WeatherSnoop Users Guide

Users Guide

WeatherSnoopVersion 2.1.5

®

Contact InformationTee-‐‑‒Boy441 Saint Paul AvenueOpelousas, Louisiana 70570

Web: www.tee-‐‑‒boy.com

Email: info@tee-‐‑‒boy.com

Support InformationWe enjoy hearing from our customers, so if you have any questions or would like to give feedback on WeatherSnoop, please contact us at: support@tee-‐‑‒boy.com. We do our best to respond to inquiries in a timely fashion.

Our on-‐‑‒line forums at http://www.tee-‐‑‒boy.com/forums contains additional support infor-‐‑‒mation and contributions from other WeatherSnoop users. Please be sure and visit this great resource for additional information.

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WeatherSnoop is a registered trademark of Tee-Boy. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.tee-boy.com

http://www.tee-boy.com

mailto:[email protected]




http://www.tee-boy.com/forums

http://www.tee-boy.com/forums

Table of Contents

.............................................................1 Introduction 10

.........................................WeatherSnoop vs. WeatherSnoop Lite 10

.....................................................How To Use This Users Guide 11

...........................................................................Whatʼ’s Next? 11

.............................................2 Setting Up Your Station 12

.....................................................................Setting Things Up 12

...............................................Wireless Station Sensor Reliability 12

..............................The Mac and RS-‐‑‒232-‐‑‒based Weather Stations 12

..........................................Good Cables Make Good Connections 13

..........................................Using an RS-‐‑‒232 to Network Adapter 13

...........................................................................Whatʼ’s Next? 13

.......................3 Installing and Running WeatherSnoop 14

..............................................................................Installation 14

....................Downloading from the Internet or Installing from CD 14

.........................................Downloading from the Mac App Store 14

..........................................................Launching WeatherSnoop 14

...................................................................The Agent Window 14

..................................................................Setting Up Your Site 15

...................................................Choosing Your Weather Source 16

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..............................................................Davis Vantage Pro/Vue 16

.......................................................Oregon Scientific WMR100N 17

.......................................................Oregon Scientific WMR200A 17

.........................................................Oregon Scientific WMR968 17

.................................Peet Bros. ULTIMETER 100/800/2000/2100 17

................................................................RainWise MKIIICC-‐‑‒LR 17

....................................................................RainWise CC-‐‑‒3000 18

...................................................................LaCrosse WS-‐‑‒2315 18

...................................................................WS-‐‑‒1080/WS-‐‑‒2080 18

.....................................................iROX Pro-‐‑‒X/Honeywell TE923 18

..........................................Columbia Weather Capricorn 2000EX 18

...................................................Columbia Weather MicroServer 19

...........................................................WeatherSnoop XML Feed 19

...................................................Weather Underground Website 19

...........................................................................Whatʼ’s Next? 19

......................4 Sharing Your Data With WeatherSnoop 20

..............................................Sharing via Weather Underground 20

............................................................Sharing via WeatherBug 21

...........................Sharing via Citizens Weather Observer Program 22

.....................................................................Sharing via Growl 23

......................................................................Sharing via HTTP 25

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................................................................Using a Web Browser 25

....................................Obtaining Weather Data via XML or JSON 26

........................................................................Sharing via FTP 26

..........................................................Archiving to the Database 27

...........................................................................Whatʼ’s Next? 27

...................................................5 Weather Properties 28

..........................................Graphing a Weather Propertyʼ’s Value 28

...........................................Modifying a Weather Propertyʼ’s Unit 29

....................................................Renaming a Weather Property 29

..............................................................Quickly Changing Units 29

......................................................................Calibration Offset 29

...........................................................................Whatʼ’s Next? 29

.........................................................6 Weather Report 31

..........................................................................Reading Aloud 31

...........................................................................Whatʼ’s Next? 31

................................................7 Weather Instruments 33

................................................Indoor and Outdoor Instruments 33

...................................................................Hi-‐‑‒Def Instruments 34

..............................................................Customizing the Graph 34

...............................................................Customizing the Clock 34

...............................................Customizing Instrument Windows 35

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...........................................................................Whatʼ’s Next? 35

.........................................8 Viewing Data with Graphs 36

......................................................Graphing Multiple Properties 37

.............................................Removing Properties from a Graph 38

..............................................Date & Time Format on the X-‐‑‒Axis 38

...........................................................................Whatʼ’s Next? 38

....................9 Managing Data with the Data Custodian 39

................................................................................Exporting 40

.................................................................Date & Time Format 40

...........................................................................Whatʼ’s Next? 40

........................................................10 Weather Notes 41

...................................................Determining Good vs Bad Data 42

.....................................................................................Range 42

.........................................................................................Age 43

.................................................................................Deviation 43

...............................How WeatherSnoop Determines Data Quality 43

..................................A1 AppleScript & WeatherSnoop 44

....................................................An Example Using AppleScript 44

...........................................................................Whatʼ’s Next? 44

.............................................A2 Database Information 45

............................................................................The Schema 45

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.............................................................Accessing the Database 46

................................................A3 HTTP Server Details 49

...........................................................Station Information Tags 49

..................................................................WeatherSnoop Tags 49

................................................................Weather Report Tags 49

..............................................................Weather Property Tags 49

...............................................................Barometer Value Tags 50

............................................................Temperature Value Tags 50

.................................................................Humidity Value Tags 50

.........................................Dew Point and Heat Index Value Tags 51

.......................................................................Wind Value Tags 51

........................................................................Rain Value Tags 51

.......................................................................Solar Value Tags 51

.....................................................Ionizing Radiation Value Tags 51

.....................A4 Weather Stations and Weather Values 52

..............................................................Computing Rain Values 52

........................................Obtaining Correct Barometric Pressure 52

.....................................................Weather Station Value Tables 52

..............................................................Davis Vantage Pro/Vue 54



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...................................................................LaCrosse WS-‐‑‒2315 58

...................................................................WS-‐‑‒1080/WS-‐‑‒2080 59

....................................................IROX Pro-‐‑‒X/HoneyWell TE923 60

..................................................RainWise MKIIICC-‐‑‒LR Interface 61

......................................................RainWise CC-‐‑‒3000 Interface 62

.................................Peet Bros. ULTIMETER 100/800/2000/2100 63

...................................................WeatherHawk Weather Station 64

.............................Columbia Weather Systems Capricorn 2000EX 65

......................................Columbia Weather Systems MicroServer 66

.........................A5 WeatherSnoop Plug-‐‑‒in Architecture 68

.............................................................................Introduction 68

...............................................................The WSKit Framework 68

..............................................................The WSPlugIn Protocol 68

..........................................................Load and Unload Methods 68

.................................................................Description Methods 69

................................................................Agent Event Methods 69

.........................................................................Menu Methods 69

.....................................................The WSPlugIn Service Object 69

...........................................................The Weather Site Object 69

....................................................................Executing a Query 70

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....................................................Determining the License Type 70

....................................................Logging with the TBLog Class 71

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1 Introduction

Congratulations on purchasing WeatherSnoop, the premiere weather station data man-‐‑‒agement software for Apple's Macintosh family of computers. WeatherSnoop adheres to the Macʼ’s core philosophy of providing a rich, elegant, and easy-‐‑‒to-‐‑‒navigate user inter-‐‑‒face; at the same time, it contains an abundant and robust set of features to help you get the most out of your weather data.

WeatherSnoop has two main roles: first, it acts as a consumer, collecting weather data from either a personal weather station or an Internet-‐‑‒based data source. Second, it can also act as a data provider, relaying your weather to popular online data services such as Weather Underground, WeatherBug and the Citizen Weather Observer Program (CWOP), or serve data to other interested applications via HTTP or FTP These capabilities make WeatherSnoop a powerful, centralized data management system for your weather infor-‐‑‒mation.

At the heart of WeatherSnoop is the agent, an intelligent piece of software which under-‐‑‒stands how to connect and communicate to a weather source to obtain weather data. A weather source can be a weather station connected to your Mac via a USB or RS-‐‑‒232 ca-‐‑‒ble, or even a weather station accessible on your local area network or over the Internet. In fact, WeatherSnoop has support for over a dozen popular weather stations and weather information services, so there are many options to choose from.

WeatherSnoop vs. WeatherSnoop LiteWeatherSnoop is offered in two configurations to accommodate different usersʼ’ weather needs: WeatherSnoop Lite and WeatherSnoop.

WeatherSnoop Lite has all of the features described above in a simple, single-‐‑‒window in-‐‑‒terface. For users who wish to simply upload their weather data to supported weather services and perform limited analysis via those web sites, the Lite version is an economi-‐‑‒cal solution.

For those wanting more analytical features and viewable options on their Mac, the com-‐‑‒plete version of WeatherSnoop incorporates all of the functionality of WeatherSnoop Lite, plus advanced features such as visual gauges, graphing of archived weather data, and data management capabilities. This guide covers the features of both versions.

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How To Use This Users GuideWe know that instruction manuals donʼ’t necessarily make for fun and exciting reading. With that in mind, weʼ’ve focused heavily on making this guide interesting and informa-‐‑‒tive, yet easy to read.

