Release [Explorer's Application] Captain's Log

[Andrew Gaspurr]

Ah, I just came up with my own colour coding for CL - Red, amber, green for J1, J2, and J3, (and A1, A2, and A3) just to distinguish them - no account has been taken of any kind of other group's established colour coding protocols. I'd have thought that the fact that either J1, J1/J2, and J1, J2, J3 showing or not showing within a scanned system was a clear and simple indication, to be honest.
Regards

It is clear and simple, don't get me wrong. And it's nothing that needs to be fixed imho. I just got irritated on one occasion where some basic stuff was missing in a system but it showed 'green' with J3. That where I thought 'What the heck!' But after a moment of realization I got it straight.

 

[Aura Lorell]

Fair enough about the synthesis idea, it was a long shot and I wasn't holding my breath. I'll live with the spreadsheet. I've removed the contents of that post to avoid confusing people reading the thread.

However, I think you are missing the point about the J1/2/3 indicators showing a system with *all* versus *some* of the mats. At the very least please consider adding an option to toggle this functionality, thus allowing your users to choose how they want to use the information shown. Again not holding my breath, this is software that you are developing on your free time so I totally understand you not wanting to do that, especially given that I'm probably some kind of minority between your users. However, anyone who has prospected for materials consistently and over a large period will tell you that systems offering all mats are less useful than systems offering some mats. Especially when you are 1000 Ly inside a scarce area where every second jump needs to use jumponium. You take what you get there and finding one of the mats can be the difference of being stranded or being able to move on.

I'll live if you choose not to implement such an option. Much like I do now, I'll ignore the indicators.

 

[disorganise]

Don't know if you watch F1 at all, but they designate new and used tyres by colouring the background or leaving it black. Maybe that's a way to achieve a happy medium? Or maybe a half filled colour bar to designate incomplete J3 or whatever?

Now, in a similar vein I had a suggestion. I'm finding it faster to alt tab to CL than to open the system map to see what the body I just scanned was.
I use the overlay mode and have the "CL" in the top left corner. Is it *possible* to change this on the fly? I'm thinking that maybe it could gain a J1/2/3, or maybe critical info like the gravity up there so we can make a decision to land or not without alt tabbing at all? It would reset on a new scan or new jump.

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

Don't know if you watch F1 at all, but they designate new and used tyres by colouring the background or leaving it black. Maybe that's a way to achieve a happy medium? Or maybe a half filled colour bar to designate incomplete J3 or whatever?

Now, in a similar vein I had a suggestion. I'm finding it faster to alt tab to CL than to open the system map to see what the body I just scanned was.
I use the overlay mode and have the "CL" in the top left corner. Is it *possible* to change this on the fly? I'm thinking that maybe it could gain a J1/2/3, or maybe critical info like the gravity up there so we can make a decision to land or not without alt tabbing at all? It would reset on a new scan or new jump.

Actually that's an excellent idea

I think I can do something like that. Stay tuned

 

[Andrew Gaspurr]

Don't know if you watch F1 at all, but they designate new and used tyres by colouring the background or leaving it black. Maybe that's a way to achieve a happy medium? Or maybe a half filled colour bar to designate incomplete J3 or whatever?

Now, in a similar vein I had a suggestion. I'm finding it faster to alt tab to CL than to open the system map to see what the body I just scanned was.
I use the overlay mode and have the "CL" in the top left corner. Is it *possible* to change this on the fly? I'm thinking that maybe it could gain a J1/2/3, or maybe critical info like the gravity up there so we can make a decision to land or not without alt tabbing at all? It would reset on a new scan or new jump.

Excellent suggestion and definitely helpful. +1

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

Captain's Log v1.4.2 Available For Download - bugfixes and creates VisitedStars.txt from old DB's

As per post title, I have updated the old Captain's Log 1.x series to 1.4.2

Download from the usual location on my site at http://scarygliders.net/captains-log/

Changelog:

- FIXED : Long-standing bug where jump table did not populate if starting with an empty database. Finally!
- FIXED : Program crashed when unable to write a vlaues database - will now throw up an error window and halt instead.
- New : "Create ImportStars.txt from DB" feature added so you can export your visited systems from Captain's Log DB's, and create a list to import into the game so that it shows you systems you previously visited prior to ED 2.2/1.7
- Version bumped to 1.4.2
- This will probably be the last ever release of the CL 1.x series. But who knows...

Instructions for exporting your DB's to VisitedStars.txt

1) Run CL 1.4.2 and click on Configuration.

