Using plugins
Plugins are small programs that are loaded into the memory when Hydromagic starts. A plugin is designed to be used as an interface between your hardware, like RTK receiver, echo sounder and motion sensor, and the Hydromagic software.
The main advantage of using plugins, is that the main program hasn't to be replaced each time a new device is used. Instead, a new plugin is installed and loaded by the main program. Plugins are installed into the "Plugins" folder in the installation directory during setup.
Configuring plugins
To configure and select the plugins to use, you can open the plugins configuration window by selecting the "Preferences..." option from the "Tools" and selecting the "Devices" tab. The following window should appear:
The "Devices" tabs displays the currently loaded plugins along with their status. When opening this tab for the first time, it will probably be empty. The status of the plugins is displayed by icons, and can have one of the following values:
| Icon | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
Running | The plugin is running and is receiving valid data from the device. |
 |
Waiting for data | The plugin is running and is currently waiting for data. |
 |
Error | The plugin failed to load, for instance because the connection couldn't be established. |
Adding a plugin
To add a plugin, simply click the "Add..." button and select the desired plugin from the list that appears next. Please note that each plugin can only be loaded once, meaning that as soon as a plugin has been loaded, it won't be displayed in the list of available plugins any more.
After selecting the plugin to load, depending on the plugin, the configuration options of the plugin are displayed. Configure the mandatory options such as serial port or TCP/IP connection and click the "OK" button to confirm.
Configuring a plugin
It is possible to change the configuration of a plugin after it has been loaded. Just select the plugin in the list and click the "Configure..." button. When the connection parameters has been altered, it is required to restart the plugin. The software will detect this automatically and ask you whether to restart it or not.
Unloading a plugin
Plugins can be unloaded from the memory when no longer needed. To unload, select a plugin and click the "Remove..." button, or use the popup menu by right clicking the plugin you want to remove.
Reloading a plugin
When a plugin has failed to load or isn't working properly because of faulting hardware, you might want to try to reload the plugin after you fixed the problem. To do so, right click on the plugin and select the "Reload Plugin" option as shown below:
Troubleshooting
When a plugin fails to load for some reason, an error icon is displayed. To get more information on what caused the plugin to fail, you can check the Event Log. The Event Log can be displayed by selecting the "Show Event Log..." option from the "Help" menu.
In most cases, the plugin could not be loaded because either the serial port is already in use, or in case of a TCP/IP connection, the connection was blocked by a firewall or the configuration is incorrect.
Communications monitor
You can always check whether data is received correctly, by running the built-in communications monitor. Not even can it used to check if data is coming in, but you can also see which NMEA0183 sentences are received. When data is garbled and you are expecting NMEA0183 data, you have to change the serial baud rate until the data is readable.
To start this monitor, select the "Preferences..." option from the "Tools", and select the 'Devices' tab. Right click on the device you want to monitor the incoming data from, and select the 'Monitor Device...' option from the pop up menu.
When the monitor is running you should see NMEA0183 data coming in. You can pause the data at anytime. For technical support purposes, you can click the 'Copy to Clipboard...' button to copy and paste the incoming data into an email.
