Weather underground widget hangs

[ChrisOwen]

I have recently upgraded my flex sites from 2.5 to 3.1.  The Weather Underground widget was working until just recently (after upgrade).  I have my Flex Build Path set to a local IIS folder (output folder) and local URL for the Output folder URL, following the ArcGIS for Flex developer guide, i.e.,  C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\flexviewerdebug, and  http://localhost/flexviewerdebug.  Now, the Weather Underground widget just hangs when I launch it.  If I take the output folder URL out of the Build Path, the widget launches, but does not display the forecast or the satellite info.
I know there is a simple solution, but I have not found it yet...
Chris

[RhettZufelt]

Hi Chris,

Are you running the debugger version of Flash Player? I just installed the WUwidget for 3.1 and when I launch it (after changing the path in the config.xml from WUnderground to WeatherUnderground) it will just hang.

However, the debugger also reports this:

ArgumentError: Error #1063: Argument count mismatch on widgets.WeatherUnderground::WeatherUndergroundWidget/faultHandler(). Expected 1, got 2.
 at mx.rpc::AsyncResponder/fault()
 at mx.rpc::AsyncToken/http://www.adobe.com/2006/flex/mx/internal::applyFault()
 at mx.rpc.events::FaultEvent/http://www.adobe.com/2006/flex/mx/internal::callTokenResponders()
 at mx.rpc.http.mxml::HTTPService/http://www.adobe.com/2006/flex/mx/internal::dispatchRpcEvent()
 at HTTPOperation/http://www.adobe.com/2006/flex/mx/internal::dispatchRpcEvent()
 at mx.rpc::AbstractInvoker/http://www.adobe.com/2006/flex/mx/internal::faultHandler()
 at mx.rpc::Responder/fault()
 at mx.rpc::AsyncRequest/fault()
 at DirectHTTPMessageResponder/securityErrorHandler()
 at flash.events::EventDispatcher/dispatchEventFunction()
 at flash.events::EventDispatcher/dispatchEvent()
 at flash.net::URLLoader/redirectEvent()

So, not sure what/why, but might be related to what you have going on.

Just tried it with OTB viewer and get the same error(s)

R_
Cities of Tri-Cities

[RobertScheitlin__GISP · Accepted solution]

Guys,

   Unfortunately the Weatherunderground has placed a tightly controlled crossdomain.xml on thier server which prevents the connection of a flex app that is not in the list. I have been considering a proxy work around but I am afraid this widget will have to be retired.

[ChrisOwen]

Guys,

   Unfortunately the Weatherunderground has placed a tightly controlled crossdomain.xml on thier server which prevents the connection of a flex app that is not in the list. I have been considering a proxy work around but I am afraid this widget will have to be retired.

They must have recently made this change, as the widget was working a few days ago.  It was driving me crazy trying to get it to run - usually with no issues.  Robert, if you can get it to work with a proxy, I would certainly use it, I think it is a great resource to have from the interactive map perspective.  Not a GIS tool, but certainly a nice feature.

Thanks to both of you for the replies.

Chris

[KennethLyons]

I was relieved to see that I wasn't the only one that was having issues with this widget.  There have been numorous occasions where, because of the way my network is setup, which is constantly becoming more restrictive, I run into issues that no one else does.  I was worried that this was one of those times.

I would also be very interested in keeping this widget functional.  The end users of my viewer have told me that this is very useful in day to day operations.

Thanks for starting this thread.

[CarmenDurham]

I discovered the same problem at about the same time as these postings and disabled the widget ... but just now getting back to try to figure out what happened (as people kept asking for it) when I found this forum post.  Looks like the old api was "deprecated" and they want you to subscribe to the API (at varying levels from free to not free). 

Has anyone started using the new API and "key" to get the old widget to work with the "free" option?   If not, I will just let it go. 

It was such a cool widget, though, for the weather geeks.  I heard that Weather Underground was bought out by the same company as owns the Weather Channel.  Guessing that is what led to the change to make money.

Thanks,
Carmen

[RobertScheitlin__GISP]

Carmen,

   I had considered redoing this widget using the new API but they still have their crossdomain.xml locked down so it would require a request to have a domain exception added by them and that would only work for that requested domain and thus blow the idea of me creating a widget for other people like you to use.

[CarmenDurham]

Thanks Robert.  Did you alter the widget for Calhoun County's use with the new API?  If so, was it difficult to adjust the old widget's code to get it to work with the new API or was it a total re-work of the code? 

I am trying to decide if I have time availability (or not) to attempt altering the code - even if just for the local/personal weather .  I am embarrassed to tell you what version API the app that was using this is written with - I wouldn't even try to talk anyone into writing the code for us! 

I read somewhere that WU won't charge government entities, but I never got that indication when trying to request a key and choosing what level.  I started the process to request a key but stopped when I realized I wanted a level more than developer and never saw anything indicating "free for government use"!

If anyone has used the new weather underground API - please let us know!

Thanks,
Carmen

[RobertScheitlin__GISP]

Carmen,

   No I have not. I produce many widgets that I never actually use myself (even though I like them). My main county government GIS site has one sole use and that is for tax and revenue and all widgets and capabilities on that site are solely for that one purpose (no fluff or added items).