Sean Depagnier's Plugins

[rgleason]

JM Yes we can host those files. I have a special login that will allow you to upload only to the upload directory. I post it later

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[belle-isle]

Originally Posted by ptulp

You can find a build of the current tree here for weather_routing v1.5001:
https://github.com/ptulp/weather_routing_pi/releases
Weather_routing-Plugin_1.5001.pkg

and here for the weatherfax v1.3:
https://github.com/ptulp/weatherfax_pi/releases
WeatherFax-Plugin_1.3.pkg

Regards,
Peter

Thanks for the links.
Just downloaded them and they installed fine.
However, I don't understand how to have them working.
I enabled both plugins, but all options are greyed out everywhere.
For the WeatherRouting plugin, even the Preferences button is greyed out as well.
Any pointers appreciated !

NR

[ptulp]

Originally Posted by belle-isle

Thanks for the links.
Just downloaded them and they installed fine.
However, I don't understand how to have them working.
I enabled both plugins, but all options are greyed out everywhere.
For the WeatherRouting plugin, even the Preferences button is greyed out as well.
Any pointers appreciated !

NR

If you start the WeatherRouting plugin, it will open a window with on the left side positions and on the right side the routes (will be empty at first startup I guess)
You can create positions with right clicking on a place and select "Weather Route Position" then enter a name for the position.
Now the position will be shown in the weather window.
Select another position as you destination position (assuming the first position was the start position.)
Now click on the weather window and you will see Configuration in the OpenCPN top line.
Select New here. This is where you create the route.
Select the start and the end position. You need or an active GRIB or the climatology plugin active for the long routes.
I think the the plugin will select a default boat polar if you don't have one defined.
Close the configuration window and now the route should be seen in the weatherrouting window.
Click on it to make it active and click compute to start the route.
I think this should do the trick.
You can then start tinkering with your boat parameters through the Edit button in the boat section. This will open a new window with all kinds of parameters for your. I don't know what all these do.

Peter

[ptulp]

Originally Posted by belle-isle

Thanks for the links.
Just downloaded them and they installed fine.
However, I don't understand how to have them working.
I enabled both plugins, but all options are greyed out everywhere.
For the WeatherRouting plugin, even the Preferences button is greyed out as well.
Any pointers appreciated !

NR

For the weather-fax I only tried the internet connection as I don't have any connections to a radio.
Start the weather-fax plugin and a window will popup. On the OpenCPN top line you will see "Retrieve"
Select Internet here and a new window will open.
On the bottom right you will have "Servers" and "Regions".
Select as an example NOAA at the Servers and Boston at the Regions.
Now a number of possible selections is shown.
Select 24HR WIND/WAVE FORECAST and then click Retrieve Selected at the bottom and the weatherfax will be displayed on the map.

Regards,
Peter

[rgleason]

JM You can upload those files to the Upload directory here
Opencpn Beta File Thingie
User: upload Password: uploadpass

I'd be happy to host them. (Will move them to another directory once uploaded.) Thank you.

[rgleason]

I'd like to make it clear that Ptulp's links above are for Mac Users plugin packages and that Opencpn Beta File Thingie has Windows Plugins. These plugins try to be the most recent 'Beta', for the most stable Windows plugin version please first check the Opencpn Downloads page or Sourceforge opencpnplugins for stable Windows plugins that Pavel and others have recently compiled.

Opencpn Beta Win File Thingie Try's to be current to the most current 'Beta' version. Many if not most of the plugins here are now the same as the 'stable' versions, however later they may move ahead, addressing issues and testing enhancements.

[rgleason]

Opencpn Beta Win File Thingie rguser rgpass

[NahanniV]

Originally Posted by rgleason

JM You can upload those files to the Upload directory here
Opencpn Beta File Thingie
User: upload Password: uploadpass

I'd be happy to host them. (Will move them to another directory once uploaded.) Thank you.

Ok, I uploaded them.

Voice warnings for most alarms on OpenCPN and plugins.

Cheers,
JM.

[rgleason]

Thanks JM, moved to Voice Warnings directory.

[rgleason]

Peter thanks for compiling for Mac and getting Mac users started using Sean's Plugins. As you know his plugins are a great asset. Also your work on the plugins has been wonderful. Thank you.

