date function

[rslotpole]

Hi,

is there a way to change the current date inside opencpn? I'm able to do it by changing the system date and time but this is a rather crude approach. It's a neat way to help planning future routes and taking tides and currents into consideration.

[HappySeagull]

if it's just future tides and currents you want, right-click the tide-bar or current arrow and then click "Next" button to advance through days.

[rslotpole]

Thanks, I got that. It would be nice to see currents and tides updated to match your estimated route. Also, I notice that when you use route manager and put in a date and time it doesn't save that information - is that a known bug?

[HappySeagull]

Originally Posted by rslotpole

Thanks, I got that. It would be nice to see currents and tides updated to match your estimated route. Also, I notice that when you use route manager and put in a date and time it doesn't save that information - is that a known bug?

You have to have "Times Shown As" set to "Local PC"

here's a link to the page of the help
The Route Manager and Gpx Data | Official OpenCPN Homepage

further down, you'll see some arcane stuff to help you with your tide question too

[PjotrC]

Originally Posted by rslotpole

I notice that when you use route manager and put in a date and time it doesn't save that information - is that a known bug?

The departure date and time are indeed not part of the permanent route attributes, but I do not think this is a bug.

Saving this information along with the route would create problems in other areas.

Splitting and joining routes would need answering some questions...

A saved route might become later part of a layer, with the departure date becoming unmodifiable and potentially not meaningful ...

Better to keep the basic route very simple.

One might think of a more permanent object called, say, "route scenario" or "route plan", grouping together all the relevant data per every actual waypoint ETA (effectively what is seen in Route Properties Dialog), but this is not often worth saving, as every time the scenario looks different.

I agree that re-entering the departure time other than ">" may be annoying, so it would be nice to put in the buttons for e.g. "Now", "1 day later" and "3 hours later", as I have done some years ago in a custom 2.5 variant...

[HappySeagull]

Originally Posted by PjotrC

The departure date and time are indeed not part of the permanent route attributes, but I do not think this is a bug.

...

Pjotr? I think they are. or at least CAN be.. See my post above yours.

Here's one I exported using local PC time

<rte>
    <name>testroute</name>
    <extensions>
      <opencpn:guid>07b80000-7efe-4a6b-a81c-a2550a650000</opencpn:guid>
      <opencpn:viz>1</opencpn:viz>
      <opencpn:start>teststart</opencpn:start>
      <opencpn:end>testend</opencpn:end>
      <opencpn:planned_departure>2015-03-20T21:10:00Z</opencpn:planned_departure>
      <opencpn:time_display>PC</opencpn:time_display>
    </extensions>
<rtept lat="49.551655279" lon="-124.865266801">
      <time>2014-04-05T14:55:29Z</time>
      <name>001</name>
      <sym>diamond</sym>
      <type>WPT</type>
      <extensions>

but the waypoints have the date of creation

[rslotpole]

all very interesting but wouldn't it be good to automatically see what the current or tides are based on the forecast-ed arrival time of an activated waypoint??.

[PjotrC]

Originally Posted by rslotpole

all very interesting but wouldn't it be good to automatically see what the current or tides are based on the forecast-ed arrival time of an activated waypoint??.

Indeed, as far as tides are concerned, this is available since some 2 or 3 years, and beautifully documented where Happy has just pointed to ...

I did not implement the same for currents then, since: 1) the available current stations were more scarce at the time 2) not enough public interest had been expressed in this area.

@Happy

Surprise indeed... what version? The good thing is that "planned departure" is saved as local property to OCPN, but still, I think it is more trouble than gain... lots of possible uses and misues...

I'm even more surprised at the <opencpn:time_display>. If the intention is to save all user input around the route plan being viewed, then the "plan_speed" should be there as well...

In my experience every time I revisit a route, I give different date etc.

Would be nice to have the Print Route include all the info shown in the dialog for future reference (timing, tides etc.).

[nohal]

Pjotr...
It's there since the early 3.3 betas. Unfortunately I've had no time to finish the rework since then...

Pavel

[HappySeagull]

Originally Posted by PjotrC

.....
@Happy

Surprise indeed... what version? ....
.

@Pjotr, it's
"Version 3.3.1419 Build 2014-02-19"

[rslotpole]

opencpn is really great. There are certain places where the currents can be very confusing. For instance, I sail out of Boston and am planning a week cruise to nantucket. Sailing through cape cod canal, woods hole, and possibly pollock rip it would be great to see the currents automatically adjusted to match an activated way point. Even if it doesn't store the data it would be very useful for planning purposes. I'll check into the link you provided to see how tides are updated but didn't see this feature when using the route manager

[HappySeagull]

Do that- it's about halfway down the page
The Route Manager and Gpx Data | Official OpenCPN Homepage

Checkout the Tide and current Help for other info and sources too.
Tides and Currents | Official OpenCPN Homepage

Nothing trumps the Official (Government) Source updated to the year though, so always try to check whichever dataset against these. You may find some geographic mismatches as to position of stations as well...