windows mobile full version

[GoogleCodeExporter]

What new or enhanced feature are you proposing?
To upgrade the version of this program that runs in basic mode on windows 
mobile, so that it functions more like the desktop version - in that it would 
be able to download maps of specified locations straight to the storage card of 
the device. I personally use a HP ipaq 112 pda for most of my mobile computing. 
and am thinking off getting a bluetooth gps receiver for it, if i can get a map 
solution running. 

What goal would this enhancement help you achieve?
I need an offline maps storage solution for navigating whilst on foot and in 
vehicles travelling abroad without regular Internet connection. At the moment 
there is no windows mobile non-java based offline maps gps navigation solution 
in this area.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by danurquh...@gmail.com on 1 Dec 2010 at 9:50

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I don't know if you are aware of windows mobile version:
http://code.google.com/p/gmapcatcher/source/browse/#svn/trunk/WindowsMobile

Original comment by standa31...@gmail.com on 3 Dec 2010 at 9:11

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Yes, that is what I was using, but i can't figure out a way to make it useful 
with the available options, it doesn't seem able to download or browse maps 
using a wifi connection (the options are "select map" from the local folders, 
and I am not sure how to create new maps effectively, and "show WayPs" which I 
am also not sure how to create effectively since the syntax in the files is 
unfamiliar to me), and I can't seem to search for locations to go to, I tried 
downloading tiles using the desktop version and then putting them in the tiles 
folders of a new map location, and then i tried manually scrolling from the 
default gps coords to my local gps coords, which took a long time because it 
kept resetting to "infinity, 90" when i finally got to the gps coords of the 
map tiles i downloaded I could see the map tiles, but shortly thereafter the 
gps coords reset again putting me back in the middle of missing.png land. 

I don't know how hard it would be, but even if there was a way to enter gps 
coords to view, at the very least, that would be immensely better. Ideally, the 
wm version would have the full feature set of the desktop version, or a 
streamlined approximation of such with location searching and map downloading. 
I was going to buy Global Navigator, which is a full gps maps solution for 
windows mobile, but it seems like the support/registration team may have 
abandoned the project, which leaves a gap in the market.

Original comment by danurquh...@gmail.com on 3 Dec 2010 at 1:18

[GoogleCodeExporter]

by the way the version i am using comes in the file GMapCatcher-0.7.5.0.zip 
under "WindowsMobile/wmgooglemaps" is this deprecated or incorrect useage for a 
WM6 device?

Original comment by danurquh...@gmail.com on 3 Dec 2010 at 1:22

[GoogleCodeExporter]

- thanks for your points.
- try version from SVN, from link I provided. AFAIK its more up-to-date 
varsion. I strongly recommend to use it.
- there is a readme.txt file describing features. See "section" known issues.
- it seems I should be able to get to some dev. environment, so hope to improve 
at least some issues I have on my mind

Going to custom GPS coord "workaround": 
- "options" > "Save GPS coord"
- enter custom GPS coord of the place, set its name and hit "Save"
- press button "W" on main screen and select new waypoint from selectbox at the 
bottom and "Go"
- optionally you can select "Select WayPoints for Display" - select all and 
waypoint will be also visible on the map.

If you check the SVN version I would appreciate to hear your comments.

Original comment by standa31...@gmail.com on 3 Dec 2010 at 3:12

• Changed state: Accepted

[GoogleCodeExporter]

[deleted comment]

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I have gotten the most recent version AFAIK wmgooglemaps__201011 it definitely 
looks to be much better. 

the readme was also very useful. 

I was able to save GPS coords, and I was able to view the waypoint on my map, 
which was massively helpful in navigating to my cached map tiles. I was not 
able to automatically "GO" to a waypoint however, as I was unable to locate the 
"Go" Button.

below is my feedback on the most recent version:

-I was not able to edit or delete waypoints except by external text editor, 
delete would be enough initially as edit is a bit harder to build 
understandably. 

-selecting waypoints only reveals one letter to describe a location, this could 
become confusing with a large number of waypoints. I believe this is because 
the app is displaying the field value for "type" rather than "wayPointName"

-it would be physically faster to use the program if the right hand side 
buttons were above the left hand side buttons making the manual transit time 
less (just like how all of your menus in a browser or most other programs are 
grouped together to form a cluster). This would also solve the problem of 
having to scroll horizontally on narrower screens to reach the right hand side 
buttons. Which is something I have to do slightly. 

-when scrolling through gps coords, the zoom factor often changes on it's own 
during screen taps, for instance if i zoom out to -15 and then scroll across, i 
find the gps coords move less and less for the same screen action and then when 
i tap zoom-out i find the next level up is -3 because it has zoomed in whilst i 
was scrolling. This may be a feature rather than a bug, not sure.

