Launcher Plugin for OpenCPN

• The plugin lets the user configure several commands which then can be launched from a simple dialog accessible from the main toolbar.
• The plugin allows sending sequences of keystrokes to the main OpenCPN application. This allows to invoke virtually any OpenCPN function normally available using the keyboard on a system without it, eg. a tablet.

Keyboard events

• Start the command definition with string KBD: followed by coma separated list of key events to send to the main application. A component starting with ! (explanation mark) represents a key down even, a component without the beginning ! represents a key up event. Example: KBD:!S,S represents a short press of the S key, resulting in turning on/off the soundings.

Special keys

• Special keys may be used if implemented by the plugin. Example: KBD:!F5,F5 represents a short press of the F5 key, resulting in switching the color scheme.
• Special keys implemented: F1-F12

Variable substitution

You can use several variables in your commands which will be replaced wit the actual values at the moment of command invocation

The variables implemented so far include:

Variable	Meaning
%BOAT_LAT%	Boat Latitude
%BOAT_LON%	Boat longitude
%BOAT_SOG%	Boat SOG
%BOAT_COG%	Boat COG
%BOAT_VAR%	Magnetic variation
%BOAT_FIXTIME%	The timestamp of the past fix (seconds since 01/01/1970 UTC)
%BOAT_NSATS%	Number of satelites "visible" during the last fix

Examples

Open bing satellite imagery at the boat location:

firefox http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=%BOAT_LAT%~%BOAT_LON%&lvl=16&dir=0&sty=h&form=LMLTCC

Turn of a Linux computer (You must add something like "username ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /sbin/shutdown" into /etc/sudoers to be able to perform the shutdown without needing a password):

sudo shutdown -h now &

Building

This assumes you have already seen the building instructions at http://opencpn.org/ocpn/compiling_source_linux or http://opencpn.org/ocpn/compiling_source_windows and can build OpenCPN from source.

Linux / macOS:

cd YOUROPENCPNSOURCETREE/plugins
git clone git clone https://github.com/nohal/launcher_pi.git
cd ../build
cmake ..
make

Windows:

cd C:\YOUROPENCPNSOURCETREE\plugins
git clone git clone https://github.com/nohal/launcher_pi.git
cd ..\build
cmake ..
cmake --build . --config release