Getting forcast data from WeatherXML into MCSTemp

[schnark]

Hey Guys,

Recently purchased your plugin and after a while, I managed to get the basic temp sensors into the system - if I get some time, i'll write up a quick how-to as there's a couple of gotchas I ran into!

Anyways, I've got the WeatherXML plugin installed as well, but i'm running into some issues populating the forcast data. Here's where i'm @
- Both plugins installed and confirmed as working okay / getting data respectively (WeatherXML is showing accurate forcasts and mcstemp is getting data from sensors)
- In WeatherXML in plugins, i've selected send data to mcstemp and said its an access DB
- In MCSTemp, i've selected get from WeatherXML file and its not working - i've now disabled that option to see if it makes a difference
- The system is reporting "The file C:\Program Files (x86)\HomeSeer HSPRO\data\weatherXML\WUForecast1.xml is ready for import" which suggests to me that the data is being downloaded okay on the WeatherXML side and that its an MCSTemp integration / config issue

To be honest, i'm a bit confused with how it works and the doco seems a bit out of data between the two.

Grateful some assistance as I would idealy like:
- To be able to show forecast data in MCSTemp
- To have the forcast data available in as devices - this seems to have been setup okay, just not being populated

Many thanks

[Michael McSharry]

mcsTemperature originaly supported direct download from Weaher.com and use of the XML file downlaoded by WeatherXML. This feed from Weather.com became on longer available so this feature in mcsTemperture no longer worked. Previously the same thing happened with feed for MSNBC. mcsTemperature continue to use the government-provided feed.

WeatherXML was rewritten to support other weather sources and at thiat time directly wrote into the mcsTemperature database. mcsTemperature no longer had any direct support for WeatherXML. No WeatherXML option should be selected in mcsTemperature.

WeatherXML will populate HS virtual devices. If you want mcsTemperature to use those devices to build its weather/forecast HTML page then they are selected in mcsTemperature setup page.

[CFGuy]

I'll setup a sticky thread on how to setup mcsTemp and wXML to work together.

Will be posted this morning.

[CFGuy]

Its posted.

http://forums.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=159795

[Michael McSharry]

Thank you Jeff. It has been asked several times and I was not able to give a satisfying answer

[schnark]

Hi,

Thanks both for the quick reply, just a suggestion on the sticky to cover newbies like myself:
- If you already have MCSTemperature up and going:
- Locate the mcstemperature.mdf file - it will default to your homeseer folder
- Manually copy this file to the data\mcstemperature sub-follder - this will ensure that your existing data is not lost
- To configure the new location
- Go to the Database link
- Change Sensor database to "\data\mcsTemperature\mcsTemperature.mdb" - this path will be worked out relative to your homeseer install folder
- Change Forcast database to "\data\mcsTemperature\mcsTemperature.mdb" - this path will be worked out relative to your homeseer install folder
- Click Save
- MCSTemperature will now load up the file in the new location

Once you've now got the data being populated, you need to define in WeatherXML that you want devices to be created:
- Load WeatherXML admin section
- Go to Advanced
- Go to Devices
- For the devices that you want (Current Temp is a good start), select the Homeseer ID number you want from the 1st drop down next to it. In this example, we'll select Current Temperature Device Code and set it to "99"
- The device will now be created in homeseer, but won't have any data. It will also be named "]99" rather than Q99 so record this name
- To populate it with data, go to the Scheduled section and manually kick off a download relevant for the data that you've selected. In this case, we'll do Current Conditions
- After this, homeseer should now have data

The final step is to populate the MCSTemp system with the new device
- Load the MCSTemperature section
- Browse to the Sensors link
- In the DC field (for a blank line), type in the device code (e.g. ]99) and then just the number (i.e. 99) in the DB field as well - leave all other fields blank
- Click Save Setup changes
- The new sensor will be added and will be ready to be graphed as per normal

[CFGuy]

schnark,
I've updated the sticky thread with the extra steps you provided.

One change I made is the device code. In your case it is "]99", but for others it most likely will be different. The "]" is dependent on which code HomeSeer assigns to weatherXML. But the assigned code should be displaying in front of the dropdown on the Devices page in weatherXML.

If you have a chance, take a look at the modified sticky and see if you think it needs anything else added.

Thank you for your help.

[schnark]

Hi CFGuy,

I like the modification, but I think that you should give an example "e.g. R99 or ]99" noting that you need to include the whole name otherwise it won't work. I think that this will make things clearer.

One thing I am confused about though, from the WeatherXML side, you're sending the data to the MCSTemp DB - I get that.

What then happens to this data / how do I access it in MCSTemp - I know I can do it via the way I noted above, but is it just that you're using the location as a storage file or am I missing some blindingly obvious thing here?

[CFGuy]

Hi CFGuy,

I like the modification, but I think that you should give an example "e.g. R99 or ]99" noting that you need to include the whole name otherwise it won't work. I think that this will make things clearer.

I'll see what I can come up with. Just wanted users to realize that the first part of the code is most likely going to be different than the example.

One thing I am confused about though, from the WeatherXML side, you're sending the data to the MCSTemp DB - I get that.

What then happens to this data / how do I access it in MCSTemp - I know I can do it via the way I noted above, but is it just that you're using the location as a storage file or am I missing some blindingly obvious thing here?

The data that goes into the mcsTemp database is used for populating one of the mcsTemp web pages. The Weather Tab uses that info.

/Temperature.asp?Page=weather