jsw
Sep 16, 2005, 11:01 PM
I don't know if anyone else has dissected the Weather widget enough to see where it's going for its information (which, at least in the States, is http://apple.accuweather.com/adcbin/apple/Apple_Weather_Data.asp?zipcode=12345, where, of course, you replace '12345' with your zip code... unless you live in... let's see... Schenectady, NY).
I strongly suspect no one has.
However, if you were to go there, and you'd look at the page source so that you can see the XML as opposed to all the text and numbers squeezed together in the browser, you'd notice that the widget gets a lot of information back.
Here, for example, is part of Schenectady's (had to truncate due to 10K post limit):
<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<adc_Database>
<WatchWarnAreas zone="NYZ049" county="NYC093"/>
<GmtDiff DayLightSavings="1" >
-5
</GmtDiff>
<CurrentConditions>
<City>
Schenectady
</City>
<State>
NY
</State>
<DaylightSavingsActive></DaylightSavingsActive>
<Time>
22:51
</Time>
<Pressure state="Steady">
30.00
</Pressure>
<Temperature>
67
</Temperature>
<RealFeel>
67
</RealFeel>
<Humidity>93%</Humidity>
<WeatherText>
PARTLY CLOUDY
</WeatherText>
<WeatherIcon>
35
</WeatherIcon>
<WindSpeed>
3
</WindSpeed>
<WindDirection>
SSW
</WindDirection>
<Visibility>
10
</Visibility>
<Precip>
0.03
</Precip>
<UVIndex>
0
</UVIndex>
<Copyright>AccuWeather, Inc.</Copyright>
</CurrentConditions>
<AirAndPollen>
<Tree>N(0)</Tree>
<Weed>M(30)</Weed>
<Grass>L(2)</Grass>
<Mold>N(0)</Mold>
<AirQuality>G(46)</AirQuality>
<AirQualityType>
1
</AirQualityType>
</AirAndPollen>
<Planets>
<Sun rise="6:37" set="19:04"/>
<Moon rise="18:39" set="4:26"/>
<Mercury rise="6:24" set="19:08"/>
<Venus rise="10:15" set="20:34"/>
<Mars rise="21:31" set="11:39"/>
<Jupiter rise="9:00" set="20:12"/>
<Saturn rise="2:38" set="17:12"/>
<Uranus rise="18:27" set="5:25"/>
<Neptune rise="17:25" set="3:27"/>
<Pluto rise="13:37" set="23:47"/>
</Planets>
<Moon>
<Phase date="9/16/2005" text="">
12
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/17/2005" text="">
13
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/18/2005" text="Full">
14
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/19/2005" text="">
15
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/20/2005" text="">
16
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/21/2005" text="">
17
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/22/2005" text="">
18
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/23/2005" text="">
19
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/24/2005" text="">
20
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/25/2005" text="Last">
21
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/26/2005" text="">
21
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/27/2005" text="">
22
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/28/2005" text="">
23
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/29/2005" text="">
24
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/30/2005" text="">
25
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/1/2005" text="">
26
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/2/2005" text="">
27
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/3/2005" text="New">
1
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/4/2005" text="">
1
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/5/2005" text="">
2
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/6/2005" text="">
3
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/7/2005" text="">
4
