DJM Questor Software
Host: Club Cruceros, La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico
Base: DJM Questor Software
MarinePlotter Version and Release History
See also: Known Problems.
Released program versions:
To determine the version of your installed copy, select the program "Help" menu "About" command.
The About Dialog will display the version number.
Version 7,7,2
- Removed the "Chart rectangle" command from the "View" menu.
The option is now in the "ENC", "MCG", "RNC", and "IMG" menus as "Draw rectangles"..
The program will enable the command only if the related chart catalogue exists.
FOr more information, refer to the "Chart Catalogues" form help topic.
- Fixed an error in the GPS Fix Data form's "Draw average static position" option.
When checked and if vessel tracking is checked, the program will prompt for
verification to clear the vessel track.
-
For a new installation, if the "'MarinePlotterData'" or "'MarinePlotterCharts'" folders are not available,
the program will ask if you want to go to the MarinePlotter web-site to download and install them.
These folders are not available in the Microsoft Store but you can download the folders at:
"http://www.djm.clubcruceros.net/MarinePlotter/MarinePlotterSetup.htm".
Version 7,7,1
- Added "RGB", "NRG", "GRY", "PRC", and "PRG" to the "Brightness" drop down list on the MarinePlotter's "Info Bar".
- Fixed an RNC header data read error in the prior update that caused the program to report unknown projection errors and to incrorrectly draw several RNCs.
- To be consistent with the "IMG" menu, moved the RNC catalogues "Convert to IMG-file" to the MaprinePlotter's "RNC" menu.
Version 7,7,0
Warning: Opening or viewing a corrupted satellite image file might cause the MarinePlotter App to crash.
Sometimes the Windows 10 System will fail to catch the exception and as such the program cannot report the error nor optionally replace the file.
Until Microsoft fixes the problem, you will need to manually delete the bad image files and then download new images.
For more information, refer to Fixing corrupted files..
Changes this release:
-
Added the new "IMG" menu "Aligner" command.
The new command uses a semi-transparent form to move and size the IMG relative to the background satellite image.
The new command will eventually replace the prior "Align" command.
Both commands are for aligning geo-referenced JPG or PNG images with background satellite image.
-
Renamed the prior "IMG" menu "Align" command and related files to "Offset".
This command is deprecated. Please use the "Aligner" (above.)
- Removed all references to the NOAA Chart Reprojector. NOAA no longer provides the program.
-
Fixed an RNC BSB (kap-file) load error when the header CTRL-Z was missing.
If the header is valid and the "View" menu "Draw chart rectangles" is checked,
the program will now draw a red rectangle where the chart image should appear.
-
Fixed the Google Maps new tile version number save method.
Tile version numbers of different regions are not saved.
-
Fixed an error caused by OpenSeaMap kap-files. There was an OSM "WGS 84" to MP "WGS84" mismatch.
You can download the OpenSeaMaps kap-files
from KAP-charts_from_OpenSeaMap.
These images are not nautical charts but if used with caution they might be useful as an aid to navigation.
- Changed all error colors from "Tomato" to "LightPink" to make the text more readable.
-
Removed the GoogleMaps satellite image tile "Replace" and "Update" commands because the new download method does not support updates.
To replace tiles, use the "Download tiles" "Delete" command followed with the "Download tiles" "New and missing" command.
-
Changed the "ENC", "MCG", "RNC", and "IMG" menu "Draw rectangles" command
to use the chart Purpose scale filter command.
- Added the "Purpose" filter command to the "Graphical chart selector" form.
- Added the "Select" command to the "Graphical chart selector" form's "Scale" filter.
- Added the "Select" command to the "Graphical chart selector" form's "Area" filter.
-
Added the "Convert to IMG" command to the "Catalogues" menu of the RNC catalogue form.
