1) When you are defining the patterns, destinationPattern, aimedPattern & expectedPattern are all subfields to be searched for within trainPattern. How is this defined? I note that for trainPattern .- is used to return the info whereas in the other 3 (.-) is used. Is this it?
Edit: Actually no, what is searched for within what is defined in the loop, so is this a mistake? Should that first .- be (.-)
trainPattern is only used in the string.find function, and the only point there is to return the numeric positions where the string starts and ends for each "train" in the entire feed. So there is no need to (capture) anything, and no parentheses are needed. In fact, they would break it...
trainStart, trainEnd = string.find(entireFeed, trainPattern, startPos)
Note: We move from "train" to "train" by changing startPos.
After we know where in the string the first / next "train" is, we then extract just the sub-string of that train's information into a separate string with:
oneTrain = string.sub(entireFeed, trainStart, trainEnd)
We then use that oneTrain variable to do our actual matching / capturing for the various bits of information we want.
If I also wanted to return the time at which the information was last refreshed (which would have no subfields) would the following do it if inserted above trainPattern:
Code: Select all
refreshedPattern = 'T.-</request_time>'
Since that is something you are only getting once on each call to ParseSite(), and there is only one in the feed, there really isn't any need to set a variable to define the pattern to get it. In the ParseSite() function, pretty much anywhere
after
entireFeed = inputMeasure:GetStringValue()
You can use something like:
feedTime = string.match(entirefeed, '<request_time>(.-)</request_time>')
Then you will have a variable feedTime that you can use SKIN:Bang to !SetOption the Text option of some meter as you like, much the same way we set the other bits of information in the skin.
Note, don't put this inside the loop, you only need to do it once per call to ParseSite().
2) function Update() is blank, what is that? Its obviously not required but does it need to be there for the lua to be valid?
Update() is not used or required in this case. I left it since in many or most cases, you will run the Lua on each update of the skin, or more to the point of the Script measure, and I just consider it part of the normal "template" for .lua files I use. I just always include Initialize() and Update(), even if I don't use them. Feel free to remove it in this case if you want.
If they exist, the function Initialize() is automatically run by Rainmeter when the skin is loaded or refreshed, and Update() is automatically run on each update of the Script measure in the skin. They are not however required.
3) If I wanted to change the website to be parsed I assume the best approach would be to use !CommandMeasure to set the URL of [MeasureSite] and the refresh the whole skin?
Two approaches...
If you want the change to be temporary, perhaps driven by something you set using the InputText plugin or by clicking on a list of alternative URL's to use, then I would just use !SetOption to change the URL of the WebParser measure, followed by:
[!CommandMeasure MeasureSite "Update"]
I think that should work to have the measure go out and get the data from the new URL, without needing to refresh the skin. Don't forget that if you refresh the skin, any change you "dynamically" make to any options or variables will be reset to their staring value. Refreshing the skin is analogous to unloading and reloading it.
To make the change permanent / persistent, you would need to use !WriteKeyValue to physically write the new URL option on the parent WebParser measure, and then refresh the whole skin.
Your having basically done this one for me (Many thanks!!) I'm actually trying to write another skin that's going to do something very similar on a different feed. I'll see how I get on adapting this code to the new purpose, in light of this is there a way of testing .lua code, seeing what the variables are returning etc?
Glad to help. Let me know if anything else isn't clear. As to testing, about the best I can offer is that you can use a:
print(any value)
Statement anywhere in the Lua code, and it will output the value to the Rainmeter Log in About / Log. So you could for instance do:
destinationName = string.match(oneTrain, destinationPattern)
print(destinationName)
or
print('The value of the variable destinationName is: '..destinationName)
In order to check if you getting what you expect from that variable. I use that approach all the time. My example skin had print() statements all over the place at one time or another while I was writing / testing it, then I just remove them when I'm sure it all works.
The About / Log and About / Skins panels are your very best friend in Rainmeter in general, and Lua in particular.
And keep this handy...
https://docs.rainmeter.net/manual/lua-scripting/
