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Beta-testers wanted for MacOSX Garmin eTrex Waypoint Manager


schwa

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Hi all,

 

I'm writing a waypoint manager for my Garmin eTrex for Mac OS X. If anyone is interested in beta-testing this software when its ready (in around a fortnight) please drop me an e-mail. You will need a PowerMac running Mac OS X with either built-in serial ports or a USB to RS232 adaptor (I used a Keyspan PDA adaptor and it works well) and a Garmin eTrex GPS (I might support other Garmin GPSs but all I have is a eTrex Legend to develop against).

 

The current plan is to merely allow uploading/downloading/editing of waypoint coordinates and information. But once that is done I'll be adding more features. Right now my software is communicating with the GPS and I expect to be able to set/retrieve waypoints very shortly. I'll be 'slapping' (technical term) a rough GUI on top of the software shortly and making it available for testers.

 

E-mail me at jwightNOSPAM@mac.comNOSPAM (remove the obvious). Requirements: Mac OS X, Serial Port/USB to RS232 adaptor, Garmin eTrex.

 

Cheers.

 

Jon.

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The main reason is because I can. I have all the things I needed (GPS, Garmin protocol specs, USB Cable, etc) and some spare time.

 

Also neither of MacGPSPro and GPSy Pro (another Mac GPS program) run natively in Mac OS X. MacGPSPro hasn't been updated (according to versiontracker.com) since 2001 and 2000 respectively so it is rather unlikely a native Mac OS X version will be coming along in the next couple of weeks.

 

Finally, I get to write the software to fulfil my needs. I'd like to integrate the GPS with the geocaching.com website, so for example you could drag a cache's URL from geocaching.com onto my program and it'll automatically 'scrap' the cache's coordinates from the page and upload it onto the GPS when next connected.

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Here's the USB to RS232 adaptor I'm currently using, Keyspan USA-19Q: . I've also used a (borrowed) slightly old Keyspan USA-19 and it worked just as well. I don't know of any other USB adaptors that work with Mac OS X - my local Frys has several models, most claim Mac OS compatibility - but unless it specifically says Mac OS X is supported I wouldn't buy one. YMMV.

 

Jon.

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Have you talked to Karl, as it sounds like you are both working towards the same goal. Check out this web page and this thread - I have been playing with version 0.2 and it works great (although I have been guilty of not contacting Karl with any bug reports, a crime is will rectify today, now that I have been reminded icon_smile.gif) But hey, normally us mac users don't have any choice for software, it will be nice to be spoilt for choice for once icon_wink.gif

Nick.

(TiBook, Keyspan, yellow etrex)

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Have you talked to Karl, as it sounds like you are both working towards the same goal. Check out this web page and this thread - I have been playing with version 0.2 and it works great (although I have been guilty of not contacting Karl with any bug reports, a crime is will rectify today, now that I have been reminded icon_smile.gif) But hey, normally us mac users don't have any choice for software, it will be nice to be spoilt for choice for once icon_wink.gif

Nick.

(TiBook, Keyspan, yellow etrex)

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Wow. I wasn't aware of this program. Looks very usable in its current state. I will be getting in contact with its author ASAP hopefully we can cooperate in some way. I think I'll probably continue working on my version though - I've made a lot of progress in a short time and am on a bit of a roll.

 

However I wont be releasing a Mac OS 9 or earlier version of my software, I'm writing it entirely in Cocoa...

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This is excellent news. I'm a geocaching.com lurker and although I don't own a GPS unit right now I think it's fantastic to see people working on native OS X GPS software. Good luck and please keep us updated on your progress. Maybe Steve will be announcing an iGPS at Macworld next week. 20GB drive, MP3 player, all the latest and greatest GPS features, handwriting recognition, wireless internet access for accessing geocaching.com while you're on a hunt, about the size of an etrex and much, much more. icon_wink.gif

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This is excellent news. I'm a geocaching.com lurker and although I don't own a GPS unit right now I think it's fantastic to see people working on native OS X GPS software. Good luck and please keep us updated on your progress. Maybe Steve will be announcing an iGPS at Macworld next week. 20GB drive, MP3 player, all the latest and greatest GPS features, handwriting recognition, wireless internet access for accessing geocaching.com while you're on a hunt, about the size of an etrex and much, much more. icon_wink.gif

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Well I don't think Steve will be announcing anything quite like that soon... :-)

 

Anyway you asked to be kept updated so here's a quick update...

