"live" waypoints from remote server

Michael-

Is your suggestion basically the same as this?-

https://getsatisfaction.com/locus/top...

no, its supplemental:

the other suggestion is: send actual gpsposition to remote server

my suggestion is: pull waypoints from remote server

my wishes: configurable url, configurable time between updates, independent setup from the trackrecording.

Think of it as a self hosted google latitude.

Now that livetracking is implemented this feature gets more important for me:

Downloading Waypoints periodically from a user defined url.

Think of it as a friends tracker or to see where other cars from your fleet are staying.

On click display last time the waypoint was fetched from server and the infos that got fetched with it

Google Earth on PC can do this with network-links. Don`t know, if it works, when you save a network-link as kml/kmz and import it to Locus?

no it won`t work. Network KML aren`t supported now, but should be nice extension that will cover current wish right?

I did this with the api. It doesn`t auto refresh yet(my lack of java skills).It works as a button on the right panel (co app). Click it and it loads the points. It would be nice to have it natively integrated.

I parse the same XML I use to display the points on a google map. I`m sure the KML would be fine too.

It would be nice to have a permanent link (assigned to a button for easy access.) and auto refresh.

hmm it`s also nice solution. It can be very simply done by any add-on for locus. Just in interval, download any kml file or any points, make from them file on SD card, and silently send Locus info to import and display this file. And this task in some defined interval ....

Both ways sound cool, whatever is easier to implement.

Michael

first: directly in Locus depend on me and will be probably more complex

second: depend on work of other people. Hmm, should be even more complex if anyone have time and some small skills on it :)

so ...

if there will be a lot of votes and no one will try to create some public add-on on it, first possibility will be a solution. Simple ...

you last reply sounds as the best solution: Usable for any add-on and one can implement waypointcreation with "auto-"updates in any app

.oO(could you implement a sample add-on with a simple waypointdownload feature? ;)

Im not sure where the place to vote is, but here is one for this feature/addon, thanks

simply press "+1" button in first post of idea you like

I want to refresh this topic. Menion, in the newest beta version you mentioned about new KML network functionality, is it really working? Do you have any working KML with autorefresh examples on which I can base?

Hi,

this is exactly solution why I added support for NL. Code below is sample file I used for testing. I contain one very simply NL (which return one useless point) and one screen overlay. Suggest to check specification here https://developers.google.com/kml/doc... . Also count that not all parameters works now! So if something won`t, don`t fight with it a lot and rather send me some info.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<kml xmlns="http://earth.google.com/kml/2.2">

<Folder>

<name>Point Weather Forecast</name>

<visibility>0</visibility>

<open>0</open>

<description>Center the window on the localtion you want a forecast for. When the placemark appears click on the placemark to receive a link to the forecast for the point under the placemark.</description>

<NetworkLink>

<name>View Centered Placemark</name>

<visibility>1</visibility>

<open>0</open>

<description>Center the window on the localtion you want a forecast for. When the placemark appears click on the placemark to receive a link to the forecast for the point under the placemark.</description>

<refreshVisibility>0</refreshVisibility>

<flyToView>0</flyToView>

<Link>

<href>http://www.srh.noaa.gov/gis/kml/webpageforecast/coordinateforecast.php</href>;

<refreshInterval>2</refreshInterval>

<viewRefreshMode>onStop</viewRefreshMode>

<viewRefreshTime>0</viewRefreshTime>

</Link>

</NetworkLink>

<ScreenOverlay>

<name>NWS/MADIS logo</name>

<visibility>1</visibility>

<description>KML/KMZ file creation: NWS El Paso.</description>

<Icon>

<href>http://www.srh.noaa.gov/gis/kml/icons/noaanws.gif</href>;

</Icon>

<overlayXY x="0" y="0" xunits="fraction" yunits="fraction"/>

<screenXY x="0" y="0" xunits="fraction" yunits="fraction"/>

<size x="-1" y="-1" xunits="fraction" yunits="fraction"/>

</ScreenOverlay>

</Folder>

</kml>

Cool Stuff!

Just tried some simple things with waypoints and tracks and it seems to work.

I imported the kml file over the import function and url and it works (read: it downloads the Networklink contents) but how to stop downloading or delete the imported file?