[belle-isle]

Originally Posted by ptulp

For the weather-fax I only tried the internet connection as I don't have any connections to a radio.
Start the weather-fax plugin and a window will popup. On the OpenCPN top line you will see "Retrieve"
Select Internet here and a new window will open.
On the bottom right you will have "Servers" and "Regions".
Select as an example NOAA at the Servers and Boston at the Regions.
Now a number of possible selections is shown.
Select 24HR WIND/WAVE FORECAST and then click Retrieve Selected at the bottom and the weatherfax will be displayed on the map.

Regards,
Peter

Hi,

Thanks Peter for getting me on the right track. I had not noticed that the menu bar changed at the top. I was rather expecting some kind of buttons in the window or a context menu.

Anyways, so I tried out the plugins and here is my first feedback about the WeatherFax plugin on a Mac (10.9.5 with OpenCPN 4.0.0).

1/ First, a great applause to the programmer, because this is something I had been thinking about, knowing that these faxes could be reprojected, calibrated and converted into KAP files. But somebody has done it and has done it in a usable fashion. So really my hat off, and a million thanks. I really look forward to using the plugin when we resume voyaging in about 3 months.

2/ There seems to be some kind of mismatch about installation folders. Files end up in both ~/Library/Preferences/plugins/ and in ~/.opencpn/plugins . Note in the first path, that it is not even a subfolder of ~/Library/Preferences/opencpn/ which makes it somewhat dirty... The plugins then look for files in one place while they are saved in the other and vice-versa. Maybe I should try hardlinking both folders to solve the issue. This first point seems to be an issue for the other plugins as well.

3/ The audio capture option simply fails with "Failure. Failed to configure capture." There are no options in Preferences, and I would expect to either be able to load an audio file (mp3 ?) or capture from my audio input device, whether microphone, line-in or other.

4/ Internet retrieval works just great. The charts download, are properly calibrated and appear. It's just magic ! BUT, this only works when online, which is not the case underway...

5/ Let's come down to the heart of the stuff : real HF weatherfaxes. I somewhat understood the HF radio schedules part which seems like a nice filtering and reminder tool. First a side note, the alarm tab says 1-minute, but it would be nice to be able to configure it : for example 5 minutes before and 1 minute before the schedules time.

6/ The most cryptic part, though is the Capture Options tab. "Audio Capture" is greyed out and I don't get what "Manual Capture (with external program) automatic Open File" does. I get my faxes via a Marine Receiver (Sony ICF-SW7600GR), so no software control of the radio is possible at all. Up to now I used dedicated software to demodulate, which produces an image (such as SeaTTY on Windows, or fldigi now that I switched over to Mac - any other suggestions on Mac welcome !). How do I bring this image in the plugin, that is the question. The "Manual Capture" did not do anything. So I tried "File > Open", which seems like the appropriate way. Except that I need to enter the coordinates and all the calibration information each time, etc. It's too bad I can't tell the plugin : this image corresponds to that entry in the fax schedule, so the area, the valid time, etc. are all known. Plus for those charts which are not Mercator, it gets a little dodgy and I didn't manage to find the right settings (like the NZ charts for example).

Here are my first thoughts. I will continue testing the plugin. But again thanks to the programmer , and I look forward to newer version !

[seandepagnier]

Originally Posted by belle-isle

Hi,

Thanks Peter for getting me on the right track. I had not noticed that the menu bar changed at the top. I was rather expecting some kind of buttons in the window or a context menu.

Anyways, so I tried out the plugins and here is my first feedback about the WeatherFax plugin on a Mac (10.9.5 with OpenCPN 4.0.0).

1/ First, a great applause to the programmer, because this is something I had been thinking about, knowing that these faxes could be reprojected, calibrated and converted into KAP files. But somebody has done it and has done it in a usable fashion. So really my hat off, and a million thanks. I really look forward to using the plugin when we resume voyaging in about 3 months.

Thanks. I never finished conic projections...

2/ There seems to be some kind of mismatch about installation folders. Files end up in both ~/Library/Preferences/plugins/ and in ~/.opencpn/plugins . Note in the first path, that it is not even a subfolder of ~/Library/Preferences/opencpn/ which makes it somewhat dirty... The plugins then look for files in one place while they are saved in the other and vice-versa. Maybe I should try hardlinking both folders to solve the issue. This first point seems to be an issue for the other plugins as well.

I don't have much feedback from osx users. If you can fix this in one plugin we can fix them all easily.

