Chart Downloader/Updater Plugin

[Gilletarom]

Hello Pavel,

Sorry to bother you with file language problem.

1° Item "%s (%s de %s), river miles %3.1f - %3.1f"

Is "river miles" is length of a river ?

2° Item "Browse"
This item is not present on Crowdin and it is not present in the po file.

So impossible to translate it.

Note that there is the same problem, with the same item in "Weather-Routing" plugin file language.

Is it because you thing that this item is present in the file language of O ? I seach this item in Crowdin for O, it is no present.
I search it in all strings in Crowdin, it is no present.

[Gilletarom]

Hello Pavel,

By working closely to improve items in Crowdin with some of trial and error, I've been thinking about the next thing.

This applies preferences plugin, those available by going to the "Plugins" tab "Options" O.

There are two check boxes.
Once selected preferences, it is rare that back there.
If the checkbox "All the new charts" is not checked, it is very probable that a user seeks alpha download charts how long he never downloaded, especially if he wants to do long after installing the plugin.
It will certainly be the same for the other check box preferences.

In my opinion it would be better if the preferences are displaced so as to be directly accessible from the plugin window.

Best regards. Gilletarom.

[transmitterdan]

Originally Posted by Gilletarom

Pavel,

A bug ... Sorry.

I try to download the charts that I speak in my previous post. Impossible. Perhaps, this is normal

BUT

See 3 screen copy.

Thirst I said the URL, the name, the folder. This Ok. See screen copy 1 and 2

Second, I use button "Mettre à jour" (Updated) And then , no crash, no freeze but, the name of my own list is replaced by the name of the previous lits (ENC USA). See screen copy 3.

B.R. Gilletarom.

Gilletarom,

This isn't a bug. The plugin has to have an XML file of a certain format as a chart catalog. You have given the URL of an HTML page. This will never work. If there is a bug it is that the plugin did not flag the URL as bad. The plugin cannot read any random web page and decipher the meaning.

If you are interested have a look at the XML file for one of the US chart catalogs. This format is what is needed to be able to compare dates and download the new/updated chart files. If there is such a catalog for French charts then we can think about how to add that to the plugin.

[Gilletarom]

Hello Transmitterdan,

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

Gilletarom,

This isn't a bug. The plugin has to have an XML file of a certain format as a chart catalog. You have given the URL of an HTML page. This will never work. If there is a bug it is that the plugin did not flag the URL as bad. The plugin cannot read any random web page and decipher the meaning.

If you are interested have a look at the XML file for one of the US chart catalogs. This format is what is needed to be able to compare dates and download the new/updated chart files. If there is such a catalog for French charts then we can think about how to add that to the plugin.

No, you have not undestand the problem that I speak.

I understood that the URL I entered was not a good URL. This Is not the question.

Please carefully look at my screenshots. And ask yourself, "Why does the name of calog has changed in the last screenshot?" And you will see that there is a display anomaly. See the third catalog in my list of catalog. Compare with another screenshot.

[transmitterdan]

Originally Posted by Gilletarom

Hello Transmitterdan,



No, you have not undestand the problem that I speak.

I understood that the URL I entered was not a good URL. This Is not the question.

Please carefully look at my screenshots. And ask yourself, "Why does the name of calog has changed in the last screenshot?" And you will see that there is a display anomaly. See the third catalog in my list of catalog. Compare with another screenshot.

Do you have the latest version of the plugin? I thought I fixed this display problem some days ago. In any event, this won't happen if you give a valid XML file name as the chart catalog.

[Gilletarom]

Hello transmitterdan,

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

Do you have the latest version of the plugin? .....

I thing "Yes". Downloaded this morning. 0.6.



And fortunately a beta user sees. Otherwise, there would have been alpha users to try

[rgleason]

Pavel, I was able to compile Tab version 6.0 this morning.

I noticed that when I "Add" a catalog using "Predefined" then go into "Edit", the selection is automatically shown as "Custom".

1. Is this done so that the user is able to change the "already entered" URL and download location, which they have been considering as "Predetermined?
2. I wonder if a "Predefined" should have this feature, as new users may find it confusing.
3. Or should we look at it this way, After "Adding" a catalog using "Predefined" settings the settings become "Custom" and fully editable.
4. What I wonder is if the User should not actually have to select an override and change "Predefined" to "Custom" so that they can change these settings?

The goal is obviously to keep things simple for the User, and to make things clear to them. Is Add Catalog "Predefined" a one time thing? OR is it a User choice that stays static forever, unless the user actually chooses to override and select "Custom". Quite obviously there are programming mechanics behind all this and there are recommended ways of doing things programmatically, so that needs to be included in the equation too.

PS: Thank you for the Preferences and path.

[rgleason]

This morning under C:\ProgramData\opencpn\Charts\ENC\Austria
I found file 1Supdate_20140806.zip
so I believe Chartdldr succeeded at downloading at least one zip file from Austria,
that I had been trying several days ago using the Chart Sources Page in the Wiki.
Chart Sources | Official OpenCPN Homepage under "Many European countries publish free S57 ENC charts for their inland waterways:" Find Austria

doris.bmvit: Inland ENCs (Inland ECDIS Standard 2.1)

I guess the user would then simply un-zip the file manually? However when looking into the zip it appears to place them in under BSB_Roots directory which would then be a sub-directory of ENC/Austria
--I think I must have tried an "Add" Catalog "Custom" because of the ENC/Austria path. I don't believe any Catalog appeared but I did find the Zip file under ENC/Austria which of course is incorrect.

