[Samer]

That just gave me a wonderful idea! I will unify rain delay into a page and move the automatic setting into the page. That will address @oceanz37’s concern and allow me to add descriptions into what each setting does. Ill hopefully get this updated today.

Thanks!

[Samer]

@andrew I just found a script online that uses some logic to process weather information and adjust for the OpenSprinkler. I don’t think its ideal however I think we should check it out and maybe harvest the logic from it and try to use it. Going to link it here so I know where to find it later but figured you might like to check this out as well.

Link: http://pastebin.com/G10uqSyZ

[Samer]

Thank you @Oasiz37!

In regard to your concerns:

1) You can absolutely disable it and it comes disabled by default. The only way to enable it is through settings below the primary settings.

2) The rain delay is less a page and more a dialog/popup. I can and probably will add an X button to close the dialog which might help alleviate your concerns.

3) I like your suggestion, I can and probably will move it since the overlap can be annoying. Glad it’s working well though!

4) For this one, I used to hide stations with no name however I realized this could cause problems with the numbering so I disabled that. I don’t really have a good way to implement this right now however I will consider this in future changes.

Thanks again for the support!

Update: By the way, Yahoo is one of the few weather services we don’t need an API key to use. That is why I am using Yahoo (also @andrew contributed working code which made the integration very easy!).

Update 2: Moved the navigation items, they are now below the timeline (can easily be moved from this point but I think this is the best place for now). I also added a mouseover for the weather icon showing the text description.

[Samer]

@wyone The web application on Ray’s site has been updated! Please let me know if your weather problems have been resolved.

[Samer]

@momanz The weather underground API requires a key which can’t be shared by multiple people due to limits which means each person needs to obtain their own, something I want to avoid since it makes installation more complicated.

I want to upgrade to SQL but not just for logging however this introduces a huge headache for current users (or me). Either a nice upgrade script has to be made to transition users or a new install would be required by everyone. Honestly, I am not motivated to write an upgrade script so, for now, SQL migration is on hold along with the logging overhaul.

I am checking the width where the weather is on mobile and I am somewhat constrained. Currently, the content has padding thats equal to the space around the lists on the main page. That leaves me with very little room to add things next to weather on the mobile and as a result is giving me a headache trying to figure out what to add there and how. I thought about showing an icon for system status (check mark or X) but then I would want to make it clickable to switch between the two (which makes accidental clicks even more of a reality). I don’t want to add something for the sake of filling space. I would like it to be functional as well. Most people will know if there system is enabled or not already. Also, program information might be too much to cram up there. I was thinking of putting a transparent overlay on the bottom of the page IF a program was running showing which program (manual, run-once, or ID) along with duration left and scrolling left / right between that and which station is currently active. To see what I mean I am linking a screenshot of Google Shopper on iOS. Notice the location text on the very bottom of the page, that is what I mean as far as location and translucency. http://a4.mzstatic.com/us/r1000/094/Purple2/v4/32/77/62/32776203-c507-63fb-70e6-10dd098e135b/mzl.fieznalx.320×480-75.jpg

I was thinking about moving the system control to it’s own page then adding a link to that page in the side panel however that adds about 3 clicks and page loads for an option that might be important for quick access (stop all stations).

I guess, I am not sure how I want to remedy the situation. I think I am going to take some time to find a clear direction instead of rushing out fixes for these problems that will inevitably be half-baked.

Update: In regard to the rain sensor log issue. I think it is related to the time window. By that I mean, if your window is 7 days and your rain sensor actually turned on 10 days ago. The script will only go back to the 7th day and report that as the timestamp. Each day that passes, will advance the timestamp. This is because the program is ignoring anything not inside the defined window. With stations this was never a problem because I seriously doubt anyone had their station on for longer then their defined window however with the rain sensor this is possible, I think. Let me know if you think this is what is happening. If this is the case, there isn’t much I can do without slowing down the log viewer (other than switching from file to SQL).

Update 2: I have noticed a small issue touching the next/previous day buttons on mobile devices in the preview page. I plan on fixing this soon but wanted to post it in case anyone else notices.

[Samer]

@wyone I am happy people are enjoying the application! I agree 100% Ray has put together some killer hardware!!!

Here is how the weather works (in the latest version): When you first open the application I check to see if we know the WOEID (a Yahoo specific location identifier), if it is not known we do a lookup using your location on the OpenSprinkler. We then cache this value for the remainder of the app and only update it if you change your settings. Every time the main page is shown we update the weather. This includes going back and forth between pages. However, the weather will not update by itself, a page change has to trigger it.

By the way, the weather problems are because the web app still hasn’t been updated yet on Ray’s website. Hopefully, he will get that updated soon and we can see if your issues are resolved.

[Samer]

@aradke I see the problem your talking about in the code and might write a fix for it soon. The problem is the time is handled a little different throughout the program and needs to be unified. This could easily be fixed by using JBinkley’s suggestion earlier of globalizing the current time. It might be a task better suited for Dan but if I can handle it I will take a look and see what I can do.

[Samer]

Thank you! Okay so I will try and address some things and ask for some more information on others. In regards to the rain sensor bug I will look into it but I am starting to think its time to rewrite logging!

