I've been doing it wrong then. Much of the time I've seen it entered as "6/8" and followed the guidance to replace the "/" with " | ". However, it looks like that guidance was not intended for the Force column. Going forward I'll enter it as "6-8".Michael wrote: ↑Sun May 29, 2022 9:07 pm For the force column, you should be entering 6-8. Think of the '-' as meaning 'to' as 6 to 8, which implies winds varying between 6 and 8. Think of the '|' as meaning 'then' as with courses when you have N|E. So your courses are N 6 and then E 8.
If the log keeper meant it started as 6 then ended as 8, then all your subsequent forces should be 8.
Attention all hands
Re: Attention all hands
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pommystuart
- Posts: 1813
- Joined: Mon May 18, 2020 12:48 am
- Location: Cooranbong, NSW, Australia.
Re: Attention all hands
Good idea Gordon. 
(Got to keep the other half of the "Dynanic Coding Duo" happy. )
My request to Michael was maing for the like of course entries where you get such as
WSW1/2W|WSW1/4W followed by
WSW1/4W
It now works good for me.
(Got to keep the other half of the "Dynanic Coding Duo" happy. )
My request to Michael was maing for the like of course entries where you get such as
WSW1/2W|WSW1/4W followed by
WSW1/4W
It now works good for me.
Re: Attention all hands
No, you weren't doing it wrong; 6-8 for Force is just better. 6|8 and 6/8 also work, but Excel imports 6/8 as 08-Jun. Now you just can't use CopyDown for 6|8. I'm so used to seeing entries like 08-Jun that they don't slow me down very much at all. I just change 08-Jun, 6/8, 6|8 or 6-8 to 7 Beaufort, which eventually gets converted to 30 Kts.
Stuart's request to have CopyDown handle cells with a '|', like NE|SW by copying just SW, means that 6|8 now copies differently than it did three days ago. I thought of having CopyDown treat '|' just in the Course column, but it meant writing code to figure out just what column it was in at the time etc. I thought it would just be easier to use N|S in the Course column, and 6-8 in the other columns.
Just as an FYI:
Once all the data for a year have been transcribed, I download the XML files and I collect all the data to a tab separated text file, with one line for each hour. I open that file with Excel and save it as an XLSX file. (That's when 6/8 => 08-Jun.) I calculate all the positions. Hours with two or more courses and distances get resolved. N|E and 1|1 get converted to NE 1.4. Similarly for N|E 2 with 1230 cc to E in Events.
When the positions are calculated, I save the Excel file as tab separated text. I run many checks on the data. When the checks are all done, and things are cleaned up, I convert the data, except Clouds and Weather, to various units for the science team. Directions and courses are converted to degrees; Wind force is converted to Kts. Wind directions are converted to degrees and, if the directions are magnetic, they are converted to true degrees. Both DirM and DirT values are in those files. The voyage is plotted and the image saved, the KML file and voyage stats are generated etc. The data are saved as a tab separated and as an Excel file. If the ship is within five miles of any of our other ships, the readings from the two ships are compared and collected in a Comparison file. A statistician can work with all the comparison data, and calculate any corrections needed to adjust for instrument bias. (I.e. is the barometer reading a bit too high or too low?) All the various files, plus several others are then sent on to the science team.
I don't bother converting the units to the scientific units used by the climate models. I suspect temperatures get converted to degrees K, wind speeds from Kts to metres per second etc. However, their programs do that automatically, so I don't need to bother. Just having clean data in consistent units makes the science team very very happy.
The science team wanted me to calculate True directions for three voyages. They ran tests with those data using one of their climate models to see which winds gave better results. The answer was that converting magnetic directions to true was worthwhile.
Re: Attention all hands
Normally, the '-' indicates a range of values during a single hour, and the '|' indicates separate observations when the clocks were set back.
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pommystuart
- Posts: 1813
- Joined: Mon May 18, 2020 12:48 am
- Location: Cooranbong, NSW, Australia.
