitaldon37, your App easy and light. Perfect for me. I dont need meteostation. I just wont to know weather tomorrow. No more

[bluemetalaxe]

i agree with that but a forecast for more than one day is definitly usefull and needed.

[digitaldon37]

i agree with that but a forecast for more than one day is definitly usefull and needed.

A 7-day forecast is planned - this is something I need as well since I do a lot of traveling for my job. (that is why I needed the multiple cities as well)

The Yahoo weather feed only returns 2 days (today and tomorrow) so that is what I am starting off with. However, I noticed that there is another weather application that looks like uses Yahoo weather so I must be using the wrong feed or missing something.

[digitaldon37]

Here are also a couple of screenshots for the skin I am using with weather panel, as there are many. these are zoomable and draggable, and an animation is made with the sequence of downloaded images, you don't have to be that fancy though.

I am going to have to research this to understand how this is implemented. The programming IDE that I am using is kind of a sub-set of VB.NET so I am sure that I would have to develop a DLL library or something.

This will go on my requests list - probably something that would be optional and as a plug-in of some sort.

[AthenaLod]

I am going to have to research this to understand how this is implemented. The programming IDE that I am using is kind of a sub-set of VB.NET so I am sure that I would have to develop a DLL library or something.

This will go on my requests list - probably something that would be optional and as a plug-in of some sort.

i am just throwing ideas in, it will up to you to whether you'd like to implement it or not, i think a plugin might be a good idea.

[davehutch]

Small and light, works fine on my Touch.
Thank you.

Here are the icons I'm using...they are the same size as your original ones (52px x 52px) and are Stardock icons. Chuma also posted but as 48x48
If you want png, let me know.

Looking forward to the theme.ini

[digitaldon37]

Version .21 has been uploaded to the main post.

Changes include:

1. Minor word changes in Details page
2. Added weather icon for code 0 and 3200 (not found)
3. Theme (apply values in theme.ini) for color.

Theme Font Color has not been implemented - that will be in the next version. Background image is also not implemented.

If editing theme.ini, be sure to use the value names that are there (mixed case.) If "FormColor" is saved as "formcolor" or such, this will probably cause strange results. I will implement more robust checking in the next version.

Short term To Do List

1. Theme Fonts
2. Theme Background image
3. Theme error checking (ie load default if encounters a bad theme)
4. Save settings error checking (ie blanking values; remove temp fix)

Requests

1. Fast switching/switch between configured cities
2. Option to auto-synch when connected to PC
3. 7 day forecast
4. Plugin to extend functionality (such as weatherpanel map)

Thanks for the testing, feedback, and suggestions!

[davehutch]

Any chance of a "minimize" function so I can keep it in the background?

[digitaldon37]

Any chance of a "minimize" function so I can keep it in the background?

Good suggestion. While I try to figure out how to capture the "X" on the top form (used to close application) and remap that to a minimize function, I have added an icon on the Weather Details page to minimize to the background in version .22

[digitaldon37]

Version .22 has been uploaded to the main post

Changes include:

1. Theme font colors (see theme.ini - has default and black themes define) added to support theme customization (font & form controls implemented, background image is outstanding)
2. Added minimize function on Weather Details page
3. Default theme colors hard coded in case of invalid theme settings in theme.ini (need to add more robust checking) If editing theme.ini, be sure to use the value names that are there (mixed case.)

Short term To Do List

1. Theme Background image
2. Save settings error checking (ie blanking values; remove temp fix)

Requests

1. Fast switching/switch between configured cities
2. Option to auto-synch when connected to PC
3. 7 day forecast
4. Plugin to extend functionality (such as weatherpanel map)

Thanks for the testing, feedback, and suggestions!

[chuma]

digitaldon37
Please, add version number to achive filename. or include version.txt file...

ps. Wow, good progress! TNX!

[Cascade2]

Anybody have this working on 240x240?

[OceanSpray]

Can some1 export ForecastFox icon to Pocket Forecast theme icon http://forecastfox.mozdev.org/packs/index.html

nice name Pocket Forecast

bug
annoying the full page screen is setting except Icon and Exit box
theme error after change name need to restart, default will give you error too (v20 was working ok)
on Current or Forecast click minimize will work ok then restore P.F. then click BACK will minimize again. :mad:


suggestions
leave the X or OK to minimize :)
Join Top and Today in 1 Square Box (save area)
clicking Top or Today weather will go Current
clicking Tomorrow will got Forecast (or for future 7day forecast)
please delete the Thumb.db(s) from hidden, will save around 65kb from zip :D

[bluemetalaxe]

okay, i played a little with my icons and different colors, when its more skinnable maybe i post a theme. I´m not sure about the icons size, it cuts the edges on the forecast icons when 52 pixel but the actual weather Ìcons is not cut:
http://s3b.directupload.net/images/081116/7atw4xnw.png (http://www.directupload.net)

[digitaldon37]

Can some1 export ForecastFox icon to Pocket Forecast theme icon http://forecastfox.mozdev.org/packs/index.html

nice name Pocket Forecast

bug
annoying the full page screen is setting except Icon and Exit box
theme error after change name need to restart, default will give you error too (v20 was working ok)
on Current or Forecast click minimize will work ok then restore P.F. then click BACK will minimize again. :mad:


suggestions
leave the X or OK to minimize :)
Join Top and Today in 1 Square Box (save area)
clicking Top or Today weather will go Current
clicking Tomorrow will got Forecast (or for future 7day forecast)
please delete the Thumb.db(s) from hidden, will save around 65kb from zip :D

Hi..Thanks for the feedback. Could you post a screen capture of the full page screen set? I do not have any code to enable that so I want to track that issue down. (please post type of PDA, wm version,etc - this might be specific to B4PPC compiler)

I will probably move the minimize button to the top form - I think having it on the child form is causing the issues you described. I am trying to code out touch flow so I can implement: 1) side to side: scroll locations, 2) up: go to config, 3) down: minimize

I will also delete the hidden thumb files to make a smaller zip. I don't know about joining the top current and today - I left a lot of room in the top in case someone lives in a city with a big name. :)

[digitaldon37]

Anybody have this working on 240x240?

This is coded for 320x240 but other screen sizes is on my list to do once I get the basics stabilized. Thanks for testing!

[digitaldon37]

okay, i played a little with my icons and different colors, when its more skinnable maybe i post a theme. I´m not sure about the icons size, it cuts the edges on the forecast icons when 52 pixel but the actual weather Ìcons is not cut:
http://s3b.directupload.net/images/081116/7atw4xnw.png (http://www.directupload.net)

I noticed that I forgot to include the font color for "Tomorrow H:" in applying the theme settings - I'll get that fixed on the next release.

Your theme looks really good. I may want to use that as the theme on my PDA when you are finished with it.

Please let me know if you have any theming suggestions. I am a project manager by trade (not a programmer) so I'm using this project to brush up on my programming skills. If there is an element or control that needs to be added I'll see if I can do it.

[OceanSpray]

2. Finger-swipe down opens configuration screen (the tiny weather icon is still there until this is fully tested)

annoying the full page screen is setting area except Icon and Exit box

Sry for the typo
I mean touch anywhere on the screen go straight to Setting even small area
except the yellow spot and Quit.
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/6181/testwa5.jpg (http://imageshack.us) http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/testwa5.jpg/1/w240.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img403/testwa5.jpg/1/)

HTC Touch WM6.1
ROM v3.03
NET CF 3.5

suggestions
Complete Full Screen ( no top bar and bottom bar)
FLIP (like SBP)
Finger Friendly (got crazy tum)

[digitaldon37]

Sry for the typo
I mean touch anywhere on the screen go straight to Setting even small area
except the yellow spot and Quit.
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/6181/testwa5.jpg (http://imageshack.us) http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/testwa5.jpg/1/w240.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img403/testwa5.jpg/1/)

HTC Touch WM6.1
ROM v3.03
NET CF 3.5

suggestions
Complete Full Screen ( no top bar and bottom bar)
FLIP (like SBP)
Finger Friendly (got crazy tum)

Thanks for the feedback on that. I am currently working on updating the flow code and hope to get that fixed soon.

Good suggestions - I'll add those to my list. I'm not sure I'll be able to create flip but I know the complete full screen is possible (did that as a test and turned it back off)

[digitaldon37]

Version .23 is uploaded to the main post - this is a bug fix for some theme issues.

.23 "theme bug release"
=========================================
- Fixed theme font bug for TomorrowHlabel
- Added error checking for theme value in settings
- Moved minimize feature to main screen
- Added "last refresh time" to main screen

[OceanSpray]

I got the info u looking for more day forecast ( credit to radhoo )
5 Day Forecast
http://xml.weather.yahoo.com/forecastrss?p=94704&d

[davehutch]

This is coming along really nicely, I've already replaced my Vito Weather (4MB) with this one.
Any chance of a better application icon...higher res? Looks nasty

[digitaldon37]

I got the info u looking for more day forecast ( credit to radhoo )
5 Day Forecast
http://xml.weather.yahoo.com/forecastrss?p=94704&d

Thanks! For some reason I couldn't find this - this is just what I was looking for. It looks like it uses the same XML tags as the other feed so I should be able to parse this with no added code.

I'm open for suggestions on how to display this. If and when I add full screen mode (tested already - it works - but it doesn't look right with current UI) it will fit on the main page.

As a quick implementation, I will probably put it in the details page with the rest of the forecast.

I like what iWeather did - another option may be to create a new details page that is similar to that.

[digitaldon37]

This is coming along really nicely, I've already replaced my Vito Weather (4MB) with this one.
Any chance of a better application icon...higher res? Looks nasty

I'll work on that, but if you have one that I could use please PM me. The program icon has to be compiled in.

In the next release the form buttons (quit, save, back) will be user defined images also (gif, png, jpg).

Thanks for everyone's feedback!

[OceanSpray]

small idea (Full Screen)
top info for location ID
black spot is ICON (i can't good 1)
for back and next using small bar (like iwindowsweather scrol)
need transparent font center
for forecast click 4 day more detail

http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/5927/skettv6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[digitaldon37]

Version .24 has been uploaded to the main post.

Changes
- Added themed image buttons (save, quit, close)
- Moved settings, minimize icons to details page
- Removed touch-flow until future release
- Rename PDA executable "Pocket Forecast"
- Added 5 day forecast (thanks OceanSpray!)

Special notes for this release
1. Delete any existing caches (for new 5 day forecast)
2. Settings and minimize buttons have been moved to the details page. Minimize should still work properly (only 1 form instance)
3. Test touch-flo code has been disabled until I get a more robust version working
4. Be sure to copy new images to default theme (if upgrading) and relink previous "ppcWeather" to "Pocket Forecast"

The ability to look up a location id should be coming soon - someone at B4PPC has sent me some code to this this.

[digitaldon37]

small idea (Full Screen)
top info for location ID
black spot is ICON (i can't good 1)
for back and next using small bar (like iwindowsweather scrol)
need transparent font center
for forecast click 4 day more detail

http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/5927/skettv6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Thanks for the suggestion and screen shot. I need to put the full-screen option back on my to-do list (I tested but disabled the code and just forgot about it)

I think I may as a future to-do is write the details page as HTML. This would give anyone with HTML knowledge the ability to make the page any way they want. I did this with a wiki program I wrote so it's not hard to do. I want to wait until I get functionality done and tested before making any more big changes.

Thanks for the 5 day link, it seems that the only difference is an extra parameter and you get the entire 5 days. It made it a simple code change (changing one variable from 2 to 5!)

[OceanSpray]

You Welcome! digitaldon37

u forgot to delete ppcweather.exe

[digitaldon37]

I have uploaded developer's version .25 on the main post.

.25
=========================================
- Added location look-up. Thanks Klaus! (Basic4ppc forums)

I have a few suggestions to implement, but with this release I am going to hold up any changes and give everyone a chance to test and comment. Unless there is a bug fix, I think I will try to wait at least one week before making any more changes.

Thanks everyone! Please keep testing and sending your feedback, and if you have any themes please upload them here.

[digitaldon37]

I have uploaded version .28 to the main post

.28 (11/21/08)
=========================================
- added minimize to Fillipo's menu bar
- added hr bars at top on page 2 & 3
- moved language files to lng directory
- cleaned up UI


.27 (11/21/08)
=========================================
- Added menu bar (Thanks Fillipo!)
- Added language support (Thanks Klaus!)
- organized code into Regions

In the zip file I have included the source code ("weather.sbp") which can be viewed in a text editor, or in Basic4PPC

[OceanSpray]

Some improvement cause few trouble
minor bug v.27
Won't take new location (first time loading, need to restart or keep switching location)
Language change English to Spanish will crash P.F. (first time running, second time no problem)
Cache won't delete
keep re-use last cache if all location is empty
Delete first location (is empty) won't go to second location (keep using last cache)
Some language font out line

Sometime freeze on refresh (refresh second time work fine)
Spanish missing " Ñ " in Mañana
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/7263/stophammermekb4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Can't read that 5days Forecast need different highlight font. o just me!!
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/4454/5dayszm1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

English Check Please :D
Tomorrow, weather, update
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/7043/alphaod8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[digitaldon37]

Some improvement cause few trouble
minor bug v.27


Thanks for catching these bugs. I made a couple of changes that should keep some of what you described from happening.

