serial Namespace

Maps

The applications sgps.exe and map.exe are able to show the current or the given position on a map. The map consists of a set of bitmap files with a textual definition file. The bitmap files are fragments of maps, usually scans of a printed map, screenshots from Google Earth or Mapnik PNG files downloaded from http://www.openstreetmap.org. The textual definition file describes the coordinates of the corners of the map fragments in the bitmap files. Eg. the following description file sgps.map:

11.83489 49.43595 11.85265 49.42637 amberg1.png
11d36m43.96sE 48d08m44.80sN 11d37m48.11sE 48d08m22.06sN muenchen1.jpg
11d35m07.50sE 48d10m03.37sN 11d39m47.59sE 48d07m42.85sN 11d39m48.14se 48d10m03.37sN 11d35m08.47sE 48d07m42.81sN muenchen2.png

<degs>d<mins>m<secs.dec>s[E|W|N|S]

<degs>°<mins>'<secs.dec>''[E|W|N|S]

There are no maps delivered with the programs. The maps can be obtained by scaning regular printed maps, making screenshots from Google Earth & Co. or downloading them from various services available on the internet. For each map you must know the coordinates of the edges of the maps included in the bitmap files, regardless if you scaned them, made a screenshot or downloaded them from somewhere. My favorite source of maps is http://www.openstreetmap.org delivering generated with Mapnik rectangular png files with defined minimum and maximum longitude and latitude. The png file for a required map can be downloaded by sending the following string with the HTTP POST request to the web server http://www.openstreetmap.org/export/finish:

maxlat=c&minlon=c&maxlon=c&minlat=c&format=mapnik&mapnik_format=png&mapnik_scale=s

osm.exe

map.exe

  osm.exe -basename=munich \
          -minlat=48.06 \
          -maxlat=48.22 \
          -minlon=11.43 \
          -maxlon=11.69 \
          -steplat=0.04 \
          -steplon=0.08 \
          -exporter=osmarender \
          -osmarender_zoom=15 \
          -export_format=png
  

Using -exporter=mapnik and the parameter -scale=57600 rather than the osmarender exporter and osmarender zoom you can obtain maps created by mapnik. In my opinion the mapnik exporter delivers better maps, but it often doesn't work at all in the service http://www.openstreetmap.org. Also the exporter osmarender denies any cooperation, if the resulting bitmap files would be higher or weighter than 2000 pixels. It is very important to select a correct values of scale (for mapnik) or the value of osmarender_zoom in order to obtain any results. The best way is to find out these values using tha javascript based web page of www.openstreetmap.org and then to use them for the batch download with either osm.exe or its GUI replacements in map.exe or sgps.exe. If the download has been performed on the desktop computer, please copy the bitmap files (munich*.png in the example above) and the map definition file (munich.map) to one directory on the PDA.

The same can be downloaded using map.exe and sgps.exe. In map.exe select menu Map/Download, enter the coordinates and the scale into the proper text boxes and then select Map/Download again. The same download form can be reached in sgps.exe using menu Port/Config and the button Download. The downloaded map can be used in sgps.exe after defining its location in Port/Config/Map file. In map.exe the location of the map description file is defined in the main window of the application in the text box Map file. For the example above the map definition file will be located in the directory, where osm.exe, sgps.exe or map.exe was called (or in the root directory, if sgps.exe or map.exe was called on the PDA) in the file munich.map. With -basename=/path/munich the maps and the definition file can be downloaded to a specific directory /path. The directory must already exist.

osm.exe, map.exe and sgps.exe allow also to download the maps in XML format (osm) http://www.openstreetmap.org (-exporter=osm), but this format is not supported yet for showing the map in sgps.exe or map.exe. The programs currently support only bitmap formats.

Quick Howto for GPS

• Obtain maps. Scan them, make googlearth screenshots, create the map definition file. Or use the batch download from www.openstreetmap.org. See the section Maps above for more details. Copy the map definition file and the bitmaps to one directory, eg. to Memory card/maps.
• Launch sgps.exe on a device (or a desktop computer) armed with a GPS receiver.
• In the combo boxes in the upper part of the sgps.exe form select the correct port (usually COM4 on the PDAs) and the serial communication parameters (9600, 8, None, One should be OK). Select the ellipsoide for UTM coordinates, AFAIK WGS84 will be the correct choice for most cases.
• Select Off in the 3rd line of the combo boxes. This will switch off reading of NMEA packets from IP rather than from the COM port.
• Select menu Port/Config and enter the full path of the map definition file under "Map file" (or "Select" it from the file open dialog or "Paste" it from the clipboard. Also the paths stored in the Windows file explorer into the clipboard are available here).
• Do the same for the directory, where the GPX file have to be stored. Select an existing directory preferably on the memory card, because on long trips the GPX files may easyly become some longer.
• Commit the config window with OK and go back to the main window of sgps.exe.
• Select menu Port/Open. Be patient. sgps.exe needs a couple of minutes (or longer), until it gets its first position. The position is then shown as decimal coordinates under "Coord:" and - recomputed by sgps.exe - as UTM coordinates in kilometers under "UTM". Under "Alt:" the application will show the current altitude.
• With the menu Port/Log the recording of the current coordinates to the GPX file may be switched on or off. The name of the created GPX file is automatically created by sgps.exe as sgps<yyyyMMddHHmmss>.gpx in the directory defined in the config window.
• With Port/Display off the display of the PDA may be switched off, what saves the battery a little bid. The display may be switched on again by pressing one of the function buttons on the PDA.
• With Port/Map the current position can be shown on the maps defined in the configuration window.
• Enjoy!

Coordinates from UDP

• Text separated with whitespaces and ending with a line feed
• The first token of the text is the latitude to show, decimal degrees multiplied with 1e7, integer
• The second token is the longitude, decimal degrees multiplied with 1e7, integer
• The remaining tokens are ignored

cellinfo.exe

map.exe

cellinfo.exe

Compilation

• MS .NET Framework 2.0 or Mono. .NET Framework 2.0 is a component of every recent MS Windows Version. A relatively new version of mono is needed especially for the System.Windows.Forms package, I used mono 1.9.1 and 2.0.0 on SuSE Linux 10.2 and 11.0.
• NAnt, I used version NAnt 0.86 (Build 0.86.2898.0; beta1; 08.12.2007), but other versions should work as well. Releases < 0.86 may have problems with the generation of strong named resource files, either upgrade then to a newer NAnt or remove the strong name support in the build file nant.build.
• If you want to compile for .NET Compact Framework (WIndows CE/Mobile), then download and install .NET Compact Framework 2.0 Redistributable (NETCFSetupv2.msi). After the package has been installed, set the environmant variable to the directory containing the .NET Compact Framework library files, eg. assuming the standard installation:

        SET NETCF=%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft.NET\SDK\CompactFramework\v2.0\WindowsCE
        

• CabWiz.exe is needed in order to create cabinet installation files for Windows CE/Mobile. CabWiz.exe is included for example in "Windows Mobile 6 Professional and Standard Software Development Kits Refresh" (Windows Mobile 6 Professional SDK Refresh.msi) or in diverse versions of Microsoft Visual Studio. Add the directory, where CabWiz.exe has been installed, to the search path PATH.

• The binaries: gpsx.exe, psrf103.exe, s2ip.exe, scpy.exe, sg.exe, sgps.exe, utm.exe, de/*, pl/*
• The documentation (you're reading it right now) in doc, if you used nant doc
• The cabinet file serial.CAB, if the package was compiled using nant cab

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