Written By: KiyoWx

Strings Widget

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The strings widget is the most versatile widget for displaying text based information in a dynamic and customizable manner. This includes anything from event, mesonet data, clock and time information, PulsePoint, tracking nodes, dBZ intensity, nearby spotters, nearby events, outages, and way more.

Parameter Rules

• ? is used when starting a query string in a URL.
• & is used to append additional parameters to an existing query string.
• true or false should be supplied depending on whether the parameter expects a boolean value.
• All parameters are case sensitive meaning setsearch != setSearch

Always follow the expected type and position of the parameter when constructing the widget settings.

Example URL: /widgets/example?setWidgetParameter1=value1&setWidgetParameter2=value2

Global Parameters

Below are default values that you can use with /widgets/strings. Visit Global Parameters to see a full list of all the global parameters.

setAnimationStartDuration

• Default (float): 2.0
• Example: /widgets/strings?setAnimationStartDuration=1.0

setAnimationEndDuration

• Default (float): 2.0
• Example: /widgets/strings?setAnimationEndDuration=0.5

setTextPlaceholder

• Default (string): Widget carries multiple default values due to multiple widget types using this.
• Example: /widgets/strings?setTextPlaceholder=Custom Placeholder

setValuePath

• Default (string): Widget carries multiple default values due to multiple widget types using this.
• Example: /widgets/strings?setValuePath=properties.key_value_here

setValuePath Tips

Please see Understanding setValuePath to understand how this works. You can also use the /data endpoint which is listed under the RESTful API guide on what type of values you can get.

Local Parameters

Below are default / optional parameters you can use with the strings widget. Please be sure to follow the default value type convention.

setType

• Description: The type of data to display (Case Sensitive).
• Default (null): null
• Available Types:
  • text
  • getRandomEvent
  • getRandomPulsePoint
  • getTracking
  • getNearbySpotters
  • getDbzIntensity
  • getClock
  • getWatchdog
  • getOutages
  • getCIMSS
  • getNearbyEvents
  • getMesonet
• Example: /widgets/strings?setType=getMesonet

setTextWrapping

• Description: Handles the getClock type and what to display.
• Default (boolean): false
• Example: /widgets/strings?setTextWrapping=true

setFormat

• Description: Handles the getClock type and what to display
• Widget Types: getClock
• Default (string): time
• Example: /widgets/strings?setType=getClock&setFormat=date

setTimezone

• Description: Sets the timezone for the getClock type
• Widget Types: getClock
• Default (string): America/New_York
• Example: /widgets/strings?setType=getClock&setTimezone=America/New_York

setMilitaryTime

• Description: Controls whether to display time in military format
• Widget Types: getClock
• Default (boolean): false
• Example: /widgets/strings?setType=getClock&setMilitaryTime=true

setRefreshTime

• Description: How often getClock should update
• Widget Types: getClock
• Default (int): 1
• Example: /widgets/strings?setType=getClock&setRefreshTime=5

setWatchdogList

• Description: What events we would like to count for in getWatchdog. This supports wildcard statements such as * Watch or multiple event types.
• Widget Types: getWatchdog
• Default (string): tornado warning,severe thunderstorm warning
• Example: `/widgets/strings?setType=getWatchdog&setWatchdogList=* Warning

setSearch

• Description: Searches for a specific tracking node (See: Location Tracking Nodes). If not set, it will default to priority.
• Widget Types: getTracking, getNearbyEvents, getDbzIntensity, getCIMSS
• Default (string): null
• Example: /widgets/strings?setType=getNearbyEvents&setSearch=John Doe

setRadius

• Description: Sets the radius for searching nearby events or spotters using the priority or setSearch parameter.
• Widget Types: getNearbySpotters, getNearbyEvents, getCIMSS
• Default (int): 50
• Example: /widgets/strings?setType=getNearbySpotters&setRadius=5

setParameter

• Description: Used for the getCIMSS string widget which allows you to specify what CIMSS paramter you want to obtain (Highest value)
• Widget Types: getCIMSS
• Default (string): tornado
• Example: /widgets/strings?setType=getCIMSS&setParameter=severe

Examples

Example 1

Create a widget that shows the time in Eastern Standard Time and updates every 5 seconds.

/widgets/strings?setType=getClock&setTimezone=America/New_York&setRefreshTime=5

Example 2

Create a widget that counts all warnings in the watchdog and displays the count and has a text prefix of "Active Warnings".

/widgets/strings?setType=getWatchdog&setWatchdogList=* Warning&setTextPrefix=Active Warnings

Example 3

Create a widget that searches for nearby spotters within a 10 mi/km radius from the node John Doe.

/widgets/strings?setType=getNearbySpotters&setRadius=10&setSearch=John Doe

Example 4

Create a widget that searches for nearby events within a 20 mi/km radius from the node John Doe.

/widgets/strings?setType=getNearbyEvents&setRadius=20&setSearch=John Doe

Example 5

Create a widget that fetches the intensity at the location of the node John Doe.

/widgets/strings?setType=getDbzIntensity&setSearch=John Doe

Example 6

Create a widget that searches for a tracking node named John Doe and displays all the information about that node relating to his current location.

/widgets/strings?setType=getTracking&setSearch=John Doe&setValuePath=%properties.county%, %properties.state%

Example 7

Create a widget that gets a random event from the server and displays the title of that event.

/widgets/strings?setType=getRandomEvent&setValuePath=properties.event

Example 8

Create a widget that gets the highest tornado value from the CIMSS data within a 50 mi/km radius of the node John Doe.

/widgets/strings?setType=getCIMSS&setParameter=tornado&setSearch=John Doe&setRadius=50