# PyPortal Tides Viewer ## Overview ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/074/450/medium800/circuitpython_banner_bg.jpg?1555278819) Surfs up! Or is it? Do you live near an ocean or some other tidal body of water? Do you want to know what time high tide is? Low tide? Or even the overall tide level throughout the day? This guide will show how you can use an Adafruit PyPortal smart display to easily fetch tide information from the Internet and display it. CircuitPython is used for the code and the PyPortal library does all the heavy lifting. All that's left is some  initial data entry and it's ready for display. ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/074/556/medium800/circuitpython_graphical.jpg?1555475023) ## Parts The parts for this project are available on AdaBox 011 or individually: ### Adafruit PyPortal - CircuitPython Powered Internet Display [Adafruit PyPortal - CircuitPython Powered Internet Display](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4116) **PyPortal** , our easy-to-use IoT device that allows you to create all the things for the “Internet of Things” in minutes. Make custom touch screen interface GUIs, all open-source, and Python-powered using tinyJSON / APIs to get news, stock, weather, cat photos,... Out of Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4116) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/4116/guides) ![Front view of a Adafruit PyPortal - CircuitPython Powered Internet Display with a pyportal logo image on the display. ](https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/640x480/4116-00.jpeg) ### Adafruit PyPortal Desktop Stand Enclosure Kit [Adafruit PyPortal Desktop Stand Enclosure Kit](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4146) PyPortal is our easy-to-use IoT device that allows you to create all the things for the “Internet of Things” in minutes. Create little pocket universes of joy that connect to something good. And now that you've made a cool internet-connected project... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4146) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/4146/guides) ![Demo Shot of the Assembled Adafruit PyPortal Desktop Stand Enclosure Kit.](https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/640x480/4146-03.jpg) # PyPortal Tides Viewer ## Install CircuitPython [CircuitPython](https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython) is a derivative of [MicroPython](https://micropython.org) designed to simplify experimentation and education on low-cost microcontrollers. It makes it easier than ever to get prototyping by requiring no upfront desktop software downloads. Simply copy and edit files on the **CIRCUITPY**  "flash" drive to iterate. The following instructions will show you how to install CircuitPython. If you've already installed CircuitPython but are looking to update it or reinstall it, the same steps work for that as well! ## Set up CircuitPython Quick Start! Follow this quick step-by-step for super-fast Python power :) [Download the latest version of CircuitPython for the PyPortal via CircuitPython.org](https://circuitpython.org/board/pyportal/) [Download the latest version of CircuitPython for the PyPortal Pynt via CircuitPython.org](https://circuitpython.org/board/pyportal_pynt/) **Click the link above to download the latest version of CircuitPython for the PyPortal.** Download and save it to your desktop (or wherever is handy). ![circuitpython_pyportal-uf2.png](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/073/615/medium640/circuitpython_pyportal-uf2.png?1553610968) Plug your PyPortal into your computer using a known-good USB cable. **A lot of people end up using charge-only USB cables and it is very frustrating! So make sure you have a USB cable you know is good for data sync.** Double-click the **Reset** button on the top in the middle (magenta arrow) on your board, and you will see the NeoPixel RGB LED (green arrow) turn green. If it turns red, check the USB cable, try another USB port, etc.  **Note:** The little red LED next to the USB connector will pulse red. That's ok! If double-clicking doesn't work the first time, try again. Sometimes it can take a few tries to get the rhythm right! ![circuitpython_PyPortalResetNeoPIxel.jpg](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/071/993/medium640/circuitpython_PyPortalResetNeoPIxel.jpg?1551213425) You will see a new disk drive appear called **PORTALBOOT**. Drag the **adafruit-circuitpython-pyportal-\.uf2** file to **PORTALBOOT.