Turnpoint descriptions

[Tuno]

While working recently on a Java program to combine and geographically
filter turnpoints from multiple .CUP files, I noted that when I use SeeYou
to convert from .CUP to .DA4 (for Filser/LX Nav products) format, the
turnpoint names get truncated to 8 characters and all uppercase. This
presents name collisions for pairs of turnpoints with verbose names like
"Black Canyon North" and "Black Canyon South" -- both get saved with the
name "BLACK CA", which causes LXe to complain when the file is loaded
therein.

Is there a "standard" somewhere for what data are contained in turnpoints
and how they are named? I know .DA4 files are used for LX Nav products; what
are .CUP files used for (besides SeeYou)?

thx/2NO

[Martin Gregorie]

On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 15:58:09 GMT, "Tuno" >
wrote:

>While working recently on a Java program to combine and geographically
>filter turnpoints from multiple .CUP files, I noted that when I use SeeYou
>to convert from .CUP to .DA4 (for Filser/LX Nav products) format, the
>turnpoint names get truncated to 8 characters and all uppercase. This
>presents name collisions for pairs of turnpoints with verbose names like
>"Black Canyon North" and "Black Canyon South" -- both get saved with the
>name "BLACK CA", which causes LXe to complain when the file is loaded
>therein.
>
>Is there a "standard" somewhere for what data are contained in turnpoints
>and how they are named? I know .DA4 files are used for LX Nav products; what
>are .CUP files used for (besides SeeYou)?
>

Take a look at the standard BGA text file format and the excellent
TPSelect program. The BGA TP file is in a human readable format that's
independent of any particular hardware. TPSelect reads and displays
this file to allow you to optionally select turn points from it and
write them to another file in a format that suits your TP upload
program.

For example, use TPSelect to pick out the nearest 500 TPs to my home
base (my GPS won't hold more than that) and then save them to a file
that's acceptable to flexGPS. I use the latter to load the file into
my GPS.

IMO this approach has a lot of advantages:
- there's only one human-readable master file
- each program does a specific job and does it well
- using two programs is no big deal: its only done once a year
- there are a LOT of device-specific uploaders around
- the uploaders are easy to find via the Soaring Exchange

The only down side is that most of these programs are for MSDOS and/or
Windows, which is hard lines on Mac or Linux users.

--
martin@ : Martin Gregorie
gregorie : Harlow, UK
demon :
co : Zappa fan & glider pilot
uk :

[Tuno]

Thanks Martin!

> The only down side is that most of these programs are for MSDOS and/or
> Windows, which is hard lines on Mac or Linux users.

Which is precisely why my filter program is being developed in Java.

[Paul Remde]

Hi,

I suggest you take a look at some of the waypoint files on the Worldwide
Soaring Turnpoint Exchange by John Leibacher at:
http://acro.harvard.edu/SOARING/JL/TP

If I understand correctly, John uses perl scripts to create the waypoint
files from data sources. I've found that names are shortened very nicely.
If you asked him, I bet he'd share his method with you. I think the method
involves removing vowels (only when necessary) and using capitals for the
start of new words.

Good Luck,

Paul Remde

"Tuno" > wrote in message
s.com...
> While working recently on a Java program to combine and geographically
> filter turnpoints from multiple .CUP files, I noted that when I use SeeYou
> to convert from .CUP to .DA4 (for Filser/LX Nav products) format, the
> turnpoint names get truncated to 8 characters and all uppercase. This
> presents name collisions for pairs of turnpoints with verbose names like
> "Black Canyon North" and "Black Canyon South" -- both get saved with the
> name "BLACK CA", which causes LXe to complain when the file is loaded
> therein.
>
> Is there a "standard" somewhere for what data are contained in turnpoints
> and how they are named? I know .DA4 files are used for LX Nav products;
what
> are .CUP files used for (besides SeeYou)?
>
> thx/2NO
>
>

[Derrick Steed]

Paul Remde wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I suggest you take a look at some of the waypoint files on the Worldwide
>Soaring Turnpoint Exchange by John Leibacher at:
>http://acro.harvard.edu/SOARING/JL/TP <http://acro.harvard.edu/SOARING/JL/TP>
>
>If I understand correctly, John uses perl scripts to create the waypoint
>files from data sources. I've found that names are shortened very nicely.
>If you asked him, I bet he'd share his method with you. I think the method
>involves removing vowels (only when necessary) and using capitals for the
>start of new words.
>
>Good Luck,
>
>Paul Remde
>
>"Tuno" wrote in message
s.com... s.com...>
>> While working recently on a Java program to combine and geographically
>> filter turnpoints from multiple .CUP files, I noted that when I use SeeYou
>> to convert from .CUP to .DA4 (for Filser/LX Nav products) format, the
>> turnpoint names get truncated to 8 characters and all uppercase. This
>> presents name collisions for pairs of turnpoints with verbose names like
>> "Black Canyon North" and "Black Canyon South" -- both get saved with the
>> name "BLACK CA", which causes LXe to complain when the file is loaded
>> therein.
>>
>> Is there a "standard" somewhere for what data are contained in turnpoints
>> and how they are named? I know .DA4 files are used for LX Nav products;
>what
>> are .CUP files used for (besides SeeYou)?
>>
>> thx/2NO
>>
>>

And Perl is highly portable between platforms - text manipulation is its forte, but it can equally well handle binary with ease with good format handling.

Rgds,

Derrick.

[Martin Gregorie]

On Fri, 25 Jun 2004 00:20:33 GMT, "Tuno" >
wrote:

>Thanks Martin!
>
>> The only down side is that most of these programs are for MSDOS and/or
>> Windows, which is hard lines on Mac or Linux users.
>
>Which is precisely why my filter program is being developed in Java.
>
I'll drink to that! :-)

What package/class hierarchy are you using to get serial port access
from Java?

I've looked at the usual suspects (Sun's SerialPort class and the open
source RXTX package) but both look to be somewhat orphaned and/or need
major system surgery to install so I'm doubtful if they're viable. The
SimpleSerial class isn't really portable without a lot of effort. OTOH
if I could find a socket library for the Borland C/C++ compiler I just
might have a portable solution. I have mostly complete code for
Linux...


--
martin@ : Martin Gregorie
gregorie : Harlow, UK
demon :
co : Zappa fan & glider pilot
uk :