Re: [Xastir] Initial Startup

[Curt, WE7U]

On Mon, 13 Nov 2006, James Ewen wrote:

> That should reduce the number of newbie questions by a fair bit, and make
> Xastir a little more user friendly.
>
> Xastir is one of the most feature laden APRS programs out there, with the
> BEST developer support available. The biggest detractor in my mind is the
> difficulty in initially gettting the program up and running for the first
> time user. The easier it is to get Xastir up and running the more people can
> see what it can do.

With the Shapelib work Tom just did, it's even better!  Xastir
_will_ have Shapefile support now, whether or not you decide to
install the Shapelib library before you compile Xastir.  This makes
weather alerts supported by default (if the user runs the
"scripts/get-NWSdata" script), and allows one to use Shapefile maps
from the get-go.

We need someone to run through the README.Getting-Started file and
revise it for these new features.  This is so the first-time-user
knows how to get the maximum capability right away.

First thing to do:

*) Enter a callsign on the first dialog which pops up.


Optional:

*) Run the "get-NWSdata" script to enable weather alerts for the U.S.
*) Download the APRSWorld Shapefile map of the world for a
   higher-resolution world map.  Reindex maps to see any new maps in
   the Map Chooser.
*) Fetch Shapefile street maps for the U.S. from
    or perhaps 
*) Run the "fcc-get" script to snag the FCC and RAC databases (VERY
   LARGE!).
*) Run "get-gnis" script to get GNIS maps for your area.  Reindex
   maps to see any new maps in the Map Chooser.
*) Run "get-maptools.sh" script to add additional map capability,
   then "./configure" and "make install" Xastir again afterwards.
*) Run "inf2geo.pl" to convert UI-View maps to Xastir maps.  There's
   also "mapblast2geo.pl" and "ozi2geo.pl" for other types.  Reindex
   maps to see any new maps in the Map Chooser.
*) Run "toporama250k.pl" and/or "toporama50k.pl" to fetch topo maps
   for all of Canada (VERY LARGE!).

Any more to add to either list?  Change the order?


> It sound like the Virtual Machine concept will allow this to happen.

I look forward to whatever comes of the VMWare stuff.

--
Curt, WE7U.   APRS Client Comparisons: http://www.eskimo.com/~archer
"Lotto:A tax on people who are bad at math." -- unknown
"Windows:  Microsoft's tax on computer illiterates." -- WE7U
"The world DOES revolve around me:  I picked the coordinate system!"
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Re: [Xastir] Initial Startup

[James Ewen]

That should reduce the number of newbie questions by a fair bit, and make
Xastir a little more user friendly.

Xastir is one of the most feature laden APRS programs out there, with the
BEST developer support available. The biggest detractor in my mind is the
difficulty in initially gettting the program up and running for the first
time user. The easier it is to get Xastir up and running the more people can
see what it can do.

It sound like the Virtual Machine concept will allow this to happen. Adding
the startup map and prompted user configuration is a big step to making it
happen.

My initial foray into the world of UI-View was similar as Roger started up
the program with a fairly close in map of his hometown of Boston, UK. It
took a bit to figure out how to get a map that covered a larger area. By
including a generic low detail map of the world, everyone gets to see where
themeselves on the map. From there the user can grab maps for their local
area.

James
VE6SRV
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[Xastir] Initial Startup

[Curt Mills]

You asked for it, you got it...  "worldhi.map" is now the default
map on initial startup and installed in the map directory
automatically.  The trigger is "NOCALL"  as the callsign when Xastir
starts up.  This will also trigger the Configure->Station dialog to
come up.

While I was at it I squashed some of the text that gets printed to
STDERR on initial startup.

-- 
Curt, WE7U. archer at eskimo dot com
http://www.eskimo.com/~archer
  Lotto:  A tax on people who are bad at math. - unknown
Windows:  Microsoft's tax on computer illiterates. - WE7U.
The world DOES revolve around me:  I picked the coordinate system!"
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