This guide is organized in the order that you would expect to get started, from setting up your station, to loading and running the software, to configuring various features. To get the most out of WeatherSnoop, we suggest that you read the guide cover to cover, from start to finish. Doing so will give you a solid foundation for using the software. So pour yourself a cup or glass of your favorite beverage, relax in your favorite chair, and enjoy the rest of our guide!

Whatʼ’s Next?In the next section, weʼ’ll look at some specifics of setting up a weather station, including connectivity issues related to your Mac. If you havenʼ’t set up your weather station yet, now would be a good time to go over its instruction manual and perform the installation.

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2 Setting Up Your Station

Generally, getting your weather stationʼ’s data to your Mac is easy using WeatherSnoop. In order to ensure a successful setup, it is important that your station is connected properly. If you are planning on using a weather station with WeatherSnoop, then read this section as it contains important setup information. If on the other hand, you are obtaining your weather data from an on-‐‑‒line source such as Weather Underground or another copy of WeatherSnoop, you can skip to the next section.

Setting Things UpVirtually every weather station that is supported by WeatherSnoop has a manual avail-‐‑‒able, either with the station or obtainable over the Internet. We highly suggest that you take the time to read the manual for your particular station. You should use the stationʼ’s instruction manual to determine where to optimally place your weather instruments, how to setup the station console and verify that the station is in working order, and run tests to ensure that all sensors are set up and working properly.

Wireless Station Sensor ReliabilityIf you own a weather station that has wireless sensors, you should take extra precautions to ensure that the sensors are in communication range of the station. If sensors are bat-‐‑‒tery powered, verify that they contain fresh batteries in order to keep data transmitting. Remember: if your station or console cannot see the data, then neither can Weath-‐‑‒erSnoop!

The Mac and RS-‐‑‒232-‐‑‒based Weather StationsThere are a number of stations whose only method of interfacing to your Mac is via an RS-‐‑‒232, or serial port. If your station fits into this category, then you will need to obtain an RS-‐‑‒232 to USB adapter, since modern Macs do not have an RS-‐‑‒232 port built-‐‑‒in. If you do not already have an RS-‐‑‒232 to USB adapter, you will need to purchase one.

WeatherSnoop recommends RS-‐‑‒232 to USB adapters based on the FTDI chipset (www.ftichip.com), which have proven to be very reliable. Manufacturers such as Sa-‐‑‒brent and StarTech offer cables based upon the FTDI chipset. Another stable product is the RS-‐‑‒232 to USB adapter from TrippLite, which uses a proprietary chipset and requires its own driver.

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http://www.ftichip.com

http://www.ftichip.com

We advise customers to avoid using any RS-‐‑‒232 to USB adapter that uses the Pro-‐‑‒lific chipset. Adapters using this chipset have traditionally been unreliable.

If you havenʼ’t already installed the driver for either of these adapters, just go to Weath-‐‑‒erSnoopʼ’s Help Menu and choose the menu option to be taken to the manufacturerʼ’s web page. Once there, you can download and install the driver.

Good Cables Make Good ConnectionsIn our experience, a sizable percentage of the connectivity issues encountered by cus-‐‑‒tomers can be directly attributable to the quality of the data cable connecting the Mac to the station itself. If you are using a USB-‐‑‒based weather station, we highly recommend that you obtain a well shielded USB cable with as short a length as you can manage. The best USB cables have ferrite cores embedded on one or both ends to minimize interfer-‐‑‒ence.

Also, we recommend that you do not go through a USB hub; instead, plug your USB cable directly into your Mac.

Good cables make good connections, so donʼ’t skimp on the cable!

Using an RS-‐‑‒232 to Network AdapterAnother option for RS-‐‑‒232-‐‑‒based weather stations is an RS-‐‑‒232 to Network adapter. These devices usually run anywhere from $80 to $150 USD and bridge an RS-‐‑‒232 device to an ethernet or WiFi network. Although this can add an additional layer of complex-‐‑‒ity when setting up your station, the convenience it brings is significant. Station placement can become easier, and more importantly, the station can be accessed from different computers.

WeatherSnoop can talk to a station through such an adapter. All you need to do is select “TCP/IP” as the device, then enter the network address and port number in the station configuration panel of the Agent window. Be sure to refer to the instructions that comes with your serial to network adapter for configuration and setup information.

Whatʼ’s Next?By now you should have read your stationʼ’s instruction manual and have set everything up. In the next section, weʼ’ll introduce you to WeatherSnoop. There, youʼ’ll set up your site information and choose your weather source.

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3 Installing and Running WeatherSnoop

InstallationYour installation of WeatherSnoop will be slightly different depending on how you received the software.

Downloading from the Internet or Installing from CDIf you received WeatherSnoop on a CD-‐‑‒ROM, simply insert it into your Macʼ’s drive and wait for the Finder window to appear. If you downloaded WeatherSnoop from the web, mount the disk image and it will also appear in a Finder window.

From there, you will be instructed to drag the WeatherSnoop icon to the Applications folder shortcut. This copies WeatherSnoop to your Macʼ’s hard drive. Once this is com-‐‑‒plete, double click on the Application icon and launch WeatherSnoop from there.

Downloading from the Mac App StoreWhen you purchase WeatherSnoop from the Mac App Store, it will automatically be downloaded to your Mac and installed in the Applications folder on your main drive. The icon will also appear in the Dock, where you may launch it easily.

Launching WeatherSnoopNow it is finally time to launch WeatherSnoop! To do so, simply double-‐‑‒click the Weath-‐‑‒erSnoop icon in your Applications folder, or single-‐‑‒click the icon in your dock if you pur-‐‑‒chased it from the Mac App Store. When launching it for the first time, a hint box will ap-‐‑‒pear, along with the Agent window.

The Agent WindowThe Agent window is the central area of control for WeatherSnoop and how it interacts with your data source. At the very top of the window is the agent status, which tells you whether the agent is running or not. By default the red LED indicates that the agent is not running and the Start button is shown; when the agent is running, the green LED appears and the Stop button is shown. Clicking the Start button will start the agent and it will begin communicating to your data source; likewise, clicking on the Stop button will stop the agent and allow you to make changes to your settings.

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The logging area (which can be hidden by clicking on the disclosure triangle) is also visi-‐‑‒ble to show the status of the agent while it is running. The Log Level slider allows you to adjust the amount of information that the log area shows, which can be helpful for de-‐‑‒bugging. Buttons are also available to clear the contents of the log area, copy the con-‐‑‒tents into the global copy buffer, or email the contents.

Setting Up Your SiteAll information pertinent to your station and site is set here. Start by typing your site name and location. Next, input your siteʼ’s longitude and latitude in degrees, minutes and seconds. Note that if you anticipate using the Citizen Weather Observer Program feature, your longitude and latitude must be set.

If you donʼ’t know the coordinates of your location, we recommend the tutorial on this site, which shows how to use Google Maps to find it:

http://www.labnol.org/internet/tools/find-‐‑‒latitude-‐‑‒longitude-‐‑‒from-‐‑‒address-‐‑‒google-‐‑‒maps/1691/

NOTE: You can only change options and settings in the Agent Win-‐‑‒dow when the Agent is stopped.

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http://www.labnol.org/internet/tools/find-latitude-longitude-from-address-google-maps/1691/




Once youʼ’ve set this information, just click on the globe icon; a browser will open and take you to your location in Google Maps.

Choosing Your Weather SourceNow itʼ’s time to choose your weather source. This is where your weather data will come from, and can be either a station or Internet-‐‑‒based source.

Select the Source tab in the Agent window; there you will see a popup button which al-‐‑‒lows you to select one of the many supported weather sources. When a weather source is selected, a representing image appears, along with all of the available options for that source. Here are the possible selections for the weather source:

Davis Vantage Pro/VueThis option will obtain all sensor values expected on a Davis Vantage Pro, Vantage Pro 2 or Vantage Vue weather station. There are three connectivity options for connecting the Davis station to your Mac:

1. WeatherLink IP Data Logger: if you have this logger, it will connect to your network via ethernet. Select the TCP/IP device as the source, then entire the Ip address and port number of your data logger.

2. WeatherLink USB Data Logger: this logger requires that you download the CP210X USB to UART Bridge VCP Driver kit from Silicon Labs (http://www.silabs.com). Once installed, select the device named SLAB_̲USBtoUART in the device list.

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http://www.silabs.com

http://www.silabs.com

3. WeatherLink Serial Data Logger: for this logger, you will need to have an RS-‐‑‒232 to USB adapter and install the appropriate driver, then select the device name from the pop-‐‑‒up list.

The Davis Vantage Pro/Vue Agent supports the retrieval of archived records stored in the station. You can turn on this feature by checking the option to obtain the archived records. Additionally, you can check the option to clear the archived data in the sta-‐‑‒tionʼ’s memory after a successful retrieval of all of the archived data.

If your rain bucket has the 0.2mm setting (UK and EUR users), then check that option so that rain values will be correctly measured.

