Release Notes V2.6

Version 2.6 released  10-23-2004  

      WxByte

1.      Changed the switch message routine to make sure that the messages are sent when they occur in the same minute.

2.      The copy file routine now checks for windows error 32, file locked, and attempts a series of retries before reporting an error.

     WxIngest

1.      Changed the switch message routine to make sure that the messages are sent when they occur in the same minute.

2.      The copy file routine now checks for windows error 32, file locked, and attempts a series of retries before reporting an error.

      Weather Message Server  

1.      Changed the UTC to local date conversion routine to use a different method.  The new method is more efficient.

2.      The expiration dates are now sent to the clients in UTC.

3.      Updated all of the TCP/IP controls to the latest release.

4.      Corrected a problem with the SAW product decoding routine.

5.      Increased the number of retries on the logfile when error 70 occurs. 

6.      Changed the ingest routine to check for files or tcp/ip after each file is processed.  These changes automatically speed up the processing when a large number of files appear in the ingest directory.

7.      The $HeadLine$ routine has been changed to accommodate embedded “…”’s in a headline.  The program now looks for a blank line after the headline to determined that is has ended.

8.      Corrected the decoding logic for Vtec starting time.

9.      Corrected a problem in the Vtec alarming logic.  The program will now evaluate each Vtec line associated with a UGC group.

      WxMesgSetup

1.      The setup screen now has an option to setup the NoaaPort ingest program.

2.      The archive option now supports http puts.  This option is formatted exactly like the ftp option, except “ftp” is replaced with “http”.  (http puts is a method of uploading files to a website, like ftp)

3.      Corrected error 3009 when using the right click option to add a new email, fax or paging group.

4.      Added a user definable variable for use in the short message setup.

5.      The short message setup screen now has a tab strip.  A tab has been added for options.  The Options tab contains the user definable message start / stop text sequence.  This option is an experiment at this time.  It’s operation may change during the beta period.

6.      The archive option now has the ability to specify the same styles as email, fax and pager messages.  You now can select Short, Selected, Selected No Head, Full and Full No Head.

7.      Added the WCN product to the WxCtype.dat file to show that it is a fips product.

8.      Changed the registry export routine to use long file names.  This corrects a problem with installations to the “program files” directory.

9.      Added a pause in the notify host routine to insure that the message to reload the alarm is received by Weather Message Server.

10. Added the FFS product to the WxCtype.dat file to show that it is a fips product.

11. In V2.5 the prefix WAR was replaced with WRN.  The V2.5 software automatically changed all WAR prefixes to WRN.  This change is now causing a problem with those users that want to use the valid WAR prefix.  The system is changing those to WAR.  The system will no longer change WAR prefixes to WRN.

12. Added a new short message variable, “$CountiesState$”.  This variable will include the counties, along with their state abbreviation.  The county will appear followed by a dash and the state abbreviation.

13. Enabled Vtec alarming.  Note:  VTEC becomes operational in February 2005.

14   Added the following short message variables: $ExpMonthName$, $ExpMonthNameAbr$, $ExpDayNbr$.

15. The email and paging groups now allow you to specify the time zone for that group.  The system will adjust the short message expiration date for the selected time zone.

16. Added the short message variable $TimeZone$.  This variable will include the time zone in abbreviated format.

17. Updated the county zone file with the latest zone information from Noaa.  This includes the new zones for Montana that become effective November 30, 2004.

18.  Updated the settings print routines to include the new Vtec and time zone settings.

19.  The Short Message setup screen now has a tab labeled “Vtec Message”.  This tab is used to setup the variables that will be used for the $MesgType$ variable when a Vtec Message is alarmed.

20.  The Short Message “Vtec Message” tab will allow you to use these variables in the $MesgType$ variable:
$vProduct$

$vAction$                        
$vPhenomena$            
$vSignificance$            
$vEvent$

21.      When a Vtec message is alarmed, the system will substitute the Vtec Begin time for the $Issued$ variables.  The Vtec End time will be substituted for the $Expire$ variables.