2) Highlight the Database you wish to export, by clicking on the relevant table row

3) Click on the new, blue, button marked "Create ImportStars.txt from DB"

4) Choose the correct directory to export the list of stars systems. CL 1.4.2 will start in the appropriate directory with a list of other directories with numbers.

You need to pick the directory which contains the file VisitedStarsCache.dat.

The directory should be the one named with a number as shown - it'll have numbers as a name, and should be the most current created directory.

Click on VisitedStarsCache.dat and then click on Open.

5) Captain's Log will then export the systems you visited to a text file called ImportStars.txt in that directory.

6) Now launch the game

7) Now start in one of the game modes. The game will now read in that text file created above and add that list of systems to its own VisitedStarsCache.dat

8) Depending on the number of star systems in the list, this could take from a few minutes, to quite a few minutes.

9) When the game has completed the import, you will see a message in the Message area of the ship's HUD on the top left hand corner.

10) It is at this point you have completed the import task - for one database. To do this with another, repeat from step one above for all your different databases.

11) Consideration must be given if you have multiple commander accounts - make sure to pick the correct directory to export the list to (I do not know how to discover this - probably by the timestamp in the Elite Dangerous directory containing the number-named folders).

Regards o7

 

[Jermus]

... Instructions for exporting your DB's to VisitedStars.txt ...

Worked as specified . Awesome feature! Thanks.

o7

 

[AntidotE]

What is the reason to do exporting my db to VisitedStars.txt?
It does not appear that CL2.0 imports that data at least for generating galaxy table with ID and systemname.

[upd] Also, is CL2.0 going to show estimated system value?

P.S. Thank you for doing this awesome application!

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

What is the reason to do exporting my db to VisitedStars.txt?
It does not appear that CL2.0 imports that data at least for generating galaxy table with ID and systemname.

See this thread for details : https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/291643-The-Visited-Stars-cache

It's basically a way to see your pre-2.2 Visited Systems in ED 2.2, as the game at the moment cannot do that itself.

Regards o7

 

[iain666]

What is the reason to do exporting my db to VisitedStars.txt?
It does not appear that CL2.0 imports that data at least for generating galaxy table with ID and systemname.

2.2 has a 'Visited Stars' filter for the galaxy map, but that filter only knows about systems visited since 2.2 launched. It stores these in a file in %user%\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\#####\
(where '#####' is some number that seems to be variable).

If you put the VisitedStars.txt exported from CL into that folder and run up the game then it will import those stars into the VisitedStarsCache.dat that the Visited Stars filter uses and then it will work for all your pre 2.2 systems (that CL knows about anyway).

ETA: ninja'd.

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

Captain's Log version 1.4.3 hotfix released.

As the post title suggests, 1.4.3 is hot off the presses.

- Incorporates all the changes in 1.4.2

- Fixes a GUI bug whereby the database load progressbar was put behind the jump table, now it is rightly placed underneath it.

- Jump table suitably resized.

Regards o7

 

[AntidotE]

Ok, I have done all steps, it imported to .dat file.
Now, even after clear start of CL2.0 and scanning logs, it generates only systems which have been visited in ED2.2.
Is it subject of change or am I doing something wrong or I expect something impossible?

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Thanks for clarifying. However even finding that filter was small quest

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

Ok, I have done all steps, it imported to .dat file.
Now, even after clear start of CL2.0 and scanning logs, it generates only systems which have been visited in ED2.2.
Is it subject of change or am I doing something wrong or I expect something impossible?

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Thanks for clarifying. However even finding that filter was small quest

Believe it or not I had the same problem (couldn't find the visited systems filter!) and had to ask around

 

[Alyx Flowerheart]

Heyo!

Ran into a bug, and this is about as official as a bug report that I know how to do. At first, I tried to import my logs onto a new DB for CL 2. What I found was that after 2.3, they were no longer importing. Some more messing around, and I found that the jumps were no longer showing, yet the distance to Sol and Odometer were showing accurate numbers. Some more tsts, and a couple of clean installs with and without importing DBs all lead to the same result; import sending no data, with no loading bar, and all jumps counting to distance from Sol and odometer, but not showing up in the app. After closing CL2 down and opening it again, the Odometer and distance from Sol reset, so there's a lock of persistence as well. I'll do some tests on CL 2.2 to see what happens.