3/ The audio capture option simply fails with "Failure. Failed to configure capture." There are no options in Preferences, and I would expect to either be able to load an audio file (mp3 ?) or capture from my audio input device, whether microphone, line-in or other.

When you build the plugin with cmake does it detect portaudio? It needs this to work.

The loaded audio file needs to be in wav format, mp3 would require an extra library.

4/ Internet retrieval works just great. The charts download, are properly calibrated and appear. It's just magic ! BUT, this only works when online, which is not the case underway...

5/ Let's come down to the heart of the stuff : real HF weatherfaxes. I somewhat understood the HF radio schedules part which seems like a nice filtering and reminder tool. First a side note, the alarm tab says 1-minute, but it would be nice to be able to configure it : for example 5 minutes before and 1 minute before the schedules time.

Why 5 minutes?

6/ The most cryptic part, though is the Capture Options tab. "Audio Capture" is greyed out and I don't get what "Manual Capture (with external program) automatic Open File" does. I get my faxes via a Marine Receiver (Sony ICF-SW7600GR), so no software control of the radio is possible at all. Up to now I used dedicated software to demodulate, which produces an image (such as SeaTTY on Windows, or fldigi now that I switched over to Mac - any other suggestions on Mac welcome !). How do I bring this image in the plugin, that is the question. The "Manual Capture" did not do anything. So I tried "File > Open", which seems like the appropriate way. Except that I need to enter the coordinates and all the calibration information each time, etc. It's too bad I can't tell the plugin : this image corresponds to that entry in the fax schedule, so the area, the valid time, etc. are all known. Plus for those charts which are not Mercator, it gets a little dodgy and I didn't manage to find the right settings (like the NZ charts for example).

Again, I don't know about osx much, but if the program can't capture audio, then maybe an external program can record the wav file. The plugin should then automatically generate an open file dialog when the fax should be finished recording for you to load it.

This might not be a practical or usable scheme... if you have better ideas let me know.

Here are my first thoughts. I will continue testing the plugin. But again thanks to the programmer , and I look forward to newer version !

[belle-isle]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

Thanks. I never finished conic projections...

I don't have much feedback from osx users. If you can fix this in one plugin we can fix them all easily.

When you build the plugin with cmake does it detect portaudio? It needs this to work.

The loaded audio file needs to be in wav format, mp3 would require an extra library.

Why 5 minutes?

Again, I don't know about osx much, but if the program can't capture audio, then maybe an external program can record the wav file. The plugin should then automatically generate an open file dialog when the fax should be finished recording for you to load it.

This might not be a practical or usable scheme... if you have better ideas let me know.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I hope I can provide some useful feedback about OS X.

I uninstalled the WeatherFax plugin and reinstalled it (version compiled by Ptulp) to see what happens. So it installs in /Applications/OpenCPN.app/Contents/PlugIns/weatherfax_pi which seems correct. It also creates the folder ~/.opencpn/plugins/weatherfax_pi with config files in there (3 XML files) which is also fine. However, when I enable the plugin, it creates a new folder : ~/Library/Preferences/plugins/weatherfax , the one which seems clumsily located. This is also the folder in which charts I download through Retrieve > Internet end up in. Strangely enough, in the opencpn.ini file, a line containing "WeatherFaxDataLocation=/Applications/plugins" is also created in the [Directories] section, but that folder does not correspond to anything. Even if I try to change this folder location, the place where faxes are downloaded remains the same.

Regarding the "Retrieve > Audio Capture" failure, I can't really say about the device because I used the compiled version that was posted, since I have never succeeded in compiling plugins for myself, let alone OpenCPN. I would need to in order to be of greater help, but I haven't found the time to get there... Inputting a .wav file would be fine, though, it need not necessarily be captured by the plugin or in mp3 format. But how can I provide a file as input to the plugin ?

I don't know if I'm explaining it correctly, but maybe going through my user case scenario may clarify what I would find as the optimal functionality. Here's practically what I would find great :

1/ OpenCPN (via the plugin) would warn me before the fax is due to start (an alarm 1 minute in advance is already good, but getting the radio ready, plugging in the audio cable, etc. can take a bit longer). Sometimes I even like to have an alarm 5 or 10 minutes before so I can go on deck check for boats on the horizon, check the sail trim, look for squalls, etc. so that I'm back inside in front of the computer when the fax starts and I'm available to monitor reception without having to take a reef at that point for example. So ideally two alarms with configurable delays before the fax would be great. Not a vital item, but just explaining my point of view.