Version .28.1 is uploaded to the main post


1. Won't take new location (first time loading, need to restart or keep switching location)
2. Cache won't delete
3. Delete first location (is empty) won't go to second location (keep using last cache)

You can no longer delete the first location (you can still change it). When a program encounters a bad location or just loses it (this is happening for some reason - can't figure it out - it's an old bug) then it defaults to "77095" if it can't default to the first location.

1. Language change English to Spanish will crash P.F. (first time running, second time no problem)
2. Some language font out line
3. Spanish missing " Ñ " in Mañana
4. English Check Please Tomorrow, weather, update

I fixed the English & Spanish language files, I haven't been able to recreate the crash, and I made the font smaller so that hopefully it fits in the label.

1. keep re-use last cache if all location is empty

This is part of error recovery that I built in - if it can't read the cache that it is supposed to read, it reads the last one that it knows of. Usually hitting refresh will correct it.

1. Sometime freeze on refresh (refresh second time work fine)

I think this is when it is trying to download from Yahoo weather and times out. I'm still trying to make this more robust

1. Can't read that 5days Forecast need different highlight font. o just me!!

I made the font smaller so that the other languages fit, but you are right it does need different font. There is so much different text that I would want to high-light, I am looking to see if the programming language B4PPC will let me change fonts or if I need to create HTML and display this on a browser control. This is definitely on my to do list.

Hopefully .28.1 fixed most of these bugs and is more stable. Thanks for testing and the feedback.

[digidigi123]

Verry nice update, thanks for your work!!

It's possible, to include also weathericons into the forecast page?

digidigi123

[OceanSpray]

Let's iron those bugs and typos
Minor Bug:
language selection need save and change. not pick and load
entering language kinda lag or slow

Minor Typos:
Español
Sabado = Sábado
Manana = Mañana
Refresh = Refrescar or Actualizar (unsure for this one, i prefer Actualizar)
Viento chill = Viento frío
There r 2 barómetro and missing Visibility = Visibililad
Salida del sol = Amanecer (can change to, prefer Amanecer)
Puesta del sol = Anochecer (can change to, prefer Anochecer)
Abr. high H = Alto A or Máximo Máx (prefer A, but seem most go Máx)
Abr. low L = Bajo B or Mínimo Mín (prefer B, but seem most go Mín)

new idea:
need flag for language
i see no point getting twice stuff
1. File "Setting, Location, Language" (just prefer Settings for all)
2. On top " Location, ETC"
remove the big icon EXIT (i think will save something for later)
Future, can be bottom-top big icon to change Weather Location City (sry can't find better icon)
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9832/backel6.jpg UPdate time http://forum.xda-developers.com/images/icons/icon2.gif
Future, need icon resize for Today and Tomorrow
image or icon clean up
txt clean up
be kind to fix my ID on ur thread

PS Pocket Forecast is getting SUPERB

[digitaldon37]

Verry nice update, thanks for your work!!

It's possible, to include also weathericons into the forecast page?

digidigi123

Yes, I've downloaded some icons and started working on this. I think I may put something together like SPB weather detail.

[digidigi123]

Great news, can't wait for the new update.

digidigi123

[digitaldon37]

Let's iron those bugs and typos
Minor Bug:
language selection need save and change. not pick and load
entering language kinda lag or slow

Minor Typos:
Español
Sabado = Sábado
Manana = Mañana
Refresh = Refrescar or Actualizar (unsure for this one, i prefer Actualizar)
Viento chill = Viento frío
There r 2 barómetro and missing Visibility = Visibililad
Salida del sol = Amanecer (can change to, prefer Amanecer)
Puesta del sol = Anochecer (can change to, prefer Anochecer)
Abr. high H = Alto A or Máximo Máx (prefer A, but seem most go Máx)
Abr. low L = Bajo B or Mínimo Mín (prefer B, but seem most go Mín)

new idea:
need flag for language
i see no point getting twice stuff
1. File "Setting, Location, Language" (just prefer Settings for all)
2. On top " Location, ETC"
remove the big icon EXIT (i think will save something for later)
Future, can be bottom-top big icon to change Weather Location City (sry can't find better icon)
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9832/backel6.jpg UPdate time http://forum.xda-developers.com/images/icons/icon2.gif
Future, need icon resize for Today and Tomorrow
image or icon clean up
txt clean up
be kind to fix my ID on ur thread

PS Pocket Forecast is getting SUPERB

Thanks! More good suggestions. I won't have time to work on any of this today but here are my plans:

1. Work on the current and forecast details page to be more visual
2. Move the radio button navigation into the menu bar for the details page and for settings
3. Fix Spanish language file

Thanks for the compliments - it's good because of the suggestions and feedback from everyone.

[digitaldon37]

Version .30 has been posted to the main post. Changes were made to the current & forecast details page (more visual)

[digidigi123]

Version .30 has been posted to the main post. Changes were made to the current & forecast details page (more visual)

Love the new look, now it's nearly perfect. Small and fast!

In the forecast page, it's very hard to read the date and weekday, because the font are very small.

Great job, thanks

digidigi123

[digitaldon37]

Love the new look, now it's nearly perfect. Small and fast!

In the forecast page, it's very hard to read the date and weekday, because the font are very small.

Great job, thanks

digidigi123

I increased the font from 6 to 7 and reuploaded - please let me know how that reads.

[OceanSpray]

WOW v3.0 the Current or Forecast is very nice and easy read.
v3.0 was fine
v3.0 with font change i get this (on location 4 or 5 slot)

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/329/switchingwl8.jpg

[digitaldon37]

WOW v3.0 the Current or Forecast is very nice and easy read.
v3.0 was fine
v3.0 with font change i get this (on location 4 or 5 slot)

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/329/switchingwl8.jpg

I am not sure what caused that error - I did not change anything on how the xml is retrieved and parsed. I added error logging to the parser routines - if it encounters any bad xml from the Yahoo feed it will log it and continue (though probably with strange results). If this happens, then I can look at the xml from the cache directory and the error log to see what is causing this.

bug fix .30.1 has been uploaded to the main post

Please let me know if this works or not.

[OceanSpray]

I found the problem is 1 of the location cause weird thing happen " PMXX0004 "
error on main page and current.
Please test it.

[davehutch]

Forget it... Lovely app

[digidigi123]

I increased the font from 6 to 7 and reuploaded - please let me know how that reads.

Thanks, now it's perfect :)

digidigi123

[FatBoyExtraordinaire]

Looking forward to trying this out.

[YoLoLo]

Thanks! I like "Pocket Forecast" and will use that (if it's not in use already). I wrote a wiki application called "Pocket Wiki" so I wanted to stick with the same naming convention.

I don't want to use any application names similar to the great programs A_C writes. I'm not worthy.

;) I've checked before with Google if the name was in use ! ;)

Glad you liked one of my names :)

Anyway, even if i use SBSH PocketWeather, i find you app very classy !

Good luck !
Long life to Pocket Forecast ! :D

[digitaldon37]

I found the problem is 1 of the location cause weird thing happen " PMXX0004 "
error on main page and current.
Please test it.

The first time I ran it with that location ID the program seemed to have an error with the RSS feed (it displayed "Panama City", but no weather information) which tells me it hit the error logic and continued on without displaying an error. It seemed to recover ok after I hit refresh.

I'll look at the error log to see if I can find out what happened. I will upload a newer version later that will let users turn the error logging off and on.

Thanks for testing and feedback!

[digitaldon37]

Version .31 has been uploaded to the main post. Changes include
- extended language support (you will need to copy the new \lng files)
- error logging (enabled by setting errorLog=True in INI file)
- About panel with program info and credits

If you've help test this and given feedback - I've given thanks and credit in this application. If I've missed you (I'm still going through this thread) or if you don't want to be listed, please let me know.

I want to test this a little bit more and then put everything into a CAB file as a version 1 release

[OceanSpray]

New Language is out, now we r using old language with all those typos and second on Forecast next to tomorrow and last day doesn't show INFO!
Sorry to say this UR rush got alot trouble. :D


Edit: hmm now last day forecast show info. after refresh again!

Question is a bug or minor typos why Icon and Detail doesn't match on Current & Forecast?

Edit: location CHXX0049 and PMXX0004

[digitaldon37]

New Language is out, now we r using old language with all those typos and second on Forecast next to tomorrow and last day doesn't show INFO!
Sorry to say this UR rush got alot trouble. :D


Edit: hmm now last day forecast show info. after refresh again!

Sorry about the language typos - someone over at the B4PPC forums has been working on the language files and I'm assuming the non-English language versions are the same as the ones I corrected earlier.

Could you tell me what location id you are using where you are not seeing the info on the details page? It is working on my zip code so I can't tell if the problem is in the parser or what Yahoo is sending in their RSS feed.

[digitaldon37]

New Language is out, now we r using old language with all those typos and second on Forecast next to tomorrow and last day doesn't show INFO!
Sorry to say this UR rush got alot trouble. :D


Edit: hmm now last day forecast show info. after refresh again!

Question is a bug or minor typos why Icon and Detail doesn't match on Current & Forecast?

The icons probably don't match because I downloaded them from two different sources. The current icons are 52x52 that Yahoo uses, and are numbered 0-47 (and 3200 for 'NA'). The forecast icons are 40x40 that I downloaded from another web site and are also numbered 0-47. I assumed that they would be the same. Probably a better way would be for me to shrink the Yahoo icons for the forecast page.

Also the "four-cast" (a play on words for "forecast") shows 4 days in the future and not today, so it can be misleading if anyone is looking for the current forecast on that page. I could only fit 4 days neatly on that page so I chose the future ones (Yahoo provides 5 days - 1 current and 4 future)

[digitaldon37]

New Language is out, now we r using old language with all those typos and second on Forecast next to tomorrow and last day doesn't show INFO!
Sorry to say this UR rush got alot trouble. :D


Edit: hmm now last day forecast show info. after refresh again!

Question is a bug or minor typos why Icon and Detail doesn't match on Current & Forecast?

Edit: location CHXX0049 and PMXX0004

I tested those locations and am getting all details for Hong Kong and Panama City. I'm using the same parser/display code for each forecast day, so I am not sure why it would not display one day but another. I could probably add some error checking code to force a refresh if some data is missing.

I noticed the forecast icons show funny looking bars for "Sunny" on one of those cities. I don't know what that means (I downloaded this from another web site) Simple fix is to copy a sun icon to the one that has those funny bars. I'll have to look more closely at those icons I borrowed.

[OceanSpray]

I unzip a different folder and work ok only those typos
Don't know why. :confused:

[Nemo0815]

Anybody tried this on a i900 with 240x400?

Also any "forecast" when VGA support will be added? :)

Good work so far!

[Wolfkmann]

I think this program is great. i have replaced the icons in the conditions directory with bluemetalaxe's Weather52PNG-Ifonz icons. It was a simple matter of changing the extensions in the conditions.txt file from gif to png.

I have also gone into the theme.ini file and customized the colors to my liking, can't wait until I can have a jpg as a background picture.

I have also converted blues icons down to 40 pixels, and am working on matching them up to be the ones in the details directory for the 4 day forecast. will share when finished.

I have two requests before I remove SPB's weather from my phone.
#1 can this be incorporated into AC's S2U2?
#2 On a details page for the forecast, can it be broken down to morning, afternoon and night? Instead of just stating rain on tuesday, it would be more beneficial to know cloudy tuesday morning, rain tuesday afternoon, clear tuesday night, for example.

Thanks, Wolf

[digitaldon37]

Anybody tried this on a i900 with 240x400?

Also any "forecast" when VGA support will be added? :)

Good work so far!

As soon as current functionality is tested and stable, I will be looking at other screen resolutions. I may need some feedback and screen shots how the QVGA version looks on 240x400, since I don't have a device that supports that and I need some point of reference.

[digitaldon37]

I think this program is great. i have replaced the icons in the conditions directory with bluemetalaxe's Weather52PNG-Ifonz icons. It was a simple matter of changing the extensions in the conditions.txt file from gif to png.

