OpenRocket wiki - User contributions [en]

Tips

2014-09-01T01:46:43Z

Eric normandeau: /* Corrected information about the coloured ball indicating the simulation status */

This page collects a list of short (1-3 sentences) tips for using OpenRocket. Later on they may be included in the software as a "tip of the day" system.

= General use =

* You can type in equations in the entry fields instead of numbers. For example, to double a length you can type '''3.1*2'''.

* The component tree will display any component comments as tool tips. You can set the comment on the '''Comment''' tab of the component configuration dialog.

* If you want to always load a specific .ork file, you can specify the filename as a command line argument when starting openrocket.

* You can choose your preferred units from '''Edit''' → '''Preferences...'''. You can individually change the units by clicking the unit symbol.

= Rocket design =

* A rocket design can have a number of ''motor configurations''. When simulating a flight, you select which motor configuration you use. You can edit the motor configurations using '''Tools''' → '''Motor configurations...'''

* Motors can be attached to either body tubes or inner tubes. You can attach one on the '''Motor''' tab of the configuration dialog.

* You can scale a single component or an entire design using '''Edit''' → '''Scale...'''

* You can define custom materials by selecting '''Custom''' from the bottom of a material selection list.

* You can select ready components from the preset dropdown on the top-right of the component editing dialog. Tick the box in the table to add the component to the dropdown menu.

* You can select components by clicking them in the diagram, or edit them by double-clicking.

* To get the best accuracy possible, you can weight your components and enter the override the calculated weight on the '''Override' tab when editing components.

* You can define through-the-wall fin tabs on the '''Fin tabs''' tab when editing a fin set.

* Your rocket's surface roughness can affect flight altitude significantly. Select the appropriate roughness on the '''Component finish''' dropdown. You can set the same finish for all components by clicking '''Set for all'''.

* You will see immediate results of a flight simulation on the lower-left corner of the design diagram. This reflects a flight with your currently selected motor configuration.

* In case OpenRocket cannot reliably compute the aerodynamic properties of the rocket, you will see warnings on the lower-right corner of the design diagram.

* You can create clustered rockets easily using the '''Cluster''' tab when editing Inner tubes. Any motors or components attached to the inner tube will be present on all copies of the inner tube.

* Centering rings, Engine blocks, Couplers and Bulkheads can automatically compute the relevant dimensions from the other components when the '''Automatic''' checkbox is selected.

* You can simulate launch rails or pins by creating filled launch lugs of the corresponding size.

* Only body components and fin sets affect the aerodynamics of the rocket. Even if an internal component extrudes outside of the body tube, its effect will not be taken into account in simulations!

* You can add stages to your rocket by pressing '''New stage''' on the main screen. Stage separation is configured on the '''Separation''' tab when editing a stage.

* You can fully customize the simulation plots on the '''Plot data''' tab. Choose on of the preset configurations or experiment with the other options.

* You can export simulated flight data to be analyzed by another program using the '''Export data''' tab when editing a simulation.

* The ball on the left side of the simulation table indicates the state of the simulation. Grey means that the simulation has not yet been run, red that the design has been changed since the simulation was last run, yellow means the data has been loaded from a file, and green means it is up-to-date.

* If a potential problem occurred during a simulated flight, you will see a red exclamation mark (!) next to your simulation. Hover over the simulation to see what the warning is about.

* You can duplicate components or move them to another design by using normal copy-paste functionality.

* You can move components by drag-dropping them in the component tree.

* You can examine details on the stability and drag characteristics of your rocket using '''Tools''' → '''Component analysis...'''

* You can optimize the shape, size or mass of your rocket using '''Tools''' → '''Rocket optimization...'''

* Custom expressions allow you to compute flight parameters that are not computed by OpenRocket by default. You define them using '''Tools''' → '''Custom expressions...''' See [https://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/openrocket/index.php?title=List_of_useful_custom_expressions the wiki] for ideas.