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/8/2005" text="">
5
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/9/2005" text="">
6
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/10/2005" text="First">
7
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/11/2005" text="">
8
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/12/2005" text="">
9
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/13/2005" text="">
10
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/14/2005" text="">
11
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/15/2005" text="">
12
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/16/2005" text="">
13
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/17/2005" text="Full">
14
</Phase>
</Moon>
<Forecast>
<UFDB>
</UFDB>
<day number="1">
<ObsDate>
9/16/2005
</ObsDate>
<DayCode>
Friday
</DayCode>
<TXT_Short>
Cloudy with showers
</TXT_Short>
<TXT_Long>
Cloudy with showers
</TXT_Long>
<WeatherIcon>
12
</WeatherIcon>
<High_Temperature>
75
</High_Temperature>
<Low_Temperature>
65
</Low_Temperature>
<Real_Feel_High>
81
</Real_Feel_High>
<Real_Feel_Low>
67
</Real_Feel_Low>
<WindSpeed>
5
</WindSpeed>
<WindDirection>
ENE
</WindDirection>
<WindGust>
11
</WindGust>
<Max_UV>
2
</Max_UV>
<Rain_Amount>
0.11
</Rain_Amount>
<Snow_Amount>
0.00
</Snow_Amount>
<Precip_Amount>
0.11
</Precip_Amount>
<TStorm_Prob>
12
</TStorm_Prob>
</day>
<day number="2">
<ObsDate>
9/17/2005
</ObsDate>
<DayCode>
Saturday
</DayCode>
<TXT_Short>
Periods of rain
</TXT_Short>
<TXT_Long>
Periods of rain
</TXT_Long>
<WeatherIcon>
18
</WeatherIcon>
<High_Temperature>
74
</High_Temperature>
<Low_Temperature>
57
</Low_Temperature>
<Real_Feel_High>
79
</Real_Feel_High>
<Real_Feel_Low>
57
</Real_Feel_Low>
<WindSpeed>
2
</WindSpeed>
<WindDirection>
NNW
</WindDirection>
<WindGust>
5
</WindGust>
<Max_UV>
2
</Max_UV>
<Rain_Amount>
0.64
</Rain_Amount>
<Snow_Amount>
0.00
</Snow_Amount>
<Precip_Amount>
0.64
</Precip_Amount>
<TStorm_Prob>
12
</TStorm_Prob>
</day>
<day number="3">
<ObsDate>
9/18/2005
</ObsDate>
<DayCode>
Sunday
</DayCode>
<TXT_Short>
A couple of morning showers
</TXT_Short>
<TXT_Long>
A couple of morning showers; otherwise, times of clouds and sun
</TXT_Long>
<WeatherIcon>
14
</WeatherIcon>
<High_Temperature>
75
</High_Temperature>
<Low_Temperature>
54
</Low_Temperature>
<Real_Feel_High>
74
</Real_Feel_High>
<Real_Feel_Low>
58
</Real_Feel_Low>
<WindSpeed>
6
</WindSpeed>
<WindDirection>
NW
</WindDirection>
<WindGust>
15
</WindGust>
<Max_UV>
3
</Max_UV>
<Rain_Amount>
0.08
</Rain_Amount>
<Snow_Amount>
0.00
</Snow_Amount>
<Precip_Amount>
0.08
</Precip_Amount>
<TStorm_Prob>
0
</TStorm_Prob>
</day>
<day number="4">
<ObsDate>
9/19/2005
</ObsDate>
<DayCode>
Monday
</DayCode>
<TXT_Short>
Mostly sunny; pleasant
</TXT_Short>
<TXT_Long>
Sunny to partly cloudy and nice
</TXT_Long>
<WeatherIcon>
02
</WeatherIcon>
<High_Temperature>
74
</High_Temperature>
<Low_Temperature>
57
</Low_Temperature>
<Real_Feel_High>
70
</Real_Feel_High>
<Real_Feel_Low>
56
</Real_Feel_Low>
<WindSpeed>
8
</WindSpeed>
<WindDirection>
WSW
</WindDirection>
<WindGust>
21
</WindGust>
<Max_UV>
5
</Max_UV>
<Rain_Amount>
0.00
</Rain_Amount>
<Snow_Amount>
0.00
</Snow_Amount>
<Precip_Amount>
0.00
</Precip_Amount>
<TStorm_Prob>
0
</TStorm_Prob>
</day>
Ever wonder why it takes a sec to update multiple Weather widgets? It's sucking down and parsing over 10K-sized files for each one. It isn't just current weather and brief 5-day forecasts. No. It's everything. Pollen count. UV strength. Phase of the moon. Rise/set times for freaking Pluto (seriously - look at the source)! And a lot more.
