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( ReadMe.txt 4.11.03 )
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Weather Watcher v5.0.22g
Your desktop weather station
Copyright © 2003 Mike Singer
All Rights Reserved
E-Mail: Mike@SingersCreations.com
Web Site: www.SingersCreations.com
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( How to donate to Singer's Creations: )
)_________________________________________________________(
Please feel free to make a voluntary donation to Singer's
Creations to help cover web site and development time
costs.
(1). You can make a PayPal donation via the following URL:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=itzhitman%40aol.com
(2). To send a donation by check, please contact me at
Mike@SingersCreations.com -or- itzhitman@aol.com to
obtain my current snail-mail address.
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( What's new in this version: )
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v5.0.22g
- Fixed tray icon horizontal line problem when tray icon
BackColor was set to transparent (for Windows 98 users)
- All maps now open into your default viewer (IE for most
people). I will add more map features in the next major
release. For now, this should take care of some of the
problems that some people were having with the maps.
- All extra Weather Watcher entries in the "Add or Remove
Programs" menu should be removed after running this
version of Weather Watcher for the first time.
- Tweaked the downloader (DL.EXE).
- .5°C will now display as 0.5°C.
v5.0.22f
- Miscellaneous conversion fixes.
v5.0.22e:
- Fixed "gusting to" Detailed wind metric conversion. It
was converting at all before.
- Fixed system tray conversion. It was dropping the first
1 even if the temperature was not over 99.
v5.0.22d:
- System icon will now round up or down to the nearest
temperature when Celsius is selected.
- Added an option to automatically retrieve the weather
when the city code is changed.
Note: The weather will not be retrieved until the Options
window has been closed.
v5.0.22c:
- Fixed bug that was causing -.2C to show as "." in the
system tray when the "Use tenths place value" option was
checked.
v5.0.22b:
- Fixed tray icon transparent feature.
v5.0.22a:
- Fixed bug that was causing system tray temperature to
always show in Fahrenheit.
- Added option to display the system tray icon with a
transparent background.
- Added COMCTL32.OCX and COMDLG32.OCX to the setup -- some
people did not already have these files installed on
their PC.
- Attempted to fix problem that was causing Weather Watcher
not to fully load on startup (the tray icon was not
appearing). I was not able to replicate this problem, so
please e-mail me at Mike@SingersCreations.com if you are
still having this problem.
v5.0.22:
- Fixed problem that was causing the system tray icon to
fail to load on Windows start-up.
- System tray icon will now be re-added if Windows
Explorer crashes.
- Made cosmetic changes to interface and interface HTML.
- Add new options in the "System Tray" section: font,
font size, text type (bold/italic/normal), background
color, foreground color.
- Added option to display degree symbol in system tray.
- Added option to drop the "1" in the system tray if the
temperature is over 99.
- New "Conversion" options look.
- Added kPa barometer conversion.
- Added Kts wind conversion.
- Added option to display Fahrenheit and Celsius at the
same time (in forecast areas).
- Can use any combination of metric and non-metric
measurements.
- Added option to display both the time the forecast was
posted at www.weather.com and the time that Weather
Watcher downloaded the forecast.
- Tray icon will show the Feels Like temperature if the
Actual temperature is N/A, and vice versa.
- Detailed Forecast will now convert any measurement that
is given in inches (i.e. rain/snow).
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( Description: )
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Weather Watcher is your personal Windows desktop weather
station. Automatically retrieve your local weather from
the Internet and store it in your Windows system tray.
With one click of your mouse button, the most current
weather update is in your view.
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( Interface Description: )
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The following appears on the main Weather Watcher program
interface:
Retrieve Weather -- right-click this icon to download the
(Disk icon) selected weather forecasts. You can
select the forecasts to download in
the "On Download" area of the Options
window.
Note: You must be connected to the
Internet in order for a
successful update.
View current conditions -- right-click this icon to
(Sun icon) display the current weather
conditions.
View hourly forecast -- right-click this icon to display
(Watch icon) the forecast for the next 8 hours.
View daily forecast -- right-click this icon to display
(White paper icon) the forecast for the next 10 days.
View detailed forecast -- right-click this icon to
(Yellow paper icon) display the text forecast for
the next 10 days.
View weather maps -- right-click this icon to display
(Globe icon) the list of world-wide weather maps.
(Not included in this version)
Display options window -- right-click this icon to
(Hammer icon) display the Options window.
Display help manual -- right-click this icon to view the
(Help book icon) Help Manual (this ReadMe file).
Display about window -- right-click this icon to display
(Weather Watcher icon) the About window.
Minimize To Tray - right-click the small, white square in
the top, right-hand corner to minimize
Weather Watcher to the system tray.
To open the main window again, simply
left-click the Weather Watcher icon in
the system tray (beside the clock).
Most of the above features can also be executed from the
Weather Watcher system tray menu. The Weather Watcher
menu can be accessed by right-clicking the Weather Watcher
icon in the Windows system tray (beside the clock).
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( How to set up the Weather Watcher Options: )
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(1). Start Weather Watcher and right-click the "Display
Options window" icon on the main program interface.
The "Weather watcher options" window will now be in
your view.
(2). "General" area of the Options window:
A. Check the "Start minimized" checkbox if you
would like Weather Watcher to be minimized to
the system tray upon start-up.
B. Check the "Keep all windows on top" if you
would like the windows in Weather Watcher to
"stay on top" of any other running programs.
C. Check the "Load when Windows starts" if you
would like Weather Watcher to automatically
load when Windows starts.
D. Check the "Retrieve forecasts on start-up"
checkbox if you would like Weather Watcher to
retrieve the selected forecasts on start-up.