-location favourites would be very useful, so a set of gps coords could be 
stored with zoom level and place name/description, and could be revisited by 
opening the favourites list, scrolling to the intended destination and opening 
it. Perhaps this could be done by adding a goTo function for waypoints so as to 
avoid the scrolling and zooming needed to view a waypoint otherwise. It would 
increase produtivity on the device radically. That is to say, as with web 
browsing, without a search function, bookmarks are the next most useful thing. 
Nevertheless, the current ability to add waypoints through the program has 
helped a lot.

Original comment by danurquh...@gmail.com on 3 Dec 2010 at 5:16

[GoogleCodeExporter]

thanks for your time and comments :)

I updated readme file in SVN. I added description of 'Dialog Window 
"WayPoints"' and 'Dialog Window "Save GPS Coord"'.

Overall - app was finished in a hurry to get it on time before I left for 
vacation. I want to make some improvements in near future.

- editing / deleting waypoints - right. Will be there. 

- selecting waypoints... - I believe you mean "Tp" in Save GPS Coord window. Tp 
is meant to be "Category", not a name. So Tp is misleading, should be at list 
'Cat'. For example I have waypoints I stored during 1st day of hike and during 
2nd day. Like "manual" GPS tracker. I set for each waypoint in first day Tp='1' 
and for 2nd day waypints Tp='2'. If I want to display only 2nd day waypints I 
choose 'Selected' and check box '2'. While waypoints are displayed on the map 
you should see full name used as 'Name' while storing waypoint (or date/time if 
name was left blank). MyTodo: use full words instead of only single letter. 

-location favourites... - Please look at 'Dialog Window "WayPoints"'. There 
should be 2 widgets at the bottom of the window - combo box and button "Go". 
Can you see them? There are stored waypoints in combo box.
What display resolution do you have?
I have 800x480px. I was trying to test windows with different resolutions at 
mobile emulater and AFAIK there were all widgets visible on the display.

- while scrolling... - I added another lines. Here they are: 
"Moving around - touch interface
- use dragging to move around
- press (click) on map somewhere on the display. The place will be moved to the 
center of the map
- doubleclick changes zoom level." 
and "known issue":
"while doubleclicking the map zoom is in fact changed and map is displayed with 
bigger zoom but zoom level displayed in buttons [+] [-] doesn't show the new 
value.". 
Could it be reason for confusion? 
I will remove option of doubleclicking. It often confuses people not used to 
"touch-unfriendly" displays used in many windows mobile phones. My friends 
often sends "doubleclick" while scrolling and not pressing enough on the 
display.

Original comment by standa31...@gmail.com on 4 Dec 2010 at 9:46

[GoogleCodeExporter]

no problem, I know a lot of people have been complaining on other forums about 
there being very little recourse for people who need offline maps of this sort. 
I would contribute some code myself If i had a development environment, but not 
sure if one exists for linux that can compile for all of these platforms. 

-location favourites: from the main screen I press the W button to bring up the 
waypoints dialog, On this screen I see 

Select Waypoints for Display:
[]None [X]Selected []All

[X]U (stored waypoint category)

[OK] (confirm button)

and then in the bottom task bar on either side of my input type (keyboard, 
handwriting, etc) I see 2 blank button squares. Is this where the combo box and 
Go button are intended to be?

Display Res for the ipaq 112 is 320x240, perhaps this is quite low for a device 
that is currently still being sold by HP. And would also explain why the W 
button is hidden off the right hand side until I scroll across. 

-while scrolling: ah i see, the buttons not updating the current zoom level 
would contribute to the confusion, but the main factor is that the double click 
sensitivity doesn't seem to be localised to the initial click radius, That is 
to say, when i am scrolling quickly i click the bottom right hand side of the 
screen drag to the top left, and then i repeat that action from the bottom 
right hand side again very rapidly, that this counts as a double click is the 
main source of confusion. If in fact that is the case. But overall this is a 
minor issue.

Original comment by danurquh...@gmail.com on 5 Dec 2010 at 10:26

[GoogleCodeExporter]

There is a very nice Java application that I've been using in my BlackBerry
http://www.mgmaps.com/

I got in contact with the developer and the code is currently available at 
https://svn.mgmaps.com, licensing terms are GPL...

Original comment by heldersepu on 6 Dec 2010 at 1:51

[GoogleCodeExporter]

yeah there are a few java based attempts at making an offline maps solution, 
but what there isn't is a useable JVM for windows mobile. Which is the dilemma 
for people using windows on their handhelds.

Original comment by danurquh...@gmail.com on 6 Dec 2010 at 5:17

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Issue 242 has been merged into this issue.

Original comment by heldersepu on 6 Dec 2010 at 7:15

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Hi danurguhart.
Im posting screenshots as I see UI in emulator in standard res - 320x240px. 
I see all widgets I should see.
Can you comment if you can see what's on screenshots also on your device?

Original comment by standa31...@gmail.com on 28 Dec 2010 at 9:53

Attachments:

• wmobilemaps_land_main.png
• wmobilemaps_land_waypoints.png
• wmobilemaps_portr_main.png

[GoogleCodeExporter]

That appears different to what I have. In the readme that accompanies the files 
that I have downloaded is the date: 2010/11/08

Are these screenshots from a more recent version?

