Database Users

New weather source for South Africa

Hi Guys,
I'm helping the SA Weather Service which is the ONLY accurate source of weather for SA & SADC (all these global servers are so appaulingly wrong that most of us SA's just disable the wether tab in our HTC).
They are keen to provide a weather source to the public for use on various mobile devices. Currently they generate an extensive xml file 3x per day, and all I need to do is help them specify the new file format.
I have some questions I am hoping someone here can help with:
There must be a standard format for these information sources, which I am guessing is am xml file. Ideally this will be small to minimise bandwidth served. Where can I find this schema?
Are there various standards for various apps, or do most weather apps use the same standard?
Can we just put this xml into a public directory, or do we have to have some sort of web service running?
Is it possible to make the HTC Home plugin use our data source - the hacks I've seen are related to adding different cities, not changing the data source?
Finally, I'd like to hear which apps you guys use that have the ability for one to specify a different data source. We're powerless if the app only allows a choice of 2 or 3 Russian servers.
Oh yeah, does anyone have any insight into Nokia and Symbian weather apps? If we crack this for HTC/WM, will the others work too?

Hey...this sounds brilliant...
Sorry..not gonna be much help with your questions...but wishing you the best of luck..
Wont a normal RSS feed work well based on a chosen city? I somehow think that the web service would be the best option...
Maybe this might help

GREAT!!!
I do hope to see this soon!!!

Sounds cool!
Howsit to fellow South Africans!
Im not into the weather much, Im happy With the results from SPB weather.
I know that there is not much cities supported, like in Natal, you can only get Durban, but what if you are in Margate!
I think the most of the apps rely on Yahoo Weather source........It uses .xml coding, but im not sure about the rest!!!
Howsit peeeps!

SAWS is the ONLY source of accurate weather. All other sources come from global models - usually Euro or US centric. They are appaulingly wrong for SA, for many reasons; they do not consider topography in the slightest, and their resolution over Africa is around 100km vs 4km for local models.
You will often see temp projections of 15'C to 25'C when SAWS is saying 5 to 15. How different is that! You will see clear skys when you are sitting here looking at a dense cloud bank from George thro to PTA. They're all basically SO bad they are less than useless (less, cos they make you think you know what's happening).
RSS feeds are an easy option, but we all like our cutsie phone apps, so I want to get in line with those. Ideally I want to find a freeware app, with awesome capabilities, and make sure SAWS provide data for that. Then we can post it widely here as the prefered SA option.
C'mon guys, who's developed weather apps and has some insight? I have to move fast before SAWS lose interest.

I'd love to help but have absolutely no clue on this! I use Pocket Weather and HTC Weather on my device and yeah, the forecasts are appallingly wrong 90% of the time! Hope you can get this up and running with SAWS...

Target Market
Is this only aimed at WM users??? or for the broader public....
Was the link posted above useful?? (http://developer.yahoo.com/weather/)
As an alternative slightly of the track...what if the developed a mobile website...lightweight...easily available...the limitation could be personalisation...

Sorry, yahoo link is to get their RSS feed. Their data is sourced from nternational model - all of which exclude the topography of SA (if you live in CT you can't even begin to use them).
As for min-web-site, that's a fallback. But people really do prefer an on-screen plugin, with the ability to click for more details. I'm looking for apps that support clicking thro to radar images (live stoom tracking to resched your braai!), weather and traffic cams (SAWS has them all!), and of course the up-to-the-minute data tables with forecasts etc.
Apps exist, but not sure which allow you to select data sources.

craigiecraigie4 said:
Apps exist, but not sure which allow you to select data sources.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which apps are these......

HI
Any news on this? need people to test etc?
Thanks

SPB Weather Aussie Weather Source

Hi All,
As requested, find attached weather sources for SPB weather.
There are two scripts below, one basic and one detailed. Instruction on how to use are in the the templates, so just open in notepad to view the 'how to'. I use the basic one, but have a play as you can go down to each states weather centres.
Weather is then sourced from www.weatherzone.com.au.
I take no credit for this script and a big thanks to recrem (from the now closed Mtekk forum) for updating a while back.
Enjoy,
Dev

Thanks for the good work. Good to see an Aussie Weather Source

Thanks again Dev,
Just downloading your weather files now (after trawling through whirlpool all morning looking for your post). I was happy using the one in SPB mobile shell until today... it forecasts 30 for today and it is much closer to 34... all the news channels were saying 34, so obviously they got their data from a more reliable source.

