Opencpn was built with the following objectives in mind.
Intended use as primary navigation interface for vessels with full-time helm-visible navigational suites.
Other tools may be better for offline route planning, tide and current prediction, online logging, etc.
Quick startup and shutdown.
Those and only those toolbar buttons really needed for daily operation.
Portability, thus wxWidgets core components. Currently tested and in production use on W98, XP, and Linux.
Conventional ( i.e. popular and modern ) chart format support. In the real world, this means BSB format raster
charts, and S57ENC format vector charts.
BSBv3 raster and S57 ENC chart support.
CM93 vector chart support.
IHO S52 compliant display of S57 vector charts.
Single-chart and Quilted display modes.
North-up and Course-up display modes.
Moving-map display mode.
Route navigation with ship tracking functions.
Waypoint navigation.
NMEA 0183 GPS interface at selectable baud rate.
gpsd library support.
Autopilot output support.
AIS input with full target tracking and collision alerting.
Anchor watch/alarm functions.
GRIB file input and display for weather forecasting.
GPX Waypoint and Route input and output file support.
Tide and Current prediction and display by location.
Multi-language support.
linux and Windows compatible.
Integrated PlugIn architecture, allowing third-party development and deployment of auxiliary features.
Two useful PlugIns available immediately
Graphical overlay of GRIB (weather)file data
Dashboard for configurable on-screen display of ship's NMEA data.
Enhanced Route, Track, and Waypoint management functions by selectable dialog.
Many new languages added to basic package, including Portuguese, Estonian, Greek, Turkish, Finnish, Norwegian, etc.
Support Garmin Host mode Route and Waypoint interchange and upload to remote GPS receivers.
Advanced internationalized Windows Program Installer.
Full support for North-up and Course-Up display of all chart types.
Expanded AIS target message decoding to include European Inland AIS specifications.
AIS Target List Dialog, allowing easy selection and monitoring of all active AIS targets.
Many, many improvements in the basic User Interface, while maintaining the ease-of-use that.
Correct logic regarding ownship AIS messages (AIVDO)
Correct fault closing AIStarget list with target query dialog open (FS#310)
Correct occasional geolocation problem with routes on BSB chart switch.
Improve Toolbar refresh logic.
Increase maximum chart stack size from 20 to 30. (FS#316)
Correct GoTo waypoint and subsequent route delete logic. (FS#244)
Various language file updates.
Correct Depth unit display for quilted charts, with non-english language setting.
Correct Win7 Garmin USB Device interface reset in User Mode.
Correct Windows vc redistributable installation command in NSIS script.
Per-Cell offset adjustment for cm93 charts
Transverse Mercator chart quilting.
Selectable full screen quilting option.
Configurable lat/lon gid lines.
Variable screen dimmer function.
Improved Tide/Current information window.
Configurable “Layers” function, enabling selectable display of fixed objects.
Improved and extended AIS functions, including Euro Inland support & Base Stations and ATONs
Selectable FullScreen display mode.
Integrated Route Planner function, with Tide table support.
Enhanced
GUI functions, with floating transparent Toolbar.
Several new language options.
Improved internal memory management.
Improved Autopilot output support.
New Multi-leg Measurement tool.
Improved Vector chart symbology.
Improved integrated Tide/Current data accuracy.
Improved Route definition interface, including selectable Route colors.
Full conformance for all platforms, especially including Macintosh
OS X.
Greatly improved staility on all platforms, as a result of extended Beta testing.
Many, many improvements in the basic User Interface, while maintaining the ease-of-use that OpenCPN is widely known for.
New and Enhanced Features for OpenCPN Version 3.0
OpenGL support, for enhanced graphics performance and functionality.
Improved ENC object Query interface
Portable execution option, allowing easy migration to new systems.
Upgrade to wxWidgets 2.8.12.
Support ENC Overlay cells.
Upgrade gpsd support to Version 2.96
Implement enhanced PlugIn system, enabling a wide variety of PlugIn types.
Implement DSC and GPS_Gate Buddy tracking.
Implement user defined Chart Groups.
Implement AIS SART transponder display and tracking.
Improved ENC object rendering and display.
Implement user definable Tide/Current datasets.
Full conformance for all platforms, especially including Macintosh
OS X.
Greatly improved stability on all platforms, as a result of extended Beta testing.
Many, many improvements in the basic User Interface, while maintaining the ease-of-use that OpenCPN is widely known for.
Complete update of user Options dialogs and context menus, incorporating modern graphics and uniform styles.
Significantly enhanced navigation instrument input and output options, including extensive network connection capabilities supporting TCP, UDP, and GPSD data sources.
New User Interface theme support, with OpenCPN traditional as well as two new low profile themes.
Enhanced clipboard support, including interfaces to external KML data sources.
Enhanced Tide and Current dataset support, including modern fully binary datasets.
Various improvements in the display and tracking of
AIS data targets.
Automatic Great Circle route generation options.
Significant enhancement of the Dashboard PlugIn, including new user interface options and a variety of stylish, new instruments.
Improved sound system support for linux hosts.
Major update to embedded Users Manual.
Measurably improved performance and reliability over all supported platforms.
A major release.
Increased performance in all modes, particularly when using OpenGL graphics acceleration.
Additional network interface methods, including TCP/IP client/server and UDP broadcast.
Support for multiple data source instances,
including Filtering and prioritization of messages
Output of NMEA data streams for real-time integration into ship systems
Improved support for Mac
OS X systems, including 64 bit native support.
Integrated Tablet/Touch screen support.
AIS Personal Locater Beacon (PLB) configuration and tracking.
Enhanced AIS target tracking modes.
GRIB PlugIn feature additions.
Graphical GRIB email request generation.
Moving particle wind overlay.
Enhanced GRIB data type support.
Dashboard PlugIn feature additions.
More selectable instruments.
Several new and updated Plug-ins, including
Digital Radar overlay for popular radar scanners
World Magnetic Model variation compensator
Climatology analysis
Dynamic route planning
Integrated logbook
Realtime datastream capture, record and playback
Google Earth integration
Weatherfax overlay
Vector chart object and feature search tool
S63 Encrypted vector chart support
Major update to embedded Users Manual.
Measurably improved performance and reliability over all supported platforms.
And much more.