E. Check the "Check for new version on start-up"
checkbox if you would like Weather Watcher to
check for new version components on start up.
This will be done in the background -- if
there are new components, you will be prompted
to download them.
This feature can be manually accessed via the
"Check for update" option in the Weather
Watcher system tray menu.
F. Check the "On start-up, pause 10 seconds before
downloading any updates" checkbox if you would
like Weather Watcher to wait 10 seconds on
start-up before retrieving the forecasts or
checking for a new version.
This feature is useful if you are using the
"Load when Windows starts" feature.
(3). "City Code" area of the Options window:
A. Select the City Code to retrieve the weather
for by selecting the desired City Code from
the drop-down box.
B. Use the "Remove Selected" button to delete
the current City Code from the drop-down box.
C. Use the "Remove All" button to delete all of
the City Codes from the drop-down box.
D. Use the "Find Your City Code" button to locate
your City Code by typing in the city's name.
(4). "Auto Update" area of the Options window:
A. Select the desired update rate from the
drop-down box. This rate is the amount of time
that Weather Watcher will wait between
automatic forecast updates.
B. Check the "Enable Auto Update" checkbox to
enable the Auto Update feature.
C. Check the "Only download updates when connected
to the Internet" checkbox to stop your computer
from dialing to your ISP when you are not online.
(5). "System Tray" area of the Options window:
A. Check the "Display feels like temperature" to
display the Feels Like temperature in the system
tray. If this checkbox is not checked, the actual
temperature will be displayed in the system tray.
B. Check the "Display degree symbol" to display the
degree symbol (°) in the system tray.
C. Check the "Do not display first digit when
temperature reaches 100°" checkbox to drop the
first number in the tray icon.
This is useful because the tray icon can only fit
two digits at a normal font face and font size
setting.
D. Check the "Flash system tray icon when new weather
alert is retrieved" checkbox to cause the system
tray to flash when a new weather alert is
downloaded.
If checked, the icon will flash until Weather
Weather is maximized. If the same alert is
downloaded again, the tray icon will not flash.
E. Set the system tray font, font size, font color,
and background color in the "System Tray Icon
Properties" area.
(6). "On Download" area of the Options window:
A. Check the "Retrieve current conditions" checkbox
if you would like to download the current weather
conditions when the weather is retrieved.
B. Check the "Retrieve hourly forecast" checkbox if
you would like to download the next 8-hour
forecast when the weather is retrieved.
C. Check the "Retrieve daily forecast" checkbox if
you would like to download the 10-day forecast
when the weather is retrieved.
D. Check the "Retrieve detailed forecast" if you
would like to download the 10-day text forecast
when the weather is retrieved.
E. Check the "Display the actual time of update" to
show the time that the forecast was locally
downloaded instead of the time that weather.com
updated the forecast on their web site.
F. Check the "Display both the time observed at
weather.com and the time downloaded" checkbox to
display both the time the weather was posted at
weather.com and the time Weather Watcher
downloaded the weather.
(7). "Conversion" area of the Options window:
A. Choose your Temperature, Wind, Visibility, and
Barometer conversion preferences.
B. Check the "Use tenths place value" checkbox to
display Celsius temperature to the tenths place
(i.e. 21.2°C instead of 22°C).
(8). "Sounds" area of the Options window:
A. Use the "Browse..." buttons to change the sound
that is associated with each sound alert.
B. Use the "Remove" buttons to remove the sound that
is associated with each sound alert.
C. If the sound file path is blank, no sound will
be played (the sound file paths are blank by
default).
D. Check the "Sound until acknowledged" checkbox
to cause the Severe Weather Alert sound to
loop until acknowledged when there is a new
severe weather alert.
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( How to view severe weather alerts: )
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If there is a Severe Weather Alert for your selected
city, the Weather Watcher icon will flash in the system
tray (if Weather Watcher is minimized). When the tray icon
is clicked, the system tray icon will return to its
normal state.
The Severe Weather Alert will appear in the Current
Conditions area, right under the link to Singer's Creations
on the right side. Click the Severe Alert link to view
the full severe alert.
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( My City Code is not displayed when I do a search: )
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The "Find Your City Code" button in the "City Code" area of
the Options window will launch the Search window. If the
search does not return results for your city, it is likely
that no weather data is available for your city.
If your city is not found:
(1). Double-check that you spelled your city correctly.
(2). Make sure you are not typing your country in the
Search window. For example, if you are trying to
locate the City Code for Rome, Italy, type "Rome"
in the Search window.
(3). If all else fails, go to www.weather.com and see
if you can find your city there. If you can, then
there is a bug somewhere in Weather Watcher. If
that is the case, please report it to
Mike@SingersCreations.com
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( Source of the weather data: )
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The weather data used by Weather Watcher comes from
different sources on the Internet. The major source of the
data is retrieved from www.weather.com. The weather data
is not generated or owned by Singer's Creations.
You may ask "how is this legal"? Weather Watcher pulls
the weather data from the Internet via Microsoft's
Internet Explorer. There is no difference between you
using the IE web browser directly and Weather Watcher's use
of the IE web browser.
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( Singer's Creations Mailing List: )
)_________________________________________________________(
Join the Singer's Creations Mailing List today to receive
program update news via e-mail. Your e-mail address will
not be abused!
To sign up, click the "Mail List" link at the Singer's
Creations home page:
http://www.SingersCreations.com
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( Other comments/questions/suggestions: )
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Do you have a question that was not covered in this help
file? Do you have a suggestion for a new feature or a new
program idea?
E-Mail Mike@SingersCreations.com -OR- itzhitman@aol.com
with a detailed description of your problem. Please be
sure to provide me with as much information as possible so
I can provide you with a quick, accurate response.
Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.