[PREVIEW] Trade Computer Extension MK.II (w/o Excel)

eventure · Dec 30, 2015

Hello everybody and welcome to the

TRADE COMPUTER EXTENSION MK.II PREVIEW

.NET VERSION

INTRODUCTION:

This version is an updated version of the Trade Computer Extension (MK.I), in every aspect. It no longer requires MS Excel and can now be used by everyone.
With the switchover to .NET there comes some improvements over the MK.I, especially in usability and performance.

Now all panels can be moved easily across the screen by click&hold at the panel name. Also it is now possible to make all panels transparent, changing
font size and zoom level individually. In addition, it is now possible to use the mousewheel on all displayed lists.

To fill the database with data you will now have three ways of doing that:

Manual input
EliteOCR for commodity prices
EDMC for commodity prices, available outfittings to buy, personal data and available ships to buy

All mentioned 3rd party apps are found on ED Codex.

The main structure of all panels is nearly the same, but visually reworked. Let's go through the panels to show, what have changed in detail.
(All screenshots are from the alpha and could be changed till release)

NEW SETUP:

The Mk.II will have now a loader, where you can make changes to the setup. Paths, languages and now keyboard short-cuts for all panels is selected here. The database managment (TDM) is now included too.

NEW MAIN UI:

The new Main panel is now less covered with buttons and the Position and Destination displays are wider. Some buttons are now at the bottom. There is a new button called 'Connect' to import EDMC data.

NEW OPTIONS PANEL:

At the Options panel it is possible to change some panel behaviors, the color of the UI and now the settings for the Auto-Destination selection.

NEW DATABASE PANELS:

With the Database panel, you can add, modify and now delete an entry from the database. This includes also Rare commodities. Markets, formerly stations, now have a primary and secondary economy selectable and a planet info for planetary ports.

NEW TRADE PANEL:

The Trade Overview panel shows now the ability to search after specific outfittings and ship types.

NEW NAVIGATION PANEL:

The Navigation panel is a new panel and holds all data of your surrounding about star systems (formerly Cartography panel), trade markets (formerly Position/Destination panel), stored locations and logbook entries. It replaces the Personal Logbook panels of the MK.I. From here you can set new destinations, adding notes and new locations. All at a glance. There are many filter options to reduce the data displayed to only the required one.

NEW COMMODITY PANEL:

The Commodity panel is only visually reworked. It is mainly the same as with the Mk.I. You can enter all data manually or by using EliteOCR.

NEW SUMMARY PANEL:

The Summary panel combines all informations about the current star system.

NEW ROUTE FINDER PANEL:

This panel shows a list of all profitable routes within the given parameter setup. It is mainly like the Mk.I panel.

NOTES:
The Trade Route Planner is not yet ready, but it will be finished before open beta release.
The Activities and Contacts panel will be dropped, but your earnings entered with the Mk.I will be taken to the Mk.II.
The FTP option will also be dropped.

The closed-beta starts comming weekend.

Now feel free to discuss, give suggestions and share, what you thinking about it.

Happy new year!

Eventure

RobH · Dec 30, 2015

Sounds wonderful Eventure

and glad you have been working hard over the Christmas holidays! Unfortunately, your Spoilers are not showing the attachments

Not sure I understand your comments regarding the database. Can I transfer my current Mk1 database directly to the Mk2 version in some way?

Rob

atomic7431 · Dec 30, 2015

Sounds interesting but as above pictures are not working.

eventure · Dec 30, 2015

RobH said:
Sounds wonderful Eventure

and glad you have been working hard over the Christmas holidays! Unfortunately, your Spoilers are not showing the attachments

Not sure I understand your comments regarding the database. Can I transfer my current Mk1 database directly to the Mk2 version in some way?

Rob

Corrected.

Yes, you can import your old database.

RobH · Dec 30, 2015

Eventure said:
Corrected.

Yes, you can import your old database.

Now the visuals are looking great! And good to know I won't lose all my current data. I can see you have put a lot of work into this new version so am eager to be able to try it out.

I assume the problem remains with EliteOCR in that it will not correctly scan the supply column. If I choose to use EDMC instead, how would I transfer the commodity data to TCE?

Rob

Trekari · Dec 30, 2015

+Rep!

Thank you so much for working on a version that doesn't require OCR or Excel!

eventure · Dec 30, 2015

RobH said:
Now the visuals are looking great! And good to know I won't lose all my current data. I can see you have put a lot of work into this new version so am eager to be able to try it out.

