WeatherFax ...

[stelian]

The German (DWD) server didn't appear in my list when filtering on the boat position.

Looking at the xml, I think that the longitude is reversed:

<Area Name="A" lat1="40N" lat2="60N" lon1="40E" lon2="40W" />
<Area Name="B" lat1="40N" lat2="60N" lon1="40E" lon2="40W" />

Should be:

<Area Name="A" lat1="40N" lat2="60N" lon1="40W" lon2="40E" />
<Area Name="B" lat1="40N" lat2="60N" lon1="40W" lon2="40E" />

Maybe there are other areas with the same problem, I didn't check.

Stelian.

[rgleason]

Attached i

[rgleason]

Ok I've checked and corrected all fax overlays up to and including all Passage Weather regions.

I have checked every link except those in Passage Weather, in which I have checked at least two random links in every Passage Weather Region. To make this clear, I have not checked the Passage Weather urls or changes, deletions or extensions to the series, but have just accepted the series as it was.

In doing this I had to change or modify the projection type and coordinates on about 50 charts. This takes a little time and skill, but eventually the charts start to overlay properly. It is an iterative process because we often can't see the long/lat on the charts and it sometimes takes 3-4 tries.

Since we aren't adding url's or otherwise changing the weatherfaxinternetretrieval.xml and are just making coordinate overlay changes to the editable version of coordinatesets.xml which is located in C:\ProgramData\opencpn\plugins\weatherfax what I do after making sure the overlays are right, is copy that newer version of coordinatesets.xml back to C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCPN 4.6.2\plugins\weatherfax_pi\data\coordinatesets.xm l, overwriting the original version, so everything stays current.

Then I copy the two files:
weatherfaxinternetretrieval.xml
coordinatesets.xml
to a special directory where I zip it up and upload to this thread to share with everyone.

The point is, that the rest of the links need to be checked and repaired for the entire world. There are some big changes and entire URL's no longer exist. We will need to find alternatives if there are any and make new url sections in the file.

Stalien, I've done my share, now let someone else do something about updating these files. PS I am not going to check or fix the location search problem noted. - If it bothers you, fix it.

Also I have not heard a single peep of confirmation from anyone about the Memory Problem that Weatherfax has. Has anyone tried downloading lots of weatherfaxes while watching Opencpn memory use in the "Task Manager" (right click on the toolbar and pick "Task Manager")?

[rgleason]

Oh, I almost forgot. Here are the updated files.


I am really hoping that several of you will help me, heck help us all out and check the overlays for the rest of the charts. Then fix each problem that is just an overlay problem, by using the Weatherfax Wizard. Then upload the two files to here so we can include those improvements.

[stelian]

Originally Posted by rgleason

Stalien, I've done my share, now let someone else do something about updating these files. PS I am not going to check or fix the location search problem noted. - If it bothers you, fix it.

Ok, I attach then your latest version with the DWD longitude fix.

Originally Posted by rgleason

Also I have not heard a single peep of confirmation from anyone about the Memory Problem that Weatherfax has. Has anyone tried downloading lots of weatherfaxes while watching Opencpn memory use in the "Task Manager" (right click on the toolbar and pick "Task Manager")?

I do not use Windows, but under Linux I can see the (quite big) memory usage increase with each weatherfax. However, this memory is reclaimed when deleting the weatherfax from the fax list.

Stelian.

[stelian]

Attachement didn't go through...

[rgleason]

I do not use Windows, but under Linux I can see the (quite big) memory usage increase with each weatherfax. However, this memory is reclaimed when deleting the weatherfax from the fax list.

That may be so, in fact that happens with me too, but the Memory use stays exactly the same when I close Weatherfax completely! Why is this happening? The plugin is using all files that are downloaded in the directory to load automatically into weatherfax and Opencpn memory? That is a little drastic. What happens if a user wants the file, but does not need it loaded right now? Something isn't right here.

Furthermore if I try to retrieve a file and are prompted that the file was downloaded within 180 minutes, when I say "no" the amount of memory stilll goes up. Furthermore the amount of memory used is far in excess of the size of the files which are very small.

Perhaps this large memory use is because the graphic projection transformation is occurring right as the file is loaded, using the coordinateset.xml data. I wonder if using Kap files would be more efficient and if there is a better way to handle this.

There has got to be a memory leak somewhere. The only way I can reduce memory is to close OpenCPN completely and reopen.

Stellian have you retrieved wxfax files until OpenCPN crashes?

Stelian, I have made that change. Thanks.

Stellian, can you give me the folders the files should be copied into for Linux?

Can you give us the full path descriptions for copying the weatherfax xml files so linux newbies get it?

Copy weatherfaxinternetretrieval.xml and coordinatesets.xml into _______?
Copy coordinatesets.xml into ______?