I have also gone into the theme.ini file and customized the colors to my liking, can't wait until I can have a jpg as a background picture.

I have also converted blues icons down to 40 pixels, and am working on matching them up to be the ones in the details directory for the 4 day forecast. will share when finished.

I have two requests before I remove SPB's weather from my phone.
#1 can this be incorporated into AC's S2U2?
#2 On a details page for the forecast, can it be broken down to morning, afternoon and night? Instead of just stating rain on tuesday, it would be more beneficial to know cloudy tuesday morning, rain tuesday afternoon, clear tuesday night, for example.

Thanks, Wolf

I am looking forward to seeing your customization. The background image seems to be harder to implement than I thought, but fortunately another programmer at the B4PPC forums is looking into that.

[edit] I just noticed that my icons for details and conditions do not have the same naming for 0-9. The condition is named 0.gif, 1.gif, etc and details are 01.gif, etc. The correct icon name should be single digit so that they match. The icons will be corrected in the next release, but I thought I'd mention this in case you were replacing any icons. I didn't want to break anything.

As to your questions:

1. Incorporation into S2U? I'll have to look into this - I am not sure about that.
[edit] This looks like S2U reads a registry key, so all I would have to do is write an update to the registry. I will add this to my short-term to do list.
2. Daily details - the current Yahoo feed doesn't provide that (unless there is a parameter that I am not aware of) If I can find another feed that provides this level of detail I can add it in.

[digitaldon37]

I unzip a different folder and work ok only those typos
Don't know why. :confused:

Sometimes a soft reset helps - the PDA may be doing some caching or something if it doesn't see a change in the file.

I've fixed the English and Spanish files but haven't uploaded them yet because the guy helping out over at the B4PPC forums is working on some new changes. I'll upload everything together.

[digitaldon37]

New Language is out, now we r using old language with all those typos and second on Forecast next to tomorrow and last day doesn't show INFO!
Sorry to say this UR rush got alot trouble. :D


Edit: hmm now last day forecast show info. after refresh again!

Question is a bug or minor typos why Icon and Detail doesn't match on Current & Forecast?

Edit: location CHXX0049 and PMXX0004

Well I finally had this happen (one of the days not showing a condition) - code wise, it shouldn't be happening since I'm looping through the xml and if it works on one tag, it should work on them all.

I've added some error logging to see if I can capture this, and if so, try to fix it.

Thanks for your help and feedback.

[Wolfkmann]

DigitalDon,

In the theme.ini file, what is the intent of each section, DEFAULT, WHITE, BLACK, OFF BLACK?

Knowing this will make it easier to intelligently customize the appearance.

Thanks,
-Wolf

[digitaldon37]

DigitalDon,

In the theme.ini file, what is the intent of each section, DEFAULT, WHITE, BLACK, OFF BLACK?

Knowing this will make it easier to intelligently customize the appearance.

Thanks,
-Wolf

These were different themes. Instead of saving to different files, I just commented them out when testing them. I think the WHITE theme has the uncommented values which make them the active one.

There are also two "super" values that can be used to set everything:

themeFormColor - sets background, labels, text boxes, etc
themeFontColor - sets font color

When background images are implemented, these "super" values will be the ones that should be used.

[Wolfkmann]

here is a working copy of my version of the themes.ini file. these colors seem to work for me. Also in the zip file are the buttons that I am using. just put them into the default/buttons directory, and they should work fine.
You can see in the screeshots that I havent finished converting the forecast icons yet

[davehutch]

Yesterday's description of the weather said "Partly cloudy" but the details icon showed Cloud over Sun with lightning!!
Should there be 69 icons to account for night and day conditions or should there just be the normal 47?

Oh yes, and also the space allowed for Today and Tomorrow icons is less thena the Current icon. Is that delilberate? It makes it awkward to get a good fit for all icons on the main screen and isn't adjustable as far as I can see.

One more thing, is it possible to not have a white box in which the icon sits? Can it just have transparency and sit on the background? I'm not sure how the theme settings apply so haven't tried it myself.

Thanks

[digitaldon37]

Yesterday's description of the weather said "Partly cloudy" but the details icon showed Cloud over Sun with lightning!!
Should there be 69 icons to account for night and day conditions or should there just be the normal 47?

Oh yes, and also the space allowed for Today and Tomorrow icons is less thena the Current icon. Is that delilberate? It makes it awkward to get a good fit for all icons on the main screen and isn't adjustable as far as I can see.

One more thing, is it possible to not have a white box in which the icon sits? Can it just have transparency and sit on the background? I'm not sure how the theme settings apply so haven't tried it myself.

Thanks

I will upload the latest version with the current icon resized from 56 down to 50, so that it matches the today/tomorrow icons.

I also changed how the borders on the icon are done so the space the icon sits should have the transparent properties. You can turn off borders by giving them the same color values as the background form.

Now to your harder question - the reason for the mismatched icons is that I am using icons for the main page and details page from different sources. I can use the main icons and resize them so that they match.

Unfortunately the Yahoo feed doesn't provide values for morning and night, which may explain why they sometimes don't match. If I can find a parameter that does, I will add this feature in.

I may have mentioned in my original post that I am not a programmer. I'd like to add to that that I don't have much artistic talent either. :)

[digitaldon37]

Version .32 has been uploaded to the main post.

.32 (11/26/08)
=========================================
- resized main form icons to 50x50
- fixed landscape mode - right side view
- fixed "About" display
- changed "Current" icon border from label
- added error logging in parse subs
- rename PC weather PC Forecast
- fixed detail icons 0-9

Most of the changes are cosmetic and could have been resolved without a new build, but this version adds a setting to turn on error logging for some of the sub-routines. The program should never crash, but it may display (or not display) strange data when it encounters a data (refreshing the weather feed usually fixes that).

Error logging helps those like me who are obsessed with squashing every little bug and writing work-arounds. :)

I also renamed the PC version from "Weather" to "PC Forecast"

On another note, I am trying to learn how to create cabs. Any recommendations?

[davehutch]

I do appreciate that this is not your specialist subject and I hope you don't feel I'm knocking this app in any way, just offering some observations.
I'm very pleased that I've finally got a lightweight weather app that is skinnable.
Considering the monster memory hog that Vito offer, they should be banging at your door for assistance to be honest

[digitaldon37]

I do appreciate that this is not your specialist subject and I hope you don't feel I'm knocking this app in any way, just offering some observations.
I'm very pleased that I've finally got a lightweight weather app that is skinnable.
Considering the monster memory hog that Vito offer, they should be banging at your door for assistance to be honest

Thanks. I don't take it poorly and I'm just knocking myself. I appreciate the feedback and suggestions and really want to make this usable for as many as possible, as well as use as a learning exercise for myself.

[digitaldon37]

#1 can this be incorporated into AC's S2U2?

Thanks, Wolf

This has been added to version .33 - anyone want to test? It seems to be working for me but I want to make sure it doesn't mess up anyone else's set up before I merged this into the main post.

My PDA setup: S2U v1.35, SPB Shell with Diamond theme, Pocket Forecast v.33

1. Copy Pocket Forecast executable to PDA
2. Run PF
3. Under settings, check the S2U setting
4. Optional: set refresh to auto-refresh. I have mine set at 15 minutes
5. Save settings

In S2U
1. Load settings
2. Change "Today's Weather Forecast from" to option 5
3. Save

[Wolfkmann]

I'll test it with S2U2, givw me a day and I will report back

[Wolfkmann]

I have been been playing with the S2U2 integration, and it works very well. In my S2U2 settings, I had to select option #5 userweather. On my S2U2 screen it displays a descriptor word for the current condition under the icon, for example "cloudy" this is so much better than SPB which just lsted the forecasted high for the day.

question: is it possible, along with the descriptor, to have the current temperature displayed? That would be ideal in my opinion.

[digitaldon37]

I have been been playing with the S2U2 integration, and it works very well. In my S2U2 settings, I had to select option #5 userweather. On my S2U2 screen it displays a descriptor word for the current condition under the icon, for example "cloudy" this is so much better than SPB which just lsted the forecasted high for the day.

question: is it possible, along with the descriptor, to have the current temperature displayed? That would be ideal in my opinion.

Sure! Please let me know what you think of this update.

[Wolfkmann]

Excellent. I can't think of any sugggestions to improve the s2u2 integration.

EDIT:

The way you coded this, is it possible for me to see how it looks with the temp above the descriptor, instead of side by side (put a carraige return between them), or is this something hard-coded that would require another version release?

[digitaldon37]

Excellent. I can't think of any sugggestions to improve the s2u2 integration.

EDIT:

The way you coded this, is it possible for me to see how it looks with the temp above the descriptor, instead of side by side (put a carraige return between them), or is this something hard-coded that would require another version release?

It's hard coded - it wouldn't be hard to change - but it doesn't look like there is room in S2U for two lines. At least that's how it looks on my XVGA device.

[digitaldon37]

Version .34 (developer's edition) has been uploaded to post #1

.34 (11/27/08)
=========================================
- Updated theme manager (applies when selected)


.33 (11/26/08)
=========================================
- Added S2U support integration
- Tweak theming
- Added details, buttons mapping file
- Added "realize" theme

I also uploaded a theme "pf-realize" that uses the icons by bluemetalaxe.

[digitaldon37]

Version .35 is attached to this post. Image background theme has been implemented, although it only works in portrait mode.

Requires an image library (DLL) to be copied to the same directory as the executable.

Currently working on merging the other developer's code for VGA support.

Attached:
- pocket forecast v.35 developer
- sky theme

[update] reuploaded with fix to "Add Location" screen

[davehutch]

I've just managed to get .34 loaded.
Here are a couple of screenshots though that demonstrate a problem I'm having. The png files don't show well on the htc Touch but are great on the PC.
Any idea what I might be doing wrong?
I've atached a zip of all my files so you can tell what I'm up to (hopefully)

Right, now to test .35

[digitaldon37]

I've just managed to get .34 loaded.
Here are a couple of screenshots though that demonstrate a problem I'm having. The png files don't show well on the htc Touch but are great on the PC.
Any idea what I might be doing wrong?
I've atached a zip of all my files so you can tell what I'm up to (hopefully)

Right, now to test .35

I've always had better luck using gif files on the PDA. Please let me know how it looks under .35 - the programmer at B4PPC who is doing the theming changed a lot between .34 and .35 on how the images are displayed.

[update] - I had to re-upload a newer v35 to correct the screen on Adding Locations.

[bluemetalaxe]

Hallo. i´m playing again with this and i´m happy that you use my Icons too. Just some things and question to help you.:
1. i have to fight with different button sizes
2. the pressed or selected buttons graphics don`t work
3. PNG is allways a Problem with windows mobile, as far as i know windows mobile can´t do a smooth transition. because it only knows transparent or not transparent but pngs can be partly transparent. But there are apps out like s2u2 or todaylife that can handle the pngs (?).
3. The buttons placement is a bit confusing, in the forecast windows, i have a back button and a back arrow too ? Maybe you should rework the whole user concept ?
4. I find no settings for the white border around the four-cast Icons
5. I have english and german text mixed, seems that "GM" is not General Motors its Germany he he. Would it help/is it possible to get the weather from german or other yahoo websides ?
6. can it be that when i minimized it, and its updating, the application comes in foreground again ?
7. You made gifs out of my icons, is it possible to use the png weather icons i made so that i dont´t have the black corners i made for ifonz (ifonz has the same png problem). Then we also could use rumballs png weather icons for this.


Greetings.
http://s10b.directupload.net/images/081128/vpz56h8w.png (http://www.directupload.net) http://s11b.directupload.net/images/081128/oraeb8ik.png (http://www.directupload.net)

[digitaldon37]

Hallo. i´m playing again with this and i´m happy that you use my Icons too. Just some things and question to help you.:
1. i have to fight with different button sizes
2. the pressed or selected buttons graphics don`t work
3. PNG is allways a Problem with windows mobile, as far as i know windows mobile can´t do a smooth transition. because it only knows transparent or not transparent but pngs can be partly transparent. But there are apps out like s2u2 or todaylife that can handle the pngs (?).
3. The buttons placement is a bit confusing, in the forecast windows, i have a back button and a back arrow too ? Maybe you should rework the whole user concept ?
4. I find no settings for the white border around the four-cast Icons
5. I have english and german text mixed, seems that "GM" is not General Motors its Germany he he. Would it help/is it possible to get the weather from german or other yahoo websides ?
6. can it be that when i minimized it, and its updating, the application comes in foreground again ?
7. You made gifs out of my icons, is it possible to use the png weather icons i made so that i dont´t have the black corners i made for ifonz (ifonz has the same png problem). Then we also could use rumballs png weather icons for this.


