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BaseCamp map vs GPSr map

Started by vt.flatlander, March 30, 2016, 11:59:26 AM

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vt.flatlander

I finally had a chance to view the most recent revision of my map and discovered some  aspects that I hope to be able to change.
When viewing the map in BaseCamp the map looks great. I'm happy overall.
The same map viewed on my 60Cx however is a bit different.
Road and Flowline labels have the first letter of the name capitalized but the remaining letters are just odd characters(or so it appears). The number of characters for the name looks correct but the letters for the complete spelling have been substituted with a repeating character too small for me to see what it is. Its possible the characters I am describing are the remaining letters of the name but they are so small I cannot confirm. Town,city and POI labels look correct.
Also the small creeks and brooks that you could physically step over look like rivers that you would have to swim across. 
Is there a way to correct this ?

Boyd

#1
The messed up names is an old bug (or maybe "feature") that I have brought up multiple times here and elsewhere. If anyone understands it, it would be Popej but I don't recall seeing an answer from him.

This is what happens on old devices like the 60csx if you use lowercase letters in your names. You see the first character then only an underscore for the rest. So, for example, "Main St" would appear as:

M___ S_

The simplest solution is to convert everything to capitals. GPSMapEdit has a handy function for this, I think QGIS may also be able to do this. Now I used to balk at that idea, since it seems ridiculous to revert to the system I used on a Teletype ASR33 terminal in 1968. ;) I am somewhat resigned to it anymore, if the goal is just making Garmin maps.

For one thing, Garmin's unit software just mangles your capitalization on newer devices no matter how you format it. For example, "WMA" is the abbreviation for "Wildlife Management Area". So "Peaslee WMA", "peaslee wma" or "PEASLEE WMA" will all display on the GPS as

Peaslee Wma

You might as well just capitalize everything, then let the device do whatever it likes with it. ;D

vt.flatlander

I swapped out the SD card from the 60Cx to my newer Oregon 600. Everything looks better. Labels look correct but the flowlines are still too wide for my taste.

I'll CAP the labels to see how it works out on the 60Cx. I love the Oregon 600 but still enjoy using my old 60Cx.

popej

Have you set code page for your map? I'm not sure, but I think CodePage=1252 should work correctly. If not, then make map with all uppercase.

Boyd

A .typ file would allow you to make the streams look like whatever you want.

Boyd

Here's another interesting character interpretation "feature". Haven't checked this with the newest firmware, but starting several years ago, the word "mill" would always be capitalized. For example, a feature named "Jones Mill" would display "Jones MILL". The interesting thing was that the same bug appeared on both the Nuvi and outdoor handheld devices.

Popej and I discussed this, and I even sent a bug report to Garmin. His theory (which is the only one that made sense to me) is that the Garmin software was interpreting "Mill" as a Roman Numeral.  ;D

vt.flatlander

How do I set CodePage and how do I implement a.typ file ?

Boyd

The "classic" way to use custom types with cgpsmapper is described here, starting on page 33: http://cgpsmapper.com/download/GM8DocV2.pdf

There are several user-friendly programs for creating/editing binary .typ files, I use TYPViewer, which I think is free.

There is also TypWiz, which has a license fee. I think there are a few other programs that I don't recall as well. :)

vt.flatlander

Boyd
Can you offer a simplified flow chart as to how you would create a custom .typ .
All I have available is QGIS on my Mac (at home) and  cGPSmapper-free on my windows machine (at work).
I have been using both operating systems to complete my map because I don't personally own a Windows PC.

I read through the cGPS manual but I am not making the connection as to where I make the changes to define the width of my flowlines . Mainly I would like to reduce the width of creeks and small streams (MP_TYPE '0x18') so they look more proportional on my Oregon 600.
I spotted this : https://forums.gpsfiledepot.com/index.php?topic=1031.msg6517#msg6517
but do not have the tools described in that post.

