Configuration

Configuration

A lot of parameters may be configured in the GPSMan main file gpsman.tcl, most of which are also defined in the preferences file.

GPSMan needs a user directory to keep both the preferences file and other files for user definitions (like user-defined projections). The path to this directory and the name of the preferences file are given at the beginning of gpsman.tcl. When GPSMan is launched and does not find the user directory, it either attempts to create it, or (in non-Unix systems) asks for it to be created and leaves. If the preferences file does not exist, it forces it to be created.

Therefore the configuration in gpsman.tcl only sets the defaults that will be presented at that time, as well as the values for parameters not set in the preferences file.

Users wanting to load their own Tcl/Tk code (at their own risk!) can do so by putting it in a file named patch.tcl in the GPSMan user directory. This file will be loaded immediately after all the GPSMan source files.

If GPSMan has been installed from the Debian or Slackware packages no changes are mandatory. Otherwise, on Unix systems the information on the program source files directory, user directory and default preferences file must be correctly set. A default serial port device can be defined and will be used if no argument is passed to the main program.

On other systems the same applies to the information on the serial port.

for non-Unix systems: serial device to which the receiver will be connected; users of GPSMan must have read/write permission.
path to directory containing the program source files.
path to user directory that will contain the preferences file and other files for user definitions (like user-defined projections); this directory is normally not to be used explicitly by the user.
name of the preferences file; the user directory is searched for it only if there is not a file under the same name in the current directory.
the language to be used by GPSMan; new languages can be included by translating the lang*.tcl files that contain the text and messages in English, German, Italian and Portuguese (help here will be acknowledged) and inserting new abbreviations for month names in the ALLMONTH array.
use of character composition (accents, cedilla) using Western European (isolatin1) mode, and of Delete key to delete last character.
choice of main window: there are three permanent windows for the map, lists, and receiver connection; either the map or the lists window can be selected as being the main window.
GPS receiver dependent values: GPS brand, length of names, comments, maximum numbers of waypoints, routes, waypoints in routes, and track points, use of creation dates and of lowercase letters in strings. In the distribution, the values are set for use with a Garmin GPS II.
(for Lowrance receivers only) sampling interval, in seconds, when acquiring tracks.
default symbol and default display option to use with waypoints; correct names for symbols and display options can be found in file symbols.tcl.
when displaying a track, count of track points before showing point number; 0 means no numbers, 1 means all points numbered, 2 every other point numbered, and so on.
behaviour when reading a data item with the same name as another item of the same type in the data-base: either overwrite the existing one, or create under a new name.
behaviour when a data item with hidden information is changed: remove the hidden information, keep it, or ask the user.
distance unit to be used.
format of positions, default datum and time offset, date format.
accurate formulae (slower than the normal ones) for computing distances and bearings.
whether to ask for confirmation of projection parameters.
map dimensions, length of line for displaying a scale, and initial map scale given as the distance corresponding to the given line length. The possible values for this distance depend on the choice of unit made before.
interface appearance: number of maximum elements per menu, initial positions of windows, dimensions, colours.
saving the program state on exit and deleting the saved state files after restoring
permission of created files (in Unix numeric notation).
abbreviated names for months in all known languages.
paper sizes and dimensions, used when saving plots or maps as Postscript files. The dimensions are floating-point numbers followed by c for centimeters, i for inches, m for millimeters, or p or nothing for printer's points (1/72 inch).

Configuration