 

[Cometborne]

Hi,
first of all: Woo-Hoo, good job! I am currently using CL 2.x during GNE, and have come to prefer the CL2 overlay to the in-game system map because it is so much more ergonomic for looking at planetary data. However, I did notice some bugs:

- ring and atmosphere information is missing
- in the planet list, terraforming candidates get the same icon as their non-terraforming versions (at least for HMC and WW, have not run across a rocky TC yet)
- if you revisit a system and update the system notes, only the current entry in the system list is updated, you need to open the system notes for all other entries of this system in the list to get them updated as well (or restart the application)
- search does not work at all
- the star data panel for a red supergiant reads "M_RedSuperGiant" (underscore, no spaces), and the star gets the standard M class icon in the list
- the star data panel for a black hole reads just "H"

Additionally, I have a small problem with the overlay where I am not sure if this is a bug, a limitation of windows, or a case of using the wrong tool for the job: I run Elite on Windows 10 with Annoyance Update in borderless mode, and CL2 as overlay. Hitting ALT-C will expand the overlay and switch the input focus to the application window, so I can use Captain's Log. Hitting ALT-C again will close the overlay, but the input focus is not switched back to Elite. I need to do a blind mouse click to switch focus, or ALT-TAB from Captain's Log back to Elite. I'd prefer it if ALT-C not only minimized the overlay, but also switched back to Elite. Is this possible?

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

Hi,
first of all: Woo-Hoo, good job!

Hi and thanks

I am currently using CL 2.x during GNE, and have come to prefer the CL2 overlay to the in-game system map because it is so much more ergonomic for looking at planetary data. However, I did notice some bugs:

;.; *sweat*

Yeah there's plenty of bugs and still lots to do - hence the betas

I wanted to get CL2 out there and testing in its current condition - also to show its progress. Righty then let's see...

- ring and atmosphere information is missing

Aye. CL2 is storing the ring info, it's just not yet showing it - I'm trying to think of a nice, cool way of showing ring data, but most of the development time thus far was taken up with getting materials showing in a cool and informative way.

I'll add Atmosphere types in for the next beta.

- in the planet list, terraforming candidates get the same icon as their non-terraforming versions (at least for HMC and WW, have not run across a rocky TC yet)

I'll need to come up with suitable icons for those at some point. Or perhaps superimpose "TC" over the icon.

- if you revisit a system and update the system notes, only the current entry in the system list is updated, you need to open the system notes for all other entries of this system in the list to get them updated as well (or restart the application)

Good point! I'll do something about that

- search does not work at all

Search looks at the system name, system notes, and jump notes columns of the trip table - I just tested it and it found whatever search terms are in there, so I'm puzzled by this report

- the star data panel for a red supergiant reads "M_RedSuperGiant" (underscore, no spaces), and the star gets the standard M class icon in the list
- the star data panel for a black hole reads just "H"

Yep - early days yet and it's a case of 'translating' those types into something a bit better - I use the M class icon because technically it's still an M class star, isn't it?

Additionally, I have a small problem with the overlay where I am not sure if this is a bug, a limitation of windows, or a case of using the wrong tool for the job: I run Elite on Windows 10 with Annoyance Update in borderless mode, and CL2 as overlay. Hitting ALT-C will expand the overlay and switch the input focus to the application window, so I can use Captain's Log. Hitting ALT-C again will close the overlay, but the input focus is not switched back to Elite. I need to do a blind mouse click to switch focus, or ALT-TAB from Captain's Log back to Elite. I'd prefer it if ALT-C not only minimized the overlay, but also switched back to Elite. Is this possible?

If it were possible I'd have done it already

I've looked into this in past for CL 1.x.

The overlay mode doesn't do anything fancy like injecting itself into the DX rendering stream - I'm too dumb to figure out how to do that, so I cheat by setting transparencies and turning off the window border and voila you get an overlay-like effect. Effectively it's just like putting any other window into focus over the game's borderless window. I haven't found a way to tell my program to "minimise and, oh, could you put this other program into focus, like the game for example?", and believe me I spent a good long time looking into if this could be done.

I am actually working on adding to the overlay mode by adding a transparent bar (which you will be able to position by dragging it) with some things on it like the odometer, Jumponium/AFMU materials availability indicators, system name, and some pertinent data on a body you just scanned.

Anyway, some good feedback there - thanks!

 

[Cometborne]

I'll need to come up with suitable icons for those at some point. Or perhaps superimpose "TC" over the icon.

How about simply re-using the icons from 1.x with dark blue (HMC+TC,R+RC) and light blue (WW+TC,HMC+TC+N) border?

