Status update from Tim
Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 8:26 pm
Hi everyone... sorry I'm continuing to be short on forum-based support but there has actually been substantial work going on. Unfortunately most of it is rather tedious, detail oriented work that takes awhile but has to be done. This work specifically has been updating the station identifier tables and including a large number of identifiers used during the 1950s-1970s (many of which NCDC isn't even aware of) so that Digital Atmosphere can give more accurate historical maps.
This was also done to test the new station identifier list format to its limit and make sure we have a structure that will last for the next several years. Getting this taken care of is necessary so we don't have more changes of what is an essential core component of the software. Finalizing this station database will also allow me to start writing inhouse programs to update the list regularly based on FAA change notices and so forth. This will be introduced in DA V2.10 and will consist of a "master" station list, which can be automatically updated anytime, with an optional user-defined overlay file so that users can maintain their own versions of this list (for mesonets, etc) which will never get deleted or overwritten. Again this has been tedious work but fortunately it's almost ready for release.
As far as new, actual changes I spent this week developing a "Live Chart Retriever" module that monitors selected Internet graphics and when they're updated they're sent straight to your printer. This allows everyone from hobbyists to industrial users to have their own "weather feed" of centralized maps and model graphics. It is similar to Weatherpipe but more robust, and it's an active rather than passive chart streamer. This is available only in the Professional Version (V2.09) and pro users are welcome to download this right away in the pro directory (refer to your login e-mail or contact me). See the front page ( http://www.weathergraphics.com ) for a full description and a PDF instruction sheet.
I will be getting to some of the other high priority changes shortly... I have been collecting your reports over the past weeks and have a task list.
Tim
This was also done to test the new station identifier list format to its limit and make sure we have a structure that will last for the next several years. Getting this taken care of is necessary so we don't have more changes of what is an essential core component of the software. Finalizing this station database will also allow me to start writing inhouse programs to update the list regularly based on FAA change notices and so forth. This will be introduced in DA V2.10 and will consist of a "master" station list, which can be automatically updated anytime, with an optional user-defined overlay file so that users can maintain their own versions of this list (for mesonets, etc) which will never get deleted or overwritten. Again this has been tedious work but fortunately it's almost ready for release.
As far as new, actual changes I spent this week developing a "Live Chart Retriever" module that monitors selected Internet graphics and when they're updated they're sent straight to your printer. This allows everyone from hobbyists to industrial users to have their own "weather feed" of centralized maps and model graphics. It is similar to Weatherpipe but more robust, and it's an active rather than passive chart streamer. This is available only in the Professional Version (V2.09) and pro users are welcome to download this right away in the pro directory (refer to your login e-mail or contact me). See the front page ( http://www.weathergraphics.com ) for a full description and a PDF instruction sheet.
I will be getting to some of the other high priority changes shortly... I have been collecting your reports over the past weeks and have a task list.
Tim