Plugin: DashBoard

[Netsurfer]

SethDart

Originally Posted by SethDart

Well, I see the problem behind NMEA sentences & dial vs digital display more important, let me try to explain:

It's right that there's a a limited set of NMEA sentences
... but a single information may come from different sentences that must be interpreted, not something a user can choose.

True heading for example: it may come in a single sentence or you need to compute it with magnetic + variation
When it comes to wind, you can have it from 0-360Deg or 0-180 left/right

I still cannot see why the user shouldn't be able to choose?
Regarding your example:
In the end it doesn't matter where the information is coming from. If there is a NMEA sentence "heading" => add to/ enable "HEADING" the options to choose from.
If not and there are the NMEA sentences "magnetic" + "variation" => add/ enable "HEADING" to the options to choose from.
If all of the above isn't available => remove from/ disable "HEADING" the options to choose from.

Will say, it is not of interest for the user if an information comes directly from a NMEA sentence or is computed from other NMEA sentences. IMHO the only question is if an information is available or not. Or di I overlook something?

There's also the problem with units: some sentences provide both Feet/Meters/Fathoms, some meters only. Same for Knots/Kmh/ms. (In the future we may have something to transform any value to user selected unit to have a uniform unit display)

The latter is surely most preferable, but as long as the units are displayed this should be no problem.
And as soon as there is a NMEA sentence available which provides multiple units there should be an option (ie. radio buttons) added to let the user decide which one to use

All that to say I don't think we should let the user go down to NMEA level, we should provide him with valid data usefull for navigation. Let the program alone do the best to compute with the sentences received.

Maybe we have a different understanding of "let the user go down to NMEA level"?
As you don't know which NMEA sentences are available and which are not you have to "scan" for them (of course only looking for the ones that the plug-in can display). And as written above this inludes also the kind of information that is not directly available by a NMEA sentence but can be computed.
Now all available options should be listed in the config settings/ options of the plug-in and offer the possibility to let the user decide which one to display (e.g. by a checkbox for each option). Additionally there should be e.g. radio buttons for those options which offer

• different units
• different displays (dial - digital)

And maybe the NMEA scan should be done periodical (with respect to performance issues) as NMEA talkers could be switched on/ off.

For dials, there's another problem: You can have two informations in it (at least that's how I made it for now) for example the speedometer display an arrow for SOG plus digits in the middle as well as STW on the bottom-left.
There's a lot of possible combinations for these, some might ask for SOG only, some will prefer Compass with digital SOG in it. I've seen compass display with another arrow for displaying BRG when a route is active.

We must come with a (sort of) limited list of such dials.

IMHO the more the user can define the better. But I don't know what will be possible or not.
If you could arrange it that e.g. a user can select to display SOG separately (dial or digital) or as Compass with digital SOG in it that would be close to perfect in my opinion.

Anyway - you are doing a great job!
And all of the above is just my personal opinion. I am quite sure that you'll find a good solution in the end.

BTW: Is already known how config options/ settings for plug-ins will be integrated in OCPN?
AFAIR Dave wrote somewhere here in the forum to add an additional tab for the plug-ins where all available plug-ins are listed with a checkbox to dis-/ en-able them. So one possible solution could be to add a button "Settings" for each plug-in that offers config settings. Clicking the button opens a new window with the config options of the respective plug-in.
For the dashboard plug-in this could be a list with all possible or available informations which could be displayed. All possible ones might be better as at the time of configuration there might not all NMEA talkers being switched on. Each option with a checkbox. None available options might be "grayed out" and not the checkbox disbaled. And as already written above wherever needed additionally radio buttons for the type of display (dial - digital) and units.

Gunther

[George64]

I'd like to try the dashboard function, however having opencpn running on my laptop, I'm confused on how to get this running or installed. Anyone so kind to help me out? Much appreciated!