** ![circuitpython_PyPortal_PORTALBOOT.png](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/072/029/medium640/circuitpython_PyPortal_PORTALBOOT.png?1551287972) ![circuitpython_PyPortal_Drag_UF2.png](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/072/030/medium640/circuitpython_PyPortal_Drag_UF2.png?1551287983) The LED will flash. Then, the **PORTALBOOT** drive will disappear and a new disk drive called **CIRCUITPY** will appear. If you haven't added any code to your board, the only file that will be present is **boot\_out.txt**. This is absolutely normal! It's time for you to add your **code.py** and get started! That's it, you're done! :) ![circuitpython_PyPortalCIRCUITPY.png](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/071/995/medium640/circuitpython_PyPortalCIRCUITPY.png?1551213875) ## PyPortal Default Files Click below to download a zip of the files that shipped on the PyPortal or PyPortal Pynt. [PyPortal Default Files](https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython-default-files/tree/main/boards/pyportal/4.x) [PyPortal Pynt Default Files](https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython-default-files/tree/main/boards/pyportal_pynt/5.x) # PyPortal Tides Viewer ## PyPortal CircuitPython Setup To use all the amazing features of your PyPortal with CircuitPython, you must first install a number of libraries. This page covers that process. # Adafruit CircuitPython Bundle Download the Adafruit CircuitPython Library Bundle. You can find the latest release here: [Latest Adafruit CircuitPython Library Bundle](https://circuitpython.org/libraries) Download the **adafruit-circuitpython-bundle-\*.x-mpy-\*.zip** bundle zip file where **\*.x MATCHES THE VERSION OF CIRCUITPYTHON YOU INSTALLED** , and unzip a folder of the same name. Inside you'll find a **lib** folder. You have two options: - You can add the **lib** folder to your **CIRCUITPY** drive. This will ensure you have _all the drivers_. But it will take a bunch of space on the 8 MB disk - Add each library as you need it, this will reduce the space usage but you'll need to put in a little more effort. At a minimum we recommend the following libraries, in fact we more than recommend. They're basically required. So grab them and install them into **CIRCUITPY/lib** now! - **adafruit\_esp32spi** - This is the library that gives you internet access via the ESP32 using (you guessed it!) SPI transport. You need this for anything Internet - **adafruit\_requests** - This library allows us to perform HTTP requests and get responses back from servers. GET/POST/PUT/PATCH - they're all in here! - adafruit\_connection\_manager - used by adafruit\_requests. - **adafruit\_pyportal** - This is our friendly wrapper library that does a lot of our projects, displays graphics and text, fetches data from the internet. Nearly all of our projects depend on it! - **adafruit\_portalbase**  - This library is the base library that adafruit\_pyportal library is built on top of. - **adafruit\_touchscreen** - a library for reading touches from the resistive touchscreen. Handles all the analog noodling, rotation and calibration for you. - **adafruit\_io** - this library helps connect the PyPortal to our free datalogging and viewing service - **adafruit\_imageload** - an image display helper, required for any graphics! - **adafruit\_display\_text** - not surprisingly, it displays text on the screen - **adafruit\_bitmap\_font** - we have fancy font support, and its easy to make new fonts. This library reads and parses font files. - **adafruit\_slideshow** - for making image slideshows - handy for quick display of graphics and sound - **neopixel** - for controlling the onboard neopixel - **adafruit\_adt7410** - library to read the temperature from the on-board Analog Devices ADT7410 precision temperature sensor (not necessary for Titano or Pynt) - **adafruit\_bus\_device** - low level support for I2C/SPI - **adafruit\_fakerequests**  - This library allows you to create fake HTTP requests by using local files. # PyPortal Tides Viewer ## Create Your settings.toml File CircuitPython works with WiFi-capable boards to enable you to make projects that have network connectivity. This means working with various passwords and API keys. As of [CircuitPython 8](https://circuitpython.org/downloads), there is support for a **settings.toml** file. This is a file that is stored on your **CIRCUITPY** drive, that contains all of your secret network information, such as your SSID, SSID password and any API keys for IoT services. It is designed to separate your sensitive information from your **code.py** file so you are able to share your code without sharing your credentials. CircuitPython previously used a **secrets.py** file for this purpose. The **settings.toml** file is quite similar. Warning: Your **settings.toml** file should be stored in the main directory of your **CIRCUITPY** drive. It should not be in a folder. ## CircuitPython **settings.toml** File This section will provide a couple of examples of what your **settings.toml** file should look like, specifically for CircuitPython WiFi projects in general. The most minimal **settings.toml** file must contain your WiFi SSID and password, as that is the minimum required to connect to WiFi. Copy this