Boyd

#9
Download and install TYPViewer from here, it is free. You will need to do this on Windows.

https://sites.google.com/site/sherco40/

Start TYPViewer - change the language to English if necessary. Choose New from the File menu. Click the add button next to the Polylines box. Enter 018 in The Type box, enter 0 in the subtype box. The MPC Name should automatically come up STREAM.

Now the rest is up to you. Create a standard line by just entering the number of pixels width. If you want a solid color, check the No Border box. The other option is a Bitmap, which can be chosen from the dropdown menu. This lets you make fancy lines, like dashes or zigzags.

Double click the color box to choose a color, or just enter a hex value. Use a different color for night if you desire.

Checking the extended label box will give you some special options for size and color. They will be handled differently in Basecamp and different devices however, so do some testing if you want to use these. The No Label (invisible) option is useful when you want a line that never shows a label.

You will need to enter the FID of your mapset in the main window.

Now just save the .typ file and you're done. This program works directly with the binary file and you do not need to use cgpsmapper to compile it.

Now, inserting the .typ file into a mapset is another issue, and I think you are using a different workflow from me (I use Mapsettoolkit) so someone else will have to help you with that.

Javawa has a tool called TYPchanger that can be handy, it only runs on Windows since it uses gmaptool: http://www.javawa.nl/typchanger_en.html

Using a similar technique, you can change the appearance of every object on the map with TYPViewer.


Boyd

Quote from: popej on March 30, 2016, 02:45:45 PM
Have you set code page for your map? I'm not sure, but I think CodePage=1252 should work correctly.

Finally had a look at my maps. They are all codepage 1252 and still exhibit the lowercase bug on my GPSMap 60csx. I think this is just a quirk of cgpsmapper vs old Garmin devices, and if you want to be compatible with these old devices you need to use UPPERCASE for all your labels.  >:(

vt.flatlander

I totally appreciate what you provided here Boyd.
Thank you very much !
I have been following Dan's multi-step tutorial to create my first map. It has been a serious challenge for me but I have learned a great deal. 

MapSetToolkit is what Dan calls for in making the preview files before creating the set-up/install. So I have it on hand already.
I have been looking at JaVaWa also.
I'll start in on this ASAP.

Yes I checked the CodePage and it is set to 1252 so I will go back to QGIS and set the Name field to all uppercase.
Will this change effect how it currently renders on my Oregon 600 ? Its perfectly fine.

Boyd

#12
I gave some examples above, basically it doesn't matter whether you use upper or lower case on new devices. What really annoys me is that you cannot use uppercase acronym type abbreviations, the device will capitalize the first letter and make the others lowercase as I posted earlier.

QuoteGarmin's unit software just mangles your capitalization on newer devices no matter how you format it. For example, "WMA" is the abbreviation for "Wildlife Management Area". So "Peaslee WMA", "peaslee wma" or "PEASLEE WMA" will all display on the GPS as

Peaslee Wma

You might as well just capitalize everything, then let the device do whatever it likes with it. ;D

If you're using MapSetToolkit, just click on the three dots next to the TYP files box, then browse to find your file. Do NOT click the Compile button.

vt.flatlander

#13
I created a .typ file named 0x18. Saved it to an easy location. Selected then added the .img files in MapSetToolkit and filled out the other info. Clicked on the ... to point to the .typ file I created then clicked "Start". When MapSetTookit completed the .typ file was placed in the folder with all the other map files. I assume in order to confirm and view my map changes I have to install the map to the GPSr?
Opened BaseCamp then tried to install the map to my SD card but It would not highlight(yellow border around) the tiles.  I'm not sure what I did here ? 

popej

MapsetToolkit serves multiple purposes. Window "Select IMG" is designed for compiling preview map and works together with form "Create Mapset". When you are modifying or installing existing mapset, use only "Mapset installed" window. In case of adding or changing TYP file, select map from the list and use button "Edit".

After changing TYP, remember to clear BaseCamp cache, pressing CTRL-G twice at map view.