From russo at bogodyn.org  Sun Dec  7 09:49:17 2025
From: russo at bogodyn.org (Tom Russo)
Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2025 10:49:17 -0700
Subject: [Xastir] Poll:  GPSMan and GPS track rendering
Message-ID: <aTW-Hd0FQhcWJkd0@bogodyn.org>

I am in the throes of refactoring the code in map_shp.c, with an eye to
improving readability, robustness, and maintainability, because we have a 
couple of bugs and issues in github that will need addressing in this file, 
and as it stands it's hard to touch without possibly breaking things even 
if you can spot where you have to change it.

I'm currently staring at the code that handles downloaded GPS tracks.  This
feature was intended to support search and rescue and other public service
events.

There is code to handle making multiple GPS tracks distinct, both with unique
labels and distinct colors.  There are currently TWO ways to do this, the
very old way and the newer way.

The old way was a one-off block of code that got the label and color from the
shapefile's filename.  To use it you copied the GPSMan shapefile from where
it got saved (your local '.xastir/gps' directory) to the system-wide GPS
directory and renamed it.  (If you did this a lot, you could just symlink
your own .xastir/gps directory into Xastir's maps/GPS directory.)  This
technique depended on the file path containing the letters "GPS".

The new way uses dbfawk just like every other shapefile Xastir supports.  
Xastir now writes out a generic dbfawk file at the same time it saves the 
GPSMan shapefile.  To use it, you edit the dbfawk file to set the color and 
label.  You can then copy the shapefile components and dbfawk file anywhere 
that Xastir can find it, not necessarily only the maps/GPS directory.

If a dbfawk file of the same name as the shapefile is found, the second method
is always used.  The first method is only used when no dbfawk file is found.

My poll questions are these:
-----
   - Do you actually use GPSMan to get GPS tracks into Xastir at all?
   - If you don't use GPSMan and don't even care about getting data from
      GPS units, you can ignore this poll.
   - If you do:
      - Do you get these tracks colored the old way, which was to move them
        into the system-wide GPS directory and rename them 
        "<label>_<color>.shp/shx/dbf"  
      - Do you do it the new way, which is to move them anywhere Xastir can
        find them, copying the .dbfawk that Xastir automatically creates
        along with them and editing the dbfawk to set label, color, and any
        other rendering attributes.

    - If you DON'T use GPSMan now, but actually used to do so a lot and have
      tons of GPS tracks you want to keep and display:
       - do you use the old way of getting these colored and labeled?
       - if you do, would you be OK with just adding DBFAWK files to keep
         them rendered properly?

    - If you had no idea that Xastir could get data from GPS units using
      GPSMan, and think it's a cool idea that you'd actually use, will you?
        - which of these two methods sounds like less of a PITA to you?
----

The reason I'm asking about this is that I think that the GPSMan feature is 
already fairly niche, and I have no idea if anyone even uses it anymore.  And
even if it *is* in use, having two completely different ways to get the same
job done makes the code unnecessarily kludgy and harder to maintain.

I would *like* to strip out the non-dbfawk version of GPS rendering at some
point if it wouldn't cause user pain.  This is not a priority or something 
that's going to happen any time soon, but it would be good to know if this 
would negatively impact any current users.

-- 
Tom Russo    KM5VY
Tijeras, NM  

 echo "prpv_a'rfg_cnf_har_cvcr" | sed -e 's/_/ /g' | tr [a-m][n-z] [n-z][a-m]


From russo at bogodyn.org  Thu Dec 11 10:46:25 2025
From: russo at bogodyn.org (Tom Russo)
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2025 11:46:25 -0700
Subject: [Xastir] Poll:  how do you like your documentation served up?
Message-ID: <aTsRgdwK7PumrOjh@bogodyn.org>

Xastir's documentation is a bit, um, fragmented?  We have READMEs of various 
vintages, we've got a wiki that is sometimes (but not often) kept up-to-date.

I am starting to look into revamping more of our documentation, starting
with README.MAPS (which is very, very outdated and not at all a good 
resource for first time users).  I have to decide whether to rewrite the 
whole file or pitch it and just do the documentation on the wiki.  We
already have a "HowTo:MAPS" wiki page which is a subset of README.MAPS and
almost as out of date.  I don't want to have to maintain TWO documentation 
sets, as keeping them synced is a maintenance headache.