example, paste it into your **settings.toml** , and update: - `your_wifi_ssid` - `your_wifi_password` ```auto CIRCUITPY_WIFI_SSID = "your_wifi_ssid" CIRCUITPY_WIFI_PASSWORD = "your_wifi_password" ``` Many CircuitPython network-connected projects on the Adafruit Learn System involve using Adafruit IO. For these projects, you must _also_ include your Adafruit IO username and key. Copy the following example, paste it into your settings.toml file, and update: - `your_wifi_ssid` - `your_wifi_password` - `your_aio_username` - `your_aio_key` ```auto CIRCUITPY_WIFI_SSID = "your_wifi_ssid" CIRCUITPY_WIFI_PASSWORD = "your_wifi_password" ADAFRUIT_AIO_USERNAME = "your_aio_username" ADAFRUIT_AIO_KEY = "your_aio_key" ``` Some projects use different variable names for the entries in the **settings.toml** file. For example, a project might use `ADAFRUIT_AIO_ID` in the place of `ADAFRUIT_AIO_USERNAME`. **If you run into connectivity issues, one of the first things to check is that the names in the settings.toml file match the names in the code.** Warning: Not every project uses the same variable name for each entry in the **settings.toml** file! Always verify it matches the code. ## **settings.toml** File Tips Here is an example **settings.toml** file. ```auto # Comments are supported CIRCUITPY_WIFI_SSID = "guest wifi" CIRCUITPY_WIFI_PASSWORD = "guessable" CIRCUITPY_WEB_API_PORT = 80 CIRCUITPY_WEB_API_PASSWORD = "passw0rd" test_variable = "this is a test" thumbs_up = "\U0001f44d" ``` In a **settings.toml** file, it's important to keep these factors in mind: - Strings are wrapped in double quotes; ex: `"your-string-here"` - Integers are _ **not** _ quoted and may be written in decimal with optional sign (`+1`, `-1`, `1000`) or hexadecimal (`0xabcd`). - Floats (decimal numbers), octal (`0o567`) and binary (`0b11011`) are not supported. - Use `\u` escapes for weird characters, `\x` and `\ooo` escapes are not available in **.toml** files - Example: `\U0001f44d` for 👍 (thumbs up emoji) and `\u20ac` for € (EUR sign) - Unicode emoji, and non-ASCII characters, stand for themselves as long as you're careful to save in "UTF-8 without BOM" format     When your  **settings.toml ** file is ready, you can save it in your text editor with the **.toml**  extension. ![adafruit_products_dotToml.jpg](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/117/071/medium640/adafruit_products_dotToml.jpg?1671034293) ## Accessing Your **settings.toml** Information in **code.py** In your **code.py** file, you'll need to `import` the `os` library to access the **settings.toml** file. Your settings are accessed with the `os.getenv()` function. You'll pass your settings entry to the function to import it into the **code.py** file. ```python import os print(os.getenv("test_variable")) ``` ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/117/072/medium800/adafruit_products_tomlOutput.jpg?1671034496) In the upcoming CircuitPython WiFi examples, you'll see how the **settings.toml ** file is used for connecting to your SSID and accessing your API keys. # PyPortal Tides Viewer ## Internet Connect! # Connect to WiFi OK, now that you have your  **settings.toml** file set up - you can connect to the Internet. To do this, you need to first install a few libraries, into the lib folder on your **CIRCUITPY** drive. Then you need to update **code.py** with the example script. Thankfully, we can do this in one go. In the example below, click the **Download Project Bundle** button below to download the necessary libraries and the **code.py** file in a zip file. Extract the contents of the zip file, open the directory **examples/** and then click on the directory that matches the version of CircuitPython you're using and copy the contents of that directory to your **CIRCUITPY** drive. Your **CIRCUITPY** drive should now look similar to the following image: ![CIRCUITPY](https://adafruit.github.io/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Bundle/esp32spi_esp32spi_simpletest.py.png ) Info: Update to CircuitPython 9.2.x or later to use this example. https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_ESP32SPI/blob/main/examples/esp32spi_simpletest.py And save it to your board, with the name **code.py**. Don't forget you'll also need to create the **settings.toml** file as seen above, with your WiFi ssid and password. In a serial console, you should see something like the following. For more information about connecting with a serial console, view the guide [Connecting to the Serial Console](https://learn.adafruit.com/welcome-to-circuitpython/kattni-connecting-to-the-serial-console). ```terminal >>> import wifitest ESP32 SPI webclient test ESP32 found and in idle mode Firmware vers. 1.7.5 MAC addr: 24:C9:DC:BD:0F:3F HomeNetwork RSSI: -46 HomeNetwork RSSI: -76 Fios-12345 RSSI: -92 FiOS-AB123 RSSI: -92 NETGEAR53 RSSI: -93 Connecting to AP... Connected to HomeNetwork RSSI: -45 My