[Mobile Shell 3.0 Widget] WeatherPanel (with current conditions)

[storyr]

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

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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