Recent changes
The following is a summary list of the more important changes made
recently, no mention being made of bug corrections.
- complete revision to avoid problems in dealing with toplevel
windows caused by a bug in the Gnome Metacity window manager; thanks
to Sergei Golovan.
- accurate formulae for computing distances and bearings are now
the default and should be used except on very slow computers; most
users should select them when upgrading; thanks to Valère Robin.
- full support for TFW files following the description available
from the ESRI site; with the help of Jim McGuire
(jxmcguire1_at_ualr.edu).
- fonts can now be fully configured, with real-time configuration
for map and plots fonts; font sizes selected in previous versions
will not be considered when upgrading and manual selection is
needed; in answer to a suggestion from Paul Gogan
(pgmail_at_gogan.org).
- user-defined methods for renaming waypoints; after a suggestion
by Zvi Grauer.
- changes in group window, suggested by Zvi Grauer: element names
are coloured depending on being in the data-base (only updated when
clicking or double-clicking on them), more than one element can be
selected.
- tentative support for importation of waypoints from points of
interest in MapEdit Polish format files; asked by Zvi Grauer.
- information on a waypoint can be sent to a Twitter account if
the
TclCurl library is available; with thanks to Zvi Grauer
for his PHP script to do a similar thing.
- GPSMan can now be extended through pre- and user-defined
plug-ins coded in Tcl/Tk.
- patch files may now change the procedures that set up the
interface and initialise global variables.
- explicit support for some new Garmin receivers; with thanks to
Ken Stephens, Geoff, Elven Decker, Bill Rainey, Thomas D. Dean, Mark
N. Reihart, Pekka Ahoi, Alex Preobrazhenskiy and Mario Borgnia
who sent protocol lists.
- support for the Russian language, kindly contributed by Nikolai
Kosyakoff (priroda.net_at_gmail.com).
- new option for default on displaying items on map when reading a
file; asked by Valère Robin.
- changes in the edit/show windows for routes, tracks and
polylines: new way of selecting points, affecting the way some edit
operations work, and new
Split operation that creates new
items of the same type by cutting the original item at certain
points; in answer to suggestions by Zvi Grauer
(zvi.grauer_at_gmail.com).
- side-view elevation graphs now answer to
Control key and
mouse left-button showing the number of the nearest point, its
altitude and cumulative distance or time; contributed by Benoit
Steiner (benetsteph_at_free.fr). There is a new button for
displaying/hiding vertical grid lines; asked by Rudolf Martin
(rudolf.martin_at_gmx.de). Distances in the horizontal axis are
now shown and gaps between segments are displayed as interrupted lines.
- new values in computation of track parameters:
- cummulative ascent (height of climbing); contributed by Benoit
Steiner.
- cummulative descent, maximum and minimum altitudes; asked by
Rudolf Martin.
- total distance and time not considering gaps between segments.
- the average speed is now computed not considering gaps between
segments.
Altitude related parameters only shown if there is altitude
information, and total distance and time not considering gaps only
shown if different from totals including gaps.
- enhanced support for the least squares fit geo-referencing
method that can now be used with the affine, affine conformal and
affine conformal with no rotation transformations, and produce
information on the deviations of control points after a least
squares fit; with the kind assistance of J. B. Mehl who provided the
formulas and helped with tests.
- support for the EOV (Hungarian National) projection and grid,
kindly contributed by Sándor Laky (laky.sandor_at_freemail.hu);
asked by Attila Berenyi (berenyi.attila_at_gmail.com) with thanks
for his help.
- the time offset (defining a time zone) in GPSMan files is now
taken into account when loading them; this may affect waypoint
creation dates, track points time-stamps and lap start times; in
answer to a question by Stephen Berryman
(berrymansj_at_optusnet.com.au).
- data items can now be opened from the
Data sub-menus and
the list menus.
- a single type of items (apart from "Group") must be chosen
when putting to or getting from the receiver; this is avoids
synchronization problems that may occur if the connection is
slow.
- the
translate command accepts parameters for overrriding
the time offsets in GPSMan files.
- the
geopicts command can now use EXIF files (as produced,
for instance, by exif or metacam) instead of picture
files, and can deal with different time-zones for track and pictures
time-stamps.
- importation and exportation of KML format; contributed by Valère
Robin, asked by Zvi Grauer.
- better support for GPX files, concerning the treatment of
waypoint names and of character encoding.
- importation of OziExplorer waypoint files.
- examples of some commands in the section about the command-line
mode in the user manual.
- Garmin support:
- when getting waypoints not defined by the user from the
receiver, those with the same name but different positions will be
renamed instead of overwritten;
- experimental support for changing the baud rate of a serial
communication with some receivers. GPSMan now uses the option for
the default baud rate in a different way. With thanks to Andy
Walls (cwalls_at_radix.net) who found out a specification of
the corresponding protocol, and to Klaus Ethgen for his help with
tests;
- explicit support for some new receivers; with thanks to all
those who sent protocol lists: Wouter Amsterdam, Facundo Ariel
Perez, David W. Capella, Hiroshi Iwamoto, András
Veres-Szentkirályi, Steven Winikoff, Stefan Heller, Greg McQuat,
Andy Walls, Jeff Hanson, Gerry Creager, Paul B. Hoch, Johann
Spies, Bruce Dawson, Bogdan Hlevca, Ralf Kleineisel, David
Antliff, Slaven Rezic, Matthias Wenzel, Lovro Palaversa, Adrian
Lawrence, Oliver Hegner, David P. Brown, M. Gutman, Jean-Yves
Sage, Damien Porquet, Vincent Arkesteijn, Patrice Arnal, Zvi
Grauer, James B. Mehl.