IP address is 192.168.1.245 IP lookup adafruit.com: 104.20.39.240 Ping google.com: 30 ms Fetching text from http://wifitest.adafruit.com/testwifi/index.html ---------------------------------------- This is a test of Adafruit WiFi! If you can read this, its working :) ---------------------------------------- Fetching json from http://wifitest.adafruit.com/testwifi/sample.json ---------------------------------------- {'fun': True, 'company': 'Adafruit', 'founded': 2005, 'primes': [2, 3, 5], 'pi': 3.14, 'mixed': [False, None, 3, True, 2.7, 'cheese']} ---------------------------------------- Done! ``` Going over the example above, here's a breakdown of what the program is doing: - Initialize the ESP32 over SPI using the SPI port and 3 control pins: ```python esp32_cs = DigitalInOut(board.ESP_CS) esp32_ready = DigitalInOut(board.ESP_BUSY) esp32_reset = DigitalInOut(board.ESP_RESET) #... else: spi = busio.SPI(board.SCK, board.MOSI, board.MISO) esp = adafruit_esp32spi.ESP_SPIcontrol(spi, esp32_cs, esp32_ready, esp32_reset) ``` - Get the socket pool and the SSL context, and then tell the `adafruit_requests` library about them. ```python pool = adafruit_connection_manager.get_radio_socketpool(esp) ssl_context = adafruit_connection_manager.get_radio_ssl_context(esp) requests = adafruit_requests.Session(pool, ssl_context) ``` - Verify an ESP32 is found, checks the firmware and MAC address ```auto if esp.status == adafruit_esp32spi.WL_IDLE_STATUS: print("ESP32 found and in idle mode") print("Firmware vers.", esp.firmware_version) print("MAC addr:", ":".join("%02X" % byte for byte in esp.MAC_address)) ``` - Perform a scan of all access points it can see and print out the name and signal strength. ```python for ap in esp.scan_networks(): print("\t%-23s RSSI: %d" % (ap.ssid, ap.rssi)) ``` - Connect to the AP we've defined here, then print out the local IP address. Then attempt to do a domain name lookup and ping google.com to check network connectivity. (Note sometimes the ping fails or takes a while; this isn't a big deal.) ```python print("Connecting to AP...") while not esp.is_connected: try: esp.connect_AP(ssid, password) except OSError as e: print("could not connect to AP, retrying: ", e) continue print("Connected to", esp.ap_info.ssid, "\tRSSI:", esp.ap_info.rssi) print("My IP address is", esp.ipv4_address) print( "IP lookup adafruit.com: %s" % esp.pretty_ip(esp.get_host_by_name("adafruit.com")) ) ``` Now we're getting to the really interesting part of the example program. We've written a library for web fetching web data, named [adafruit\_requests](https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Requests). It is a lot like the regular Python library named [requests](https://requests.readthedocs.io/en/latest/). This library allows you to send HTTP and HTTPS requests easily and provides helpful methods for parsing the response from the server. - Here is the part of the example program is fetching text data from a URL. ```python TEXT_URL = "http://wifitest.adafruit.com/testwifi/index.html" # Further up in the program # ... print("Fetching text from", TEXT_URL) r = requests.get(TEXT_URL) print('-' * 40) print(r.text) print('-' * 40) r.close() ``` - Finally, here the program is fetching some JSON data. The `adafruit_requests` library will parse the JSON into a Python dictionary whose structure is the same as the structure of the JSON. ```auto JSON_URL = "http://wifitest.adafruit.com/testwifi/sample.json" # Further up in the program # ... print("Fetching json from", JSON_URL) r = requests.get(JSON_URL) print('-' * 40) print(r.json()) print('-' * 40) r.close() ``` # Advanced Requests Usage Want to send custom HTTP headers, parse the response as raw bytes, or handle a response's http status code in your CircuitPython code? We've written an example to show advanced usage of the requests module below. To use with CircuitPython, you need to first install a few libraries, into the lib folder on your **CIRCUITPY** drive. Then you need to update **code.py** with the example script. Thankfully, we can do this in one go. In the example below, click the **Download Project Bundle** button below to download the necessary libraries and the **code.py** file in a zip file. Extract the contents of the zip file, open the directory **examples/** and then click on the directory that matches the version of CircuitPython you're using and copy the contents of that directory to your **CIRCUITPY** drive. https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Requests/blob/main/examples/esp32spi/requests_esp32spi_advanced.py Your **CIRCUITPY** drive should now look similar to the following image: ![CIRCUITPY](https://adafruit.github.io/Adafruit_CircuitPython_Bundle/requests_esp32spi_requests_esp32spi_advanced.py.png ) # WiFi Manager The way the examples above connect to WiFi works but it's a little finicky. Since WiFi is not necessarily so reliable, you may have