Oregon Scientific WMR100NThis option will obtain all sensor values expected on an Oregon Scientific WMR100N. Note that this station uses a USB interface; therefore, no device selection is necessary.

Oregon Scientific WMR200AThis option will obtain all sensor values expected on an Oregon Scientific WMR200A. Like the WMR100N, this station also uses a USB interface; therefore, no device selection is necessary.

Oregon Scientific WMR968This option will obtain all sensor values expected on an Oregon Scientific WMR968. You will need to select the RS-‐‑‒232 device that the station is connected to. If you have an RS-‐‑‒232 to Network adapter, select TCP/IP as the device and enter its network address and port number.

Peet Bros. ULTIMETER 100/800/2000/2100This option will obtain all sensor values expected on the Peet Bros. ULTIMETER. You will need to select the RS-‐‑‒232 device that the station is connected to. If you have an RS-‐‑‒232 to Network adapter, select TCP/IP as the device and enter its network address and port number.

RainWise MKIIICC-‐‑‒LRThis option will obtain all sensor values expected on the RainWise MKIIICC-‐‑‒LR. You will need to select the RS-‐‑‒232 device that the station is connected to. If you have an RS-‐‑‒232 to Network adapter, select TCP/IP as the device and enter its network address and port number.

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RainWise CC-‐‑‒3000This option will obtain all sensor values expected on the RainWise CC-‐‑‒3000. Although the CC-‐‑‒3000 interfaces to the Mac via a USB port, you will need to install the FTDI RS-‐‑‒232 to USB driver available from http://www.ftdichip.com/.

The RainWise CC-‐‑‒3000 Agent supports the retrieval of archived records stored in the sta-‐‑‒tion. You can turn on this feature by checking the option to obtain the archived records.

LaCrosse WS-‐‑‒2315This option will obtain all sensor values expected on an LaCrosse WS-‐‑‒2315. You will need to select the RS-‐‑‒232 device that the station is connected to. If you have an RS-‐‑‒232 to Network adapter, select TCP/IP as the device and enter its network address and port number.

WS-‐‑‒1080/WS-‐‑‒2080This option will obtain all sensor values expected on a WS-‐‑‒1080/WS-‐‑‒2080. This station uses a USB interface, so no device selection is necessary. Note that this station is also sold under several names, including the Fine Offset, and the Tycon TP1080WC.

The WS-‐‑‒1080/WS-‐‑‒2080 Agent supports the retrieval of archived records stored in the station. You can turn on this feature by checking the option to obtain the archived re-‐‑‒cords. Additionally, you can check the option to clear the archived data in the stationʼ’s memory after a successful retrieval of all of the archived data.

iROX Pro-‐‑‒X/Honeywell TE923This option will obtain all sensor values expected on an iROX Pro-‐‑‒X or Honeywell TE923. This station uses a USB interface, so no device selection is necessary.

Columbia Weather Capricorn 2000EXThis option will obtain all sensor values expected on an Columbia Weather Capricorn 2000EX. You will need to select the RS-‐‑‒232 device that the station is connected to. If you have an RS-‐‑‒232 to Network adapter, select TCP/IP as the device and enter its network address and port number.

The Capricorn 2000EX Agent supports the retrieval of archived records stored in the sta-‐‑‒tion. You can turn on this feature by checking the option to obtain the archived records. Additionally, you can check the option to clear the archived data in the stationʼ’s memory after a successful retrieval of all of the archived data.

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http://www.ftdichip.com


Columbia Weather MicroServerThis option will obtain all sensor values expected on an Columbia Weather MicroServer. You will need the IP address or DNS name of the station.

WeatherSnoop XML FeedThis option will obtain real time data from another computer running WeatherSnoop. Simply type in the server computerʼ’s address and port number. Note that the computer you are connecting to must have WeatherSnoop running, and the HTTP sharing feature must be turned on.

Weather Underground WebsiteThis option will obtain real time data from a specific station that is sending its data to the Weather Underground website. Simply supply the station ID in the text field and that sta-‐‑‒tion's data will be pulled from that stationʼ’s Weather Underground account into Weath-‐‑‒erSnoop.

Whatʼ’s Next?Now that you have set up your site information and chosen your weather source, youʼ’re ready to move on to the next step: deciding how to share your weather data. The next section shows you how to do just that.

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4 Sharing Your Data With WeatherSnoop

Now that youʼ’ve set up your weather data source, letʼ’s focus on how to share your data. WeatherSnoop gives you numerous ways to share weather data easily and effortlessly.

Sharing via Weather UndergroundWeather Underground is one of the most popular data sharing services on the Internet, collecting data from thousands of personal weather stations and other sources to provide a comprehensive database of both current and historical weather data for many areas around the world.

To enable this feature, just click the checkbox, fill in your Weather Underground station ID and password, select the update interval, and your weather data will be sent to Weather Underground automatically. If you don't already have a station ID and would like to sign up your station, click on the Weather Underground logo and it will take you to the Per-‐‑‒sonal Weather Stations page. Once you have typed your station information, clicking on the logo will take you to the details web page for your station.

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The interval is the number of seconds that WeatherSnoop waits between uploads of your weather data. Smaller intervals are better, as they allow for frequent uploads and more timely readings (especially with values that can change quickly, like wind speed and wind direction). However, if you want to limit the amount of traffic due to bandwidth concerns or other considerations, you can select a larger interval.

WeatherSnoop will stop sending data from to Weather Underground if it detects that more than one hour has passed since your station has provided any data. This is to pre-‐‑‒vent stale data from being uploaded to the service.

Sharing via WeatherBugWeatherBugʼ’s Backyard service is another popular data sharing services on the Internet which collects weather data from personal weather stations.

To enable this feature, just click the checkbox and your weather data will be sent to WeatherBug automatically. In order to take advantage of sharing your weather data in this manner, you will need to sign up your personal weather station to obtain a station ID and station number. If you don't already have this information and would like to sign up your station, click on the WeatherBug logo and it will take you to the Backyard sign-‐‑‒up page.

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Once you have typed your station information, clicking on the logo will take you to the de-‐‑‒tails web page for your station.

Sharing via Citizens Weather Observer ProgramThe Citizen Weather Observer Program (http://www.wxqa.com/), also known by the ab-‐‑‒breviation CWOP, is another online service that allows weather data sharing over the Internet. In order to participate, you must obtain a CW number from the CWOP website. Clicking on the CWOP logo will take you to the page where you can sign up.

Once you have your CW number, enter it and set the upload interval. Clicking on the CWOP logo will then take you to the data summary page in your web browser.

22

http://www.wxqa.com

http://www.wxqa.com

Sharing via GrowlGrowl is a notification system for Mac OS X that applications can use to alert users about certain events. If this option is selected, WeatherSnoop will use Growl to display the cur-‐‑‒rent weather at an interval of your choosing. If you do not have Growl installed, or have an older version installed, then you will be prompted to install Growl at that time. Also, clicking on the Growl icon will take you to the Growl Project homepage.

You can learn more about Growl by visiting http://www.growl.info/.

NOTE: In order for CWOP to accept your data, your exact longitude and latitude must be set in the My Site tab. Once this is done, you can turn on the feature and your data will be sent to the CWOP server automatically.

23

http://www.growl.info

http://www.growl.info

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Sharing via HTTPWeatherSnoop allows clients to access its weather data through the HTTP protocol using a web browser or by directly connecting and obtaining XML or JSON formatted data. You can turn on this feature in the HTTP sub-‐‑‒tab of the Sharing tab in the Agent window. Simply choose a port number for the server (the default is 8000).

When obtaining data this way, the computer running WeatherSnoop must be accessible from your network. If you are running on a local area network, this is usually not an is-‐‑‒sue. However if you wish to allow WeatherSnoop to serve data over the Internet, you will likely need to configure your Internet gateway device to allow access to the specific inter-‐‑‒nal IP address and port number that WeatherSnoop will be serving the data from.

Using a Web BrowserBy simply pointing your browser to the name of the computer or IP address running WeatherSnoop and providing the port number, you can see the built-‐‑‒in web page with the current values. This is useful if you want to view the current values at a glance. For in-‐‑‒stance, if the computer running WeatherSnoop has an IP address of 192.168.0.4 and is sharing the data on port 8000, you would type the following URL in your browserʼ’s ad-‐‑‒dress bar: http://192.168.0.4:8000

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http://192.168.0.4:8000

http://192.168.0.4:8000

Obtaining Weather Data via XML or JSONWeatherSnoop also serves the most current weather data in both XML and JSON formats. Using the computer and port number from the previous example, the following URLs demonstrate exactly how to obtain the data:

XML: http://192.168.0.4:8000/weather.xml

JSON: http://192.168.0.4:8000/weather.json

Sharing via FTPFor certain configurations it may be more convenient for WeatherSnoop to “push” the weather data to a specific location. If WeatherSnoop is running behind a firewall, using FTP is a good way to make weather data available to the outside world. You can turn on this feature in the FTP sub-‐‑‒tab of the Sharing tab in the Agent window.

You will need to input the username and password for the FTP account, as well as the server name. An optional server path can be specified where WeatherSnoop will actually place the file, and the FTP interval can also be set.

