[Xastir] Working with CAD Polygons

[Jim Tolbert]

Many thanx, Curt...........

I am using Xastir on openSUSE 10.2.

I have been able to put in the CAD polygons, but the labels are yellow 
text on a gray background and them seem to be small and blend into the 
topo map details.  Putting them in, however, is a snap!  I was looking 
for a why to shade the areas that were of current interest ( high POS or 
new Intel) or shading sectors that have hit a high POD and no long of 
search interest.

The mouse pointer menu has the Area Object with lots of options 
including bright colors and fills.....  I can put in various things, but 
not an object that covers are particular area.  Maybe I am thinking of 
this incorrectly.  How are these Area Objects different from the CAD 
Polygons?  No matter what I do, the object appears as a red dot with a 
title.

I am interested in use the indicators on the local screen only, so it is 
probably a moot point... just use CAD Polygons.

What would be really cool is if the CAD polygons and signposts could 
pull data from a cell in OOCalc, for example!!!! and then with 
conditional formating, when values hit thresholds, they could change the 
appearance and information in the object.

thx........... jt

Curt, WE7U wrote:
> On Wed, 2 Jul 2008, Jim Tolbert wrote:
>
>   
>> Newbie question working with CAD Polygons
>>
>> I can insert them via the Map>Draw CAD Objects>CAD Polygons, but
>> how to I change the font, text color, text size, background, &
>> fill of the polygon while inserting and how do I modify these
>> things traits after insertion?   I assume it is in a manual
>> somewhere, but I have been unable to find it.
>>     
>
> The CAD Polygons are an initial stab at implementation.  Tom and
> myself coded that.  I intended to clean up the code a bit more and
> add features there, but haven't gotten back to it.  It looks like
> the docs are in README.MAPS and the in-Xastir help text (English
> version).
>
> Here's how I do it:
>
>     Map->Draw CAD Objects
>
> Cut off the menu at the cut line, move the dialog somewhere
> convenient.
>
>     "Draw" button
>
> Draw the object's vertices via the middle mouse button (or both
> mouse buttons if you are emulating a 3-button mouse).
>
>     Close Polygon
>
> Up comes a dialog where you can enter probability, name, comment,
> and line type.  After you finish that dialog the name will appear in
> the CAD Polygons and Erase CAD Polygons dialogs.
>
> Turn off the "Draw" button when you're done drawing polygons.
>
> There are no options for modifying color, text size, background,
> fill.  These are not that kind of polygons.  They're used for
> defining search areas.
>
> If you're after APRS area objects, which can be lines, rectangles,
> circles, etc, then you use Object/Item Create from the mouse menu.
>
>
>   
>> What is the difference between an object and an item?
>>     
>
> That's in the APRS spec.  Bob B. has more recently suggested not
> using Items at all because several devices/programs did not
> implement them correctly.  Xastir does support them, and correctly.
>
>     http://info.aprs.net/index.php?title=Protocol
>
>
>   
>> How do I use the mouse pointer menu entries for object/item create
>> and modify?
>>     
>
> What's the specific problem you're having.  I've used these quite a
> bit.  Be aware that many APRS programs implement these slightly
> differently.
>
>   
---------
Jim Tolbert, KC9MXT

RiverRidge at CenturyTel.net