I wonder if future widgets will show us more - this is clearly a site devoted to Apple within AccuWeather's main site, so it seems odd they'd send down so much info if all they needed to send was a little bit. So... I wonder if a more extensive Weather widget might be forthcoming.
I strongly suspect no one has.
However, if you were to go there, and you'd look at the page source so that you can see the XML as opposed to all the text and numbers squeezed together in the browser, you'd notice that the widget gets a lot of information back.
Here, for example, is part of Schenectady's (had to truncate due to 10K post limit):
<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<adc_Database>
<WatchWarnAreas zone="NYZ049" county="NYC093"/>
<GmtDiff DayLightSavings="1" >
-5
</GmtDiff>
<CurrentConditions>
<City>
Schenectady
</City>
<State>
NY
</State>
<DaylightSavingsActive></DaylightSavingsActive>
<Time>
22:51
</Time>
<Pressure state="Steady">
30.00
</Pressure>
<Temperature>
67
</Temperature>
<RealFeel>
67
</RealFeel>
<Humidity>93%</Humidity>
<WeatherText>
PARTLY CLOUDY
</WeatherText>
<WeatherIcon>
35
</WeatherIcon>
<WindSpeed>
3
</WindSpeed>
<WindDirection>
SSW
</WindDirection>
<Visibility>
10
</Visibility>
<Precip>
0.03
</Precip>
<UVIndex>
0
</UVIndex>
<Copyright>AccuWeather, Inc.</Copyright>
</CurrentConditions>
<AirAndPollen>
<Tree>N(0)</Tree>
<Weed>M(30)</Weed>
<Grass>L(2)</Grass>
<Mold>N(0)</Mold>
<AirQuality>G(46)</AirQuality>
<AirQualityType>
1
</AirQualityType>
</AirAndPollen>
<Planets>
<Sun rise="6:37" set="19:04"/>
<Moon rise="18:39" set="4:26"/>
<Mercury rise="6:24" set="19:08"/>
<Venus rise="10:15" set="20:34"/>
<Mars rise="21:31" set="11:39"/>
<Jupiter rise="9:00" set="20:12"/>
<Saturn rise="2:38" set="17:12"/>
<Uranus rise="18:27" set="5:25"/>
<Neptune rise="17:25" set="3:27"/>
<Pluto rise="13:37" set="23:47"/>
</Planets>
<Moon>
<Phase date="9/16/2005" text="">
12
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/17/2005" text="">
13
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/18/2005" text="Full">
14
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/19/2005" text="">
15
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/20/2005" text="">
16
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/21/2005" text="">
17
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/22/2005" text="">
18
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/23/2005" text="">
19
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/24/2005" text="">
20
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/25/2005" text="Last">
21
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/26/2005" text="">
21
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/27/2005" text="">
22
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/28/2005" text="">
23
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/29/2005" text="">
24
</Phase>
<Phase date="9/30/2005" text="">
25
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/1/2005" text="">
26
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/2/2005" text="">
27
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/3/2005" text="New">
1
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/4/2005" text="">
1
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/5/2005" text="">
2
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/6/2005" text="">
3
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/7/2005" text="">
4
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/8/2005" text="">
5
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/9/2005" text="">
6
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/10/2005" text="First">
