Weather Update
Freeware by Patrick Dugan

patrickd@getonthe.net or patrickd@usti.com
http://208.142.5.166/pdhome.html

Installation:
   I decided to remove the installation routine, due in part to the limited number of files
and because the install program stinks.  There are essentially only two files.  You should
place the EXE and HLP files into whatever directory you choose.  Removal is simply deleting 
those files.  The registry will contain an entry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software - 
PatrickDugan - LocalWeather.  You can delete the "Local Weather" directory if you desire
and you are comfortable with using a registry editor.  It will not hurt if you leave it
alone.  When the program starts you will need to set the display and location options so 
the city you are interested in will be reported on.  

Using Weatherup:
   You should start the program and click on the "help" button of simply click on the weather.hlp
   file to view the instructions and settings for the program.


Version/Build Information History:

V1.67a (February 14, 1998)
	Now force the program to use periods for floating point representation when doing
	conversions.  This was causing problems on some European machines. (It would give
	a "29.00 is not a floating point number" error. Added a "find" button on the 
	forecast screens to assist in finding the city/location you desire.  This was a 
	problem for some because the airport name didn't necessaarily match any name in the 
	forecast so people had to scroll down to find things.  Problem with program locking 
	up over time due to timer function calling a new thread to get data before the last 
	thread had completed has now been dealt with.  Help file was looked for in a "\\" 
	directory now looks correctly into the current directory.  This version	IS the 
	last one, regardless of bugs found, features wanted or the NWS changing sites or 
	formats or whatever.  

V1.66b (January 23, 1998)
	The NWS changed the FTP site (again) to a new location.  Although my program was
	SUPPOSED to allow a new site by simply placing in the new name and registering the
	the settings, it didn't work as intended.  Therefore the new release.  The new
	FTP site changed from tgsv5.nws.noaa.gov to weather.noaa.gov.  You need to make
	that correction on this version.  

V1.66 (December 10, 1997)
	Added more airports.  I decided to update the sites to the current NWS listing.  There are
	now 2853 sites available around the world.  I increased the proxy port number size to
	accomodate larger port numbers.  If the proxy doesn't work for your system and you HAVE to
	get weather information you will have to purchase a commercial weather program.  There are
	several excellent ones available.  The front screen was revamped and the latitude and 
	longitude of the airport was added.  The visiblity was altered to allow fractional values that
	some airports display.  A few bugs were squashed so it should be a little more robust than 
	before.  Since I have gotten tired of messing with the program this will probably be the last 
 	version.  The program now does everything I wanted so I really don't have any desire to beat 
	a dead horse.  If the NWS makes major changes and the program suddenly no longer works, then 
	somebody else will have to pick up the torch.

V1.65 (November 6, 1997)
	The Internet options screen allowed you to change the FTP sites and directories
	and updated everything BUT the top FTP site.  It would save it though and when you 
	restarted it would be okay, but now it is updated during run time.  You still have 
	to press the "register new directories" before it will take place.  

        Added a new HELP file that replaces the help text that was listed in the "About"
        screen.  Now the "About" screen is exactly that.  You can access the help file by
        clicking on the "help" button on the lower bar.  

        The tray icon will now display a red weather vane if the program was not able to logon.  That allows
	you to see that error without dragging your mouse over the icon.  

        The NWS site has now included a "decoded" metar report file so the decoding that my program has been doing
	isn't needed anymore.  Since they are decoding and what they parse out is far superior
	to my feeble attempts I am using the decoded report.  In the metar display screen you can
	see the actual report form the NWS.  At the bottom of that report you can still see the
	metar report itself.  This should improve the reporting by my program by leaps and bounds.
	This should also clear problems with non-standard metar reports since all the stations
	are correct in the decoded version.  

        The temperatures are now reported in fraction values.  

	Increased the size of the locations screen so it is easier to scroll through.

	Added the warning to flash the tray icon as well.  You can turn off the flashing from the options/display 
	screen.  

        Added a pressure tendency indicator box between the pressure reading.  This will
        show an "up" or "down" arrow if a pressure tendency has been noted by the reporting
        station.

	Added proxy support.  This has NOT BEEN TESTED and I have no way to do that so the code is questionable.
	I added the support after several requests came up.  For now until I can test it better it either works
	or doesn't.  If it does TELL ME!  If only part of it works TELL ME!  If none of it works (and you are certain
	the settings are correct) TELL ME!