@momanz wrote:

1) I like having current weather displayed on the main screen, but I wonder if there isn’t a better way to do it. The problem is one of wasted space on either side of the Icon / text. On larger displays it’s probably ok, but on a small phone display (or even a larger phone display) it seems like space could be better utilized. I do like the fact that the Program control and System Information Groups fit perfectly on my screen.

I see your point about the wasted space, I think its worse on larger screens and desktops and actually looks pretty nice on mobile. With that said, do you think showing more information abou the device next to the weather would help offset the dead space? If so, what types of things would you like to see? I know something I want to add to the status page is total program duration remaining (something I just figured out I can calculate) but if there is anything in the status page you deem important enough to pull out and show next to the weather on the top let me know. I could even “style” the weather box as a “quick status” view.

@momanz wrote:

2) It seems like the items in the “system control” section may be better placed on a separate page. It’s too easy to hit one of the buttons when swiping up or down. Also, I don’t think there is a need to have quick access to any of these setting. I’ve already accidentally turned off the Operation toggle while swiping. I can easily see my self accidentally hitting one of the toggles and not realizing it. Both will disable automatic operation of the controller.

I agree 100% with this point! They did seem out of place but the darn things stuck with me since my first version and don’t really have a home at this point. They dont fall under status since I label that as an information page. Do you think I should give them their own page or toss them in the side panel?

@momanz wrote:

3) On the program preview screen. I think it would be useful to have arrows on either side of the date to advance the day. I saw that there was some discussion previously on how different browsers handle different date entries in the context of the NaN error, but I don’t think we’ve explicitly requested the arrows to advance the date. Is it even possible? Is that something that others would find useful?

This is a great point! I can very easily add buttons and the best part is that space is not being used anyways. I have toyed with narrowing the date input box but I honestly had nothing to put on the sides so I kept it large, now I do! Thanks for this suggestion expect to see this one very soon!

Thanks for your feedback! I love UI issues because this is something I have little experience dealing with and love to learn!

Update: The preview page has been update with a left/right button to advance the dates forward and backwards. It properly handles month changes as well so it helps get rid of the invalid date issues if you use them. Thanks for the suggestion this is awesome!

Update 2: Doing some thinking and found one idea but needs some fine-tuning. Going to run it here and see what people think. I could turn the homepage into a status page, add a footer with 3 buttons (programs, info, control) and move the appropriate menu’s into each sub page. I think this could make the home page a lot nicer by using icons and other things for the device’s status but would also require some work and a lot of design (which I’m not good at). The only way something like this could happen is if anyone had a true vision of what they think would be best. If this is something you are interested in, sketch up an idea or try and describe it and I can easily implement it. Here is where I am getting this idea from (I obviously don’t mean to copy this but I think the bottom two sections are nicely displayed. Also, I cannot get rain fall data but forecast is no problem.): http://a1.mzstatic.com/us/r1000/092/Purple2/v4/32/12/c7/3212c7aa-318c-b801-2bfa-831c0dd0f5bb/mzl.vovidanb.320×480-75.jpg

The other idea is moving the system control into it’s own page and linking it from the side panel. Also, I could just move the 4 options in control into the side panel directly (without their own page).

[Samer]

That’s a very good point! Ill be honest I have never written Python and learning as I go along.

I am not sure why the time is not a set variable either, I’ll change that and fix the location problem and update with a new patch. Sorry about the location problem, I just copy/pasted the suggested fix from the post without thinking.

Update: Fixed the problems you mentioned and updated the above patch and the attached file to reflect the mentioned changes! Hope this one works better 🙂

[Samer]

@djagerif I just added the update notification. You will now be notified on the main screen if an update is available!

[Samer]

By the way, I want to thank everyone who has donated! Very much appreciate it!

[Samer]

@Zapp I made a patch for the Raspberry Pi interval program that should fix a couple issues, specifically the last run time being incorrect.

Information and the patch can be found here: http://rayshobby.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=160&p=1106#p1106

[Samer]

Okay, I think I fixed a few bugs and applied them as a patch. Most of these have been discussed here already however did not make it into the latest version on Ray’s Github.

Here is what I changed:

– Properly identify daylight’s saving time and apply it if needed (@Vaughano let me know if this works please)
– Properly set the last run time (was not applying timezones correctly, thanks @Zapp for pointing this out)
– Fix for the current time line in the program preview
– Fix for sending location information to the home page (thanks @kenbob)

I will continue to test this however attached here is the patch if you wish to try it. To apply put the patch in the same directory and run the following command:

patch < rpi.patch_.06.29.txt

Patch download: http://albahra.com/journal/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/rpi.patch_.06.29.txt

Update: I fixed the below mentioned problems by JBinkley and incorporated the fixes into the above patch.

[Samer]

@Zapp Thank you!

I looked into the last run time and you are 100% correct. The interval program is not setting the correct time. This issue is not happening because of my web application and is also out of my control.

I will dive into the interval program if I get some free time today and see if I can patch these bugs up.

Thanks!