disconnects and need to reconnect. For more advanced uses, we recommend using the `WiFiManager` class. It will wrap the connection/status/requests loop for you - reconnecting if WiFi drops, resetting the ESP32 if it gets into a bad state, etc. Here's a more advanced example that shows using the `WiFiManager` and also how to fetch the current time from a web source. https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_CircuitPython_ESP32SPI/blob/main/examples/esp32spi_localtime.py # Further Information For more information on the basics of doing networking in CircuitPython, see this guide: ### Networking in CircuitPython [Networking in CircuitPython](https://learn.adafruit.com/networking-in-circuitpython) # PyPortal Tides Viewer ## NOAA Tides Web Service We will use a web service provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ([NOAA](https://www.noaa.gov/)) to get our tide information. One benefit of this is that no API key is needed, since it's your tax dollars at work. However, since this is a part of the US government, the service only covers regions of the United States. If you live outside the United States, you may have to find a service which sends out tide data as a JSON feed and adapt the code to your new data source. The framework laid out here should provide you a great starting point. ## NOAA CO-OPS API Wow, acronyms! We already covered NOAA above. [CO-OPS](https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/about_us.html) stands for Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services. Why is there a dash? Don't know, it's just what the government does. But also, it doesn't really matter. If you want to know more, [read about it here](https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/about_us.html). API stands for Application Programming Interface, a general term used a lot in programming. The CO-OPS API is one of many web services that NOAA provides. [There's a complete list here](https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/web_services_info.html). The main documentation for the web service we will use is here: [ CO-OPS API For Data Retrieval](https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/api/) There are a lot of options and types of data that can be returned. We've worked out the magic invocation needed for the PyPortal and you can find it in the code later. The only item you will need to worry about is finding your closest tide monitoring station ID. This is how you will set your location in the code. So let's see how you can figure that out next. ## Find Your Tide Station ID To find you station ID, start by going to this webpage: [Tides and Currents Map](https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/) Scroll down a bit and you'll see a map. You can simply click on the state of interest. Note that some states are not clickable. That's because they don't have tides :( ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/074/453/medium800/circuitpython_Screenshot_from_2019-04-14_15-32-44.png?1555281231) Once you've clicked on a state you'll get a familiar map like interface that you can drag and zoom around. Use that to zoom in and find the station marker that seems like it will work best for your location. ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/074/454/medium800/circuitpython_Screenshot_from_2019-04-14_15-33-21.png?1555281301) Click on the marker and it will bring up information about that marker. ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/074/455/medium800/circuitpython_Screenshot_from_2019-04-14_15-33-33.png?1555281319) The station ID will be the number shown near the top. This is what you will enter into your code. ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/074/456/medium800/circuitpython_station_id.jpg?1555281402) ## Basic Tide Time Info Here's the URL that gets the high and low times for the current day at the station location. The station ID is the very last thing in the URL, so you can change it for your location if you want. ```auto https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/api/datagetter?date=today&product=predictions&datum=mllw&interval=hilo&format=json&units=metric&time_zone=lst_ldt&station=9447130 ``` If you put that address in your web browser you'll get something that looks like this: ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/074/509/medium800/circuitpython_Untitled.png?1555419984) Not a very pretty web page. That's because it's just JSON data. The key **predictions** is the root for all the data. Then there are several entries that look like: ```auto {"t":"2019-04-15 02:55", "v":"3.401", "type":"H"} ``` The **t** entry gives us the date and time, the **v** entry gives us the tide level, and the **type** is **H** for high tide or **L** for low tide. So we have what we need - the time for each of the high and low tides for the given day. You'll see how this is