So, of you remaining Xastir users, what would you prefer to look at:  README 
files or a wiki, or something else?

And if you can imagine yourself being a first-time Xastir user, what would
you prefer to be told to do when you have to learn how to do something for
the first time:  
"go look at our wiki on page xxxxx" or "go read the file README.XXX" or
something else?


And while I'm at it:  "do you actually use Xastir anymore?"

-- 
Tom Russo    KM5VY
Tijeras, NM  

 echo "prpv_a'rfg_cnf_har_cvcr" | sed -e 's/_/ /g' | tr [a-m][n-z] [n-z][a-m]


From xastir at deej.net  Thu Dec 11 10:58:21 2025
From: xastir at deej.net (Dj Merrill)
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2025 13:58:21 -0500
Subject: [Xastir] Poll: how do you like your documentation served up?
In-Reply-To: <aTsRgdwK7PumrOjh@bogodyn.org>
References: <aTsRgdwK7PumrOjh@bogodyn.org>
Message-ID: <e674e364-d0a7-46a1-90bb-1e74866dd8f9@deej.net>

I'm still running Xastir on a Raspberry Pi.

My personal preference is having a readme file included with the source 
code, but I've been doing this for 35+ years so I might have a slight 
bias... :-)

I would say pick whatever method of documentation is easiest for you to 
maintain, and get rid of the other methods to avoid the duplication of 
effort.

-Dj


On 12/11/25 13:46, Tom Russo wrote:
> Xastir's documentation is a bit, um, fragmented? We have READMEs of 
> various
> vintages, we've got a wiki that is sometimes (but not often) kept 
> up-to-date.
>
> I am starting to look into revamping more of our documentation, starting
> with README.MAPS (which is very, very outdated and not at all a good
> resource for first time users). I have to decide whether to rewrite the
> whole file or pitch it and just do the documentation on the wiki. We
> already have a "HowTo:MAPS" wiki page which is a subset of README.MAPS and
> almost as out of date. I don't want to have to maintain TWO documentation
> sets, as keeping them synced is a maintenance headache.
>
> So, of you remaining Xastir users, what would you prefer to look at: 
> README
> files or a wiki, or something else?
>
> And if you can imagine yourself being a first-time Xastir user, what would
> you prefer to be told to do when you have to learn how to do something for
> the first time:
> "go look at our wiki on page xxxxx" or "go read the file README.XXX" or
> something else?
>
>
> And while I'm at it: "do you actually use Xastir anymore?"
>

-- 
Dj Merrill - N1JOV
Currently Flying: Glastar
Previously: Cessna 150 - Glasair 1 FT - Grumman AA1B


From russo at bogodyn.org  Thu Dec 11 11:05:40 2025
From: russo at bogodyn.org (Tom Russo)
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2025 12:05:40 -0700
Subject: [Xastir] Poll: screen size/resolution
Message-ID: <aTsWBJcJZz42ReEN@bogodyn.org>

Xastir has a lot of code optimizing it for low-bit-depth, low-resolution, small
screens, like those on old laptops or touch-screen displays on mobile
solutions.

I have noticed that on my screens (none low resolution), Xastir's display
leaves something to be desired, in that the status bar winds up having
fields that are too small for the text displayed in them.  I was toying
with the idea of tweaking that status line to try to make it use a larger
fraction of the screen width than it does.  See issue 
https://github.com/Xastir/Xastir/issues/284 on Github.

So my poll questions:  
  - What size screen do you use for Xastir?
  - What resolution?  640x480?  1920x1080?  4k? Something in between?
  - Do you use any of the non-default build options like "USE_TWO_STATUS_LINES"
     that are there specifically to support smaller screens?

