OpenCPN Version 2.2 Beta Test

[idpnd]

Got this weird crash on 1026 couple of minutes ago.. in middle of north sea i might add

Edit: My AIS transceiver stopped working at the same time, looking at the knots value seems like the gps (internal in AIS unit) was sending corrupt values?

[BluegillBoy]

one change I see in 2.2 is the appearance of the AIS target quesry window. for me it's now unreadable. I'm working on a toughbook daylight viewable 10" touchscreen monitor VDL01 (about to upgrade to VDL02). screen res is 800 x 600.

the window was sharp and clear in 2.1, but now appears smaller, grayed out instead of crisp black type. the window is enlargable, but the data doesn't get any larger.

I suspect it's now a minimum res of 1024 x 76? That's the only thing I've found so far in the program that's restricting use to a higher res screen. the AIS target list and other windows read fine.

Given the number of smaller screens in use with nav equipment, this might change be rethought?

[BluegillBoy]

bdcat caught a post I made on the 12V computer forum here and asked about optimization for touchscreen. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else is using touchscreen. given the newer nav systems and their growing use of touchscreens, as well as my own satisfaction and preference for them in a nav environment, i'm seeing it as the wave of the future.

my first comment on the current OCPN is that on a touchscreen, the targeting for the click around an AIS icon is very small. the touchscreen driver puts a right-click icon in the menu bar, so a touch on that and then a touch on the AIS icon should bring up the AIS target quesry window.

usually i have to try 3 - 6 times to hit it just right. sometimes my click just lands on empty chart area, sometimes i get the roll-over short text of the target, but it's difficult to get the window.

second, after experimenting with a mouse, i discovered the rollover short text function. would be great to make that accessible on a touchscreen. not quite sure how tho - since a left click is the cetering function and a right click is the target window. actually, i'd like an option (off/on selection probably necessary) to keep all target names visible next to their icon all the time. that would save a lot of clicks as i go from one target to the next.

with or without touchscreen, it would be great to be able to go from the AIS target list window, to an AIS target query window by clicking on the target in the list - without having to go back to the chart and click on the specific target icon.

the AIS target list window actually extends outside of my scree width (800 x 600) and covers almost all the screen... of course that's a function of having a 10" screen. I'll be upgrading.

thanks for all efforts!!

[petermoree]

Fontsize in dashboard does not allow large fonts (so I can read my charttable screen data while in the cockpit)

Secondly the *Shift to larger/small scale chart* buttons appear again but somewhat as if *in the mist*. In an earlier version they had disappeared (which was fine with me as I cannot use them with the CM93 charts anayway and it does simplify my OCPN program desktop).


see attached jpg for more info


Peter

[petermoree]

see attached picture

the *frame* around the dashboard should be dark also

the same with the top 1/4 inch which under Windows still emits a lot of light in the dark (maybe there is a way to copletely eliminate this useless piece of displayscreen real estate grab from Windows)

Peter

[BluegillBoy]

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one change I see in 2.2 is the appearance of the AIS target quesry window. for me it's now unreadable. I'm working on a toughbook daylight viewable 10" touchscreen monitor VDL01 (about to upgrade to VDL02). screen res is 800 x 600.

the window was sharp and clear in 2.1, but now appears smaller, grayed out instead of crisp black type. the window is enlargable, but the data doesn't get any larger.
--------------------------------------------------------

resolved part of my own problem -- the previous config file coming from 2.1 was using 6 point type in the font for the trget query window. 2.2 allows only 8 pt and larger, so attempting to display 6 pt made it all fuzzy.

however, the i can't change font, only size. any ideas on that? or am i missing something.

[bdbcat]

BlueGillBoy...

Concerning AIS query font:
We shifted to fixed pitch font exclusively for the AIS query dialog, to clean up the formatting of the data. We wanted the fields to line up vertically, so that they look nicer and are easier to read..

The intent was that any fixed pitch font available on the system could be used. Maybe this is broken. I'll check it out with the simulator tonight.

I suppose what we really need is a re-write of this dialog to support either rich text format, or an HTML style presentation.

Thanks for the comments
Dave

[bdbcat]

PeterMoree....

Thanks for the comments.