parsed out later in the code. ## **Tide Levels Throughout the Day** With a slight modification of the URL, we can get predicted water levels in 6 minute increments over the period of the current day. Here's the URL for that: ```auto https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/api/datagetter?date=today&product=predictions&datum=mllw&format=json&units=metric&time_zone=lst_ldt&station=9447130 ``` ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/074/476/medium800/circuitpython_Screenshot_from_2019-04-14_20-24-11.png?1555298661) More data like before, but now much more of it! With data every 6 minutes, that's 10 per hour, or 240 for the entire day. And now each entry contains simply **t** and **v**. So for the given time **t** , we get the predicted water level **v**. We can use that to make a neat little plot of water level vs. time for the day. This will give us a graphical representation of the tidal activity. # PyPortal Tides Viewer ## High Low Tide Times Viewer ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/074/451/medium800/circuitpython_hilo.jpg?1555279099) This version is just a basic tide time information viewer. It shows the times when the daily high and low times will occur. Typically there will be two of each per day. Let's get the code loaded up and running first, since that's more fun. We'll discuss how the parsing works after that. ## Add CircuitPython Code and Assets In the embedded code element below, click on the **Download Project Bundle** button, and save the .zip archive file to your computer. Then uncompress the.zip file, it will unpack to a folder named **PyPortal\_Tides**. Copy the contents of the **PyPortal\_Tides** directory to your PyPortal **CIRCUITPY** drive. ![CIRCUITPY](https://adafruit.github.io/Adafruit_Learning_System_Guides/PyPortal_PyPortal_Tides_pp_tides.png ) ## Editing the Code At the top of the code, find the line that sets the station ID and change it for your location: ```auto STATION_ID = "9447130" # tide location, find yours here: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ ``` Note that it is entered as a string, not a number. So don't remove the quotation marks. https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Learning_System_Guides/blob/main/PyPortal/PyPortal_Tides/pp_tides/code.py ## How It Works As mentioned previously, the JSON data we need to deal with looks like this: ```auto { "predictions" : [ {"t":"2019-04-15 02:55", "v":"3.401", "type":"H"},{"t":"2019-04-15 09:01", "v":"1.586", "type":"L"},{"t":"2019-04-15 14:04", "v":"2.780", "type":"H"},{"t":"2019-04-15 20:33", "v":"0.111", "type":"L"} ]} ``` All of the data mangling work is done in the function `get_tide_info()`. So let's walk through that. When we setup our `PyPortal` object, we told it we want the information rooted at `predictions`. Once that is setup, along with providing the URL, to connect to the Internet and retrieve the data we simply call `fetch()` from the PyPortal library. ```python raw_info = pyportal.fetch() ``` Now we need to parse out the data in `raw_info`. We could come up with various ways of storing the results, but here we use a dictionary of lists. This will have an "H" entry which will contain the times for the high tides and an "L" entry which will contain the times for the low tides. This choice of keys for the dictionary is not arbitrary. It was chosen to match the **type** values in the return results. That way we can use those directly as the dictionary keys. We set this up initially with blank entries for the lists: ```auto new_tide_info = {"H":[], "L":[]} ``` Then we loop over each entry and parse the data. We use `type` as is for the key. We don't want the date part of the **t** entry, so we split it on the space and save only the second part - the time. ```auto for info in raw_info: tide_type = info["type"] tide_time = info["t"].split(" ")[1] new_tide_info[tide_type].append(tide_time) ``` Done! Now `new_tide_info` has what we want, so we return it. ```auto return new_tide_info ``` The rest of the code just displays these results. The very bottom of the code is a loop that runs for ever. Once a day it will go and fetch the new tide data. # PyPortal Tides Viewer ## Graphical Tide Level Viewer ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/074/452/medium800/circuitpython_graphical.jpg?1555279121) This version is a little fancier. It provides a graphical plot of the predicted tide level over the 24 hour span of the current day. It works pretty much the same as the simple version - go grab the data, parse it, display it. Here we just have more data to deal with and we display it a little fancier. Let's get the code loaded up and running first... ## Add CircuitPython Code and Assets In the embedded code element below, click on the **Download Project Bundle** button, and save the .zip archive file to your computer. Then uncompress the.zip file, it will unpack