If you see a problem with any work that might get done in the future to 
tweak the status line, please go over to the github issue and comment.  
-- 
Tom Russo    KM5VY
Tijeras, NM  

 echo "prpv_a'rfg_cnf_har_cvcr" | sed -e 's/_/ /g' | tr [a-m][n-z] [n-z][a-m]


From russo at bogodyn.org  Thu Dec 11 11:44:33 2025
From: russo at bogodyn.org (Tom Russo)
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2025 12:44:33 -0700
Subject: [Xastir] Potential new "default" offline map in the works
Message-ID: <aTsfIVPqejzYgysH@bogodyn.org>

It has been pointed out that when Xastir is started for the very first time
ever, it selects the 'worldhi.map' file as the default map.

This map is so old it shows the USSR, East Germany, and Yugoslavia borders.

This map was chosen because it is in a format that the absolute minimum 
build of Xastir can display, if no other map formats are supported.

https://github.com/Xastir/Xastir/issues/152

A long time ago a good set of shapefiles was identified that might serve
as a better default view, but during investigation of those shapefiles we
found a number of bugs in Xastir that were show-stoppers, and there was
nobody with time to fix those bugs.

Those bugs have been fixed in the last week or two, and it's time to consider
the new maps as defaults.  New features have been added to Xastir to make
these new maps render as nicely as possible.

The plan is that when Xastir starts up for the very first time, if the 
build supports shapefiles we'll default to these shapefiles as the map you
get selected.  Only if you're firing up a bare-minimum build of Xastir for 
the first run will you get the bare-minimum quality map.  Since package 
managers aren't packaging bare-minimum builds, perhaps very few folks will 
be stuck with a crude late-1980s vintage world map.

Please feel free to check out the proposed new default map set by downloading
the data and building the latest Xastir.

Please see this comment: https://github.com/Xastir/Xastir/issues/152#issuecommen
t-3643187939
for how you can download the (2MB) tarball of the proposed new maps and their
rendering rule DBFAWK files, and see if you like the look.

If you don't want to download the data to view it, there are some screen shots
on the issue report.

-- 
Tom Russo    KM5VY
Tijeras, NM  

 echo "prpv_a'rfg_cnf_har_cvcr" | sed -e 's/_/ /g' | tr [a-m][n-z] [n-z][a-m]


From edodd at billiau.net  Thu Dec 11 12:17:42 2025
From: edodd at billiau.net (edodd at billiau.net)
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2025 07:17:42 +1100
Subject: [Xastir] Poll:  GPSMan and GPS track rendering
In-Reply-To: <aTW-Hd0FQhcWJkd0@bogodyn.org>
References: <aTW-Hd0FQhcWJkd0@bogodyn.org>
Message-ID: <20251212071742.1b367b43@zenbook3.billiau.net>

On Sun, 7 Dec 2025 10:49:17 -0700
Tom Russo <russo at bogodyn.org> wrote:

>     - If you had no idea that Xastir could get data from GPS units
> using GPSMan, and think it's a cool idea that you'd actually use,
> will you?
>         - which of these two methods sounds like less of a PITA to
> you?

DBFAWK files sounds easier overall to me.

Liz
VK2XSE

From edodd at billiau.net  Thu Dec 11 12:20:54 2025
From: edodd at billiau.net (edodd at billiau.net)
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2025 07:20:54 +1100
Subject: [Xastir] Poll:  how do you like your documentation served up?
In-Reply-To: <aTsRgdwK7PumrOjh@bogodyn.org>
References: <aTsRgdwK7PumrOjh@bogodyn.org>
Message-ID: <20251212072054.7107f01d@zenbook3.billiau.net>

On Thu, 11 Dec 2025 11:46:25 -0700
Tom Russo <russo at bogodyn.org> wrote:

> So, of you remaining Xastir users, what would you prefer to look at:
> README files or a wiki, or something else?
> 
Wiki is preferable to me


> And if you can imagine yourself being a first-time Xastir user, what
> would you prefer to be told to do when you have to learn how to do
> something for the first time:  
> "go look at our wiki on page xxxxx" or "go read the file README.XXX"
> or something else?

Wiki for a first time user

> 
> 
> And while I'm at it:  "do you actually use Xastir anymore?"

I haven't for a long time, but am now challenged to reinstall and set
up to monitor my newer hardware.

