First Principles For A New User

[bcn]

Dave...


the screenshot: missing completely.

[bdbcat]

bcn...
OK, got it. Missed the ss.


Dave

[petit bateau]

Originally Posted by bdbcat

petit...


"Why does the Display Category (in Chart Panel Options) sometimes 'lose' its associated drop down menu ?"


By "lose", do you mean "greyed out"? Or missing entirely?


Thanks
Dave

Missing entirely. I took a screenshot which is in post #133.

[petit bateau]

Originally Posted by bcn

Dave...


the screenshot: missing completely.

Originally Posted by bdbcat

bcn...
OK, got it. Missed the ss.


Dave

I now think I can see what is happening re the missing dropdown in ChartPanelOptions. I have two screens, one on the Win10 laptop and a larger one. The larger one is set to the left of the laptop. Both are properly set up and behave well in all other programs.

When I put OPCN into the left screen, and maximise to full screen I sometimes get this problem.

I have ChartPanelOptions in its default position in the lower right of its window. I have now noticed that the ChartPanelOptions sometimes bleeds across into the righthand (laptop) screen and that the dialog box for the DisplayCategory dropdown menu shifts across to the laptop screen.

If I manually size the OPCN window to be marginally less than full (maximal) screen size then this does not occur.

So, in programming terms, it is as if OPCN is not properly respecting screen size when expanding the hamburger menu for ChartPanelOptions.

Does this help ? Do you need more info and/or screenshots ?

[bdbcat]

petit...


Thanks for the description and experimentation.
Some annotated screenshots would help a lot.
Dave

[petit bateau]

Originally Posted by bdbcat

petit...


Thanks for the description and experimentation.
Some annotated screenshots would help a lot.
Dave

Example of it working correctly with the OPCN window set to just less than the full screen area.



And this is an example of it not working correctly. What you are seeing here is the OPCN window maximised in the left screen. You will notice that the ChartPanelOptions incorrectly expands out into the right hand screen rather than respecting its alloted window in the left hand screen. Notice how the drop-down menu dialog for the Display Category has headed out way into the right field. Unless one thinks to look over there you never notice that this is where it has disappeared to. In the screengrab thes etwo areas look next to each other, but in the realworld these two screens may be quite far apart.



Does this assist in understanding ?

Now I think about it there was something else that exhibited a similar 'disrespectful' behaviour - my memory is that was a lat/long position box of some description. I'll see if I can recall & reproduce that behaviour, but no promises.

[bdbcat]

petit...
OK, I got it. I'll look into it.


Good screenshots, perfect demonstration of the problem.
Thanks
Dave

[petit bateau]

Originally Posted by bdbcat

petit...
OK, I got it. I'll look into it.


Good screenshots, perfect demonstration of the problem.
Thanks
Dave

I've found at least one other situation in which the same issue occurs, this time with the Grib plug-in. I've started playing with that (but not yet with the GPS puck) and it also opens dialog boxes over on the second screen. When I first opened the Grib plug-in I think everything was on the second screen (which is actually the primary, i.e. laptop screen). As before this is with OPCN maximised on the first (larger) screen.



Thinking ahead I am beginning to wonder if my own most likely long-term install will be with two screens on Win10, with a HDMI cable between the pilothouse and the cocpit, as @moseriw suggests.

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3887871

In this situation it is quite difficult to physically move backwards and forwards between the two screens, and they are not visible from each other. So getting OPCN to correctly respect a screen that the window has been maximised in, is actually a safety issue.

I still haven't been able to reproduce the first time I spotted this issue, but I recall it being a boat position dialog box.

========

Has any consideration been given to establishing (and publishing) a few reference designs ? Maybe a WinPC one; a Android one; an a Raspberry Pi one ? That would allow newbies like me to evaluate our own circumstance against a known configuration that works, so that we can at least try starting off along a path that is somewhat sensible.

[Suzi B]

I've just read all of this thread with interest - I found it because I'm a new user and have been tearing my hair out for days...

I completely sympathise with almost all the different opinions on the thread and I've learned a lot of useful info from reading this - I hadn't found the new basic manual, for example and can already see how useful that will be. I'm prepared put the time and effort into learning how to use the software and customise it even though I'm new to navigation and I know nothing about computers other than the obvious. I'm stubborn and I'm poor and I like to learn and I love the idea of software that's not tied to big corporations and that's customisable so the effort seems worth it.

However... I've run into huge problems from the start. Understand that when looking for software newbies don't necessarily just go straight to Open CPN - there are lots of alternative options to look at before deciding what's best. I had looked at pretty much everything, from the big players to the obscure. (We'd decided to go with computer / tablet based nav on the new to us sailing boat that we'll be living aboard with the intention of doing a lot of long distance sailing.) Working out what we needed was a huge learning curve but I bought and set up and wifi multiplexer from Quark Elec, got the 2nd hand AIS transponder reconfigured, etc and bought a waterproof tablet for the cockpit. The plan was to keep that there and use the laptops indoors and also at times a phone, like when anchoring and moving to the front of the boat. My my old phone died I bought a waterproof one for that reason.

