OpenCPN Beta Version 3.3.1731 Released

[bdbcat]

Ahoy, OpenCPN'ers...

OpenCPN Version 3.3 Beta Build 1731 will soon be available for download from opencpn.org.

Monitor the opencpn.org Downloads page to find and download the latest Beta version binaries.....

Source is available now on github at:
https://github.com/OpenCPN/OpenCPN
Branch: master

Changelog:

243. Purge and fully reload charts on OpenGL state change. Corrects occasional cm93 grey screen.
244. Correct chart outline colour to GREEN for all vector charts except cm93
245. Set Options->Connection->NMEA Input form correctly to Serial or Network
246. Add "(UTC)" marker to AIS target dialog ETA field.
247. Correct Info.plist CFBundleIdentifier string to "org.opencpn"
248. Decouple touch screen and responsive graphics interfaces.
249. Improve rolling navobj backup strategy to preserve unchanged files.
250. Correct magnetic variation correction logic for $xxAPB output sentence.
251. Improve StackUp/Down (F7/F8) chart selection logic. (FS#1374)
252. Correct fault drawing chart information objects (FS#1380)
253. Implement texture-based OpenGL text rendering. Sean
254. Enable font selection entry "Dialog" for international language.
255. Implement Size-Responsive Track Properties Dialog.
256. Correct default dialog font size to 10 pt.
257. Correct Route Properties dialog cancel/close behaviour (FS#1262)
258. Fix WPT properties dialog shrinking after adding a hyperlink (FS #1381)
259. Fix Route properties dialog values reset while deleting a route point (FS #1382)
260. Correct Routepoint Properties layout on Windows (FS#1385)
261. Correct TCP data connections logic to allow messages without checksum, Pavel
262. Fix waypoint properties propagation into route properties dialog (FS#1386)
263. Correct GRIB colored overlays display in OpenGL mode. Ptizef
264. Correct S57 Extended light sector draw logic.
265. Correct Waypoint property dialog editing for overlayed hyperlinks (FS#1385 continued)
266. Correct toolbar orientation toggle issue with journeyman styles. Thanks ChuckSK
267. Correct to allow current arrow (value) font selection.
268. Correct for Skewed Transverse Mercator Raster charts (FS#1391)
269. Correct AIS Target Query dialog "Create Waypoint" button behaviour (FS#1378)
270. Accommodate non-UT8 encodings of ENC supplementary TXT files (FS#1405)
271. Fully merge OpenGL Optimum code. Thanks Sean
272. Update connections TCP/UDP implementation to allow bidirectional TCP data streams. Thanks Muttnik

Notes:

A lot of stuff here.
The main topic is, of course, the merge of Sean's Optimum OpenGL code branch into the mainline. Most of the changes are in the nature of "plumbing", and users should see nothing different except a marked improvement in performance for machines capable of high speed OpenGL graphics.

There are some new options settings to consider. In "options->OpenGL", you may make some elections:
a. Accelerated panning: Enabled if your graphics card supports Frame Buffer Objects.
b. Texture compression: If enabled and selected, greatly improves the speed of raster chart display. It works by treating raster charts as compressed textures instead of bitmaps, and these textures are loaded and displayed much more efficiently by the graphics hardware. They also consume much less GPU memory space, typically showing 6:1 memory compression ratios.
c. Texture compression caching: A further improvement to raster chart display loading and panning. This option uses the system hard drive to store precalculated raster chart compressed images in a way that is optimized for direct loading into the graphics card. Precalculating of the images happens automatically when you visit options->charts, and either add a new directory, or force a database scan or rebuild. Please note that a full rebuild of the texture cache for a large set of raster (.KAP) charts may take many hours of processing time, depending upon the speed of your computer. Fortunately, we have two things to help us here. First, the charts are processed, compressed, and cached in order based upon the distance from the chart center to the current ownship GPS position. A progress dialog shows the state of the compression operation, and the distance from your ownship position to the center of the chart being processed. Second, the user may "skip" the caching process at any time. This will be helpful if you just want to make a few compressed cache texture images near your location right now, and defer the balance of texture processing until you have the time and power to leave the computer running undisturbed for some time.

The net effect of full OpenGL optimization on raster charts with compatible hardware is nothing short of amazing. I think you will like it, especially with lo-spec, lo-power systems.

Kudos to Sean.

Other stuff:

248. The touch screen UI and Responsive UI options are now separate.
Touch UI is self-explanatory. There are some subtle changes in the way some operations work, especially in Route and Waypoint creation/dragging. Users with modern touch tablets may experiment and discover. Feedback appreciated on this.
The Responsive UI option is intended for small (~8") tablets with high definition displays. What it does is adjust the various graphic elements such as menus, icons, etc. so that they meet the best-practice size standards for Win8/Android system displays. This makes them "big enough" to facilitate touching, dragging, etc with normal human fingers. You should not see much difference when selecting this option for normal desktop or laptop systems.

I expect a relatively large number of regression-type issues with this Beta, simply due to the large number of changes made to the core codebase. That's OK, because we get a greatly improved application at the end, and it will all be worth the trouble. So, please keep the faith as you test and find little grumpkins. We'll find and correct them all, with your help.

Finally, please check and clear your Flyspray tasks.

Happy testing
Dave