On 4/19/2020 8:22 PM, John wrote:
So Stephen,
Which APRS software has the best mapping system that does not rely on the Internet?
The majority of APRS software uses simple fixed? non-zooming non-scrolling bitmaps (i.e. fixed grids of pixels a.k.a. "pictures of maps") when used off-line.? To cover any significant area at a variety of magnifications (i.e. street level, city level, county level, state level, regional, national, etc, you have to store THOUSANDS? of overlapping pictures? at different resolutions.
The fluid freely zoom-able, scroll-able views we have become accustomed to with MapPoint, Precision Mapping, Google Maps, Bing Maps, etc? are VECTOR-based image systems that store millions of coordinate pairs that represent the beginning & end of each street segment in a database.? These coordinates are used to draw line segments on-the-fly, as one scrolls and/or zooms over the map.? This is a process similar to stretching out a line in a CAD program, Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw.? The process is repeated thousands of times to draw all the street segments in the current view.
All the streets in North America can be represented in about 1.5-2.5 GB of vector data. Storing the same area as fixed pixel grids (the equivalent of photos of maps) at say a dozen zoom levels from city streets to continental takes TERAbytes of data.
Many programs let you view zoomable maps when connected to the Internet courtesy of Google Maps, Microsoft Bing or MapQuest. But when you save maps for off-line use, you are making? fixed a screen cap of the current view.
The only current APRS program I am aware of that can do efficient vector-based off-line mapping is YAAC.? This program uses the Open Street Maps? database. ?? Most programs that use Open Streets data do so in the form of static bitmaps. ? For off-line use,? YAAC allows you to download as much or a little of the Open Streets database reformatted by the author into a scalable? vector format.
?? He has also cleaned up the awful default graphics of Open Streets; i.e. all route shields are the same "pill-capsule" outline that makes it impossible to tell the difference between an Interstate, an in-town Interstate business route, an old US highway, or a state route.?? YAAC's rendition of Open Street's data properly shows the red-white-and blue Interstate shield, the green business route shield, the black&white US highway shield, etc.
?? The one major disadvantage of YAAC is that it is written in Java, requiring you to install the hopelessly security-challenged Oracle Java runtime to use it on Windows.? At the same time, this is also an advantage -- the identical program can run on MacOS or various Linux flavors if their Java runtime is installed.
Also is there any mapping software that will work with UI_View, again without the Internet
NO.? We were privileged in North America, having the Precision Mapping Server plug-in and Precision Mapping.? The rest of the world has to put up with exclusively static fixed maps in UIview.?? However, Precision Mapping 9.0 is floating around the Internet on the Bit Torrent file sharing networks. As I pointed out in the first post of this thread, it can be made to work, even without Undertow's activation server.
73,
John
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