The Unofficial XCSoar Manual

From XCSoar

This chapter describes the fundamental user interface concepts used by XCSoar, and is intended as an overview. Specific button assignments, menus and configuration settings are described in later chapters.

The XCSoar display is composed of several parts:

Map area

The bulk of the screen is dedicated to the GPS moving map display.

Symbology

Glide computer information is overlaid on the map area.

Gauges

Gauges provide instrumentation displays

Indicators

Icons and text may appear along the lower edge of the screen to indicate status of connected devices, flight modes etc.

Status messages

Text is displayed over the map area in status message boxes. This text is used to present detailed information to the pilot when certain events occur.

InfoBoxes

A grid of data values is displayed either along the top and bottom of the screen (portrait display) or to the right of the screen (landscape mode). These InfoBoxes display data from the GPS and other input devices as well as data generated by the glide computer.

Dialog windows

Larger dialog windows, usually containing graphics and buttons, are used to present detailed data to the pilot regarding waypoint details, statistics and analysis etc.

Button labels and menus

Hardware buttons on the Pocket PC can be used to bring up and navigate smaller onscreen menus that are typically laid out such that menu items can be selected by pressing the button adjacent to the item. If the Pocket PC has a touch screen, then menu items can be selected by touching them.

Main menu

The main menu is accessible by touching the map area, which brings up a ``Menu'' button, which then if touched brings up a full-page dialog containing the main menu items. If the Menu button is not pressed after more than 10 seconds, it disappears again so as to not obscure the map area.

There are several ways in which the pilot can interact with XCSoar:

• Touching certain map elements
• Touching infoboxes and onscreen buttons
• `Dragging' the screen (touching the screen and moving before releasing)
• Pressing application buttons on the Pocket PC device.
• Pressing the cursor keys on the Pocket PC device.
• Pressing keys or switches on an instrument connected to XCSoar.

Depending on the particular hardware used with XCSoar, not all of these methods of interaction are possible, and there may be different numbers or assignments of buttons. Refer to Hardware for details of major hardware configurations.