UDP¶

AIS-catcher -u host port [setting value] ...

AIS messages can be forwarded between applications over UDP via the -u switch and as a TCP Client using -P. To send data to a port at a specific server, we can use:

AIS-catcher -u 192.168.1.235 4002

The command accepts additional parameters, e.g. to send NMEA messages packaged in a JSON object:

AIS-catcher -u 192.168.1.235 4002 JSON on

Most external programs will not be able to accept these JSON-packaged NMEA strings. It is a way to transfer received messages between AIS-catcher instances without losing metadata like the timestamp, ppm correction and signal level. These are not captured in the standard NMEA strings. The option JSON_FULL does a full decode of the AIS message. Another option for UDP sending via -u is BROADCAST on/off to enable sending to broadcast addresses.

Summary Settings¶

Setting (JSON key / CLI setting name)	Type	Default	Description
host	string	-	Target UDP host address
port	string	-	Target UDP port
msgformat	string	NMEA	Output format (`NMEA`, `JSON_NMEA`, `JSON_FULL`, etc.)
broadcast	boolean	false	Enable broadcast mode
reset	integer	0	Recreate socket after N minutes (1-1440; 0 = never)
uuid	string	-	Unique identifier (must be a valid UUID)
include_sample_start	boolean	false	Append sample-start counter to each NMEA line
json	boolean	false	Deprecated — sets `msgformat` to `JSON_NMEA`
json_full	boolean	false	Deprecated — sets `msgformat` to `FULL`

Filter and routing settings (see Message Filtering) also apply.