You can now convert a KAP-file to an IMG-file, edit the hdr-file or the png-file of the IMG-file;
and then, convert the IMG-file back to a KAP-file with the MarinePlotter form's "IMG" menu "Convert to kap-file" command.
- Fixed an IMG chart rectangle drawing error that occurred when the image spanned longitude 180 as occurs with some converted kap-files.
-
Changed the "View" menu "Chart rectangles" command to disabled.
The program will enable the command when you open charts.
When you select the "ENC", "MCG", "RNC", or "IMG" menu "Draw rectangles" command,
the program will uncheck the "View" menu "Chart rectangles" command.
Version 7,6,3
- Fixed the very slow main form resizing method.
-
Added code to help find the cause of the reported crashes and hangs
in the "DrawWorldRectangle" and the "Form_Close" methods.
The App will report the error message in the error log.
To view the error, tap the "[E]" button on the App's main menu bar.
If the error occurs frequently, please report it: Contact.
- Replaced some Start page icons for better readability.
Version 7,6,2
- Added the missing "MarinePlotter Help.chm" file to the installation package.
Version 7,6,1
-
In prior versions, the program installer "MarinePlotter Setup.msi" would create
the "C:/ProgramData/DJM Questor Software/MarinePlotter/Application Data" folder.
In this version, when you run the program and if the folder does not exist,
the program will create the folder from an installation copy.
The folder contains 'attributions', ENC data, waypoint symbols, and other data.
-
If you click the 404 count reset button in the GoogleMaps tile-cache manager form, the
program will ask if you want to clear the internal 'tiles not found' list so you can try
to download previously unavailable tiles.
-
When the program started and when connected to the Internet,
the program would look for the current GoogleMaps tile version until found or
until you manually closed the internal web-browser: In this version, if not found, and
after about 5-seconds, the program will stop the check and close the browser.
- Updated the GoogleMaps tile-cache manager Help topics.
Version 7,6,0 for the Microsoft Store
This release contains a significant number of changes required for Microsoft to accept the
program in the Microsoft App store. Also, the method for installing the program downloaded
from the MarinePlotter web-page uses the Windows 10 App "sideload" method.
The sideload instructions are included in the MarinePlotter download web-page.
As a consequence of the changes not listed below, some features might fail to work.
Please report any problems you encounter. Thank you.
-
Fixed the GoogleMaps tile version update method to automatically update the version number on program startup.
Your computer must be connected to the Internet so the program can access the GoogleMaps satellite images.
If the MarinePlotter produces mostly "Tile not found" errors, then the program is probably trying to download
out-of-date and no-long-available tiles. You will need to update the program to download the current tile versions.
-
Added two methods to the GoogleMaps tile cache manager to optionally download tiles
from ENC and MCG chart coastlines and depth soundings.
The depth soundings are limited to depths less than 31 meters.
-
Changed the GoogleMaps tile download rate from '1 to 100' tiles per second to '1 to 5' tiles per second.
The prior default rate was 20-tiles per second and the new default rate is 1-tile per second.
The use of a faster rate might result in "access denied" for at least 24-hours.
-
Changed the installed tile.attribution file location from "C:/Program Data/DJM Questor Software/" folder to
the related working tile-cache folder so you and the MarinePlotter can more easily update the file.
Version 7,5,0
-
Added a GoogleMaps Tile Version button.
For this release the program will display the button as lightPink colored [812].
You should click the button to update the tile download version or you will likely
not be able to download any new tiles.
When updated, the button will display the new version and will be a light green.
Ninety days from your latest version update,
the button will turn lightPink to warn that you should check for a new version.
You can click the button at any time to check for a new tile version.
-
Added the Tile-Cache folder command to the Select menu of the Tile-Cache Scanner form.
The prior version only scanned the tile-cache selected in the Basic Tile-Cache Manager form.
This option does not change the currently selected tile-cache.
-
Added the tile-cache Source drop down list to the select menu of the Tile-Cache Scanner form.