1. We will look at the Dashboard support for large fonts.

2. Scale In/Out buttons are "greyed out" and disabled if they have no function, as is the case with cm93 charts loaded only. We kept them on the Toolbar so that the Toolbar will always look familiar, with the expected icons in the expected positions.

3. Night colors: persistent problem with Windows port. Reworking this problem is on the ToDo list for sure.

Thanks again
Dave

[BluegillBoy]

i certainly wouldn't put the rewrite for RTF or html as a priority. the dialog box looks good and is very readable. i thiught it was broke, but now understand the intent. and it works.

thanks

[Netsurfer]

Dave ...

Originally Posted by bdbcat

3. Night colors: persistent problem with Windows port. Reworking this problem is on the ToDo list for sure.

Please also have a look at FS#160 : Add some changes to the plugin window and my last comment at point 3 - thanks.

Concerning the color schemes and dashboard there is another issue when the pane is docked - see screen shot.
Question: Do the docked pane have to use the full height? I would prefer if I could also dock some other panes (e.g. the CM93 Detail Slider) beneath it ...

Gunther

[idpnd]

one change I see in 2.2 is the appearance of the AIS target quesry window. for me it's now unreadable. I'm working on a toughbook daylight viewable 10" touchscreen monitor VDL01 (about to upgrade to VDL02). screen res is 800 x 600.

I was using opencpn on a 7" touchscreen wiht lots of ais targets in the english channel last night, and I had the same problem with the alert window also - the font is low contrast for some reason (light grey on blue?).

my first comment on the current OCPN is that on a touchscreen, the targeting for the click around an AIS icon is very small. the touchscreen driver puts a right-click icon in the menu bar, so a touch on that and then a touch on the AIS icon should bring up the AIS target quesry window.

On linux, I dont get the right click icon, perhaps it could be brought up on double click also?

second, after experimenting with a mouse, i discovered the rollover short text function. would be great to make that accessible on a touchscreen. not quite sure how tho - since a left click is the cetering function and a right click is the target window. actually, i'd like an option (off/on selection probably necessary) to keep all target names visible next to their icon all the time. that would save a lot of clicks as i go from one target to the next.

+1

[SethDart]

Originally Posted by petermoree

Fontsize in dashboard does not allow large fonts (so I can read my charttable screen data while in the cockpit)

Hi Peter,

Please look at FS#184 FS#184 : Dashboard pays no attention to the font size
There's a patch there for this feature, it'll probably be pushed to next beta.

Thanks for the report.
Jean-Eudes

[fulup]

Ubuntu 10.4 Lucid
Built 1026 (did not test previous one)

I have some strange random comportment with CM93 rendering see images at Index of /images/stories/Boats/OpenCPN

Restarting OpenCPN clear the issue and rendering restart normally. Nothing strange in opencpn.log but CPU load increase to 100% and only a stop restart close the issue. Note that I already had this in previsou versions, I've never been able to find the way to reproduce the problem, but I get the impression that it start appending when zooming take a long time.

A other minor issue: before installing the beta you must remove 2.1 or installation fail, or you get the message (same version already installed)

[fgd3]

I'm not sure where to raise this issue, so I'll throw it out here. When I select a NOAA ENC (S-57) there's a delay of several seconds before the OpenCPN S-57 SENC File Load box pops up to show what's happening. It would be nice to have some immediate response that shows the mouse click "took". I'm running build 1026 on Windows Vista, but I've had the same experience with all the versions I've tried. It feels like you're finding the file to be read before opening the box. Maybe you could throw up the box as soon as the mouse is clicked, then look around for what to fill it with. The touchpad on my laptop doesn't give me any feedback and it's a bit touchy about what it sees as a click. I'm sure other folks have had this problem too, since so many of us are using laptops to run OpenCPN.

Fabbian

[BluegillBoy]

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I was using opencpn on a 7" touchscreen wiht lots of ais targets in the english channel last night, and I had the same problem with the alert window also - the font is low contrast for some reason (light grey on blue?).
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idpnd - go to tools/fonts selct AIS trget query from the dropdown and choose type size 8pt or larger. AIS must be active for the choice to show in the dropdown menu.

i believe that the problem starts becuase in 2.1 the default type size for that window was 6 pt. that gets carried over in the config file, and 2.2 doesn't recognize fonts smaller that 8pt, and so pixilates them instead of rendering them true.