Greetings.
http://s10b.directupload.net/images/081128/vpz56h8w.png (http://www.directupload.net) http://s11b.directupload.net/images/081128/oraeb8ik.png (http://www.directupload.net)

Thanks. A lot of comments - I'll try to see if I can answer them all. I'm in the middle of creating a manual and added you to the credits for the icons. I hope that is ok.

1. The weather icons should be 50x50 on the main screen, 40x40 on the detail screens, and the buttons are 50x60. I am not sure what you mean by fighting with different button sizes
2. I am not sure what you mean by this. Each button is mapped to one image (there is not one for selected, and one for unselected)

I may try to standardize the weather icons on sizes that are already out there (48x48, 36x36) To be honest, I don't have much graphic ability and this is my first skinnable project - so suggestions are welcome.

3. There is a back arrow on the menu bar and a back button - is this what mean? I know it is redundant for now - my goal is to implement finger swiping and eliminate the menus (and enable full screen)
4. I'll have to look at the code for the white borders - this is being recoded by another programmer and I thought the borders had a color property.
[edit] I didn't see any borders on the detail page in v.35 - the image placeholders are set to transparent so image files should display as is.

5. The other programmer who did the language support code is from Germany and I know he told me he looked into this, but hasn't found a solution yet.
6. I hadn't noticed that. That's annoying - I'll have to see if I can fix that.
7. You should be able to put the original PNG files in the directory and change them in the details and condition mapping files.
[edit] The theme that I'm using for v.35 uses your original png for the conditions, and scaled down copies in PNG for the detail. The file names are in conditions.txt and details.txt for that theme's directory.

Your theme and dave's up in an earlier post look better than anything I could come up with - one of the reasons I wanted to implement theme is because I don't have graphics talent and knew others could do a much better job than me. :)

Did you do your theme in version .34 or .35?

[bluemetalaxe]

okay thanks for your answers, i just looked in the buttons folder
-there is a "button_quit" in 48x48, a "button_back" in 50x66 and there are always two of the default status buttons (one with a "R" at the end) in different colors. There is a "Button_save" and a "button_select" with the same graphics ? And then there seems to be the original graphics you use like "Floppy" also in this folder. Thats what i mean ;)
- the two different weather icons sizes are okay, because they make sense.
- maybe we could use different yahoo pages for different languages ?

i made this with 0.33 but i continue playing now with 0.34

[Wolfkmann]

I am testing version 0.35, and I have a couple of issues.
#1 The text now looks "fuzzy" around the edges, not sharp.
#2 The sky images aren't loading as background, don't know how to get that to work.
#3 In the bottom left corner of the main page, is says:
Last Weather update:
,28 2008
8:53 EST
refresh at 21:09


It isn't showing the month.

[digitaldon37]

I am testing version 0.35, and I have a couple of issues.
#1 The text now looks "fuzzy" around the edges, not sharp.
#2 The sky images aren't loading as background, don't know how to get that to work.
#3 In the bottom left corner of the main page, is says:
Last Weather update:
,28 2008
8:53 EST
refresh at 21:09


It isn't showing the month.

Hi, are you using a language file that has 56 as the first line? For example, \lng\WeatherE.txt has 56 on the first line.

Would you please PM me with screenshots and identify what text is fuzzy? This will help me identify what fonts I need to fix.

I'm not sure why the sky background isn't loading. I put the sky theme in the themes directory, selected it in the settings, and saved and it seemed to work. (though I thought the fonts in that looked fuzzy. The fonts look ok to me when using a plain background)

[digitaldon37]

okay thanks for your answers, i just looked in the buttons folder
-there is a "button_quit" in 48x48, a "button_back" in 50x66 and there are always two of the default status buttons (one with a "R" at the end) in different colors. There is a "Button_save" and a "button_select" with the same graphics ? And then there seems to be the original graphics you use like "Floppy" also in this folder. Thats what i mean ;)
- the two different weather icons sizes are okay, because they make sense.
- maybe we could use different yahoo pages for different languages ?

i made this with 0.33 but i continue playing now with 0.34

Those extra buttons are from earlier versions. You really only need 4 buttons that are defined in buttons.txt (and currently the program only uses 3 of those)

[Wolfkmann]

I put the sky theme in the themes directory, selected it in the settings, and saved and it seemed to work.

I don't get anything other than "default" as an option in settings. This could be the problem. The fuzzy font, I will post a screen shot. When I switch back to version 0.34 it clears up. The first picture is version 0.35, the second is 0.34. I don't know if you can see the fuzzyness in the screenshot, but it is very evident on my phone.

EDIT: I solved my issue of not getting the sky theme. Now if you could just help get the clarity of the font back to the way it way it 0.34, that would be great.

I just noticed, in version 0.35 when I switch to landscape, I lose all text, I see only icons.

[davehutch]

Here are some v.35 screenshots I took this morning:

The icons don't reflect the descriptions and don't really match up with Yahoo either.

Also, the Today Details screen should really read AM Rain/Snow shower as that would be today's forecast...Fog is the current weather

[t0k0m0k0]

This weather apps looks very nice, but I have a bug for which I didnt find the answer:
- when using the realize theme, the text disappear from the forecast pages (but not in the setting panels)
- I have tried many combinations in the ini file without any success
- The default theme works great
- you have forgotten to explain that to use a background, you should put the jpg file (named as the folder theme name) in a folder named "background" within theme folder... but it works (except the that with the default theme the font does not include very well with backgrounds... and other themes does not work for me...)

Concerning the developpement of the app it would be very nice to have:
- the choice of the weather database (not only yahoo), which will make the program more "open" ;)
- if this could be done it would be great to have "WindGuru" data which are very useful for wind and all other forecasts... this will be also a very strong reason for all windsurfers to adopt this tool ;)

[digitaldon37]

I don't get anything other than "default" as an option in settings. This could be the problem. The fuzzy font, I will post a screen shot. When I switch back to version 0.34 it clears up. The first picture is version 0.35, the second is 0.34. I don't know if you can see the fuzzyness in the screenshot, but it is very evident on my phone.

EDIT: I solved my issue of not getting the sky theme. Now if you could just help get the clarity of the font back to the way it way it 0.34, that would be great.

I just noticed, in version 0.35 when I switch to landscape, I lose all text, I see only icons.

The landscape should be fixed today.

I noticed both of the screen shots have the bold font - which is common to version .35. I am going to change those to normal to see if they help make them clearer.

[digitaldon37]

Here are some v.35 screenshots I took this morning:

The icons don't reflect the descriptions and don't really match up with Yahoo either.

Also, the Today Details screen should really read AM Rain/Snow shower as that would be today's forecast...Fog is the current weather

I'll have to check some more on the icons matching - the latest icon set I'm using are from Yahoo and they are the same for current conditions and forecast (previously I had used forecast icons from a different source). Yahoo does have different sets that they use. I'm attaching a screen shot for my current weather.

Regarding the Today Details screen - good catch! I did not notice that and when I went back to look at the code I saw that I am not using today's forecast. I will fix that in the next release.

[digitaldon37]

This weather apps looks very nice, but I have a bug for which I didnt find the answer:
- when using the realize theme, the text disappear from the forecast pages (but not in the setting panels)
- I have tried many combinations in the ini file without any success
- The default theme works great
- you have forgotten to explain that to use a background, you should put the jpg file (named as the folder theme name) in a folder named "background" within theme folder... but it works (except the that with the default theme the font does not include very well with backgrounds... and other themes does not work for me...)

Concerning the developpement of the app it would be very nice to have:
- the choice of the weather database (not only yahoo), which will make the program more "open" ;)
- if this could be done it would be great to have "WindGuru" data which are very useful for wind and all other forecasts... this will be also a very strong reason for all windsurfers to adopt this tool ;)

Thanks for testing this program. I am not sure why the realize theme is not working - could you please post a screen shot? Another programmer rewrote the screen display code in order to support background images and I am still going through this.

I am currently working on a manual and will include instructions on how to customize a theme.

Regarding other feeds, that could be a possibility. If it's XML then it should be simple to add a little code to parse and use those values instead of Yahoo. I'll Google WindGuru to see what that uses.

[digitaldon37]

Developer edition .35.1 is attached to this post. I am still waiting on updates for the landscape fix and for VGA support, but I wanted to get this out for testing since it fixes some known bugs.

Also attached are updated themes for default, realize, and sunset.

Instructions: Install .35 from main post, and copy update into installed directory.

.35.1 changes
================================================== =
- Main page fonts changed from bold to normal to reduce 'fuzziness"
- Today details now show today's forecast, not current
- Add locations are aligned on screen properly
- Fixed drop down combos to inherit theme colors
- Weather direction for 360 degrees now shows "N"
- Merged image library source, DLL no longer required
- Main page weather icons now inherit theme color
- Background images can be png, gif, or jpg (define in theme.ini)

Outstanding
================================================== ==
- Landscape support (repaint screen when switching between modes)
- VGA support
- Bug: when minimized app will gain focus on any auto-refresh

I appreciate everyone who is testing and reporting back any bugs or comments.

[digidigi123]

Hello,

one problem in the Today details page, for the german language. The time from the sunrise and sunset overlap the words sunrise and sunset, because the german words to long (sunrise = Sonnenaufgang and sunset = Sonnenuntergang).

Thanks digidigi123

[digitaldon37]

Developer's version .36 has been uploaded to post #1

.36 (11/28/08)
================================================== ===================
- Main page fonts changed from bold to normal to reduce 'fuzziness"
- Today details now show today's forecast, not current
- Add locations are aligned on screen properly
- Fixed drop down combos to inherit theme colors
- Weather direction for 360 degrees now shows "N"
- Merged image library source, DLL no longer required
- Main page weather icons now inherit theme color
- Background images can be png, gif, or jpg (define in theme.ini)
- Fixed settings crash when location added & went back into settings
- NEW: portrait/landscape (switch back & forth)
- NEW: VGA (I can't test this)

[davehutch]

If the text is white, everythig is fine but as soon as you change the colour, it looks almost as if white bol halo is superimposed around the normal, unbold text in whatever colour you set.
Possibly the text colour and the bold colour are mismatching.
Getting there

[t0k0m0k0]

Thanks for the new version, and the sunset theme looks very nice, but I have always the same problem (almost):

- with the defaut fontcolor (black) the text has ugly white borders
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133927&d=1228068782

- switching to landscape mode no more fuzzy white border
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133929&d=1228069237

- changing to white font color (as suggested by others) the text disapear in all forecast screens (see screenshots)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133926&d=1228068782http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133925&d=1228068782

[Wolfkmann]

Trying version 0.36 Noticed something, when I switch to landscape from portrait, it doesn't switch which image file it uses, it just stretches the portrait file.
Also, the white outline is still there on the text, can't find a way to resolve it through the .ini files

A suggestion: When you update the zip file in post #1, name it with the version # so it is easier to realize that it is a new version posted. for example, name the file PocketForecast36.zip just a thought

[rifraf1]

Been waiting for the VGA version so gave it a try and Ver .36 has the screen layout a bit off, attached a screenshot so you can see the results.

Did I miss some settings or a VGA executable?

[digitaldon37]

Been waiting for the VGA version so gave it a try and Ver .36 has the screen layout a bit off, attached a screenshot so you can see the results.

Did I miss some settings or a VGA executable?

Developing for VGA may be enough of an excuse for me to upgrade to the Fuze. :)

I'm going to ask the person who has been helping with the code for themes to come over to the xda forums and look at some of these screen shots.

[digitaldon37]

Been waiting for the VGA version so gave it a try and Ver .36 has the screen layout a bit off, attached a screenshot so you can see the results.

Did I miss some settings or a VGA executable?

The guy who did the VGA support has a screen shot showing that it works for him (http://www.basic4ppc.com/forum/open-source-projects/3323-pocket-weather-7.html#post19547) so I'm not sure what is happening here. Maybe I placed the wrong exe in the zip file? Attached is just the exe (36 developer release) - could you try this and let me know if it works?

[digitaldon37]

Thanks for the new version, and the sunset theme looks very nice, but I have always the same problem (almost):

- with the defaut fontcolor (black) the text has ugly white borders
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133927&d=1228068782

- switching to landscape mode no more fuzzy white border
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133929&d=1228069237

- changing to white font color (as suggested by others) the text disapear in all forecast screens (see screenshots)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133926&d=1228068782http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133925&d=1228068782

How does it look on the PDA if you use these settings for theme.ini?


themeFormColor=245,205,160
themeFontColor=128,0,0
themeBorderColor=128,0,0


The person who did that font uses those settings. It is a orange font for the Sunset background.