Michael

there are two ways how to get data to Locus

import dialog

-----------------

tracks/points are stored in databases, rest is added as temporary items into map (or when you enabled "Only display", all is added as temp)

Items tab in Map manager

--------------------------------

all data are packed into one object and this object is also as temp. So you can hide this object (file) also in Items tab

- and finally, you may remove ALL temp items from map by "remove temp map items" button, which is at top panel in "Items tab" or currently as a separate button into right panel

I just loaded this forecast. Quick insight: the "Process successful" toast is appearing after every reload of the link ( in this case after moving a cursor to a new position )

please install last test version from dropbox 2.5.6.4, there was one issue that is probably causing this. If not, I`ll ask you for log, thanks!

But, im aleady working on that version. So this issue is also in 2.5.6.4 version,

oki, then please some log, because I have no such issue ...

quick question about collecting logs. filtering for word "locus" is fine, or is there a chance I will miss some important log entries?

it`s possible to miss some in case of more serious issues. But generally I prefer complete logs. Anyway in this case, it`s probable that I use some function from older android or unsupported on your phone, so filtered log, in case you worry about some information, should be enough

EDIT: hmm you wrote in same time, anyway in this log is absolutely no error. You filtered it too much :)

ok. no filtering, verbose level: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4747589/Locu...

ah damn, I`m very sorry - I read "Process UNsuccessful" in your post, so I thought that Locus crash you, or have some errors on background. It just notify that new file was correctly imported, but I understand that it`s not necessary in this case. Sorry, I`ll do something with it

ok. im trying to find some useful kml link, but som eof them are not working? can you try this: http://www.barnabu.co.uk/files/kmz/gl...

I must admit that some kind of Success message should be appearing after successful refreshing the NL link. But it should be in form of unobtrusive icon in one of the screen corners. There should be a relevant icons when downloading data, and after a success.

hmm this is quite a big problem you discovered. I don`t know how much you`re familiar with map projections, anyway Network link you shared above contain

1. more advanced features that Locus can handle now (you should check it in Google Earth), but mainly

2. image that cover whole world. Such image is projected in very different map projection then Online maps you have in Locus (generally different then 2D maps usually use), so such huge image have to be firstly re-projected to use it in Locus. And it`s very complicated task for very limited memory sources I have on android. For small images, there is no problem. Image that cover few square km, show almost zero distorsion, so there is no need for reprojection, but here it`s impossible to display it.

Im quite familiar with projections. So how your algorithm works? It checks the size of the overlay image and decide to show it or no? Is there any way to give the Locus already reprojected image?

currently there is no mechanism. There is error on background for such images. In first step, I`m trying to convert coordinates to map projection, so N90, E180 to Mercator projection. This is anyway not possible, so return value is NaN :). And algorithm that compute pixel projection on screen end because target coordinates are all NaN. Simple ...

If you put link to images already in Mercator (and of course limited to latitude cca +85, -85), this will works correctly, but you`ll then have incorrect images in Google Earth

thanks for clarification over the temporary items, now its working. With your example i also have the "Process successful" message everytime the map stops.

Samsung Note with official ICS

Livetracking is much more useful that way: Now hopefully i can see the other livetrackers zipping around :) - just needs some coding for our inhouse tracking application for spitting out the correct kml-files

Ok, good to know. I was thinking about dynamically creating my own KML by reprojecting from CS92 projection to Mercator.

another question: how Locus will behave with multiple layers in KML file?

yes if your Link (or Icon) object have "viewRefreshMode" parameter set to "onStop", then everytime you end moving, it really launch loading new data from URL. Expect anyway that some features are not currently working like viewRefreshMode:onRequest, viewRefreshMode:onRegion and others (quite a lot I think), so they`ll be added when will be interest. Core should works now I think, so enough to playing :)

I think we should make that by ourselves with some PHP server side scripting, to produce dynamic KML file from livetracking feature.

hmm you mean just something that was in sample file? Because there is no GUI now for works with layers, all will be loaded at once.

Hi Menion!

Could you post what Intervalsettings are supported yet?

It seems to me that refreshMode is ignored and the only Mode in viewRefreshMode is onStop and then viewRefreshTime gets ignored.

Thanks!

onInterval

10

onStop

25

Hi,

I think there was still issue with this timing. I created new testing version here https://dl.dropbox.com/u/8015949/Locu... so check it. Should be supported RefreshMode.ON_INTERVAL and ViewRefreshMode.ON_STOP , anyway as I wrote, if there will be problems, I`ll gladly fix it but I need some sample file

hmmm, your link goes 404 :/

just played around with the version string and found a .8 version ;)

it seems that my timeout values also are ignored in this version...

