Save compass heading with waypoints

[GoogleCodeExporter]

For a radio telemetry application we would love to record way points that 
include compass heading (not GPS heading). 

The idea is to attach the device to the radio telemetry antenna and record a 
way point when the antenna is pointing to the radio source (manually).

Is that something that could be implemented with osm-tracker? 

Original issue reported on code.google.com by christop...@gmail.com on 15 Mar 2014 at 10:30

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Hi,

I guess that could be done, however OSMTracker exports in GPX format and I 
don't think this format supports storing compass headings?

Original comment by nicolas@guillaumin.me on 15 Mar 2014 at 11:42

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Hi,

Well, I just checked the GPX definition and you are right: there is no field 
specifically for a magnetic compass heading. This just means, there is no 
standard way of storing this information. However, I would think that putting 
it into <cmt> or <desc> fields with a format like this <compass>256.12 
deg</compass>. Or a similar thing would be fine for us.

Would this be hard? In the worst case I would be willing to patch the code. For 
that I would just need some hint, where to start. (no android experience)

Thanks,
Christoph

Original comment by christop...@gmail.com on 16 Mar 2014 at 9:20

[GoogleCodeExporter]

and obviously not an XML expert either... one may put a <compass> key below 
<extensions>, right?

Original comment by christop...@gmail.com on 16 Mar 2014 at 9:27

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Hi,

I'm not sure the cmt / desc field would be a good thing since it would make 
that difficult to parse for other applications. Better use an extension of GPX 
if possible so that this information is in a separate tag, easy to parse for 
other apps.

Best way to get started might be to look at the commit history and find a patch 
made by someone to add a similar new feature / data to the GPX format. I can't 
recall the details but I'm pretty sure someone added something similar in the 
past, so it should give you clues of where the codes needs to be modified:
- Where to collect the data form
- Where to store the new data in the internal database
- How to export the data in the GPX export code

Original comment by nicolas@guillaumin.me on 17 Mar 2014 at 11:26

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Thanks for the info. I found a changeset, that might have everything I need
(c0130c7).

Would you be so kind to let me know if there is anything else needed than
adjusting DataHelper to include a compass-heading column, GPSLogger to also
query the compass and GPXFileWriter to include that column in the exported
GPX.

Would you have a suggestion in where to place that field in the GPX file?

Original comment by christop...@gmail.com on 5 Apr 2014 at 3:14

[GoogleCodeExporter]

It's been a while since I've gone through the code so I can't say for sure, but 
your plan seems alright.

For the GPX I'm not sure:
- Either in comment field as a first step?
- Otherwise as an <extension> sub-tag, but in this case maybe with an app. 
setting to disable it to limit impact to client applications that don't support 
this tag.

Original comment by nicolas@guillaumin.me on 6 Apr 2014 at 1:42

[GoogleCodeExporter]

So I now have an implementation that seems to work somehow. 

Here is what I did:
- I added a column to waypoint and track tables for compass. 
- I added sensor listeners to GPSLogger and GpsStatus. 
- I have added export code for the GPX and a configuration option for if and 
how to include the compass into the GPX (cmt or extension). 
-I have added a gui, that shows the current compass heading. 

-I have done NO translation but I think most (if not all) of the strings are in 
the resources.

Would you be interested in me pushing this back? How should I proceed.

Original comment by christop...@gmail.com on 10 Apr 2014 at 3:32

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Nice :) Don't worry about the translations, I'm using Transifex so it's usually 
translated by the community.

The best way to submit a patch would be by doing a pull request on GitHub. I 
think the GitHub Help pages are quite good and should help you get started.

Original comment by nicolas@guillaumin.me on 10 Apr 2014 at 9:35