I use black font & border and it is sharp on my AT&T Tilt, but kind of blurry on the PC. There seems to be only a couple of fonts on WM6 (Tahoma and Courier) I may add an "themeFont=" settings in the next release, with it defaulting to Tahoma if none is specified.

[digitaldon37]

Trying version 0.36 Noticed something, when I switch to landscape from portrait, it doesn't switch which image file it uses, it just stretches the portrait file.
Also, the white outline is still there on the text, can't find a way to resolve it through the .ini files

A suggestion: When you update the zip file in post #1, name it with the version # so it is easier to realize that it is a new version posted. for example, name the file PocketForecast36.zip just a thought

Good catch! The code is only checking for the portrait file. The next release will check for both files and load the appropriate one.

[digitaldon37]

If the text is white, everythig is fine but as soon as you change the colour, it looks almost as if white bol halo is superimposed around the normal, unbold text in whatever colour you set.
Possibly the text colour and the bold colour are mismatching.
Getting there

One thing I noticed is that if I set my font to 255,255,255 on the PC, it disappears on sunset; but if I set it to 254,254,254 on the PC, I get white font. But this trick doesn't work on the PDA.

However the black font is sharp on my AT&T Tilt, so I'm not sure what is going on here. I'm combing through the code to see if anything was missed. I think I may add a font option in the theme.ini file which would allow people to install fonts that they like and use something besides the default MS ones.

[t0k0m0k0]

How does it look on the PDA if you use these settings for theme.ini?


themeFormColor=245,205,160
themeFontColor=128,0,0
themeBorderColor=128,0,0


The person who did that font uses those settings. It is a orange font for the Sunset background.

I use black font & border and it is sharp on my AT&T Tilt, but kind of blurry on the PC. There seems to be only a couple of fonts on WM6 (Tahoma and Courier) I may add an "themeFont=" settings in the next release, with it defaulting to Tahoma if none is specified.
It looks the same as black color, fuzzy white border ;)
the main problem is the white border around text...
and i have just tried a value for color near the white and the text appears as white but always with the fussy thing which makes it even harder to read...
it strange that it does not behave as others user around here...
I will try the new version ;)

[t0k0m0k0]

One thing I noticed is that if I set my font to 255,255,255 on the PC, it disappears on sunset; but if I set it to 254,254,254 on the PC, I get white font. But this trick doesn't work on the PDA.

However the black font is sharp on my AT&T Tilt, so I'm not sure what is going on here. I'm combing through the code to see if anything was missed. I think I may add a font option in the theme.ini file which would allow people to install fonts that they like and use something besides the default MS ones.

At least your PC behave like my PDA :) !!!
cool im not alone...

[davehutch]

Tried the S2U2 option and it functions perfectly except for the fact that it shows current conditions and not today's forecast

[digitaldon37]

At least your PC behave like my PDA :) !!!
cool im not alone...

I may have found a fix! I hope so...

Please try this attachment.

Changes:

Modified code so that it loads theme.ini colors and set form forelayer (it originally was set to 'white')

[digitaldon37]

Tried the S2U2 option and it functions perfectly except for the fact that it shows current conditions and not today's forecast

I can change it to forecast, or I can add an option to choose S2U Current or S2U forecast. Is "forecast" default expected behavior?

[t0k0m0k0]

I may have found a fix! I hope so...

Please try this attachment.

Changes:

Modified code so that it loads theme.ini colors and set form forelayer (it originally was set to 'white')

Marvelous! it works good :p !
by the way it is possible that the difference between landscape and portrait mode on my device came from the non use of cleartype in landscape...

[digitaldon37]

Version .37 (developer's release) has been uploaded to the main post.

.37 (12/1/08)
================================================== ===================
- Changed how form color is set to reduce font 'fuzziness'
- Added optional themePCFont, themePDAFont variables
- Fix background image file to select fileP, fileL (portrait, landscape)
- Fixed minor bugs


OPEN ISSUES
- S2U loads current weather, request for day forecast
- Must restart program when selecting theme for best results

I will also zip up and upload the (4) themes that I have tested.

Thanks to everyone for their help, feedback, and suggestions.

[digitaldon37]

Sky (by Klaus)
Realize (icons by Bluemetalaxe)
Sunset (by Klaus)
HTC Diamond (icons by Bluemetalaxe)

[Wolfkmann]

Thanks for fixing the landscape background image issue, and for taking my file name suggestion. As for the fuzzy font problem, it is directly tied into the cleartype setting. If I turn this off, I lose the white fuzzyness around the text. Turn cleartype back on, and the fuzzyness returns. It doesn't matter portrait or landscape.

Another thing I noticed. I wasn't able to have an Internet connection from saturday until monday. so this morning( Monday morning), looking at pocket forecast 's main page, it said Today-saturday 29 Nov 29 and Tomorrow sunday 1 Dec 2008. I thought since it had a couple of days stored in the "Four" cast it would realize the date change based on the internal clock and still present the information correctly.

thanks,
-Wolf

[rifraf1]

The guy who did the VGA support has a screen shot showing that it works for him (http://www.basic4ppc.com/forum/open-source-projects/3323-pocket-weather-7.html#post19547) so I'm not sure what is happening here. Maybe I placed the wrong exe in the zip file? Attached is just the exe (36 developer release) - could you try this and let me know if it works?

No that version gave the same results. But the new version .37 appears to work in VGA see attachment, Yeah!

It does give an exception error every now and then, but I click continue and it seems to continue running until the exception occurs again.

[davehutch]

I can change it to forecast, or I can add an option to choose S2U Current or S2U forecast. Is "forecast" default expected behavior?

Not sure about everyone else, but I can certanl look out of the window to see the current conditions ;-)
Seriously though, ye, most weather apps would show current foecast on S2U2 (I've tride spbWeather and SBSHWeather)

This is getting closer on every release. Well done

p.s. any chance of setting a manual update as well as an automatic one?

[eric_cymok]

Thank you buddy.
It is very cool...

[digitaldon37]

Not sure about everyone else, but I can certanl look out of the window to see the current conditions ;-)
Seriously though, ye, most weather apps would show current foecast on S2U2 (I've tride spbWeather and SBSHWeather)

This is getting closer on every release. Well done

p.s. any chance of setting a manual update as well as an automatic one?

I don't understand what you mean by a setting a manual update. You can press the top icon on the main screen to manually refresh.

Attached is .37.1 that adds an option for S2U forecast, as well as traps the error that rifraf1 pointed out.

[t0k0m0k0]

...
Another thing I noticed. I wasn't able to have an Internet connection from saturday until monday. so this morning( Monday morning), looking at pocket forecast 's main page, it said Today-saturday 29 Nov 29 and Tomorrow sunday 1 Dec 2008. I thought since it had a couple of days stored in the "Four" cast it would realize the date change based on the internal clock and still present the information correctly.

thanks,
-Wolf

I have the same bug :)
and as from yahoo weather you can have 10 days forecast it could be very good to have also 4 days weather during at least 6 days, this could be very useful when you go on holidays without connexion... (even if it is less and less exact...).

[t0k0m0k0]

another comment on font colors and fuzziness: I've just checked with the last version that if you set themeFormColor to "black", the font fuzziness is "black"... strange no? Well with dark background white text with black fuzziness is ok for me and I suppose that it's a cleartype font problem (I have not tried to deactivate cleartype in wm options...)

[digitaldon37]

another comment on font colors and fuzziness: I've just checked with the last version that if you set themeFormColor to "black", the font fuzziness is "black"... strange no? Well with dark background white text with black fuzziness is ok for me and I suppose that it's a cleartype font problem (I have not tried to deactivate cleartype in wm options...)

I found that the fuzziness happens when the first RGB value is zero. If you set black as 0,0,0 - you get fuzzy. If you set black as 1,0,0 - it seems to be fine.

[digitaldon37]

I have the same bug :)
and as from yahoo weather you can have 10 days forecast it could be very good to have also 4 days weather during at least 6 days, this could be very useful when you go on holidays without connexion... (even if it is less and less exact...).

I will put this on my request list and think how I can implement it. The reason that I don't refresh and roll-over the date is because the forecast doesn't contain as much information as current. Having "outdated" information is a way to let the user know that it's reading from a cache file and not getting any updates.

It wouldn't be hard to create a way to over-ride this behavior, I just need to think of a way to gracefully do it.

A feature that I wanted to get done first is the plug-in feature. It will be a new page that is basically a container for HTML and javascript, with access to the weather values. This would give users the ability to create their own current summary, and forecast displays.

[davehutch]

I don't understand what you mean by a setting a manual update. You can press the top icon on the main screen to manually refresh.

Attached is .37.1 that adds an option for S2U forecast, as well as traps the error that rifraf1 pointed out.

Thank you, I'll test this evening.
With regard to the refresh setting, my app seems to refresh whenever it's opened and this often menas connecting to GPRS (£££).
I was hoping to be able to set it so that it only updates when I want it to. I thought that the refresh time of 0 would do this but it still updates every time it's opened.

With the forecast for S2U2, one more cheeky request...could you add the option of tomorrow's forecast? Once I've left the house in the morning, I'm pretty much stuck with whatever clothes I left the house with.
Tomorrow's weather is often more interesting than today's after I get to work...only if it's a fairly simply task though, I don't want to push my luck ;-)

Thanks very much

[digitaldon37]

Thank you, I'll test this evening.
With regard to the refresh setting, my app seems to refresh whenever it's opened and this often menas connecting to GPRS (£££).
I was hoping to be able to set it so that it only updates when I want it to. I thought that the refresh time of 0 would do this but it still updates every time it's opened.

With the forecast for S2U2, one more cheeky request...could you add the option of tomorrow's forecast? Once I've left the house in the morning, I'm pretty much stuck with whatever clothes I left the house with.
Tomorrow's weather is often more interesting than today's after I get to work...only if it's a fairly simply task though, I don't want to push my luck ;-)

Thanks very much

I'll have to run a few tests to confirm nothings changed, but the default start-up behavior should be 1) check to see if there is a local cache file for the default location, 2) if there is not a default location cache file, check for the last known cache file, 3) if there are no cache files at all get the latest from Yahoo and build new cache files.

If you have the refresh set to 0, it shouldn't ever get a feed from Yahoo unless there isn't a local cache file and you don't press the refresh key.

[davehutch]

I'll have to run a few tests to confirm nothings changed, but the default start-up behavior should be 1) check to see if there is a local cache file for the default location, 2) if there is not a default location cache file, check for the last known cache file, 3) if there are no cache files at all get the latest from Yahoo and build new cache files.

If you have the refresh set to 0, it shouldn't ever get a feed from Yahoo unless there isn't a local cache file and you don't press the refresh key.

Just checked again, set refresh time to 0, connected using Wi-Fi and updated all locations.
Closed the app, switched off Wi-Fi and restarted application and it tried to do refresh over GPRS straight away.
(version D.37)

[digitaldon37]

Just checked again, set refresh time to 0, connected using Wi-Fi and updated all locations.
Closed the app, switched off Wi-Fi and restarted application and it tried to do refresh over GPRS straight away.
(version D.37)

Please try attached version .372 - I hope I got it right this time. Someone had added a refresh in one of their sub routines.

[digitaldon37]

Developer's version .38 has been uploaded to the main post

38
================================================== ===================
- added S2U option to show either current or forecast
- fixed retrieving from web, even if refresh value set to zero
- trap retrieveweatherdate error
- lines now have same color properties as borders
- added check to see if form visible before doing screen timer refresh

- added HTC Diamond theme in theme post

Thanks to everyone for the testing and feedback.

[Wolfkmann]

Its looking great! I can't get rid of the shadow problem, despite all the great suggestions unless I turn off clear type. However, I am currently using a white font so it's not so bad as a black font. Some one else may have mentioned this but 255,255,255 doesn't show up as white, but blank. 249,249,249 works well.

Had a thought. Is it possible on the main page to add the descriptor words for current, today and tommorow? Maybe combine day and date into one line to make room for it? besides seeing the "sunny" icon, it also says "Sunny" (or ,clear, cloudy you get my point.)

-Wolf

[digitaldon37]

Its looking great! I can't get rid of the shadow problem, despite all the great suggestions unless I turn off clear type. However, I am currently using a white font so it's not so bad as a black font. Some one else may have mentioned this but 255,255,255 doesn't show up as white, but blank. 249,249,249 works well.

Had a thought. Is it possible on the main page to add the descriptor words for current, today and tommorow? Maybe combine day and date into one line to make room for it? besides seeing the "sunny" icon, it also says "Sunny" (or ,clear, cloudy you get my point.)

-Wolf

One of the changes I made was to load the theme color in the forelayer instead of the default white. If you have the theme color and font colors different, you shouldn't be getting blank.