- Least Squares fit for geo-referencing images either by placing
control points on the image, or by giving a file of coordinates of
control points; asked by James B. Mehl (jmehl_at_rockisland.com)
who kindly provided the formulas.
- the track computation window now displays for each track point
its date and position; there was a change in the order of the fields
both in the window and in saved results; asked by Victor Yip.
- enhanced support for GPX files; contributed by Valère Robin.
- dealing with track segments in GPX files; asked by Tomi Ollila.
- importing and exporting tracks using a file format similar to
the Garmin Simple Text Output protocol.
getfix command now also produces the altitude if in a 3D
fix; asked by Marc van der Sluys.
- new geopicts command geo-references files (e.g., picture
files from a digital camera) either based on their time-stamps and a
given track, or by using the sequence of waypoints in a group. The
result is a file with waypoints (at present in GPX format) that can
be suitable for use with Web applications. Implemented using as
model a Python script kindly contributed by Valère Robin.
- new show symbols command prints for each waypoint symbol
its internal name followed by the name in the user-selected
language; symbol internal names may be needed in the
geopicts
command.
- the read command that was only to be used in GPSMan scripts
can now be used from the command-line in which case it reads a data
file and launches the graphical interface; suggested by Valère Robin.
- names of file formats in commands can now be given all in lower
case letters.
- for MS-Windows users, the manual now explains how to set the
user directory under the user's "Application Data" directory;
contributed by Harald Stauss (harald.stauss_at_web.de).
- explicit support for some more Garmin receivers or their new
firmware versions, including: the GPSMap 60, the StreetPilot i2, the
eTrex Venture and the Forerunner 305; with thanks to all those who
sent protocol lists: Philip Hands, Rolf Werum, Patrick Kik, Waldemar
de Laurent, Jon Niehof, Harry Jensen, Alberto Ham, Hans-Peter
Nilsson, Jorge Sanchez, Jeremiah Horner.
- importation of waypoints from Kismet .network files with
location information, asked by Bernd Stuht (stuht_at_web.de);
some new options on this should be configured by editing config.tcl.
- map window can now be resized.
- WARNING: Garmin USB support for some recent Garmin receivers
will need at least version 0.28 of the garmin_gps Linux kernel
driver.
- updates to Garmin support following the specifications
made available in May 2006, but not (yet) covering some new
protocols for fitness-oriented receivers.
- explicit support for several Garmin receivers or their new
firmware versions, including: GPSMAP 60CSX and 76CSX, EDGE 205 and
305, GPS 18USB, eTrex Legend Cx, Forerunner 205, and GPS 60; with
thanks for all those who sent protocol lists: Doug Larrick,
Thomas Zumbrunn, Jiri Dvorak, Daniel Dorau, Nenad, Elric Milon
Beltran, Michel Equeter, Dominic Hargreaves, Sébastien Roy, Nicolas
Brouard, Reinhold Pschierer, Sven Anders, Jon Stockill.
- new options:
- the information displayed when the pointer goes over a track
point on the map can now be the point number or its date, depending
on a new option; suggested by Hans Olzem.
- font and icon sizes can now be configured for better usage in
high-definition displays.
- the command-line mode is no longer restricted to Unix/Linux
systems; in answer to a request from Wes Johnston.
- short names of user projections can no longer have blanks.
- items may be associated with a map background image that will be
displayed when the item is displayed on an empty map; suggested by
Paulo Quaresma.
- last directories visited when reading/writing files for each
file type are now remembered and kept in the saved state; suggested
by Paul Scorer.
- time stamp and distance are now displayed in the TR animation
dialog; asked by Tim Jacobs.
- in travel mode it is now possible to follow a LN.
- enhanced support for the GPX format, including exportation of WP
altitudes (suggested by Matt Wilkie); with thanks to Valère Robin.
- better support for Ozi .map files; thanks to Paulo Quaresma
and Kari Likovuori.
- new datum Deutsches Hauptdreiecksnetz, from the Frida data
set, available from the Free Vector-Geodata Osnabrück (http://frida.intevation.org).
- several menu-buttons that could create long menus of items replaced
by buttons launching dialogs with listboxes.
- new layout of the WP edit/show window.
- support for the Garmin USB protocol in Linux kernels having the
garmin_gps kernel driver; with thanks to the author of the
kernel driver, Hermann Kneissel, for guidance on using it; thanks
are also due to Ron Schmars and Asbjørn Djupdal for their help when
trying to make an implementation based on the libusb library.
- other updates to Garmin support following the specifications
made available on September 2004.
- almanac data can be retrieved from Garmin receivers and
displayed if in graphical mode, or saved to a file if in
command-line mode.
- explicit support for several Garmin receivers or their new
firmware versions, including: eTrex Legend C, eTrex Vista C,
Forerunner 301, GPS 60, Quest, Rino 130; with thanks for all those
who sent protocol lists: Jerry Walker, Vlatko Kosturjak, Alan
Rogers, Peter MacDonald, Luca Marletta, Ariel Garcia, Cliff Dugal,
Imre Simon, José Maria Alonso, Dennis Langenfeld, Eric Smith, Simon
Wood, Al Nikolov, Oliver Theis, Chris Smith, Robert Joop, Jan Arne
Fagertun, Marques Johansson, Dan Bluestein, Steven Kollmansberger,
David Bannon, Harry Palmer, Wes Johnston, Frank Sommer.
GPSMan WWW pages
©Miguel
Filgueiras,
mig_at_ncc.up.pt, LIACC & DCC Faculdade de Ciências,
Universidade do Porto, 1998-2009
