Ocpn-Draw and Boundary

[jongough]

If I stop them being persistent over normal shutdowns should they be persistent over abnormal shutdowns/non-clean shutdowns?

I don't have a GPS attached to my test systems at the moment so I am using the 'Move boat here' method to do the testing. The intention is that the EBL lines stay the same relative to the boat irrespective of the heading or COG, so when moving the EBL lines move with the boat and you can then easily see if moving objects are staying on the same relative line. Have I misunderstood the intention of the lines and should the 'end point' stay at the same lat/lon as it was placed, or the lines stay relative to heading or COG?

My radar shows lines relative the heading of the boat, which in a sailing boat is not really helpful as we are not maintaining a constant heading except under motor in sheltered waters.

With the text can you tell me a bit about what it is showing? I have zoomed in and out on Text Points with different 'natural scales' set and text positions on both linux and windows in both opengl and non-opengl and don't see the effect you are showing. I think I did see it some patches ago which I thought I had fixed.

Jon

Originally Posted by bcn

EBL
- would not make it persistent over sessions. This is a tool for checking underway
- without GPS and "move boat here", drawing the EBL and afterwards moving the boat again will move the marker of the EBL in parallel. Is this intended?

Texts:
see below:

[rgleason]

So, the idea is to copy some of the attributes, colour, text, icon from one point to another, but leaving the lat, lon, GUID, name?

Exactly - remember the "the change all icons for boundaries" you have implemented already.

Exactly. Match attributes.

Patch 0460 allows you to move the whole boundary.

Works for me with current version! Thank you!

Re: Text - You are keeping it the same height no matter what scale (height is adjusted according to the scale) and it disappears at a certain point. I think this might work well. Time will tell.

Boundary Fill

There appears to be something wrong in windows opengl in OCPN. In my VirtualBox Win 7 if I try to display filled boundaries, they are empty, UNLESS I create a dummy filled area (in this case a star), fill it, but with an alpha of 0 (i.e. transparent so that you cannot see it), then the boundaries display filled. The dummy area, if you could see it is badly formed, i.e. it has holes in it where they should not be. Tessellation is working, just filling is not.

Some of the same issues with Win7 on Laptop.

Watchdog Anchor areas - Great! Thanks Sean and Jon.


EBL

I have just put up patch 0470. This contains Electronic Bearing Lines (EBL) and you can have as many as you like. Currently they use the base Boundary Point icons and Path colours. If needed I can update the properties panel to include this as a new tab, but I wanted to give you the chance to use it to see if it is worthwhile. The EBL's will persist over a restart, not sure if that was needed, but came free with using the underlying code.

Boy I like this one! I like the Properties window too. With a little more flexibility its could be a good DR tool! What flexibility would be needed to serve for DR?.

- would not make it persistent over sessions. This is a tool for checking underway

Agreed but how about an option for persistence somehow. So you set it as a default to be persistent or not. Then you can override that by going into properties?

- without GPS and "move boat here", drawing the EBL and afterwards moving the boat again will move the marker of the EBL in parallel. Is this intended?

- Parallel? I think the angle needs to change so the destination point (if you will) stays the same.

Scaled Text

Another patch, 0472, this one adds scaling to the text point. A bit rugged, but each text point now stores its 'natural' scale, so it knows what the scale was when it was created and uses this to determine if the text should be hidden and at larger scales whether the text box itself should be hidden. Currently at twice the natural scale the text gets hidden and at 8x the natural scale the text box gets hidden. This is currently hard coded, but, if a bit more control is needed then the scale factor could be changed in the properties dialog, if people would find that useful, it just has be created.

Nice. You're moving it along. Some settings might be appreciated in the preferences box but it need not be a huge priority if the defaults work well.

Thanks JOn.