$ cat margret.kml

Margret - Note

1

0

description 1

Name

1

0

description 2

0

0

http://xxxxxxx/margret.data.kml

onInterval

60

onStop

20

$ cat margret.data.kml

Livetracker

1

Margret Track

1

12.37952,41.11981,0 12.37958,41.11997,0 12.38259,41.11740,0 12.38318,41.11718,0 12.39116,41.11517,0

Margret

Zeit 2012-08-17T13:46:08+02:00 Speed 3.6 km/h Hoehe 311 Kompass 52.2

12.35311,41.10630,0

if i scroll around the data are reloaded instantly twice and normal reload nevers happens...

ups, markup got lost..

http://pastie.org/4532202

thanks for report Michael. Improved version is here https://dl.dropbox.com/u/8015949/Locu...

seems like autorefresh as

<refreshMode>onInterval</refreshMode>

<refreshInterval>60</refreshInterval>

works now, thanks for that :)

but

<viewRefreshMode>onStop</viewRefreshMode>

<viewRefreshTime>20</viewRefreshTime>

is ignored: as soon as i stop scrolling around the map the waypoints/tracks get refreshed and not after a 20 second stop, could not try with gps at the moment...

I was just trying some network kmz for fun and it more or less crashes latest locus testing version: http://www.fernwege.de/fileadmin/walk...

Yes, its a bit complex and probably not supposed to really work in Locus, but crashing is not an option :).

I don`t even know that viewRefreshTime is applied also on OnStop event. So it`s not a bug. It`s just not implemented feature. OnStop is triggered immediately. I`ll fix this ...

and thanks joeloc, I`ll check this

it`s quite simply why this file not work ... if you download file from kmz file, it`s almost 20MB big KML!! and because due to complex structure of KML files, I need to load whole file before next work, Locus for sure simply crash on "OutOfMemory" ...

It`s 1KB here. Do you mean you have to load all the included network links immediately, even if they arent enabled? Thats obviously impossible.

Anyway, users know nothing about file sizes. They click a link on a website and see Locus crash and give you a onestar rating :/

steps are simple ...

1. your kmz file contain links to this file http://www.fernwege.de/fileadmin/walk... - so downloading

2. after that, I extract kml file which is 20MB

3. I need to parse it to know what it contain. On my phone, it took around 70MB of memory to keep all data in memory. On your (and most of others), it crash ... I can only limit size of KML files that may be loaded ...

https://developers.google.com/kml/doc...

Do you already support line and icon styles? If so: can you post a short example?

my tries always ends in blue lines and red points ;)

send me your attempt and I`ll a) fix it, b) tell you what`s wrong because it should works correctly

oh, now while preparing the example for you i found the cause:

i display a track and at the same position as the last point in the track a waypoint. The "finishflag" from the track covers the other icon...

I can see that 20MB kml present a "slight" problem for Android :).

I dont know much about handling memory exceptions in java, but I am confident you will figure out a way to prevent crashing the whole app. If you must limit the size before loading, can you do it in a way that "powerful" tablets with plenty ram would still be able to load huge files and small phones would gracefully refuse? Something like

kmlsize = 5*sizeof(kmzfile); // rough unzip size estimation

if (kmlsize > myapp.availableram/4) { toolargeerror(); }

I know its ridicolous to try loading such a file, but users wont know this in advance. They just click on a random link on a random web page and wonder why Locus dies.

guys, release candidate https://dl.dropbox.com/u/8015949/Locu... :)

if anyway still have problems with network link or other import feature, let me know. This topic is not directly about Network link but I think, that NL can cover this request and if all will work correctly, topic should be closed, right? Or is there still need for some periodical download whateveryouwant file from any url?

I think NL are really good, standardized way of downloading live points from server. There should fit all needs. But if you think that some alternative would be needed... maybe some CSV file, refreshed every X seconds? this would be probably easier to do for some users, than creating kml file. anyway, network KML are amazing, and this is one of the really power-features! congratulations on that.

network links are much better than my original idea, a little bit more complicated to implement on the server side, but waypoints _and_ tracks are way more better than simple waypoints :)

the release candiate you posted has two bugs for me:

1) open Locus release candidate -> menu (left top) -> maps and it hangs, the old version worked fine, no changes on my side

2)

onInterval

10

onStop

05

if you don`t move the map every 10 seconds the network linked file gets refreshed every 10 seconds. if you move the map the first interval is 15 seconds (10+5) after you stop moving the map

and a question: is it possible to search for temporary map items?

