Little Navmap

[ark 1,288]

Alex,

Used Little NavMap again today -- worked great. One minor comment:

 

- I was a bit surprised that the info in the Information box for approaches did not include frequencies, e.g., the Localizer frequency for an ILS, or the VOR frequency for a VOR approach.

 

Thanks again for a great program,

Al

[ClaudeF 8]

Hi Alex,

Just finished installing beta version 1.0.3 and altho have not spent much time exploring it looks great.  I do have an observation and a question.

 

Anti-virus observation (alert when installing):  I encountered install problems with my Norton anti-virus program. Forgot to turn it off first.  (Yes, I acknowledge its a PTA, a dinosaur, and just loves to foul installation of new programs.) Reinstall, after turning it off, was without problems.

 

Flightplan loading question: I am unable to load a flightplan. The program always reports a Caught exception

      Example: "invalid lat/long format "N39? 51' 42.00",W104? 40' 23.39",5434"

     (I added the ? since I couldn't figure out how to insert a pic in this response).

 

The flightplan was created by PFPX and the first lat/lon entry in the plan is for KDEN:
       " <DepartureLLA>N39° 51' 42.00",W104° 40' 23.39",5434</DepartureLLA>"
PFPX seems to insert the degree symbol in flight plans saved in FSX format and it looks like LittleNavmap doesn't like the degree symbol.

 

 

Claude

[albar965 1,040]

Hi All,

 

again: thank you for all the kind responses. I'm overwhelmed by the reactions here (in a very positive way).

 

 

I miss just a thing: The posibility of entering an ICAO flight plan in order to create a new flight plan. Otherwise Outstanding Sofware.

 

papelino: Added to the task/issue list for the next major release.

 

 

- I was a bit surprised that the info in the Information box for approaches did not include frequencies, e.g., the Localizer frequency for an ILS, or the VOR frequency for a VOR approach.

 

Al: Currently I'm not sure if the approach information I give there is useful at all. It just shows some sort of an overview.

I plan to add full support for approaches in one of the next releases. That means selecting, drawing and showing in the flight plan table.

I'll try to add the frequencies in the next major release, no matter if I add the whole approach functionality or not.

 

 

Flightplan loading question: I am unable to load a flightplan. The program always reports a Caught exception
Example: "invalid lat/long format "N39? 51' 42.00",W104? 40' 23.39",5434"

 

Claude, the PPFX flight plan loading problems are already fixed. This will go into the next release soon.

Regarding the anti-virus: I usually run the zip file through a virustotal scan before uploading. So normally it should be safe.

Here is the analysis for the 1.0.3.beta.

 

Alex

Edited October 5, 2016 by albar965

[ClaudeF 8]

Re PFPX - that's great. Look forward to next release.

 

Re anti-virus installation issue - Didn't really think it was due to your software. It seems Norton is very sensitive to software that is "new" and not been reported as safe by what they refer to as "Symantec's community of users." 

 

Thanks

 

[papelino 4]

Thanks a lot!

I'm looking forward to the next upcoming version too!

Greetings

[captain420 3,099]

How does this app compare to Plan-G and the other flight planning apps? There's like.2 other ones that are quite similar...

[ark 1,288]

Al: Currently I'm not sure if the approach information I give there is useful at all. It just shows some sort of an overview.

 

I plan to add full support for approaches in one of the next releases. That means selecting, drawing and showing in the flight plan table.

 

I'll try to add the frequencies in the next major release, no matter if I add the whole approach functionality or not.

 

Alex,

I think my 'problem' is that the program is so good I keep forgetting it is really just in the early beta stages! Thanks for your patience with all the suggestions.

 BTW, I would guess at some point you might combine Little NavConnect and Little NavMap into one program. In the meantime I have been using a tiny batch file to start both programs with one click. For convenience I pinned it to the taskbar. The batch file outline is below in case anyone wants to use it (paste into NotePad and edit the program paths as needed). You still have to close both programs separately (or you could use another tiny batch file to close both).

Al

…………………………………………………………………………………………

REM NavMapLaunch, a batch file to start Little NavConnect and Little NavMap together

REM Check the check box in Little NavMap (under Tools, FS Connection) to Connect on Startup

REM After saving this file, it is convenient to create a Desktop shortcut or pin it to the Taskbar.

REM Batch file can be run before or after FSX starts

REM Al Klayton 4Oct16

 

@echo off

 

REM Path to LittleNavConnect location

cd  "C:\...path to littlenavconnect location goes here"

 

REM Start Little NavConnect minimized

start /min littlenavconnect.exe

 

REM Path to LittleNavMap location

cd  "C:\...path to little navmap location goes here"

 

REM Start LittleNavMap

start littlenavmap.exe

 

exit

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[robb13 22]

Downloaded today 6 Oct.. with W10 .. no issues with installing. A great bit of software and as my FSTramp decided to no longer work in W10 this is a great replacement for it.

For future work (unless I missed something)... double clicking the  airport icon in flight plan window will not show the airport unless the Plane Centre option is switched off. Being able to see a map of the arrival airport whilst in flight is handy but its a nuisance to go into options to switch plane centre on and off. Can the Plane Centre on/off switch be added into the flight plan window or preferably have some way of overrriding the Plane Centre function when the airport icons get double clicked.

[albar965 1,040]

How does this app compare to Plan-G and the other flight planning apps? There's like.2 other ones that are quite similar...

 

Here is a feature list of Little Navmap. You will also see what is still missing.

 

 

I miss just a thing: The posibility of entering an ICAO flight plan in order to create a new flight plan. Otherwise Outstanding Sofware.

 

Already noted for next major release.

 

 

Alex,

I think my 'problem' is that the program is so good I keep forgetting it is really just in the early beta stages! Thanks for your patience with all the suggestions.