Works great with SPB Traveler, but has anyone made it work with the SPB panel's weather? It seems to take its data from Traveler when Traveler is installed, but if you select a custom city, the panel's weather screen just tells you that "No weather data has been downloaded".

bedlam_au said:
Works great with SPB Traveler, but has anyone made it work with the SPB panel's weather? It seems to take its data from Traveler when Traveler is installed, but if you select a custom city, the panel's weather screen just tells you that "No weather data has been downloaded".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no need to create a custom city (unless it's not in the list).
There are full instructions in the template file (open with notepad).
It is working fine for me... apart from a few issues with weather icons not showing up from time to time.

buzz83 said:
There is no need to create a custom city (unless it's not in the list).
There are full instructions in the template file (open with notepad).
It is working fine for me... apart from a few issues with weather icons not showing up from time to time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said, it works fine in SPB Traveler. Where it doesn't work is with SPB's custom X1 panel. The weather icon on its "Today" screen is just a sun with N/A where the temp should be. Tapping on that icon, which normally shows the next 4 days, has a message along the lines of "The weather data hasn't been downloaded.
I'm assuming it's because those scripts produce temperatures and icons in a slightly different format. Traveler can handle it but the Panel can't. It'd need someone with a bit more script nerdery than me to reformat those scripts to something the Panel's weather routine can read.

bedlam_au said:
As I said, it works fine in SPB Traveler. Where it doesn't work is with SPB's custom X1 panel. The weather icon on its "Today" screen is just a sun with N/A where the temp should be. Tapping on that icon, which normally shows the next 4 days, has a message along the lines of "The weather data hasn't been downloaded.
I'm assuming it's because those scripts produce temperatures and icons in a slightly different format. Traveler can handle it but the Panel can't. It'd need someone with a bit more script nerdery than me to reformat those scripts to something the Panel's weather routine can read.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, only SPB weather can read the scripts to display the correct icons. So if you don't have SPB weather loaded, its no good as Shell Panel doesn't work with it.
Dev

Revised Detailed Script to fix missing codes
Hi all,
It would seems weatherzone.com.au have now stopped displaying the city code number in the URL address as per the instruction in the template.
So I have modified the template so you can now get it to work if you don't know your suburbs code.
Instructions are at the top of the file, so just open with notepad and you'll be off and running.
Enjoy.
Dev

thedeva said:
Hi all,
It would seems weatherzone.com.au have now stopped displaying the city code number in the URL address as per the instruction in the template.
So I have modified the template so you can now get it to work if you don't know your suburbs code.
Instructions are at the top of the file, so just open with notepad and you'll be off and running.
Enjoy.
Dev
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have proved yourself yet again dev.
SPB Weather was giving me the #$%s on the weekend, but I was house hunting and didn't have time to play around with it.
Looks like you've done the job very nicely.
Thanks again

For reasons I can't begin to understand, it would seem the issues with SPB Traveler messing with the SPB Panel's weather are resolved by installing SPB Weather.
If I was being scientific about it, I'd see if it works in isolation without Traveler or if this new version of the script has anything to do with it. But I'm not.
So for now, the combination of Traveler + Weather + current script by TheDeva = correct weather now being displayed in the SPB Mobile Shell Panel. Some weather icons are N/A, but at least the temperature is correct and not 10 degrees out like it used to be. (What are these other websites using as the source of their information??)

Thankyou to 'thedeva' for the modified spb weather script... the programs now works and it gives the same forcasts that we get on ABC weather.. so that accuracy helps alot.
One thing I have noticed is that there is never an icon for the next days weather. e.g. today is tuesday, and there is no icon for wedneday's forcast. Tomorrow after I update, there will be no icon for the next day. I have Ballarat and Melbourne as the cities I watch, but neither will display the next day's icon using this template... when i go back to the default spb scripts all is good, just lousy weather forcasts...
I have looked at the script, but I can't see where the fault lies... any ideas please ?
David

Hi All,
I have read all the templates and comments and cannot get the weather to display correctly. I have mobile shell installed as well as SPB weather. The custom city of melbourne has been added with directions supplied by 'thedeva'. I get the dreaded N/A on the professional Now screen. Any ideas?
Thanks!
Dan.