Re: Attention all hands
I think most of us have been using | for entries with split hours, say for a change of dir at 1230hrs maybe like 2.5|3.4 with SW|SSW in the 1200 row
Re: Attention all hands
Yes, I forgot about those.
It won't be a problem, though, because if they do have a ditto in the next line, CopoyDown will enter the last and proper value there.Re: Attention all hands
An update to version 3.5 of the spreadsheets has been released.
Improvements
Sacramento has a semi-colon as the separator in the pressures. AutoPressureFill handles that but, if you don’t use the AutoPressureFill option, the verification will no long flag the pressures as invalid.
The Verification module now allows N and S or E and W in a direction when the separator is a minus sign, such as NE-SW.
The Verification now allows Lying to or Hove to in the Course column.
The Version 3_5 spreadsheets have been uploaded to their usual places. Feel free to download them at a time that is convenient for you, but there is no need to do so immediately.
Improvements
Sacramento has a semi-colon as the separator in the pressures. AutoPressureFill handles that but, if you don’t use the AutoPressureFill option, the verification will no long flag the pressures as invalid.
The Verification module now allows N and S or E and W in a direction when the separator is a minus sign, such as NE-SW.
The Verification now allows Lying to or Hove to in the Course column.
The Version 3_5 spreadsheets have been uploaded to their usual places. Feel free to download them at a time that is convenient for you, but there is no need to do so immediately.
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pommystuart
- Posts: 1813
- Joined: Mon May 18, 2020 12:48 am
- Location: Cooranbong, NSW, Australia.
Re: Attention all hands
If anybody has to reload Libre then the latest beta ver 7.3.4.2 (x64) seems to work Ok on my win11 pc.
No extra benifits in this ver for what we use it for.
No extra benifits in this ver for what we use it for.
Re: Attention all hands
An update to version 3.5 of the spreadsheets has been released.
Bug fix and Improvements
There were some issues when shifting the grid up or down by a single row. One of our transcribers wanted the grid to be shifted by one row so that the active cell would be below the data image. This is not a problem, except that the grid has to be re-set before the data are saved. This is because Philip wants to save the position of each weather grid cell on the image. The grid is then shifted back as the transcriber had set it.
I noticed that there were problems if the transcriber wanted the active cell to be above the data image. Also, problems with the saved data occurred if the grid was shifted by more than one row, or if a Write Data operation was made when a page other than the Log Page was open.
Now, a transcriber can shift the grid one row up (Ctrl-U) or one row down (Ctrl-D). This is very handy when entering data like two or three courses in one hour. Also, if the grid is u or down, you cannot use the Control keys to move it further up or down. And, finally, the Write Data works correctly even when called from the WR Plot, or any other page.
This is what you see when you enter the data for Hour 5 with the grid in the normal position. The actual data is hidden until the entry is completed.
Instead, the Ctrl-U command is called. You can see our active cell is just above the course changes, making it easy to enter the data.
Similarly, you could use the Ctrl-D option. In this case, our active cell is just below the data we wish to enter.
I find it easier just to adjust the grid for a problematic entry, and then switch back once it is done. I have to admit, I had forgotten about this option. I used to enter the data in the cell to the right, copy it into the correct cell and then delete the entry in the cell to the right. However, this method is simpler. One transcriber, though, leaves the grid permanently offset by one row.
The Version 3_5 spreadsheets have been uploaded to their usual places. Feel free to download them at a time that is convenient for you, but there is no need to do so immediately.
Bug fix and Improvements
There were some issues when shifting the grid up or down by a single row. One of our transcribers wanted the grid to be shifted by one row so that the active cell would be below the data image. This is not a problem, except that the grid has to be re-set before the data are saved. This is because Philip wants to save the position of each weather grid cell on the image. The grid is then shifted back as the transcriber had set it.
I noticed that there were problems if the transcriber wanted the active cell to be above the data image. Also, problems with the saved data occurred if the grid was shifted by more than one row, or if a Write Data operation was made when a page other than the Log Page was open.