7
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/11/2005" text="">
8
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/12/2005" text="">
9
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/13/2005" text="">
10
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/14/2005" text="">
11
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/15/2005" text="">
12
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/16/2005" text="">
13
</Phase>
<Phase date="10/17/2005" text="Full">
14
</Phase>
</Moon>
<Forecast>
<UFDB>
</UFDB>
<day number="1">
<ObsDate>
9/16/2005
</ObsDate>
<DayCode>
Friday
</DayCode>
<TXT_Short>
Cloudy with showers
</TXT_Short>
<TXT_Long>
Cloudy with showers
</TXT_Long>
<WeatherIcon>
12
</WeatherIcon>
<High_Temperature>
75
</High_Temperature>
<Low_Temperature>
65
</Low_Temperature>
<Real_Feel_High>
81
</Real_Feel_High>
<Real_Feel_Low>
67
</Real_Feel_Low>
<WindSpeed>
5
</WindSpeed>
<WindDirection>
ENE
</WindDirection>
<WindGust>
11
</WindGust>
<Max_UV>
2
</Max_UV>
<Rain_Amount>
0.11
</Rain_Amount>
<Snow_Amount>
0.00
</Snow_Amount>
<Precip_Amount>
0.11
</Precip_Amount>
<TStorm_Prob>
12
</TStorm_Prob>
</day>
<day number="2">
<ObsDate>
9/17/2005
</ObsDate>
<DayCode>
Saturday
</DayCode>
<TXT_Short>
Periods of rain
</TXT_Short>
<TXT_Long>
Periods of rain
</TXT_Long>
<WeatherIcon>
18
</WeatherIcon>
<High_Temperature>
74
</High_Temperature>
<Low_Temperature>
57
</Low_Temperature>
<Real_Feel_High>
79
</Real_Feel_High>
<Real_Feel_Low>
57
</Real_Feel_Low>
<WindSpeed>
2
</WindSpeed>
<WindDirection>
NNW
</WindDirection>
<WindGust>
5
</WindGust>
<Max_UV>
2
</Max_UV>
<Rain_Amount>
0.64
</Rain_Amount>
<Snow_Amount>
0.00
</Snow_Amount>
<Precip_Amount>
0.64
</Precip_Amount>
<TStorm_Prob>
12
</TStorm_Prob>
</day>
<day number="3">
<ObsDate>
9/18/2005
</ObsDate>
<DayCode>
Sunday
</DayCode>
<TXT_Short>
A couple of morning showers
</TXT_Short>
<TXT_Long>
A couple of morning showers; otherwise, times of clouds and sun
</TXT_Long>
<WeatherIcon>
14
</WeatherIcon>
<High_Temperature>
75
</High_Temperature>
<Low_Temperature>
54
</Low_Temperature>
<Real_Feel_High>
74
</Real_Feel_High>
<Real_Feel_Low>
58
</Real_Feel_Low>
<WindSpeed>
6
</WindSpeed>
<WindDirection>
NW
</WindDirection>
<WindGust>
15
</WindGust>
<Max_UV>
3
</Max_UV>
<Rain_Amount>
0.08
</Rain_Amount>
<Snow_Amount>
0.00
</Snow_Amount>
<Precip_Amount>
0.08
</Precip_Amount>
<TStorm_Prob>
0
</TStorm_Prob>
</day>
<day number="4">
<ObsDate>
9/19/2005
</ObsDate>
<DayCode>
Monday
</DayCode>
<TXT_Short>
Mostly sunny; pleasant
</TXT_Short>
<TXT_Long>
Sunny to partly cloudy and nice
</TXT_Long>
<WeatherIcon>
02
</WeatherIcon>
<High_Temperature>
74
</High_Temperature>
<Low_Temperature>
57
</Low_Temperature>
<Real_Feel_High>
70
</Real_Feel_High>
<Real_Feel_Low>
56
</Real_Feel_Low>
<WindSpeed>
8
</WindSpeed>
<WindDirection>
WSW
</WindDirection>
<WindGust>
21
</WindGust>
<Max_UV>
5
</Max_UV>
<Rain_Amount>
0.00
</Rain_Amount>
<Snow_Amount>
0.00
</Snow_Amount>
<Precip_Amount>
0.00
</Precip_Amount>
<TStorm_Prob>
0
</TStorm_Prob>
</day>
Ever wonder why it takes a sec to update multiple Weather widgets? It's sucking down and parsing over 10K-sized files for each one. It isn't just current weather and brief 5-day forecasts. No. It's everything. Pollen count. UV strength. Phase of the moon. Rise/set times for freaking Pluto (seriously - look at the source)! And a lot more.
I wonder if future widgets will show us more - this is clearly a site devoted to Apple within AccuWeather's main site, so it seems odd they'd send down so much info if all they needed to send was a little bit. So... I wonder if a more extensive Weather widget might be forthcoming.
