Feature Requests

[HotRod]

Trackfeature / trip feature...
In Olex they have a nice feature in adition to tracking...
When you start moving the boat it automatically start a new trip setting start date and time. It acts like a track but it's automatic. When you stay in one place for say 5 minutes or more it stops the trip.
You can then later on browse trough the trips and convert the trip into a route if you want.
You can in addition to the trip activate a track.
With this trip feature you can then pick any trip you have made during the years, select it and activate as route... Genious!

How about it... I'm ready for it

[P_Dub]

Ship configuration that could be included in the program. It would be very practical for professional pilots to have this configuration available. And a good eye candy for sailors. Any suggestions?

[Franziska]

Hi,

at first, many thanks for this awesome piece of software!

There is one feature, which I could not find in any other software though, which I think many people would like.

The option to put Hyperlinks into a custom mark (Menu "drop mark here") or into the descriptive text of a waypoint.

As Hyperlinks can point to objects on a local harddrive or the web, this would allow us to store images, texts or other cruising information on our harddisk (or on the web) and show it upon request from within OpenCPN (clicking on the hyperlink would of course start an external software, such as Word, Imaging Software or what ever the file adressed by the hyperlink is associated with).

These Hyperlinks would be working similar to Hyperlinks in a Word or Pdf file.

That way you could built up your own cruising database with screenshots from Google Earth, photos from a harbour, notes... even an interactive logbook or diary.
The advantage over a "pure" Google Earth plugin would be that this info would be accessible also offline when you are in the middle of an ocean or when roaming with your mobile is impossible for other reasons.

Just a thought!

Thanks again for your hard work,

kind regards,

Franziska

[PjotrC]

Originally Posted by Franziska

The option to put Hyperlinks into a custom mark (Menu "drop mark here") or into the descriptive text of a waypoint.

Franziska,

A similar feature is in OCPN since early versions, but is a little hard to find... try this example:

    <wpt lat="54.597775" lon="12.659395">
        <time>2010-05-11T08:52:54Z</time>
<link href="file:///e:/ADMIRALTY_NOTICES/BA_NTM_2010/13wknm10_Week13_2010.pdf">
        <text>NtM 1613/10</text>
        </link>
        <name>WIND FARM (under construction)</name>
        <sym>triangle</sym>
        <type>WPT</type>
    </wpt>

A complete GPX file is attached.

Piotr

[Franziska]

Many thanks Pjotr,

unfortunately I'm a user, not a programmer ;-)

How do I use this code? Copy paste it into the description? Probably not.

What I envision is a simple way to do this with as few clicks as possible to set the link and as few clicks as possible to display it.

Still, your answer makes me hopeful that it can be implemented without a lot of work.

Thanks,

Franzi

Ps.: Maybe the harbour information off different users can be shared one day via the web as downloads?

[idpnd]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Ps.: Maybe the harbour information off different users can be shared one day via the web as downloads?

Hello Franzi,

this would be interesting, it's been discussed a few times.

There's the free cruiserswiki as linked from this site, and projects such as openseamap. There has been some discussion of building an interface for either of these.

Activecaptain is integrated into a couple of navigation programmes, but not into opencpn as of yet. I understand the whole database is available offline, and contributions are automatically fed back into the system.

[cagney]

Originally Posted by PjotrC

Franziska,

A similar feature is in OCPN since early versions, but is a little hard to find... try this example:

    <wpt lat="54.597775" lon="12.659395">
        <time>2010-05-11T08:52:54Z</time>
<link href="file:///e:/ADMIRALTY_NOTICES/BA_NTM_2010/13wknm10_Week13_2010.pdf">
        <text>NtM 1613/10</text>
        </link>
        <name>WIND FARM (under construction)</name>
        <sym>triangle</sym>
        <type>WPT</type>
    </wpt>

A complete GPX file is attached.

Piotr

Thanks Piotr for pointing out this capability.
It opens up a whole range of interactive possibilities, specially if used together with the upcoming "layers".

One use could be a new kind of pilot charts, a layer on a normal chart. Such a layer could consist of all COGOW "points" for an area.

