Coastal Explorer

What works

The program launches and appears to respond to most type-ins and menu/toolbar inputs. Working in the default world map space, it's possible to zoom in and out, move the ship icon around (invokes dead reckoning mode), create and manipulate routes and waypoints. Both Planning mode and Cruise mode appear to invoke as expected.

What does not

Toolbar icons are present only as backgrounds and only (w/ 0.9.55) with native comctl32.dll in place. With the wine version, the toolbar is missing and only keyboard inputs function (as best can be determined from testing). While Coastal Explorer goes through the chart file collection process as expected, the output (called the "chart portfolio") remains empty and no local charts are displayed. (NB: I have stumbled into displaying RNC charts, confirming it can be done, but the process was mostly by dumb luck and neither repeatable or suitable for "production" use)

Workarounds

What was not tested

I/O testing (e.g., trying to read GPS output) has not been attempted. Until issues with controls (see Bug 11548) can be resolved and chart display is functioning, I/O testing may well be only re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Hardware tested

Graphics:

• GPU:
• Driver:

Additional Comments

While rated "Garbage" (because of the lack of local chart display), "Garbage+" or maybe "Bronze-" are more accurate. Rose Point Navigation Systems is aware of the effort to port Coastal Explorer to the Linux environment. Their response is "good luck but please don't ask us to support this project".

The "App under wine" and "App under WinXP" screen shots cover approximately the same geographical area. The "jaggies" in the wine image are due to the built-in world map being being pushed well beyond its resolution limits and is not a bug/error. Fuzziness in the WinXP image is due to compression artifacts from getting the screen shot file under 600K and is also not a bug/error.

Aside from the screen sizes and presence of the RNC chart in the WinXP image, the biggest differences in the screen shots are actually relatively subtle. Note the differences in the toolbar at the top of the screen and compare the icons/buttons. This difference has, so far, responded strongly to changes to comctl32 but, as the wine image shows, there's much room for improvement.

Although somewhat difficult to see in the WinXP image, there are at least two white/red tide level diamonds shown (for the most obvious one, look on the west coast of Kent Island, about midway between the Bay Bridge and Bloody Point). Under wine the tide diamonds show up in the right place, indicate rising and falling tides correctly, and clicking on a diamond will open up the appropriate tide graphing tool, all as expected. What is missing is the caption, below the tide diamond, showing the (computed) depth of water at the tide reporting location. A minor point, perhaps, but indicative of problems with displaying data throughout the app.