Now, a transcriber can shift the grid one row up (Ctrl-U) or one row down (Ctrl-D). This is very handy when entering data like two or three courses in one hour. Also, if the grid is u or down, you cannot use the Control keys to move it further up or down. And, finally, the Write Data works correctly even when called from the WR Plot, or any other page.
This is what you see when you enter the data for Hour 5 with the grid in the normal position. The actual data is hidden until the entry is completed.
Instead, the Ctrl-U command is called. You can see our active cell is just above the course changes, making it easy to enter the data.
Similarly, you could use the Ctrl-D option. In this case, our active cell is just below the data we wish to enter.
I find it easier just to adjust the grid for a problematic entry, and then switch back once it is done. I have to admit, I had forgotten about this option. I used to enter the data in the cell to the right, copy it into the correct cell and then delete the entry in the cell to the right. However, this method is simpler. One transcriber, though, leaves the grid permanently offset by one row.
The Version 3_5 spreadsheets have been uploaded to their usual places. Feel free to download them at a time that is convenient for you, but there is no need to do so immediately.
Re: Attention all hands
An update to version 3.5 of the spreadsheets has been released.
Bug Fix
If the DoNextPage macro was running, and there was a bad User Directory, the DoNextPage would not stop, but would continue to try to clear data, load the next page and set the new date. Fixed.
Improvements
A couple of people wanted a more convenient separator when there are two or more courses or distances in one hour. The preferred separator was a vertical bar |, but I have added a comma as an additional one.
In cases like these, you would enter:
The Version 3_5 spreadsheets have been uploaded to their usual places. Feel free to download them at a time that is convenient for you, but there is no need to do so immediately. It just depends on how much you would prefer using a comma to the vertical bar.
Bug Fix
If the DoNextPage macro was running, and there was a bad User Directory, the DoNextPage would not stop, but would continue to try to clear data, load the next page and set the new date. Fixed.
Improvements
A couple of people wanted a more convenient separator when there are two or more courses or distances in one hour. The preferred separator was a vertical bar |, but I have added a comma as an additional one.
In cases like these, you would enter:
- NW|S for the Course and 0.4|1.0 for the Distance; or,
- NW,S for the Course and 0.4,1.0 for the Distance.
The Version 3_5 spreadsheets have been uploaded to their usual places. Feel free to download them at a time that is convenient for you, but there is no need to do so immediately. It just depends on how much you would prefer using a comma to the vertical bar.
Re: Attention all hands
An update to version 3.5 of the spreadsheets has been released.
Bug Fixes
1. The verification of Courses, Wind Directions, Latitudes and Longitudes wasn’t catching bad cases.
2. CopyDown wasnt getting the last value when there were multiple Courses in one hour for separation values of commas, like “NE,NW” or slashes with spaces, “NE / NW“. It was working for courses like “NE|NW”.
3. If you pressed the HotKey for CopyDown for too long, multiple instances of the macro would run at the same time, and it would be jumping back and forth in the data column. CopyDown now sets a flag, InCopyDown, to True when it starts, and to False when it finishes. If you are holding down the HotKey for CopyDown, a new instance can’t start until the previous one is finished. You can now hold down the HotKey and fill long stretches in a column without having to press the HotKey for each hour.
New Shortcuts file, Shortcuts_v_3_5a you need to load.
I have tested the new version of CopyDown by transcribing two years of logs. Everything seems OK but I have added a macro that will change the InCopyDown to False. It is possible, but very unlikely, that the InCopyDown flag can be True when CopyDown isn’t running. If this happens, CopyDown won’t run until the flag is set to False. A new HotKey, Alt-X, will do this. Or, you can close your spreadsheet and re-open it.
The Version 3_5 spreadsheets and the Shortcuts_v_3_5a have been uploaded to their usual places. Feel free to download them at a time that is convenient for you, but there is no need to do so immediately.
Loading the Shortcuts file.
