Introducing WP-Activate (v 2.0)
A self-updating WeatherPanel widget widget for Mobile Shell 3.0.
Overview
- Displays current weather condition data (and icon) inside Mobile Shell widgets
- Weather information is extracted from WeatherPanel (source: weather.com)
- The widgets are extensions of the Mobile Shell Link widget
- The overall solution is a combination of Mobile Shell, Mortscript, Total Commander and custom code written by me (WP-Activate.exe)
Widget Features
- Shows current weather conditions on your Lifestyle screens
- Multiple widgets, with different sizes and layouts
- Opens WeatherPanel when activated
- Configurable widget refresh rate
- Uses WeatherPanel's hourly forecast data if current data expires (after one hour without an update)
- No need to manually update qa_layouts.dat or the registry (see WidgetInjector)
- Works fine with VGA and QVGA (sorry, I haven't tested WVGA or WQVGA)
Prerequisites- Spb Mobile Shell 3.0
- WeatherPanel must be installed and running in your Today screen (get it HERE)
- Must use custom WeatherPanel theme (not default themes)
Diffuculties/Shortcomings
- Currently shows data for only one city (the default city configured in WeatherPanel). Of course, you can always scroll through all of your cities after opening WeatherPanel.
- Mobile Shell does not display partial transparency in icons. So basically, most weather icons look like crap. To counteract this problem, I made up a new set (using Yahoo icons) - with backgrounds.
- I couldn't figure out how to align the text (it may not even be possible with the link widget). So, it's always centered.
Layouts
-
On the upside - there's a lot of potential here!
UPDATES
Code:
May 24, 2009 6:10 PM
+ Revamped "widget injector" to use Rar instead of Total
Commander (thanks to Strops over at Spb Club)
+ Streamlined install - widget injector and configuration are
now part of the initial CAB install.
May 20, 2009 10:00 PM
+ Added new icon set (Flat White Icons)
+ Added two methods for scheduling refreshes. This is to
address issues some have had getting the widgets to
refresh they're data.
+ Updated configuration script - can now pick icon set and
method for scheduling refreshes. See 2nd post for screen-
shots.
+ Tweaked the Pro widget a little - increased font size and
moved icon a little higher.
May 15, 2009 7:50 AM
Made the compact widget even more compacter ;)
May 14, 2009 11:30 PM
Added compact layout. Repackaged widget xml into it's own
standalone xml file (WpWidgets.xml). Injector now has less
work to do.
May 14, 2009 11:20 AM
Updated the WidgetInjector... yes again. Got a little over-
zealous with the "kill FingerMenu" change. This version should
work fine with FingerMenu running, and hopefully will work with
the HTC menu enhancement too.
May 13, 2009 7:48 PM
Tweaked the WidgetInjector again. The issues had nothing
to do with timing, but rather menu enhancement software.
This version kills FingerMenu before starting the widget injection
process.
May 12, 2009 7:30 AM
Tweaked the WidgetInjector. It's not working for some folks,
so I slowed it down to see if that helps.
More information on the following posts...
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