Will try some more of this later to see if my supposition is correct.

[rgleason]

It looks like Australia charts are here Australian Hydrographic Service - AusENC and only ENC are provided at a cost.

[wdkester]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

Pavel,

Thank you for working so hard on this little plugin. I think it is working pretty well.

For other readers of this thread you may be wondering how to create a custom chart catalog for a particular state. Below is a custom catalog for the state of California (CA). All the states with ocean or great lakes shoreline have their own chart catalogs. The states within the Pacific Ocean use the 2 letter abbreviation PO.

This example is for CA ENCs. To get CA raster RNCs change ENC to RNC in the catalog URL. Also, you probably want to change the chart directory as well.

I could be wrong about this, but if the user already has a state downloaded he should point to the BSB_ROOT folder. If he doesn't he will end up with 2 copies of the charts, which at a minimum wastes space. I also wonder if O when building it's internal catalog uses the most recent chart it finds? I think so.

[nohal]

Originally Posted by wdkester

I could be wrong about this, but if the user already has a state downloaded he should point to the BSB_ROOT folder. If he doesn't he will end up with 2 copies of the charts, which at a minimum wastes space.

Yes, it is true. I'm still not decided on how much "smarter" than the user the plugin should try to be. A bit smarter than now for sure...

I also wonder if O when building it's internal catalog uses the most recent chart it finds? I think so.

Yes, O uses the most recent copy.

Pavel

[nohal]

Originally Posted by Gilletarom

Hello Pavel,

Sorry to bother you with file language problem.

1° Item "%s (%s de %s), river miles %3.1f - %3.1f"

Is "river miles" is length of a river ?

It is not length of the river, it is the part of the river a certain US IENC cell covers.

2° Item "Browse"
This item is not present on Crowdin and it is not present in the po file.

So impossible to translate it.

Note that there is the same problem, with the same item in "Weather-Routing" plugin file language.

Is it because you thing that this item is present in the file language of O ? I seach this item in Crowdin for O, it is no present.
I search it in all strings in Crowdin, it is no present.

It is a system button, not part of the plugin's or O's translations.

[nohal]

Originally Posted by rgleason

Pavel, I was able to compile Tab version 6.0 this morning.

I noticed that when I "Add" a catalog using "Predefined" then go into "Edit", the selection is automatically shown as "Custom".

Is this done so that the user is able to change the "already entered" URL and download location, which they have been considering as "Predetermined?

Yes.

I wonder if a "Predefined" should have this feature, as new users may find it confusing.

I think it should. Even a new user should have some common sense.

Or should we look at it this way, After "Adding" a catalog using "Predefined" settings the settings become "Custom" and fully editable.
What I wonder is if the User should not actually have to select an override and change "Predefined" to "Custom" so that they can change these settings?

After adding the catalog, even from a predefined template, it becomes user's "property", completely.

The goal is obviously to keep things simple for the User, and to make things clear to them. Is Add Catalog "Predefined" a one time thing? OR is it a User choice that stays static forever, unless the user actually chooses to override and select "Custom". Quite obviously there are programming mechanics behind all this and there are recommended ways of doing things programmatically, so that needs to be included in the equation too.

PS: Thank you for the Preferences and path.

After the user configures the chart source, he can do whatever he needs with it. This is intentional. When you screw up a catalog created from the template, you just delete it and create a new one from the same template, point it to the same local folder and it is fixed. I can hardly see another way to maintain the same flexibility and simplicity of the GUI and "protect" the user from himself at the same time.

[nohal]

Originally Posted by Gilletarom

Pavel,

You know, perhaps, that link. It allows the website VNF (Waterways of France), free download charts of some French rivers and canals.
VNF - Voies navigables de France - Cartes Ecdis

How should he do with the plugin, to download these maps?

Yes, I know about them. The way they publish updates is as usually completely different from what's used anywhere else in the world
But don't worry, it will be addressed.

[nohal]

Originally Posted by Gilletarom

Hello Pavel,



This morning I install ChartDownloader 0.6.
First, I downloaded 3 charts. No problem. Then I downloaded all the other charts. No problem. (RNC raster Brésil, 365 charts)

Is it possible to add a feature. After downloading charts, indicate OpenCPN to update the database of the charts.

Is it possible that after the download is complete, a message appears asking if we want:
- 1. Update the database
- 2. Update texture data for those who work with OpenGL ON.

Indeed, an alpha user who installs three charts first, trying them as I did, will be surprised if other load charts do not use them. He must think to update the database.
And I can say without a mistake, given the bizarre questions put currently on the French forum, this would be a good thing to automatically trigger the update of the database.

Best regards, Gilletarom.

Not possible now with OpenCPN 4.0, all we can do is to tell the user to update the database, which we do. It will be addressed in the next OpenCPN release.