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Re: [Announce] modRana: a flexible GPS navigation system

I have created the first Modrana theme!! It is based mainly on iPhone icons. Download from http://www.mediafire.com/file/8p51x4.../bitmap.tar.gz to the n900. From xterm, run

Code:

root

cd <directory/you/downloaded/to>

gzip -d bitmap.tar.gz

tar -xvf bitmap.tar

mv /opt/modrana/icons/bitmap /opt/modrana/icons/bitmap~

mv bitmap /opt/modrana/icons

and restart Modrana if it is running. If someone knows a better way to extract this please tell me!

BTW martinK is some of the UI hardcoded in Cairo? My theme isn't changing the plain text boxes.
Also would it be possible in the future to use a user directory (such as /home/user/modrana) for storage of customizable elements so they are not overwritten on every update?

Re: [Announce] modRana: a flexible GPS navigation system

Here are some screenshots of Modrana with the new theme.

As can be seen in the third one, I am unable to modify the plain text boxes.

Re: [Announce] modRana: a flexible GPS navigation system

Quote:

Originally Posted by petur (Post 901127)

There are some (free) sites that offer to convert GPX to KML/KMZ, and even view them in a Google Maps page online. Easy to find with Google ;)

Google Earth can open GPX files. Just go to File > Open and select "Gps (*.gpx *.loc *.mps *.gdb *.tcx *.nmea *.log *.wpt *.plt *.pcx)" from the "Files of type:" dropdown.

Re: [Announce] modRana: a flexible GPS navigation system

oh nice, thanks... but I use Google Maps far more than Earth (which is just a gimmick for me). And getting Google Earth to run properly on linux can be a pita

Re: [Announce] modRana: a flexible GPS navigation system

Enhancement request:
-Text centered in buttons and same font & style.

Re: [Announce] modRana: a flexible GPS navigation system

Quote:

Originally Posted by petur (Post 902633)

oh nice, thanks... but I use Google Maps far more than Earth (which is just a gimmick for me). And getting Google Earth to run properly on linux can be a pita

I use Linux too (Mint specifically). If Google Earth is giving you a "43: ./googleearth-bin: not found" error, try running

Code:

sudo apt-get install lsb-core

and see if that helps. Dunno why Google doesn't make this a dependency.

Quote from a Google Maps help thread:

Quote:

I managed to import a GPX file directly to my maps, I think it is quite a recent change. I just used the "Import" menu in My Maps and supplied a GPX file istead of a KML file. It just worked!

I have not had success with this; Google Maps gives me a "Couldn't finish" error. I don't know what exactly is up with this.

Re: [Announce] modRana: a flexible GPS navigation system

Quote:

Originally Posted by skykooler (Post 901026)

I noticed also that voice alerts seem to come while I'm in the intersection - could these possibly be moved back about fifty yards or so?

Try to tweak the "Point reached distance" in options->navigation, this is what currently triggers the last routing message and switches to the next point. BTW, I'm currently working on improving the navigation functionality, including among others custom voice message triggers. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by skykooler (Post 901026)

Also, would it be possible to round the distance? "In four hundred and ninety-five point eight yards" is no more helpful than "In five hundred yards" and takes a good while longer for eSpeak to say.

Good point about unnecessary long voice messages, I'll ad some rounding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by petur (Post 901124)

MartinK, I have two usability questions/requests:

1. I think it would be nice to only unlock the auto-centering when the user actually swipes, as rerouting or going into the menu always unlocks the auto-center. So ignore normal taps :)

Well, it actually works like this when controlled by mouse :) IMO, this is because the touchscreen registers even a click as a slight drag which makes the centering disengage. I'll try to set some "drag-threshold" to fix this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by petur (Post 901124)

2. For me the route info box should be only shown when I tap the screen, so that it is only shown when also the menu and maximize buttons are shown. And the routing box could be smaller too :)

I'm going to add a minimize button (+ next/last turn buttons) on to of the routing info box. I guess I can also add a "hide with main buttons" option for the routing box. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by zod (Post 901315)

look at /etc/pulse/xpolicy.conf and search for espeak
I spent many hours searching how to hear messages when mediaplayer is playing (it mutes all other apps).
solution was to write:
- - - - - -
[stream]
exe = espeak
group = ringtone
- - - - - -
into /etc/pulse/xpolicy.conf. btw espeakcaller does same!

now i can listen something over FM-transmitter and also hear navigation messages.