You will need to select the tile source if the tile-cache tile y-axis is up-positive instead of the default down-positive.
Reference the FlipY value in the tile-cache attribution files.
-
Fixed the MarinePlotter's File menu Close files command.
The command failed to close selected RNC files.
Version 7,4,3
-
Changed the AIS Filter detection of stationary objects.
The program now uses a running average SOG to determine if an AIS object is stationary.
If an AIS object's running average SOG is less than the value you select in the SOG less than control,
then the AIS object is stationary.
Prior versions used a default value of 0.3 knots.
-
Fixed the AIS menu Tails option.
The program failed to draw the tail because a drawing optimization failed.
-
Fixed an AIS object drawing problem:
Some moving AIS objects would appear and disappear at random intervals when the option to hiding stationary objects was checked.
If the program detected no change in location, the program assumed the object to be stationary.
It appears that some AIS transmitters randomly repeat a vessel's location and also randomly report a SOG of zero (0) knots
even though the vessel is underway. This might occur if the vessel transmits AIS data at a higher rate than
the GPS provides updated position, course, and speed information.
- Fixed a circular reference in the IMG menu Edit Triggers command that cause the program to crash.
-
Added to the AIS menu the Set scan radius drop down list.
The list contains the same named scan ranges as found in the CPA Alarm form
where you can assign a radius value to each scan range name: Ocean, Coastal, Harbour, etc.
Version 7,4,2
The new ENC, MCG, RNC, and IMG menu Draw rectangle options
will selectively override the View menu Draw rectangles option.
The Draw rectangles options are added to enable you to view chart locations,
to select, to show information, to open, and to close individual charts more easily than
with the Graphical chart selector.
-
Changed the IMG auto-open data file format: Added the Title item.
You will need to re-create any existing ImgAutoOpen.dat files.
If you try to use the prior version dat-file, the program will report the version error.
-
The IMG auto-open trigger form's table now displays the chart Title column and the X check box column.
Instead of using the View menu Open charts form to show and hide charts,
you can use the X check box to show or hide charts when setting the Min-Z, Max-Z and Priority values.
The X-value is not saved because it is only used to evaluate chart stacking priority.
- Added the ENC menu Draw rectangles command to draw all the ENC catalogued chart rectangles.
- Added the MCG menu Draw rectangles command to draw all the MCG catalogued chart rectangles.
- Added the RNC menu Draw rectangles command to draw all the RNC catalogued chart rectangles.
- Added the IMG menu Draw rectangles command to draw all the IMG catalogued chart rectangles.
- Added the IMG menu Edit triggers command for easy access to the IMG auto-open trigger editor.
- Moved the AIS menu commands Draw range ring and Highlight to the bottom of the menu.
Version 7,4,1
- Added a one time startup prompt that requests that you take the MarinePlotter Survey.
-
Fixed an error in the Xtools menu Test all charts - RNC command.
The program failed to draw the charts due to prior changes to fix an unrelated problem.
-
Fixed the ENC menu Delete extras method of the Update method
that failed to delete the files and folders.
-
Added the Auto-open charts command to the IMG menu.
If checked, the program will automatically open and close IMG chart cells by plot scale and plot location.
Refer to the IMG menu Catalogues command Help topics.
-
Added the CM93 Auto-open command to the MCG menu.
If checked, the program will automatically open and close CM93 MCG chart cells by plot scale and plot location.
Refer to the MCG menu Catalogues command Help topics.
-
Fixed the AIS menu Highlight option so that the program will highlight the AIS targets after program startup.
Prior to this fix, you had to uncheck and re-check the option.
Version 7,4,0
- Added the Highlight option to the AIS menu. The light blue hightlight will make the AIS targets more visible against a dark satellite image backgound.
- Fixed the error: "Object reference not set to an instance of an object for ClassForms.formAIS() in the ClearAlarmIndicators() method . . .".
