OpenAero

Completed a major update! I finally got the basic C++ terminal tracker app and successfully tracked flights and weather using the “search ” and “weather ” commands. It also has other basic commands & features similar to the web-based CLI app, such as opening files, history, tab autocomplete, and arrow-key history. You can download the latest release of the CLI app using the download button on the demo website, or go directly to https://github.com/xaviershilosaputra/OpenAero/releases. (You will need a C++ compiler installed and set up on your device before being able to run the application)

I also refactored the JS of the web-based tracker to a much more efficient and maintainable system using cache.js to remove redundancies and messy duplicates of assets and logical systems between the GUI and CLI pages. I also implemented a cache system to store tracking data from the same tracking session to remove redundant API calls and memory usage. This system results in more maintainable code and reduced bundle size & memory overhead. In the next update, I plan to add more tracking features (or objects) and integration with other services such as maps or other navigation tools to help people travel.

In this update, I implemented some improvements based on my last ship feedback and added the weather and METAR feature. On the last ship, I received feedback regarding a broken link in the README.md file and updated the light theme CLI to fix the “blinding” issue.

I also added the weather and METAR feature, and it shouldn’t display N/A unless the data is really unavailable. Please note that the METAR report is only for hobby purposes and should never be relied on as the only source of information for navigation or high-stakes tasks. The METAR data can also be fetched from the terminal interface by using the command weather <ICAO/IATA> (e.g., weather WSSS/SIN). I’m really happy with how the weather/METAR data feature turns out, and I’m considering to make a real CLI app using C++ after this.

In this update, I finally got the terminal to work as intended and improved the overall UI design of the CLI. It looks like a real terminal now! I also added a bunch of new commands like cd, ls, cat, sudo, ping, whoami, history, and neofetch. This updated terminal also has real CLI features like autocomplete, arrowkey command history, and really cool typing animations. As for the technical side of things, most changes occur in the JS, with additional commands and enhanced security against XSS. Overall, I’m really satisfied with how the terminal mode turns out, and I plan to work on the METAR information after this.

Terminal View (CLI) is almost done! I have successfully implemented all the basic terminal commands such as help, search , guide , theme , clear, and exit. However, I still found the current UI ugly and messy. To make it look like a real terminal interface, I plan to change the font styles and color, along with background color adjustment, to improve the terminal interface UI. I also plan to add more commands for advanced searching and detailed information gathering.

Command Description:
search - Track flight (e.g. SQ322)
guide - Learn aviation data (topics: metar, flight, status (more will be added in the future))
theme - Change theme (dark/light)
clear - Clear terminal
exit - Return to main interface
help - Show this message

In the next update, I plan to improve the terminal UI by refactoring the current style.

This is my first day of making OpenAero, an all-in-one flight tracker site with multiple exciting tools for aviation enthusiasts and avgeeks. (Yes, this project is built by an Avgeek) This project uses HTML, Tailwind CSS, and JavaScript to display information fetched from free public APIs such as aviationstack. So far, I’ve created the base homepage and completed basic features such as theme selection toggle, input form for entering flight numbers, and links to external sites such as Flightradar24, Planespotters.net, LiveATC, FlightAware, and SkyVector. After this, I plan to create the terminal or CLI site for viewing flight information in a “Hacker-like” UI. (And of course some other behind the scenes stuff like SEO or mobile support)