WeatherAlert

[darkmark327]

I wrote this to display weather info and to alert me when it rains and such. Works outside the US too (try putting in your city name).

Let me know what you think of it, and if you have any problems; I've tested it on 2K & XP, but I've no 98 boxes so I've not tested it on that. For Vista you need to install the .NET framework 1.1 (Vista only includes 2.0/3.0), and set the compatibility mode to Windows Sever 2003.

Note that you need the .NET framework or you'll get weird errors on startup.

download .net framework

I had originally decided to write it when I neglected to realize it was raining and went to class, only to get soaked because I didn't have time to go back up and get my jacket. I figured it'd be handy to have balloon tips when it rains and such; ironically it took me forever to get that to work, because of the way that the .net framework handles tray icons; you can't just use the standard Win API stuff and send your window handle, because the tray icons have their own hidden windows. Anyway it was originally written in VB, then I rewrote it in C# for the hell of it, and made the UI much more efficient (it used to be a lot bigger, although the weather.com links sort of negated my improvements in that area); then I figured, since most of my college goes home for the weekend, it'd be pretty handy to have the weather information for both locations (home & school). It's the first actual application I've written, and the first time I'd used .NET, C#, and full-fledged VB (I'd previously used the latter with scripting and ASP, which is why I originally started writing it in VB, a decision which I later regretted, since I didn't realize that C# was just as easy but without the handholding...all I'd written before were QBASIC programs (I had some pretty kick-ass QB stuff back in the day), and then console programs in C++ and Java, as well as a Java app (both for CS class))...for everything else, I figured "why reinvent the wheel"...but I'm pretty sure this is the only weather program that displays balloon tip alerts when it starts raining (and so on), and I think they're pretty damn cool. Plus the interface is nice and efficient, and it's not riddled with banner ads and all sorts of cluttered crap.

I know it does up a lot of memory when it's not minimized :pinch: ; that's just how the framework works. C# was easy enough to pick up, but muddling through full-fledged C++ for something like this is sorta overkill (but I may end up doing it anyway :D). But I think of it this way: when you're looking at the full weather information, it's probably not going to be when you're in the middle of playing a game or things like that; you'll have it minimized when you're doing intensive stuff, and when it's minimized it takes up very little memory. That and the fact that I have ample RAM. I guess. *shrug*

Updates (it's getting too long to keep the full list since the beginning):

--use the autoupdate feature to keep track (easier that way)

You can see many screenshots at the homepage: http://www.ic.sunysb.edu/stu/msowul - go to "Projects" and then "WeathAlert"

Download now!

Edited April 29, 2007 by darkmark327

[Si Veteran]

Nice! :happy:

[john smith 1924 Veteran]

what a great little program - well done!

[_NeMeSiS_]

great lil program, love it :) thanks.

[cat0]

It works flawlessly on my WinNT4 box as well. Crashed badly on the Win2003 Terminal Server I'm using, however. I only have user rights on the TS, perhaps that's the problem.

[insanekiwi]

downloading right now.

uhm, damm, i'm from europe. no support for that yet.

[john smith 1924 Veteran]

I might add- i dont know if you can sort this- although its got vvvv low memory use when in the tray minimized, when maximized (for me) its running ~ 17 meg - quite high for this kind of app.

[darkmark327]

@slap--i've tested it on plain windows server without issue, i don't know why it doesn't like TS; it doesn't really need special rights, just write access to its directory & registry key (& web access, but lack of that won't make it crash).

@insane kiwi--actually it does for some places, try yours

@magoo--i know! i dont' know why that happens, i wish it could take up the low memory always...when you minimize it and restore it is still low; it must be the framework, I suspect it's all the hidden windows they use for the controls...I know it's inefficient, but I don't feel like rewriting it in straight MFC/ATL C++, it'd be a pain.

Note that I discovered that the temp alerts don't work; I've updated the download to fix it. I've also made a few other small improvements, like the minimize to tray (it no longer minimizes & restores, but rather just hides). I should start a changelog i suppose. Let me know if you have any other problems, and thanks for the support.

Edited June 9, 2004 by darkmark327

[habtro]

gonna download now

thanx :)

[john smith 1924 Veteran]

if your happy, i'd love to give this some front page coverage- its a great little app.

[darkmark327]

Not just yet; there's a few things I have to do to avoid drawing weather.com's wrath and lawyers. I am waiting for their email which will tell me what I need to do. (I have to display their logo and link to them a few times or something).

[Si Veteran]

Why not brand it for Neowin too ;)

NeoWeather sounds good - we could have a whole suite

NeoWeather

NeoPad

Neoshooter

NeoNote

Neowin News

Neowin Toolbar

etc :)

[OnlyMe]

This is nice! Adding a local radar option would make it a perfect replacement for weatherbug.

[darkmark327]

This is nice! Adding a local radar option would make it a perfect replacement for weatherbug.

Good idea, that sounds doable...I'll work on it. I'll have it toggle the window extension between the forecast or the radar

[insanekiwi]

i tried my location (germany) but it only gave me some city in minnesota as result heh.

[lnmnky]

Screenies please.

I don't like "blind" downloads.

[Veedems Veteran]

I might add- i dont know if you can sort this- although its got vvvv low memory use when in the tray minimized, when maximized (for me) its running ~ 17 meg - quite high for this kind of app.

It's how the framework handles memory. It reserves itself some until another app needs it. It will release that memory as soon as something else calls for it.

[cork1958]

Just tried it on my neighbors machine. Looking good. Won't put it on mine though as I will have nothing to do with .netframework stuff. At least, not until absolutely necessary.

[darkmark327]

Just tried it on my neighbors machine. Looking good. Won't put it on mine though as I will have nothing to do with .netframework stuff. At least, not until absolutely necessary.

Out of curiousity, any particular reason why you're avoiding the framework?

Here's a ss, which is actually larger than the download of the program itself.

Next version (compliant with weather.com's requirements) out soon. As you can see, they make me include attribution to them and links that they provide. It's not terribly intrusive, and it lets me use their XML feed for free, so I can't complain. In any event, it would be nice if all the links they give me actually worked; the "pollen reports" link just shows a blank page, lol...their loss :rolleyes:

edit: weird how the upper right corner is squared off, since it's actually rounded on my actual windows.

Edited June 12, 2004 by darkmark327

[darkmark327]

Screenshot without forecast:

[GrandMaster]

gj but pls dont call it "weatherSPY

it really sounds like spyware when you do that

[Hidea]

awsome! neowin is full of talented programers.. first neoshooter, now this.. soon, aerobrowser... ow, I forgot APXP

[darkmark327]

gj but pls dont call it "weatherSPY

it really sounds like spyware when you do that

Yeah, I've changed it to WeathAlert...it's as bad as if I'd called it Gator itself!

[Hidea]

well.. would you like to call it...

NeoWeather?

just to match up "NeoShooter" or something.

666th posts... beware, I am evil.

[pogz]

Looks nice. I'll check it out :)