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http://192.168.0.4:8000/weather.xml

http://192.168.0.4:8000/weather.xml

http://192.168.0.4:8000/weather.json

http://192.168.0.4:8000/weather.json

At the set period, WeatherSnoop will upload two files weather.xml and weather.json onto the server. These files contains the most current weather data in various units, as well as station information.

Archiving to the DatabaseThe Database panel allows you to type a filename and a path where your real-‐‑‒time weather will be stored to an SQLite database. The database file itself is stored in the Da-‐‑‒tabases folder of the WeatherSnoop data folder. To access this folder, select Tools > Show Files in Finder on the menu bar.

Whatʼ’s Next?In the next section, weʼ’ll examine the Weather Properties window, a feature that allows you to view your weather information at a glance and even lets you change your units.

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5 Weather Properties

In WeatherSnoop terminology, a weather property is a single, measurable item (e.g. out-‐‑‒door temperature or barometric pressure) and all of its associated information such as its name, latest value, current unit, and the last time it was updated. The Weather Proper-‐‑‒ties window shows all of the available weather properties that WeatherSnoop supports in an easy-‐‑‒to-‐‑‒read table view. You can also change the unit of a property in this window.

Bring up the window by navigating to the View > Weather Properties menu item. From the window, you can view all of the available weather properties at a glance. The name of each weather property is shown, along with its most recent value, the time that the value was obtained, and the current unit.

It is important to keep in mind that even though every weather property that Weath-‐‑‒erSnoop tracks will appear in the table, not all weather properties are supported for all station configurations. Those weather properties that are either unsupported or have yet to obtain a proper value from the source yet contain a value of Uninitialized.

Graphing a Weather Propertyʼ’s ValueWhen right-‐‑‒clicking one or more selected weather properties in the Weather Properties window, a context sensitive menu appears that will allow you to view the values of those properties in a graph. Weʼ’ll talk more about graphs in an upcoming section.

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Modifying a Weather Propertyʼ’s UnitEach weather propertyʼ’s unit can be customized by selecting a unit in the popup menu under the Unit table column. The change is immediate and affects all gauges, reports, graphs or other views that may be showing that particular weather property.

While most weather properties support multiple units, some weather properties either have only one unit, or the concept of a unit does not apply. In the latter case, an un-‐‑‒changeable Default Unit will appear in the popup button.

Renaming a Weather PropertyWeatherSnoop allows you to rename a weather property for added convenience and con-‐‑‒figurability. For example, you may be using extraTemperature1 as a water sensor for your pool. To rename a property, just double click on the name in the Property column.

Quickly Changing UnitsIf you would like to quickly change all units to either English or Metric, click either button at the lower right hand side of the window. When either button is clicked, each weather property will have its unit adjusted to the appropriate category.

Calibration OffsetEvery weather property has a calibration offset, defaulting to 0, that can be set to either a positive or negative number. This is typically useful for adjusting the values of properties such as barometric pressure, or an anemometer which is reading wind speed values that are slightly off.

The calibration offset is added to the value of the weather property and is reflected throughout WeatherSnoop. Note that the offset is just a number without regard to units. If you change your units, you will need to update your calibration offset as well.

Whatʼ’s Next?The remainder of this guide, up to the appendices, focuses on features that not available in WeatherSnoop Lite. Beyond Lite, you will find a full array of features over and above

NOTE: You can only change options and settings in the Weather Properties Window when the Agent is stopped.

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weather data acquisition and sharing. Instrument gauges show you in real-‐‑‒time what your weather data looks like from your data source. Colorful graphs let you examine how your weather data has changed over time. You can also obtain an easy-‐‑‒to-‐‑‒read summary of the current weather conditions with the Weather Report feature.

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6 Weather Report

The Weather Report window provides a summary of the current weather in an easy-‐‑‒to-‐‑‒understand, natural language format. Its content is updated once per second using the latest values from the weather properties referenced in the report. To view the Weather Report window, navigate to the View > Weather Report menu item.

Reading AloudUsing the Macʼ’s text-‐‑‒to-‐‑‒speech technology, you can have the report information read over your Macʼ’s speakers at an interval of your choosing. The report is read aloud at specific intervals by turning on the speaking option and selecting a time, or you can click the “Speak Now” button to hear the weather report read aloud at that instant.

Whatʼ’s Next?Weʼ’ll kick things up a notch and show you how to see your weather data like it was really meant to be seen -‐‑‒-‐‑‒ in gauges and instruments that bring it to life!

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7 Weather Instruments

WeatherSnoop allows you to view your current weather with real-‐‑‒to-‐‑‒life instruments and gauges. Most gauges contain both analog and digital displays, while other values are rep-‐‑‒resented by LED indicators

As soon as the agent obtains a new value for a weather property, all gauges for that property are immediately updated throughout WeatherSnoop to reflect that value.

Indoor and Outdoor InstrumentsNavigate to the View > Indoor Weather Instruments menu item to view the Indoor In-‐‑‒struments window. All indoor instruments are presented in a single window , and the following weather properties are displayed: indoor temperature, indoor humidity, indoor heat index, and indoor dew point.

To view the Outdoor Instruments window, navigate to the View > Outdoor Weather In-‐‑‒struments menu item. Like the indoor instruments above, all outdoor instruments are presented in a single window that illustrates the following weather properties: outdoor temperature, todayʼ’s rain, wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, outdoor humid-‐‑‒ity, wind chill, wind gust, outdoor heat index, outdoor dew point, and forecast

Hi-‐‑‒Def InstrumentsThe Hi-‐‑‒Def Instruments window is sized to 1920 x 1080 pixels and is designed to be dis-‐‑‒played on a resolution monitor or hi-‐‑‒definition television. It contains both indoor and outdoor instruments as well as a weather report area, a graph, an LED clock and a com-‐‑‒plete list of the weather properties.

Navigate to the View > Hi-‐‑‒Def Weather Instruments menu item to show the Hi-‐‑‒Def Weather Instruments window.

Customizing the GraphWeather properties can be easily added to the graph. Simply drag any property from the Weather Properties table onto the graph and that property will appear. To remove a weather property from the graph, drag it out of the property details table below the graph.

Customizing the ClockThe LED clock, which shows the current local time in hours, minutes, and seconds, is configurable in both style and color. The color of the clock can be changed by right click-‐‑‒ing on the LED clock face and selecting a new color scheme from the popup menu. The style can also be changed between 12 hour and 24 hour mode.

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Customizing Instrument WindowsEach of your instrument windows can have its own custom background, providing your system with a personalized look. You can select from a number of built-‐‑‒in backgrounds by right clicking on the background area of the Indoor, Outdoor or Hi-‐‑‒Def Instrument win-‐‑‒dows and navigating the contextual menu. You can even choose your own custom back-‐‑‒ground by selecting an image file from your hard drive.

Whatʼ’s Next?Now that youʼ’ve seen how to bring your real-‐‑‒time data to your Mac in a lively and realistic fashion, weʼ’ll take a look at how to view your archived data through graphing.

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8 Viewing Data with Graphs

Viewing your weather data through the prism of a graph brings considerable value; it al-‐‑‒lows you to view trends in weather patterns, compare one property to another, and ana-‐‑‒lyze the flow of past weather events. WeatherSnoop brings the power of graphing to your Macʼ’s desktop with full color plots that can display multiple weather properties si-‐‑‒multaneously and span arbitrary dates and times.

Setting up a graph is easy and can be done several ways:

1. From the View menu, select the Graph menu item and then follow the submenu to graph the weather property of your choice.

2. Right click on any gauge or LED indicator from one of the instrument windows and se-‐‑‒lect the “Show Graph” menu item from the contextual menu. Upon selection, a graph window appears with the date range set to the current dayʼ’s span.

3. Right click on one or more properties in the Weather Properties window. If multiple properties are selected, you can choose for all properties to be graphed in a single window or separate windows.

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As graph windows are created, they are generically named in ascending order as “Graph 1”, “Graph 2”, etc. Graph names are recycled as windows are closed

Every graph window is composed of three major sections:

1. Top area: the date range cluster. The date range cluster allows you to select the start and end date for the graph. Use the stepper buttons or simply type in the date and time to change the range. You can also utilize the Quick Dates popup button to quickly and easily select one of several common date ranges.

Once the dates have been set, simply click on the Refresh button and the graph will re-‐‑‒fresh its data to the new date range.

2. Middle area: the graph. The graph takes up the middle of the window and is where the values of the selected weather properties are plotted. You can hover your mouse over this area and a hint will appear indicating the weather property and its associated color in the graph.

3. Bottom area: the property details table. This table shows the names of the weather properties in the graph as well as other information. At a glance, you can view the property details table to see which weather properties are represented, along with the unit and the corresponding graph color. Additionally, the minimum, maximum, and av-‐‑‒erage values for date range are also indicated, as well as the number of data values that compose the graph itself.

If you so choose, you can click on the disclosure triangle above the property details ta-‐‑‒ble in order to hide the table and make more room for the graph.