[jongough]

Latest patch, 0475, has got opengl boundary filling working again. EBL's can now have fixed end points, i.e. they do not move when the boat does, their own icons, line widths and styles. The line colours work over a restart, but when created the lines, currently, have a default colour which I am trying to fix. I will get to the persistence next. There is now a new tab in the OD options dialog which lets you set most of this.

I have not had time to create a windows executable for that, but perhaps on Friday.

Jon

[bcn]

Jon,

looking what others are doing - for radar always - the findings

- a (repositional- does that word exist?) label with Range/Bearing. In ECDIS you would expect to have the (two) labels for the (two) EBLs in a fixed position.

What you have already resolved now is
- EBL fixed to boat and moving in parallel or endpoint fixed so bearing and range variable. Comparable which the cursor position, range and bearing we have already but persistent.

Others (Raymarine) have implemented something like a "floating" EBL - independent from boat position.
This is already covered by the measuring tool (not persistent) or by the route tool (completely persistent). The only option we are missing here is "persistent during session"

VRM?

Great job!

Hubert

[jongough]

Hubert,
Once I get the persistence bit fixed, i.e. all three states working, is there anything else needed for the attached EBL's? Are you asking for persistent, as in always displaying, end point roll over information box?

As for floating ones, you all ready have it, it is a two point boundary, just don't draw the third point and you will have an EBL that you can change the angle on by selecting either end point, or move around by selecting 'move boundary' from the right click options.

The idea of VRM is not a problem, i.e. draggable range rings, but I am not sure how to make them available to the user so that they can be selected. Currently you have to be close either to the owning point or path to be able to select the item. For a VRM the point will be at the boat and therefore interactions using the mouse will tend to go to the boat not to the VRM. It would be possible to select it from the OD Manager, but that would be awkward. Do you have an idea of how to select the VRM object that would be easy for the user?

Jon

[rgleason]

Jon,
Last night I compiled new Ocpn and Ocpn_draw v4.0475 for win. I will upload it to Opencpn File Thingie along with last night's Ocpn v4.1.718

When I installed the plugin, I changed the install to a parallel installation under "Program Files x 86 \ Opencpn4.1.718" then the exe made another directory "Opencpn" under that! and then installed under that directory... that does not work! I have to copy everything back to the plugins directory under Opencpn4.1.718 directory. Earlier note follows:

The plugin exe seems to always create an OpenCPN/Plugins/ directory. So I found that directory under my Opencpn4.1.718 program directory and simply copied the ocpn-draw plugin and data directory to the correct plugins/ directory. ..then deleted opnecpn/plugins/...
Might be confusing to a new user with parallel installs

.

I found your struggle with the texture fill under opengl to be successful, but the boundary outline did not show up until I forced a change in pixel width. It is some little redraw sequencing problem I think because the boundary line is there and flashes off when the fill is written.

Do we need the Properties > Text tab where you enter text to display where it is not functional? --or are you going to make them functional, the Boundary points...?

Looks like it is really progressing. Need to test more.

[bcn]

Originally Posted by rgleason

When I installed the plugin, I changed the install to a parallel installation under "Program Files x 86 \ Opencpn4.1.718" then the exe made another directory "Opencpn" under that! and then installed under that directory... that does not work! I have to copy everything back to the plugins directory under Opencpn4.1.718 directory.

This is a quirk of the installer I noticed with other Plug-in installs sometimes as well.
The installer assumes somehow that the the actual version (even in a parallel install) is OpenCPN and tries to create a plugin directory.
You will have to select the correct program path and once selected delete the \plugin from the proposed path.

Hubert

[rgleason]

I forgot, sorry
OpenCPN Beta File Thingie 2.5.7 rguser rgpass
You will find Ocpn v4.1.718 compiled for windows yesterday in root directory.
You will find Ocpn_draw 4.075-win under the 4.1.718 Win PI directory.

Don't forget to install and make sure that for a parallel install that the plugin dll and the ocpn_draw data directory have actually installed under "Plugins" directory. Verify it please. You may find the files under an extra Opencpn directory that the installer made which will be under your own Opencpn4.1.718 parallel install directory.