- Removed the unused commands MakeIndexFiles and IndexLevels at the bottom of the MCG menu.
-
After restarting the program and if the waypoint list contains a MOB entry,
the program will display the red tracking line from your vessel position to the MOB position.
-
If you click the mouse left-button when the cursor is on a plotted MOB waypoint,
the program will now ask and optionally delete the MOB entry from the waypoint list and stop tracking the waypoint.
The program will make a note of the deletion in the GPS log.
-
When you delete a waypoint from the Waypoint editor form,
the plot will now update to reflect the change.
Version 7,3,4
-
Changed the plot bar Hand method of moving the plot center.
The plot now moves as you drag the mouse cursor.
Prior to the change, the plot updated when you released the mouse left-button.
-
Changed the plot pan and zoom methods.
For these methods, the mouse must be in the default plot mouse mode and the mouse cursor must be within the plot window.
To pan to a new location, drag the plot image as if you were using the Hand.
To change the plot scale, move the mouse cursor to the plot window,
click the wheel to activate it, and rotate the mouse wheel.
The program will magnify or demagnify the plot for each mouse wheel increment.
-
Added the Tail command to the AIS menu.
The command will open the AIS Tail Settings form.
In the form you can elect to show or hide a tail for all moving AIS vessels.
You can set the maximum tail length in (lat,Lon) points and you can set the tail color.
-
Added the Draw range ring option to the AIS menu.
The ring indicates the area around your vessel that will contain AIS objects.
Reference: The CPA Alarm form.
-
Added the Scan by meters option to the CPA Alarm form and
changed the default values for the Ocean, Coastal, Approach, Harbour, and Berthing options.
The Scan by meters option allows you to set the AIS inclusion range independent of your default ranges.
-
The program will ignore all AIS objects outside the scan radius as defined in the CPA Alarm form.
If you reduce the radius, the program will remove all AIS objects outside the new radius.
-
Added a Hide check box to the AIS Filter form to show or hide stationary AIS objects with a SOG less than your selected value.
This show/hide option is added to preserve your selected SOG value that you previously had to set to zero to show all objects.
-
Fixed some additional controls with the AutoSize=true option.
If you find a form wherein a control is missing or does not display the text correctly, please report the problem to me: Contact
Version 7,3,3
-
Added a missing AutoSize=true option to several Fixed-Size forms.
If the form did not fit its size to the content per the somputer's font size,
the forms would be too small and controls would be non-accessible.
This was evident when the MarinePlotter was run the first time after a new installation.
The controls at the bottom of the "Not for Navigation" warning form were not displayed.
The manually sizable forms should not have this problem.
-
Fixed a non-functioning Stop activity button.
The button set a terminate flag and then cleared the flag before the method terminated.
If a method uses the flag, then when a method starts, the method will clear the flag.
- Fixed the WebBrowser to add <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE =edge" />" to the generated 'MarinePlotterData' folder GoogleMaps display.htm file.
-
Fixed the ENC plot where the plot erroneously displayed the M_QUAL objects and cluttered the plot.
A test for object visibility was inadvertently deleted and that prevented the ENC object display filter from working correctly.
Version 7,3,2
In addition to the changes noted below, this version contains several small revisions to the NCO forms and methods.
- Added the NCO Folder command to the Tiles -> NCO menu.
- Added the backgound Transparency command to the Tiles -> NCO menu.
- Renamed the NCO manager to NCO Editor.
- Changed the NCO Editor form to a tabbed layout.
-
Added Areas to the NCO Editor.
You can add simple land area (LNDARE) and depth area (DEPARE) objects to the NCO.
-
Added tracing to the NCO area and line creation method.
When you create the object line, hold the mouse left-button down
and drag the mouse cursor along a reference edge such as the coastline.
- Added Coverage to the NCO Editor.
- Added the Tiles menu NCO -> Place names command.
- Added the Tiles menu NCO -> Rescale command
Version 7,3,1
- Add the NCO check box to the Object Query form.