Liz
VK2XSE


From edodd at billiau.net  Thu Dec 11 12:28:31 2025
From: edodd at billiau.net (edodd at billiau.net)
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2025 07:28:31 +1100
Subject: [Xastir] Poll: screen size/resolution
In-Reply-To: <aTsWBJcJZz42ReEN@bogodyn.org>
References: <aTsWBJcJZz42ReEN@bogodyn.org>
Message-ID: <20251212072831.4d6132a8@zenbook3.billiau.net>

On Thu, 11 Dec 2025 12:05:40 -0700
Tom Russo <russo at bogodyn.org> wrote:

> So my poll questions:  
>   - What size screen do you use for Xastir?
This laptop has about a 14"or 15" screen

>   - What resolution?  640x480?  1920x1080?  4k? Something in between?
2560*1600 although that pushes it for my eyesight these days

>   - Do you use any of the non-default build options like
> "USE_TWO_STATUS_LINES" that are there specifically to support smaller
> screens?
no

I just installed Xastir onto this Debian box. 
https://imgur.com/a/psvrN6d shows the start up size.
The two setup screens use less space than my standard 80*25 terminal.
I have no use for 'that' small.

Liz VK2XSE



From huston at srhuston.net  Thu Dec 11 13:27:55 2025
From: huston at srhuston.net (Steve Huston)
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2025 16:27:55 -0500
Subject: [Xastir] Poll: screen size/resolution
In-Reply-To: <aTsWBJcJZz42ReEN@bogodyn.org>
References: <aTsWBJcJZz42ReEN@bogodyn.org>
Message-ID: <CAMtVSz=w9MVi9fef1_fzeQPA=xfvwY5VQiE8qAOTGF3nb_2xhg@mail.gmail.com>

On Thu, Dec 11, 2025 at 2:05?PM Tom Russo <russo at bogodyn.org> wrote:
>   - What size screen do you use for Xastir?

7" touchscreen on a Raspberry Pi 3

>   - What resolution?  640x480?  1920x1080?  4k? Something in between?

800x480

>   - Do you use any of the non-default build options like "USE_TWO_STATUS_LINES"
>      that are there specifically to support smaller screens?

I did not know of that option, may have to try it though things look
pretty good for me (see https://imgur.com/a/rFPqQHi)

Admittedly I don't look at that screen as often as I look at the one
zoomed in via remote desktop, but I set it up so that the other
licensed hams in the house don't need to know my password to unlock my
computer if they want to look at APRS or send a message, they can use
the touchscreen and/or bluetooth keyboard and the rPi handles the
rest.  I could upgrade to a larger screen, but it would probably be a
waste since it would sit there doing nothing but take up space most of
the time.

-- 
Steve Huston, W2SRH - https://srhuston.net
?And no one sings me lullabies, and no one makes me
close my eyes, and so I throw the windows wide and
call to you across the sky.? - Pink Floyd, ?Echoes?

From russo at bogodyn.org  Thu Dec 11 13:46:18 2025
From: russo at bogodyn.org (Tom Russo)
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2025 14:46:18 -0700
Subject: [Xastir] Poll: screen size/resolution
In-Reply-To: <CAMtVSz=w9MVi9fef1_fzeQPA=xfvwY5VQiE8qAOTGF3nb_2xhg@mail.gmail.com>
References: <aTsWBJcJZz42ReEN@bogodyn.org>
 <CAMtVSz=w9MVi9fef1_fzeQPA=xfvwY5VQiE8qAOTGF3nb_2xhg@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <aTs7qixM-o1aOGeo@bogodyn.org>

On Thu, Dec 11, 2025 at 04:27:55PM -0500, we recorded a bogon-computron collision of the <huston at srhuston.net> flavor, containing:
> On Thu, Dec 11, 2025 at 2:05?PM Tom Russo <russo at bogodyn.org> wrote:
> >   - What size screen do you use for Xastir?
> 
> 7" touchscreen on a Raspberry Pi 3
> 
> >   - What resolution?  640x480?  1920x1080?  4k? Something in between?
> 
> 800x480
> 
> >   - Do you use any of the non-default build options like "USE_TWO_STATUS_LINES"
> >      that are there specifically to support smaller screens?
> 
> I did not know of that option, may have to try it though things look
> pretty good for me (see https://imgur.com/a/rFPqQHi)

Thanks for posting that.  It suggests that any attempt to widen those
status boxes for larger screens would interfere with users of smaller
screens.  Your bottom line is pretty full compared to mine.