Graphing Multiple PropertiesWeatherSnoop makes it easy for you to graph additional weather properties on the same graph for comparative analysis. There are several ways to do this:

1. Right click on an instrument and select the Add To Graph menu option. A submenu will appear with a list of all of the current graph windows. Simply select the destination graph window, and the weather property will be added to that graph. The graph will also be refreshed to incorporate the historical data for that weather property.

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2. Right-‐‑‒click on one or more selected weather properties in the Weather Properties table. A menu will appear where you can opt to show all properties in a single graph win-‐‑‒dows, in separate graph windows, or add all properties to an existing graph window.

3. Drag one or more selected weather properties from the Weather Properties table onto the graph. To do this, bring up the Weather Properties window, then click on a weather property and drag it to the graph. You can also perform this function from the Weather Properties table in the Hi-‐‑‒Def Instruments window.

Removing Properties from a GraphYou can remove one or more weather properties from the graph by clicking on the prop-‐‑‒erty in the property details table and dragging it out of the graph window. The graph will then be refreshed to show the values of the remaining weather properties.

Date & Time Format on the X-‐‑‒AxisThe date and time format on the X-‐‑‒axis uses the localized settings of your Mac, specifi-‐‑‒cally, the short format. This setting can be adjusted in the Formats section of the Lan-‐‑‒guage & Text settings of System Preferences.

Whatʼ’s Next?There are times when you want to view your archived data as numbers instead of graphs, and even change a thing or two. Thatʼ’s a job for the Data Custodian.

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9 Managing Data with the Data Custodian

WeatherSnoopʼ’s Data Custodian lets you view and modify the contents of your weather database. You can specify a date range and the values that you are interested in viewing, then export that data into a comma-‐‑‒separated value (CSV) file that is easily read by spreadsheet applications like Numbers or Excel.

Hereʼ’s how to configure the Data Custodian:

1. From the View menu, select the Weather Properties menu item to view the Weather Properties Window.

2. Click on the desired property in the Weather Properties window and drag and drop it onto the Data Custodian window (you can select more than one property by holding the Command key and clicking additional rows).

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3. Select the desired date range, or use the Quick Date button, then click the Refresh but-‐‑‒ton. The Data Custodian will fetch the data and display it in the table. The Refresh button becomes the Cancel button while the fetch is occurring, allowing you to abort the procedure.

Depending upon the date range and amount of data in the database, it may take several seconds to retrieve the data. When all of the data has been fetched, it will appear in tabular format, along with summary information in the bottom table.

ExportingYou can export the data from the Data Custodian to a comma-‐‑‒separated value (CSV) file by clicking on the Export... button. A sheet drops down with a default name and location to save the file. You can also elect to have the header row exported, as well as having the file opened automatically when the export is finished.

Date & Time FormatThe date and time format used both in the Time column of the Data Custodian table, as well as the export filename uses the localized settings of your Mac, specifically, the me-‐‑‒dium format. This setting can be adjusted in the Formats section of the Language & Text settings of System Preferences.

Whatʼ’s Next?Keeping a weather journal can be handy for referring to specific events. WeatherSnoopʼ’s Weather Notes feature lets you do just that.

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10 Weather Notes

Weather Notes allows you to keep a journal of noteworthy weather events or other infor-‐‑‒mation that you can easily refer back to. To interact with Weather Notes, simply navigate to the View menu and select Weather Notes.

The Weather Notes window is a classic master/detail view that has a list of notes on the left pane and the content of the selected note in the text editing area. You can click on the + icon at the bottom to add a new note, or click on the -‐‑‒ icon to remove a selected note. The search field at the top right allows you to search all of your notes for a specific word or phrase.

All notes file itself is stored in the Documents folder of the WeatherSnoop data folder. To access this folder, select Tools > Show Files in Finder on the menu bar.

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11 Data QualityThe issue of data quality is an important one to weather station owners as well as the weather data services that they publish to. The weather data that you generate and share could be used for a number of different purposes, including research and planning. For that reason, and for posterity itself, it is important that the weather data coming from your data source be as accurate as possible.

There are many different factors that can affect a weather stationʼ’s data quality. Here are some of the main ones:

1. Erratic or malfunctioning sensors, or wireless sensors that have weak batteries.

2. Sensors that are improperly placed or mounted (e.g. a temperature sensor is located in direct sunlight, or a wind gauge is partially blocked by a wall or other obstruction).

3. Intermittent communication between a wireless sensor and its base station due to poor placement, frayed wiring or battery issues.

4. Intermittently garbled or junk data coming from the station to the Mac due to poor ca-‐‑‒bling, older station firmware, or poorly designed hardware.

In some of these instances, proper planning can have a direct impact on the quality of the data. In other cases, the problem lies with the data source itself, and no amount of recti-‐‑‒fication can avoid the occasional data error.

The quality of collected weather data is more important than how much of the data is col-‐‑‒lected. While more data translates into higher data resolution, having a lot of invalid data is meaningless compared to have a smaller set of good data.

Determining Good vs Bad DataWhen it comes to determining what is good data and what is bad data, there are three determining factors: range, age and deviation of the data.

RangeEvery type of weather property that WeatherSnoop supports (temperature, humidity, lin-‐‑‒ear measurement, etc) has a valid range limit that a value must fit within in order to be considered of good quality. For example, it makes no sense to have a negative hourly

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rainfall or wind speed. Likewise, extreme temperatures such as 500 ºF or -‐‑‒250 ºC repre-‐‑‒sent impractical weather scenarios and could indicate a station malfunction.

AgeMuch of our weather data tends to vary over time. Temperature, humidity and pressures are constantly changing, even if slightly. On the other hand, it may not rain for days or weeks at a time, so those values are still valid even though they have not recently changed.

Every weather property that WeatherSnoop supports has a timestamp associated with it. This timestamp can be seen in the Weather Property view, and one can quickly determine the “age” of a particular weather property. This age is useful in determining the dataʼ’s validity in computations of the values of other weather properties.

DeviationIn most cases, a weather propertyʼ’s value will not be significantly different from its previ-‐‑‒ous value. For example, it is unlikely that a temperature will be 20 ºF one minute, then 97 ºF the next. On the other hand, wind speeds can change quickly and drastically.

How WeatherSnoop Determines Data QualityWeatherSnoop filters out values that are outside of the range of a particular weather propertyʼ’s valid upper and lower limits. The ranges for each property type are as follows:

Property Type Range

Temperature -‐‑‒40 to 140 ºF

Humidity 0 to 100%

Pressure 27 to 33 inHg

Length 0 to infinity

Velocity 0 to 120 mph

Direction 0 to 360 degrees

Solar Radiation 0 to 10000 w/m2

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A1 AppleScript & WeatherSnoop

With AppleScript, you can obtain the most recent real-‐‑‒time weather values from Weath-‐‑‒erSnoop. This is a very powerful and versatile way to process your weather data in a number of different ways, and it is very simple to do.

An Example Using AppleScriptTo demonstrate the use of AppleScript to obtain a value from WeatherSnoop, bring up Finder, select Go > Utilities in the menu. When the Utilities folder appears, double click AppleScript Editor.

When the editor launches you will be presented with an empty editor document. Type the following simple script:

tell application "WeatherSnoop" get outdoorTemperatureend tell

Once youʼ’ve typed in the script, click the Run button on the toolbar. This simple script will obtain the latest outdoor temperature value and display it in the area below the editor. If WeatherSnoop is not running, it will be launched automatically.

The values of all weather properties can be obtained in this manner. For a list of addi-‐‑‒tional variable names, consult the table in the Database Information section.

Whatʼ’s Next?The rest of this Users Guide is composed of appendices which focus on specific technical parts of WeatherSnoop. Feel free to peruse the next few sections.

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A2 Database Information

One of the features of WeatherSnoop is that it sends all real-‐‑‒time weather data to an SQLite database. This chapter explains the layout of the database and ways to get to the data.

The SchemaIn the WeatherSnoop SQLite database, a table exists for each type of data value obtained from the station. Each row in a table contains two elements: the date/time of the sample (stored as the number of seconds since 1 January 1970) and the value recorded at that date/time.

The following table shows the schema for the database, including the data item, unit, ta-‐‑‒ble name, and data type.

Data Item (Units) Table Name Data TypeBarometric Pressure (inHg) barometricPressure Float valueBarometric Trend barometricTrend String valueRain Today (inches) dayRain Float valueIndoor Dew Point (°F) indoorDewPoint Float valueIndoor Humidity (%) indoorHumidity Float valueIndoor Temperature (°F) indoorTemperature Float valueRain this Month (inches) monthRain Float valueOutdoor Dew Point (°F) outdoorDewPoint Float valueOutdoor Humidity (%) outdoorHumidity Float valueOutdoor Temperature (°F) outdoorTemperature Float valueRain this Year (inches) yearRain Float valueRain Total (inches) totalRain Float valueWind Direction (degrees) windDirection Float valueWind Speed (miles/hour) windSpeed Float valueUltraviolet Index uvIndex Float valueSolar Radiation (watts/meter²) solarRadiation Float valueIonizing Radiation (millirem/hour) ionizingRadiation Float valueRain Rate (inches/hour) rainRate Float valueForecast forecast String value

Wind Gust (miles/hour) windGust Float valueExtra Temperatures (1-10) extraTemperature[1-10] Float valueExtra Humidities (1-10) extraHumidity[1-10] Float valueWind Chill (°F) windChill Float valueOutdoor Heat Index (°F) outdoorHeatIndex Float valueIndoor Heat Index (°F) indoorHeatIndex Float value

Accessing the DatabaseWeatherSnoop writes to the database, and also reads from it at startup to obtain certain values. Other applications can use this data in a number of ways, and you can even ac-‐‑‒cess the information via the command line utility sqlite3. Hereʼ’s a quick primer on how you can access this data directly from the command line.

