Weather Panel

[dinki]

I've successfully added the Weather Panel to my VA Panel. Is there a way to limit the information shown? What I'd like to display is the current weather icon, current temperature, and location/city.

Is there an easy way to accomplish this? Can I access the weather data without using the VA Panel?

[dinki]

Okay. Let me ask this a different way. Can the weather data be accessed in a similar fashion as the current music playing data (@ArtistSong)? Can I write a panel xml file for the weather file and use variables like @CurrentTemp and then use them as Special Elements?

If so, where do I find a list of the variables? Do I need to look at the source code of the modules I am interested in to pull data from them?

Sorry to be a bother, but I'm hoping not to reinvent the wheel if necessary.

TIA

[Jeff]

Currently the weather just posts a series of messages for the current day and the next 2 forecast days. What are you looking for it to post?

Jeff

[dinki]

Thanks for the reply Jeff. I'm wanting to display the current temperature, current conditions icon, and city/location. Can this be done by writing a custom panel and then calling it as a special element?

[Jeff]

This should be what it is doing already, with the caveat that it only posts the name of the city if you have more thatn one city defined in the list. What do you see being posted?

Jeff

[dinki]

I'm seeing it cycling through from the current conditions to the forecast, IIRC. The real question is can I access this information outside of the VA panel. I'd like to always have the weather displayed, but also have a VA Panel for displaying other things besides the weather.

Is the VA panel the only way I can display the weather info?

[dinki]

Am I asking a dumb question? It would most beneficial if skin developers could access elements from plugins and be able to manipulate them the way they want to give the skin the best possible look/feel.

Maybe I can explain what I'm trying to do with a picture:



If you'll notice, the text under the envelope icon is all on a single horizontal plane/line. What I would prefer to do is have the text appear on the right of the icon like this:

No
Emails
waiting

I'm using the CheckEmail plugin. Looking at the CheckEmail panel there doesn't seem to be much in regards to formatting the text.

On to the weather display. Here is where I would like to control the size of the icon and the data presented. What I would like would be to have the icon larger and to the left of the text as mentioned above in the email example. I only want to display the weather icon, Current Conditions text, and the temperature. I do not want to have to use the VA panel which cycles through the next day forecast. I would also like to be able to format each element seperately. I know that this functionality exists to a certain degree as I was able to control the time and date via the @time and @date special elements.

I am very new to skinning and GBPVR in general, but I am not lazy and am willing to go the extra mile to accomplish what I'm trying to do. Can someone push me in the right direction? Do I need to start wadding through source code for the plug ins that I want to pull data from? Do I need to write my own plug in to interface with the plug ins I want to pull data from?

Just a little push in the right direction please

[dinki]

I'm disappointed with the lack of comments on my question. I thought this board was for help 'For those wanting to develop plugins and skins...'

All I really want to know is if it is possible to do what I'm asking or not. And if not, how can I make it possible?

I'm only asking this in an attempt to, IMHO, improve on the skinning of GBPVR. Additional eye candy could potentially draw more users.

Thanks

[Fatman_do]

I'm disappointed with the lack of comments on my question. I thought this board was for help 'For those wanting to develop plugins and skins...'

All I really want to know is if it is possible to do what I'm asking or not. And if not, how can I make it possible?

I'm only asking this in an attempt to, IMHO, improve on the skinning of GBPVR. Additional eye candy could potentially draw more users.

Thanks

Most of your concerns are issues that must be addressed by the plugin authors. Some of them may not view the forums 50+ times a day like me.

Some plugins do not have the source code availible, and I don't know if all those authors are still around. Some of the plugins are really not that skinnable as well (which you may have found out already). I am learning this too, so I am no expert here.

[Jeff]

Yes, it is possible to create a dedicated weather weather panel. The commongbpvrutilities.dll provides an API that will let you fetch jut the messages and images posted by the weather panel. If I have some time later this week I will create a quick example to show you how.

Jeff