ArduPilot / ArduPilot/MissionPlanner
mavlink forwarding very confusing
- Dominant language
- C#
- Stars
- 2.4k
- Forks
- 2.9k
- Avg merge
- 19h 16m
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 4
Description
I was trying to help a partner forward mavlink to 127.0.0.1 to allow them to use the DroneCAN GUI tool while also being connected with MissionPlanner. Despite us both trying for about 10 minutes we could not get it to work. I think the issue is the very confusing nature of the UI:

Several issues come up:
- what is the meaning of the the "Go" column? Does it support multiple outgoing links at the same time? It seems to toggle a blue outline between rows, but really unclear what it means
- when you add a 2nd row a 3rd row appears. Can we instead have an add link button? That could pop up a dialog with all the needed information
- when creating an outgoing link it seems to try to fetch parameters, which doesn't make sense for forwarding a link to another GCS
- does the 'Write access" affect all links? Can we default that to true? You can't do params without write access
The new support button is great for getting end users to forward to the support engineer, but the above UI for the support engineer to use at their end is very confusing
Contributor guide
No contributing guide indexed for this repository
Research direction
Start by reproducing the MAVLink forwarding workflow described in the Mission Planner UI, including adding a second outgoing link and forwarding to 127.0.0.1 while connected to Mission Planner. Review each reported interaction—the Go column, extra row, parameter fetching, and Write access—and define clearer behavior for them. Done means the forwarding workflow and its controls are understandable without relying on trial and error.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- csharp
- Domain
- desktop
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100