Download the Shortcuts_v_3_5a.cfg file.
To load the Shortcuts, on Calc's main menu, click on Tools/Customize.
Select the Keyboard tab, and click the Load button on the right hand side of the box.
You then have to select the Shortcuts.cfg file from your download directory.
The file holding the shortcuts are located in the same directory where you find your spreadsheet.
Bug Fixes
1. The verification of Courses, Wind Directions, Latitudes and Longitudes wasn’t catching bad cases.
2. CopyDown wasnt getting the last value when there were multiple Courses in one hour for separation values of commas, like “NE,NW” or slashes with spaces, “NE / NW“. It was working for courses like “NE|NW”.
3. If you pressed the HotKey for CopyDown for too long, multiple instances of the macro would run at the same time, and it would be jumping back and forth in the data column. CopyDown now sets a flag, InCopyDown, to True when it starts, and to False when it finishes. If you are holding down the HotKey for CopyDown, a new instance can’t start until the previous one is finished. You can now hold down the HotKey and fill long stretches in a column without having to press the HotKey for each hour.
New Shortcuts file, Shortcuts_v_3_5a you need to load.
I have tested the new version of CopyDown by transcribing two years of logs. Everything seems OK but I have added a macro that will change the InCopyDown to False. It is possible, but very unlikely, that the InCopyDown flag can be True when CopyDown isn’t running. If this happens, CopyDown won’t run until the flag is set to False. A new HotKey, Alt-X, will do this. Or, you can close your spreadsheet and re-open it.
The Version 3_5 spreadsheets and the Shortcuts_v_3_5a have been uploaded to their usual places. Feel free to download them at a time that is convenient for you, but there is no need to do so immediately.
Loading the Shortcuts file.
Download the Shortcuts_v_3_5a.cfg file.
To load the Shortcuts, on Calc's main menu, click on Tools/Customize.
Select the Keyboard tab, and click the Load button on the right hand side of the box.
You then have to select the Shortcuts.cfg file from your download directory.
The file holding the shortcuts are located in the same directory where you find your spreadsheet.
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pommystuart
- Posts: 1813
- Joined: Mon May 18, 2020 12:48 am
- Location: Cooranbong, NSW, Australia.
Re: Attention all hands
I like the file name 3.5a
Re: Attention all hands
Version 3.5a of the spreadsheets has been released.
Bug Fixes
Version 7.4 of LibreCalc has been released. It has many more columns than earier versions of Calc, and one of their new Columns, CHG, causes a conflict with three defined names in our version of the spreadsheet. Our three defined names needed to be changed.
If you upgrade Calc to Version 7.4 or beyond, the Verification macros in version v3_5 of our spreadsheets will give you many "errors". You must use version 3_5a of the spreadsheets in order for the Verification macros to run correctly. Note that version 3_5a of the spreadsheets works with earlier versions of LibreCalc.
Even if you are not using Calc 7.4, you need to load Shortcuts_v_3_5a if you have not done so previously.
I have tested the new version of CopyDown by transcribing two years of logs. Everything seems OK but I have added a macro that will change the InCopyDown to False. It is possible, but very unlikely, that the InCopyDown flag can be True when CopyDown isn’t running. If this happens, CopyDown won’t run until the flag is set to False. A new HotKey, Alt-X, will do this. Or, you can close your spreadsheet and re-open it.
The Version 3_5a spreadsheets and the Shortcuts_v_3_5a have been uploaded to their usual places. Feel free to download them at a time that is convenient for you, but there is no need to do so immediately unless you have upgraded LibreCalc to Version 7.4.
Loading the Shortcuts file.
Download the Shortcuts_v_3_5a.cfg file.
To load the Shortcuts, on Calc's main menu, click on Tools/Customize.
Select the Keyboard tab, and click the Load button on the right hand side of the box.
You then have to select the Shortcuts.cfg file from your download directory.
The file holding the shortcuts are located in the same directory where you find your spreadsheet.