to a folder named **PyPortal\_Tides**. Copy the contents of the **PyPortal\_Tides** directory to your PyPortal **CIRCUITPY** drive. ![CIRCUITPY](https://adafruit.github.io/Adafruit_Learning_System_Guides/PyPortal_PyPortal_Tides_pp_tides_graphical.png ) ## Editing the Code At the top of the code, find the line that sets the station ID and change it for your location: ```auto STATION_ID = "9447130" # tide location, find yours here: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ ``` Note that it is entered as a string, not a number. https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Learning_System_Guides/blob/main/PyPortal/PyPortal_Tides/pp_tides_graphical/code.py # How It Works This code also does all the data mangling in a single function - `get_tide_data()`. The general idea is to take the time vs. tide level information and map it into the display's (x, y) coordinates. That way all we have to do is draw pixels at all the (x, y) locations and it will generate a plot. But first, we go get the data. Same as before: ```auto raw_data = pyportal.fetch() ``` We store this in a list that has an entry for each x pixel on the display. The index of the list corresponds to the x pixel. The entry itself is the y value. So we know we need as many entries as the display has pixels across, i.e. its `WIDTH`: ```auto new_tide_data = [None]*WIDTH ``` And then we loop and parse the data again. We split out the date and time. We further split out the time into hours and minutes, so we can do some math on what will become our x value. The tide level v is what will become our y value. After some math, the results are stored in our list and finally returned. ```auto for data in raw_data: _, t = data["t"].split(" ") # date and time h, m = t.split(":") # hours and minutes v = data["v"] # water level x = round( (WIDTH - 1) * (60 * float(h) + float(m)) / 1440 ) y = (HEIGHT // 2) - round(VSCALE * float(v)) y = 0 if y < 0 else y y = HEIGHT-1 if y >= HEIGHT else y new_tide_data[x] = y return new_tide_data ``` Let's talk about that math a little more. First, the math for the horizontal or x position: ```auto x = round( (WIDTH - 1) * (60 * float(h) + float(m)) / 1440 ) ``` The display is **WIDTH** pixels across. A day has 24 hours which is 24\*60= **1440** total minutes. So there are 1440 minutes per `WIDTH` pixels. To get the **x** coordinate for any given minute, we just multiply by that ratio: **x = minutes \* (WIDTH / 1440)** That's all that's happening. There's a little more in the code to compute total minutes for hours+minutes time data. And the **- 1** is to deal with the 0 based indexing of the x pixels - they start at 0, not 1. Now the math for the vertical or y position: ```auto y = (HEIGHT // 2) - round(VSCALE * float(v)) ``` We want the vertical plot to vary above/below the middle of the display. So we just compute the middle of display with `HEIGHT / 2`. From the this we subtract the tide level value **v**. **y = (HEIGHT / 2) - v** And that's pretty much it. The extra things being done are to use **//** instead of **/** to force integer math, since the **y** pixel needs to be an integer. We also scale the **v** value by multiplying by `VSCALE`, which is just an arbitrary value to make the plot spread out more. We wrap that in `round()` to also make sure it ends up being an integer. The other two lines just make sure the bounds are with the actual display values of `0` to `HEIGHT-1`. ## What's That Little Red Mark? That's the location of the current time on the tide plot. It should move along the plot as the day progresses. If it doesn't show up when you initially run the code, wait a bit. It should eventually show up. # PyPortal Tides Viewer ## Customizing ## Simple Stuff At the top of each version of the code there is a section with some user changeable settings. It looks like this: ```auto #--| USER CONFIG |-------------------------- STATION_ID = "9447130" # tide location, find yours here: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ HI_COLOR = 0x00FF00 # high tide times color LO_COLOR = 0x11FFFF # low tide times color DATE_COLOR = 0xFFFFFF # date and time color #------------------------------------------- ``` The most important is the station ID, which sets the location. But there are a few others as well. You can change the color used for the text labels, for example. ## Not So Simple Stuff Most of the graphics used for the tides display were created ahead of time and saved as a BMP image file. These were then simply set to be the background image for the PyPortal and the tide information was added on top of that. What if you want to change the background image for the tides time display? Or you don't like the blue tinted graph and want to change that? To do so, you will need the source files used for generating the BMP images. These are provided below in SVG format. You can use something like [Inkscape](https://inkscape.org/) to