Downloading & Installing

2014-09-01T01:37:41Z

Eric normandeau: /* Added detail about replacing '/path/to/' */

<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="float: left;">[[Introduction|← Introduction]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[Getting Started|Getting Started →]]</div>
[[User's Guide|↑ Back to Contents]]
</div>

{{UserGuideHelp}}

__TOC__

OpenRocket is a Java application, which means that you need to have [http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp Java] installed on your computer before you can use it. OpenRocket requires '''Java Version 6''' or better to run, you can check which version of Java is installed on your computer by clicking [http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp?detect=jre&try=1 here]. If Java is not installed, that page should provide you with a link to download and install the latest version for your operating system. Some operating systems come with Java pre-installed, while others don't. The installation processes for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux are shown below.

== General ==

In general, OpenRocket is installed by following these three steps:

# Make sure you have the correct version of Java, and install or upgrade if not.
# [http://openrocket.sourceforge.net/download.html Download] the OpenRocket application.
# Open the application and use it. On most operating systems you can just double-click the icon for the OpenRocket file which was downloaded, no further installation is required.

== Windows Users ==
Windows does '''not''' come with any sort of Java pre-installed. However, it's quite likely that Java has already been installed as part of another application, you can check by using [http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp?detect=jre&try=1 this page]. If you don't have Java installed, you will need to [http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp download] and install it before continuing.

Once you have Java, installing OpenRocket on any version of Windows is simple:
# [http://openrocket.sourceforge.net/download.html Download] OpenRocket to the folder of your choice.
# Double click the file to start the program.

That's it! If you didn't save the OpenRocket file to your Desktop, you can place a shortcut there by right-clicking on the OpenRocket file, mousing over "Send to" and clicking "Desktop (create shortcut)".

== Mac OS X Users ==
Apple sends out Java with system updates, so it should already be installed. A common complication with Mac users is that most Macs have both Java 5 and Java 6 installed, and Java 5 is used by default. If you try to use OpenRocket and get an error, then you probably still have Java 5 set as the default.

To set Java 6 as the default:
# Open the Utilities folder (Finder -> Go -> Utilities). [[File:FinderOpenUtilities.png|none|300px]]
# Open the Java Preferences Application (double-click Java Preferences.app). [[File:UtilitiesJavaPreferences.png|none|300px]]
# In the bottom section of the window that opens, drag Java 6 to top of list. [[File:JavaApplicationPreferences.png|none|300px]]

== Linux Users ==

=== Ubuntu/Debian Repository ===

If you are running a recent version of Ubuntu or Debian, then OpenRocket can be easily installed using the Ubuntu Software Center or Synaptic (etc.). Please note that the version in the distribution repository ''may not be the latest version''. Alternatively you may install OpenRocket from the command line:
<pre>sudo apt-get install openrocket</pre>

To start OpenRocket, simply select it from the Applications menu.

=== Official Version ===

# [http://openrocket.sourceforge.net/download.html Download] the OpenRocket application.
# Copy it to a convenient folder.
# Make the .jar file executable (right-click on .jar file, select "Properties", go to the Permissions tab and check the "Allow executing file as program" box).
# Start OpenRocket by either double-clicking the .jar file, or right-clicking the .jar file, and selecting "Open with Sun Java6 Runtime".
If the default is set to open with the Archive Manager, then right-click, select "Open with other application", then select "Open with Sun Java6 Runtime", and check the box to make that the default. In future, it should be possible to just double-click to start OpenRocket.