Launch the Terminal.app application (found in the Applications > Utilities folder) and type the following command and press the Return key:

sqlite3 ~/Documents/weather.db

(This command assumes WeatherSnoop is storing the data in a database named “weather.db” located in your Documents folder; adjust the command accordingly if needed).

You should then see the sqlite3 prompt.

SQLite version 3.4.0Enter ".help" for instructionssqlite>

You can type the “.table” command and press Return to see the list of tables:

sqlite> .tablesbarometricPressure extraHumidity8 extraTemperature9 rainRatebarometricTrend extraHumidity9 forecast solarRadiation dayRain extraTemperature1 indoorDewPoint totalRain extraHumidity1 extraTemperature10 indoorHeatIndex uvIndex

NOTE: You should quit WeatherSnoop when working with the database from the command line. Doing so ensures that no write conflicts will emerge. Also be sure to quit the command line client before restarting WeatherSnoop.

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extraHumidity10 extraTemperature2 indoorHumidity windChill extraHumidity2 extraTemperature3 indoorTemperature windDirection extraHumidity3 extraTemperature4 monthRain windGust extraHumidity4 extraTemperature5 outdoorDewPoint windSpeed extraHumidity5 extraTemperature6 outdoorHeatIndex yearRain extraHumidity6 extraTemperature7 outdoorHumidity extraHumidity7 extraTemperature8 outdoorTemperature

With SQLite you can construct SQL queries to see the data in any of the tables. For in-‐‑‒stance, to view all of the outdoor temperature data, type the following and press Return:

select * from outdoorTemperature;

The output will look something like this:

1256894357|78.41256894387|78.51256894417|78.41256894426|78.51256894489|78.4

The first column is the date/time stamp of the sample, followed by the outdoor tempera-‐‑‒ture for that date/time (the vertical bar | is used as a column separator character).

For a more reasonable date/time stamp you could type the following and press Return:

select datetime(time,'unixepoch','localtime'),value fromoutdoorTemperature;

The output will look something like this:

2009-08-03 00:22:08|77.42009-08-03 00:22:38|77.52009-08-03 00:22:50|77.42009-08-03 00:24:59|77.5

If you want to output the data for the table to a CSV file for loading into a spreadsheet program, you could type the following commands:

sqlite> .mode csvsqlite> .output export.txtsqlite> select * from outdoorTemperature;

The first command tells SQLite to output the data in CSV compatible mode; the second command forces the output of all subsequent commands to a file named export.txt; the third command, upon completion, will have exported all outdoor temperatures to the ex-‐‑‒port file.

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There are other commands that you can use to view and filter your data. For more in-‐‑‒formation, visit the SQLite website at http://www.sqlite.org/

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A3 HTTP Server Details

WeatherSnoopʼ’s built-‐‑‒in HTTP server serves files from Sites/WeatherSnoopX.Y.Z folder (where X.Y.Z is the WeatherSnoop version number). To access this folder, select Tools > Show Files in Finder on the menu bar.

Each file contains special tags, bounded by two consecutive percent signs (e.g. %%site-‐‑‒Name%%). WeatherSnoop substitutes values for these tags when a file is served. The names of all the tags are documented below, and should be self-‐‑‒explanatory as to the values they provide.

Station Information TagsStation information tags are obtained from the My Site panel of the Agent window, and are as follows:

%%siteName%%, %%siteLocation%%, %%siteTime%%,

%%longitude_Degrees%%, %%longitude_Minutes%%, %%longitude_Seconds%%,

%%longitude_Hemisphere%%, %%longitude_Decimal%%

%%latitude_Degrees%%, %%latitude_Minutes%%, %%latitude_Seconds%%

%%latitude_Hemisphere%%, %%latitude_Decimal%%

WeatherSnoop TagsThe current version of WeatherSnoop is available from the following tag:

%%wsVersion%%

Weather Report TagsThe most recent weather report is available from the following tag:

%%weatherReport%%

Weather Property TagsThe most current value of every weather property is also available, and in the supported units. Each property has a updated time tag (e.g. %%outdoorTemperature_̲Ti-‐‑‒me%%), a currently set unit tag (e.g. %%outdoorTemperature_̲Unit%%), and one or

49

more tags for the value of the property in different units (e.g. %%outdoorTempera-‐‑‒ture_̲Fahrenheit%%, %%outdoorTemperature_̲Celsius%%). The individual value tags are shown below:

Barometer Value Tags%%barometricTrend%%, %%forecast%%

%%barometricPressure_InchesOfMercury%%, %%barometricPressure_Millibars%%

Temperature Value Tags%%outdoorTemperature_Fahrenheit%%, %%outdoorTemperature_Celsius%%

%%indoorTemperature_Fahrenheit%%, %%indoorTemperature_Celsius%%

%%extraTemperature1_Fahrenheit%%, %%extraTemperature1_Celsius%%










Humidity Value Tags%%outdoorHumidity_Percent%%,

%%indoorHumidity_Percent%%

%%extraHumidity1_Percent%%










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Dew Point and Heat Index Value Tags%%outdoorDewPoint_Fahrenheit%%, %%outdoorDewPoint_Celsius%%

%%indoorDewPoint_Fahrenheit%%, %%indoorDewPoint_Celsius%%

%%outdoorHeatIndex_Fahrenheit%%, %%outdoorHeatIndex_Celsius%%

%%indoorHeatIndex_Fahrenheit%%, %%indoorHeatIndex_Celsius%%

Wind Value Tags%%windChill_Fahrenheit%%, %%windChill_Celsius%%

%%windSpeed_MilesPerHour%%, %%windSpeed_MetersPerSecond%%, %%windSpeed_Knots%%

%%windGust_MilesPerHour%%, %%windGust_MetersPerSecond%%, %%windGust_Knots%%

%%windDirection_Degrees%%

Rain Value Tags%%rainRate_InchesPerHour%%, %%rainRate_MillimetersPerHour%%

%%dayRain_Inches%%, %%dayRain_Millimeters%%

%%monthRain_Inches%%, %%monthRain_Millimeters%%

%%yearRain_Inches%%, %%yearRain_Millimeters%%

%%totalRain_Inches%%, %%totalRain_Millimeters%%

Solar Value Tags%%solarRadiation_WattsPerSquareMeter%%

%%uvIndex%%

Ionizing Radiation Value Tags%%ionizingRadiation_MilliremPerHour%%,

%%ionizingRadiation_MicroremPerHour%%

%%ionizingRadiation_MillisievertPerHour%%,

%%ionizingRadiation_MicrosievertPerHour%%,

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A4 Weather Stations and Weather Values

Weather stations vary in features, price and performance; some stations provide many weather variables, while others transmit a minimal set. Accommodating these different systems and their configurations can be challenging.

WeatherSnoopʼ’s goal is to capitalize on the features common to all weather stations in order to provide the user a consistent experience, no matter which station they have. Part of meeting that goal is to document exactly how weather values are obtained.

Computing Rain ValuesWeatherSnoop utilizes the Rain Computer, a software based method for computing rain values such as daily, monthly and yearly rainfall as well as rainfall per hour. The Rain Computer needs only one rain value supplied by virtually all weather stations: a cumula-‐‑‒tive rain total value. The Rain Computer also takes advantage of values stored in the SQLite database so that rain values are maintained when WeatherSnoop is restarted. Be-‐‑‒cause of this, it is recommended that the database sharing feature be turned on at all times. Currently the Rain Computer is utilized by all agents except for the Davis Vantage Pro/Vue.

There may be times when you want to reset the Rain Computer. To do this, select the Tools > Reset Rain Computer on the menu bar.

Obtaining Correct Barometric PressureWeatherSnoop assumes that the barometric pressure it receives from the station has been adjusted to sea level pressure (also known as relative pressure). Some stations only transmit absolute pressure to WeatherSnoop; in those cases, WeatherSnoop uses the elevation setting to compute relative pressure. In order to obtain the correct pressure, you should verify that your stationʼ’s elevation/altitude or barometric pressure offset set-‐‑‒tings are in accordance with your current elevation. If you still arenʼ’t satisfied with the value, use the calibration offset in the Weather Properties window.

Weather Station Value TablesIn order to provide a clear picture of how each weather station obtains its values, weʼ’ve supplied tables on the following pages that show the relationship between each stationʼ’s

52

value and its source. Station supplied values are just that: they are obtained directly from the station. Computed values are calculated internally by WeatherSnoop.