[tebsin]

Just open toolbox and go to plugins Tab, tick dashboard box, then close toolbox and right click on any part of chart and at the botton of the list is "show plugin dashboard window" Its that simply

[George64]

In might have overlooked that in v2.2. Just installed the beta version an saw the tab. Thanks for letting me know.

[SethDart]

Here's a new one, untested: I don't have any NMEA sample with RSA sentence. Please report if it works fine for you.

Patch here: FS#73 : Ruder angle

[Sailing Hanse37]

Hi all,
i'm new to the forum but using OpenCPN 'already' for some months. Great job done ! I really like the plug-in idea, since i guess this opens opportunities to write plug-ins in other langauges than c++. At the moment i'm starting in my spare-time with a small project in Lazarus (free Delphi equivalent compiling to win, linux and mac). Objective is displaying polars from automatically recorded calibration data. In testphase, it starts to work... On the screen capture you see the main polar window (blue window) and the first configuration screen used to correct the recorded calibration data. At the moment i'm working on a stand-alone application, since i didn't have time yet to explore interfacing for plug-in to OpenCPN. Where can i find this info (getting the NMEA sentences in, at this moment they come from a splitter in VSPE. As sailing gets most of my time at this moment, my target date to finish is start of next season. I'm also dreaming of 'average drift polar' as a step to VMG, but this is a wet dream, since i'm working step-by-step

[SethDart]

See screenshot.

Patch available here: FS#80 : New dial: GPS status

I'm also slightly reworking the colours for better handling of night view mode.

Next to come is the Depth view then I'll start to work on the configuration part.

[Colorman]

Hi There

Love your work and really excited about plugins. Have installed latest beta on both XP and Ubuntu 10.04. They work but data does not seem to refresh, on COG/SOG it just seems to place new numbers without removing the old. Eventually I end up with just an unreadable blob. Text sizing and colour (in XP) don't seem to function correctly. Can't wait for some more contrasting colours.
Keep up the good work.

[SethDart]

Note: previous patches are all pushed to git. Thanks Dave

This is the latest as announced before.

FS#88 : New dial: Depth view[0]=

The auto-range is very basic: it takes the max depth from the current sample received with a 20% margin.

Please also note the caveat: no interval management (would require timers et al.)
Latest depth is displayed along the previous one, whatever delay occurred between both: it's not time-driven. Should be fine for our use, IMHO: NMEA source should send data on a regular basis.

With these dials I think we can display about everything received via NMEA. I'll check with Dave if the navigation panel may be included in the Dashboard (leg/route + XTE + BRG + RNG + TTG + graph)

Now I'm working on the configuration part. I'll also move the Dashboard from context menu to an icon in the main toolbar.

[George64]

I'm just playing around with this plugin, and I must say, it looks great. I'd like to make two suggestions:
a. to be able to show/hide the figures/pictures/diagrams, and only see the text fields.
b. to be able to resize the screen so the diagrams (compass, wind etc.) will resize too.

G

[SethDart]

Hi OpenCPN'ers,

A new patch is ready for testing, it shall be included in next beta coming tomorrow.

FS#185 : Dashboard plugin update

Features:
1. create a toolbar button to replace context menu
2. create toolbox panel for configuration
3. use of AUI for better user experience
4. user configurable dial width
5. user configurable dial list saved in global config
6. more dials added

#3 is the shiny new feature. Thanks a lot to Dave for testing, working & head-scratching on this Much appreciated.
The dashboard can be docked or floating. For now it can be docked to the left or right of the screen. The chart is "resized: accordingly, that way no part of the chart is hidden (except if the dashboard is floating)

#6 no new graphic dial, only using all the existing with available NMEA sentences

Comments:
- No check on availability of specific NMEA sentence. You can add any dial ; if OpenCPN receive the data, it will be displayed (or I hope so )
- No scrollbar, no magic in resizing. If the user select a tiny/big font, a small/large dial width or a big quantity of dials, all may not be visible. I tried... without much success. For now I'll say "it's a feature"
- Displayed units are currently static but may be configurable (in the dashboard or global setting in OpenCPN) most of the code is ready for that.
- Known problem on font (size) change, the dial height and string position is not recomputed, only on loading. Patch coming soon

Ideas, more to come, maybe...:
- Be able to add more dashboard (2, 3, 4... unlimited?), either vertical or horizontal at user choice.
- Add options to dials for extra data displayed, range, etc.

