OpenCPN Version 1.3.5 Beta Technical

[cagney]

Here is an difficult to catch crash!
I noticed crashes while playing around with Great Circle route tracks, so I started ddd to try to catch one. I can't say exactly how this particular one came about, as I noticed it after a break in activity.
Earlier crashes typically happened when right clicking on a way-point from where multiple routes started.
Thomas

[bdbcat]

Hello folks...

OpenCPN Version 1.3.5 Beta Build 1210 is available now.

opencpnbeta

Changelog:
42. Implement Track Number scheme.
43. Correct minor ownship drawing errors near screen edge.
44. Correct trans-Pacific GRIB wind barb drawing
45. Correctly interpret GLL and VTG sentences which have NULL fields or invalid data.
46. Correct GRIB file sort logic
47. Correct crash on close Waypoint Properties dialog after deleting the displayed point.
48. Ditto for Routes and Tracks
49. Add ForceUpdate button to Toolbox->Charts.
50. Disable ToolBar on chart database update cycle.
51. On overzoomed CM93 charts, when ShowChartOutlines is OFF, show available larger scale chart outlines with dashed line.
52. Correct position and vertical scaling of Tide/Current window
53. Correct default size of GRIB Dialog
54. Make GRIB Dialog tracking text controls READ_ONLY.
54. Make Options->Charts selected directory text control READ_ONLY.
55. Prepare for International message support using gnu gettext method...More to come...
56. Implement NOAA WW3 Significant Wave Height/Wave Direction GRIB display.
57. Convert RouteProperties Distance calculations to traditional Mercator Sailing algorithm.
58. Add NMEA Data Monitor window.
59. Rebuild Toolbox with new tabs to provide more headroom...
60. Preserve Track On/Off state in config file.
61. Add defaults for track parameters to config file
62. Convert MSW builds to use dll C runtime libraries vs. static linked C-RTL.
----Release Beta 1210----

Notes:
49. Adding/deleting/changing of chart files will be detected automatically whenever you visit Toolbox->Charts, and the chart database will be updated as necessary. The "Force" button may go away as we gain more confidence in the auto-update methodology.
55. I will have more to say on this later. Sharpen up your translation skills....
56. New NOAA WW3 GRIB data type. Comments on UI welcome. Lots more GRIB data types in the world to decode, one by one....
59. Sorry, doc writers.... We needed a re-structuring here to allow space for more user options later.
62. In general, it is probably better policy to use a dll runtime model instead of a statically linked model.
Hopefully, MSW users will not notice any difference in installation or run-time behavior. This is a test....

This Beta version does not appear to incorporate a lot of user visible changes.
However, there are a number of internal structural changes which will make life easier for the developers moving forward. In particular, the chart database structure has been revamped for better modularity and performance. As a result, I would not be surprised if there are some regression problems in this version, i.e. some things that used to work are no longer working.
Please keep this in mind as you test.

And, we welcome a new Developer/Coder to the project. Much of the restructuring of the database code comes to us courtesy of
Mark Sikes (Psyches). Good stuff here, and more to come.

Thanks Mark, and welcome aboard.

Good luck
Dave

[philocat]

Dave,

Congrats on a good program and may it only improve which it seems destined to.

I have just got OpenCpn going in Ubuntu but I'm not yet too familiar with its workings. My choice for the ultimate Nav program was open source and able to create my own charts as I did not want to beholden to commercial strangle holds. So far so good.

I have already created a rudimentary bsb chart of a mooring area (png2bsb method) and as a test enterered mooring positions as 'waypoints'. I manually did this by pasting these items in the opencpn repository (the config file). Initially I entered this info into the file navobj.xml from a spreadsheet but was very surprised this did not work and the file was rewitten with the old waypoints again. I now understand why. It seems navobj.xml is an output file only taken from info stored in the config file.

If I might suggest that the above is reversed and config file kept for program options only. This might make it easier for data transfer both ways especially from future user generated data and more easily shared.

I recall seeing an earlier post about entering depth data from a dinghy which I would also love to have. The navobj xml file or similar may be the best vehicle for enabling this.

Looking ahead I'd like to actively contribute but my programming skills are poor, despite having a post grad diploma in comp science -Never did anything professional with it. If I can only master gcc and the linux programing environment etc etc hopefully this might eventuate. If not I trust my suggestions/requests will not appear ungrateful for the work already done.

