Real-Time Weather Display

[Cilutions Support]

Whether a customer distributing content over the internet or over a multicast network, Cilutions uses a Perl script at the "head end" of the network to periodically poll for the weather (e.g., using Google's Weather API) for all the zip codes in the network. This Perl script creates the text files necessary to determine the weather in a particular location. All of the "weather files" are then delivered to each of the box's in a customer's network. Then, when the "Description" value on each set-top box is set to the local zip code, Cilutions' DMB Media Player software will display the up-to-date weather information.

[Henry.G]

I have the script running successfully on the my server and I see that each of the weather files (.weather) are being delivered to each of the boxes in my network, but the weather is still not displaying on my digital signage screen.

[Cilutions Support]

The Perl script that runs on the server creates the weather files in the following format: {ZipCode}.weather. So, for example, if you deliver the following weather file to the media player: '01501.weather', then the zip code on the media player must be set to 01501. Take the following steps to set the zip code on the Amino A540 set-top box media player:

1) Determine the local IP Address of the set-top box
2) Log into the Configuration page of the set-top box using the following URL: http://{Local IP Address}:88/config
3) Set the value of the Description field to the correct zip code (e.g., 01501)
4) Save and reboot the box

Once the Description field value is set to the correct zip code, each time a new {ZipCode}.weather file is delivered to the set-top box, the 'fInstall' service running on the box will find the correct weather file and rename it to 'weather.db'. It is this 'weather.db' file should be used when building your screens that include weather information.

[Henry.G]

Thanks. That did it. I forgot to set the zip code on the box.

[Mikhaylovich.B]

I did all of this and I can see the correct weather.db file on the set-top box, but nothing is showing up on my screen. Where is the "Weather" asset on the DMB Screen Builder?

[Cilutions Support]

If everything is setup correctly, then each media player set-top box will have on it a 'weather.db' file with the current local weather information.

The following is an example 'weather.db' file:
"Germantown, MD",Wed,sunny.png,91,Thu,sunny.png,96,Fri,sunny.png,97,Sat,sunny.png,92

A network operator can use this information any way they see fit. For example, if you wanted to show the high temperature for the next four days, then (via the DMB Screen Builder) you would need to add 4 new text assets (in addition to anything else you might have on your screen) to your digital signage screen. Then, rather then the Source Type Attribute of these text fields being "text", each of them would be set to "record". The Source Index Attribute would be the column position of the row in the 'weather.db' file that you want to show for that text field. The Source Attribute would be 'weather.db'.

Consult your account representative to learn more about how to use the DMB Screen Builder to build screens that include the information included in the 'weather.db' file.

[Elliot.Z]

What if I just want to show a weather rss feed at the bottom of the screen? I don't care about showing weather graphics.

[Cilutions Support]

If you just want to show a Weather RSS feed on the screen, you can create an RSS asset on the Screen via the DMB Screen Builder and use the following URL as the Source of the asset:

http://69.5.27.250/zipcode/{ZipCode}/rss.php

with the {ZipCode} value the zip code where the set-top box resides.

[Cilutions Support]

Don't forget that you will want to set the Time Server value on the Configuration screen to a valid IP address. Setting the Time Server will ensure that the set-top box has the correct date and time.

You can find a list of available addresses here: http://tf.nist.gov/tf-cgi/servers.cgi

For example, to set the box to EST you can use the following server (located in New York): 64.90.182.55