.htx Files

[Admin]

For the .htx file to create XML data from within VWS, use: www.qsl.net/n6skk/vwsfulldata.htx

For the .htx file to create XML data from within WeatherLink, use: www.qsl.net/n6skk/wlfulldata.htx

Within WeatherLink, you'll need to put the .htx file in an unusued profile, and enter ".xml" into the box asking for the filename extension to use.

[windy]

Gary
I really like the xml thing you are doing....;D
i see you mention you are developing a template for WD?
i can get wd to create one auto...
but micking vws tags is hard
do you have a desrciption of those tags?
or do we make it different all together?
thanks!
Brian

[Admin]

Hi, Brian! First, let me say that making these template files for an XML feed is not at all complicated, but it is hard in the sense that there is an extraordinary amount of typing involved, and XML is completely unforgiving of errors. Doing WeatherLink was pretty easy given how few tags Davis provides, and given how many tags Weather Display generates, it is no mean feat to develop XML elements for each one.

The template file that's used to generate an XML page could almost be thought of as a tag within a tag in a sense. Each XML element ends up producing the value of a Weather Display (or whatever) tag. So a simple example for the template file would be:


<TEMP>%temp%</TEMP>


The XML page generated from that template would then look like:


<TEMP>18.2</TEMP>


(assuming of course that the temperature value sent by Weather Display was 18.2C)

In turn, the page someone else had running to display your data would have, in a table defined as having your XML page as its datasource, code like the following within a table:


<td>Temperature: <SPAN DATAFLD="TEMP"></SPAN>deg. C</td>


While probably no one would want to display all the possible data from someone else's station, one of the other great things about XML is that you can upload the single XML file and use it to populate all your other pages. So while it is wonderful that WD can generate 30+ HTML pages, uploading 30 would take quite a while. An alternative is to upload a single XML file and have your 30 (or however many) web pages get their data from the XML feed. Biggest drawback here is it seems that XML-provided data can't be incorporated into Javascripts, or at least I have yet to figure out how.

So... a far longer diatribe than you probably expected (or wanted...) No need, I don't think, to match the conventions used in the other template files; I guess ideally it would be easier if tags that produce exactly the same information (outside temp, for instance) all had the same name - it'd be much easier when people build pages to show others' data from multiple software sources if they didn't need to remember different naming conventions - but otherwise I don't think it matters. If WD could auto-generate the XML template, that'd be wonderful. I've been plugging away at it in my ever decreasing spare time, and because I want to incorporate each and every tag from WD, it is just plain a lot of typing (and checking for errors)!

If you look at either of the .htx files in the first post of this thread, as long as exactly that same format is used, the naming of the "tags" - called "elements" in XML - then I think that'd be fine. If that could be auto-generated by WD, that would be very cool - and WD users could join in on this little project a lot quicker than if they have to wait for me to finish all this typing!!!

I'll hold off on making any more slow process until I hear from you if WD can do this "by itself" - thanks!!

[Barking]

I think that if WD (and any others) can auto generate the XML then it will guarantee that it's going to work. I sent a friend an XML htx file and it failed for some reason. I will investigate it when I get some time!

If the station auto generates the file the user would have the option to use that file or they could still make a customised version using various tags etc.

Remember that XML can be pulled into any other type of application designed for it and not just web pages.

The XML generated should perhaps be split into sections, or Nodes rather than the one big block that is currently being proposed. Some applications (.exe programs) could fail if you inserted or changed one of the tags. If it's in sections, it would then be better to 'add' an extra section. Taking it another step forward, you should also have a file that describes the xml, called a DTD file (Document Type Definitions) that would be uploaded with the XML file.

My XML here shows the seperated data:
www.orangevalley.co.uk/weather.xml
If you click on the '-' that node will expand/collapse.

[Admin]

We're just getting started here, Ivan! I've actually had a harder time manipulating your XML feed because it is broken up; displaying your data requires having contiguous blocks of DATAFLDs coming from the same element area because of it. Weather Display's generation of the template will just save the first time creation of the template and not do anything different with the data than will use of a "hand-built" template file.

I know you're certainly right about doing a DocTypeDeclaration, or even use of a schema or XSLT file, but this has been a very time consuming part of a time consuming hobby as it is, and the degree of interest - which has been surprisingly low - will to a large degree dictate how much time is worth putting into it.

The data you see on the pws.html file at my page and at the equivalent (but much prettier!) site in Omaha shows data from Mullica Hill, New Jersey, which site uses the very same .htx file I sent to you for your friend. Following the instructions is critical - he needs to make sure that he has one of his WeatherLink profiles that converts no template files other than the one intended to produce an XML output file, as he <b>must</b> tell WeatherLink to change the file extension to .xml instead of the .htm or .html that it will want to normally, and would be the first place I'd look.

I'm not pretending to be anything other than an enthusiastic newbie/amateur as relates to XML; any and all advice or assistance is encouraged!

[Barking]

Sorry!! I was just a little worried that WD may get xml enabled but as one big chunk of data which would be fine, but not ideal.

I'm no expert on xml either, I mainly picked it up while doing an asp room booking system that had to produce xml for the main system to use. Actually, that's a good example of xml providing a link between two systems...

When I get some time I will bash out an example vb.net application and upload it to the net that pulls in the weather xml sources that you have organised.

I think if we plug away at xml for long enough it will start to gain some monentum. New concepts always take a while to get started! The net has a number of online XML validators and this looks like a good place to start:
www.w3.org/2001/03/webdata/xsv
According to this my xml could do with a few tweeks!

[windy]

well, i have added it to wd now
it will auto create the file (if it does not exsist), after that you can make changes as you like to the template file (wdfulldata.htm)
see under custom web page setup and tick the box there..easy as that.
and then wd will create and upload wdfulldata.xml
yeah, its one big block
i made a routine to auto convert the exisitng tag template, so it only took me the day to add it to wd
(latest verison)

[Ravenstein-weer (NL).]

I can not read the information about the .htx files because the link does not work appropriately. Is there somebody who has a scipt for me for Weatherlink? My email address is:
[e-mail]
Thank you and greetings.
Paul Landman.

[SoFlaChris]

I would like to participate and try this out. I tried to download the htx file for the Davis WXLink and the URL was dead. Can anybody help a fella out?

TIA,
Chris

[SoFlaChris]

Uhh, hello?

[Admin]

I've recently made a decision to no longer support my WxML Project; it was simply getting too time consuming to support the questions and requests. It also had the extreme limitation of only being visible to those using Internet Explorer. RSS supports this type of exchange much better and is completely cross-platform. For more information, please visit www.ag-weather.com/rss_weather.html.

Sorry this response took a while - this isn't a paid job for me! I moderate four forums, one of which is very, very active. All these are intended as peer support forums; on any forum, courtesy - and patience - generally go a long way!

[trobcho]

Hello,
www.qsl.net/n6skk/wlfulldata.htx - link is invalid Where can I download it?

[Admin]

Sept 25, 2009 12:01:23 GMT -5 trobcho said:

Hello,
www.qsl.net/n6skk/wlfulldata.htx - link is invalid Where can I download it?

As stated above, I've abandoned this project due to better alternatives being out there. If you're still interested, I can see if I have a copy of that file laying around somewhere.