-- 
Tom Russo    KM5VY
Tijeras, NM  

 echo "prpv_a'rfg_cnf_har_cvcr" | sed -e 's/_/ /g' | tr [a-m][n-z] [n-z][a-m]


From brett.friermood at gmail.com  Thu Dec 11 17:25:21 2025
From: brett.friermood at gmail.com (Brett Friermood)
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2025 19:25:21 -0600
Subject: [Xastir] Poll: screen size/resolution
In-Reply-To: <20251212072831.4d6132a8@zenbook3.billiau.net>
References: <aTsWBJcJZz42ReEN@bogodyn.org>
 <20251212072831.4d6132a8@zenbook3.billiau.net>
Message-ID: <CADS0AtS5QwgL=eAXybb2jEGfKXp5b6OOcQOjP8wRR8eur5m_Zw@mail.gmail.com>

I'm not finding the original email for this. Tom, did you send it to this
list?

Brett KQ9N


On Thu, Dec 11, 2025 at 2:28?PM <edodd at billiau.net> wrote:

> On Thu, 11 Dec 2025 12:05:40 -0700
> Tom Russo <russo at bogodyn.org> wrote:
>
> > So my poll questions:
> >   - What size screen do you use for Xastir?
> This laptop has about a 14"or 15" screen
>
> >   - What resolution?  640x480?  1920x1080?  4k? Something in between?
> 2560*1600 although that pushes it for my eyesight these days
>
> >   - Do you use any of the non-default build options like
> > "USE_TWO_STATUS_LINES" that are there specifically to support smaller
> > screens?
> no
>
> I just installed Xastir onto this Debian box.
> https://imgur.com/a/psvrN6d shows the start up size.
> The two setup screens use less space than my standard 80*25 terminal.
> I have no use for 'that' small.
>
> Liz VK2XSE
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Xastir mailing list
> Xastir at lists.xastir.org
> http://xastir.org/mailman/listinfo/xastir
>

From russo at bogodyn.org  Thu Dec 11 17:32:25 2025
From: russo at bogodyn.org (Tom Russo)
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2025 18:32:25 -0700
Subject: [Xastir] Poll: screen size/resolution
In-Reply-To: <CADS0AtS5QwgL=eAXybb2jEGfKXp5b6OOcQOjP8wRR8eur5m_Zw@mail.gmail.com>
References: <aTsWBJcJZz42ReEN@bogodyn.org>
 <20251212072831.4d6132a8@zenbook3.billiau.net>
 <CADS0AtS5QwgL=eAXybb2jEGfKXp5b6OOcQOjP8wRR8eur5m_Zw@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <aTtwqdJj8Tbr6_O8@bogodyn.org>

On Thu, Dec 11, 2025 at 07:25:21PM -0600, we recorded a bogon-computron collision of the <brett.friermood at gmail.com> flavor, containing:
> I'm not finding the original email for this. Tom, did you send it to this
> list?

Yep.   https://xastir.org/pipermail/xastir/2025-December/025807.html

Probably wound up in your spam folder, as I've been spamming this list
lately with polls and other stuff.

> On Thu, Dec 11, 2025 at 2:28?PM <edodd at billiau.net> wrote:
> 
> > On Thu, 11 Dec 2025 12:05:40 -0700
> > Tom Russo <russo at bogodyn.org> wrote:
> >
> > > So my poll questions:
> > >   - What size screen do you use for Xastir?
> > This laptop has about a 14"or 15" screen
> >
> > >   - What resolution?  640x480?  1920x1080?  4k? Something in between?
> > 2560*1600 although that pushes it for my eyesight these days
> >
> > >   - Do you use any of the non-default build options like
> > > "USE_TWO_STATUS_LINES" that are there specifically to support smaller
> > > screens?
> > no
> >
> > I just installed Xastir onto this Debian box.
> > https://imgur.com/a/psvrN6d shows the start up size.
> > The two setup screens use less space than my standard 80*25 terminal.
> > I have no use for 'that' small.
> >
> > Liz VK2XSE
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Xastir mailing list
> > Xastir at lists.xastir.org
> > http://xastir.org/mailman/listinfo/xastir
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Xastir mailing list
> Xastir at lists.xastir.org
> http://xastir.org/mailman/listinfo/xastir

