Weather Message 3.4 Beta 9

I have posted Weather Message 3.4 Beta 9. This should be the last beta before 3.4 is released. If nothing comes up, 3.4 will be released before the end of the year.

Web based user alert sign-up

I have received several emails over the years asking about a user manager. Some users have also asked about adding the ability to allow users to sign up for alerts using a web based interface. These requests are almost ready.

I have completed most of the work for web based user initiated alert sign-up and maintenance. This web application runs under Window's using IIS (internet information services). It allows a user to sign up for an account and then subscribe to alerts.
It has an advanced and simple mode. In the advanced mode, the user can enter the product and WFO identifiers. In the simple mode, you select which products can be selected. It is fully configurable.

An interface program is provided to retrieve the user settings and update Weather Message automatically. This web application can be located on a remote computer with weather message operating on a local machine. They are not required to be on the same computer.

I have setup a sample website at http://www.wxmesg.com/wxmesguser You can sign up for an account and play with the application. You will not receive any weather alerts. This is only a demonstration link.

If you are interested in this application, let me know and I can set you up as an administrator. There are additional setup options that are not visible to the standard user.

This web based application will have the ability to generate a message for processing by Weather Message. This will allow agencies to easily create a local message for processing by Weather Message.

The work on this application will allow me to build a windows client user manager. I will be working on that addition over the holiday.

Text to Speech options in 3.4 Beta 8

I have completed a round of changes for Weather Message 3.4 beta 8 that will allow the clients to use the text-to-speech processor in XP and Vista. The alarm settings in the clients will now allow you to select Read Short or Read Text.

The Read Short message will read brief information about the received product. The Read Text will read the entire message.

You need a good quality voice to use these options.

Weather Message 3.4 Beta 7 Changes

Weather Message 3.4 Beta 7 will fully support Microsoft 64 bit operating systems. I thought all of this worked in the past, but that was not the case. Just looking back at the blog will reveal the kind of issues involved.

I believe I have addressed all of the issues. I have compiled the programs to run as 32 bit applications on 32 bit operating system and 64 bit applications on 64 bit operating systems. There are only two programs that will run as 32 bit applications on 64 bit computer due to dependencies. I don't think that will cause anyone a problem.

I had to make quite a few changes in the installer to address the differences in the 64 bit and 32 bit registry. There were also some changes to the native image generation routines to use the 64 bit Microsoft.Net framework.

While I was testing it appears that I found a bug in the installer. It did not appear to be testing for the .Net framework and installing it properly. I had two users report a problem - that should now be corrected.

Existing 64 bit user Warning
I will be uploading these betas on Sunday. If you are presently using Weather Message on a 64 bit computer, you may have to enter your registration code and some settings after this update. I recommend that you export your registry settings using Weather Message Server Setup's File, Export Registry option before installing the beta. If you run into a problem, drop me an email and I will restore your settings.

One Other Thought
During all of my research on 64 bit systems, I discovered several things that had not occurred to me. One was that 64 bit programs will use more memory than 32 bit programs. That occurs naturally because memory pointers in 64 bit systems are twice the size of 32 bit pointers. The advantage of 64 bit systems is the ability to address a large amount of memory. If you have a 64 bit system, make sure you have plenty of memory installed.

x64 to x86 Symbolic Registry Link

After 16 hours of research and testing, I discovered that a symbolic link can be created between two registry keys. This helps to solve the issue with having some x64 and x32 bit programs that need to share the same registry keys.

A symbolic link can be created between HKLM\Software\Weather Message Net and HKLM\Software\WOW6432Node\Weather Message Net

This symbolic link means that x64 programs will see the settings in "WOW6432Node" and x86 programs will see the settings in the regular key.

This is a great find is was not too difficult to implement. I now need to update the installers with the code necessary to create the link. (The code is now written and tested. I just need to update the installers.)

Once the installer is working, I can go back and recompile the programs as x64 or x86 as appropriate and they will work properly on a x64 system. This will allow the x64 programs to run as native x64 applications.

