Haiku Notice regarding changes to RainAdvisory in coming update

[lupinglade]

This is a notice to our users that the way the RainAdvisory flag works will change in the near future. Likely in HaikuHelper 2.62.

Currently, the RainAdvisory flag reflects the number of days until the first day of rain within the next 5 days.

This will change such that the RainAdvisory flag will now reflect the amount of precipitation within the next 5 days, in millimeters. This will allow greater flexibility for programs/scripts and improved accuracy.

Remember to adjust your programs/scripts once this change happens.

 

[serky]

Sounds promising. What equation will turn the flag on? Are you adding 5 days to get a total of 25 mm? I hope the 25 mm is not a trigger. That is a lot of rain to base irrigation systems on. For me, when you were using Yahoo weather, the flag came on too often without it ever raining. I think it was based on chance of rain. The new method, not enough because it was based on projected rainfall. I like the new system you are using but I would think the combination of chance of rain and a lower projected mm fall would be more accurate? Hopefully we get a better balance of the two. I know we are talking weather so there is always an inconsistency.

Thanks for really putting in the effort to make this more reliable.

Jason

 

[lupinglade]

It will now do a total for the precipitation of the next 5 days and just set the flag to that value. So you can check it for your own maximum value when deciding whether to run the sprinklers or not.

 

[serky]

Lupinglade,

Could you please explain how the weather flag works with the update. For example, I had code such as:


TIMED 4:30 AM WATER LAWN DAYS
AND IF RainAdvisory CURRENT VALUE IS NOT 1
AND IF OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE CURRENT READING IS GREATER THAN 44
THEN RUN WATER LAWN

I do not know what an "on: flag for the rainadvisory looks like yet. How would I continue to use or tweak this code to work?

Thanks,

Jason

 

[lupinglade]

Jason,

This update is not yet out -- it will be in the next one (2.70).

Once its out, you would test it like this:

AND IF RainAdvisory CURRENT VALUE IS LESS THAN x

Where x would be the maximum mm of (expected) rain where you would still allow the sprinklers to run. This amount is the total precipitation for the next 5 days (including "today", ie. the next 5x24 hrs).

This way flexibility is gained, allowing you to pick your own cutoff point.

 

[serky]

ok, thanks for the explanation. any idea when you expect that update?

Jason

 

[lupinglade]

Should be out within a week or so, hopefully. It has already been submitted to Apple, just waiting on review/approval.