Dark Sky Weather Reader
This application pulls data from the Dark Sky API and copies it into a Chameleon instance.
Instance Setup
The first time you start the weather reader after installing it or when you want to add a new instance you will need to configure it. You will be prompted to enter a Instance Name.
The instance name is arbitrary - it can be any name you like such as Live, Production, Test, Jose, GoJaysGo. It is simply a label to associate with a specific set of configuration values. This is helpful in situations where you have multiple chameleon instances that you want to update. This enables you to do so without running multiple copies of the reader.
Configuration
The reader requires some information about the data source and the target Chameleon database before it can begin running.
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Instance name is an arbitrary name used to identify the instance |
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The MySQL section is pre-filled with defaults that will Default user id is Updater |
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The data source settings control the weather requests sent to the Dark Sky API. Source should be set to URL. Language - controls what language is used when generating the text summaries. Units - control what units of measurement are used |
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Running
Once launched and running - it will count down to the next update displaying the time remaining.
Buttons on the Run tab:
- Play/Pause toggle button
- starts/pauses the timer
- Stop button
- Stops the timer and resets to the set time interval
- Run Now
- You can force an immediate update by pressing the Run Now button when enabled
Locations
This tab of the application provides a list of the locations that it is working with.
Add Locations
To add a location - type the name and press the enter key or press the Search button
After the search completes - select the location from the dropdown list and press the enter key or press the Add Location button.
Locations will be automatically populated the next time the reader runs.
Remove Locations
You can remove locations that you no longer need. Note that doing so will remove it from all playlists it is part of.
To remove
- Select the location(s) to be removed (multi-select using the Shift and/or CTRL keys when clicking)
- Right-click and select Remove
- Confirm the removal when prompted
Extra Fields
There are additional data fields available from the Dark Sky api that aren't mapped to the primary weather fields in Chameleon. To use these additional fields you can select them on the Extra Data tab. Any selected fields will be added to their respective data records as Dynamic Fields.
After changing the selections by adding or removing checkmarks - press the Save All Changes button. Then these changes will apply the next time the reader runs.
Note that these fields are not affected by the weather preference settings in the Chameleon web configuration module.
Logs
The application writes notes on its actions and any errors it encounters into a local file log as well as into the connected Chameleon audit log.
Local File Logs
File logs are created for each day. You can view the current file log using the Help menu of the reader.
Chameleon Audit Logs
The reader also writes its log entries into the Chameleon audit log. They can then be viewed using the Audit Log report in the Reports module of the web interface.
Select the Weather Parser Events report type from the list to see weather reader related audit log entries.
Verbose Logging Option
You can choose to enable an option that provides greater audit details for the reader's operation. Activate it using the Help menu - Logs - Verbose Logging option.
You generally enable this for a short time while debugging an issue and then disable it when you no longer need it.
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