I also added an optional font value that you can add to the theme.ini if you have other fonts installed. Add "themeFontType=" and the font that you have. By default, only Tahoma is installed but some people add extra fonts.

If you want to upload your theme I would be glad to see how it is on my PDA.

Thanks for your suggestions, I'll look to see if I can find any room for the descriptions.

[digitaldon37]

Pocket Forecast Release 1.0 has been uploaded to the main post as a cab installer. The PC version + source code is in the zip file.

Release 1.0 contains all code and fixes up to developer's release .38

1.0 (12/3/08)
================================================== ===================
- cab installer for PPC (includes up to developers release .38)

This version should be as stable as any version 1.0 release. :)

[zard]

First time trying version 1.0, it is great! Why? Because it is using Yahoo's weather data and I can set 5 out of the 6 locations over here in Singapore. It would be even better if you could increase the number of locations from 5 to 10.

Very nice! Keep it up. Thank you.

[davehutch]

Here is another quick theme I knocked up that uses SPIL icons in png format so the edges are very smooth.
Also png details and buttons

Could do with a manual though, showing each part of the screen and a label saying what it's called in the theme.ini file! Having trouble with the colours (this one's fine though)

Just drop the unzipped files inside your THEMES folder

[digitaldon37]

First time trying version 1.0, it is great! Why? Because it is using Yahoo's weather data and I can set 5 out of the 6 locations over here in Singapore. It would be even better if you could increase the number of locations from 5 to 10.

Very nice! Keep it up. Thank you.

re 10 locations: I added this to the future feature list: http://campusbbs.freehostia.com

[digitaldon37]

Here is another quick theme I knocked up that uses SPIL icons in png format so the edges are very smooth.
Also png details and buttons

Could do with a manual though, showing each part of the screen and a label saying what it's called in the theme.ini file! Having trouble with the colours (this one's fine though)

Just drop the unzipped files inside your THEMES folder

Nice! I've been using this theme all day and have added to my theme list: http://campusbbs.freehostia.com

[Wolfkmann]

One of the changes I made was to load the theme color in the forelayer instead of the default white. If you have the theme color and font colors different, you shouldn't be getting blank.

I also added an optional font value that you can add to the theme.ini if you have other fonts installed. Add "themeFontType=" and the font that you have. By default, only Tahoma is installed but some people add extra fonts.

If you want to upload your theme I would be glad to see how it is on my PDA.

Thanks for your suggestions, I'll look to see if I can find any room for the descriptions.

Should I just zip up my entire theme directory, including my background images and weather icons?

[digitaldon37]

Should I just zip up my entire theme directory, including my background images and weather icons?

Yes - whatever you named your theme directory just zip it up and post it or you can PM me. I'll be glad to take a look at it.

[Wolfkmann]

Attached is my Wolf Theme. Thanks for looking.

[davehutch]

Tried it with "Wolf" as well, just copied the folderinto themes and selected. No background.
I did see it flash a couple of times briefly but then it disappeared
Any ideas?

[digitaldon37]

Tried it with "Wolf" as well, just copied the folderinto themes and selected. No background.
I did see it flash a couple of times briefly but then it disappeared
Any ideas?

One thing I need to improve is switching between themes. If you copy this theme and switch from another theme, depending on what your previous theme is, you may get the new theme image or some bland color (I got grey) Restarting the program should load the new theme correctly.

I loaded the theme and it shows leaves with a fox in the middle, with white fonts and borders. The fonts are not super-sharp (but are very readable) on my PC, and look correct on my PDA (AT&T Tilt, 240x320)

We are discussing this over at B4PPC forums to see what improvements we can make.

Maybe this is related to VGA? I don't have a VGA to test with but I think that a possibility may be that the code is stretching the fonts for VGA.

[davehutch]

and it only just dawned on me that there is resizing going on of all icons within the app.
I copied large icons into the Details folder and they still showed at the same size.
If good quality alpha blended icons are put into the app, it seems to do a rough job of resizing them and gives them all jagged edges.

Are these sizes fixed within the app? If so, what are the exact dimensions of each image type i.e. button, detail icons, condiion icons, + and - gfx files etc?

[digitaldon37]

and it only just dawned on me that there is resizing going on of all icons within the app.
I copied large icons into the Details folder and they still showed at the same size.
If good quality alpha blended icons are put into the app, it seems to do a rough job of resizing them and gives them all jagged edges.

Are these sizes fixed within the app? If so, what are the exact dimensions of each image type i.e. button, detail icons, condiion icons, + and - gfx files etc?

Dave, I hope this is what you're looking for:

The buttons are 50x60 pixels, the main page icons are 50x50, and the detail page icons are 40x40. Background images should match the screen size.

Images can be BMP, GIF, JPG, or PNG since they are specified by filename in the mapping files (details, conditions, buttons)

I don't know much about images and such - I'm sure one format is better than another - which is why I tried to make it as open as possible.

[Wolfkmann]

I loaded the theme and it shows leaves with a fox in the middle, with white fonts and borders. The fonts are not super-sharp (but are very readable) on my PC, and look correct on my PDA (AT&T Tilt, 240x320)
.

It's a WOLF! Hence the name of the theme, and my user name! My phone is qvga, not vga and I do get the white fuzz around the white text.

[digitaldon37]

It's a WOLF! Hence the name of the theme, and my user name! My phone is qvga, not vga and I do get the white fuzz around the white text.

Sorry about that...I didn't make the obvious connection.

I'm trying different colors for background and font to see if I can come up with a sharper contrast, as well as testing different fonts on the PC. I've also tried different background image types (BMP, JPG, PNG); So far I haven't had any luck but we are discussing this over on the B4PPC forums.

[t0k0m0k0]

It's a WOLF! Hence the name of the theme, and my user name! My phone is qvga, not vga and I do get the white fuzz around the white text.

in order to not have the white fuzz, just change the background color to black, so you'll have a small black fuzz non-noticable I suppose ;) ... on many themes I have to change those colors to avoid fuzzy fonts...
(the general rule is when you have white font then use black background, and when you have black font then use white background)

[chuma]

WOW/ Nice progress. Real powerful tool!

I mede rus LNG file
In attach. But work if i trying to change leng i have bug

"basic4ppc"
An error ccurred on sub
__main_loadlengugetext

etc


And pc version work too (maybe frwrk?)

[digitaldon37]

WOW/ Nice progress. Real powerful tool!

I mede rus LNG file
In attach. But work if i trying to change leng i have bug

"basic4ppc"
An error ccurred on sub
__main_loadlengugetext

etc


And pc version work too (maybe frwrk?)

I've posted this question (along with the fuzzy fonts) over at the B4PPC forums. Since the language file doesn't work on either my pc or pda, I think the framework as you suggested may be the problem. Did you have to download a Russian version of the framework 2.0 for your PC?

[chuma]

I've posted this question (along with the fuzzy fonts) over at the B4PPC forums. Since the language file doesn't work on either my pc or pda, I think the framework as you suggested may be the problem. Did you have to download a Russian version of the framework 2.0 for your PC?

sorry fo my english - im try with dictionary =)))
then i renamed WeatherR.txt in WeatherE.txt or WeatherE.txt - all is OK.
But named as WeatherR.txt - i have error.

[digitaldon37]

I have posted version .39 Developer's release on the main post.

.39 (12/8/08)
================================================== ==================
- fix Russian language file
- fix fuzzy font? (eliminated setTransparency)

I'm hoping that this fixes everyone's fuzzy fonts, but no promises (though it seems to have improved on mine) as it is still being tested by several of us at B4PPC. Special thanks to Klaus for looking into this. :)

[t0k0m0k0]

I have posted version .39 Developer's release on the main post.

.39 (12/8/08)
================================================== ==================
- fix Russian language file
- fix fuzzy font? (eliminated setTransparency)

I'm hoping that this fixes everyone's fuzzy fonts, but no promises (though it seems to have improved on mine) as it is still being tested by several of us at B4PPC. Special thanks to Klaus for looking into this. :)

fuzzy font fixed for me!
thanks :cool:

now there is always this strange thing that today is not today if you do not update the weather... :D
eg: today is monday and pocketforecast give me the "today weather" of sunday...
a real today info even without update would be more serious (even if you have N/A info in details...)

[digitaldon37]

fuzzy font fixed for me!
thanks :cool:

now there is always this strange thing that today is not today if you do not update the weather... :D
eg: today is monday and pocketforecast give me the "today weather" of sunday...
a real today info even without update would be more serious (even if you have N/A info in details...)

Thanks for the font update!

Re the "real today info"; I'll have to think of how to implement this the best way. There are scenarios to consider such as what to do if the last rss feed is 5 days old (the current would be the last forecast in the rss) and what should happen on the 6th day.

At a minimum, I might add a check on startup and ask if a refresh is wanted if the day has rolled over.

[Wolfkmann]

Hooray!! The fuzzy font is fixed for me as well. I too would like to see the today automatically update from forecast after midnight. Any thoughts about adding the descriptor words to the main page?

Thanks again for fixing the font issue.

[davehutch]

Comments please:
Here is a theme.ini file with comments about what is affected by each change. Hope it helps clear some thing up...it did for me!

[digitaldon37]

Comments please:
Here is a theme.ini file with comments about what is affected by each change. Hope it helps clear some thing up...it did for me!

Thanks Dave! I started documenting some of the theme settings at http://campusbbs.freehostia.com/doku.php?id=pocket_forecast

Themes now only need three settings defined: themeFormColor, themeFontColor, and themeBorderColor. Any other setting is optional and may be deprecated at some point (except for the font ones)

@all, please let me know if there are any other theme or font bugs. If not, I'll focus on some of the requested features.

[davehutch]

First thing I noticed though is your buttons are 48x48 and you stete they should be 50x50 (or 50x60)
I think that exactly sized images will work better and won't look so jagged.

Out of interest, what size should the tiny + and - buttons be when adding a location?

[digitaldon37]

First thing I noticed though is your buttons are 48x48 and you stete they should be 50x50 (or 50x60)
I think that exactly sized images will work better and won't look so jagged.

Out of interest, what size should the tiny + and - buttons be when adding a location?

I'm making an update on the program to standardize the icon sizes, what they are today will change in the next release. Hopefully this will make it easier to use existing icon sets.

the add/delete (+/-) icons: 16x16
weather details: 36x36
current details: 48x48
form buttons: 48x48

The next release will have some additional tweaking of the text display, as well as add a couple of new features.

[davehutch]

Will resize all the Spil icons and repost the theme.
Cheers

[klaus_ch]

Hi digitaldon37

Do you really want to stay with these image sizes ?
I was googeling a bit and ditn't find any 'standardized' size for weather images.
The images of the National Weather Service, are even 55*58 pixels.

If you make reference to icon sizes they are 16, (24), 32, 48 and 256.
There is no 36*36, the size you intend to use for the detail images instead of 40*40, I find the 40*40 size OK.

For the add and delete buttons I find that the original size of 20*20 looks nice, 16*16 pixels is somewhat small and 24*24 somewhat large.
Attached the comparison for the add/delete buttons 16*16, 20"20 and 24*24 pixels. In this image you also see the advantage of a matching sizes between image and control . The 16*16 image is sharper than the 2 others.

If you change the image sizes, that means that you should resize all images the condition and detail images.


Best regards

Klaus

[digidigi123]

Comments please:
Here is a theme.ini file with comments about what is affected by each change. Hope it helps clear some thing up...it did for me!

This little skinning guide helps, thanks.

[klaus_ch]

Here is an updated theme.ini.txt file.

I tried to download the Spil theme form here
http://campusbbs.freehostia.com/doku.php?id=pocket_forecast

but with no success !?

I get here:http://www.freehostia.com/
(http://www.freehostia.com/)

Best regards.

[digitaldon37]

Here is an updated theme.ini.txt file.

I tried to download the Spil theme form here
http://campusbbs.freehostia.com/doku.php?id=pocket_forecast

but with no success !?

I get here:http://www.freehostia.com/
(http://www.freehostia.com/)

Best regards.

I split the theme_spil file into 2 zips - that seems to work now.

Question to all: for the current weather page, should we go with 50x50 icons or 48x48?

for the forecast page, should we go with 40x40 icons or 36x36?

Visually I don't think it matters but I want to make it easier for everyone to use any existing weather icons that they have.

[klaus_ch]

I would suggest following:
current weather 48*48
forecast 40*40
buttons 48*48
add/delete(+/-) 20*20

I confirm the download of the Spil theme wors now !

Best regards.

