Marks and Routes

 

Marks...


are the basic points that is used for many things, such as creating routes, marking fishing spots, good anchorages or anything of interest.

Creating a mark
There are a few ways to directly create marks.
  • Pressing "Enter" creates a mark at the cursor position.
  • "Ctrl + M" creates a mark at the cursor position.
  • Rightclick and and press "Drop Mark Here" creates a mark at the position of the cursor when clicking.
  • Marks are created at the start of each leg in a route, and one at the end of the route. More about routes a bit further down this page.
Marks created these ways will have a triangular icon, except for routes that uses a diamond, but no name.

The default icon, when creating a mark, is settable by changing the the value "DefaultWPIcon" in the opencpn.ini(config) file. Use the name of any available icon that is available in the properties dialog.

You can move the mark by left-click-dragging it around.

You can delete a mark by right-clicking its icon, and selecting "Delete Mark".
All marks have properties that can be seen by rightclicking and pressing "Mark/WP Properties".
Read all about the properties dialog this page.
Marks can be manipulated through the Route Managers Waypoints tab as well. Deleting a mark that is part of a route, will also change the route.Marks that are a part of a "layer" cannot be changed at all. Marks can also be imported into OpenCPN in a number of ways.
Read all about the  Route Manager and Layers here.

A general  locking of  all marks is available. Goto ToolBox->Etc.

and tick the box. This feature is handy, to prevent accidentally moving a mark. Activate this feature when underway, deactivate it when planning.

The Man Over Board mark  can be activated through the icon in the toolbar, or through hitting Ctrl + Space-bar. The mark looks like the button and is dropped on present position. This mark cannot be moved or deleted with the cursor or keyboard (by mistake), but can still be deleted from the Route/Waypoint manager dialog. More about MOB here.

All the details of the Mark/WP Properties dialog are dealt with on this page.

 

Use your own Icons

OpenCPN comes with a handful of different icons that can be assigned to a mark. Right click or use the Route Manager and activate the properties dialog. The Mark Icon window in the dialog shows the available icons. 

A user can install his or her own icons to use with marks and "own ship".

1. Create a directory called "UserIcons" in the same place that holds your opencpn.ini(config) file. Instructions to find the directory (folder) location.

2. Add .xpm files to this directory. They can be any size. The name embedded within the xpm file becomes the name of the new waypoint icon. These new icons will appear on the Waypoint Properties dialog, and can be assigned to any waypoint. They can also be assigned in GPX Import files.

3. This wiki page contains links to a few sets of user contributed icons.

4.To replace the default own ship icon , just  put a file "ownship.xpm", containing the ownship picture you prefer, in the UserIcons directory, described above.

Size of Own Ship Icon and location of the GPS antenna.
The size of  the ownship icon is adjustable through the config file. Add these lines under the "[Settings]" header:
OwnshipLengthMeters=nn
OwnshipBeamMeters=mm
OwnshipGPSOffsetY=yy
OwnshipGPSOffsetX=xx
OwnshipMinMM=kk

The Ownship rendering logic, using the built in icon, is :
1.If no value is specified for OwnshipMinMM, the exact built-in bitmap will be used. Otherwise the OwnShip Icon that is installby default has a length of 12 m.
2. If OwnshipLengthMeters=nn, the default (yacht) icon is scaled accordingly.
3. If OwnshipLengthMeters=nn and OwnshipBeamMeters=mm, then generic scaled ship icon is used.
4. If you installed your own ownship.xpm icon Rule 2 applies. It is assumed that the ownship icon closely fits the bounding box of the graphic in the length dimension. OwnshipBeamMeters must be omitted or zero.
5. The minimum scaled size of the own ship icon on screen may be specified by OwnshipMinMM=kk. In no case will ship icon be smaller than 1 mm on screen. The default is 10 mm.
6. If canvas scale is larger than 1:300,000, then the ship icon is rendered as a red or grey target, according to IHO recommendation.
7. GPS antenna location offsets may be specified by OwnshipGPSOffsetY=yy and OwnshipGPSOffsetX=xx.
Y offset is from bow, measured in meters. Default is one half ownship length.
X offset is from ship centerline, positive values to starboard. Default is zero.



Routes

Press the -button and start  the creation of a route.  When clicked the cursor changes to a  ( ) pencil when you moce off the button. Left click along the desired route you want to make. This will leave sequential numbered waypoints as you click along, the numbers will not be visible, but are available in the Route Properties Dialog, accessible through the right click menu or the Route Manager. The running total distance of the whole route will be shown along the "pencil" together with the course from the last marked waypoint. When creating routes, OpenCPN will ask if it should use a nearby mark, when a route point is added that is close to an already existing mark.



If your desired route extends off the currently displayed chart, move the route cursor in the desired direction and the display will automatically pan to show the area.  You can zoom in and out with the mouse scroll wheel or keyboard +/- keys during route creating.  You can also right click and select 'MAX DETAIL HERE' or 'Scale Out' during route creation. When finished right click and choose end route from the context menu, alternatively just press the "Esc" key.

The right click menu is context sensitive, exactly what you get depend on what sort of chart it is and if quilting is activated, for example.
You should now have an inactive (Blue) route.  Active routes are Red, inactivated routes are Blue.
Right clicking on a route brings up a menu with many alternatives, such as "Insert Waypoint" and "Append Waypoint".

Multiple Routes 

In OpenCPN multiple routes can be handled in a couple of different ways.
Many routes can be created in a session or imported into a session.
The visibility of every route is controlled in the Route Manager. There is an "eye" to the far left on the line for each route. This works as a toggle switch.
This way only the route(s) of interest for the moment can be shown.

Another way is to create and export routes, and later import them when needed.
To keep the chart clear of useful but un-needed routes follow these steps:
• Create a folder called, 'GPX_Routes', or another suitable name.
• Create your route.
• Use the Route Manager to export the route, with a descriptive file name and save it in GPX_Routes.
• Delete the route from the chart.
• You can export all your routes as one big file or export and delete a route as you create them
• When needed, simply use the Route Managers "Import" Button to open the route file. 
 

To get rid of the way points left on the chart when a route has been imported and then deleted, which may happen depending on the imported gpx file.

1. Open the Route Managers Waypoint tab and press the "Delete All" button
2. Say 'Yes' to: 'Are you sure you want to delete <ALL> waypoints?'

Saving and Loading Routes and Marks

Activating and using routes

Right clicking on the track, changes the color from blue to orange and brings up a comprehensive menu.



Clicking "Activate Route" or performing the same action through the Route Manager, changes the route color to red and new, route information window appears on the right side of the display. Once a route is activated, you are presented with the choice of "Deactivate Route" in the different menus.

Right clicking on a waypoint in a route activates a few options, otherwise not available.

  • Activate Waypoint - Gives the direction to the chosen waypoint instead of the first waypoint in the route, which is the default. Useful when joining, for example, an imported route, at an arbitrary waypoint.
  • Activate Next in Route. Sometimes it makes more sense to go directly the following waypoint, instead of via the position of the nearest waypoint.
  • Remove Waypoint from Route, but don't delete it.
  • Delete Waypoint from Route.
  • Mark/WP Properties. This is the only way to get to these properties, for the moment. The are not yet available in the Route manager. The dialog is the same as for an individual mark








XTE  Cross Track Error. How far off course your boat is.

BRG  Direction to next waypoint.

RNG Distance to next waypoint.

VMG Velocity made good to next waypoint

TTG Time To Go to next waypoint.



Graphic illustration to the values above. Think about it as driving a car on a road.