Weather Message

Release Notes V2.8

Version 2.8 released  9-3-2005  

     WxByte  

1.      Added an option to unzip compressed files in the ingest program.  This option should normally be left unchecked.  For special applications, the user may want the files unzipped as they are received and copied to the ingest directories.  Note:  It will only unzip archives that contain one file.

     WxIngest

1.      Added a retry routine to the updateTrack procedure.  This should eliminate any error 70, access denied, messages.

2.      Added an option to unzip compressed files in the ingest program.  This option should normally be left unchecked.  For special applications, the user may want the files unzipped as they are received and copied to the ingest directories.  Note:  It will only unzip archives that contain one file.

     Weather Message Server  

1.      Added the ability to resize the server window.

2.      Added support for the extension “bmp”, “png”.

3.      Removed the “Outline Update” phrase from the internally generated description for WOU.

4.      Added the ability to call an external dll.

5.      Will now remember if the program is minimized or maximized.

6.      Added an option under File to view the fax log.

      WxMesgSetup

1.      Added archive options to the Archive tab.  The archive options now allow you to specify whether you want the resulting file overwritten.  If the No Overwrite option is selected, the program will add a number before the file extension.

2.      Added a field to show the alarm number selected on the main setup screen.  The alarm edit screen now shows the alarm number.  This will make it easier for users to look at their logfile.txt and the corresponding alarm number that is recorded in that file.

3.      Updated the program to recognize the non-weather products as fips/county products.  Also updated the WxCtype.dat file with these same products.

4.      Corrected a problem in the alarm print routine.  The print function will now print all alarms.

5.      Added a RAW option to the archive message type.

6.      Moved the FtpPassive registry key to Settings.

7.      Added an “Alarm Active” check box on the alarm setup screen.  This check box controls whether the alarm is active.  Uncheck the box and the alarm will be disabled.  This will allow you to have alarms setup that you want to activate / inactivate based on your need.

8.      Changed the font used on the Print Settings option.  The original font did not work properly on all printers.

9.      The WxWords replacement dictionary will now allow you to replace a comma with text or replace text with a comma.  In order to do this, you must enclose the comma character with single quotes.  For example – to replace the comma with a semicolon, your entry in WxWords would be ‘,’,; .  To replace a semicolon with a comma, your entry in WxWords would be ;,’,’ .  Notice the comma between the original word and replacement word is still required.

10. The archive option will now allow you to include date variables in the path.  This allows users to store files by date.  The variables are $MM$ for two digit month, $DD$ for two digit day and $YY$ for two digit year.  The directory referenced in the path must already exist in the format specified.  The program will not create missing directories.

11.  Added TCV to the fips product list.

12. Updated the product file with UGC and VTEC information for each product.  The program will now warn a user if they specify a state or county for a product that does not normally have UGC coding.  It will also issue a warning if VTEC options are used on a message that does not normally contain VTEC coding.

13. The fax group setup will now recognize a “P” as a two second pause when dialing a number.  Entering a “,” for the pause does not work.

14. The E-Mail, Pager and Fax lists will no longer allow a comma in the list.

15. Changed the alarm setup to display the WFO for GRAPHIC products as All Offices.

      WxMcli Message Client

1.      Removed the automatic update from version 1.4 to 2.8 alarm file format.  Users with version 1.4 will need to save their setup before upgrading to version 2.8.

2.      If you remove the startup wave file, it will now remain removed.

3.      Added support for the extension “bmp”, “png”.

4.      The program now remembers the last search phrase used after the program has been restarted.

5.      When a product is requested that is not on file, the description field on the request screen will be blanked.  It will no longer return a random description.

6.      Changed the program to only attempt to reconnect to the server when an actual disconnect has occurred.

7.      Now has the ability to select a different printer other than the default.  This option is under the File menu.

8.      The font type and font size can be changed using the ini file.

9.      Will now remember if the program is minimized or maximized.

10.  Corrected a problem with deleting multiple quick list items.  This also corrects a problem with changing an item added after a delete to the same category.

11.  Added a backup port option to the setup screen.  The backup server’s port can now be different.

     WxImage

1.      Changed the image load routine to use an updated version of the image control.  This change should prevent the program from locking up when garbaged files are received.

2.      Added a new menu option “Image”.  This option will allow you to select the options Fit to Window and Keep Aspect.  These options can be used to fill the entire window the image.  To do this, uncheck the Keep Aspect option and check the Fit to Window option.

3.      Added the current Zoom Factor to the status bar.

4.      Added a Default Zoom setup factor.

5.      The Image Save option now has the ability to save the current image as JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, or TIF.