[digitaldon37]

Changes
================================================
- Standardized image sizes:
* condition 48*48
* details 40*40
* buttons 48*48
* add/delete 20*20
- Added AppToDate Support (builds xml in \application data\ folder)
- Added cache check (display message for old cache)
- Increased location support from 5 to 10

This is an interim release, as soon as changes are finalized and tested I will upload to the main post.

I have not yet decided on the best way to roll over the weather date, so I'm displaying a message for now.

As always, feedback and suggestions are welcome.

[Wolfkmann]

Hey Don,

I noticed something in the new version. When adding a new location by touching the green +, for the United States certain states lose pull-down menu to change the first lettor of the city. This happens for connecticut, delaware, Hawaii, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington DC, and wyoming.

Is descriptor name on the main page on the todo list?

[digitaldon37]

Hey Don,

I noticed something in the new version. When adding a new location by touching the green +, for the United States certain states lose pull-down menu to change the first lettor of the city. This happens for connecticut, delaware, Hawaii, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington DC, and wyoming.

Is descriptor name on the main page on the todo list?

Interestingly, those states don't list their cities in perfect alphabetical order on the weather.yahoo.com site. For example, Delaware lists the city of Arden as the very last city - this breaks our code.

I will have to write some type of work-around...

[digitaldon37]

Hey Don,

I noticed something in the new version. When adding a new location by touching the green +, for the United States certain states lose pull-down menu to change the first lettor of the city. This happens for connecticut, delaware, Hawaii, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington DC, and wyoming.

Is descriptor name on the main page on the todo list?

Attached is version .41.1 - but it is only a partial fix. Not only were the cities not always sorted by Yahoo, but these states are not listed in alpha sub-categories either like the ones that do work.

I'll have to code around that also.

[Wolfkmann]

This new version seems to fix the city problem, and I like the slide bar to get to all ten cities. The problem is, on my phone at least, with the slide bar to the right in the locations window, I don't see the red delete button, only the green add button.

[klaus_ch]

Hi Wolfkmann,

The fact that for certain states there is no alphabetic list is due to the fact that there is no alphabetic list available in Yahoo, this depends on the total number of cities. Look at the two images below. The same behaviour also exists for other countries where you don't even have a states list.

Unfortunately, the last version does not solve the problem. I tried with the state of Nevada and the city of Zephyr Cove, you get the city of Coyot Springs. Will have a look at it.

For your display problem, what is the screen width in pixels?
Could you please post an image.

Best regards.

[digitaldon37]

Hi Wolfkmann,

The fact that for certain states there is no alphabetic list is due to the fact that there is no alphabetic list available in Yahoo, this depends on the total number of cities. Look at the two images below. The same behaviour also exists for other countries where you don't even have a states list.

Unfortunately, the last version does not solve the problem. I tried with the state of Nevada and the city of Zephyr Cove, you get the city of Coyot Springs. Will have a look at it.

For your display problem, what is the screen width in pixels?
Could you please post an image.

Best regards.

Attached are the latest builds plus updated language files for testing. The work-around I introduced in .41.1 had a bug where the wrong city would sometimes be returned; Klaus fixed that and did a couple of other tweaks.

After we fix the issue wolfkmann is having I'll upload a new developer's release on the main post.

[Wolfkmann]

Here is a screenshot. I can touch where the delete button should be, and it will still delete the location, it just doesn't display the icon. The icons are 20 x 20. I was thinking of dropping them to 16 x 16, and seeing if that made a difference, but I havent yet. My screen is a 240 x 320 qvga.

[klaus_ch]

Can you please try the new version below?
Should fix the problem.

EDIT: removed zip file, posted a new one.

[Wolfkmann]

Can you please try the new version below?
Should fix the problem.

Great, that fixed the problem withthe delete button. Here is a new problem. When I am looking at today's extended forecast, or the four day forecast, when I hit the back button it closes the program.

[klaus_ch]

Version 0.41.4
Sorry for having done some 'mess'.
In previous versions, when diplaying the 'detail' or 'fourcast' screen, after a weather update the main screen was systematically displayed, this is no more the case.

EDIT: removed zip file, posted a new one

[Wolfkmann]

Yup, this version fixes the back/close problem, Thanks. Everything works!

minor thing, I noticed that this version doesn't have the icon embedded in the .exe file.

Attached are my homemade add and delete buttons.

[klaus_ch]

I don't yet know why and when the developpment editor sometimes looses the icon file to embed it.
Here they are.

[digitaldon37]

Yup, this version fixes the back/close problem, Thanks. Everything works!

minor thing, I noticed that this version doesn't have the icon embedded in the .exe file.

Attached are my homemade add and delete buttons.

[deleted - duplicate of klaus's reply]

[update] nice icons - if it's ok I'll include those with the next release

[klaus_ch]

I had also played a bit with the add and delete buttons.

[Wolfkmann]

Everything looks good in this version. You may include my icons. I am in the process of also turning all my realize style square icons into round (and maybe hexagon) icons.

[digitaldon37]

Since this has made its way to the freewarepocketpc.net site - I thought I'd roll the latest changes into a new release (1.1) - uploaded to the main post

The big change (not part of the program) is that I had to compress the cab so that the cab size is less than 500kb (limit at my free hosting site) - supposedly this only works on WM5 and above. There will be an optional ZIP file that can be copied directly for those running WM2003

1.1 (12/14/08)
================================================== ==================
- public release containing developer fixes d.39 to d.41

.41 (12/11/08)
================================================== ==================
- Added AppToDate support
- Added check for outdated cache (displays message only)

.40 (12/11/08) Klaus
================================================== ==================
- adapted image sizes to
condition 48*48
details 40*40
buttons 48*48
add/delete 20*20 the png images are still 16*16 in the gfx folder
- increased saved locations from 5 to 10
- panel messages in the middle of the screen (eliminate double redraw)


.39 (12/8/08)
================================================== ==================
- fix Russian language file
- fix fuzzy font (eliminated setTransparency)

[sunseaker]

Just installed this. Having problems with some locations.

When I try select Portugal I get the following error:

<quote> An error occurred on sub__main_browsesubregional.

Value does not fall within the expected range. Continue? YES / NO. <end quote>

What's causing this?

Also, is there a today plugin for this app?

[digitaldon37]

Just installed this. Having problems with some locations.

When I try select Portugal I get the following error:

<quote> An error occurred on sub__main_browsesubregional.

Value does not fall within the expected range. Continue? YES / NO. <end quote>

What's causing this?

Also, is there a today plugin for this app?

Thanks, good catch! I checked Yahoo weather for Portugal and it is listing "Tomas" twice. I have added a check for duplicates and uploaded the updated code on the main post.

There currently is not a plugin for this app.

[sunseaker]

Thanks. It's working now.

[Wolfkmann]

I was thinking about the tomorrow becoming today issue. Is it possible to have the program check the device's internal clock, and at midnight move everything up one day, and just use the "na" icon for current forecast?

Or have you though of this, and it isn't as simple as it seems?

[Mr.Okada]

Good day,
I made Japanese language file as attached. :)

[digitaldon37]

I was thinking about the tomorrow becoming today issue. Is it possible to have the program check the device's internal clock, and at midnight move everything up one day, and just use the "na" icon for current forecast?

Or have you though of this, and it isn't as simple as it seems?

There are several things that need to be done in order to implement this, and the first was to get the program to recognize when the date rolls over (even if left running). In version 1.1 there is a new timer function to monitor this. I'm testing this over several days to see how it works, under conditions such as having the program in foreground, having it minimized, and with screen savers such as S2U

The second thing that needs to be done - that I'm currently working on - is how to store and save the weather data when it rolls over. Currently, the current forecast is in one data structure and the forecast is in another. It gets complicated to use current by jumping into the forecast (such as what happens on a date roll-over) so I'm having to move the most recent forecast into the current structure and then move each forecast day up (forecast day 2 becomes day 1, day 3 becomes day 2, etc)

I want to make sure everything is in synch so when the date rolls over, if you click on forecast that it looks right.

[digitaldon37]

Good day,
I made Japanese language file as attached. :)

Thanks! I'll add this to the release package.

[klaus_ch]

Hi Mr. Okada.
If you look at the last language files, there are now 58 lines and in yours only 56.
Can you please add the last 2 lines, thank you in advance.

Best regards.

[Wolfkmann]

There are several things that need to be done in order to implement this, and the first was to get the program to recognize when the date rolls over (even if left running). In version 1.1 there is a new timer function to monitor this. I'm testing this over several days to see how it works, under conditions such as having the program in foreground, having it minimized, and with screen savers such as S2U

The second thing that needs to be done - that I'm currently working on - is how to store and save the weather data when it rolls over. Currently, the current forecast is in one data structure and the forecast is in another. It gets complicated to use current by jumping into the forecast (such as what happens on a date roll-over) so I'm having to move the most recent forecast into the current structure and then move each forecast day up (forecast day 2 becomes day 1, day 3 becomes day 2, etc)

I want to make sure everything is in synch so when the date rolls over, if you click on forecast that it looks right.

All this makes sense, thanks for explaining. Would you mind explaining to he how the cache works? What I mean is, in the morning, before I leave my house, I get an updated forecast for the town I live in. I also switch via the locations page, to the town I work in. This morning, I forgot to switch back to where I live. While at work, I tried to switch back, but since I can't get a wifi connection, it wouldn't let me switch locations. I thought it would, because I downloaded both locations in the morning, thinking that both would be stored in the cache, I guess don't understand how it works.

Thanks,
-Wolf

[digitaldon37]

All this makes sense, thanks for explaining. Would you mind explaining to he how the cache works? What I mean is, in the morning, before I leave my house, I get an updated forecast for the town I live in. I also switch via the locations page, to the town I work in. This morning, I forgot to switch back to where I live. While at work, I tried to switch back, but since I can't get a wifi connection, it wouldn't let me switch locations. I thought it would, because I downloaded both locations in the morning, thinking that both would be stored in the cache, I guess don't understand how it works.

Thanks,
-Wolf

The program saves each location in the cache directory with the file name "location id" and ".cache". It also creates a "default.cache" file for the current location.

What should happen is that if you have the refresh interval set higher than zero, it will attempt to download a new cache when changing locations. If you have the interval set to zero, it should use the cached location file and copy it to "default.cache", unless the cached location file doesn't exist and then it will revert back to the default.cache file.

If it's not letting you switch locations because there's no wifi connection, either the file is getting deleted or the program is not flowing the way I described it (both would be bugs)

[update] Testing on my pocket phone with interval set to 0 and switching to flight mode, it is deleting the location that I am switching from. So it let me switch to another city (ie I left my home location, flew to remote city for client work) but it deleted the cache file for my home location - the city I left. Not what I intended - I'm going to log as a bug and write a fix.

[Wolfkmann]

I will patiently wait for the newest version of this incredible and rapidly evolving program.

[Mr.Okada]

Oh! I used old one... OK, I updated. Thanks for your check.

[digitaldon37]

I will patiently wait for the newest version of this incredible and rapidly evolving program.

Wolfkmann, attached is the latest developer's release. Please let me know if this fixes your issue.

Developer's release .43 is based on the latest public release (1.1)

[Wolfkmann]

I am sorry to report that if I am not connected to wifi or to the computer via ActiveSync, it will not let me switch locations.

[digitaldon37]

I am sorry to report that if I am not connected to wifi or to the computer via ActiveSync, it will not let me switch locations.

Sorry, please try this one.

[Wolfkmann]

Sorry, please try this one.

This one works great! I connected to wifi, updated the 5 cities I have stored on the locations page, and when I disconnected, I was able to recall all 5! I didn't test to see if it can store more than 5 forecasts at a time.

Thanks alot.

What else is planned for future versions?

[digitaldon37]

This one works great! I connected to wifi, updated the 5 cities I have stored on the locations page, and when I disconnected, I was able to recall all 5! I didn't test to see if it can store more than 5 forecasts at a time.

Thanks alot.

What else is planned for future versions?

This developer's release (.45) has left-right / right-left finger swipe to scroll through your saved locations. (thanks to Klaus!)

Still working on that roll-over feature.

[Wolfkmann]

I tried .45, I couldn't get the finger swipe to work. does something else need to be activated first?

Will be happy to keep beta testing.

Am I the only one that has shown interest in the descriptor words on the main page?

Thanks for the quick responses.

-Wolf

[digitaldon37]

I tried .45, I couldn't get the finger swipe to work. does something else need to be activated first?

Will be happy to keep beta testing.

Am I the only one that has shown interest in the descriptor words on the main page?

Thanks for the quick responses.