	The time of the report on the first screen can now be shown according to the local time on your machine.  That
	means if the report lists 1450 UTC and you live in the central time zone under standard time then the report
	would show as 08:50 AM. This option can be turned on or off from the options/display screen.

	
V1.64 (October 15, 1997) 
	Finally got the radar image worked out so that has now been incorporated into the
	new program.  Cleaned up some edits and condensed some routines to take up less space.

V1.63 (October 10, 1997) 
	Tried to set a new radar image in place.  The program almost got out (Some people actually
	snared it before I could delete the file.) The image window for the radar had a major bug
	which would crash the window. This version didn't last long.

V1.62 (September 23, 1997) 
	Simple fix to show error on screen if the WAV file used in the warning cannot be found. 
	Also added a small graphic to front screen to fill the large gap.

V1.61 (September 19, 1997) 
	Added the Internet directories in the options screen.  You can alter the directories
	to look at another path if that path changes at some point in the future.  You will not
	have to bother with the registry entries at all.  You DO have to press the "register
	new directories" button or the changes will not take.  Be SURE that you know what
	the correct addresses are supposed to be if you decide to change them otherwise the
	program will not be able to find the files it needs.  

V1.60 (September 17, 1997) 
	The directory where the metar info is kept was moved and caused the program
	to be unable to login and get the information.  I updated the directory in the
	program and created a registry entry under:
	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\PatrickDugan\LocalWeather\Direct1
	If they change the directory again, you will be able to edit this field and
	it will use that as the new directory location.  This is a temporary fix and I will
	add a simple screen to modify and save the directories there, but this will work
	for now.

V1.59 (September 11, 1997) 
	Hopefully finally fixed a bug when the visibility is reported in fractions. The 
        visibility will be rounded according to the fractional value (e.g. 1 1/2 will be 2) Also
	changed settings were not being saved unless you closed the main window.  If you simply
	shut down Windows the program would not save the changes.  

V1.58 (August 24, 1997) 
	Corrected reporting "moderate" when should be "light" for conditions. 

V1.57 (August 21, 1997) 
	Bug fix.  The longer hint text that included the location name caused a runtime 
	error.  The hint text can not be longer than 64 characters so I now truncate the 
	front portion of the hint text if it is longer than 62 characters.  Only appears 
	when the location name is fairly long or you have several weather conditions that 
	add up to long string.  

V1.56 (August 20, 1997)
	Added more error checking again.  Also added some features to allow viewing, printing
	and deleting the log files.  The taskbar/tray hint will now display the city name
	along with other data.  Fixed the warning sound that played whether you wanted it to
	or not.  Changed the Imperial label to English to avoid confusion.  Some fractional
	values (e.g. 12 1/2) caused float to string errors so hopefully those are now taken 
	care of.  

V1.55 (August 11, 1997)
	Added more error checking for invalid input from METAR.  Program dying after getting
	a few invalid integer/string conversions so did error checks for every spot that occurs
	to squelch.

V1.54 (August 10, 1997)
	Added an option for getting local or statewide forecasts for short and zone information.

V1.53 (August 6, 1997)
        Changed Short and Zone forecasts to display only the information regarding the city that
	was being updated.

V1.52  (August 4, 1997)
        Cleaned up thread problem that was creating a new thread each time weather was accessed
	and eventually would use up resources.

V1.50 (July 25, 1997)
        Began using threads to access data in order keep program from freezing while data was
	being accessed.  Fixed a bug where the program would also refuse to shut down when 
	requested to by Windows but would if a user requested it.

V1.4 - V1.0 (July 1 - July 20, 1997)
        Various changes made, essentially from a simple one screen list of one city to 2500 cities
	and the inclusion of US forecasts and tray icon appearance.

Known Bugs:
        Currently if you attempt to close the program while it is accessing
        Internet data it will cause the program to generate an exception error
        and die.  Since you are trying to exit anyway this should not be a
        big issue but it is there anyway.  Also the program will, over time, eat
	away at the TCPIP stack and eventually the stack will fill up and the
	program will not be able to access.  Until I resolve this issue, simply 
	close the program and restart it.  