 

BTW, I would guess at some point you might combine Little NavConnect and Little NavMap into one program. In the meantime I have been using a tiny batch file to start both programs with one click. For convenience I pinned it to the taskbar. The batch file outline is below in case anyone wants to use it (paste into NotePad and edit the program paths as needed). You still have to close both programs separately (or you could use another tiny batch file to close both).

Al

 

Al,

I'd rather think that this is last beta before release (and upload to Avsim and others). The release, maybe version 1.0.5, will not be much different from the last beta.

I only plan to update the manual based on the experience with the community.

I'll add an automatic start when connecting. But this will go into the next release.

 

 

For future work (unless I missed something)... double clicking the airport icon in flight plan window will not show the airport unless the Plane Centre option is switched off. Being able to see a map of the arrival airport whilst in flight is handy but its a nuisance to go into options to switch plane centre on and off. Can the Plane Centre on/off switch be added into the flight plan window or preferably have some way of overrriding the Plane Centre function when the airport icons get double clicked.

 

Noted. This was also going on my nerves (yes, I use my own program for flying :wink:). Will go into the next major release.

 

All,

 

now what is this major release I'm talking about? Well, it sounds bigger than it is.

After all these public beta releases (lets say, the last one is 1.0.4.beta) there will be a stable release 1.0.5. This will not be much different than the betas  you're using now, except that wont blow up on some BGL files and have some clarifications in the manual.

 

Note that a beta release shall only be used to fix bugs and not introduce new features. I have to admit that I sometimes break this rule.

 

Once the stable 1.0.5 done, I'll concentrate on that above mentioned next major release which will be a version 1.2.N (N = whatever number of beta releases are needed to get the 1.2 stable) and include all proposals made by this very helpful and very friendly community. :smile:

I decided to leave out the high effort "killer features" like approach display, AIRAC data, etc. and will concentrate on a lot of small improvements for now.

I already have some tickets in the tracker assigned to a release 1.2 which you can see here. No guarantee that all will make it into the 1.2. I also might add new ones at my own discretion.

 

After that, there will be a 1.4 with approach display, AIRAC support, etc., we'll see.

 

Now, if something terrible happens like Little Navmap 1.0.5 setting your house on fire or stealing you car, I'll go back to the 1.0.5, fix it and release a 1.0.6.

 

That's the typical software lifecycle. I'd just wanted to clarify that you don't expect too much for the 1.0.5 release. You can expect more for the 1.2.

 

Now don't ask me about the time frame for 1.2. Maybe two months, maybe less, I don't know.

 

Alex

Edited October 6, 2016 by albar965

[albar965 1,040]

Hi All,

 

Version 1.0.4.beta released:

• Fixed scenery reading errors.
• Reading scenery library now continues if errors occur.
• Problem loading PFPX plans solved.
• Fixed errors loading scenery.cfg when using Scenery Config Editor.
• Solved some problems recognizing flight simulator paths.
• Fixed some map drawing errors.
• Added binary for Apple macOS.

This is most likely the last beta. The final release will not be much different, except changes to the manual. Then development will move on to more functionality.

 

Download for Windows: LittleNavmap-1.0.4.beta.zip

Download for Apple macOS: LittleNavmap-1.0.4.beta.dmg

 

Alex

[Samaritano 303]

Alex,

I think my 'problem' is that the program is so good I keep forgetting it is really just in the early beta stages! Thanks for your patience with all the suggestions.

 BTW, I would guess at some point you might combine Little NavConnect and Little NavMap into one program. In the meantime I have been using a tiny batch file to start both programs with one click. For convenience I pinned it to the taskbar. The batch file outline is below in case anyone wants to use it (paste into NotePad and edit the program paths as needed). You still have to close both programs separately (or you could use another tiny batch file to close both).

Al

…………………………………………………………………………………………

REM NavMapLaunch, a batch file to start Little NavConnect and Little NavMap together

REM Check the check box in Little NavMap (under Tools, FS Connection) to Connect on Startup

REM After saving this file, it is convenient to create a Desktop shortcut or pin it to the Taskbar.

REM Batch file can be run before or after FSX starts

REM Al Klayton 4Oct16

 

@echo off

 

REM Path to LittleNavConnect location

cd  "C:\...path to littlenavconnect location goes here"

 

REM Start Little NavConnect minimized

start /min littlenavconnect.exe

 

REM Path to LittleNavMap location

cd  "C:\...path to little navmap location goes here"

 

REM Start LittleNavMap

start littlenavmap.exe

 

exit

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm confused because I thought that LittleNavconnect was to run it on the server (where the sim resides) while you run Littlenavmap on a client computer.

[ark 1,288]

I'm confused because I thought that LittleNavconnect was to run it on the server (where the sim resides) while you run Littlenavmap on a client computer.

I only have one computer so everything runs on it, but I still need to run Littlenavconnect which, as I understand it, is the 'interface' between FSX and Littlenavmap.

Al

[edpatino 1,960]

Thanks again, Alex.

Very well done!.

Cheers, Ed

[Samaritano 303]

I only have one computer so everything runs on it, but I still need to run Littlenavconnect which, as I understand it, is the 'interface' between FSX and Littlenavmap.

Al

I see. Thanks.

[lownslo 592]

I just did a flight using Little Navmap 1.0.4 and Little Navconnect beta 1.0.0.  Little Navmap was on a client (a laptop), and of course Little Navconnect was on the host (my sim computer).  It was so easy to set-up, the instructions were perfect, and the connection was solid throughout my almost 90 minute flight.  I planned my flight using the GTN 750, and also created the flight plan in Little Navmap... the two created a perfectly plotted flight path.

 

Very impressive programs, Alex!  Thanks so much.

 

Greg