WX 200 Weather Station Software
(630-1015) Creating and Using Weather Graphs Faxback Doc. # 38359
To illustrate the weather conditions recorded by your WX 200, you can
easily create, customize the appearance of, print, and save
(to-your hard drive) several types of 2- or 3-dimensional graphs.
Note:
This section provides you with a brief description of how to create,
customize, save, and print graphs with your software. To obtain
detailed graphing instructions, see "For Additional Help on Graphing."
Creating a Graph
The Weather Station window always displays compact-view graphs plotting
the air temperatures and barometric pressure readings recorded during
the last 6 hours (see "A Quick Look at the Weather Station Window."
To open a Weather Station Graphs window showing a full view of either of
those compact graphs, click on the magnifying glass icon (+) below that
compact graph.
To create a graph plotting the temperature or barometric pressure for a
different period of time, or to create a graph plotting other weather
condition recorded by your WX 200, follow these steps.
Note:
You can create and view only one graph at a time in AccuWeather for
Windows.
1. Click on Graphs in the Weather Station Window.
The Weather Station Graph Setup window appears.
2. Set these graph and data perimeters in the Weather Station graph
Setup window.
Note:
To move the cursor to the next box in the window, press Tab or click
on that box.
Title Type in the title (up to 100 alphanumeric characters) you
want to appear on the graph.
Style Click anywhere on the box to open the drop-down menu, then
click on the scroll-bar to scroll through the menu
(if necessary) until you see the style of graph
(Area, Area-3D, Bar, Bar-3D, Comparison, Line, Scatter,
or Tape) you want to create. Then click on that style's
name to select it.
Note:
The graph styles you can select from this menu are ones
commonly used to graph weather conditions; however, the
software includes other styles (such as pie, polar, and
bubble) that you can select later. See "Customizing Your
Graph's Appearance."
Data Type 1 Click anywhere on the box to open the drop-down menu, then
click on the sroll-bar to scroll through the menu
(if necessary) until you see the weather condition you want
to graph. Then click on the weather condition's name to
select it.
Data Type 2 If you selected the Comparison graph style, click anywhere
on the box to open the drop down-menu, then click on the
scroll-bar to scroll through the menu (if necessary) until
you see the weather condition you want to compare against
the Data Type 1 you selected. Then click on the weather
condition's name to select it.
Source Click on Observations to graph data that appears in the
Recent Observations window (weather data stored for up to
the last 500 recording intervals), or click on Almanac to
graph data that appears in an almanac file.
Note:
AccuWeather for Windows does not create its first almanac
file until after midnight on the first day you run the
software. If you try to create a graph and select Almanac
as the source before then, the Could Not Create Graph error
window appears. Wait until after midnight
(the next day, for example), then try again.
Start Time If you selected the source Observations, type in the time
that the first weather condition you want to graph was
recorded. Then click on AM or PM to select the correct
AM or PM hour.
Start Date Type in the date that the first weather condition you want
to graph was recorded.
End Time If you selected the source Observations, type in the time
that the last weather condition you want to graph was
recorded. Then click on AM or PM to select the correct
AM or PM hour.
End Date Type in the date that the last weather condition you want
to graph was recorded.
3. Click on OK. After a few seconds (the more data you select to
graph, the longer it might take), the Weather Station Graphs window
appears showing a graph with the parameters you selected.
To change the appearance (color, graph style, and so on) of your graph,
see "Customizing Your Graph's Appearance."
To save a graph so you can open and view it again later,
see "Saving Your Graph."
To print a graph, see "Printing Your Graph."
To close the Weather Station Graphs window, click on its title-bar button
(in the upper left corner), then select Close (or simply double-click on
that button).
Customizing Your Graph's Appearance
The button bar at the top of The Weather Station Graphs window has several
buttons that let you change your graph's appearance. Here is a list of
the buttons you can use and a summary of each button's function.
Caution:
Although the software will let you select the graph type pie in
its 2D and 3D galleries, we strongly recommend you not do so.
Since a pie chart is not commonly used to graph weather data,
this software is not designed to support its use. If you try to
use a pie chart, your software will most likely stop operating.
If this happens, follow the prompts in the windows that appear
which close the software, then restart it.
Note:
The Design, Help, and About buttons that appear on the button bar are
not available for use with your software. However, you can obtain
detailed help on using graphs in your software at AccuWeather's web
site on the Internet.