Bug Fixes
Version 7.4 of LibreCalc has been released. It has many more columns than earier versions of Calc, and one of their new Columns, CHG, causes a conflict with three defined names in our version of the spreadsheet. Our three defined names needed to be changed.
If you upgrade Calc to Version 7.4 or beyond, the Verification macros in version v3_5 of our spreadsheets will give you many "errors". You must use version 3_5a of the spreadsheets in order for the Verification macros to run correctly. Note that version 3_5a of the spreadsheets works with earlier versions of LibreCalc.
Even if you are not using Calc 7.4, you need to load Shortcuts_v_3_5a if you have not done so previously.
I have tested the new version of CopyDown by transcribing two years of logs. Everything seems OK but I have added a macro that will change the InCopyDown to False. It is possible, but very unlikely, that the InCopyDown flag can be True when CopyDown isn’t running. If this happens, CopyDown won’t run until the flag is set to False. A new HotKey, Alt-X, will do this. Or, you can close your spreadsheet and re-open it.
The Version 3_5a spreadsheets and the Shortcuts_v_3_5a have been uploaded to their usual places. Feel free to download them at a time that is convenient for you, but there is no need to do so immediately unless you have upgraded LibreCalc to Version 7.4.
Loading the Shortcuts file.
Download the Shortcuts_v_3_5a.cfg file.
To load the Shortcuts, on Calc's main menu, click on Tools/Customize.
Select the Keyboard tab, and click the Load button on the right hand side of the box.
You then have to select the Shortcuts.cfg file from your download directory.
The file holding the shortcuts are located in the same directory where you find your spreadsheet.
Re: Attention all hands
Version 3.5a of the spreadsheets has been updated.
Bug Fixes
The Verification macro wasn't catching cases when the Distance column had things like Anchored, Moored or Hove To. Fixed.
New Features
The verification macros now allow words starting with C or V in the course or distance columns.
The Dec or Tenths column is now checked.
Up until now, our logs have had either one weather grid on one image and the events page on a separate image, or there has been a weather grid and an event page on the same image. Some of the old logs have a weather grid and event columns for two days on one image. We have not been transcribing these logs up until now.
For these special logs, we have a "normal" width for Column B to align the weather grid on the left hand side of the image, and a very wide Column B to align the weather grid on the right hand side of the image. For the case of these special logs, the value for Column B for the current side of the image is now saved when the Write_Data macro is called. That way, when the next time that side of the image is transcribed, the macros use the width that was saved for that side of the image. Without this, the transcriber would have to adjust the width of Column B every time a new day was being transcribed.
The Version 3_5a spreadsheets have been uploaded to their usual places. Feel free to download them at a time that is convenient for you, but there is no need to do so immediately unless you have upgraded LibreCalc to Version 7.4. The only changes you should notice are the updates to the Verification macros.
Loading the Shortcuts file.
Download the Shortcuts_v_3_5a.cfg file.
To load the Shortcuts, on Calc's main menu, click on Tools/Customize.
Select the Keyboard tab, and click the Load button on the right hand side of the box.
You then have to select the Shortcuts.cfg file from your download directory.
The file holding the shortcuts are located in the same directory where you find your spreadsheet.
Bug Fixes
The Verification macro wasn't catching cases when the Distance column had things like Anchored, Moored or Hove To. Fixed.
New Features
The verification macros now allow words starting with C or V in the course or distance columns.
The Dec or Tenths column is now checked.
Up until now, our logs have had either one weather grid on one image and the events page on a separate image, or there has been a weather grid and an event page on the same image. Some of the old logs have a weather grid and event columns for two days on one image. We have not been transcribing these logs up until now.
For these special logs, we have a "normal" width for Column B to align the weather grid on the left hand side of the image, and a very wide Column B to align the weather grid on the right hand side of the image. For the case of these special logs, the value for Column B for the current side of the image is now saved when the Write_Data macro is called. That way, when the next time that side of the image is transcribed, the macros use the width that was saved for that side of the image. Without this, the transcriber would have to adjust the width of Column B every time a new day was being transcribed.