Running as a 64 bit application

This year I have worked with three different users that have 64 bit windows operating systems. In the end, I have had to change most of the programs back to 32 bit applications to make everything work properly.

64 bit Windows operating system maintains two independent registry locations for 32 bit and 64 bit applications. Because of that, the programs that ran in 64 bit mode wrote to one location, while the 32 bit wrote to another area. Neither could see what the other one wrote. That makes it difficult when the setup program is 64 bit and the server is 32 bit.

The last beta on the website sets most of the programs back to 32 bit (x86) mode. This was necessary to get everything working for these users and allow me time to investigate further.

Some of the programs could not run in 64 bit mode because they needed to use some dlls or ocx files that are 32 bit. I worked for the past several days removing some of these dependencies. This work also made some of the programs run faster, as the new code used is .Net code and runs faster.

There are only three programs now that must run in 32 bit mode; WxMcli (message client), WxMap (WxMapNet runs in 64 bit mode), and WxRadar. The other 21 programs could run in 64 bit mode. Notice that I said could. WxRadar does use some of the common registry settings, so it remains a hold out.

I am working now to see what I can do to make WxRadar access the 64 bit registry. The 32 bit dependency cannot be removed at this time. The image viewer used in WxMcli and WxRadar uses one 32 bit dll that has not been updated by my viewer vendor.

I have a 64 bit windows server 2008 available now for testing, so I hope to have a beta available soon that will allow the core programs to run as native 64 bit applications.

64-bit Registry Issue

I have been working with a user that has a 64-bit operating system. Weather Message Server will not register properly due to the way that the registry is handled for 32-bit and 64-bit applications. Some of the Weather Message programs will run as 64-bit applications, while others need to run as 32-bit applications.

I am currently working with the user to resolve this problem. I now have a local 64-bit Windows Server 2008 that I can use for testing. I hope to have this issue resolved soon.

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Update:

Weather Message 3.4 Beta 6 has been posted with changes to address this issue.

WxMap now supports SWOMCD - Mesoscale Discussion

The next beta of Weather Message will have the ability to plot the SWOMCD - Mesoscale Discussion on WxMap.

Map Refreshes

When the Map requests a refresh, the server sends the data back in alphabetical order. This was simply the result of using the directory order. I have changed the routine to sort the list by creation date so that it will be sent back in the order that is was received.

This corrects an issue where SVS products were sent back before their corresponding TOR products. I still have some work to do to optimize the routine changes.

Status

I have completed the changes to add basic text to speech operation in the message client. I hope to add this to capability to the map. I will try to get an update out over the weekend.

I have some work to do in WxMap and WxLoader to address an issue with common vtec event tracking numbers. I am working with a user that identified a problem.

Work is continuing on the web based user weather alert sign up application. I now have a basic web frame working developed. I am now ready to start working on the details for the sign up application.

Text to Speech

I have gotten interested in Text to Speech after reviewing a sample application provided by Microsoft. The Sam voice that is installed with XP is very poor. You can try out the voice by going to the control panel and clicking on Speech.

Microsoft released two additional voices that are much better. You can download them from this link http://www.text-speech.com/voices/Sp5TTIntXP.msi After they are installed, you will find Mike and Mary available in the speech control panel. These two are much better than the default SAM voice.

I understand that Vista has a new speech voice named Anna. I tried her on one of the office computers and she sounds pretty good.

There are several commercial TTS (text to speech) engine providers. Cepstral has good voices. You can demo them at http://www.cepstral.com/demos/ Their voices are around $30.00.

Nextup has demos of the AT&T voices at http://www.nextup.com/attnv.html The AT&T voices cost $35.00.

I am now working on adding TTS support in the Message Client and will then move to the map. Instead of having dedicated wave files, it would be nice if it could simplay say "A tornado warning as been issued for Tallapoosa County until 10:30 PM". The map would have the bonus to saying expiration messages.

It would also be very simple to add the capability to read a message in the text window. I was playing with this earlier tonight and it works well using the Mike voice. I was surprised how well it could say some county names.