-Wolf
Sorry, forgot to mention this: swiping must be done in the "Tomorrow" box (use a slow motion)

Regarding descriptor words - with how text is written onto the form this is easier to do now. I can combine the City/Region onto one line and write the current condition, but I'm having difficulty in the Today/Tomorrow sections. That is because some languages have long words for Today/Tomorrow and some of the other text. Could icons be modified to give a short description (ie Rain, Cloudy...)

[edit] looking at the condition mapping file it looks like at most there are 23 characters in the condition description.

[Wolfkmann]

I can get the finger swiping to work, if I strictly swipe over the word "tomorrow" . If I start or stop beyond the "w" (depending if it is a right or left sweep) it doesn't work. But, my point is, now that I know this, as long as I confine my sweep to the word, it works well.

As for the descriptors, what about an option to combine day and date into one line, freeing up a line for the descriptor. instead of:

Today
Wednesday
17 Dec 2008

It is done as:

Today
Wed 12/17/08
Partly Cloudy

-Wolf

[klaus_ch]

Hi Wolfkmann,

Can you please try this one.
- Increased the swiping area to the Today and Tomorrow area.
- Changed the Today display with weather conditions, the Tomorrow display is still the previous one for comparison.

Best regards.

[Wolfkmann]

I don't see anything different from the previous update that Digitaldon posted, v.45

[klaus_ch]

Sorry I ziped the old file.
Here is the new one.

[digitaldon37]

Version .46.4 contains changes that display weather conditions on the main page.

[Wolfkmann]

Great! all the information I was hoping for on the main page!

I tooke DigitalDons .464, I didn't try the re-post from klaus.

Look at my attachment, can see see one problem?

[digitaldon37]

Great! all the information I was hoping for on the main page!

I tooke DigitalDons .464, I didn't try the re-post from klaus.

Look at my attachment, can see see one problem?

Sorry - that happened by copying & pasting code (and then not paying attention to testing). Please see attached-same version but fixed

[Wolfkmann]

That's great, absolutely great.

Make sure you send this version to all the freeware sites, it is top-notch.

I now have 3 questions.

1) When I tap on the current conditions icon to get an update, does it update all my locations, or just the one I am currently looking at?

2) on the bottom left corner of the main page it says:

Last Weather Update:
Thu 18 Dec 2008
5:53 pm EST
refresh @ 18:24

If I hit update, the times5:53 time isn't changing, but the refresh @ time does. Am I really getting an update?

3) Is it possible in the .ini file to bold my text if I wanted to?

One more thing I noticed. On the today details page, and the fourcast page, if I tap on the icons, nothing happens except I hear a beep. Does this mean anything?

Thanks again.

[digitaldon37]

That's great, absolutely great.

Make sure you send this version to all the freeware sites, it is top-notch.

I now have 3 questions.

1) When I tap on the current conditions icon to get an update, does it update all my locations, or just the one I am currently looking at?

2) on the bottom left corner of the main page it says:

Last Weather Update:
Thu 18 Dec 2008
5:53 pm EST
refresh @ 18:24

If I hit update, the times5:53 time isn't changing, but the refresh @ time does. Am I really getting an update?

3) Is it possible in the .ini file to bold my text if I wanted to?

One more thing I noticed. On the today details page, and the fourcast page, if I tap on the icons, nothing happens except I hear a beep. Does this mean anything?

Thanks again.

Thanks for all your testing & feedback. This was posted on freewarepocketpc.net and has made some other sites. Hopefully everyone finds it useful.

1. It only updates the current location. If this was something that everyone wanted, I guess we could add a Y/N option to update all locations.
2. The last update is when Yahoo updated their data. They usually update it every hour.
3. No. You can change the font type in the theme.ini but it affects all printing. If we were to add bold, I'm sure it would have to be all printing also
4. The icons on the details page don't do anything. Yet. If I can get a weather feed with hourly details I might use those icons to drill down to hourly details.

A future enhancement is to add a plug-in page which will basically be a HTML container that can run javascript and have access to the weather data. In theory, this would allow you to write your own displays.

[digitaldon37]

I have uploaded version .47 to the main post. This version integrates with Levenum's Today Screen plug-in (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=312058) to display either the current weather or forecast.

If everything tests out ok I will be rolling all the latest development releases into a new public release build.

.47 (12/19/08)
================================================== ================
- add Today Screen plug-in integration (Levenum project)

.46 (12/18/08)
================================================== =================
- add condition descriptions on main page


.45 (12/17/08)
================================================== ==================
- left/right & right/left finger swipe to switch locations (klaus)

.44 (12/17/08)
================================================== ==================
- fix offline cache / location switching bug

.43 (12/17/08)
================================================== ==================
- add S2U key update to "RefreshWeather"
- fix bug where interval set to zero and deletes location cache
- fix refreshweather bug (sets timer off for ini=0)

.42 (12/16/08)
================================================== ==================
- add klaus's update for city/location id (sorted array)

1.1 (12/14/08)
================================================== ==================
- public release containing developer fixes d.39 to d.41

[jiejie]

hi i got the latest version

after i installed it. i run it and i got the following error msg: "An error occurred on sub_main_changetovga NullReferenceException Continue?"


if i pick yes, it will run the software. but the main is on the bottom

[digitaldon37]

hi i got the latest version

after i installed it. i run it and i got the following error msg: "An error occurred on sub_main_changetovga NullReferenceException Continue?"


if i pick yes, it will run the software. but the main is on the bottom

Hi, Does public release 1.1 run ok? If it does, I can send you a version between 1.1 and .47 to see if this is a new problem or old.

[klaus_ch]

Hi jiejie,

What kind of device do you have and
what is the screen size ?

[jiejie]

Hi, Does public release 1.1 run ok? If it does, I can send you a version between 1.1 and .47 to see if this is a new problem or old.

sorry, i didn't realized i forgot so many details:

i installed the 1.1 version. the menu was at the bottom( i saw the menu was at the top for the newest version)

i am using bell's htc touch pro.

[digitaldon37]

sorry, i didn't realized i forgot so many details:

i installed the 1.1 version. the menu was at the bottom( i saw the menu was at the top for the newest version)

i am using bell's htc touch pro.

Hi. The PC version ("PC Forecast") has the menu at the top, and the PDA version ("Pocket Forecast") has the menu at the bottom - this has been this way for every release.

The Touch Pro has a screen a VGA resolution, so I am not sure why you are having issues (especially with 1.1 - which has been out a while). Are you having these problems with the 1.1 that was in the cab install? I'm assuming you didn't install a different theme or make any changes to it.

There is a log file setting that you can enable. If you can send me a log file and the programs INI file (it will be in the directory you installed the app to) I can see if I can replicate the issue.

Maybe someone else with a VGA device can comment on this also.

[digitaldon37]

sorry, i didn't realized i forgot so many details:

i installed the 1.1 version. the menu was at the bottom( i saw the menu was at the top for the newest version)

i am using bell's htc touch pro.

Hi jiejie,

Attached is a potential fix for your issue - just copy the executable into your install directory. Please let me know if this works ok.

Thanks!

[jiejie]

Hi jiejie,

Attached is a potential fix for your issue - just copy the executable into your install directory. Please let me know if this works ok.

Thanks!


thanks. i put the file in my installation folder, and i dont get error anymore.

i enabled the log, but i can't find anything that looks like a log file in the installation folder.

this version looks like the previous version? no new features?

[digitaldon37]

thanks. i put the file in my installation folder, and i dont get error anymore.

i enabled the log, but i can't find anything that looks like a log file in the installation folder.

this version looks like the previous version? no new features?

Thanks for the feedback - I have had other VGA testers say that .48 works for them also. With this testing complete - I will be rolling all development builds (.42-.49) into a new public release. The changes include 1) swiping left/right or right/left to change locations, 2) integration with Levenum's Today Screen plug-in, 3) printing weather details on main page, and 4) several bug fixes.

Nothing major - but more stable and some new features.

[Wolfkmann]

I am playing with the PC Forecast version in the main post. Three questions:

1) It doesn't have the ability to give the descriptor on the main page, can this be added?

2) In the settings page, why is there an option to S2U integration? This program doesn't run on a PC.

3) Is it possible to create an option where it doesn't have around it the typical windows border. It would be cool if it was just the image only, not the border or the top bar with the maximize, minimize and close button.

-Wolf

[digitaldon37]

I am playing with the PC Forecast version in the main post. Three questions:

1) It doesn't have the ability to give the descriptor on the main page, can this be added?

2) In the settings page, why is there an option to S2U integration? This program doesn't run on a PC.

3) Is it possible to create an option where it doesn't have around it the typical windows border. It would be cool if it was just the image only, not the border or the top bar with the maximize, minimize and close button.

-Wolf

Hi wolf, thanks for being a great tester and with all of the feedback to help make this program better.

1. The descriptors are now in the pocket and pc versions (they use the same code base so this is kind of automatic) - I just rolled a public release 1.2 and it is on the wiki pages. Download the PC zip version for that

http://campusbbs.freehostia.com/doku.php?id=pocket_forecast

2. The S2U option (and now the Levenum Today Screen) option is there because both the PC and PDA version use the same code base. I guess I probably could disable/hide those on the PC

3. Good suggestion - when I implement up/down swiping and add full screen on the PDA I may see if I can do something visually the same for the PC version.

[Wolfkmann]

I like the new capability to have the current conditions as a today plugin. Currently it is just one line of text. Great, but a bit boring. Any possibility of evolving it into something like what I have attached?

Ever consider on either version adding a link to take the user to weather.com for more information that what can be obtained from the RSS feed? Things like the 6-10 day forecast, for example?

[digitaldon37]

I like the new capability to have the current conditions as a today plugin. Currently it is just one line of text. Great, but a bit boring. Any possibility of evolving it into something like what I have attached?

Ever consider on either version adding a link to take the user to weather.com for more information that what can be obtained from the RSS feed? Things like the 6-10 day forecast, for example?

A plug-in is something that the programming language that I used for Pocket Forecast does not support, so I had to rely on an external project to implement this. So the good news is that what you describe is feasible (Levenum released his source code) but the bad news is that I currently don't have the skills to do it.

It does sound interesting and I would be willing to work with anyone who could make the modifications to do that. It seems to me that it would be as simple as having Pocket Forecast create an image and registry entries to provide the data, and the plug-in to display the data.

The linking to weather.com is also very doable - but may work better in the plug-in that I am working on (future feature)

[davehutch]

Installed 1.2 from the Dev's zip file and it still updates the weather feed every time I swipe to change locations.
Have I missed something?

[digitaldon37]

Installed 1.2 from the Dev's zip file and it still updates the weather feed every time I swipe to change locations.
Have I missed something?

Hi Dave,

If a cache file doesn't exist, it will go out to the internet and grab one the latest one. If it does exist, it should use it (even if it is old) On mine I can swipe between locations and am getting forecasts from last week.

Is this is what happening for you?

[davehutch]

I delete the cahche, then swipe between three locations and get updates as normal.
This should have then built up a new cache for each location
Then I continue swiping between the three and each time it tries to update the info, even though I have an existing cache

[digitaldon37]

I delete the cahche, then swipe between three locations and get updates as normal.
This should have then built up a new cache for each location
Then I continue swiping between the three and each time it tries to update the info, even though I have an existing cache

Attached is an update - one version displays a messagebox indicating where it is getting the weather feed (local location file, default cache, or remote); the other does not have the messaging.

Changes made (developer's release .50)

1. Delete "default.cache" before looking for local location file (only for the swiping change location)
2. If local location file exists, use that and create a new default cache file with that data...
3. If local file does not exist, get one from the Internet.

[Wolfkmann]

I tried version 0.50 with the messaging. Whether I was connected to my computer via USB, or connected to WiFi, or not connected to the internet at all, I always got the message, "getting local location" when scrolling through my cities. I only get an update if I tapped on the current condition icon. Was I not doing something correctly?

[digitaldon37]

I tried version 0.50 with the messaging. Whether I was connected to my computer via USB, or connected to WiFi, or not connected to the internet at all, I always got the message, "getting local location" when scrolling through my cities. I only get an update if I tapped on the current condition icon. Was I not doing something correctly?

You were doing it correctly - it will default to the local location file if it exists. You will have to manually refresh or wait for the next automatic refresh (if you have it set that way)

I made the program always read the local file (and require you to manually refresh) when scrolling through locations so that it wouldn't go out to the internet for a new file while you scroll.

[Wolfkmann]

That makes sense. I misunderstood originally, I thought that if it was connected, it would detect that and then it would get an internet update, and if it wasn't connected it would use the local file. Still love the program!

[Wolfkmann]

I had an idea, and I am working on it. I will let you know if it works. In the mean time, I need to know, does Pocket Forecast make and registry entries? I have looked in HKLM and HKCU, but couldn't see anything.