 

Over the weekend I got transferal of waypoints between the GPS and Macintosh working. icon_smile.gificon_smile.gif So basically the core functionality is complete. All I need to do is design and write the GUI. With Cocoa I can whip up a GUI pretty quick so. I'm guessing I can have something up and running by middle of this week (no promises though).

 

The first version will only support the Garmin eTrex range (although anything that uses the same variant of the Garmin protocol will work too). So if you want to test this please send me an email (I have around 10 beta testers right now but one or two more would be great).

 

In other news, I've borrowed a friend's Magellin GPS 320 and as soon as I track down a data cable for it will be writing code to interface with it. The Magellin protocol seems a lot simpler but until I settle down and start coding I won't know how long it will take. But I'll keep you posted.

 

So any Magellin GPS users out there interested in Mac OS X software?

 

Jon.

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Well I don't think Steve will be announcing anything quite like that soon... :-)

 

Anyway you asked to be kept updated so here's a quick update...

 

Over the weekend I got transferal of waypoints between the GPS and Macintosh working. icon_smile.gificon_smile.gif So basically the core functionality is complete. All I need to do is design and write the GUI. With Cocoa I can whip up a GUI pretty quick so. I'm guessing I can have something up and running by middle of this week (no promises though).

 

The first version will only support the Garmin eTrex range (although anything that uses the same variant of the Garmin protocol will work too). So if you want to test this please send me an email (I have around 10 beta testers right now but one or two more would be great).

 

In other news, I've borrowed a friend's Magellin GPS 320 and as soon as I track down a data cable for it will be writing code to interface with it. The Magellin protocol seems a lot simpler but until I settle down and start coding I won't know how long it will take. But I'll keep you posted.

 

So any Magellin GPS users out there interested in Mac OS X software?

 

Jon.

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Still making progress. GUI is going to take a lot longer than initially though (mainly because my current design is more ambitious)...

 

As you can see from the screenshot it's all VERY rough. Basic functionality is all there though.

 

Screenshot 001

 

(Edited - removed inline JPEG - was too big, and replace it with a off site link)

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As a mac-only person, seeing this develop warms my heart! The folks at EasyGPS are adamant about their "no-Macs, no-Linux" policy, even though a porting effort would be trivial. With this and Mac SimpleGPS coming down the pipeline, mac users are finally in luck.

 

I'm starting to think that with a new iMac coming, OS X 10.2 due soon, and Garmin finally supporting USB with their Rino series, I might finally be coming into the 21st century with my geocaching!

 

[This message was edited by Lurkingrue on August 03, 2002 at 11:44 PM.]

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See http://opentopic.Groundspeak.com/0/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=1750973553&f=5740990093&m=5000921625

 

On another note, I've got a script available looking for testers. I waited some months to release this because of the geocaching.com plans to implement a web-based for-pay query tool. It's a query & export tool written in ruby for any compatible platform (MacOS X, Windows, other UNIX's). The best feature about it, for me anyways, is that it can export cache data to your iPod!

 

To give you an idea, here is the help from it.

 

strombt@slartibartfast:~/geocrunch/CLI% ruby ./geocrunch.rb

% geocrunch %VERSION% - © 2002 Thomas Stromberg

=========================================================

syntax: geocrunch [options]

-f format for output. Valid options are:

HTML

EasyGPS

text

VCF

CSV

gpspoint

-q query type (zip by default, state_id)

-o output file

-d difficulty minimum

-D difficulty maximum

-t terrain minimum

-T terrain maximum

-v verbose mode

-u user to filter from the lists

 

EXAMPLES:

geocrunch.rb 27502

geocrunch.rb -d 3 -u helixblue -f VCF -o /Volumes/Kermit/Contacts/NC.vcf -q state_id 34

 

Let me know if any of you guys are interested in being an alpha tester. osxbounty@stromberg.org

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New screenshot showing Geode (oh yeah I named it) running on the latest Jaguar build. Screenshop 002. Here's what I've added in the last week or so:

 

* Transfer of Waypoints is now two-way. Previously the GUI could only get waypoints from the device. Now it can transfer them onto it too.

