AB6A RigCtl 2.7

Mostly about a setup working without anyone having to diagnose it.

Finding Hamlib

A machine can carry more than one Hamlib — a working one, and an older
hand-installed copy whose library has since been removed. Whichever comes first
on PATH wins, and an app launched from Finder inherits a different PATH from a
terminal, so the same rig can work from a shell and fail from the app with
nothing to show for it.

• Each candidate is now run and asked its version, and the first that answers
  is used by absolute path. A broken copy earlier on PATH is simply skipped.
• If none works, the menu says so, the menu bar glyph turns into a red warning,
  and Start all is disabled rather than failing daemon by daemon.
• The location can be set — a Hamlib field in Configure, or hamlib_dir in
  the config file, shared with the CLI. A location that is set is authoritative:
  if it is wrong that is reported rather than papered over, and the message says
  which of the two problems it is.

Fixed

• "That radio is not connected" for a device saved with tty selected. The
  stored path was compared only against the call-out node, which it can never
  equal, so any device whose USB fingerprint did not resolve fell through. Fixed
  in the app and, separately, in the CLI — the first fix had missed it.
• The error now names what it looked for and what is actually attached.
• Editing in the CLI: backspace and arrow keys inserted control characters
  instead of editing, for want of readline.
• The configuration window's bottom margin — the buttons sat against the
  window edge.

New

• Test, in the configuration window, runs rigctl against the radio using
  the values currently in the fields, and says whether it answered. It offers to
  stop a running daemon first, since rigctl needs the serial port to itself.
• ab6a-rigctl check [name|all] validates a configuration end to end:
  resolves the device, checks the model, prints the exact command, starts the
  daemon if needed, asks the rig something, and puts everything back.

Requires Hamlib

brew install hamlib

Not bundled. Tested against Hamlib 4.7.2.

Install

Download, unzip, drag AB6A RigCtl.app to /Applications. Signed with a
Developer ID and notarized, ticket stapled. Apple Silicon, macOS 26 or later.

Help

AB6A.US@gmail.com — ab6a-rigctl version and ab6a-rigctl check all
between them say almost everything worth knowing.