2/ When the fax starts, I receive it via my external Weather Fax program, which outputs an image (jpeg, gif or png). I could also record the audio (wav or mp3), or both, but up to now I have just been receiving the images.
The reason for using an external app for this step is that I'm not sure the plugin would deal with following slight frequency variations, etc. Perhaps a specialised program is better there, and it might not be the object of the plugin to become a state of the art demodulating program (with spectrum analysis and waterfall diagrams for example), but then again why not ?

3/ When the fax is done receiving, I would come back to OpenCPN plugin, point it to the image file received, and once the file is selected, tell it "this is that entry in the schedule database", so it knows how to calibrate the image.
THAT, to me, would be the essential point of the plugin. Maybe it can already work that way, but I haven't found how to do so and would welcome any pointers.

To finish on this feedback, here are some user interface glitches I have encountered.
First, the windows sometimes show in the wrong order. For example the "Internet Retrieval" or "HF Radio Schedules" windows always stay behind the main "Weather Fax" plugin window. And when switching applications and returning to OpenCPN (Cmd+Tab), the "Weather Fax" plugin window always shows up, while the "Internet Retrieval" or "HF Radio Schedules" windows stay hidden behind, although open. I would expect them to be modal and sit atop the "Weather Fax" plugin window. Feel free to ask if you need screenshots.
Second, it might help to use context menus (right click) instead of having to use the top menu. For example, when there are items in the fax list, a right click could provide a menu with "Save As", "Export", "Edit", "Delete", or "Goto". Clicking in the list whether empty or with items would show "New". Since OpenCPN is an application that hardly makes any use of the menu, and is mostly button or context-based, users tend to not look at the menu. And I overlooked it too ! Only thanks to ptulp's pointers did I understand how to get started.

Once again, thanks for the great work. I will try to post my review of the other plugins I installed (Climatology and Weather Routing) to provide you with OS X feedback as well. Best regards.

[seandepagnier]

Originally Posted by belle-isle

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I hope I can provide some useful feedback about OS X.

I uninstalled the WeatherFax plugin and reinstalled it (version compiled by Ptulp) to see what happens. So it installs in /Applications/OpenCPN.app/Contents/PlugIns/weatherfax_pi which seems correct. It also creates the folder ~/.opencpn/plugins/weatherfax_pi with config files in there (3 XML files) which is also fine. However, when I enable the plugin, it creates a new folder : ~/Library/Preferences/plugins/weatherfax , the one which seems clumsily located. This is also the folder in which charts I download through Retrieve > Internet end up in.

Odd. on linux they end up in .opencpn/plugins/weatherfax_pi along with the xml which is where they should be.

Strangely enough, in the opencpn.ini file, a line containing "WeatherFaxDataLocation=/Applications/plugins" is also created in the [Directories] section, but that folder does not correspond to anything. Even if I try to change this folder location, the place where faxes are downloaded remains the same.

This was somehow leftover dead code and not used. I just removed it.

Regarding the "Retrieve > Audio Capture" failure, I can't really say about the device because I used the compiled version that was posted, since I have never succeeded in compiling plugins for myself, let alone OpenCPN. I would need to in order to be of greater help, but I haven't found the time to get there... Inputting a .wav file would be fine, though, it need not necessarily be captured by the plugin or in mp3 format. But how can I provide a file as input to the plugin ?

It should work with file->open from the menu.

I don't know if I'm explaining it correctly, but maybe going through my user case scenario may clarify what I would find as the optimal functionality. Here's practically what I would find great :

1/ OpenCPN (via the plugin) would warn me before the fax is due to start (an alarm 1 minute in advance is already good, but getting the radio ready, plugging in the audio cable, etc. can take a bit longer).

Ok.. maybe, but if you are seriously getting weather faxes wouldn't your audio cable be plugged in? Does it take more than a minute to tune the radio? I just I could make the time variable from 1-10 minutes if that would help.

Sometimes I even like to have an alarm 5 or 10 minutes before so I can go on deck check for boats on the horizon, check the sail trim, look for squalls, etc. so that I'm back inside in front of the computer when the fax starts and I'm available to monitor reception without having to take a reef at that point for example. So ideally two alarms with configurable delays before the fax would be great. Not a vital item, but just explaining my point of view.