Weather Message 3.4 Beta 3

Weather Message 3.4 Beta 3 has been posted to the web. This update contains a number of changes to WxLoader. It now features independent tabs for AWIPS products and VTEC products. It also has the ability to select individual counties for a task.

This release will also attempt to load the Microsoft.Net Framework version 3.5. Although the 3.5 framework is not required at this time, there may be some features in the next beta that require the 3.5 framework. I thought I would go ahead and add that requirement in this beta to see if there are any problems getting it installed.

The 3.5 framework contains an number of enhancements that improve the performance of 2.0 framework programs. I do recommend that it be installed, regardless of the program requirements.

Red Book Graphics

I have been working on a red book graphic decoder. Here is an example of the convection outlook. It has a long way to go - plotting this on a map will be a challenge.

Goes Image Decoder

I added the ability to decode goes images in WxPort some time back. I have been playing with overlaying the images with the state outlines. Here is an example showing my progress.


A lot of work remains before this can go into production.

A new webserver is installed

I have spent the last two days installing a new webserver for my office. This server hosts the Weather Message website. The new server is a Dell Power Edge 2900 with two 3.0 ghz Xeon quad core processors and 4GB of memory. It has two 160GB drives mirrored, two 500GB drives mirrored and one 1000GB drive.

This machine is something to behold. This is the second 2900 that we have purchased. It is running a number of web applications along with Weather Message Server. Horsepower should not be a problem now.

I am still migrating some of the applications, so that has taken up alot of my time. This configuration should last a number of years. (I suspect we will need another T1 before this machine is underpowered.)

Group2Call Instructions Posted

I have updated the Group2Call instruction document. This document shows the steps needed to use the Group2Call Email to Voice broadcast service. You will find the document at http://www.wxmesg.com/documents/group2call.pdf

They offer several services and plans. You also have the option to use their free service that is supported by ads.

Werner Labs - EMWIN Receivers

Werner Labs is now shipping the next generation EMWIN receivers. I have posted their contact information on the Weather Message website. You will find them at http://www.wernerlabsinc.com

They have a nice information sheet about EMWIN and their receiver. I posted it at http://www.wxmesg.com/documents/WernerPamphlet.pdf

I have already exchanged emails with one of their users that is using Weather Message.

Email Subject Override

I have completed the changes necessary to allow users to override the default subject line in emails and faxes. This feature will be useful for those that are using the ad support group2call email service. Group2Call email service requires that the email subject line contain commands that direct the Group2Call service.

If you are not using Group2Call, you can use it to add a better subject line. Something like "Attention: $Subject$". The program will place the word attention followed by the original product description on the subject line.

I am testing this feature now. It will be available in the next beta release.

WxMap - Non-Vtec products

WxMap now has full support for Non-Vtec products. You can setup non-vtec products under other closes and the description will be displayed in the product grid. The description will also be used in the legend if the item is selected to be shown in the legend.

These changes also allow the "hover over" county function to display the product description instead of just the awips identifier. This will make event identification easier for users that are not weather experts.

Summer happenings

This has really been one busy and exciting summer for me. I live in the rural area of Tallapoosa County, Alabama. Because of that I have had well water for most of my life. A recent water expansion project by the local water authority brought "city" water by my home. I am now glad to say that I have "city" water.

For those of you that have never had to deal with a water well - be grateful. My well was 205 feet deep and had big issues with iron content. Everything here at my house has been stained red since I built the house. I can say that the pump would always stop at the time that you needed it the most. When that happened, pulling out 205 feet of pipe was a task to say the least.

To add to the excitment, my youngest sister was pregnant with twins. The babies showed up this past Monday 15 weeks early. At the moment Jacob and Cody are doing ok at UAB "Childrens Hospital". One was 1 pound 9 ounces and the other 1 pound and 12 ounces. Please pray for my new nephews. My sister had been in the hospital for two weeks prior confined to the bed. UAB is about a two hours drive from here, so will be supporting the gas companies for the next several months.

With all of the above and the time needed to keep up with the grass and some bushhogging, I have been busy. I still have a number of changes in the works. More good things will follow.