CoTaCo (V4.2.2): Task converter for XCSoar, LK8000 & SeeYou

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Bre901
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Re: CoTaCo (V3.4.5): Task converter for XCSoar, LK8000 & SeeYou

Post by Bre901 » Mon Feb 28, 2022 5:24 pm

Something like that, maybe ?
Please could someone check if all the options available in a V3 .ini file are accessible, thanks !

CoTaCo.png
CoTaCo_Setup.png
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Re: CoTaCo (V3.4.5): Task converter for XCSoar, LK8000 & SeeYou

Post by JBlyth » Tue Mar 01, 2022 12:57 am

Looks great.

Is the AAT box a number or an on/off as in:-
# AAT mode (0=no,default ; 1=yes ; 2=auto-detect) :
AAT=2


I do like the current version's simple click on the Condor Flight Plan in a picker then continue method. Is that a file picker button I see under the .fpl in the first image?

Auto-detection of a Race/Regatta/ATT type task (with a prompt in the message box) is a very useful feature to alert the pilot to the task type. I have missed the race type a few times on the Condor Briefing ;-)....

Cheers
John

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Re: CoTaCo (V3.4.5): Task converter for XCSoar, LK8000 & SeeYou

Post by Bre901 » Tue Mar 01, 2022 8:46 am

JBlyth wrote:
Tue Mar 01, 2022 12:57 am
Looks great.

Is the AAT box a number or an on/off as in:-
# AAT mode (0=no,default ; 1=yes ; 2=auto-detect) :
AAT=2
All square boxes are tick-boxes
The AAT input in the .ini file has been split in 2 : AAT auto detect tick-box in the Setup form, and AAT tick-box in the CoTaCo form (preset if AAT auto detect is activated and large turnpoints sectors found in the FPL)
I do like the current version's simple click on the Condor Flight Plan in a picker then continue method. Is that a file picker button I see under the .fpl in the first image?
All the file or folder input boxes open pickers when clicked.
The [...] button below the bottom-right corner of an input box is present when the size of the text overflows the box size and allows to display the whole text
Overflow.png
Auto-detection of a Race/Regatta/ATT type task (with a prompt in the message box) is a very useful feature to alert the pilot to the task type. I have missed the race type a few times on the Condor Briefing ;-)....
This will not be lost with version 4.
It is controlled with the Task warnings tick-box in the Setup form
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Re: CoTaCo (V3.4.5): Task converter for XCSoar, LK8000 & SeeYou

Post by Bre901 » Tue Mar 01, 2022 1:32 pm

It would be possible to have both dialog boxes in other languages if (and only if):
- enough users are interested
- someone volunteers to proofread the translation (and help with it if needed)
- your language can be written with the "ANSI" aka Windows-1252 character set: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows-1252 (sorry, no UTF-8 or Unicode for the time being)
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Re: CoTaCo (V3.4.5): Task converter for XCSoar, LK8000 & SeeYou

Post by Bre901 » Sat Mar 05, 2022 9:07 pm

The GUI has been integrated in CoTaCo, I have an alpha version running 8)

I will probably have a beta version next week.

However, in order to properly debug the code, I would need some help from committed testers.

If you are willing to help, please contact me by PM, indicating what target software you are using (XCSoar, LK8000 or SeeYou).
It would be nice if at least two people could test CoTaCo for each of XCSoar and LK8000 (SeeYou is less critical as there are less files to manage)

Many thanks in advance
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CoTaCo V4 : beta-testers wanted !

Post by Bre901 » Wed Mar 09, 2022 12:52 pm

Although CoTaCo is a very popular app (more than 1500 downloads since January 2021), it looks like only a few people have looked at the CoTaCo thread recently : viewtopic.php?f=29&t=18102&p=178556#p178520

As the beta version is almost ready, beta-testers are more than welcome !

Please contact me by PM if you are willing to spend some time hunting for bugs
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Re: CoTaCo (V4): Task converter for XCSoar, LK8000 & SeeYou

Post by Bre901 » Fri Mar 25, 2022 8:01 pm

CoTaCo V4 is now available on the webpage : https://condorutill.fr/

Don't even think of asking for help about the GUI if you haven't taken a look a the corresponding section of the manual :roll:

Many many thanks to the (way too few) beta-testers Image

No more text file editing to change the setup:

CoTaCo_Setup_EN.png
CoTaCo_EN.png
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Re: CoTaCo (V4 = GUI): Task converter for XCSoar, LK8000 & SeeYou

Post by Bre901 » Tue Apr 12, 2022 10:23 am

I appears that LX devices can't read .CUP files converted by CoTaCo : viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20153&p=178880#p178880

As SeeYou accepts the converted .cup files and WeGlide does not (it complains about "Headers not valid"), I did some more tests.

If I make SeeYou write the file, I can see where the problem comes from:
CoTaCo uses the old CUP format which is still supported by SeeYou, but WeGlide (and I guess LX) does not.