- Fixed the NCO menu File information command form's display so it now displays the file information.
Version 7,3,0
- Fixed some old and minor errors of the ENC Chart1 loading and drawing.
- Fixed an ENC Mediterranean IT400122.000 chart DrawPoints index error.
- Changed the CM93 to MCG form to improve the conversion of CM93 cells to hierarchical or flat layer MCG files.
- Fixed the MCG area edge line drawing method to eliminate drawing of the area-to-hole connecting lines.
-
Changed the MCG buoy and beacon drawing method.
The program did not draw some objects or drew the default symbol.
-
Changed the MCG and ENC area center calculations for floating object placement.
The prior method would sometime place an [i] or (i) information object at (lat,lon) (0,0).
For odd shaped areas, the new method will sometimes erroneously place some objects near but outside the intended area.
-
Removed the MCG menu Not for Navigation command.
The display is redundant because electronic charts used in an
Electronic Chart System (ECS) are automatically not for navigation.
Version 7,2,2
-
Fixed an RNC file opening error that caused some NOAA RNCs to not load.
If the chart spanned East to West, the program made an erroneous correction.
Version 7,2,1
Before downloading GoogleMaps satellite images, update the program's download command with the new tile-version update command below.
-
Added the Update to latest GoogleMaps tile version button to the Tile-Cache Manager.
The command causes the program to update the MarinePlotter so it will download the latest GoogleMaps tiles.
GoogleMaps no longer automatically provides the latest tiles.
You need to click this button before downloading new tiles or updating or replacing existing tiles.
This command is a simplification of the Scan for version change option in the
Web Browser form you can access on the Xtools menu.
Reminder: Before updating or replacing tiles, click the [Sources] attribution button at the bottom-left of the plot.
The program will open GoogleMaps on the Internet to the same view as in the MarinePlotter.
Verify that the image is better than what you already have before starting the download.
-
Fixed the [Sources] button TileSource Attribution Links form so it once again
will display (for the current MarinePlotter plot view) the source GoogleMaps satellite images
before tile downloads or updates so you can be certain the tiles will be better than what you have.
- Modified the proximity alarm radius control to make it easier to test proximity alarm situations.
-
Added a vertical clearance check to the proximity alarm mainly for passing under
bridges but also for overhead cables, conveyors, cranes, and pipes
in ENCs, MCGs, and NCOs.
-
Fixed the NCO proximity alarm.
The program did not consistantly display some of the detected alarm conditions.
- Revised the NCO allowed objects and attributes.
Version 7,2,0
This version contains the addition of a Nautical Chart Objects (NCO) feature.
You use the feature to create a satellite image markup overlay.
To the overlay, you will add NCO line, point, and depth sounding objects.
You then display the active "aids to navigation" over the satellite images.
To make the objects standout against dark areas of the satellite images, you should set the
satellite image transparency to 0.3 to 0.5.
The feature uses a limited set of IHO S57 objects to simplify your selection and placement
of buoys, lights, under water rocks, etc. and to simplify your selection and drawing of
depth contours and coastlines.
The program's proximity alarm will detect when your vessel gets too close to an object or depths that
violates the distance or depth alarm settings.
For addition information, refer to the Help topics About NCOs, the NCO menu commands,
how to create and edit NCOs, and the topics on the related NCO forms.
Version 7,1,1
-
Changed the program to recognize an RNC with a decimal value chart scale and
to truncate the value to the lowest integer value.
For example, the program will convert "7398.376656" to "7398".
You can use the scale for chart selection in the RNC Catalogue;
otherwise, the program does not use the scale.
-
Fixed the Tab command for the
Menu, Info bar, Plot buttons and general Buttons.
In prior versions, the tab did not progress beyond the Menu.
Use the arrow keys to navigate menu and bar items.
-
Added to the Alarms menu the Reset proximity alarms command
for when the proximity alarms do not automatically clear.