Please test and report.

Thanks,
Jean-Eudes

[Colorman]

Looks great but can you tell a newbie how to apply the patch in Ubuntu. Type slow as I am no expert.

[nohal]

Colorman,
I suppose you are able to compile the source already (Compiling the Source in Linux | Official OpenCPN Homepage)
Then just download the two paches (the one from #24 and the one from #26), save them into the top source directory, run shell, cd to that directory

cd /path/to/source

issue the following

git apply 0001-New-dial-Depth-view.patch
git apply 0024-Dashboard-plugin-update.patch

and build as usually

It's pretty convenient to create a branch to test stuff like this so you don't have to rollback the patches from the master when you want to again synchronize to the official git repository later. Have a look at some git tutorial on the net to know how git branch and git checkout work.

Pavel

[nohal]

Jean-Eudes,
there are some linking problems on Windows:

5>   Creating library C:\WORK\opencpn\source\opencpn\build\plugins\dashboard_pi\src\Release\dashboard_pi.lib and object C:\WORK\opencpn\source\opencpn\build\plugins\dashboard_pi\src\Release\dashboard_pi.exp
5>dashboard_pi.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: bool __thiscall wxAuiManager::DetachPane(class wxWindow *)" (__imp_?DetachPane@wxAuiManager@@QAE_NPAVwxWindow@@@Z) referenced in function "public: virtual bool __thiscall dashboard_pi::DeInit(void)" (?DeInit@dashboard_pi@@UAE_NXZ)
5>dashboard_pi.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: void __thiscall wxAuiManager::Update(void)" (__imp_?Update@wxAuiManager@@QAEXXZ) referenced in function "public: virtual void __thiscall dashboard_pi::OnToolbarToolCallback(int)" (?OnToolbarToolCallback@dashboard_pi@@UAEXH@Z)
5>dashboard_pi.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: class wxAuiPaneInfo & __thiscall wxAuiManager::GetPane(class wxWindow *)" (__imp_?GetPane@wxAuiManager@@QAEAAVwxAuiPaneInfo@@PAVwxWindow@@@Z) referenced in function "public: virtual void __thiscall dashboard_pi::OnToolbarToolCallback(int)" (?OnToolbarToolCallback@dashboard_pi@@UAEXH@Z)
5>dashboard_pi.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: __thiscall wxAuiPaneInfo::~wxAuiPaneInfo(void)" (__imp_??1wxAuiPaneInfo@@QAE@XZ) referenced in function "public: virtual int __thiscall dashboard_pi::Init(void)" (?Init@dashboard_pi@@UAEHXZ)
5>dashboard_pi.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: bool __thiscall wxAuiManager::AddPane(class wxWindow *,class wxAuiPaneInfo const &)" (__imp_?AddPane@wxAuiManager@@QAE_NPAVwxWindow@@ABVwxAuiPaneInfo@@@Z) referenced in function "public: virtual int __thiscall dashboard_pi::Init(void)" (?Init@dashboard_pi@@UAEHXZ)
5>dashboard_pi.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: __thiscall wxAuiPaneInfo::wxAuiPaneInfo(void)" (__imp_??0wxAuiPaneInfo@@QAE@XZ) referenced in function "public: virtual int __thiscall dashboard_pi::Init(void)" (?Init@dashboard_pi@@UAEHXZ)
5>C:\WORK\opencpn\source\opencpn\build\plugins\dashboard_pi\src\Release\dashboard_pi.dll : fatal error LNK1120: 6 unresolved externals

Pavel

[Netsurfer]

I tried to apply the two patches in Windows using GIT Extensions. It applied tha patches without errors.