SPB v1.7 with Melbourne?
Hi guys,
I have SPB 1.7 (which is more lightweight than the current) and am trying to get it to work with the script.
It doesn't say in the script which "City Code Type" to use but I've tried all 3 (user defined, ICAO and GisMeteo.ru) with no luck.
I've set Custom City with "vic/melbourne/melbourne".
I get a "Error downloading data from site". I'm pretty sure I have connectivity as I see the HSPDA connection go and if it's in the crade the sync marks go (and other apps update).
Can anyone assist?
Cheers,
Gavan

I believe SPB Wather older than version 2 are obsolete and don't have any support/sources for them.

Thanks Orlesi - can anyone else also confirm it won't work with v1.7? I've been deliberately running the older version for a smaller simpler lightweight forecaster.

glimjoon said:
Thanks Orlesi - can anyone else also confirm it won't work with v1.7? I've been deliberately running the older version for a smaller simpler lightweight forecaster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep.
The custom template is for 2.0 on only. It's still a little buggy though.

I've come late to this, so hopefully someone is still monitoring it. I installed the script and my forecast now comes from the BOM. The only part I didn't understand when reading through the script is how to get the Mobile Shell widget to display the weather. I simply get N/A. Is this by design and unavoidable, or is it possible to fix it?
More importantly, my current temperature seems to be wrong. It seems to still be getting that part from the 'Default Source', even though I've disabled that. It's 37 degrees here today right now, and Weatherzone agrees. But SPB Weather is showing only 31, which is the temperature the 'Default Source' thinks it is. Also, when I tap the current temperature, it says the 'location' is 'Adelaide Intl', which again is the location of the 'Default Source', not the Weatherzone source. So even though I've set Weatherzone as default, and all the long range forecasts seem to be using it and are correct per the BOM site, the current temperature seems to be sourcing from the standard SPB Weather 'Default Source' still, even though I've said 'Don't use this source' (and under sources, it shows as 'This source is not used'). Is there something I need to change in the script to get it to display the current weather from the weatherzone source?
Sorry if I've missed something obvious.
EDIT: Please forgive me, I realised that I had used the default city in SPB weather, which I think is why I was getting the Default Source data for the current temperature. I set up a custom city and it seems to not be be drawing from the default source now. Except now, there seems to be no current temperature. Well, the field is there, but it's actually only showing the forecasted maximum there, not the actual temperature. When I tap it, all I see are the forecasted maximums, no data for when the reading was taken. I'll keep looking but if anyone has any idea why this is happening, I'd appreciate your input. I see there is something written about exactly this behaviour in the script, but I can't work out if that's just saying 'that's how it is' or whether there is a way to fix it? Sorry for being such a noob!

Over the last few days or so, this weather template seems to have stopped working. I suspect that there have been modifications on the weatherzone.com.au website. If anybody has managed to fix the template, I would much appreciate it

_Robert_ said:
Over the last few days or so, this weather template seems to have stopped working. I suspect that there have been modifications on the weatherzone.com.au website. If anybody has managed to fix the template, I would much appreciate it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. I have found the same thing. Today is the last date for which data was downloaded and I guess that it was downloaded about 7 days ago. Without a fix I guess I will be forced to use a US source which will in fact render SPB Weather useless.

For the record I found that this one (http://www.pdagold.com/themes/detail.asp?t=16497) still works at least for Melbourne but it doesn't provide detailed weather the way the weatherzone one used to.

Question: Currency widget for HD??

Hi,
I like how i can edit the weather widget to match my city.
Question: Is there sort of a widget for touchflow, that i can configure to show me the today's currency values ?
I work a lot with money and such a tab woudl be very helpful, anyone has an idea? i tried searching the forum, maybe i searched wrong, but did not find something like that
Thanks in advance.

go to "Stock" tab, select Menu / Quote then enter the currency codes you need e.g. SGDAUD=X Singapore Dollar to Australian Dollar.
You can get the codes from Yahoo Finance.
Works well. There is some upper limit of the number of stocks or currency rates you can have but I'm not sure what it is.

