[Announce] modRana: a flexible GPS navigation system

[taixzo]

...Does modrana have a Python library that I could just import? In that case I could bypass going through the process of launching modrana, at least for search.

[MartinK]

Originally Posted by taixzo

...Does modrana have a Python library that I could just import?

I'm afraid there is currently nothing like a library or an externally usable module at the moment. The closest thing would be just ripping out some of the code talking to the various online services from the onlineService modRana module and incorporate it to Saera.

Originally Posted by taixzo

In that case I could bypass going through the process of launching modrana, at least for search.

This got me thinking and I've realized that there is actually nothing preventing you from calling the main modRana executable directly, totally bypassing QML for non-GUI queries. The modRana executable already implements short circuits that only initialize what is needed to respond to the query. As a result the full modRana startup is skipped and the query is answered very quickly - it was implemented back then like this for processing queries from the original Saera.

To try it out, you will need to clone modRana from git, as the latest release available from OpenRepos has a bug that prevents the command line interface from working:

git clone https://github.com/M4rtinK/modrana
cd modrana
python3 modrana.py --address-search "London" --return-static-map-url

This should result return this static map URL for the result:

http://staticmap.openstreetmap.de/staticmap.php?center=51.507322,-0.127647&zoom=15&size=350x350&markers=51.507322,-0.127647,ol-marker

It also currently returns some log messages, but I'll that's a bug I'll have to fix, so that only the static map URL is returned.

You can also make it return the list of available CLI options:

python3 modrana.py --help

Only the non-GUI ones will probably work at the moment though, but I should be able to make also the GUI using ones work with the Qt 5 GUI eventually.

[marmistrz]

Originally Posted by MartinK

I finally got to trying the Python Mapnik example, and it seems to be working! This is the resulting image from the example, rendered on my N900:

It's great

Am I the one to fix the mapnik bug concerning the misconfigured path?
I'll be very busy up to 14th Apr, but later I should have more time.

[MartinK]

Originally Posted by marmistrz

It's great

Am I the one to fix the mapnik bug concerning the misconfigured path?

Yep - I think it should be fixed in the package.

Originally Posted by marmistrz

I'll be very busy up to 14th Apr, but later I should have more time.

No problem - I'm also unlikely to be doing any significant work on Mapnik before that.

[MartinK]

modRana 0.52.1 has been released!

So the quite massive modRana update is finally here for all supported platforms. Get it while it's hot!

Highlights

The main highlight of this release is routing support for the Qt 5 GUI! It is not yet as advanced as in the GTK GUI and online only for now, but nevertheless finally opens the world of routing to users on Sailfish OS, Android and other Qt 5-GUI only platforms!
I would also like to use this opportunity to Frederik Ferner who contributed the core routing support code for the Qt 5 GUI - thanks a lot!

Another highlight are GTK GUI map drawing improvements - the map should now correctly handle state changes such as switching overlay on/off, changing overlay layers, switching network usage modes, etc. Batch downloaded tiles should now also be used right away once the batch download finishes.

And thats not all - it is now possible to use double click zooming and mouse wheel zooming, track recording statistics, Android packages now have an Android visual style, performance improvements, lots of fixes, etc. Check the changelog for more details.

Changelog

* Sun Apr 12 2015 Martin Kolman - 0.52.1
- point to point online routing is now supported in the Qt 5 GUI! :)
 - Frederik Ferner contributed the core Qt 5 GUI routing support code - thanks a lot! :-)
 - routing mode can be activated from the main menu by clicking the "Route" button
  - to end the routing mode, just press the "clear" button
 - routing parameters can be configured in Options->Navigation
  - the car, walking and cycling routing mode can be set
  - avoiding of major highways and toll roads can be toggled
- GTK GUI should now properly refresh the map when it changes state
 - such as when switching overlays, switching network usage modes, when batch download finishes, etc.
- you can now double-click the map to zoom in both Qt 5 GUI and GTK GUI
- you can now use the mouse wheel to zoom the map in and out in both Qt 5 GUI and GTK GUI
- various statistics are now shown during track recording
- start using PyOtherSide 1.4 and Qt 5.4 for the Android package
 - this should fix a possible PyOtherSide crash at startup and adds Sqlite tile storage support on Android
 - thanks to Qt 5.4 the QtQuick controls (used through UC) now have a native Android theme
 - the compass rose now finally turns - also thanks to Qt 5.4 :)
- use Sqlite tile storage by default on Android
- prevent tile images from being indexed into the gallery on Android
- make the persistent dictionary usage Python 2 & 3 compatible by using the nr. 2 marshal file format
 - this should make it possible to use the Qt 5 GUI (Python 3) and GTK GUI (Python 2) on a single system while sharing a single options file
 - Fedora is one such platform where this is useful
- fix CLI mode
- disable log output to stdout in CLI mode
- Qt 5 GUI map screen performance should now be a bit improved, as an unexpectedly costly debugging element has been removed
- release media keys when the modRana window is not active on Sailfish OS
- notifications now work correctly in the Qt 5 GUI
- make QML -> Python log forwarding more robust
- the Qt 5 GUI can now properly use positioning data from GPSD