6.      Added a Browse option to the menu.  This option will show a thumbnail version of each image that has been received.  Select the thumbnail, then click on it again to view the image.

7.      Corrected a problem with deleting multiple images in setup.  This also corrects a problem with changing an image added after a delete to the same category.

8.      Added the registry value “OleLoad” to the “Settings” key.  Creating this registry entry with the value of “1” will cause the program to use the original ole load method.

9.      The menu will now reduce to one letter for each description when the window gets smaller than the window line.

10. Added a recent images list under the File menu.

     WxMap  

1.      The Image setup tab now has the “Interval Always Active” option.  This will cause the program to always save the map image each interval, regardless of whether there are active watch/warnings.

2.      Changed the program to only attempt to reconnect to the server when an actual disconnect has occurred.

3.      The View menu option has been renamed Map.

4.      Added a Views menu option.  This option allows the user to store and recall two map views.  When the save view option is selected, the program stores the current map view in the respective view option.

5.      Now has the ability to select a different printer other than the default.  This option is under the File menu.

6.      The font type and font size can be changed using the ini file.

7.      When the Interval Always Active option is selected and there is no active weather, the program will now update the time landmarks before saving the map image.

8.      Will now remember if the program is minimized or maximized.

9.      Added a backup port option to the setup screen.  The backup server’s port can now be different.

     WxWw2000

1.      The program will now start up minimized when started by Weather Message Server.

2.      Identified a problem that caused the internet ingest to not reconnect when a connection refused error was encountered.  The program will now attempt to reconnect on any error.

3.      Increased internal process buffer size.

     WxPort

1.      The program will now start up minimized when started by Weather Message Server.

2.      Corrected a problem with connecting after the setup interface address had been changed.

3.      Added an option to drop binary files. 

     WxRadar

1.      Added the capability to save the images as GIF, JPG, PNG, and BMP.

2.      Added support for firewalls and proxy servers.

3.      Will now remember if the program is minimized or maximized.

4.      For Http retrieves, the program will now send the correct http host headers.

5.      The program now receives all images into memory instead of a temporary file on the hard drive.  This increases the speed and reduces disk access.

6.      Added an option to drop duplicate files.  This is useful when the radar is in the clear air mode and files are not updated every 6 minutes.

     WxLoader

1.      Program now creates the WxTemp directory for use by the ftp routine.

2.      The ingest routine will no longer overwrite existing alarmed files.  This corrects a problem with messages that have the same expiration date/time.

            3.  Will now process raw data to create a custom worded message.

4.  Changed the logic that adds the word “counties” when using the RAW option in Weather Message.

5.      Will now remember if the program is minimized or maximized.

6.      Corrected a problem that caused the send routines to be entered when they were busy.  This corrects a “busy” error message and a stack overflow.

7.      Additional changes were made to catch other errors that would cause the program to stop when it caught a ftp error.

     Wx Pager

1.      Will now recognize the daily logs options.  When daily logs is enabled, PagerLog.txt will be stored in the ..\WxLogs directory.

     WxFax

1.      Will now recognize the daily logs options.  When daily logs is enabled, FaxLog.txt will be stored in the ..\WxLogs directory.

     WxPost

1.      Will now recognize the daily logs options.  When daily logs is enabled, EmailLog.txt will be stored in the ..\WxLogs directory.

     WxSched

1.      Added two new message variables for VTEC. $WxVtecIssue$ and $WxVtecExpire$ can be used to populate the issue and expire date and times on the VTEC line.

2.      Will now remember if the program is minimized or maximized.

3.      For Http retrieves, the program will now send the correct http host headers.

4.      The Http option now recognizes the port entered on the setup screen.

5.      Added a drop duplicates option to the item setup screen.  This option will cause the program to not process an item if the file is an exact duplicate as the last one received.   The http method actually sends a date to the http server to see if the file has been modified.  This reduces the requirement to return a file each time a http request is made.  If the server does not support this http method or ftp is used, the program uses a crc32 checksum to determine duplicates.

6.      Added support for firewalls and proxies.

     WxMesgText

1.      Added two new message variables for VTEC.  $WxVtecIssue$ and $WxVtecExpire$ can be used to populate the issue and expire date and times on the VTEC line.

2.      Added a setup screen with options to select the expiration minutes, states and local time preference.  Setting the expiration time to zero will enable the expiration date/time field on the main form.

3.      Added the ability to select counties.

4.      Added a new variable $WxCounties$ to insert the selected counties.

     WxUtils

1.      The routines that update ini files will ask windows to flush the cache.

2.   Corrected a problem with the registration routines that caused evaluation versions of the software to fail when the AM/PM designator was changed to UTC.