The Unofficial XCSoar Manual

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Version 5.0 Changes

Summary of changes from 4.7 to 5.0

Key new features

• ZigZag wind direction calculations
• Completely new interface
• OnLine contest optimisation
• Enhanced AAT task management
• TeamCode
• FLARM display
• Checklist text display
• New airspace management system
• Lift center estimator

New Features

• Added text entry dialog
• Added pilot name, aircraft type and rego to configuration dialog
• Added support for team code
• Logger inactive when in IGC replay mode
• Zigzag wind estimate inactive when in IGC replay mode
• Analysis dialog: base/ceiling estimation improvements
• Task speed now altitude compensated
• New task speed instantaneous
• All flight statistics retained when exiting XCSoar and loaded at startup, so previous flight can be reviewed later.
• Task is saved when exiting XCSoar and loaded at startup. (Default.tsk)
• Added support for alternate start points
• PC and PDA version all data files now in "My Documents/XCSoarData".
• Thermal locator improvements
• UI change: All reachable landable points arrival heights are shown on map in all waypoint label display modes
• Average task speed improvements: compensation for altitude, now computes task speed accurately for achieved scorable AAT distance.
• Task page on analysis dialog shows in thick red dashed line the scorable AAT paths.
• Thermal markers shown in cruise mode only at close zoom scales, to avoid clutter.
• When infobox colors are enabled, the thermal last 30 second average is red when the average is less than 0.5*MACCREADY. This can be used to clearly show when it is time to leave a thermal.
• AAT max/min/target speeds in infoboxes show '---' if minimum time remaining is zero.
• List items in dialog can be selected with mouse/touchscreen. Touch twice to emulate return key.
• Added configuration option to adjust snail trail width
• Home waypoint always added to abort task list if reachable
• Team Code dialog updates dynamically
• Bearing to target shown in great circle arc
• Return key now toggles suppression of FLARM radar. If new traffic appears, the suppression is turned off again.
• Task calculator range increments in 5%
• Added infobox for 'Home Distance'
• Auto QNH only activated when not flying for more than 10 seconds
• Editing/saving waypoints (Feature request 1281639)
• Fixed bug, FAI finish sector was incorrect
• Added small histeresis to instantenous LD vario
• Added Cambridge GPS NAV device
• Added option to force cruise on neutral/negative flap (for Vega) (Flap forces cruise)
• Terrain contrast/shading improvements
• Snail trail now drawn with outline to improve visibility over terrain
• Added V TAS infobox
• Improvements to wind estimator algorithm
• Vario gauge unit bitmap for knots
• Vega configuration, added page for audio schemes
• Vega configuration, added missing parameter (BaudRateA)
• Altitude AGL uses baro altitude if "Nav by baro altitude"
• New units for task speed (separate from airspeed/wind/ground speed units)
• Added FAI 90 start/finish type
• Added thermal locator (shows centroid of lift when circling), option 'Lift center' in configuration options.
• Add 'Append' waypoint function, so users can create a task by selecting waypoints from the map in sequence
• Task waypoint move up/down in task waypoint pages.
• New smooth shading of terrain, major improvement
• Default task to home if no task loaded at startup
• Added labels to climb and temperature trace analysis pages
• Added help system. Press enter for 2 seconds on a dialog property to display help text.
• Online Contest optimisation (analysis page, configuration settings, three rule sets available)
• Analysis pages now each have a context-sensitive 'action' button.
• Added handicap to glide polar page for OLC scoring
• All file paths are now converted to/from local path for that machine so registry files can be transferred between PC and PDA/Altair.
• Online contest "in progress"
• Added 'Declutter Labels' inputevent and menu item
• Added check for 500kb free space on IGC destination, asks user to delete old IGC files as required to free up space.
• OLC work (rule interpretations, in-progress only valid if flying)
• Added tab style for infobox border
• Topology bounds area used for pre-filtering of visibility to improve rendering time
• Toggle terrain map labels button (DeclutterLabels)
• Computed arrival height AGL at Mc0 Mc safety Mc current
• Auto-mark thermal (Feature request 1463308)
• configurable max/min zoom --> better zoom levels available now. (Feature request 1444335)
• AutoMc disabled if in abort mode
• Added configuration setting to determine whether to ask/exclude/include waypoints out of terrain range.
• Added LD vario infobox
• Added Auto QNH function
• Added preliminary support for vega voice
• Limits on altitude/speed for start, altitude for finish (Feature request 1444340)
• Added zig zag wind estimator
• Added option to use of barometric altitude for all nav functions
• Configuration option for logger timestep (Feature request 1403702)
• FLARM gauge, show colors for threat levels
• Added detection of valid start, now in task status dialog if start wasn't valid, the start time shows "INVALID"
• Added safety McReady for use in calculating reachable fields and display of arrival heights, and in abort mode. Option to use current Mc value for safety McReady when in abort mode.
• Ellipsoid error correction. Now detects if ellipsoid/geoid offset is produced by GPS. If not, it applies geoid correction. (Feature request 1278082)
• Added basic support for Cambridge GPS-NAV as a GPS source only
• Changed "Bugs" to "Clean" in basic settings so meaning is clearer
• Changed "Device 1" etc to "Device A" in configuration settings so meaning is clearer
• (Feature request 1370449) Configuration of autozoom at startup
• (Feature request 1430326) configuration of sys time set by GPS
• Force final glide mode, input event
• Auto force final glide mode option, forces final glide as soon as you are above final glide.
• Added Ventus2C polar
• Added missing vega configuration parameters
• Airspace warnings etc uses baro altitude if available
• Changed "airbrake extended" to "airbrake locked" in switch dialog
• Added devices for Vega and AltairPro
• Ballast also shown as volume in liters in basic settings dialog
• Vario 30 s averager uses vario if available, otherwise altitude.
• IGC file date is system date, should be reset to GPS time on first lock
• FLARM radar limits range to 2k limit (shows aircraft beyond 2k as at 2k)