Googling around i found:
http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/ppc-download-xchange-r8.html
works super nice and fast and found automatically the refference bank from my country.
Super cute
Amd just tried your suggestion, THANK YOU works as a charm !!

There's also WorldMate Live at https://www.worldmatelive.com/
It has currency exchange, weather, measurement converter, itinarary mgt and flight schedules plus a bunch of other goodies. I travel regularly for work so have found this invaluable.

weather

hello, i want to use the htc weather app that comes on the tp2, but im not using the touch flo thingy. so can anyone tell me how to do that?
thanks

ohhhh... or if theres any similar apps like the g-weather i have been using which i would carry on using but my trial period has run out

You can't just use one particular tab of TF3D. It's all or nothing...
Sounds like you prefer something free, so have a check here for some options.
Otherwise, the weather apps from Elecont and SPB are pretty good. Or if you use SPB Mobile Shell, a weather widget is included.

Hey just use TF for find a standalone app from the previou post!

Weather replacement
I've read a number of threads on how to edit a sql database in a particular manila folder in order to make the accu-weather widget display your city's weather. But since I live 100 miles from the nearest accu-weather "international" city, it seems that my only option is to use a 3rd party app. Is this a correct assessment?

rhfritz said:
I've read a number of threads on how to edit a sql database in a particular manila folder in order to make the accu-weather widget display your city's weather. But since I live 100 miles from the nearest accu-weather "international" city, it seems that my only option is to use a 3rd party app. Is this a correct assessment?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use the weather city editor to add your city to the data base. I am mobile at the moment so I cant link. you can use a city in your area as a base or enter everything from scratch.
Ok ran to the pc. HERE

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=523698&highlight=weather+app
everything you need is here to add any location on to the weather tab

rhfritz said:
I've read a number of threads on how to edit a sql database in a particular manila folder in order to make the accu-weather widget display your city's weather. But since I live 100 miles from the nearest accu-weather "international" city, it seems that my only option is to use a 3rd party app. Is this a correct assessment?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are saying that the Accuweather web site does not have a city closer than 100 miles, then yes I think you are out of luck. You are limited to whatever data Accuweather provides. You might try RadarWeather. It is complicated to install, but it might use a different data feed.

Best Weather Server?

I'm currently using Touch Weather right now as my Primary Weather Application... and I have to choose my own weather server to get information from... can someone please tell me based on personal usage and experience which weather server proves to be the best and more accurate??
The selection of servers are..
AccuWeather
GisMeteo
GisMeteo_WAP
Intellicast
MeteoNova
WetterCom
Any type of information or suggestions towards the purpose of this topic will be greatly appreciated.. AND USEFUL for other members.. so please answer!

The winner is... Foreca! I using it for MSN Weather and long time ago in old Nokia N82 in Foreca Weather app and it was and is very, very accurate. Check it out.
EDIT: If someone know how to change Sense weather provider to Foreca then let me know.

Get THIS weather app (Weather Panel by Dunc/Davej):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=707229
it is the most perfect, most reliable and most complete weather app You can get today.
I checked it now for 2 months and it gives the most reliable and correct data possible so I can use it for flight planning instead of costly aviation-sources.
It includes 10-day forecast, a collection of radar-map sources, moon-phase and and and .............
Enjoy it

Yup, this is very good app like you say, but it "eat" a lot of data (in memory card and from data plan ).
As separate app MSN Weather is enough for me. I need just to know how to change Sense weather provider (if this is possible) and i will be happy

ok that's great guys..
but does anyone actually feel like helping me out? out of what's listed which of those is the best weather server? I'm sure there are better ones out there.. but out of the servers that's i listed because that's all i can choose from... please? and what weather server does the hTC HD2 sense app use?

Did you read answers? I said you - Foreca is the best. You can use it in freeware MSN Weather if you want.
And Sense using AccuWeather provider (you can check it if you have manualy set your city:
Weather tab and click link "More details on-line" and it will opening browser with AccuWeather site.