53

Davis Vantage Pro/VueThe Vantage Pro/Vue weather stations from Davis connect to the Mac via a WeatherLink USB, WeatherLink Serial or WeatherLink IP module. Rain values are obtained from the station directly, so the WeatherSnoop Rain Computer is not used.

Value Source

Barometric Pressure (Relative)

Barometric Trend

Extra Humidities

Extra Temperatures

Forecast

Indoor Dew Point

Indoor Heat Index

Indoor Humidity

Indoor Temperature

Outdoor Dew Point

Outdoor Heat Index

Outdoor Humidity

Outdoor Temperature

Rain Rate

Rain This Month

Rain This Year

Rain Today

Rain Total

Solar Radiation

Ultraviolet Index

Wind Chill

Wind Direction

Wind Gust

Wind Speed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied (up to 7 sensors supported)


Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_chill)

Station supplied

Computed (see http://www.ofcm.gov/fmh-1/fmh1.htm)

Station supplied

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_chill


http://www.ofcm.gov/fmh-1/fmh1.htm


Oregon Scientific WMR100The WMR100 weather station from Oregon Scientific connects to the Mac via USB. Rain values are computed via WeatherSnoopʼ’sRain Computer using the total rain accumulator provided by the station.

Value Source


Barometric Trend

Extra Humidities

Extra Temperatures

Forecast

Indoor Dew Point

Indoor Heat Index

Indoor Humidity

Indoor Temperature

Outdoor Dew Point

Outdoor Heat Index

Outdoor Humidity

Outdoor Temperature

Rain Rate

Rain This Month

Rain This Year

Rain Today

Rain Total

Solar Radiation

Ultraviolet Index

Wind Chill

Wind Direction

Wind Gust

Wind Speed

Station supplied

Unavailable



Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Unavailable

Station supplied


Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied

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Oregon Scientific WMR200The WMR200 weather station from Oregon Scientific connects to the Mac via USB. Rain values are computed via WeatherSnoopʼ’s Rain Computer using the total rain accumulator provided by the station.

Value Source


Barometric Trend

Extra Humidities

Extra Temperatures

Forecast

Indoor Dew Point

Indoor Heat Index

Indoor Humidity

Indoor Temperature

Outdoor Dew Point

Outdoor Heat Index

Outdoor Humidity

Outdoor Temperature

Rain Rate

Rain This Month

Rain This Year

Rain Today

Rain Total

Solar Radiation

Ultraviolet Index

Wind Chill

Wind Direction

Wind Gust

Wind Speed

Station supplied

Station supplied



Unavailable

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Unavailable

Station supplied


Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied

56



Oregon Scientific WMR968The WMR968 weather station interface from Oregon Scientific connects to the Mac via a USB to RS-‐‑‒232 adapter. You can also use a Serial to Net-‐‑‒work adapter and specify the name or IP address in the agent to connect to the unit over a network. Rain values are computed via WeatherSnoopʼ’s Rain Computer using the total rain accumulator provided by the station.

Value Source


Barometric Trend

Extra Humidities

Extra Temperatures

Forecast

Indoor Dew Point

Indoor Heat Index

Indoor Humidity

Indoor Temperature

Outdoor Dew Point

Outdoor Heat Index

Outdoor Humidity

Outdoor Temperature

Rain Rate

Rain This Month

Rain This Year

Rain Today

Rain Total

Solar Radiation

Ultraviolet Index

Wind Chill

Wind Direction

Wind Gust

Wind Speed

Station supplied

Unavailable



Unavailable

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Unavailable

Unavailable


Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied

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LaCrosse WS-‐‑‒2315The WS-‐‑‒2315 weather station interface from LaCrosse connects to the Mac via a USB to RS-‐‑‒232 adapter. You can also use a Serial to Network adapter and specify the name or IP address in the agent to connect to the unit over a network. Rain values are computed via WeatherSnoopʼ’s Rain Computer using the total rain accumulator provided by the station.

Value Source


Barometric Trend

Extra Humidities

Extra Temperatures

Forecast

Indoor Dew Point

Indoor Heat Index

Indoor Humidity

Indoor Temperature

Outdoor Dew Point

Outdoor Heat Index

Outdoor Humidity

Outdoor Temperature

Rain Rate

Rain This Month

Rain This Year

Rain Today

Rain Total

Solar Radiation

Ultraviolet Index

Wind Chill

Wind Direction

Wind Gust

Wind Speed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Unavailable

Unavailable

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Unavailable

Unavailable


Station supplied

Computed

Station supplied

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WS-‐‑‒1080/WS-‐‑‒2080The WS-‐‑‒1080/WS-‐‑‒2080 weather station connects to the Mac via USB. This station is sold under different brand names, including Ambient Weather WS-‐‑‒1080/WS-‐‑‒2080, Weatherwise WS-‐‑‒1080-‐‑‒SOLAR, Fine Offset, Zephyr WH1081, Tycon TP1080WC, N96GY or Digitech XC-‐‑‒0348. Rain values are com-‐‑‒puted via WeatherSnoopʼ’s Rain Computer using the total rain accumulator provided by the station.Value Source


Barometric Trend

Extra Humidities

Extra Temperatures

Forecast

Indoor Dew Point

Indoor Heat Index

Indoor Humidity

Indoor Temperature

Outdoor Dew Point

Outdoor Heat Index

Outdoor Humidity

Outdoor Temperature

Rain Rate

Rain This Month

Rain This Year

Rain Today

Rain Total

Solar Radiation

Ultraviolet Index

Wind Chill

Wind Direction

Wind Gust

Wind Speed

Computed from absolute pressure and elevation

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Unavailable

Unavailable


Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied

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IROX Pro-‐‑‒X/HoneyWell TE923The IROX Pro-‐‑‒X/HoneyWell TE923 weather stations connect to the Mac via USB. Rain values are computed via WeatherSnoopʼ’s Rain Computer using the total rain accumulator provided by the station.

Value Source


Barometric Trend

Extra Humidities

Extra Temperatures

Forecast

Indoor Dew Point

Indoor Heat Index

Indoor Humidity

Indoor Temperature

Outdoor Dew Point

Outdoor Heat Index

Outdoor Humidity

Outdoor Temperature

Rain Rate

Rain This Month

Rain This Year

Rain Today

Rain Total

Solar Radiation

Ultraviolet Index

Wind Chill

Wind Direction

Wind Gust

Wind Speed

Station supplied

Unavailable



Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied


Station supplied

Station supplied

Station supplied

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RainWise MKIIICC-‐‑‒LR InterfaceThe MKIIICC-‐‑‒LR weather station interface from RainWise connects to the Mac via a USB to RS-‐‑‒232 adapter. You can also use a Serial to Network adapter and specify the name or IP address in the agent to connect to the unit over a network. Rain values are computed via WeatherSnoopʼ’s Rain Computer using the total rain accumulator provided by the station.

Value Source


Barometric Trend

Extra Humidities

Extra Temperatures

Forecast

Indoor Dew Point

Indoor Heat Index

Indoor Humidity

Indoor Temperature

Outdoor Dew Point

Outdoor Heat Index

Outdoor Humidity

Outdoor Temperature

Rain Rate

Rain This Month

Rain This Year

Rain Today

Rain Total

Solar Radiation

Ultraviolet Index

Wind Chill

Wind Direction

Wind Gust

Wind Speed

Station supplied

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Computed

Computed

Unavailable

Unavailable

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Unavailable

Unavailable


Station supplied


Station supplied

61





RainWise CC-‐‑‒3000 InterfaceThe CC-‐‑‒3000 weather station interface from RainWise connects to the Mac via USB. It does, however, require a driver from FTDI (http://www.ftdichip.com/). Rain values are computed via Weath-‐‑‒erSnoopʼ’s Rain Computer using the total rain accumulator provided by the station.

Value Source


Barometric Trend

Extra Humidities

Extra Temperatures

Forecast

Indoor Dew Point

Indoor Heat Index

Indoor Humidity

Indoor Temperature

Outdoor Dew Point

Outdoor Heat Index

Outdoor Humidity

Outdoor Temperature

Rain Rate

Rain This Month

Rain This Year

Rain Today

Rain Total

Solar Radiation

Ultraviolet Index

Wind Chill

Wind Direction

Wind Gust

Wind Speed

Station supplied

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Computed

Computed

Unavailable

Unavailable

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Unavailable

Unavailable


Station supplied


Station supplied

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Peet Bros. ULTIMETER 100/800/2000/2100The ULTIMETER 100/800/2000/2100 series of weather stations from Peet Bros. connects to the Mac via a USB to RS-‐‑‒232 adapter. You can also use a Serial to Network adapter and specify the name or IP address in the agent to connect to the unit over a network. Rain values are com-‐‑‒puted via WeatherSnoopʼ’s Rain Computer using the total rain accumulator provided by the station.

