AJAX package for carterlake templates FAQ - 13-Jan-2006

Q: How do I mark up my own page for AJAX variable substitution?

A: Enclose a WD %tag% with the equivalent AJAX id= values (shown below).  Example:
   <span class="ajax" id="ajaxtemp">%temp%</span>
   
   You need to have only ONE instance of id=".." used in the page (HTML rule.. one unique id value/page).
   All the AJAX marked <span> tags must have class="ajax" attribute so the 'green-flash' will work.

Q: What other WD variables are available?

A: the stock variables included in the JavaScript can be seen as the first argument to each of the set_ajax_obs("ajax...",) calls.  Here's the list for reference:

Tagname  : function/variable
----------------Temperature / Humidity --------------------------
ajaxtemp  :  outside temperature
ajaxbigtemp : outside temperature with no decimal point
ajaxtemparrow : outside temperature trend arrow (rising/falling)
ajaxtemprate : temperature rate (+/-)/hour
ajaxtempmin : minimum temperature for the day
ajaxtempmax : maximum temperature for the day

ajaxhumidity : current outside humidity in percent

ajaxdew : current dew point
ajaxdewmin : minimum dew point for the day
ajaxdewmax : maximum dew point for the day

ajaxhumidex : current humidex
ajaxhumidexmin : minimum humidex for the day
ajaxhumidexmax : maximum humidex for the day

ajaxwindchill : current windchill
ajaxwindchillmin : minimum windchill for the day
ajaxwindchillmax : maximum windchill for the day

ajaxheatidx : current heat index
ajaxheatidxmin : minimum heat index for the day
ajaxheatidxmax : maximum heat index for the day

ajaxfeelslike : the current 'feels like' temperature (windchill, temperature, or heatindex
                based on current temperature.

ajaxapparenttemp : current apparent temperature
ajaxapparenttempmin : minimum apparent temp for the day
ajaxapparenttempmax : maximum apparent temp for the day

---------------- pressure -----------------------------------
ajaxbaro : current pressure
ajaxbarotrend : current pressure trend (+/-)
ajaxbaroarrow : <img> of rising/falling for barotrend
ajaxbarotrendtext : text (Falling rapidly, Falling Slowly, Steady, Rising Slowly, Rising Rapidly)
ajaxbaromin : minimum pressure for the day
ajaxbaromax : maximum pressure for the day

---------------- wind    -----------------------------------

ajaxwind : current wind speed (or 'Calm' if wind < 0.1 )
ajaxwinddir : current wind direction (or blank if wind < 0.1 and gust < 0.1)
ajaxwindicon : <img> for wind direction (or "" if wind < 0.1 and gust < 0.1 )
ajaxbeaufort : Beaufort Scale text for current wind ('Calm' .. 'Hurricane')
ajaxgust : current gust speed (or 'None' if gust < 0.1)
ajaxmaxgust : max gust speed for the day
ajaxwindmaxavg : maximum average wind speed for the day

---------------- Solar/UV    -----------------------------------

ajaxsolar : solar w/m2 (for Davis VP+)
ajaxsolarpct : solar percent of max solar for time/lat/long.(for Davis VP+)

ajaxuv : uv index (for Davis VP+)
ajaxuvword : "none" or formatted string about current uv index intensity

---------------- Rain    -----------------------------------

ajaxrain : rain today 
ajaxrainydy : rain yesterday
ajaxrainmo : rain for this month
ajaxrainyr : rain for this year
ajaxrainratehr : current rain rate /hour

---------------- Date/Time    -----------------------------------

ajaxdatetime : formatted mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss[am|pm]
ajaxdate : formatted as mm/dd/yyyy
ajaxtime : formatted as hh:mm:ss[am|pm]

---------------- Miscellaneous -----------------------------------

ajaxindicator : will flash text enclosed in <span class="ajax" id="ajaxindicator"></span> with flashcolor
	every time the ajaxLoader script is run (even if no conditions have changed).  
	Used as a 'I'm getting the data' indicator.
	
ajaxconditionicon : <img> of WD current condition icon from imagedir

ajaxcurrentcond : text description .. %weathercond% %Currentsolardescription% with \s replaced by comma

ajaxcloudheight : current estimate of cloud height based on temp / humidity / pressure	

All of the above are optional for use, so leave out ajaxsolar, ajaxsolarpct, ajaxuv if you don't have those sensors installed.

Q: How do the arrows go in?

A: A routine is included in the JavaScript for rising/falling arrow HTML generation, and all the
	WD variables that have trend info in clientraw.txt have rising/falling arrows generated.
	One example is coded around the ajaxtemparrow.

Q:I have also seen mention of a few js files. Do I need these and where do I get them from?

A:Some folks have put their AJAX script in a .js file rather than including it inline in the page.  You don't need any other JavaScript to make the AJAX work. 

Q: anole's weather sticker icon set - where can I get these from?
A: you can download the PHP weather sticker set from anole's website
	http://scripts.anolecomputer.com/download.shtml .  It's the wxsticker.zip file.  
	Larry has allowed the .gif versions of his icons to be distributed in this package (in ./ajax-images )
	
Q: What if there's a WD %tag% that's not in the AJAX script? Can I add it?
A: Sure, if the condition also appears in clientraw.txt uploaded by WD, you can add it.
   use http://www.tnetweather.com/wd-parser.php to see clientraw decoded.
   
Q: I broke the script with changes to the JavaScript.  How can I debug it?
A: Best bet is to use Firefox with the Web Developer and FireBug plugins.  A veritable Swiss-Army knife
   of goodies to help web page developers.  http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ and look for
   Web Developer and FireBug plugins in the Addons area.

Q: My ajaxcounter just counts up and never resets, and my ajaxtime looks strange too.  How can I fix that?
A: Check the WD Control Panel, Web Files/Web Page setup, Real-time FTP tab for the
   'Your weather name to appear in the client viewer/real time avg web page'
   text area .. make sure no dash ('-') characters appear.  If they do, replace them with a comma or a 
   slash (anything but a dash or an underscore) and press OK to save the new setting.
   A dash in the field is used to separate the text station name from the current time in clientraw[32].
   
Q: I look at my page in IE and the homepage conditions overflows the right side of the template.  It looks 
   fine in Firefox.  What's up with that?
A: (from carterlake) : Template users should disable the extra META data feature of WD. 
   To do so... untick the option "Have the raw weather data to appear in your webpage for others to use"
   which is found in Setup... Advanced/Misc Settings...