edit these and output new BMP files. [tides_bg.svg](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/074/457/original/tides_bg.svg?1555285107) [tides_bg_graph.svg](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/074/458/original/tides_bg_graph.svg?1555285112) ## 12 Hour Time Format Not a fan of the 24 hour time format? Wish it could be 12 hour AM/PM instead? The current version of the code does not support this. Only 24 hour time format. This is mainly due to wanting to keep things simple. The times shown are simply what is returned from the NOAA web service, which are strings in a 24 hour time format. It wouldn't be too difficult to add additional parsing, logic, and math to add this. Most of the work would be in adding some form of AM/PM indication to the display. Doing so would be a fun exercise in learning more about Python and CircuitPython. ## Featured Products ### AdaBox011 - PyPortal [AdaBox011 - PyPortal](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4061) Reach out beyond your desk - to the stars and beyond - with **PyPortal**! This ADABOX features a new, easy-to-use IoT device that allows you to customize and create your very own "Internet of Things" portal. We take CircuitPython to the max, pairing a SAMD51 chip with a... No Longer Stocked [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4061) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/4061/guides) ### Adafruit PyPortal - CircuitPython Powered Internet Display [Adafruit PyPortal - CircuitPython Powered Internet Display](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4116) **PyPortal** , our easy-to-use IoT device that allows you to create all the things for the “Internet of Things” in minutes. Make custom touch screen interface GUIs, all open-source, and Python-powered using tinyJSON / APIs to get news, stock, weather, cat photos,... Out of Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4116) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/4116/guides) ### Adafruit PyPortal Desktop Stand Enclosure Kit [Adafruit PyPortal Desktop Stand Enclosure Kit](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4146) PyPortal is our easy-to-use IoT device that allows you to create all the things for the “Internet of Things” in minutes. Create little pocket universes of joy that connect to something good. And now that you've made a cool internet-connected project... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4146) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/4146/guides) ### Pink and Purple Braided USB A to Micro B Cable - 2 meter long [Pink and Purple Braided USB A to Micro B Cable - 2 meter long](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4148) This cable is super-fashionable with a woven pink and purple Blinka-like pattern! First let's talk about the cover and over-molding. We got these in custom colors, and if you _have_ to have visible cables, then you might as well have the nicest fabric-bound... No Longer Stocked [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/4148) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/4148/guides) ## Related Guides - [Adafruit PyPortal - IoT for CircuitPython](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pyportal.md) - [EZ Make Oven](https://learn.adafruit.com/ez-make-oven.md) - [PyPortal IoT Data Logger with Analog Devices ADT7410, Adafruit IO and CircuitPython](https://learn.adafruit.com/iot-pyportal-data-logger-adafruitio-circuitpython.md) - [Use circup to easily keep your CircuitPython libraries up to date](https://learn.adafruit.com/keep-your-circuitpython-libraries-on-devices-up-to-date-with-circup.md) - [PyPortal Reddit Stats Trophy](https://learn.adafruit.com/pyportal-reddit-stats-trophy.md) - [Portable PyPortal](https://learn.adafruit.com/portable-pyportal.md) - [PyPortal LIFX Lighting Controller ](https://learn.adafruit.com/pyportal-lifx-lighting-controller.md) - [A Floppy Thumb Drive with a Color File Icon Display](https://learn.adafruit.com/a-floppy-thumb-drive-with-a-color-file-icon-display.md) - [PyPortal Adafruit Quote Book](https://learn.adafruit.com/pyportal-adafruit-quote-board.md) - [A Logger for CircuitPython](https://learn.adafruit.com/a-logger-for-circuitpython.md) - [PyPortal IoT Plant Monitor with Microsoft Azure IoT and CircuitPython](https://learn.adafruit.com/using-microsoft-azure-iot-with-circuitpython.md) - [PyPortal GitHub Stars Trophy](https://learn.adafruit.com/pyportal-github-stars-trophy.md) - [PyPortal Quarantine Clock](https://learn.adafruit.com/pyportal-quarantine-clock.md) - [Quickstart: Adafruit IO WipperSnapper ](https://learn.adafruit.com/quickstart-adafruit-io-wippersnapper.md) - [CircuitPython Neko Kitty with Displayio](https://learn.adafruit.com/circuitpython-neko-kitty-with-displayio.md) - [Playing Animated GIF Files in CircuitPython](https://learn.adafruit.com/using-animated-gif-files-in-circuitpython.md)