Need help with waypoint links to PDF file

[reflectionsv37]

I am trying to create an easy way to share waypoint information with other OpenCPN users in Indonesia. There is a PDF document named Indonesia - 101 Anchorages.

I have entered all of those waypoints and now want to add a link to each waypoint so it will automatically go to the correct page for that anchorage in the PDF file. I have already resolved how to enter the link and get the PDF file to go to the correct page.

What I would like to know is where is the best place to put the actual PDF file so that it can be found easily. I could have people put the PDF file in the C:/ directory and create the link to always points at that directory, but I doubt that would work for some people who may have Mac hardware.

Does anyone have any suggestions on where the best place to put that file and any suggestions on how I might enter the physical location of the PDF in the link without hard coding the directory name.

Thanks for the help!

Gene

[yachtvalhalla]

Originally Posted by reflectionsv37

I am trying to create an easy way to share waypoint information with other OpenCPN users in Indonesia.
Gene

Hi Gene,
We leave in 4 days from Davao, Philippines on the Festival Derawan 2013 yacht rally. Plan is to be in Derawan, Indonesia for the 12-20 September festival.

From various sources I have collected anchorage locations for Indonesia. I put them into Route Manager and exported 'all visible' into one .gpx file. When you do this, make sure you don't have any Routes, Tracks or Layers in Route Manager or they will get exported into the same .gpx file. (I learned this the hard way!)

The combined file I created is attached as a .doc (to get it to post here). Download and delete the .doc to get the .gpx file. Import this file using Route Manager and enjoy!

HTH,

Terry

[tcarroll2]

Originally Posted by reflectionsv37

Does anyone have any suggestions on where the best place to put that file and any suggestions on how I might enter the physical location of the PDF in the link without hard coding the directory name.

Hey Gene, I recommend creating two gpx files. One for Windows and one for Mac. You can open the gpx file in a plain text editor and find/replace the location parameters to point to the file. I suggest a relative path and then store the file with the OpenCPN data files.

I suggest for Mac that you place the file in ~/Library/Application Support/OpenCPN since that directory already exists for chart data. Maybe for Windows you could put it in C:\Program Files\OpenCPN.

Tom

[rgleason]

Drop a waypoint, Right click on it. Pick properties. Under Basic Tab, at the bottom "Links". Pick Add. Then enter URL or File Location.

That should do it. I don't know if links export to gpx. Perhaps someone can advise.

[tcarroll2]

I'm pretty sure the OP's original question was whether or not to use static or relative references to a linked pdf file.

The OP's issue was if he created the link, how was he to set it up - as a static link on a drive, or a relative reference on the drive. Once that issue was resolved, how could the OP set the file up for both Windows and Mac users.

As suggested, I would create my links as static references on the Windows Drive. Export the anchorage waypoints to two separate files, i.e. indo_anc_win.gpx and indo_anc_mac.gpx. Then edit the Mac file and use the search/find/replace function and replace all the file location specifications with mac friendly static link.

The other question in that post is where to store the pdf file on the drive. I suggest it be stored in C:\Program Files\OpenCPN\ on the Windows machine and in ~/Library/Application Support/OpenCPN/. I am pretty certain those directories exist on both systems unless it is a custom install, which the end user would know where and how to set up the file and to get it to work. My suggested method is noob friendly.

Tom

[nohal]

Tom...
I'm not sure about the customs of Mac users, but it's a good and advisable practice NOT to store any data and documents in C:\Program Files\ on Windows
The documents belong, well, to the Documents and that's where the OS tries to encourage the user to place them...

Pavel

[rgleason]

Tcarroll You are right, I answered the wrong question and was way too quick responding! I guess the gpx export does include the links, (the whole point of Gene's exercise) and the linked files should be placed in a user's data drive or directory. Sorry.