Lost Dual Pane Canvas Layout

[RhythmDoctor]

Hi all,

I powered up my Windows 8.1 tablets (two identical ones) after a long winter break, and discovered that OpenCPN 5.2 has lost the dual pane canvas layout functionality. I always use this on the boat to get a closeup view and zoomed-out view side-by-side. After booting up, it shows only one pane. When I go into Options-Display-General the "Canvas Layout" pane is not there. That area of the window is just blank white space.

I was able to retrieve a backup .ini file from last August, so I replaced my .ini file with that one and restarted OpenCPN, and now the two panes show in the window, but the "Canvas Layout" still does not appear in the option window. So by going back to this old .ini I can have dual pane, but I cannot turn it off (until it decides to turn itself off like it did once before).

I mentioned I have two identical tablets. The problem happened exactly the same on both, and both were working perfectly when I put them to bed in October 2020. They are Lenovo Miix2 8" tablets running Windows 8.1. OpenCPN 5.2 is running in portable mode off of microSD cards on both tablets. Both had several Windows updates pushed down by Microsoft when I booted them.

For comparison, I ran OpenCPN 5.2 on my desktop machine, an Asus laptop, and Acer Switch 10 tablet (all three running Windows 10), and the Canvas Layout feature is working fine on all of them. The problem appears to be limited to the Lenovo tablets with Windows 8.1.

I will upgrade to version 5.2.4 (not as straightforward to do this on a portable version), but before I do this I wanted to know:

1) Have any of you seen this happen before?
2) Is there any reason to believe that upgrading to 5.2.4 will fix this?
3) Are there any log files or other tests that you would like me to try before I blow it away with an upgrade to 5.2.4?

[bcn]

Dual canvas has never been cancelled and is running fine here on W8, W10, macOS and several Linux systems. OCPN 5.2.4, but there is no reason that a 5.2 should not show two panels.

[Hakan]

Hi RD...
No. I've never seen what you describe.

I wont call me a developer but checking the code there are two conditions controlling if the single/double canvas icons are shown in Options->Display-<General; They are not shown on Androids or if the screen size is to small. The latter may be the one theoretical applicable in your case. So, a long shot, check the reported display width in Options->Display->Advanced: "Physical screen Width". If there's anything strange not corresponding to your actual size enter a manual value instead. (The long shot here if any Win updates has changed your video card driver in a bad way.)

In the config file (opencpn.ini) is the single double canvas settings controlled by "CanvasConfig". =0 or =1. So if the "not show icons" problem persists you can edit the config file to a desired value.

To upgrade your OCPN version to the latest available is of course always a good idea but I don't know if it will change anything for this issue.