[biketool]

Still loving modRana
Feature request as you begin on the next version, location sharing especially for N900.
suggesting the following services
Mitaru - http://miataru.com/ OSS has sailfish, droid, html5, and ios ports
location2sms https://gitorious.org/location2sms OSS N9 port
Icecondor https://github.com/icecondor/api/wiki/api-v2 OSS

moving dots or pins for friends would be great as well as popup when a friend, especially a selected one, was nearby inside a defined distance.

[NxDefiant]

Just trying out modrana 0.52.1 but I'm unable to figure out how handmade routing is working. I can add start, middle and end points, but how do I add them to a line? Also the route-Button on the lower right doesn't seem to do anything. Any pointers here?

[MartinK]

Originally Posted by NxDefiant

Just trying out modrana 0.52.1 but I'm unable to figure out how handmade routing is working. I can add start, middle and end points, but how do I add them to a line? Also the route-Button on the lower right doesn't seem to do anything. Any pointers here?

It is unfortunately broken at the moment. I'l try to get it working again in the next modRana release.

[MartinK]

modRana is finally in Harbour!
So after being available for Sailfish OS for ~1.5 years only from OpenRepos modRana is now also available from the default Sailfish OS store AKA Harbour!

FAQ

Q: Are the OpenRepos and Harbour packages the same ?
A: In most aspects yes. The Harbour version of modRana can't use some APIs not yet allowed in Harbour, so some features don't work:

• keep screen on
• prevent suspend when recording a track
• volume key zooming

These features work just fine with the OpenRepos version and will also work with in Harbour modRana once the needed APIs are allowed. So take this into account when deciding which modRana package to install.

Q: I have installed modRana from OpenRepos and I can't install modRana from the Jolla store client. What should I do ?
A: Just uninstall the modRana package (using the store client or Warehouse) and install the package from Harbour - your local settings & map data won't be affected.

(As for why this is needed - the OpenRepos package has vendor set to "meego" (the default in the Mer OBS), but the Harbour package does not have a vendor set (to be Harbour compliant). This causes issues as even though the packaging tools see the possible package updates, they won't actually update them due to different vendors. This confusion should be hopefully fixed for good soon once I push a modRana package without vendor also to OpenRepos - even though OpenRepos package users will probably have to manually install it to get normal updates working again.)

Q: What will now happen to the OpenRepos package when modRana is also available from the Jolla Store/Harbour ?
A: I will keep updating the OpenRepos modRana package just like before. Then afterwards if no major issues have been found the package will also be submitted to Harbour. So basically an idea similar to how the opt-in updates work for Sailfish OS:

• if you want the newest modRana with largest amount of features - install modRana from OpenRepos
• if you want something more stable and tested + update notifications - install modRana from the Jolla Store/Harbour

[MartinK]

So as I've already mentioned I have just pushed modRana 0.52.9 to OpenRepos. This package update should fix the compatibility issues between the modRana package in OpenRepos and the one in Jolla Store/Harbour.

If you have installed modRana <0.52.9 from OpenRepos you will need to manually uninstall it and then install it (>=0.52.9) back. Otherwise package updates for modRana would not work correctly.

This can be done either with the Warehouse application or from the terminal (as root):

zypper refresh
zypper remove harbour-modrana
zypper install harbour-modrana