<refreshMode>onInterval</refreshMode>

<refreshInterval>10</refreshInterval>

<viewRefreshMode>onStop</viewRefreshMode>

<viewRefreshTime>05</viewRefreshTime>

oh, found another issue: if there are less waypoints in a network linked kml file than before the refresh the old waypoints (which don`t exists in the more recent version of the network linked file) don`t get deleted in locus

thanks for report

1. "map" screen crash - fixed

2. problem with refresh. I discovered that I was using "refreshInterval" also for "viewRefreshMode", so that was problem, now fixed

3. are you sure about last post? New received KML file should completely overwrite content of previous one!

about 3: not so sure anymore... i think the problem is on the server side (so it`s my fault) where some sort of caching happens...

Michael

oki. If you may try this https://dl.dropbox.com/u/8015949/Locu... ... both previous problems should be fixed

it works now as expected!

perfect!

keep up the good work!

Hi!

After playing around a little bit i do have two (hopefully minor) points that are not perfect:

1) how to search for temporary map items?

2) if i make a guide line to one of the "dynamic" waypoints and the position from this waypoint gets updated the guide line doesn`t move.

one more wish:

a datafield for battery status

other than that it`s a really good feature :)

Thanks for a great product, just got the pro version for navigating my boat.

I`m trying to display AIS data from http:www.marinetraffic.com/ais/ge_marinetr... using Mapitems and Live Tracking. But have not gotten it to work. When enabling the Mapitems at least the Marine Traffic logo shows under the top menu but no ships are shown. Should this work or do I have to tweak some xml files first?

this would be the proper place to discuss buddy tracking? i know you can basically do everything neccessarry by configuring live tracking and network links in locus and setting up something minorly complex on some server. this is really only an option for major supergeeks though.

what if i want my mummy and auntie and uncle to simply always see each other on their phones, without them or me being major supergeeks? are there any plans for a really simple buddytracking in locus? really simple would mean just ONE SINGLE OPTION:

buddy tracking code: secret6324

thats it. nothing else. locus-headquartes would provide a simple server, locus would transmit position and name (phone owner or something), locus would query the server and display every point transmitted with the configured code during the last 24 hours or so.

If this will ever be implemented, guys remember about encryption! This is essential nowadays. Nobody thinks about it, but privacy is really starting to be a problem in modern internet.

https:// does that for you, even for the parameters when using POST afaik. more sophisticated things would really be overkill for such a simple thing. android transmits your location data all over the place anyway at any given time :).

"anyway"? it is the same to say: "I`m already forced to eat shit, so why not to eat more?"

If you don`t care about your privacy, that`s fine, but I care. I blocked a lot of google`s requests for my privacy information. They know only my IP, but not a gps location in the field. So I`m not using latitude, because of that and it would be nice to have some secure channel to exchange positions between friends.

Anyway, you could be right about the https, maybe it will be enough.

i care a lot about all this. if you are really seriously into privacy with a mobile phone, you will use a vpn tunnel anyway. it doesnt make sense to expect each app to implement its own encryption. we have https, we have openvpn, what more can you ask for?

ps, dont get me wrong... i am very much for encryption. it is however such a complex topic that it is better left to the "pros", nothing that needs to bother menion. https does wonders and openvpn (or any other vpn tunnel) can encrypt *all* your data transfer safely with a single tap. each app trying to do its own half-arsed encryption thingy will do more harm than good imho.

Is there anything new? This features sounds very interesting!

Hi!

Are there any updates on this from some months ago?

2) if i make a guide line to one of the "dynamic" waypoints and the position from this waypoint gets updated the guide line doesn`t move

Michael

are you sure?

-> https://www.dropbox.com/s/ddcyt11qjar...

hello. did you get any success doing this?

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/...

New kind of waypoint and track : live waypoint / track

Hi Locus Team !