Running the version that I have now shows the following differences:
1. Waypoints Dialogue: OK button is larger and located at the bottom of the 
screen
2. Waypoints Dialogue: Go Button and ComboBox are absent, OK button appears in 
this position instead as noted above.
3. Landscape Maps: buttons appear along the bottom rather than at the side as 
in Portrait mode (i think your screeenshots are named inversely [land/portr]).

Original comment by danurquh...@gmail.com on 29 Dec 2010 at 4:21

[GoogleCodeExporter]

There is no new version. Screenshots are from version you have.
Screenshots show how it should look.
land/port - my mistake in names
Buttons should be along shorter edge of the screen. (portrait - bottom, 
landscape - right side)

Friend of mine has some PDA. I'll check if he has 320x240, if so, I will make 
some test on his device. Should be able to test it in 2weeks. If he has same 
layout as you do, I will make some more tests on his device.

Thanks for your time.

p.s.
I expect to post updated version - removed double click, different behavior of 
button G, maybe get rid of some other errors... I don't expect to fix this 
layout issue yet.

Original comment by standa31...@gmail.com on 30 Dec 2010 at 8:55

[GoogleCodeExporter]

hmm, ok, the main concern is that the waypoints dialogue has missing interface 
components (point 2) very odd as it doesn't appear to just be a layout/screen 
size issue. if it were, surely the OK button would be in the same place and at 
the same relative size, but it is instead at the bottom and much larger. 

Original comment by danurquh...@gmail.com on 30 Dec 2010 at 9:09

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Hi danurgh.

I updated wmobilemaps in SVN. Renamed from wmgooglemaps.

There are some annoying errors fixed (if you want - compare old and new 
readme.txt files - known issues). I didn't make changelog.

Can you please try this version? 
There is no different in waypoints dialog window but after waypoints window is 
displayed position and size of all widgets is stored to the text file - 
waypointsWidgets.txt in root of wmobilemaps.

Please paste here content of the file.
Thanks in advance.

Original comment by standa31...@gmail.com on 16 Jan 2011 at 9:54

[GoogleCodeExporter]

sorry, it's late here.
Should write: danurguhart.

Original comment by standa31...@gmail.com on 16 Jan 2011 at 9:56

[GoogleCodeExporter]

hi, i downloaded svn/  trunk/ WindowsMobile/ wmobilemaps_distr__20110116.zip

and extracted it to my ipaqs sd card and many of the issues i previously 
noticed appear to be have been resolved. 

the waypoints dialog appears as you expected with the combobox and Go button at 
the bottom enabling the display of user stored gps coordinates. 

the position of everything is ok as well now, although there are some slight 
overlaps, nothing that causes dysfunction. 

here are the contents of the txt file you requested anyway, in case it is of 
some use to you:

rb_none:4:37:64:20
rb_selected:64:37:90:20
rb_all:148:37:45:20
bok:199:33:37:24
cb_gotowaypoint:10:228:190:20
b_gotowaypoint:193:228:37:24

Good work so far, it is quite a promising application. 

If i can make one more suggestion for a potential feature for future 
developments. In the absence of a path finding function that would enable the 
generation of turn signals, a simple line drawing option between the current 
gps coordinate and the selected and visible waypoint gps co-ordinate would be a 
comparatively quick way of providing directional suggestion for people trying 
to perform live navigation.Just a thought that might help to reduce the need to 
zoom out when you are trying to determine the overall heading towards your 
destination. 

cheers

Original comment by danurquh...@gmail.com on 18 Jan 2011 at 6:06

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I've also tried the new version ( on a HTC.  It works quite well with my GPS. 
May I have some suggeston that in some places, for example, Mainland China, the 
road map has a displcement.  Is it possible to add a function for Coordinate 
correction to overcome this?

Original comment by fst...@gmail.com on 19 Jan 2011 at 1:45

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Hi danurguhart.

Thanks for reply. At last I had an opportunity to check your response.
I tried previous version from SVN in development emulator and got same 
behaviour as you described. I have some theory why it happened. It is away, and 
so I don't care any more. Solution was probably just recompile it once more.

Thanks for suggestion - line to nearest / chosen waypoint - I will think about 
it, but not promising anything. In fact I am thinking about moving to some 
android phone and create android version, so I don't expect to spend much time 
enriching this windows mobile version any more.

Original comment by standa31...@gmail.com on 29 Jan 2011 at 7:46

• Changed state: Fixed

[GoogleCodeExporter]

HI fstmiv:

Function Coordination correction - i'm not sure.

But as you describe it it may be error somewhere else.
Can you please post 1 or more pairs of coordinates:
one pair is:
- GPS coordinates of some specific place as you see it in wmobilemaps (it's 
possible to set in menu to view current coordinates)
- real GPS coordinates of the same place, coordinates that should wmobilemaps 
also display

And it would be great if you don't post it here, but create a new issue with 
this problem.

Thanks.

Original comment by standa31...@gmail.com on 29 Jan 2011 at 7:55