Thanks

[rgleason]

I am trying to understand what is being done...its is pretty involved so I am trying to understand what we are doing and we need to know we will use these and how!

bcn wrote

looking what others are doing - for radar always - the findings

- a (repositional- does that word exist?) label with "Range/Bearing". In ECDIS you would expect to have the (two) labels for the (two) EBLs in a fixed position.

What you have already resolved now is
- EBL fixed to boat and moving in parallel or endpoint fixed so bearing and range variable. Comparable which the cursor position, range and bearing we have already but persistent.

Others (Raymarine) have implemented something like a "floating" EBL - independent from boat position.
This is already covered by the measuring tool (not persistent) or by the route tool (completely persistent). The only option we are missing here is "persistent during session"

VRM?

Jon wrote

Once I get the persistence bit fixed, i.e. all three states working, is there anything else needed for the attached EBL's? Are you asking for persistent, as in always displaying, end point roll over information box?

As for floating ones, you all ready have it, it is a two point boundary, just don't draw the third point and you will have an EBL that you can change the angle on by selecting either end point, or move around by selecting 'move boundary' from the right click options.

The idea of VRM is not a problem, i.e. dragable range rings, but I am not sure how to make them available to the user so that they can be selected. Currently you have to be close either to the owning point or path to be able to select the item. For a VRM the point will be at the boat and therefore interactions using the mouse will tend to go to the boat not to the VRM. It would be possible to select it from the OD Manager, but that would be awkward. Do you have an idea of how to select the VRM object that would be easy for the user?

Electronic Bearing Lines EBL
----------------------------------
1. Boat & Fixed Position EBL
Point A - Fixed to Boat moves relative to the boat.
Point B (free) - Selected and is a Fixed Lat Long with bearing changing as boat moves.

2. Boat & Fixed Angle EBL
Point A - Fixed to Boat, moves relative to boat.
Point B (free) - Selected and is a Fixed Angle from Heading(?) with the Lat Long changing as the boat moves.

3. Boat Fixed Position & Fixed Position EBL
This is a hybrid, Point A is fixed to the boat at the time of entry, used lat long so after that is just fixed and the boat goes on... A more elaborate version of #4. Maybe there are various choices selectable by right click?
- "Center on moving boat"
- "Center on boat lat long"
- "Pick a center point"

4. Two Point Independent Floating EBL Point A (free) - Selected and is a Fixed Lat Long
Point B (free) - Selected and is a Fixed Lat Long

For all of the above EBL:
- Change/Modify any "free" Point by selection (yellow) & then move it.
- Option to have range/bearing (re-positional) appear alongside the vector.
- Option to adjust the height & font of the range/bearing text.
- Option for end point roll over yellow box showing lat long position.
- Option for vector line roll over yellow box showing range & bearing.
- Maybe join the two above.


Variable Range Marker VRM
------------------------------------
Dragable range rings.
Point A (Free) (Ring) - Select particular point (not the boat).
Point B (Free) (Center) - Right click and pick
- "Center on moving boat"
- "Center on boat lat long"
- "Pick a center point"
To change it select the ring (yellow) and move it out or in.
To move the center Right click and pick "New center", "Center on boat"

1. Boat VRM (Centered on boat)
Does it move with the boat or is it a fixed lat long?

2. Point VRM (Pick a point)
For all of the above VRM:
- Change/Modify any "free" Point by selection (yellow) & then move it.
- Option to have range (re-positional) appear alongside the ring.
- Option to adjust the height & font of the range/bearing text.
- Option for end point roll over yellow box showing lat long position.
- Option for vector line roll over yellow box showing range & bearing.
- Maybe join the two above.

Additional thoughts
----------------------------
EBL is an infinite bearing line, I believe, not a vector.
VRM is a range which then would be enough information to define a Vector.