-- 
Tom Russo    KM5VY
Tijeras, NM  

 echo "prpv_a'rfg_cnf_har_cvcr" | sed -e 's/_/ /g' | tr [a-m][n-z] [n-z][a-m]


From russo at bogodyn.org  Thu Dec 11 19:13:16 2025
From: russo at bogodyn.org (Tom Russo)
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2025 20:13:16 -0700
Subject: [Xastir] Potential new "default" offline map in the works
In-Reply-To: <aTsfIVPqejzYgysH@bogodyn.org>
References: <aTsfIVPqejzYgysH@bogodyn.org>
Message-ID: <aTuITKdZGyCQOWu2@bogodyn.org>

Since my attempt to get early feedback on the map set by providing
a tarball was a disaster (bad instructions, poorly constructed tarball,
and who knows what else), we have just gone ahead and pushed the new map
and initial map selection process to github on the master branch.

If you track the bleeding edge of Xastir code, it's there now.

The maps are installed in ${xastir's install prefix}/share/xastir/maps/NaturalEarth 
by "make install".

A brand new user, if running a version of Xastir with shapefile support,
will get their brand new config directory populated such that the new maps
just magically show up.

If they don't have shapefile support compiled in, they get the same old map
we have had since 2006.

This has no impact on existing users with active .xastir/config directories
in their home directory, other than providing a new map option they can
choose themselves from the map chooser.

There may be tweaks required to the dbfawks between now and the next release,
but please check out the new included maps and see how they look to you.

These are not intended to be detailed maps.  They are the bare minimum
map to get something interesting to look at the first time you open Xastir,
and for that something to be a bit closer to this century's world borders.

On Thu, Dec 11, 2025 at 12:44:33PM -0700, we recorded a bogon-computron collision of the <russo at bogodyn.org> flavor, containing:
> It has been pointed out that when Xastir is started for the very first time
> ever, it selects the 'worldhi.map' file as the default map.
> 
> This map is so old it shows the USSR, East Germany, and Yugoslavia borders.
> 
> This map was chosen because it is in a format that the absolute minimum 
> build of Xastir can display, if no other map formats are supported.
> 
> https://github.com/Xastir/Xastir/issues/152
> 
> A long time ago a good set of shapefiles was identified that might serve
> as a better default view, but during investigation of those shapefiles we
> found a number of bugs in Xastir that were show-stoppers, and there was
> nobody with time to fix those bugs.
> 
> Those bugs have been fixed in the last week or two, and it's time to consider
> the new maps as defaults.  New features have been added to Xastir to make
> these new maps render as nicely as possible.
> 
> The plan is that when Xastir starts up for the very first time, if the 
> build supports shapefiles we'll default to these shapefiles as the map you
> get selected.  Only if you're firing up a bare-minimum build of Xastir for 
> the first run will you get the bare-minimum quality map.  Since package 
> managers aren't packaging bare-minimum builds, perhaps very few folks will 
> be stuck with a crude late-1980s vintage world map.
> 
> Please feel free to check out the proposed new default map set by downloading
> the data and building the latest Xastir.
> 
> Please see this comment: https://github.com/Xastir/Xastir/issues/152#issuecommen
> t-3643187939
> for how you can download the (2MB) tarball of the proposed new maps and their
> rendering rule DBFAWK files, and see if you like the look.
> 
> If you don't want to download the data to view it, there are some screen shots
> on the issue report.
> 
> -- 
> Tom Russo    KM5VY
> Tijeras, NM  
> 
>  echo "prpv_a'rfg_cnf_har_cvcr" | sed -e 's/_/ /g' | tr [a-m][n-z] [n-z][a-m]
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Xastir mailing list
> Xastir at lists.xastir.org
> http://xastir.org/mailman/listinfo/xastir

-- 
Tom Russo    KM5VY
Tijeras, NM  

 echo "prpv_a'rfg_cnf_har_cvcr" | sed -e 's/_/ /g' | tr [a-m][n-z] [n-z][a-m]