OpenCPN

OpenCPN

The description of the above image

Vendor: Open Source
Developer: ApplicationProject
License: GPLv2
Web: https://opencpn.org

About

OpenCPN is a free software (GPLv2) project to create a concise chart plotter and navigation software, for use underway or as a planning tool. OpenCPN is developed by a team of active sailors using real world conditions for program testing and refinement.

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^{Current release is 5.0.x}

Features

BSBv3 raster and S57 ENC chart support.
CM93 vector chart support, with per cell offset corrections.
IHO S52 compliant display of S57 vector charts.
Single-chart and Quilted display modes.
North-up, Course-up and Chart-up display modes.
Moving-map display mode.
Route navigation with ship tracking functions.
Waypoint navigation.
Dashboard for configurable on-screen display of ship's NMEA data.
NMEA 0183 GPS interface at selectable baud rate.
OpenGL support for enhanced performance on modern hardware.
gpsd library support.
Autopilot output support.
AIS input with full target tracking and collision alerting.
AIS support for SART, DSC and GPSGate Buddies.
Anchor watch/alarm functions.
GRIB file input and display for weather forecasting.
GPX Waypoint, Track and Route input and output file support.
Route planning with tidal support.
GPX Layers for annotation of charts.
Tide and Current prediction and display by location.
A growing number of plugins. Google Earth, World Magnetic Variation, Voyage Data Recorder, AIS -radar and a LogBook.
Multi-language support.
Plugins (Linux compatible list only)

Supported releases

Official release

They are located in the repo Application:Geo:OpenCPN I provide packages for:

OpenSUSE Leap 15.0 (this is the preferred version and what I test at sea before official release)
OpenSUSE Leap 42.1 (NOTE must deactivate OpenGL in Configuration>Display>General>Advance to avoid side effect with some plugins)
OpenSUSE Tumbleweed is NOT supported but test packages are built in my sandbox home:dominig:opencpn-sandbox would you like to play with it at home.

Note: Due to test and validation I do not (and will not) provide official release for the running releases (Tumbleweed)

32 bit Legacy

I do not provide any more packages for 32 bits architecture.
If you have an old Atom PC which is not 64 bit capable, you will have to stick with on of my legacy build.

Installation

The installation of OpenCPN under OpenSUSE is very simple as it's entirely packaged for a 1-Click install from Firefox or Yast.

Install the latest stable OpenSUSE (current is 42.2) on your PC if that is not already done
Start Firefox browser
Search OpenSUSE for software OpenCPN-4.x (or follow the link on this wiki)
1. Download link and Howto
2. Video
One click install
1. Start Firefox (as it supports one-Click install function)
2. Search for the version which suits your OpenSUSE configuration OpenCPN Search
3. Select the Official Stable version which the origin Application:Geo:OpenCPN
4. Clicker the link 1-Click install
5. Accept the installation. The root password will be asked (Note: the first time install will take some time because data packages which are quite large but very stable need to be installed as well. Better to do it in a marina with Wifi than at Sea).

upgrade from 4.0/4.4 to 4.6

As some plugins have been integrated in the main OpenCPN package, some package names have changed and some have been removed. For that reason, it is simpler to delete the existing OpenCPN 4.x packages (main App, Plugins and libwx in a first step. Then to install the new OpenCPN-4.x which provides 4.6 and all the corresponding plugins. The only side effect of that method is that you will need to re-download the data packages which are quite large.

WX common issue "...WXU_3.0 not defined in file libw ..."

Depending on your previous version of OpenCPN and your previous system configuration, it is possible that you need to force install the libwx provided by the X11:wxWidgets repo. This is the case if you have already installed them from Packman repo.

If you have that issue you will see the following (or similar) error on the console at OpenCPN startup:

 ~$ opencpn 
  opencpn: relocation error: opencpn: symbol _ZTV21wxwxSizerItemListNode, version WXU_3.0 not defined in file libwx_gtk2u_core-suse.so.1 with link time reference
  of any wx type message.

Note : You may only see the error when you start a plugin. In that case OpenCPN will crash when trying to activate any plugin.

In both case this would come from the source that you have used for the wx nostl packages.

If that is your case, you will need to make a manual change of source for those packages.
To correct the issue start Yast.

type nostl3 in the search box
in the version tab change the source to obs://build.opensuse/x11

For OpenCPN 4.2 Check the following Howto if you need help. File:OpenCPN-WX3-HowTo.pdf

Plugins

Plugins are now independent packages