[GOM]When I learnt programming I was taught that respect for users implied backwards compatibility (i.e. older data files should be still usable by new versions). Apparently younger programmers don't care anymore[/GOM]

Old header : "name, code, country, lat, lon, elev, style, rwydir, rwylen, freq, desc, userdata, pics"
New Header : "name,code,country,lat,lon,elev,style,rwdir,rwlen,rwwidth,freq,desc,userdata,pics"

New format: "-----Related Tasks-----"
Old format: "----Related Tasks----"

Until I fix that, the workaround is quite easy: edit the .cup file generated by CoTaCo and
- Replace the old header with the new one
- Add 2 "-" in the "----Related Tasks----" line
- Make sure that the airfield turnpoints have two commas "," between runway length and frequency, and 3 commas after frequency
"Beynes",,,4850.556N,00154.468E,106m,2,296,1000,,123.500,,,
- Non-airfield turnpoints shoud have 7 commas a the end
"Thoiry",,,4851.851N,00147.716E,168m,1,,,,,,,

IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR CoTaCo USERS USING .CUP FILES

I can very easily make CoTaCo use the new format for converted .cup files.
Should I keep the old format as an option ?
Please note that I won't move a finger until I have answers to that question :roll:
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Re: CoTaCo (V4 = GUI): Task converter for XCSoar, LK8000 & SeeYou

Post by JBlyth » Tue Apr 12, 2022 10:58 am

I have played around quite a lot with LXNav files when providing current Australian Aerodromes and Airspace updates for LX's database.

LX files seems to be very unforgiving if the data doesn't follow their exact specifications. As you say, the *.cup file header needs to be of the latest type.

In fact, while LX is compatible with perfectly formatted .Cup files, their own .lxc format requires a small strictly formatted header, as below. The time format is also very strict:-
<!name=Australian Airports;version=08.12.2021
name,code,country,lat,lon,elev,style,rwdir,rwlen,rwwidth,freq,desc,date,userdata,pics
"ADAMINABY",YADY,AU,3559.900S,14847.800E,3350.0ft,5,,,,"126.7","NO RWY DATA AVAIL",2021-12-08T07:10:09.0000000Z,,
"ADELAIDE ACC",ADAC,AU,3457.000S,13832.000E,0,5,,,,,"NO RWY DATA AVAIL",2021-12-08T07:10:09.0000000Z,,

If it pricks anyone's fancy, I have created a free App on the Microsoft Store called CupX Tools, which converts a .cup or .lxc file to a CupX format, and automatically includes a Google images in two levels of zoom for each waypoint. {Which is course is a tad of topic :-) }

Cheers
John in Sunny Carnarvon - Western Australia

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Re: CoTaCo (V4 = GUI): Task converter for XCSoar, LK8000 & SeeYou

Post by Bre901 » Tue Apr 12, 2022 3:27 pm

WeGlide is actually so damn stupidly stringent about the file format that it refuses to read files which have one or more extra comma(s) at the end of a turnpoint line, which SeeYou just ignores !
Moreover the error message ("Headers not valid") is irrelevant !
:roll: :roll: :roll:
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Re: CoTaCo (V4 = GUI): Task converter for XCSoar, LK8000 & SeeYou

Post by EDB » Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:19 pm

Bre901 wrote:
Tue Apr 12, 2022 10:23 am

Should I keep the old format as an option ?

Yes, please...

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Re: CoTaCo (V4 = GUI): Task converter for XCSoar, LK8000 & SeeYou

Post by Bre901 » Tue Apr 12, 2022 11:20 pm

EDB wrote:
Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:19 pm
Yes, please...
Would you like that option to be accessible from the GUI, or would manually editing the CoTaCo.ini file be enough ?
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Re: CoTaCo (V4 = GUI): Task converter for XCSoar, LK8000 & SeeYou

Post by EDB » Wed Apr 13, 2022 8:26 am

Manually editing the CoTaCo.ini file is enough...

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Re: CoTaCo (V41): Task converter for XCSoar, LK8000 & SeeYou

Post by Bre901 » Sun Apr 17, 2022 12:01 pm

Version 4.1 is available on the webpage

CoTaCo now uses either old or new (default) SeeYou formats for the converted .cup file (option only available in the .ini file)

plus a bug fix : CoTaCo might crash if there are many altitude limits (including window-type turnpoints) in the Condor task (don't you love those arcade tasks :roll: )
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Re: CoTaCo (V4.1): Task converter for XCSoar, LK8000 & SeeYou

Post by Bre901 » Sat Apr 30, 2022 9:38 am

Minor update (especially for VR users using the "wait" mode)

- "Silent" option blocks both task rules and summary messages
- Task rules are written to file if filename is not blank, whatever the "Task warnings" option
- "TP not found" message only displayed in "verbose" mode

Version 4.1.1 is available from the webpage

If you are happy with version 4.1 and are not interested by these features, no need to update.

Many thanks to the beta-tester !
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