22.  The alarm setup screen now allows you to select any number of counties for the specified state.

23.  The Vtec setup screen now allows you to select any number of phenomena.

24.  Increased the number of alarms to 1000.  

25.  Added support for American Somoa, Guam and Northern Mariana Islands.

26. Added Marine zone abbreviations to the state list.

27.  The Alarm Entry screen now has a menu option to list states and marine zones.

28. Updated the County_Z.dat file with the marine zones.

29.  Updated the County_F.dat file to remove some duplicate Fips codes.

      WxMcli Message Client

1.      The program now supports a backup Weather Message server.  The setup screen will now allow you to enter a backup address.  Should the primary server’s tcp/ip connection fail, the program will attempt to connect to the backup server after one minute.

2.      The expiration dates are now received in UTC and converted to local time.

3.      The program will now look for sound files in the ..\WxMesg\Sounds folder.

4.      The program will now allow play sounds associated with alarm types 10 through 20.

5.      The Alarms sound setup now has the option “Product to Wave”.  If this option is selected, the program will attempt to match the product identifier to a wave file by the same name.  If this wave file is not found, the program will attempt to match the first three characters of the product to a wave file.  If the file is found that wave file will be played.  If neither are found the selected wave file is played.  This capability will allow you to have a custom wave file for any product identifier or product identifier plus WFO.  The program looks for these wave files in the ..\WxMesg\Sounds directory.

6.      Corrected a problem in the Quick List delete item routine.  Items were being deleted, but they remained in the Quick List as blank options.

7.      Removed the word wrap feature from the main text window.  A few users have experienced a problem with the left margin.  This change is an attempt to address that issue.

8.      Corrected an error 387 when the WxQuick.txt file is missing.

9.      The Connect option will now switch between the primary and backup server addresses.

10.  The quick list now supports 20 categories.

     WxImage

1.      The setup screen now verifies that image file name does not exceed 12 characters.

            2.  The File menu now has an option to save the displayed image.

     WxMap

1.      The program now supports a backup Weather Message server.  The setup screen will now allow you to enter a backup address.  Should the primary server’s tcp/ip connection fail, the program will attempt to connect to the backup server after one minute.

2.      Added a new tab for “Image Options”.  This tab is for setting up the map save options.  All map save options have been moved from the settings tab to the “Image Options” tab.

3.      Added the ability to specify the saved map image type.  You can select “jpg” or “png”.

4.      Added the ability to specify the quality of images.  For “jpg”, 0 is the lowest quality, while 100 is the best quality.  For “png”, 0 is no compress, while 100 is full compression.

5.      The expiration dates are now received in UTC and converted to local time.

6.      The print option has been changed to only print the map image.  The original option printed the screen, which did not work on several printers.

7.  Increased the number of landmarks to 500.

8.      The program will now look for sound files in the ..\WxMesg\Sounds folder.

9.      The program will now allow play sounds associated with alarm types 10 through 20.

10. The Alarms sound setup now has the option “Product to Wave”.  If this option is selected, the program will attempt to match the product identifier to a wave file by the same name.  If this wave file is not found, the program will attempt to match the first three characters of the product to a wave file.  If the file is found that wave file will be played.  If neither are found the selected wave file is played.  This capability will allow you to have a custom wave file for any product identifier or product identifier plus WFO.  The program looks for these wave files in the ..\WxMesg\Sounds directory.

11. The Connect option will now switch between the primary and backup server addresses.

     WxPager

1.      Increased the SNPP wait time when connecting to a server. 

     WxMesgText

1.      Changed the local to utc date conversion routine to use a different method.  The new method is more efficient.

     WxRadar

1.      The program now remembers the last state, site and image selected.  They are used as defaults when the program is restarted.

2.      Changed the method used to initialize the ftp control. 

3.      Added “Auto Switch on Failure” option.  This option will automatically switch protocols if one fails.  It will automatically switch back to the originally select protocol after one hour.

     WxFtp

1.      Added support for http puts.

     WxSched

1.      Changed the local to utc date conversion routine to use a different method.  The new method is more efficient.

2.      The setup screen now verifies that the ingest file name does not exceed 12 characters.  It only issues a warning message.

3.      Added a disable option to the schedule item.  This will disable the item until enabled or Send Now is selected.

4.      The schedule grid’s pop-up menu now has a Send Now option.

     WxPort

1.      Added new ingest engine to decode the NoaaPort data stream.  This is an optional program.  This program will decode one NoaaPort channel. 

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