= Dashboard

The Dashboard plugin is able to show quite a few instruments. *The
Dashboard plugin is an Internal Plugin, always distributed with OpenCPN,
no separate download is required.*

If the data is available to OpenCPN in the NMEA0183 data stream the
different instruments will display relevant data; but the plugin won't
tell what is available. It is assumed that the user knows what is
connected. It is of course possible to activate all instruments and see
what works.

== Links

* Source: https://github.com/OpenCPN/OpenCPN/tree/master/plugins[]
* Forum: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f134/plugin-dashboard-44087.html[Forum Discussion thread]
* Companion Plugin: xref:nmea_converter::index.adoc[Nmea_Converter_pi] can solve many conversion problems.

== The Dashboard in action

There are two Dashboards, one vertical and one horizontal.

Grab the top Caption bar with the cursor and drag the Dashboard as far
as possible to the right or left. Let go the cursor, and the Dashboard
will dock, the chart display will adjust, no part of the chart will be
hidden. Horizontal Dashboards can in a similar way be docked top or
bottom. This process is reversible. Just grab the Dashboard dialog bar
with the cursor, an pull towards the middle of the screen, and the
Dashboard will become floating.

image::dashboard32.png[]

The same Dashboards docked left and bottom.

image::dashboard-docked32.png[]

There is a grab handle in the SE corner of each Dashboard. Use it to
resize each dialog. The graphics will change size, but not the text,
which is handled separately. See further down.

image::dash-drag.png[]

== The Dashboard Tab

Once the Dashboard plugin is activated in the plugin tab, the Dashboard
Icon will be available in the ToolBar and will work as an on/off toggle.
The Preference button works exactly the same as described under
“Dashboard Settings” below.

image::dashboard-plugin32.png[image,width=600,height=682]

The “Enable” Button activates the plugin and shows the icon in the
ToolBar. Once enabled, the “Disable” Button is displayed, as show above.
If you press the “Preference” Button the Dashboard preferences dialog
becomes available.

=== Dashboard settings

image::dash-set.png[image,width=298,height=239]

Right click anywhere in a Dashboard and a few options are displayed, in
a small dialog. Above we have clicked on the vertical Dashboard. Make
this Dashboard horizontal by clicking the “Horizontal” radio button.
Stop displaying it by un-ticking the box in front of the first
“Dashboard” line. Get it back by right clicking on the other Dashboard
and tick the same box again.

=== Preferences

image::dashprop322.png[image,width=450,height=455]

=== The Dashboard Tab

The Icons in the narrow pane to the left, represents the available
instances. Click on an instance and the configured instruments shows in
the “Instruments” pane.

*“+” and “-“* Add or delete a Dashboard instance. Note, that an active
Dashboard can not be deleted as the ”-” will be grayed out. Configure a
new instance by “Add”-ing instruments in the “Instrument” pane.

*Show this Dashboard* If ticked just that Dashboard is shown. Toggling
the icon displays all Dashboards.

*Caption* changes the name of the DashBoard from the default “Dashboard”
to the Caption value. Due to a wxWidgets bug, this change is not
instant, and requires docking the Dashboard or restarting OpenCPN, to
work.

*Orientation* A dash board can be either Vertical or Horizontal.
Vertical can be docked left or right, Horizontal can be docked top or
bottom.

*The “Instruments” pane*. Shows the Instruments that are “active”, that
will show up in that particular Dashboard .The instruments are selected
with the buttons to the right.

