Author Topic: Weatherlink download syntax for text table  (Read 1311 times)

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Offline rhodesengr

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Weatherlink download syntax for text table
« on: November 10, 2017, 02:40:29 PM »
Per my other post, we have a Vantage Vue and a Vantage Connect uploading data every five minutes to Weatherlink. We want to download our data without the WL software. I have been searching around and found two URL syntaxes that can access our data
http://www.weatherlink.com/xml.php?user=####&pass=####
returns an xml file with the latest reading

http://weatherlink.com/webdl.php?timestamp=TimeStamp&user=username&pass=password&action=data
returns a bunch of data in binary format

I am wondering if there are other syntax's that return data in other formats.

For example, it would be nice if there was a URL syntax that returned a list of readings in text format or CSV format similar to the CWOP type access:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wx.cgi?call=FW1818&last=4

The problem with the CWOP data is that it only updates every 20 minutes and there may be a delay.


Offline Bushman

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Re: Weatherlink download syntax for text table
« Reply #1 on: November 10, 2017, 03:13:06 PM »
https://pydigger.com/pypi/davis-weatherlink-scraper as an example of one of many ways to do this.  Frankly I think you are hamstrung a bit by your Davis config.
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Offline johnd

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Re: Weatherlink download syntax for text table
« Reply #2 on: November 10, 2017, 03:24:36 PM »
I am wondering if there are other syntax's that return data in other formats.

No, not to best of my knowledge, other than scraping the HTML as Bushman suggests, but that's obviously clunky and liable to break  if Davis make even slight changes to the HTML.

But what's wrong with the XML format - that's relatively easy to work with with some sort of XML parser control.
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Offline Bushman

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Re: Weatherlink download syntax for text table
« Reply #3 on: November 10, 2017, 03:40:01 PM »
I've seen JSON downloads for WL.  Google is your friend.
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Offline rhodesengr

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Re: Weatherlink download syntax for text table
« Reply #4 on: November 10, 2017, 03:42:15 PM »
Frankly I think you are hamstrung a bit by your Davis config.

Well our station will be in an inaccessible location on top of a hill so the Vantage Connect seemed like our best option. So we are trying to make the best of that setup. We used to beam our data with a repeater down to a guys house where we could locate a console and connect to his PC and internet. We had some problems with that se we changed to the Connect.

Offline rhodesengr

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Re: Weatherlink download syntax for text table
« Reply #5 on: November 10, 2017, 03:44:55 PM »
But what's wrong with the XML format - that's relatively easy to work with with some sort of XML parser control.

probably nothing. I am not a programmer but our guy that is can probably use the xml or binary syntax. Just looking for all possible options. The wl URL syntaxes are not that well documented. I only found the xml one because it was posted in this forum.

Offline johnd

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Re: Weatherlink download syntax for text table
« Reply #6 on: November 10, 2017, 04:31:19 PM »
I've seen JSON downloads for WL.  Google is your friend.

Really? Where? Some users may have accessed the XML and forwarded the data in JSON, but I've never seen direct-access mention of JSON (not to say that it doesn't exist, but somehow I think it would be more prominently described somewhere). Anyhow, JSON vs XML, does it really make much difference which approach you use - they're essentially different grammars for the same thing?

The wl URL syntaxes are not that well documented. I only found the xml one because it was posted in this forum.

The archive record download is fully documented in the Serial Tech Ref document, which is the standard place to look for Davis API details. The XML isn't described there because Davis don't formally support its use. I don't honestly know whether the XML is available for Connect uploads but I guess it probably is, in a more limited form possibly and showing the latest data plan interval upload.

Edit: Actually I've just checked on one of our Connects and yes the XML is there.
« Last Edit: November 10, 2017, 04:35:35 PM by johnd »
Prodata Weather Systems
Prodata's FAQ/support site for Davis stations
Includes many details on 6313 Weatherlink console.
UK Davis Premier Dealer - All Davis stations, accessories and spares
Cambridge UK

Sorry, but I don't usually have time to help with individual issues by email unless you are a Prodata customer. Please post your issue in the relevant forum section here & I will comment there if I have anything useful to add.