OpenCPN

[dacust]

I get something different on the status bar.

Screen shots here

First start - old gray status bar.
Turn status off - No change. Same gray bar. But it no longer updates.
Turn status on - White bar with dividers. Looks good.
Turn status off - No change. Same white bar. But it no longer updates.

If I exit with status on, startup shows gray bar, and it behaves as above.

If I exit with status off, status bar doesn't show.
If I then turn it on, it shows up overlaid on the chart selection bar, white.
If I resize the screen, or min/max it, it then shows correctly.

Basicly, min/max or resize fixes on/off changes.
If on, always starts with gray bar.
If I resize small, status bar goes unreadable.

EDIT: If I have the screen small, turn off/on, it is readable, but doesn't fit into the box. Screen shot added to the above link.

-dan

[sinbad7]

Chris...

Perhaps you have not noticed but the status bar can be turned off from the toolbox. Own ship location has it's own button at the top called Auto follow shaped as a thick green arrow pointing upwards. The geo pos of the cursor as well as bearing and distance to own ship are in my opinion also necessary features of a good nav prog.
I agree with you that the chart display info could have been accessed by a small button,leaving space for future facilities.

[Viking Sailor]

Hi Dave,

You could always make the contents of the status bar selectable so each navigator could select what he wants/needs displayed.

Do you plan to do anything about manual datum correction? Just asking.

Paul

[chris blair]

Originally Posted by sinbad7

Chris...

Perhaps you have not noticed but the status bar can be turned off from the toolbox. Own ship location has it's own button at the top called Auto follow shaped as a thick green arrow pointing upwards. The geo pos of the cursor as well as bearing and distance to own ship are in my opinion also necessary features of a good nav prog.
I agree with you that the chart display info could have been accessed by a small button,leaving space for future facilities.

Sinbad,

I hadn't notice the tool box control for the status bar or the Auto Follow button. Both are very handy. Thanks! A minor point is to rename Auto Follow to Auto Find Boat or just Find Boat. But that would be waaaay down the priority list.

Glad you agree with me on what's really required for navigation. You must sail a lot too!

Thanks for the help!

Regards,
Chris
SV Toucan Dream

[dacust]

Originally Posted by chris blair

A minor point is to rename Auto Follow to Auto Find Boat or just Find Boat.

Actually, Auto Follow is kinda an industry standard.

It's not just Find Boat. Because when you turn on Auto Follow and your GPS is on, the screen follows the boat as you move. Automatically.

-dan

[bdbcat]

Viking Sailor....

1. Having user selectable Status bar contents would be about as much coding and testing as a complete console display. So, no go for this version.

2. Remind me again, please, about what is required for user selectable chart datum. What would the user interface be like?
I have to admit that this accidentally fell off my list, and I have not thought about it in weeks.

Thanks
Dave

[manimaul]

There are some good thoughts here all around. An opencpn "front end" as a separate app is a superb idea. OpenCPN GPSd FrontEnd is the one Dave is refering to I believe. I did try it, and it had problems reading from my bluetooth gps. Its a great idea though. This would fullfill the majority of hardware setups from those with dedicated displays like Furuno RD30s etc to those like me with 1 laptop who would like to see more info.

I would love to design the graphics for the new app. As for how it works, this is what I would propose:
1. It would read gps data from a serial port or optionally gpsd
2. It would provide gpsd if not reading from gpsd
3. It would be a separate binary but included in the opencpn release
and optionally enabled in the opencpn options as an additional "NMEA Data Source" called "Use Opencpn Frontend"
4. It would run in a separate window so you can place and size the windows where you want them.

One more thing. Opencpn isn't Navnet3D and that is a good thing! I install marine electronics for a living and I would rather rely on opencpn than Navnet3D any day of the week. Now that's saying something.

Keep up the great work everyone.

[bdbcat]

All....

Beta Build 830 is available now.

Changelog:
40. Correct Route Draw logic for segment with both waypoints off-screen.
41. Implement AIS target mouse rollover
42. Eliminate rendering of CM93 A-scale outlines
43. Correct ToolTip text for Scale-In/Scale-Out
44. Improve AIS Alert suppression logic.
45. Correct Track Rt-Click fault.
46. Correct "Wheel-zoom-to-cursor" chart stack update.
47. Implement HDT, HDG, and HDM NMEA Messages, and show Ownship heading.
48. Correct for modern (> 2.23) versions of gpsd speed reporting
49 Correct Wheel-zoom-to-cursor logic causing cursor jump.
50. Correct memory leak in Track draw
51. Correct Vector chart preview logic
52. Improve Status Bar font selection
----------Publish Beta 1.3.3 Build 830---------

CVS current.

I hope for this to be the final Beta, and plan to release 1.3.4 this week.
Beat him up!