The Version 3_5a spreadsheets have been uploaded to their usual places. Feel free to download them at a time that is convenient for you, but there is no need to do so immediately unless you have upgraded LibreCalc to Version 7.4. The only changes you should notice are the updates to the Verification macros.
Loading the Shortcuts file.
Download the Shortcuts_v_3_5a.cfg file.
To load the Shortcuts, on Calc's main menu, click on Tools/Customize.
Select the Keyboard tab, and click the Load button on the right hand side of the box.
You then have to select the Shortcuts.cfg file from your download directory.
The file holding the shortcuts are located in the same directory where you find your spreadsheet.
Re: Attention all hands
Version 3.5b of the spreadsheets has been updated.
New Features
Logs that have the Weather and Events on separate pages now switch automatically from the weather grid or event grid depending on the page. Previously the Log | Events toggle buttons needed to be used. The Log | Events toggle buttons, or Alt-T, can still be used if the pages are out of sync because there are two Event pages for one day.
I had to get a new computer, and I opted for a much larger screen. This prompted me to adjust the positions for certain input boxes:
The Version 3_5b spreadsheets have been uploaded to their usual places. Feel free to download them at a time that is convenient for you, but there is no need to do so immediately unless you have upgraded LibreCalc to Version 7.4.
If you are happy with the way your spreadsheets are working, there's no need to download this version. The main difference is for those few logs that have separate pages for Weather and Events. Also, some of the display boxes will open in a more convenient place.
Loading the Shortcuts file.
Download the Shortcuts_v_3_5a.cfg file.
To load the Shortcuts, on Calc's main menu, click on Tools/Customize.
Select the Keyboard tab, and click the Load button on the right hand side of the box.
You then have to select the Shortcuts.cfg file from your download directory.
The file holding the shortcuts are located in the same directory where you find your spreadsheet.
New Features
Logs that have the Weather and Events on separate pages now switch automatically from the weather grid or event grid depending on the page. Previously the Log | Events toggle buttons needed to be used. The Log | Events toggle buttons, or Alt-T, can still be used if the pages are out of sync because there are two Event pages for one day.
I had to get a new computer, and I opted for a much larger screen. This prompted me to adjust the positions for certain input boxes:
- The Port Name input box (Alt-O) now opens at the centre of the Calc Window;
- The Event Wizard opens centered over or under the active cell if the option for having the Event Wizard opening near your active cell is chosen; and,
- The Verification error message opens so the top of the dialog box is near the highlighted cell.
The Version 3_5b spreadsheets have been uploaded to their usual places. Feel free to download them at a time that is convenient for you, but there is no need to do so immediately unless you have upgraded LibreCalc to Version 7.4.
If you are happy with the way your spreadsheets are working, there's no need to download this version. The main difference is for those few logs that have separate pages for Weather and Events. Also, some of the display boxes will open in a more convenient place.
Loading the Shortcuts file.
Download the Shortcuts_v_3_5a.cfg file.
To load the Shortcuts, on Calc's main menu, click on Tools/Customize.
Select the Keyboard tab, and click the Load button on the right hand side of the box.
You then have to select the Shortcuts.cfg file from your download directory.
The file holding the shortcuts are located in the same directory where you find your spreadsheet.
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pommystuart
- Posts: 1813
- Joined: Mon May 18, 2020 12:48 am
- Location: Cooranbong, NSW, Australia.
Re: Attention all hands
You will be pleased to hear I have not broken it (yet) 
Re: Attention all hands
What y'all have done to make LibreCalc do all these tricks is really astounding. And it's great that you keep making it better! Thank you so much for all the hard work--
Re: Attention all hands
Thank you so much for all your hard work
Re: Attention all hands
It was Stuart's idea to have a spreadsheet method for entering data, and it was Bob's vision and skill that made this system work.
Re: Attention all hands
And Michael and Gordon took it from there with input from transcribers