Hmm... I guess I am sailing differently. I figure either the reception is good or it isn't and that's about it.

2/ When the fax starts, I receive it via my external Weather Fax program, which outputs an image (jpeg, gif or png). I could also record the audio (wav or mp3), or both, but up to now I have just been receiving the images.
The reason for using an external app for this step is that I'm not sure the plugin would deal with following slight frequency variations, etc. Perhaps a specialised program is better there, and it might not be the object of the plugin to become a state of the art demodulating program (with spectrum analysis and waterfall diagrams for example), but then again why not ?

What program do you use? It would be interesting to compare it. And why not make this one better, because the alternatives on linux (hamfax) are pretty broken which is why I went to the trouble to implement it.

3/ When the fax is done receiving, I would come back to OpenCPN plugin, point it to the image file received, and once the file is selected, tell it "this is that entry in the schedule database", so it knows how to calibrate the image.
THAT, to me, would be the essential point of the plugin. Maybe it can already work that way, but I haven't found how to do so and would welcome any pointers.

It is meant to but not well tested. For example, it should automatically give an open file dialog, and you can give it the wav file it will then use previous calibrations to remap and overlay it.

To finish on this feedback, here are some user interface glitches I have encountered.
First, the windows sometimes show in the wrong order. For example the "Internet Retrieval" or "HF Radio Schedules" windows always stay behind the main "Weather Fax" plugin window. And when switching applications and returning to OpenCPN (Cmd+Tab), the "Weather Fax" plugin window always shows up, while the "Internet Retrieval" or "HF Radio Schedules" windows stay hidden behind, although open. I would expect them to be modal and sit atop the "Weather Fax" plugin window. Feel free to ask if you need screenshots.

In linux they do sit on top.. I think it's an osx issue.

Second, it might help to use context menus (right click) instead of having to use the top menu. For example, when there are items in the fax list, a right click could provide a menu with "Save As", "Export", "Edit", "Delete", or "Goto". Clicking in the list whether empty or with items would show "New". Since OpenCPN is an application that hardly makes any use of the menu, and is mostly button or context-based, users tend to not look at the menu. And I overlooked it too ! Only thanks to ptulp's pointers did I understand how to get started.

Ok, maybe a good idea I will ponder this one.

Once again, thanks for the great work. I will try to post my review of the other plugins I installed (Climatology and Weather Routing) to provide you with OS X feedback as well. Best regards.

Where are you getting these? They aren't on opencpn.org but if you somehow can download them I don't understand why they aren't posted there.

[ptulp]

I found out that the OSX version was not build with the portaudio library on my system.
So I installed the portaudio libs (brew install portaudio) and reran the build.

Now I could see that the portaudio libs were found during cmake:
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting CXX compile features
-- Detecting CXX compile features - done
-- Found Portaudio: /usr/local/lib/libportaudio.dylib
-- Portaudio Found
-- *** Staging to build weatherfax_pi ***
-- Found wxWidgets: TRUE

Build completes without errors.
Install of the plugin completes also without problems, but when I start OpenCPN the plugin refuses to load with the following error on opencpn.log:

21:23:43 CEST: PlugInManager: Loading PlugIn: /Applications/OpenCPN.app/Contents/PlugIns/weatherfax_pi/libweatherfax_pi.dylib
21:23:43 CEST: Error: dlopen(/Applications/OpenCPN.app/Contents/PlugIns/weatherfax_pi/libweatherfax_pi.dylib, 2): Symbol not found: _Pa_CloseStream
Referenced from: /Applications/OpenCPN.app/Contents/PlugIns/weatherfax_pi/libweatherfax_pi.dylib
Expected in: flat namespace
in /Applications/OpenCPN.app/Contents/PlugIns/weatherfax_pi/libweatherfax_pi.dylib
21:23:43 CEST: PlugInManager: Cannot load library: /Applications/OpenCPN.app/Contents/PlugIns/weatherfax_pi/libweatherfax_pi.dylib

Looks like there is still a problem with the portaudio libs.
Am I missing something?

Also I don't have any ~/.opencpn directories. I don't expect them in OSX
so I don't know how they get created on Belle-Isle system.

Sean, I build the weather_routing and climatology for OSX on my github forks, but I don't have access to the opencpn download page to put them there.

Peter