Development update as of August 8th, 2024.

[jprochazka]

Installers

As noted in the last update I have been working on adding support for ACARSDEC to the project. Both @MCancellier and @thebaldgeek have been a great source of information and inspiration as I near the finish line in regard to over-the-air ACARS support through comments made in a recent post I made about the possibility of adding L band ACARS support as well. With over-the-air ACARS support about complete I will next be focusing on the addition of support for VDL as recommended with L band reception taking a back burner for the time being. I will also be working on adding the option to feed Airframes.io ACARS data via ACARSDEC while retaining the ability to store historical data locally if so desired.

ACARSDEC support is complete, but I will have to rush the existing PHP portal integration out the door sooner than I would have like to have seen due to an issue I found today concerning the portal installation script having to do with a whiptail bug using a pipe "|" when it comes to logging package installation output to the log file. I will be wrapping up a rudimentary way of viewing ACARS data within the next day or two for v2.8.6 in order to get the fix in place while still offering everyone a new option to view flight data other than via ADS-B. Another release will come shortly here after which offers a better way of viewing ACARS data via the existing PHP based portal.

The ADS-B Portal

Development is still moving forward as far as the new API is concerned. I am in the process of adding endpoints to expose ACARS data collected by ACARSDEC and ACARSSERV as well wrapping up work on user account administration followed by authentication. As soon as these items are wrapped up, I plan to begin work on the API installation scripts which should result in the release of v2.9.x which as announced in previous updates will introduce the API ahead of the ADS-B Portal frontend for those interested in consuming the information the API makes available in their own projects. The API will be an optional installation apart from the current PHP based portal.

Side Note

I want to let everyone know that today I was blessed with a new job offer. Until I am settled in, I cannot guarantee releases in the form of rapid fire weekly major updates as has been the case the last couple months as I tackle becoming familiar with such things as the inner workings of DB2 and new code bases. I still remain dedicated to contributing new features and above all needed updates and fixes to the project even as I settle into my new position. Taking on a new job is a minor occurrence compared to what halted my participation within the community previously. Now that the project back on its feet and past what seemed at the time to be an insurmountable goal to update things to get them back in working order, I look forward to contributing regularly to the project from here on out as I continue to rediscover and begin to appreciate the hobby and community that follows it once again.