Performance and Reliability

• Make terrain file loader check file size, to improve robustness if bad file.
• Map zoom improvements
• Removed unused/default processor definitions, NEWINFOBOX, NEWAIRSPACEWARNING as this is default now.
• Removed unused menu and dialogs from PC version.
• CatMul-Rom interpolator used for logger replay now, provides better reconstructed paths and wind estimates when used with low logging rate.
• Improved rendering of distance to airspace in airspace warning dialog
• Updates to menu, default.xci for PDA
• Protected task edit from buffer overruns
• Disabled CDI gauge as it has no control in the configuration settings and hasn't been updated
• Airspace parser updates
• Terrain database loaded into memory if sufficient RAM + 5 Meg free
• New landscape progress dialog hides screen for cleaner startup
• Refinements to screen lat/lon bounds calculations
• Refinements to thread locking (separate LockTaskData from LockFlightData)
• Thread locking improvements to reduce latency
• Added double buffer for infobox rendering to reduce flicker
• Minor improvements to robustness
• Startup reliability fixes
• Terrain offset fixes
• FLARM gauge minor fixes (draws aircraft beyond 2km at 2km)
• Removed dead code in parser.cpp
• Removed "stall" from switch dialog

Clean up and Bugs

• Fixed bug: Waypoints label in abort
• Fixed bug: Default task at startup if no task defined
• Fixed bug in altair.xci, nearest waypoint details were pan-relative
• Minor UI cleanups (cosmetics)
• Circling wind estimator won't update if less than one fix every 2 seconds.
• Fixed bug, task finish detection was previously disabled
• Fixed bug, stats for finished task after reset were not displayed correctly
• Fixed bug, waypoint details dialog arrival height was relative to sea level not ground.
• Waypoint details altitude arrival, removed "alt diff mc safety"
• Minimum zoom level in autozoom set to reasonable level (1.5km) to prevent zooming in too close when going past a turnpoint.
• Fixed bug, made airfield details parser robust to wrong files.
• Fixed bug, nearest waypoint details did not work for first waypoint
• Fixed bug, airspace warning dialog was not shown from 'nearest airspace' menu when there was an active acknowledgement
• Fixed bug, PC version crashed if exit via close button and a dialog was still open
• 'Clear' button added to task dialog in landscape mode
• Fixed bug, range/bearing was incorrect sometimes
• Fixed bug, portrait mode text in analysis dialog (some items were cropped)
• Infobox border fixup in portrait mode
• Fixed bug, hang on nearest airspace
• Fixed bug, in abort mode (introduced just 2 days ago)
• Fixed bug, sound volume was set to zero
• Fixed bug in PPC2002 infobox selector graphics
• Fixed bug in abort mode (possible cause of crash/hang)
• Button menu fixes for PDA, PC
• Fixed bug, increased text size for airspace parser
• Fixed minor bug, auto macready by average was not working when no task was defined.
• Modified least squares algorithm to handle weighted least squares.
• Fixed minor bug, landable points were not always visible for some label modes.
• Fixed minor bug, baro altitude set by GPS for IGC replay.
• Fixed GDI resource leak in animateRectangles
• Fixed memory leak from com port threads not having handles released
• Fixed airspace warning dialog losing focus of previous dialog if opened
• Fixed memory leaks in new airspace warning dialog when another dialog is already open.
• Fixed GDI resource leak in WindowControls
• GCE/NMEA queue blocking bug fix
• Startup/shutdown messages saved in xcsoar-startup.log
• Fixed bug, short task duration estimates when Mc=0 or unreachable in cruise at current Mc setting due to drift.
• Fixed bug, spurious touchscreen detect when pressing menu buttons
• Fixed total energy compensation (final glide) when on ground
• Fixed minor bug, silly ETE values were presented when Mc=0 in AAT in Task Calculator
• Fixed: Thermal profile showing distortion (negative values?)
• Fixed: Mc=0 Est task time on task calculator
• Fixed: Trail hang
• Fixed: PC registry not recognising all registry values correctly!
• Auto Mc modes: final glide, set to average, both
• Vario gauge averager should switch to netto averager if not in circling mode
• sam's bug fixes and new features --> legbearing bug --> New airspace dialog --> Waypoints out of terrain
• Fixed: AAT radius display in analysis page shows distortion
• Fixed: Waypoint infobox shows bearing to waypoint, not to target (for AAT)
• Fixed: Vario gauge chevrons not always appearing when they should, now chevrons always drawn if vario is in non-circling mode
• Fixed: Averager jumps around too much
• Changed AutoWind from bool to enum: Manual, Circling, ZigZag, Both
• Fixed bug, Start/Finish radius drawn half size
• Fixed bug, v task calculations if selecting a previous waypoint after starting
• Fixed bug: Disabling of airspace warnings by individual types was ignored. Now working correctly.
• Proper handling of PGRMZ with respect to QNH and when altimeter also available from variometer
• Fixed (Bug 1388996) Airspace outline black option ignored
• Fixed PGRMZ parsing to set BaroAltitude, not Altitude
• Log file renamed "xcsoar-debug.log"