One particular COGOW point

With a built in link a new item appears on the right click menu.

Clicking this item brings up a dialog.

Once again clicking the displayed link brings up the average winds for the end of March at this point, as measured during the operational life of the QuickScat satelite


Never heard of COGOW before?
You are missing out on the most accurate information available for voyage planning.

Thomas

[r.fairman]

I cannot believe i had not spotted the href feature of waypoints before. I have just created a waypoint with a link to a photo of the local marina. I hade to do this via a gpx file. Now need a feature in the Route Manager to create a link to a local file or even to a www site.

regards

Richard

[PjotrC]

Originally Posted by r.fairman

I cannot believe i had not spotted the href feature of waypoints before.

This is included in GPX 1.1 specification.

The hardest part is not editing GPX, but figuring out the URI syntax, so if someone will make a GUI here (Mark Properties, I imagine), please have a look at GPX specs...
The large-volume production of linked-wpts would be somehow automatic anyway.

I would propose to start a thread devoted to WPT-href applications, where minimal, complete, simple examples would be posted. Now we have 3:

- Notices to Mariners (local, could be network in some cases)
- COGOW (network)
- Pictures (local)

Lots more are possible - CruiserWiki...

Piotr

[HappySeagull]

Small complaint:.... the behaviour of that darned "Route Maker" Pencil.It's sticky.Just me?or anybody else...

It's a good tool but won't go away unless I right-click and hunt down the list to "end route".........

The other thing (just discovered) that works is a right click,keyboard "e" so maybe that could go into the help file...

This brings up another oddness-right-click menu don't have the underline,per keyboard shortcuts despite me having em set up so in XP.

Wouldn't it be nice if I could hit "escape",or pause,or enter etc.and end the route that way....some kind of easy keyboard shortcut to release it ?...A double click of Routemaker button does seem to end the route oddly...I trail the blue line to get to it...(using version 2.4.0)

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by PjotrC

Now we have 3:

- Notices to Mariners (local, could be network in some cases)
- COGOW (network)
- Pictures (local)

Lots more are possible - CruiserWiki...

Piotr

No 4. Notes/Hyperlinks to word docs

I envision writing a diary with pics also that way. Once I've left a port I'd record my memories & photos in there. The nice thing is, that you can move along your past route and explain someone else where you've been..

[skandall]

It would be nice to have some loran C calculations possible like my self i am a hobby sailer and have a lot of fishing spots marked with loran C this feature is in many nav apps Best regards and thanks for this great work!!

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Maybe a request that was already asked earlier by someone?
I use openCPN on a 15.4 inch laptop. The (quite big) icons at the screen take up a lot of the height of the screen, reducing usable map size vertically.
It would be nice if it was optionally possible:
- To move the icon toolbar to the right or left side of the screen
- To reduce the size of the icons

[CarCode]

Originally Posted by Jef & Marin, Netherlands

Maybe a request that was already asked earlier by someone?
I use openCPN on a 15.4 inch laptop. The (quite big) icons at the screen take up a lot of the height of the screen, reducing usable map size vertically.
It would be nice if it was optionally possible:
- To move the icon toolbar to the right or left side of the screen
- To reduce the size of the icons

Using a Mac you will have it: The Mac OS X operating system provides a gadget in the upper right corner (red circled) to hide or show the toolbar by a mouse click.

Gerhard

[HamishB]

Hi,

I was looking on how to make the icons in night mode a bit easier to read when in GLOBAL_COLOR_SCHEME_NIGHT mode. currently the +,- magnifying glasses are identical, the route editor and color scheme icons are just indistinguishable black blobs, as is the help icon. It would be nice if the +,- in mag, the vector line in rte, the moon+shimmer in color scheme, and "?" in the help icon turned a ghostly grey in night mode. maybe RGB = 50:50:50 or so?


I tried editing src/chart1.cpp's usercolors[] for YELO2, but no change. The source for that icon is src/bitmaps/colscheme.png. Is the night mode for the png images just an incremental hue adjustment & the usercolors[] palette only used for .xpm?

?

thanks,
Hamish