Feature request: ESRI shape file overlay

[ghost]

There is currently an active discussion on if and how to integrate ESRI shape files (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapefile) in Mission Planner on DIYDrones (http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/esri-shapefiles-in-mp?id=705844%3ATopic%3A1602196). The option to load a shape files as overlays over the Google Maps in DP would be very very helpful - especially for SAR and surveying applications. GDAL/OGR (http://www.gdal.org/ogr/) is "the" open source library to read and write shape files. To avoid implementing GIS/mapping functionality such as setting up user defined legends (colors, degree of transparency, line width, symbols, ...) to polygons, lines and/or points - which would require lots of work - I suggest to load a shape file along with a legend either defined using the Styled Layer Descriptor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styled_Layer_Descriptor), a format supported by several open source GIS systems such as QGIS (https://www.QGIS.org, which also runs on Android) or by using the QGIS specific *.qml format. So one can prepare the maps and the legend in a GIS and then load it into DP. The only thing required to be adjusted in DP would be the transparency.

[arthurbenemann]

I understand how this could be used, but I hope you understand that this is on a low priority for the developers (there are more urgent fixes to be done).

That being said, it's possible, but I would be concerned with performance issues if the shapefile is too dense. One alternative, that should already work, is to create a raster map ( 256x256 tiles at various zoom levels) and use that as an offline map. The GIS software should be able to generate the appropriated tiles.

2014-03-25 7:05 GMT-03:00 ThorstenDP notifications@github.com:

There is currently an active discussion on if and how to integrate ESRI shape files (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapefile) in Mission Planner on DIYDrones ( http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/esri-shapefiles-in-mp?id=705844%3ATopic%3A1602196).

The option to load a shape files as overlays over the Google Maps in DP would be very very helpful - especially for SAR and surveying applications. GDAL/OGR (http://www.gdal.org/ogr/) is "the" open source library to read and write shape files. To avoid implementing GIS/mapping functionality such as setting up user defined legends (colors, degree of transparency, line width, symbols, ...) to polygons, lines and/or points - which would require lots of work - I suggest to load a shape file along with a legend either defined using the Styled Layer Descriptor ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styled_Layer_Descriptor), a format supported by several open source GIS systems such as QGIS ( https://www.QGIS.org, which also runs on Android) or by using the QGIS specific *.qml format. So one can prepare the maps and the legend in a GIS and then load it into DP. The only thing to to adjust would be the transparency.

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/DroidPlanner/droidplanner/issues/703 .

Arthur Benemann

[ghost]

Sure I understand that this has a low priority. I work a lot with GIS and such a functionality would be helpful in many cases. Hence, I posted the request simply to express interest - not expecting that anyone starts working on it immediately :-) You are right with potential performance issues with large shape files. The advantage of a shape file would be an overlay - not a replacement as an offline map. Another advantage of shape files is flexibility (if they are small...). You can easily change the content and legend, load it in every GIS, ... For sure you can convert it to raster maps but then you might run into resolution or file size problems. Btw: have you thought about something like a plugin functionality for DP? In this case you could develop chargeable plugins. This might be one.

[arthurbenemann]

I'm not sure how to do plug-ins on Android, and I don't think it's worth the effort of developing the necessary "adaptors" (it's easier to just code in the main branch).

[squilter]

This feature requires lots of work, and it seems a very small part of users would ever use it.