Alternatively you may start OpenRocket from the command line:
<pre>java -jar OpenRocket-14.06.jar</pre>

Or, if you are not currently in the same directory as the .jar file, replace '/path/to/' by the appropriate path on your system:
<pre>java -jar /path/to/OpenRocket-14.06.jar</pre>

----
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="float: left;">[[Introduction|← Introduction]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[Getting Started|Getting Started →]]</div>
[[User's Guide|↑ Back to Contents]]
</div>

Downloading & Installing

2014-09-01T01:36:28Z

Eric normandeau: /* Updated java -jar example to current version. Added alternate approach if pwd is not the OpenRocket folder. */

<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="float: left;">[[Introduction|← Introduction]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[Getting Started|Getting Started →]]</div>
[[User's Guide|↑ Back to Contents]]
</div>

{{UserGuideHelp}}

__TOC__

OpenRocket is a Java application, which means that you need to have [http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp Java] installed on your computer before you can use it. OpenRocket requires '''Java Version 6''' or better to run, you can check which version of Java is installed on your computer by clicking [http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp?detect=jre&try=1 here]. If Java is not installed, that page should provide you with a link to download and install the latest version for your operating system. Some operating systems come with Java pre-installed, while others don't. The installation processes for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux are shown below.

== General ==

In general, OpenRocket is installed by following these three steps:

# Make sure you have the correct version of Java, and install or upgrade if not.
# [http://openrocket.sourceforge.net/download.html Download] the OpenRocket application.
# Open the application and use it. On most operating systems you can just double-click the icon for the OpenRocket file which was downloaded, no further installation is required.

== Windows Users ==
Windows does '''not''' come with any sort of Java pre-installed. However, it's quite likely that Java has already been installed as part of another application, you can check by using [http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp?detect=jre&try=1 this page]. If you don't have Java installed, you will need to [http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp download] and install it before continuing.

Once you have Java, installing OpenRocket on any version of Windows is simple:
# [http://openrocket.sourceforge.net/download.html Download] OpenRocket to the folder of your choice.
# Double click the file to start the program.

That's it! If you didn't save the OpenRocket file to your Desktop, you can place a shortcut there by right-clicking on the OpenRocket file, mousing over "Send to" and clicking "Desktop (create shortcut)".

== Mac OS X Users ==
Apple sends out Java with system updates, so it should already be installed. A common complication with Mac users is that most Macs have both Java 5 and Java 6 installed, and Java 5 is used by default. If you try to use OpenRocket and get an error, then you probably still have Java 5 set as the default.

To set Java 6 as the default:
# Open the Utilities folder (Finder -> Go -> Utilities). [[File:FinderOpenUtilities.png|none|300px]]
# Open the Java Preferences Application (double-click Java Preferences.app). [[File:UtilitiesJavaPreferences.png|none|300px]]
# In the bottom section of the window that opens, drag Java 6 to top of list. [[File:JavaApplicationPreferences.png|none|300px]]

== Linux Users ==

=== Ubuntu/Debian Repository ===

If you are running a recent version of Ubuntu or Debian, then OpenRocket can be easily installed using the Ubuntu Software Center or Synaptic (etc.). Please note that the version in the distribution repository ''may not be the latest version''. Alternatively you may install OpenRocket from the command line:
<pre>sudo apt-get install openrocket</pre>

To start OpenRocket, simply select it from the Applications menu.

=== Official Version ===

# [http://openrocket.sourceforge.net/download.html Download] the OpenRocket application.
# Copy it to a convenient folder.
# Make the .jar file executable (right-click on .jar file, select "Properties", go to the Permissions tab and check the "Allow executing file as program" box).
# Start OpenRocket by either double-clicking the .jar file, or right-clicking the .jar file, and selecting "Open with Sun Java6 Runtime".
If the default is set to open with the Archive Manager, then right-click, select "Open with other application", then select "Open with Sun Java6 Runtime", and check the box to make that the default. In future, it should be possible to just double-click to start OpenRocket.