A. Should it be possible to implement this in Locus :

1. Send RESTful POST or GET request to a server from and trough a GUI in Locus

2. Response from the server give coordinates and other useful informations of a waypoint

3. Then automatically create a waypoint / track from this response into Locus

4. Finally, display the waypoint on Locus map

B. If Yes, it means that something else is possible :

. Traccar is a well known Opensource tracking server with a web gui interface (Desktop and mobile versions are available) that allows to follow several devices in realtime, record tracks, etc ... (Website : https://www.traccar.org/ - Github : https://github.com/tananaev/traccar - Tracker for Traccar : really good alternative to Android Traccar client with more and interesting settings : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.wialonconsulting.wiatrack.traccar)

. It is already compatible with the Locus tracking option. (https://www.traccar.org/devices/ and https://github.com/tananaev/traccar/issues/742)

. The Traccar server is really easy to install on Windows, Mac OSX, Linux or Synology NAS. (OS Versions : https://www.traccar.org/download/ - Install : https://www.traccar.org/documentation/ and also http://traccar.litvak.su/installation.html)

. The new and last version is much improved and allows RESTful POST and GET requests plus lot of new useful options. (In fact it incorporates all the features from Traccar Web UI team : Website : http://traccar.litvak.su/index.html - Features : http://traccar.litvak.su/features/ - RESTful : http://traccar.litvak.su/features/rest-api.html - Github : https://github.com/vitalidze/traccar-web)

C. So, what would it be possible with that :

To something that is already possible (live tracking people including Locus users on a desktop) , it add outdoor real time live tracking people including Locus users inside Locus itself on a tablet or a smartphone for each member of a team, keeping in the same time the benefits of all the Locus tools on the same screen !!!

And all of that with your own personal server or any Traccar third party server

What for ? I let you imagine ... trekking and bikes teams playing / activities, secure outdoor family / group activities, paragliding / ultralights kind of transponder approach for group flying, scientifics teams works, search and rescue coordination / security (About this last one, because it is Locus, i'm sure it could easier be better than that : http://www.viewranger.com/en-gb/other/search-and-rescue :-) ) ...

So, good idea ?

Kind regards,

I don't need track or WP.

A temp. position icon (maybe with some variables (time, comments,..)) is ok for me.

Make it simple!

Send to Locus server: My position.

Receive from Locus server: Position from (group)ID xy

3rd party clients/server software?

hm, 'think it's better Asamm Software, s. r. o make the rules :)

is this feature broken?

Didn't need it for some time, newest version seems to have failure:

I start a browser, go to a link where a kml with <networklink>s inside, this gets opened in Locus.

Locus downloads the links from the server as specified in the networklink.

No Display from the waypoints inside, no download for the used icons.

If i go to menu -> data -> items and click the remove icon there is a popup which says: 2 items removed.

If i try downloading the networklink.kml-file again and right-swipe the "map content", click on "active items" there aren't any.

Michael

found it.

In the linked kml was an empty linestring.

If i load the resulting kml with the empty linestring directly (and not over networklink) it gets imported and displayed on the map.

If i make an corrupt xml file i get orange notifications with "error in 12341234.kml" - would it be possible to get an orange notification if the kml doesn't get loaded because its invalid?

Michael

I was asked to come here, so guys and gals, please help me.

• What specific features are planned? Is there any specification?
• What features are already implemented? What's in the works?
• Is there any of them related to the original topic? ;-)

I was looking for a solution (for the other side of well working live tracking data collection) which would periodically get from a server:

• point data (coordinate, misc info like altitude, speed, comment, ... basically what's supported by live tracking)
• track data (that's lower priority necessity, but would be verfy useful for OSM mapping parties)

Which would mean getting the data (points, tracks), displaying them, then refreshing based on a given period (which may mean potentially emptying the list and recreating again, or getting only the difference based on the diff of timestamps and updating the list). Due to the potentially large amount of data (possibly dozens of people, with their position) I would prefer not to have it in XML or other extremely verbose format, but I haven't tested how kml compression handle it.

The original plan would've been sending positional updates often (~10s), getting point data less frequently (~60s-180s) and getting track data even less frequently (~600s; due to the larger data size), using a simple self-written server, but preferably using already established protocol (if there's any, I haven't checked yet).

No "cloud" please, thank you. ;-)

I have been thinking, and let me simplify my suggestion.

Is there a way to request Locus to automagically refresh and redisplay

• points (waypoints, favourites, whatever)
• tracks

from the "disk" of the device? Preferably by a machanism like inotify, or inode change check.

In that case I would create a dead simple external program which could retrieve the points and/or tracks by whatever means (possibly only differences in a tight format, maybe compressed), then create a Locus format file of points or tracks, by whatever refresh periods I'd prefer. Locus only have to notice that a file have changed and reload it and redisplay it. All the attributes (color, linetype, etc) would be stored as usual, in the file.