Subsurface As Free (and Opensource!) Deco / Dive Planning Software

[theBro]

Probably an obvious question, but can this software download dive logs directly from a dive computer, such as a Suunto Vyper?

Also, at the moment I am using Suunto DM3.1, which allows for multiple dive logs, since I, my Wife, and my two children all dive.

Will SubSurface allow me to download dive logs from all our computers (1 Vyper and 3 Mosquitos) and place the dives into their own logs?

We do support downloading directly from Suunto DCs (and many other vendors as well). You can also import the Suunto database to Subsurface so all the old logs that are no longer available in your dive computers can follow. Finally, it is possible to have multiple logs for different users. With the XML log format, switching between these logs is easy, but with our git back end slightly more cumbersome.

 

[dirkhh]

We do support downloading directly from Suunto DCs (and many other vendors as well). You can also import the Suunto database to Subsurface so all the old logs that are no longer available in your dive computers can follow. Finally, it is possible to have multiple logs for different users. With the XML log format, switching between these logs is easy, but with our git back end slightly more cumbersome.

So this is one of the things I want to do for 4.6... right now I'm still totally focused on getting Subsurface-mobile to the point where it's truly useful for most people, but I hope that in a few weeks I can start focusing on the desktop application a bit more. And an easy way to switch between multiple users is high on my list.

 

[AndrewBlackburn]

I've just downloaded SubSurface.
Imported my Suunto .sde dive log, but it doesn't include any of the air readings, or weights or equipment used unfortunately.

 

[Storker]

right now I'm still totally focused on getting Subsurface-mobile to the point where it's truly useful for most people

Appreciated. I've downloaded Subsurface, but I've never been able to set up sync between the desktop program and the Android app. Divinglog, OTOH, syncs fairly easily with Divemate via my Dropbox account.

Another feature I'd like to see - if it isn't already there - is download of Suunto profile bookmarks and export of the depth profile in e.g. TXT or CSV format. While Divinglog can do the latter, it can't do the former, so to properly synchronize my dive profile with my photos, I have to mess around with both Divinglog and Suunto DM3. It's quite doable, but a bit of a drag.

 

[dmaziuk]

And an easy way to switch between multiple users is high on my list.

Usually I need to copy location/site name between my and my wife's log. Also if the roster is daily, it's typing in locations and end pressure for 3 dives for me & 3 dives for her. Not sure what would be the most convenient way to switch there...

 

[dirkhh]

Usually I need to copy location/site name between my and my wife's log. Also if the roster is daily, it's typing in locations and end pressure for 3 dives for me & 3 dives for her. Not sure what would be the most convenient way to switch there...

So the design idea is to have an option in the File menu to switch between different users. What I haven't figured out, yet, is how to share the dive site database between those two users (which seems to make a lot of sense).
Right now each user would have up to three favorite dive computers that you can switch to with one click (for downloading). Is there anything else that would make this more useful?

 

[dirkhh]

Appreciated. I've downloaded Subsurface, but I've never been able to set up sync between the desktop program and the Android app. Divinglog, OTOH, syncs fairly easily with Divemate via my Dropbox account.

That sounds very odd - since the Android app doesn't really work unless you sync it with the cloud storage account. Can you explain a bit more what's going wrong for you there?

Another feature I'd like to see - if it isn't already there - is download of Suunto profile bookmarks and export of the depth profile in e.g. TXT or CSV format. While Divinglog can do the latter, it can't do the former, so to properly synchronize my dive profile with my photos, I have to mess around with both Divinglog and Suunto DM3. It's quite doable, but a bit of a drag.

So Suunto profile bookmarks are of course downloaded from the dive computer. And the depth profile is easily found in the XML file - a quick script to grab the data and convert it to any other format that you want should be straight forward.
But I'll be honest, I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to do.

 

[dirkhh]

I've just downloaded SubSurface.
Imported my Suunto .sde dive log, but it doesn't include any of the air readings, or weights or equipment used unfortunately.

I need to release 4.5.5 which will have a couple of fixes for the SDE import. Can you send me a sample SDE file and what data you'd want to make sure is imported so we can make sure we have all that covered? dirk at subsurface-divelog.org

 

[Storker]

That sounds very odd - since the Android app doesn't really work unless you sync it with the cloud storage account. Can you explain a bit more what's going wrong for you there?

I've probably managed to goof up somehow, but I installed Subsurface on my PC sometime last year, then the Android app and tried to set up cloud sync. Couldn't get things to sync. Besides, I'm chronically skeptical to cloud accounts I don't control myself. The files in my Dropbox account are synced to my PC, so if Dropbox goes belly up tomorrow, I still have my data. So sync via my Dropbox account (alternatively, Google Drive) is what I'd prefer.

So Suunto profile bookmarks are of course downloaded from the dive computer. And the depth profile is easily found in the XML file - a quick script to grab the data and convert it to any other format that you want should be straight forward.
But I'll be honest, I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to do.

OK, let me go into detail. I know that this is pretty specialized, so I understand if you don't put much priority on it.