I don't I want that modRana fiddles with important OS config files, but I'll add your "how-to" to the first post & on the project wiki, so that users can do this on their own. :) BTW, I'm going to add dbus-based medial player pausing probably in next release.

Quote:

Originally Posted by woody14619 (Post 901577)

Maybe it's part of the cache cleanup code, since the files exist in the same area? If it cleans up anything in .maps, that would nuke the sql files, assuming it tries to clean up tiles if sqllite is enabled? :)

There is no "cache cleanup" (eq. stuffing tile images to sqlite & deleting them afterwards) yet, although this is, of course, planed. :)

BTW, a reverse process (sqlite -> tiles) would be also possible...

Quote:

Originally Posted by skykooler (Post 901788)

I have created the first Modrana theme!! It is based mainly on iPhone icons. Download from http://www.mediafire.com/file/8p51x4.../bitmap.tar.gz to the n900.

Wow, nice! :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by skykooler (Post 901788)

BTW martinK is some of the UI hardcoded in Cairo? My theme isn't changing the plain text boxes.

Yep, some gui elements (centering button, position indicator, point descriptors, the blue box widgets, all buttons that have only text on them,etc.) are drawn with cairo at runtime. But I can add something like a color-settings file so that you can at least set the colors & opacity to go with the theme.
It might be also possible to render an image under/instead of those elements, preferably an SVG due to scaling but bitmap should also work, even if it might not be always sharp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by skykooler (Post 901788)

Also would it be possible in the future to use a user directory (such as /home/user/modrana) for storage of customizable elements so they are not overwritten on every update?

Or maybe even something like ~/MyDocs/modrana/themes or ~/MyDocs/modrana/themes so that it is visible and accessible from the file manager and in mass-storage mode ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by slender (Post 902635)

Enhancement request:
-Text centered in buttons and same font & style.

All buttons already use the same font/style, although the size-scaling is often a bit quirky. But good point about centering the labels, I'll look into it.

Re: [Announce] modRana: a flexible GPS navigation system

Quote:

Or maybe even something like ~/MyDocs/modrana/themes or ~/MyDocs/modrana/themes so that it is visible and accessible from the file manager and in mass-storage mode ?

Good idea. I generally use FileBox so I forget that most directories aren't easily accessible.

Re: [Announce] modRana: a flexible GPS navigation system

Ok, i am new to this...can you use the map without internet or do you have to have internet to use the map? So if you're out in the car and don't have internet access...basically you can't use it?? Can you download and save map ?

edit: Ok, i just notice this thing can't do offline routing! Is it possible to add this feature?

Re: [Announce] modRana: a flexible GPS navigation system

Quote:

Originally Posted by romanianusa (Post 905730)

Ok, i am new to this...can you use the map without internet or do you have to have internet to use the map? So if you're out in the car and no have internet access...basically can't use it?? Can you download and save map ?

edit: Ok, i just notice this thing can't do offline routing! Is it possible to add this feature?

Maps should be downloaded to N900 and it can be done at home beforehand (home Internet is usually faster and cheaper than mobile); don't download the whole map of the world, it's impossible (takes too much memory), just take the detailed region which you are going to visit, like a part of a city.

Maps should be downloaded to /home/user/MyDocs/.maps/ if "file storage" in Modrana is set to "files", not "sqlite". To prevent Modrana from downloading tiles over WiFi on the fly, set "Network"->"Only for important data".

For example, there are several programs to download OpenStreetMaps:
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/C...le_downloading

Google and Yahoo Maps can be downloaded, too.
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/GMapCatcher
http://code.google.com/p/gmapcatcher/

Offline routing isn't easy to add. It requires using and analysing vector data, understanding which paths are only for human/automobile/bicycle, one-way only roads, etc. But it may be added later, there is a ticket for it, I heard.