Value Source


Barometric Trend

Extra Humidities

Extra Temperatures

Forecast

Indoor Dew Point

Indoor Heat Index

Indoor Humidity

Indoor Temperature

Outdoor Dew Point

Outdoor Heat Index

Outdoor Humidity

Outdoor Temperature

Rain Rate

Rain This Month

Rain This Year

Rain Today

Rain Total

Solar Radiation

Ultraviolet Index

Wind Chill

Wind Direction

Wind Gust

Wind Speed

Station supplied

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Unavailable

Unavailable


Station supplied


Station supplied

63





WeatherHawk Weather StationThe WeatherHawk series of weather stations from WeatherHawk connects to the Mac via TCP/IP. The WeatherHawk agent requires that you enter the name or IP address of the station that you wish to communicate with. Rain values are computed via WeatherSnoopʼ’s Rain Computer using the total rain accumulator provided by the station.

Value Source


Barometric Trend

Extra Humidities

Extra Temperatures

Forecast

Indoor Dew Point

Indoor Heat Index

Indoor Humidity

Indoor Temperature

Outdoor Dew Point

Outdoor Heat Index

Outdoor Humidity

Outdoor Temperature

Rain Rate

Rain This Month

Rain This Year

Rain Today

Rain Total

Solar Radiation

Ultraviolet Index

Wind Chill

Wind Direction

Wind Gust

Wind Speed


Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Computed

Computed

Unavailable

Unavailable

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Unavailable

Unavailable


Station supplied


Station supplied

64





Columbia Weather Systems Capricorn 2000EXThe Capricorn 2000EX from Columbia Weather Systems is a serial-‐‑‒based weather station that connects to the Mac via a USB to RS-‐‑‒232 adapter. You can also use a Serial to Network adapter and specify the name or IP address in the agent to connect to the unit over a network. Rain values are computed via Weath-‐‑‒erSnoopʼ’s Rain Computer using the total rain accumulator provided by the station.

Value Source


Barometric Trend

Extra Humidities

Extra Temperatures

Forecast

Indoor Dew Point

Indoor Heat Index

Indoor Humidity

Indoor Temperature

Outdoor Dew Point

Outdoor Heat Index

Outdoor Humidity

Outdoor Temperature

Rain Rate

Rain This Month

Rain This Year

Rain Today

Rain Total

Solar Radiation

Ultraviolet Index

Wind Chill

Wind Direction

Wind Gust

Wind Speed


Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Computed

Computed

Unavailable

Unavailable

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Unavailable


Station supplied


Station supplied

65





Columbia Weather Systems MicroServerThe Weather MicroServer from Columbia Weather Systems connects to the Mac via a TCP/IP. The MicroServer agent requires that you enter the name or IP address of the station that you wish to communicate with. Rain values are computed via WeatherSnoopʼ’s Rain Computer using the to-‐‑‒tal rain accumulator provided by the station.

Value Source


Barometric Trend

Extra Humidities

Extra Temperatures

Forecast

Indoor Dew Point

Indoor Heat Index

Indoor Humidity

Indoor Temperature

Outdoor Dew Point

Outdoor Heat Index

Outdoor Humidity

Outdoor Temperature

Rain Rate

Rain This Month

Rain This Year

Rain Today

Rain Total

Solar Radiation

Ultraviolet Index

Wind Chill

Wind Direction

Wind Gust

Wind Speed


Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Computed

Computed

Unavailable

Unavailable

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Computed

Computed

Computed

Computed

Station supplied

Station supplied

Unavailable


Station supplied


Station supplied

66





67

A5 WeatherSnoop Plug-‐‑‒in Architecture

IntroductionA plug-‐‑‒in is a special software bundle that uses a well-‐‑‒documented interface to extend an existing software package. Plug-‐‑‒ins are used to expand the functionality of a program in a modular, piecemeal fashion, and they do so in a seamless, transparent manner. They can be added or omitted without affecting the operation of the application as a whole.

In order to allow 3rd party developers to extend WeatherSnoop in new and interesting ways, weʼ’ve designed the WeatherSnoop Plug-‐‑‒in Architecture. Using this “bolt-‐‑‒on” ap-‐‑‒proach, developers can add new functionality quite easily to WeatherSnoop. Plug-‐‑‒ins can range from simple, non-‐‑‒windowed add-‐‑‒ons to elaborate, multi-‐‑‒windowed extensions.

In order to create a WeatherSnoop plug-‐‑‒in, you need to be familiar with Appleʼ’s Xcode development environment. You will also need to have experience with the Objective-‐‑‒C programming language and the Cocoa framework.

The WSKit FrameworkAll code related to the WeatherSnoop Plug-‐‑‒In is located inside of a Cocoa framework named WSKit. Any plug-‐‑‒in created for WeatherSnoop must link against this framework. The framework includes a number of protocols and classes that are documented below.

Weʼ’ve made the development of a plug-‐‑‒in as easy as possible by providing several sample Xcode projects of working plug-‐‑‒ins that you can use to both study and to start from.

The WSPlugIn ProtocolThe simplest plug-‐‑‒in consists of a single Objective-‐‑‒C class, subclassed from NSObject. All that is required is for your class to adopt the Objective-‐‑‒C protocol WSPlugInProtocol which is defined in the provided header file WSPlugIn.h. This protocol contains a set of well-‐‑‒defined Objective-‐‑‒C methods that your class is expected to implement:

Load and Unload MethodsThese methods are called by the WeatherSnoop Plug-‐‑‒In Manager shortly after your plug-‐‑‒in has been loaded and just before it is unloaded, respectively. You can use these meth-‐‑‒ods to do any setup and tear-‐‑‒down that may be necessary for your plug-‐‑‒in.

- (void)didLoad;

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- (void)willUnload;

Description MethodsThese two methods are for informational purposes, and should return the proper name of your plug-‐‑‒in, as well as a description, respectively.

- (NSString *)name;

- (NSString *)description;

Agent Event MethodsThese two methods are called when the user starts or stops the agent, respectively. They are also called right after the plug-‐‑‒in is loaded so that it is clear what the state of the agent is when the plug-‐‑‒in comes alive.

Depending on your plug-‐‑‒inʼ’s functionality, it may want to begin or end certain operations based upon these events, so these methods are provided. You can simply write them as empty methods if your plug-‐‑‒in doesnʼ’t need them.

- (void)agentStarted;

- (void)agentStopped;

Menu MethodsThis method returns an NSMenuItem which will be inserted into the PlugIns menu on the WeatherSnoop menu bar. If your plug-‐‑‒in is designed to not require any user interactivity, or you do not wish to have it appear in the menu, return nil.

- (NSMenuItem *)menuItem;

The WSPlugIn Service ObjectIn addition to the protocol, the WSPlugIn.h header file defines the WSPlugIn service ob-‐‑‒ject. This object provides a number of services to your plug-‐‑‒in, and can be obtained by using the class method:

+ (WSPlugIn *)sharedObject;

The Weather Site ObjectWeatherSnoop organizes all information about a particular weather station setup in an object known as a WeatherSite object. Data such as temperatures, humidities, wind, as well as the station location, name and coordinates are part of the Weather Site object. It can be obtained by sending the following method to the WSPlugIn service object:

69

-‐‑‒ (WeatherSite *)weatherSite;

Weather-‐‑‒related properties such as temperature, humidity, wind, etc. are stored within the WeatherSite object, and each property is represented by an Objective-‐‑‒C object of the class WSProperty.

Please see the example plug-‐‑‒in project, as well as the WeatherSite.h and WSProperty.h header file which are part of the WSKit bundle.

Executing a QueryYou can use the WSPlugIn service object to execute queries against the database. This is useful for obtaining historical values of weather properties. The method to execute the query is as follows:

- (NSDictionary *)executeQuery:(NSString *)sql;

You can pass any standard SQLite query as a parameter. The resulting dictionary con-‐‑‒tains the following keys:

Key Type Value

result NSArray Array of WSProperty objects represent-‐‑‒ing the result set

returnMessage NSString A description of the result of the query

returnCode NSNumber An integer code indicating the result

Determining the License TypeYour plug-‐‑‒in may want to enhance or limit its behavior based upon the type of license that the user is running. The following method can be used by your plug-‐‑‒in to determine the license type. If the user is running WeatherSnoop Lite, the method returns TRUE; otherwise, it returns FALSE:

- (BOOL)isLiteLicense;

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Logging with the TBLog ClassPlug-‐‑‒ins can utilize WeatherSnoopʼ’s logging facility by using the TBLog class. The class returns a singleton object when the sharedLog message is sent to it. That object then becomes the receiver of messages sent to it.

The class provides a simple method which sends a string to the WeatherSnoop log win-‐‑‒dow:

- (void)log:(NSString *)message level:(TBLogLevel)level;

The log level, defined in TBLog.h, corresponds to the log level slider found on the agent window. You can determine at what level your message will appear in the log by passing the level to this method.

A handy macro, TBLogFormat(), can be used to pass a format string and a variable number of arguments, like so:

[[TBLog sharedLog] log:TBLogFormat(@”Grabbing image from %@”, server) level:TBLogLevelInfo];

Consult the source of one of our example plug-‐‑‒in projects for more information.

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Tee-‐‑‒Boy441 Saint Paul AvenueOpelousas, LA 70570www.tee-‐‑‒boy.cominfo@tee-‐‑‒boy.com

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