*Add*. This button brings up the “Add Instrument” dialog where the
available instruments can be highlighted and added to the Instruments
Window.

image::dash-select-instr_0.png[image,width=260,height=265]

=== 40 Instruments Available


[cols="",]
|===
|Air Temp (text)
|Altitude (text)
|Altitude Trace (graph) - Historical
|App & True Wind Angle (dial) - & speed
|App Win Angle (text)
|App Wind Angle & Speed (dial)
|App Wind Speed (dial)
|App Wind Speed (text)
|Barometric History (graph)
|Barometric Pressure (text)
|Barometric Pressure (dial)
|COG (text)
|Cursor (text) - Position
|Depth^1^ (graph) - Historical
|Depth^1^ (text)
|From OwnShip (text) - Vector & Distance to cursor
|GNSS Clock (text)
|GNSS Compass (dial)
|GNSS in use^2^ (text) - Satellites used for the position calculation
|GNSS Status^2^ (graph)
|Heel (text)
|Humidity (text)
|Local CPU Clock (text)
|Local GNSS Clock (text)
|Local Sunrice/Sunset (text)
|Mag COG^2^ (text)
|Mag HDG (text)
|Moon phase (graph)
|Pitch (text)
|Position (text)
|Rudder Angle (dial)
|Rudder Angle (text)
|SOG (text)
|Speed SOG (dial)
|Speed STW (dial) - Speed through the water
|STW (text)
|Sum Log (text)
|Sunrice/Sunset (text) - UTC
|Trip Log (text)
|True Compass (dial)
|True HDG (text) - Compass heading
|True Wind Angle (text)
|True Wind Angle & Speed (dial)
|True Wind Direction (text)
|True Wind Speed (text)
|VMG (Dial) - Velocity made good
|VMG (text)
|VMG Wind (text)
|Water Temp (text)
|Wind History (graph)
|Windlass (text)
|===

. For the N0183 sentence: DBT, DPT, XDR(D) or SignalK (without offset). If the user option
transducer offset is used it will be added to the depth value.
. Linux note:: GPS satellite info is not available if using gpsd. The
same informations is however available through the “xgps” command.


=== Delete

Highlight an entry in the Instrument Window to delete it.

=== Up / Down

Highlight an entry in the Instrument Window and change the order between
the selected instruments. This order will also be the order between the
instruments in the Dashboard dialog.

=== The Appearance Tab

image::dashboard-preferences-appearance.jpeg[dashboard-preferences-appearance.jpg,title="dashboard-preferences-appearance.jpg",width=443,height=385]

Use this tab to set fonts.

Note:: Depth Transducer Offset is in units of meters regardless of the
chosen display units.

=== Dampen SOG, COG and Wind speed and angle (IR Filter)

There are 4 parameters in the Dashboard→Preferences→Appearance dialog
for damping of SOG, COG, AWS and AWA. A value of 1 means no filtering. Higher
values mean ever slower response of the instrument. The max filter value
is 100 which is pretty slow. This filter works almost exactly like a
mechanical filter that uses an oil damped indicator dial. It will
respond gradually to a change in course or speed. A typical filter value
of 10 seems to work pretty well.

=== Units Selection

Select these parameters as suits your use. These controls together
enable the user to adjust the view of the dashboard to suit individual
needs.

image::dash-big-fonts.png[image,width=700,height=691]

*Units Ranges and Formats* Set the units to use, and the range of the
speed dial.

image::33speed12.png[image,width=231,height=250]image::33speed50.png[image,width=231,height=250]

==== Other selections.

If the checkbox *Use internal Sumlog* is enabled the SumLog instrument shows internal calculated data
instead of data from external source.  The actual value to the right can be adjusted or cleared.
Independent of the checkbox status SumLog values are saved to the config file all time.

If the checkbox *Use N2K & SignalK true wind data over ground* is enabled these values are used
if available from the source. Otherwise the data trough water is used.

=== Wind History

The Wind History Instrument needs some further explanations.

*The “wind history” instrument is meant to be run as a standalone
(vertical) instrument.*
Just define a separate dashboard and add it as the only instrument.

image::wh2.png[image,width=345,height=421]

You can resize the Instrument with the mouse.

image::wh.png[image,width=800,height=181]

In real conditions, it monitors around 40 min of wind direction (red),
as well as wind speed (blue), showing a vertical time line every 5 min
(the example screen shot is a full-speed VDR replay).