Is there a reason we keep these separate in Navigation? --I do not know the answer. Is it because we often know a bearing but not the range and visa versa?

For Example, we could have Point A and Point B define both the EBL and the VRM, but keep them separate entities.

Navigational Norms for DR tools
We want to keep this simple and effective so some of these alternatives are going to have to be removed. I would suggest following Navigational norms for DR. Perhaps someone knows these standards and what is needed who can help us before Jon gets too much further!!! He has mastered the the tools, but we need some better direction. Perhaps we should do some further research before going too much further?

Regarding persistence, I have not thought about it yet.
It would be very nice to have these tools in one place, available.

[rgleason]

For Example, we could have Point A and Point B define both the EBL and the VRM, but keep them separate entities.

I've gone back to ocpn_draw to learn more.
The Boat & Fixed Position EBL works very nicely. Right click: Properties, Move EBL, Delete. We could add "Show VRM"

Also I tried to right click on the boat and I got one of the two EBL centered on the boat. I selected Move EBL and could move it off the boat. Then I could right click anywhere and select "Move the boat here" and the second EBL which was still "center on boat" moved too. (- so did one of the ends of the other EBL...not sure why.)

So it seems to me that we have some good functionality that needs clarification.

Right click on Point A of Boat & Fixed point EBL could show these commands:
Properties
Move EBL (Point B)
Disassociate (Point A) center point from boat make fixed lat long
Move (Point A) Center from Boat (using fixed lat long)
Move (Point A) Center to Boat (removing fixed lat long)
Delete

etc. Needs to be clearer.

Point A & B can be in several states:
1. Associated with Boat position (boat lat long)
2. Associated with a fixed position (lat long)
3. When offset Point B is associated with Boat position (lat long) it moves relative to the boat position and stays at the same angle.

I believe these are all the determinants of what will happen.
Should we give users access to those choices? How do we make it clearer to them.

[rgleason]

There are several icons in the toolbox one is a 45 degree square which is for Boundary Points. These points can be created in the drawing and they have no boundary and not fill. I am wondering what they are for.

Can the be added to an existing boundary?
Can a new boundary with fill and boundary lines be created using them?
I am just trying to learn and figure out how these would be useful.

[rgleason]

In testing boundaries, they seem to work fine except the line. Now I can not seem to get them to show up, by redraw, deactivate - activate, change to 7 pixels or 10 pix. Shutdown and restart Ocpn. etc.

--Ah I shutdown ocpn and reopen and it is there.

Also I think the boundary edge sensitivity needs to be enlarged a bit. It is had to find the edge and right click to get the popup selections. It takes 3-4 tries. We need it to take one try.

---Or is this my mouse setting? ? ! -Let me know please.

[rgleason]

Jon
Please read
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1879814

It appears we just need the GUID ID to transfer.
I have compiled and uploaded watchdog_pi with yesterday's opencpn.lib. GUID does not show up.

[rgleason]

Regarding the installation problems. The same thing is happening with Watchdog, so the problem is something Pavel changed or forgot in the cmake files, nothing to do with you.

I will let him know.

[jongough]

Rick,
I have just installed OCPN 718, OD 475 and WD 1.9. I setup a new 'Boundary' alarm, selected Get Boundary GUID and got a blank, which is what was expected. I then moved the boat inside a boundary and selected Get Boundary GUID and I got a GUID back. So, for me, the messaging is working. I will change the Boundary properties dialog to include the GUID in its display so that it can be checked (I missed doing this!).

So, for me, the watchdog can get boundary information. If it is not working for you can you check the opencpn.log, if there are errors in the JSON messaging there will be error messages logged there.

Jon

Originally Posted by rgleason

Jon
Please read
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1879814

It appears we just need the GUID ID to transfer.
I have compiled and uploaded watchdog_pi with yesterday's opencpn.lib. GUID does not show up.