If the program raises an AIS proximity alarm and if the AIS target signal subsequentially is lost,
the program might not clear the alarm when the program no longer knows the target's position.
Use this option to remove the alarm clutter from the plot.
Version 7,1,0
NOTE: If you get a lot of "Not found" (404) errors,
you might need to update the version number in the GoogleMaps tile download command.
GoogleMaps appears to no longer provide the most recent satellite image tiles by default.
The GoogleMaps tile download command now requires a tile version number.
To update the tile download command so that it will use the current version number,
select the Xtools menu Web browser command.
The program will open the built-in web-browser to the GoogleMaps page and display the satellite image.
Select the Options menu Scan for tile version change command.
If the program displays a version change,
click the Yes button to update the tile download command.
NOTE: When downloading tiles,
if GoogleMaps determines that you might be abusing the Terms of usage,
the program will open the Web Browser form and prompt for verification that you are doing the downloads and not some malicious bot.
To resume the downloads, you will need to enter the indicated code and click the Submit button.
If the code is difficult to read, use the Magnifier in the Start page Windows Ease of Access folder.
The program will remain in a download paused state until you submit the code or terminate the download.
After clicking the Submit button and if the browser form does not close, then
click the [B] (back) button one or more times until the form closes.
If the form does not close. you probably entered an incorrect code and you should click the End trace button and then restart the trace.
Otherwise, when the web-browser form closes, the program will resume downloading after a 1-minute pause.
For additional information, click the links in the web-browser page.
Version 7,0,1
-
Fixed the new release program startup error:
ERROR: ClassFormsUpgrade ... InvalidArgument=Value of '0' is not valid for 'index'.
This error occurred the first time you ran the program after installing a new MarinePlotter release.
-
Fixed a program installation msi-file error that prevented
the World Magnetic Model option from working.
- Fixed problems resulting from errors caused by the version 7,0,0 upgrade from VSC 2012 to VSC 2015.
- Fixed errors caused by the version 7,0,0 change to the Microsoft Installer.
Version 7,0,0
Upgraded from the Microsoft Interactive Development Environment (IDE) Visual Studio Community 2012
to Visual Studio Community 2015.
Changed from InstallShield (exe-files) to Microsoft Installer to create the MarinePlotter Setup release distribution msi-file.
The free InstallShield program is not available in VSC 2015.
This version of the MarinePlotter contains an experimental Tile-Library-Manager
to create tilesets and tile-libraries.
For more information, refer to the "About Tile-Libraries" help topic.
- Added FormTileLibraryManager.
- Added FormTilesetAttribution.
- Added FormTilesetGroupEditor.
- Added the Tile-Library Management command to the Tiles menu
- Added the Library tiles check-box to the Configuration form.
- Added the help topics on creating and managing tile-libraries.
- Removed the CopyFolder program from the MarinePlotter distribution.
-
Added the CopyTileCache program as a separate downloadable on the MarinePlotter download page.
Use this tool is to copy a tile cache folder to an external hard-drive and to update tile caches.
-
Added the MapBoxTileManager program as a separate downloadable on the MarinePlotter download page.
Use this tool to extract the NOAA Map Box tiles in an SQLite database and to store the tiles in a MarinePlotter tile cache.
-
Changed the Pan and Zoom behavior.
If the plot tool bar [Hand] (Pan) button is selected (On),
the button will remain On after a zoom-in or out operation;
othersize, the [Hand] will remain unselected.
Also, as in prior versions, the program will unselect the [Hand] button during a [ZR] command to support sequential [ZR] commands.
-
Fixed a Double click zoom-in error.
The program did not save the center location before changing the location to the zoom-in location.
When [Zo] was clicked, the program plotted the prior view in the wrong location.
- Fixed errors in the NOAA WMTS tile download methods of the NCI NOAA WMTS form.
Update/Release history version-6.