Thanks
Dave

[chris blair]

Originally Posted by dacust

Actually, Auto Follow is kinda an industry standard.

It's not just Find Boat. Because when you turn on Auto Follow and your GPS is on, the screen follows the boat as you move. Automatically.

-dan

Dan,

I spend a lot of time behind the helm on a lot of boats and I'm not aware of that standard. For instance Raymarine chart plotters have a "find ship" button". Rosepoint uses a "go to boat" button. Maptech uses a "Locate Vessel" button. Nobeltec and Fugawi have similar buttons. I'm no programmer but I really have spent a lot of time at the helm and I've used a lot of different software and chart plotters. I don't know of any that use "follow boat". It is a little confusing to me since in nav mode that is what you expect it to do. Several programs use plan mode or trip planner also. I don't want to blow this out of proportion though it's just my opinion and a very minor point anyway.

Best regards,
Chris

[manimaul]

when you do an object query you get a dialog with 3 buttons. ok, cancel, help ... ok and cancel do the same thing and help does nothing... maybe there should just be an ok

[chris blair]

Originally Posted by manimaul

There are some good thoughts here all around. An opencpn "front end" as a separate app is a superb idea. OpenCPN GPSd FrontEnd is the one Dave is refering to I believe. I did try it, and it had problems reading from my bluetooth gps. Its a great idea though. This would fullfill the majority of hardware setups from those with dedicated displays like Furuno RD30s etc to those like me with 1 laptop who would like to see more info.

I would love to design the graphics for the new app. As for how it works, this is what I would propose:
1. It would read gps data from a serial port or optionally gpsd
2. It would provide gpsd if not reading from gpsd
3. It would be a separate binary but included in the opencpn release
and optionally enabled in the opencpn options as an additional "NMEA Data Source" called "Use Opencpn Frontend"
4. It would run in a separate window so you can place and size the windows where you want them.

One more thing. Opencpn isn't Navnet3D and that is a good thing! I install marine electronics for a living and I would rather rely on opencpn than Navnet3D any day of the week. Now that's saying something.

Keep up the great work everyone.

Manimaul,

I'm very new to opencpn and trying to learn as I go. What is gpsd?

Regards,
Chris
SV Toucan Dream (42 Manta Sailcat)

[manimaul]

Originally Posted by chris blair

I'm very new to opencpn and trying to learn as I go. What is gpsd?

Hi Chris,

gpsd is a program that listens to nmea data on a serial port and rebroadcasts it over TCP/IP (computer networking protocol)
edit: commercial program equivilants: navnet,seatalkHS,garmin marine network etc.

the advantage is that multiple programs can listen to the data whereas with a serial port, only one can listen

ie: if you use gpsd, you can run opencpn multiple times, a nmea instrument program, and other programs simultaneously. also, programs on a separate computer, that is on the same network, can also listen.

[chris blair]

Oh. Now that make a lot of sense and I'm now a tiny bit smarter but still a huge amount to learn. Thanks for the quick response!

Regards,
Chris
SV Toucan Dream

[dacust]

Originally Posted by chris blair

Dan,

I spend a lot of time behind the helm on a lot of boats and I'm not aware of that standard. For instance Raymarine chart plotters have a "find ship" button". Rosepoint uses a "go to boat" button. Maptech uses a "Locate Vessel" button. Nobeltec and Fugawi have similar buttons. I'm no programmer but I really have spent a lot of time at the helm and I've used a lot of different software and chart plotters. I don't know of any that use "follow boat". It is a little confusing to me since in nav mode that is what you expect it to do. Several programs use plan mode or trip planner also. I don't want to blow this out of proportion though it's just my opinion and a very minor point anyway.

Best regards,
Chris

Funny, Nobeltec and Fugawi are the ones I am familiar with. I think Fugawi uses Auto Follow. I Know for a fact Nobeltec does, because that's what I have. But, from your experience, it's obvious it's not as "Industry Standard" as I thought. Thanks.

Edit, and, BTW, I don't know of any plotter that uses "Auto Follow". Only PC software.

-dan

[chris blair]

Originally Posted by dacust

Funny, Nobeltec and Fugawi are the ones I am familiar with. I think Fugawi uses Auto Follow. I Know for a fact Nobeltec does, because that's what I have. But, from your experience, it's obvious it's not as "Industry Standard" as I thought. Thanks.

Edit, and, BTW, I don't know of any plotter that uses "Auto Follow". Only PC software.

-dan

Dan,

I'm looking at Nobeltec Admiral version 7.11. It has a boat symbol on the button that reads "center on boat" when you move the curser over it. Must be different versions. And the more I think about it the minorer it gets anyway. Also the more I use this software the more I really, really like it! Thanks for what you and the others here have done to make it possible.

Regards,
Chris