When I take photos underwater, I like to geotag them with the depth they're taken at. I use my depth log for that, so I need my depth log in a universal format like TXT or CSV. Given my start time, the run time/depth data are used to transfer depth data to the picture's EXIF. The issue is that my computer's clock and my camera's clock are never properly synced even if I check that they show the same topside. So a couple of times during the dive I take a picture of the computer while setting a bookmark in the log, which gives me a reference for adjusting the time difference on the two gadgets. So the depth log in an external format, with bookmarks, is something I want. Divelog can give me the depth log as a TXT file, or just copied to my clipboard, so that's golden. It's just that it doesn't seem to download the bookmarks, so I have to tinker with DM3 to get those. I'm not capable to write scripts, so if I don't have that feature, that's a dealbreaker for me.

So that's why I'm asking for output from the program containing run time/depth/bookmark datapoints. Without having to write a script.

 

[dirkhh]

I've probably managed to goof up somehow, but I installed Subsurface on my PC sometime last year, then the Android app and tried to set up cloud sync. Couldn't get things to sync. Besides, I'm chronically skeptical to cloud accounts I don't control myself. The files in my Dropbox account are synced to my PC, so if Dropbox goes belly up tomorrow, I still have my data. So sync via my Dropbox account (alternatively, Google Drive) is what I'd prefer.

The eternal argument... "I want to control my data"... "I don't know how to set up my own cloud server, I just use <insert random proprietary service>".

So our choices are
a) support just one proprietary service, trust that they don't invade our users privacy, and tick off everyone who doesn't like that one service and who wants a different service - and make sure we can figure out an easy way for users to configure this
b) support many / all proprietary services, with testing and UI nightmares to follow so that each combination works
c) do our own cloud service with a solid privacy policy (boils down to: it's your data, we don't look at it, we don't touch it, nor does anyone else), completely transparent configuration for the user and end to end under our control (which means no one suddenly changes terms or setup on us)

And to your question "I still have my data"... of course you have your Subsurface data. On your PC / Mac / Linux system there is a local git repository which has all your data plus every transaction in it... so if you make changes and something went wrong (deleted your first 600 dives by mistake, whatever), you can simply roll back to an earlier version... we don't talk about this much because most users really don't care, but I'll be happy to show you were all your data are on your local computer and how you can use git to do some fun things with those data... so no, even if I decided to stop paying for free storage for the users of my free software tomorrow, you'd still have all of your data.

OK, let me go into detail. I know that this is pretty specialized, so I understand if you don't put much priority on it.

When I take photos underwater, I like to geotag them with the depth they're taken at. I use my depth log for that, so I need my depth log in a universal format like TXT or CSV. Given my start time, the run time/depth data are used to transfer depth data to the picture's EXIF. The issue is that my computer's clock and my camera's clock are never properly synced even if I check that they show the same topside. So a couple of times during the dive I take a picture of the computer while setting a bookmark in the log, which gives me a reference for adjusting the time difference on the two gadgets. So the depth log in an external format, with bookmarks, is something I want. Divelog can give me the depth log as a TXT file, or just copied to my clipboard, so that's golden. It's just that it doesn't seem to download the bookmarks, so I have to tinker with DM3 to get those. I'm not capable to write scripts, so if I don't have that feature, that's a dealbreaker for me.

So that's why I'm asking for output from the program containing run time/depth/bookmark datapoints. Without having to write a script.

So just export that dive as XML in Subsurface. You get something that looks like this:

  <event time='4:21 min' type='8' name='bookmark' />
  <sample time='0:00 min' depth='1.28 m' temp='16.0 C' pressure='161.27 bar' />
  <sample time='0:20 min' depth='3.25 m' pressure='160.37 bar' />
  <sample time='0:40 min' depth='4.84 m' pressure='159.25 bar' />
  <sample time='1:00 min' depth='5.71 m' pressure='158.18 bar' />
  <sample time='1:20 min' depth='7.59 m' pressure='156.35 bar' />
  <sample time='1:40 min' depth='7.83 m' temp='14.0 C' pressure='155.17 bar' />
  <sample time='2:00 min' depth='8.97 m' pressure='154.13 bar' />
  <sample time='2:20 min' depth='9.18 m' />
  <sample time='2:40 min' depth='9.65 m' />
  <sample time='3:00 min' depth='10.23 m' pressure='152.35 bar' />
  <sample time='3:20 min' depth='10.46 m' />
  <sample time='3:40 min' depth='10.65 m' />
  <sample time='4:00 min' depth='10.22 m' pressure='150.14 bar' />
  <sample time='4:20 min' depth='9.24 m' pressure='148.23 bar' />
  <sample time='4:21 min' depth='9.27 m' />
  <sample time='4:40 min' depth='9.87 m' pressure='147.82 bar' />
  <sample time='5:00 min' depth='9.42 m' temp='13.0 C' pressure='146.47 bar' />
  <sample time='5:20 min' depth='9.76 m' pressure='145.29 bar' />
  <sample time='5:40 min' depth='9.82 m' pressure='144.54 bar' />

So this is from a random file that I grabbed, dive computer only does 20 second sample intervals, but you can see when your bookmark was (first line) and have a matching interpolated depth entry below in the samples.
This is highly structured and easy to read (which was a big goal of our XML format). It should be completely straight forward to parse this into any form you want...

Does that do what you need? If not, what's missing?