But when I try to build the package I get some errors:

PHP Code:

6>   Bibliothek "F:\NSIS-Build_02\plugins\dashboard_pi\src\Release\dashboard_pi.lib" und Objekt "F:\NSIS-Build_02\plugins\dashboard_pi\src\Release\dashboard_pi.exp" werden erstellt.
6>dashboard_pi.obj : error LNK2019: Verweis auf nicht aufgelöstes externes Symbol ""__declspec(dllimport) public: bool __thiscall wxAuiManager::DetachPane(class wxWindow *)" (__imp_?DetachPane@wxAuiManager@@QAE_NPAVwxWindow@@@Z)" in Funktion ""public: virtual bool __thiscall dashboard_pi::DeInit(void)" (?DeInit@dashboard_pi@@UAE_NXZ)".
6>dashboard_pi.obj : error LNK2019: Verweis auf nicht aufgelöstes externes Symbol ""__declspec(dllimport) public: void __thiscall wxAuiManager::Update(void)" (__imp_?Update@wxAuiManager@@QAEXXZ)" in Funktion ""public: virtual void __thiscall dashboard_pi::OnToolbarToolCallback(int)" (?OnToolbarToolCallback@dashboard_pi@@UAEXH@Z)".
6>dashboard_pi.obj : error LNK2019: Verweis auf nicht aufgelöstes externes Symbol ""__declspec(dllimport) public: class wxAuiPaneInfo & __thiscall wxAuiManager::GetPane(class wxWindow *)" (__imp_?GetPane@wxAuiManager@@QAEAAVwxAuiPaneInfo@@PAVwxWindow@@@Z)" in Funktion ""public: virtual void __thiscall dashboard_pi::OnToolbarToolCallback(int)" (?OnToolbarToolCallback@dashboard_pi@@UAEXH@Z)".
6>dashboard_pi.obj : error LNK2019: Verweis auf nicht aufgelöstes externes Symbol ""__declspec(dllimport) public: __thiscall wxAuiPaneInfo::~wxAuiPaneInfo(void)" (__imp_??1wxAuiPaneInfo@@QAE@XZ)" in Funktion ""public: virtual int __thiscall dashboard_pi::Init(void)" (?Init@dashboard_pi@@UAEHXZ)".
6>dashboard_pi.obj : error LNK2019: Verweis auf nicht aufgelöstes externes Symbol ""__declspec(dllimport) public: bool __thiscall wxAuiManager::AddPane(class wxWindow *,class wxAuiPaneInfo const &)" (__imp_?AddPane@wxAuiManager@@QAE_NPAVwxWindow@@ABVwxAuiPaneInfo@@@Z)" in Funktion ""public: virtual int __thiscall dashboard_pi::Init(void)" (?Init@dashboard_pi@@UAEHXZ)".
6>dashboard_pi.obj : error LNK2019: Verweis auf nicht aufgelöstes externes Symbol ""__declspec(dllimport) public: __thiscall wxAuiPaneInfo::wxAuiPaneInfo(void)" (__imp_??0wxAuiPaneInfo@@QAE@XZ)" in Funktion ""public: virtual int __thiscall dashboard_pi::Init(void)" (?Init@dashboard_pi@@UAEHXZ)".
6>F:\NSIS-Build_02\plugins\dashboard_pi\src\Release\dashboard_pi.dll : fatal error LNK1120: 6 nicht aufgelöste externe Verweise.
6>Das Buildprotokoll wurde unter "file://f:\NSIS-Build_02\plugins\dashboard_pi\src\dashboard_pi.dir\Release\BuildLog.htm" gespeichert.
6>dashboard_pi - 7 Fehler, 7 Warnung(en) 


Am I doing something wrong?
Any tips or hints?

Thanks,
Gunther

PS: As I just saw I am not the only one having this problem ... ;-)