I assume the problem remains with EliteOCR in that it will not correctly scan the supply column. If I choose to use EDMC instead, how would I transfer the commodity data to TCE?

Rob

There is no need in transfer yourself. If you have installed EDMC, the 'Connect' button appears when reaching a registered market. One click on it and all EDMC data is automatically stored into the database. Quite easy!

ethelred · Dec 30, 2015

This is absolutely fantastic and I can't wait to install.

I'm broke now because of Xmas but expect a donation towards the end of the month!

Abil Midena · Dec 30, 2015

Welcome back! Looks great Eventure, thanks for your hard work!

I guess I'll have some relearning to do once it's released. I hope you are ready for the incoming questions!

Speaking of questions...

Does the new version still require ED to be run in windowed mode?

edit2* I am looking at EDMC for the first time. It has options for saving data in CSV format and some other tool formats...does TCE just (will) need the CSV market data and flight log csv?

edit* You may also want to look at this post, I'm not sure how applicable it is to TCE.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=218658

Otis B. · Dec 30, 2015

Abil Midena said:
I am looking at EDMC for the first time. It has options for saving data in CSV format and some other tool formats...does TCE just (will) need the CSV market data and flight log csv?

TCE will use the EDMC command-line executable, so EDMC's Output settings are ignored (but you still need to supply the Credentials settings).

eventure · Dec 30, 2015

Abil Midena said:
Welcome back! Looks great Eventure, thanks for your hard work!

I guess I'll have some relearning to do once it's released. I hope you are ready for the incoming questions!

Speaking of questions...

Does the new version still require ED to be run in windowed mode?

Yes, window mode is still required.

Abil Midena said:
edit2* I am looking at EDMC for the first time. It has options for saving data in CSV format and some other tool formats...does TCE just (will) need the CSV market data and flight log csv?

View attachment 91095

You will only need to:
- Install EDMC
- Run EDMC
- Enter username and password.
- Press "Update".
- Enter the "Verification code" send to your email account by Frontier.

Thereafter a manual start of EDMC is not required. TCE starts it in the back waiting on EDMC to serve the requested data. TCE uses at commandline tool of EDMC. All is done in the back.

Abil Midena said:
edit* You may also want to look at this post, I'm not sure how applicable it is to TCE.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=218658

Registered and supported!

Abil Midena · Dec 30, 2015

edit* Ninja'd by Eventure.

=Phoenix= · Dec 30, 2015

New TCE MkII looking good.
.
Thanks.

Maedhros · Dec 30, 2015

Hope you had a good break Eventure.

Mk II is looking good, I particularly like the added functionality which searches for ships and outfitting.

On the new 'cartography' panel I notice you have changed the visit/explored status of Star Systems - presumably this will use the existing data but simply give a different result e.g. 'Scanned' rather than 'Partial' etc. One thing that appears to be missing however is the colour coding which you had previously. I hope that you will be retaining this as I found it very easy to quickly ascertain the state of exploration simply by the colour - it is quicker to take in rather than text alone.

Keep up the good work

bAdbUd · Dec 30, 2015

I can't wait, it'll be like Christmas in the New Year.

I suppose the stock levels problem will remain?

Also with EDMC in the setup instructions for installing it, it says this

Setup
The first time that you run the app you are prompted for your username and password. This is the same username and password combination that you use to log into the Elite: Dangerous launcher, and is required so that the Frontier servers can send the app your data and the market data for the station that you are docked at.

I've two issues with that

1. They want my ED login details....?
2. Since when did Frontier create an API that you could get station data from, have I missed this? I could've easily have missed it seeing as i didn't play for a good 4/5 months in the Spring/Summer.

BUT POINT 1. IS WORRISOME?

UPDATE:

I would give you REPUTATION, but I can't because I give you to much REP.

ALSO:

STAR CLASSES MISSING IN MK I MAY NEED ADDING TO MK II
DA, DB, DC, DO, DQ, DX, and DZ
DAB: DAO: DAZ: DBZ

eventure · Dec 30, 2015

Maedhros said:
Hope you had a good break Eventure.

Mk II is looking good, I particularly like the added functionality which searches for ships and outfitting.