Alternatively you may start OpenRocket from the command line:
<pre>java -jar OpenRocket-14.06.jar</pre>

Or, if you are not currently in the same directory as the .jar file:
<pre>java -jar /path/to/OpenRocket-14.06.jar</pre>

----
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="float: left;">[[Introduction|← Introduction]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[Getting Started|Getting Started →]]</div>
[[User's Guide|↑ Back to Contents]]
</div>

Downloading & Installing

2014-09-01T01:32:17Z

Eric normandeau: /* Official Version */

<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="float: left;">[[Introduction|← Introduction]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[Getting Started|Getting Started →]]</div>
[[User's Guide|↑ Back to Contents]]
</div>

{{UserGuideHelp}}

__TOC__

OpenRocket is a Java application, which means that you need to have [http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp Java] installed on your computer before you can use it. OpenRocket requires '''Java Version 6''' or better to run, you can check which version of Java is installed on your computer by clicking [http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp?detect=jre&try=1 here]. If Java is not installed, that page should provide you with a link to download and install the latest version for your operating system. Some operating systems come with Java pre-installed, while others don't. The installation processes for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux are shown below.

== General ==

In general, OpenRocket is installed by following these three steps:

# Make sure you have the correct version of Java, and install or upgrade if not.
# [http://openrocket.sourceforge.net/download.html Download] the OpenRocket application.
# Open the application and use it. On most operating systems you can just double-click the icon for the OpenRocket file which was downloaded, no further installation is required.

== Windows Users ==
Windows does '''not''' come with any sort of Java pre-installed. However, it's quite likely that Java has already been installed as part of another application, you can check by using [http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp?detect=jre&try=1 this page]. If you don't have Java installed, you will need to [http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp download] and install it before continuing.

Once you have Java, installing OpenRocket on any version of Windows is simple:
# [http://openrocket.sourceforge.net/download.html Download] OpenRocket to the folder of your choice.
# Double click the file to start the program.

That's it! If you didn't save the OpenRocket file to your Desktop, you can place a shortcut there by right-clicking on the OpenRocket file, mousing over "Send to" and clicking "Desktop (create shortcut)".

== Mac OS X Users ==
Apple sends out Java with system updates, so it should already be installed. A common complication with Mac users is that most Macs have both Java 5 and Java 6 installed, and Java 5 is used by default. If you try to use OpenRocket and get an error, then you probably still have Java 5 set as the default.

To set Java 6 as the default:
# Open the Utilities folder (Finder -> Go -> Utilities). [[File:FinderOpenUtilities.png|none|300px]]
# Open the Java Preferences Application (double-click Java Preferences.app). [[File:UtilitiesJavaPreferences.png|none|300px]]
# In the bottom section of the window that opens, drag Java 6 to top of list. [[File:JavaApplicationPreferences.png|none|300px]]

== Linux Users ==

=== Ubuntu/Debian Repository ===

If you are running a recent version of Ubuntu or Debian, then OpenRocket can be easily installed using the Ubuntu Software Center or Synaptic (etc.). Please note that the version in the distribution repository ''may not be the latest version''. Alternatively you may install OpenRocket from the command line:
<pre>sudo apt-get install openrocket</pre>

To start OpenRocket, simply select it from the Applications menu.

=== Official Version ===

# [http://openrocket.sourceforge.net/download.html Download] the OpenRocket application.
# Copy it to a convenient folder.
# Make the .jar file executable (right-click on .jar file, select "Properties", go to the Permissions tab and check the "Allow executing file as program" box).
# Start OpenRocket by either double-clicking the .jar file, or right-clicking the .jar file, and selecting "Open with Sun Java6 Runtime".
If the default is set to open with the Archive Manager, then right-click, select "Open with other application", then select "Open with Sun Java6 Runtime", and check the box to make that the default. In future, it should be possible to just double-click to start OpenRocket.

Alternatively you may start OpenRocket from the command line:
<pre>java -jar OpenRocket-14.06.jar</pre>

----
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="float: left;">[[Introduction|← Introduction]]</div>
<div style="float: right;">[[Getting Started|Getting Started →]]</div>
[[User's Guide|↑ Back to Contents]]
</div>