[Kstars-devel] GSoC 3: Printing support

[Akarsh Simha]

Hi

So I felt that just finder-chart printing might not be good enough for
a GSoC. I thought it might be a good idea to bundle-in observing list
printing, which Bruce had asked for a couple of weeks back.

Also, we can do more than just print out simple finder charts -- how
about complicated stuff like this: :-D
1. User clicks on an object and says "Finder chart"
2. Look through the equipment the user has and decides possible FOVs
3. Look for the nearest bright star.
4. Plan a star-hop route using a reasonably large FOV, depending on
   star density in the region [this is already coded and kinda
   working, but definitely not yet usable]
5. Make coarse finders for star-hopping and fine-finder for the actual
   FOV
6. Print out star hopping instructions to go alongside, roughly like
   [YES! I'm DREAMING!]
   1) Center scope on Delta Ceti
   2) Put in 32mm Ploessl eyepiece
   3) Move to 7.91 mag G0 star 14' South of Delta Ceti
   4) Move to 9.62 mag star at the edge of the field
   5) M 77 is at the edge of the eyepiece

How about an OCR to scan your hand-filled observing forms and convert
them into OAL logs? (Maybe overkill, but might be damn useful
too. User opinions solicited, please!!)

For all you know, this could be completely scripted. Maybe you could
do it in python, in a separate thread, and talk to KStars over
DBus. This way, it would make it easier to port into the new
architecture.

Here's the current description of the project on the Wiki:

================================
*** KStars: Printing support ***

Brief explanation: KStars can currently print rendered images of the
      sky. But they are not well-annotated.

      The aim of this project is to write code that will print star
      charts from KStars with explanations and annotation, and also
      print observing lists. Here's a mockup to give you a very rough
      idea of what we are looking for with regard to observing lists:

      http://faintfuzzies.ca/v/hobbies/astro/KSTARS_OBSERVATION_FIELD_NOTES.PNG.html

      The project essentially aims to:

      1. Create printed finder charts with Annotations, Multiple
         Fields-of-View, Legend etc.

      2. Create printed observation logger forms with slots for
         writing down details and a representation of the FOV

      3. If time permits, use an OCR library to permit conversion of
         printed forms into OAL-compliant reports to the best extent
   	 possible.

	 More details will be fleshed out later.

Expected results: Beautiful printed finder charts, printed observation
	 log forms, and possibly digitized observation log reports
	 using OAL XML schema

Knowledge Prerequisite: C++, ability to quickly learn KDE Printing
	  libraries
================================

Some comments:

* This project should probably work in "bread-and-butter first, cake
  later" mode. We could start off by getting simple improvizations to
  our currently printed finder charts, before making complicated stuff
  like star-hop charts.

My TODO list:
1. See if KStars' DBus interface works
2. Decide whether this can be accomplished using a python thread or
   something, rather than C++
3. Read a bit about KDE's printing framework
4. Chalk out details of the multiple FOV idea (essentially three
   levels of zoom in a chart)
5. See how we can use this along with star-hop feature. See how to
   implement DBus interfaces for star-hopping
6. See how we can print out observing log forms
7. Investigate if there's an OCR library that can do it. Decide
   whether this is even worth it.
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