[Samer]

@Zapp Sorry if that was too much. Basically, I am blaming the interval program for now. Just let me know if this problem is showing up in the interval program or only my web application. If it is both, then as you said, we should just hang tight until Dan or Ray push an update. Otherwise, I need to fix something 😛

Thanks!

[Samer]

Dan,

I think I am still experiencing this bug. I pulled the latest tarball on Github and noticed it is still marked 22/06/2013 so maybe it didn’t get updated correctly? Below is a screenshot of the June 26 copy on Github showing the same 00:01 time and nothing happening:

[attachment=0:1hdzkkf5]Screen Shot 2013-06-29 at 8.56.51 AM.png[/attachment:1hdzkkf5]

I am also noticing programs that are scheduled to run 16 zones are only flipping the first 8 on. At least, for the station status on the main page. Below are some screenshots to show what I mean for the newly discovered bug.

Thanks!

[Samer]

@Zapp wrote:

On the About page where? I can’t see any version number…

Sorry for the confusion, I meant for the hosted web application. I mantain two different versions of the same app. One is hosted on Github (the one you use) which is installed on your own server/Raspberry Pi. The other one is hosted by Ray at http://rayshobby.net/apps/sprinklers and only requires an open port to work.

@Zapp wrote:

I don’t know how this (XX:XX remaining) is calculated but it looks like it misbehaves when the rain delay is involved…

My P1 is scheduled to run all zones at 05:00:00, 15 min each. It’s now 15:25:03 and this is the screenshot.

This is a documented problem with the Raspberry Pi software, build date June 22, 2013. Dan pushed an update on June 26, 2013 which should resolve this however I am noticing it still says June 22 inside. If you can, confirm the problem is not just the web app by visiting the normal website and observing the same issue.

@Zapp wrote:

I also think that ‘Last Run’ has some issues with ‘Time Zone’. Looks like it’s not taken into account at all. Mine is GMT +2:00 and the status page says 04:15:41 but it should have been 06:15:41. The Logs page have the correct time!

I think this MIGHT be an issue with the interval program on the Pi, because I do not have this issue with my normal OpenSprinkler. I will try and troubleshoot this and let you know.

Thanks!

Edit: I don’t own a Raspberry Pi or the OpenSprinkler Pi version however I run the software on my server with GPIO disabled. I am expierencing this problem on my test setup and described it here http://rayshobby.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=160&start=20#p1101

Edit 2: I notified Dan via the forum post for the interval program. I might take a look at the code and see what I can find.

Edit 3: I made an update to show the currently running commit number on the About page. This should help is further discussions since I have been pushing updates frequently. This will also be the first step in update notifications. I do not plan on forcing or auto-updating but I think it would be nice if a notification showed up telling you there is a newer version!

[Samer]

Pushed an update that finally allows you to toggle “use master station” for each station if a master being used (otherwise this option will be hidden).

I also fixed a bug for the OSPi where checking ignore password would not save correctly (and cause an error). Another bug I fixed was the program ID not being shown correctly on the status page. I think I finally brought 100% of all the options from the OpenSprinkler into the mobile app. The only option missing is the HTTP port and it’s omitted to prevent accidental lockouts. I am sure there are bugs with this update so let me know if you experience anything.

Thanks!

[Samer]

Are you using the web application hosted by Ray at http://rayshobby.net/apps/sprinklers? If so, those updates have to be pushed by Ray and sometimes take a day or two. I email him the updated package daily and he usually pushes it within 12 hours.

Glad your enjoy the app 🙂

Edit: I just checked and the version on Ray’s site still has the weather bug. It should be fixed once updated and also get the new status page and other fixes/changes.

For future reference, you can find the version in the About page accessed from the side panel. Currently, Ray has v14 and the latest is v15.

[Samer]

@wyone Awesome! I think it wasn’t working initially because of a bug I had in the code with commas/plus signs but that should be resolved now. If the most recent version isn’t working with your full location name, could you let me know so I could troubleshoot it?

Thanks!

[Samer]

More goodies! I updated the status page bringing everything the normal OpenSprinkler shows as displayed below. I also label the master station on the status page now (if there is one).

[Samer]

With the latest update? I am using “Dallas, TX” and it works fine.

Edit: I just tried San Antonio, TX and also works without any issues.

Edit 2: I just tried Orlando, FL and it also works fine. Wonder what’s going on. I know it caches the WOEID so if it set a 0 earlier (because of the bad code) then it’ll keep trying that until you set a “new” location. Try opening options and hitting submit (don’t need to change anything).

[Samer]

Oh okay I see what you mean however I have a space in my location and it works fine. The plus sign is technically a space in a URL and I assume that was vestigial instead of encoding it for the weather button. Anyways, either works fine now.

Edit: I just tested, and if you have a space in the location the native OpenSprinkler’s UI weather button won’t work. Thanks for the heads up on this. I might just convert space to plus signs to alleviate the issue/confusion.

[Samer]

Sorry about that, I just pushed a fix. Curiously, what is the + used for? Should work now though.

[Samer]

@djagerif Did you use the version I just pushed 15 minutes ago? I just fixed that issue.

Let me know if its fixed.

[Author]

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