Phil

[Ptizef]

Hi Dave
Thanks for the great program and welcome the new coder
1.3.5 1210 and vista home
I get a crash each time a grib file is displayed :
-open the grib dialog
-select a file
-click on a grib line
-move the cursor outside the grib dialog window = crash
Regards
Jean Pierre

[idpnd]

55. I will have more to say on this later. Sharpen up your translation skills....

Hear, hear!

[Ptizef]

Dave
my #169
When clicking alternatively on more than one forecast line , it works .
but in this case I get some strange figure in the wave box .
(I use zygrib and ugrib files with certainly no wave data available)
regards
Jean Pierre

[bdbcat]

ptizef....

Acknowledge the crash....sigh.....

With any luck, I will have a new Beta version coming tonight or tomorrow, fixing this and any other found bugs today....

Dave

[LeaseOnLife]

Hi Dave

playing with v1210 right now. Great to see more grib types included in opencpn.

Some issues though: I can't see the chart anymore. The display of wave height by color is good, but it would need a bit of transparency so one can still see the chart. (see 1st and 2nd screen shot)

Second screen shot: a pure WW3 grib. It does show some (new type) arrows, I assume "significant wave direction" but this value is missing in the "mouse-over-readout-box"

See attached image: I also would like to see some kind of scale for the colors: I think right now it is: Dark Blue < 1m, medium blue 1-2m, light blue 2-3m ..... The screenshot is the colorbar from Maxsea

Then the colors are different than in Viewfax and Maxsea : Both show this order of colors: dark blue -> light blue -> turquoise -> green -> yellow -> orange -> red, in that order from small to high values (for waves, or surface temp)

Oh, one more, can the barometric pressure lines be annotated with their values? See screen shot #3

[sinbad7]

Many thanks Dave for the advanced new version.. I look forward to playing with it over the weekend. One problem for me (Vista) is that the .kap map color display is by default set to the first or second step rather than original display. I now have to click through right to the end to get the original,daylight map display.

Is there any way the GPS/NMEA display window could also optionally display the NMEA AIS data?

[cagney]

Thanks for the new beta, great job Dave.

57. Convert RouteProperties Distance calculations to traditional Mercator Sailing algorithm.

Error found: Mercator distance not working for routed running East - West. ( 090 -270)
Total Distance in properties box shows 0.00

Thomas

[Ptizef]

Tests 1.35 1210 in progress .... (vista home)
These are not bugs but ..
1) When deleting a track which has not been saved ( not exit from opencpn) the track is deactivate
2) point 52 (tide window)
vertical position is now OK but scaling would be better if the scale started at the unit level just under the lower curve point instead of zero :

[sf-robert]

Originally Posted by Ptizef

Hi Dave
when clicking on a tide icon just above the middle line , the tide window 's opened partly outside the top screen border. It' neither possible to read station name nor to move it .
May be it's just for 16/9 screen ?
regards
Jean Pierre

I have to admit that I did not know there was a pop-up feature for tides and currents! Thanks for pointing it out to me even though it was in a bug report.

Question . . . where is this data stored? How is it updated. How far out are dates available for?

I'm planning our clubs 2010 cruises around SF Bay and this is going to help me a lot. (Off topic, our cruise schedule will be updated shortly at Bay View boat Club - Cruises ).

[bdbcat]

Thomas (Cagney)....

On reflection, this is the reason I had used GC calculations for route legs before. The traditional calculation for Mercator sailing is "undefined" for due east or west directions. In fact, the math produces "0 divided by 0", which I directly check for and assign the value "zero".

I am still using GC distance for Measure tool, for the same reason.

What to do? I suppose some hybrid is called for, where if the course is "near enough" to 90/270, then I simply compute distance as though one were sailing along a parallel.

distance is then something like

(delta longitude) * cos(lat)...... or something like this.....

Comments and discussion from experienced traditional navigators welcome.

Dave

[idpnd]

Originally Posted by sf-robert

Question . . . where is this data stored? How is it updated. How far out are dates available for?

I'm planning our clubs 2010 cruises around SF Bay and this is going to help me a lot. (Off topic, our cruise schedule will be updated shortly at Bay View boat Club - Cruises ).

For the US, its available for free. It's based on the xtides data.

(This should go in the FAQ/Help File for RTM calling really..)

[sinbad7]

Just confirming crash from first grib line selection in Vista..