[stelian]

Originally Posted by rgleason

There has got to be a memory leak somewhere. The only way I can reduce memory is to close OpenCPN completely and reopen.

If you close the weatherfax plugin without "deleting" the faxes, the memory is kept allocated. But if you reopen the plugin, select the faxes and remove them one by one the memory is reclaimed.

Yes, it looks like the projection of the faxes do use a lot of memory, maybe too much, and maybe there is room for improvement here. As you say, it would be useful to calculate the projection only when the fax is displayed, not as soon as it is downloaded.

If there is a memory leak somewhere, it is not very big.

Originally Posted by rgleason

Stellian have you retrieved wxfax files until OpenCPN crashes?

I tried downloading all the faxes for my region, OpenCPN grew up to 2GB but I have 16 GB of RAM and 16 GB of swap, so it didn't crash.

Originally Posted by rgleason

Stelian, I have made that change. Thanks.

Thanks.

I have also found other inconstancies:
- weathercharts.org -> surface analysis: URL is wrong
- metoffice -> all URL are wrong (but this is known)
- DWD 500MB -> projection is wrong, nothing is displayed.

All other faxes for the Europe region seems OK.

I'll look into those tomorrow if I have some spare time.

Originally Posted by rgleason

Stellian, can you give me the folders the files should be copied into for Linux?

Can you give us the full path descriptions for copying the weatherfax xml files so linux newbies get it?

Copy weatherfaxinternetretrieval.xml and coordinatesets.xml into _______?
Copy coordinatesets.xml into ______?

What I do here is:

sudo cp WeatherFaxInternetRetrieval.xml /usr/share/opencpn/plugins/weatherfax_pi/data/
sudo cp CoordinateSets.xml /usr/share/opencpn/plugins/weatherfax_pi/data/

I also remove the cache of downloaded faxes and locally modified coordinates with:

rm -rf ~/.opencpn/plugins/weatherfax/

Stelian.

[LeaseOnLife]

Originally Posted by rgleason

Stellian, can you give me the folders the files should be copied into for Linux?

Can you give us the full path descriptions for copying the weatherfax xml files so linux newbies get it?

Copy weatherfaxinternetretrieval.xml and coordinatesets.xml into _______?
Copy coordinatesets.xml into ______?

Rick: I don't think there is a universal answer for Linux. Stellian is using an Ubuntu and a OpenCPN package for it which places above files in /usr/share/opencpn/plugins/weatherfax

I compile OpenCPN from source and my install directory is /usr/local/share/opencpn, so for me the files have to go into /usr/local/share/opencpn/plugins/weatherfax

The following I am not sure off, don't know how it works exactly:
When a user creates some user calibrations in the weatherfax plugin, the coordinatesets is copied into the home directory and user-modifications are stored there. That is why Stelian had to delete his files in
~/.opencpn/plugins/weatherfax/
Maybe Sean could chime in and give us the correct procedure, Stelian and I just make our systems work and the method might not be right for everyone.

Cheers

Dirk

[seandepagnier]

I will investigate memory leaks, but maybe just wximage isn't very efficient.


As for the coordinate sets, its exactly as leaseonlife stated. The plugin comes with coordinate sets installed into prefix (usually /usr or /usr/local) and this is copied into the home directory if it is not there as well.

If the file is in the home directory, it can contain user modifications.

[stelian]

Originally Posted by LeaseOnLife

Rick: I don't think there is a universal answer for Linux. Stellian is using an Ubuntu and a OpenCPN package for it which places above files in /usr/share/opencpn/plugins/weatherfax

I compile OpenCPN from source and my install directory is /usr/local/share/opencpn, so for me the files have to go into /usr/local/share/opencpn/plugins/weatherfax

To be fully correct, I also compile from source and the files go into /usr/local/...

But since Rick asked for a solution for Linux newbies, well, I assumed newbies go with a precompiled OpenCPN package and do not compile from source...

Stelian.

[rgleason]

Thanks guys, thats helpful about linux install location.

When you have a chance check those links and post any problems here.

[LeaseOnLife]

I checked some old favorites:
OK for me are: Fiji, South Africa, Chile, Bermuda

For Mauritius the sat pic is ok, but the synoptic chart calibration is off

Dirk

[stelian]

Here is an updated version.

Changelog:
- fix UK MET - Central longitude swap
- fix UK MET - Central - A projection
- fix weathercharts.org Surface Analysis URL

Stelian.

[stelian]

In fact, looking at the "longitude swap bug", it looks like many areas are wrong.

For example, the first area in WeatherFaxInternetRetrieval.xml (NOAA - Boston - 1), will be filtered out if the boat is placed in Boston.

The reason is the same:
<Area Name="1" lat1="28N" lat2="52N" lon1="45W" lon2="85W" />

Should be:
<Area Name="1" lat1="28N" lat2="52N" lon1="85W" lon2="45W" />

And there are many many others...