So... finally I think Open CPN is the way to go but I want to see how it looks and check that my instruments and showing up, etc and I want to start planning our very first trip on the new boat to take it back home- 500 miles by land, further by sea.

When I open the software there's nothing but crude dark squares so I spent hours going round and round in circles trying to download charts. I'm in the UK, going from the south coast of England to the west coast of Scotland. I also had a lot of problems mentioned by others on this thread but that's ok - the whole point of grappling with it now is so that I'll be familiar by the time we set sail.

So- a question and a comment.
Question - do I really have to buy the same chart multiple times in order to be able to use it on the devices we have? It's an android tablet in the cockpit, I have a macbook and my partner has a PC and we both have android phones. There are no free charts I can use to plan this first trip home. I thought I'd be getting the VMH charts but they work on windows only. The o-charts was the other option but if I've understood (and it's been breaking my brain), I can only use a licence on both the tablet, my mac and the PC if I buy a dongle. Problem is there's no information on when I might receive it so I may well have left before it's delivered. Also, it's USB-C so I'd need to always have a hub for my mac (a minor nuisance maybe but one extra hassle) but also... it can't be used on Android? so I can't use it on the phones. Also, if I download it on the Android tablet will I be able to transfer it later to the mac? Or can I use one licence on the mad, the other on the Android tablet, have the dongle posted to my home address and later transfer one of the licences from my mac to the dongle? So many questions and frustrations. And then if we head south later this summer and cross the Atlantic we're going to have the same problem all the way and potentially have to buy two copies of each chart?

So - I totally get that you guys make the software and the chart licensing is pretty much out of your hands but it would have been really good to have had this information before spending days going round in circles.

The comment was that, yes, people need to invest time to learn the system but surely there needs to be a way for them to get a peek at how it works to see if it'll suit them before investing a lot of time in it. I decided to invest the time anyway and I'm kind of regretting it to be honest. Unless anybody has suggestions about how to get round the map sharing / dongle issues? Or are there any deals for one person to buy two copies of the same map? Or, I don't know, some kind of workaround?

[rgleason]

@SuziB


"Question - do I really have to buy the same chart multiple times in order to be able to use it on the devices we have? It's an android tablet in the cockpit, I have a macbook and my partner has a PC and we both have android phones. There are no free charts I can use to plan this first trip home. I thought I'd be getting the VMH charts but they work on windows only. The o-charts was the other option but if I've understood (and it's been breaking my brain),"


First of all, I would use ChartDownloader and download a few free charts from anywhere that you pick. Then use the program with them to learn.


Second, contact O-charts and download and install their plugin. Sign up for an account and see what is available for your area. They are much more reasonable in cost than other services. You can have them installed on a USB key, so they can be used by several or more machines, I believe.

[bcn]

Originally Posted by rgleason

@SuziB


"Question - do I really have to buy the same chart multiple times in order to be able to use it on the devices we have? It's an android tablet in the cockpit, I have a macbook and my partner has a PC and we both have android phones. There are no free charts I can use to plan this first trip home. I thought I'd be getting the VMH charts but they work on windows only. The o-charts was the other option but if I've understood (and it's been breaking my brain),"


First of all, I would use ChartDownloader and download a few free charts from anywhere that you pick. Then use the program with them to learn.


Second, contact O-charts and download and install their plugin. Sign up for an account and see what is available for your area. They are much more reasonable in cost than other services. You can have them installed on a USB key, so they can be used by several or more machines, I believe.

First - o-charts is OpenCPN. The only reason why we set it up is to provide charts for OpenCPN. As part of OpenCPN.


Licensors restrict the number of copies a license can provide.
That's why you can install the same charts on "only" two systems. If you use a key-dongle, you can install the charts on several devices, but you will use them only on the device the dongle is plugged in.
A dongle counts as one system, so another is still left. USB-A, for USB-C just use an adaptor.

The complete set for the British Isles (which includes Ireland) does cost 18.50€ + VAT with updates during one year.

[rgleason]

Originally Posted by bcn

First - o-charts is OpenCPN. The only reason why we set it up is to provide charts for OpenCPN. As part of OpenCPN.


Licensors restrict the number of copies a license can provide.
That's why you can install the same charts on "only" two systems. If you use a key-dongle, you can install the charts on several devices, but you will use them only on the device the dongle is plugged in.
A dongle counts as one system, so another is still left. USB-A, for USB-C just use an adaptor.

The complete set for the British Isles (which includes Ireland) does cost 18.50€ + VAT with updates during one year.

Thanks. I think that's a great deal.