On the new 'cartography' panel I notice you have changed the visit/explored status of Star Systems - presumably this will use the existing data but simply give a different result e.g. 'Scanned' rather than 'Partial' etc. One thing that appears to be missing however is the colour coding which you had previously. I hope that you will be retaining this as I found it very easy to quickly ascertain the state of exploration simply by the colour - it is quicker to take in rather than text alone.

Keep up the good work

Thanks,

sure, the color coding could be reintroduced, no problem. Beta will have it.

bAdbUd said:
I've two issues with that

1. They want my ED login details....?
2. Since when did Frontier create an API that you could get station data from, have I missed this? I could've easily have missed it seeing as i didn't play for a good 4/5 months in the Spring/Summer.

BUT POINT 1. IS WORRISOME?

ALSO:

STAR CLASSES MISSING IN MK I MAY NEED ADDING TO MK II
DA, DB, DC, DO, DQ, DX, and DZ
DAB: DAO: DAZ: DBZ

Not for me. Who is they?
Perhaps Otis could explain, if the login is encoded or not.
Frontier released the companion app months ago for phones. EDMC uses his code loging into it and grab the data.

You need to be logged in into the Companion app to get the data, as like you using your phone.
If you are sceptical, don't use it. It's your choice.

@Nice, will add the missing types. Guessing all are non-scoopable?

tricky · Dec 30, 2015

bAdbUd said:
I can't wait, it'll be like Christmas in the New Year.

I suppose the stock levels problem will remain?

Also with EDMC in the setup instructions for installing it, it says this

I've two issues with that

1. They want my ED login details....?
2. Since when did Frontier create an API that you could get station data from, have I missed this? I could've easily have missed it seeing as i didn't play for a good 4/5 months in the Spring/Summer.

BUT POINT 1. IS WORRISOME?

UPDATE:

I would give you REPUTATION, but I can't because I give you to much REP.

ALSO:

STAR CLASSES MISSING IN MK I MAY NEED ADDING TO MK II
DA, DB, DC, DO, DQ, DX, and DZ
DAB: DAO: DAZ: DBZ

The login information is sent to Frontier's API server. A confirmation email comes back (with an access code) from Frontier. The only thing that EDMC stores is a session access code that is given to it by Frontier once you supply the access code as proof.

Eventure said:
Thanks,

sure, will revert back to partial. Also the color coding could be reintroduced too, no problem. Beta will have it.

Not for me. Who is they?
Perhaps Otis could explain, if the login is encoded or not.
Frontier released the companion app months ago for phones. EDMC uses his code loging into it and grab the data.

You need to be logged in into the Companion app to get the data, as like you using your phone.
If you are sceptical, don't use it. It's your choice.

@Nice, will add the missing types. Guessing all are non-scoopable?

D* stars are dwarf stars, so yes, VERY unscoopable.

Otis B. · Dec 31, 2015

bAdbUd said:
Also with EDMC in the setup instructions for installing it, it says this

Setup
The first time that you run the app you are prompted for your username and password. This is the same username and password combination that you use to log into the Elite: Dangerous launcher, and is required so that the Frontier servers can send the app your data and the market data for the station that you are docked at.

Click to expand...

I've two issues with that

1. They want my ED login details....?
2. Since when did Frontier create an API that you could get station data from, have I missed this? I could've easily have missed it seeing as i didn't play for a good 4/5 months in the Spring/Summer.

1. Yes. It's not ideal, but the app needs this info because that's how Frontier's API currently works.
2. Yes. Frontier created an API over a year ago to support their iOS companion app. EDMC uses this API, even 'though Frontier didn't intend the API to be documented or supported. There's an ongoing thread about support for the API here.

Grumpy181155 · Dec 31, 2015

Hi Eventure and welcome back. I hope you had a great break.
I am a bit confused here (a fairly normal state for me). Will my database still be on my computer and will it only show the data that I have collected? I hope so but if not will I be able to filter the data so I only see what I have collected?

SeeleyBoothe · Dec 31, 2015

Hi and welcome back. I actually started using MK.I this week and have a couple questions about MK2. I found with MK.I that there were issues with excel 2016 where the overlay had a solid background. So Hopefully not using excel will fix this.

Also the biggest question.. I run triple monitors with a 4K display in the center. This is the primary monitor where the game is displayed in borderless mode. I nothiced with MK.I it would not scale properly. Kind of stretching itself over the monitors. Is there any way you can test for this?

Thanks Much!