2D Gallery - let you select from these
two-dimensional (2D) graph
types:
pile, bar, area, polar, bubble,
scattered line, gantt, high/low,
candlestick, box-whisker, and
time series graph.
3D Gallery - lets you select from these
three-dimensional (3D) graph
types:
pie, bar, tape, area, scatter,
and surface.
Style - Lets you set the style options
for your graph, such as the type
of data marker and graph
orientation (horizontal or
vertical). The options you can
change vary depending on the
type of graph selected.
Data - Lets you change the graph's data
dimensions, add or change a
legend, and add or change data,
data labels, and axis labels.
Titles - Lets you change the graph's main
title, and add or change a
bottom, left and right title.
Axis - Lets you change these attributes
for each axis on the graph:
color, position, scale, range,
labels, tick marks, and grids.
3D - Lets you customize the look of a
selected 3D graph style.
Fonts - Lets you change the typeface and
size of the fonts used for any
of the graph's text (such as
titles and labels).
Markers - Lets you change the appearance
(color, pattern, and so on) of
the graph's markers (bars, pie
slices, symbols, and so on).
Trends - Lets you add or change
statistical lines (such as the
mean or standard deviation) and
turn on/off curve fit. These
options are available only for
certain graph types (such as
line or high-low).
Overlay - Lets you graph (line only) an
additional (single) data set on
the existing graph, using the
existing graph's axes
(x- and y-axis, for example).
Error Bar - Lets you add or change error
bars and values to show the
margin of error related to the
graphed data. You can add error
bars only to certain types of
graphs (such as bar or line
graphs).
Background - Lets you change the appearance
of the graph's titles (add a
color border or drop shadow, for
example), change the legend's
position and size, and change
the color and pattern of the
graph's background.
System - lets you print your graph
or save it to your hard
drive as a bitmap image file
so you can view or print it later
(using Windows Paintbrush, for
example).
Follow these steps to use the button bar to change your graph's
appearance.
1. Click on the button you want to use. The Graph Control window
appears. Inside that window are all of the selected button's controls
and settings. At the top of the window are several tabs (like file
folder tabs) with labels that match the functions of the other
buttons.
2. Click on the control(s) and type in the setting(s) you want to change.
Note:
The Help button that appears at the bottom of the Graph Control Window
is not available for use with your software.
3. To apply your changes to the graph and select a different button's
functions (without closing the Graph Control Window), click on the tab
at the top of the Graph Control window for the next function you want
to use, then repeat Step 2.
To apply your changes to the graph and close the Graph Control window,
click on OK. The software re-draws your graph showing the changes you
selected.
To apply your changes to the graph now without closing the Graph
Control window (if you plan to make other changes, for example, but
you first want to see how these changes look), click on Apply Now.
Note:
To close the Graph Control window without applying your changes, click
on Cancel.
Saving Your Graph
To save your graph, click on system in the Weather Station Graph window.
The Graph Control window appears showing the System panel. Click on
Bitmap (to set the software to save the file with a file extension of
.bmp), then click on File and type in the path and file name where you
want to save the graph.
Note:
If you are unsure of the exact path and file name you want to use,
click on Browse to open the Save As window. Then locate the path and
file name you want to use so it appears in the File Name box. When
you finish, click on OK to select that path and file name.
To save the graph using the selected path and file name, click on OK
in the Graph Control window.
Notes:
You can open and view a graph you save with a .bmp extension using
Windows Paintbrush or another graphics program that can read bitmap
images.
You cannot re-open or edit a saved graph using the AccuWeather for
Windows Weather Station Software
Printing Your Graph
To print your graph, click on System in the Weather Station Graph window.
The Graph Control window appears showing the System panel. Click on
Border if you want to print the graph with a border, then click on Mono to
select black and white or click or Color to select color (if you have a
color printer). Then click on Print to print the graph.
Notes:
The Graph Control window automatically prints your graph on the
default printer you selected for Windows (in the Control Panel).
If you selected Color, you can click on Palette in the Graph Control
window to open a drop-down menu and select the color palette
(combination) you want to use for printing the graph.
For Additional Help on Graphing
The graphing utility contained in your software includes numerous options
(some fairly complex) to let you change the look and content of your
weather graph. The instructions and descriptions contained in this manual
are designed to get you started using graphs; however, you can obtain more
detailed help on graphing at AccuWeather's web site on the Internet.
To obtain additional help on graphing with your software (and get other
interesting information!), point your web browser to this location, then
follow the instructions that appear:
http://www.accuweather.
RadioShack.com
(LB/km-03/12/1997)