The text on the top shows the current values, as it is displayed in the
standard instruments (blue = wind speed data, TWS=True Wind Speed, red =
direction, TWD = True Wind Direction).

Here is an explanation of the text line, left side (see screen shot)::
TWS 7.5:: true Wind Speed currently 7.5 kts +
Max 22.3 kts since 18::50:: this is the max Wind speed in the visible graphs, i.e. the last ~40 mins +
Overall 22.3:: the max wind speed since OpenCPN was started. +

Right side above:: TWD 357 degrees:: True wind direction currently 357 degrees

The thin red/blue curves are the real direction/speed values, the
thicker curves are smoothed values. Makes it easier to see trends.

There is some logic included :: The instruments zooms automatically as
much as possible, always trying to show the whole visible curve;

Wind speed curve::
If your max (visible) wind speed is 10 kts, then your scale is from 0…11 kts (rounded upwards to the next full knot).
In the screen shot we had a mx of 22.3kts –> scale is 0…23 kts.

Wind direction::
The instrument scale shows/- 90 degrees of the currently visible data values, but is limited to a total of 360 degrees.
If the wind is shifting through North (from 350, 355, 359, 002, 010, …)
we're shifting the curve as well, meaning that there is NO vertical jump
in the data from 360 degrees –> 0 degrees, and we do NOT loose all the
continuity in the smoothed curves !

If you should happen to have more than a full 360 degrees cycle of wind
direction in the recorded data (if you sail through a couple of dust
devils ), I limited the max scale to 360 degrees, meaning that the curve
will run out of the visible area on bottom or on top of the instrument.

Please note that you don't have to have the instrument “open” all the
time. Once activated as initially described, you can close it, and
simply reopen it on demand. You don't loose the curves, the instrument
continues to collect the data. To make it visible again simply right
click on an existing standard-dashboard, and click the “Wind History”
Dashboard.

image::wh1.png[image,width=162,height=134]

=== Night time Mode

In Windows, Night, F5, mode. The title bar on the floating dashboard
window is a bit glaring (this mode is controlled by windows by way of a
theme and is not possible to change from an application) . Dock the
Dashboard into “docked mode” it will be less glaring. The best solution
is to simply “dock” the dashboard window at night, either left or right.
This brings the window decorations back under OCPN control, and we
recently added logic to dim it in this mode.

=== Dashboard Time

The dashboard plugin contains 3 instruments capable of displaying the
time according to the preference of the user.

. GPS clock - Unmodified time provided by the GPS unit, if available. This value is UTC.
. Local GPS clock - Time from the GPS clock corrected by user defined  timezone offset (see below)
. Local CPU clock - Local clock obtained from operating system

On the appearance tab of the Dashboard preferences there is a setting
for “Local offset from UTC”. The default is 00::00. When the 00::00 is
selected th Local GPS clock will display time in the time zone of the
computer running OpenCPN. If that is not what you want then you can
selected any other offset in 30 minute increments up to/- 12 hours.
The offset will be added to the GPS UTC time and the local computer time
zone will be ignored.

==== Sunrise - Sunset

Sunrise/sunset are computed based on the date and lat/long from the GPS
NMEA input data. They are not computed from the CPU clock or the ship's
position. So unless you have a GPS connected then the times of
sunrise/sunset are probably not going to be right. It has always been
thus.

=== NmeaConverter_pi Conversions

xref:nmea_converter::index.adoc[Nmea_Converter_pi] can solve many compatibility or unit conversion issues. There are nine
examples showing how the use NmeaConverter to adjust Dashboard output.

==== Barometer MWV - XDR,MTA,MDA

Companion Plugin: xref:nmea_converter::index.adoc[Nmea_Converter_pi] can solve many conversion problems.

David Burch Videos

Displaying Barometer in Opencpn -Part 1

video::a6ljVkZH-HY[youtube]

Barometer in Opencpn - Part II

video::bxKr1C3IPXc[youtube]