* Added in the device database code. Now Geode will query the device to find out what protocol it uses and what kind of device it is. Then it looks up the details of the device in its database. If the database contains a URL for the device it will download the device's picture from the URL (it'll store the picture so you only have to download it once).

* Lots of GUI improvements: beginnings of a toolbar, drag and drop of waypoints, better document handling, some undo support, and more.

 

The GUI is still rough around the edges though so please don't judge this book by it's covers yet. I'll be getting the core code working before concentrating on tarting the GUI up.

 

I have more than enough beta testers now so please don't email me. A big thank you to everyone offering to beta-test the software icon_smile.gif. I'm still hoping for a beta release around the middle of august but due to time constraints I think the release will be more of an alpha release than a beta release. The main purpose of the release will be to try and iron out the Garmin protocol and make sure I have a wide enough range of devices covered.

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New screenshot showing Geode (oh yeah I named it) running on the latest Jaguar build. Screenshop 002. Here's what I've added in the last week or so:

 

* Transfer of Waypoints is now two-way. Previously the GUI could only get waypoints from the device. Now it can transfer them onto it too.

* Added in the device database code. Now Geode will query the device to find out what protocol it uses and what kind of device it is. Then it looks up the details of the device in its database. If the database contains a URL for the device it will download the device's picture from the URL (it'll store the picture so you only have to download it once).

* Lots of GUI improvements: beginnings of a toolbar, drag and drop of waypoints, better document handling, some undo support, and more.

 

The GUI is still rough around the edges though so please don't judge this book by it's covers yet. I'll be getting the core code working before concentrating on tarting the GUI up.

 

I have more than enough beta testers now so please don't email me. A big thank you to everyone offering to beta-test the software icon_smile.gif. I'm still hoping for a beta release around the middle of august but due to time constraints I think the release will be more of an alpha release than a beta release. The main purpose of the release will be to try and iron out the Garmin protocol and make sure I have a wide enough range of devices covered.

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quote:
Originally posted by schwa & iMacJilli:

Also neither of MacGPSPro and GPSy Pro (another Mac GPS program) run natively in Mac OS X. MacGPSPro hasn't been updated (according to versiontracker.com) since 2001 and 2000 respectively so it is rather unlikely a native Mac OS X version will be coming along in the next couple of weeks.


Perhaps you meant GPSy hasn't been updated recently. MacGPS is updated every few months and an OS X version is imminent according to the author. I've been using MacGPS for about 4 years.

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quote:
Perhaps you meant GPSy hasn't been updated recently. MacGPS is updated every few months and an OS X version is imminent according to the author. I've been using MacGPS for about 4 years.


 

I based my statement on a quick check on versiontracker.com.

 

The point is right now there isn't any freely available native Mac OS X GPS software. I'm sure that GPSy and MacGPS and other software are currently being carbonized, but I'm not going to wait. I'd rather create my own solution. Besides, more choice is good right?

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quote:
Originally posted by schwa & iMacJilli:

The point is right now there isn't any freely available native Mac OS X GPS software. I'm sure that GPSy and MacGPS and other software are currently being carbonized, but I'm not going to wait. I'd rather create my own solution. Besides, more choice is good right?


There's always room for more Mac developers, so long as it's high quality. I've had good luck with MacGPS over several years, so I'm not likely to switch to similar software (even if it's free), but others may find it attractive and you may add to the overall knowledge base. Do it!

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Anyone else interested in adding to the $300 bounty mentioned earlier in the thread? I think if we pooled our interest, folks both with the larger corps (Garmin, Magellen, EasyGPS) might take OS X more seriously, and it also would encourage small developers to put time into a product we'd all find really useful.

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Well, work got in the way for a while but I've been progressing slowly. Work has calmed down a little so I've got some more opportunities to work on the software. At the moment I'm tidying up the GUI, adding extra configuration to allow people with unsupported/untested GPSes to use the software and fixing glaring bugs. I'm trying to restrain myself from adding any new features at this stage - I just want to get rid of the rough edges and make this software as useable for as many people as I can.

 

I won't promise a date though (esp. after being overly bold before).

 

I _am_ looking for artists who are capable of making nice Mac OS X aqua style icons. If anyone is interested (or if you know anyone who might be) drop me a line at jwightNOSPAM@mac.com (remove the obvious).

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