Chapter 3. Properties

Table of Contents
Basic
Network
Location

This section describes the user settings of GNOME Weather. To bring up the dialog for these settings, right-click on the applet and select "Properties". There are three categories of options, which are described below. Note that each running copy of GNOME Weather has its own set of settings.

Basic

This section describes options related to the basic functionality of GNOME Weather.

Update Interval

This option determines how often GNOME Weather will connect to the server(s) and retrieve weather information. Current conditions, forecast and radar map (if enabled) will be fetched.

Note that this is independent of when the server(s) update the actual information. The update time shown in the current conditions box refers to when those measurements were renewed on the server, rather than when they were last retrieved.

You can disable automatic updates, by unchecking the "Update enabled" box. On the other hand, you man also force GNOME Weather to perform an update by choosing the corresponding option in the popup menu. These two options are provided mostly for people who use a modem.

Measurement Units

By default, GNOME Weather uses the imperial system of units. If you prefer metric units, then you should check the "Use metric" box. The units used are shown in Table 3-1.

Table 3-1. Measurement Units

QuantityMetricImperial
Temperaturedeg Celsiusdeg Farenheit
Windspeedkm/hmph
PressuremmHginHg
Visibilitykmmiles

Detailed Forecast

The IWIN service provides two types of weather forecasts. The first is a brief forecast for the broader area where your location belongs (usually the entire state). The second is a full five day forecast for your particular area. If you prefer the latter, more specific forecast, then you need to check the "Detailed forecast" box. However, these forecasts often take longer to download and may not be available for some locations.

Note that forecasts from IWIN are available only for US cities.

Radar Map Display

GNOME Weather allows you to retrieve radar maps, if these are available. These may be retrieved from the Web, as long as a valid URL pointing to the image (in practically any format) is provided. Check the "Enable radar maps" if you want to enable this option. If a radar image URL is not provided in the Locations file of the standard distribution, you can always add one using the location editor (see the section called Locations Editor).