Search looks at the system name, system notes, and jump notes columns of the trip table - I just tested it and it found whatever search terms are in there, so I'm puzzled by this report

Unfortunately, that part does not work for me at all. I click into the text field to the right of the search icon, enter text that should result in hits (Eol Prou), press enter (or click on the search icon), and nothing happens. It does not matter if I use overlay or normal mode. The only non-standard setting I have is that I created a new DB for the post-Jaques part of the trip.

The overlay mode doesn't do anything fancy like injecting itself into the DX rendering stream - I'm too dumb to figure out how to do that, so I cheat

Not messing with the rendering is most likely the smart choice as well, I fear there is a whole can of nasty side effects just begging to be opened there. Since I just found out that I can just as easily ALT-TAB into and out of the overlay, it is not a big problem.

Oh, and always remember: "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying".

PS:

*sweat*

I haven't even started with the feature requests yet ;-)

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

How about simply re-using the icons from 1.x with dark blue (HMC+TC,R+RC) and light blue (WW+TC,HMC+TC+N) border?

Oh yeah forgot I had those

Unfortunately, that part does not work for me at all. I click into the text field to the right of the search icon, enter text that should result in hits (Eol Prou), press enter (or click on the search icon), and nothing happens. It does not matter if I use overlay or normal mode. The only non-standard setting I have is that I created a new DB for the post-Jaques part of the trip.

I could replicate the problem and have squished the bug.

Not messing with the rendering is most likely the smart choice as well, I fear there is a whole can of nasty side effects just begging to be opened there. Since I just found out that I can just as easily ALT-TAB into and out of the overlay, it is not a big problem.

Actually, your discussion of that led me to have another look at things and this is a work in progress, but...

Like I say, it's a Work In Progress, but it's already rather effective.

Oh, and always remember: "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying".

Very true

PS:


I haven't even started with the feature requests yet ;-)

Please forward all feature requests to:

Room 101
Ministry Of Love

Regards o7

 

[disorganise]

Actually, your discussion of that led me to have another look at things and this is a work in progress, but...

http://i.imgur.com/wPaU425.png

Like I say, it's a Work In Progress, but it's already rather effective.


Please forward all feature requests to:

Room 101
Ministry Of Love

Regards o7

:O That is totally awesome. Probably add the body icon too (nice to know it's a WW TC for example) - actually, I think I just realised that's the system stats rather than the 'just scanned body' stats. I'm more after the 'just scanned body' stats since opening sys map to check for a TC is way too slow and the big complaint for landables is the info disappears behind the distance bars. I'm alt tabbing to CL at the moment instead
Also. I currently have my EDD S-Panel up there showing the distance to Jaques - perhaps you could make the distance to Sol the distance user selected location?

and, I can confirm the inability to search. Never have (in 1.x) - also assumed it was something you were adding later. So usually if I make a note I make in EDD also so it's searchable. Perhaps there a library or something you have installed that we don't?

(I have a few notes with untagged in them. also tried searching the system name and stuff like HMC

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

:O That is totally awesome. Probably add the body icon too (nice to know it's a WW TC for example) - actually, I think I just realised that's the system stats rather than the 'just scanned body' stats. I'm more after the 'just scanned body' stats since opening sys map to check for a TC is way too slow and the big complaint for landables is the info disappears behind the distance bars. I'm alt tabbing to CL at the moment instead
Also. I currently have my EDD S-Panel up there showing the distance to Jaques - perhaps you could make the distance to Sol the distance user selected location?

and, I can confirm the inability to search. Never have (in 1.x) - also assumed it was something you were adding later. So usually if I make a note I make in EDD also so it's searchable. Perhaps there a library or something you have installed that we don't?

http://i.imgur.com/ixAcKfx.png

(I have a few notes with untagged in them. also tried searching the system name and stuff like HMC

I think you missed one or two key pieces of info in my last post

1) I have squished the search bug. It was nothing to do with missing libraries.

2) I will be changing the icons to suit if Terraformable or not

3) Yes I will make the Distance to: bit configurable to a known location - if CL doesn't know about it yet I can easily add something where you can input galactic coordinates, which would do the same thing. This should become less of an issue once I get the EDSM module working and can import EDSM's immense list of known systems/coords.

Like I mentioned - it's a Work In Progress. I am gradually re-arranging the layout and adding more useful info once I get one thing working/looking the way I want it to. At the moment I'm making 'cut down' versions of the Jumponium and AFMU material availability widgets so they take up less room. Once that's done I shall start work on getting in more planet info, icon types, yadda yadda, then I'll make a new beta release.

Regards o7