Update of map core (2019)

[john_percy]

Aha! I have a back up directory that Locus didn't access previously but does now. Solved. Thanks.

[Menion]

Perfect .
It is now finally possible to have two or more XML files in the same subdirectory and all these files appear for selection. It is then easy to share the same icons for themes without messing the root "_themes" directory as was necessary till now.

[john_percy]

Is there going to be a way of programmatically cleaning bits of old themes from the _themes directory? Or will it depend on use of a file manager? I'm thinking of what happens if I change the file structure of the themes I make available.

[Menion]

Hmm, I was thinking some time ago about the option to delete selected theme directly from UI. Anyway, it may be a problem in case of shared images by more themes.

It is doable I believe, it will just take some time (will have to analyze all themes in define and create list of safe icons to delete). So if there will be a bigger interest, I may invest half a day and do this ...

[Tobias]

Perfect .
It is now finally possible to have two or more XML files in the same subdirectory and all these files appear for selection. It is then easy to share the same icons for themes without messing the root "_themes" directory as was necessary till now.

That's great to hear, can't wait for the release with all those improvements. Seems like I'll have a one theme file fits all apps solution. Some theme cleaning/deinstallation option is also a good idea.

[john_percy]

Though place names are loads better in the new MF v4 renderer, quite a few are still truncated. Can this be improved?

Also, in previous versions, zooming by means of buttons "locked" to 100% scaling,  which seemed quite good to me. In this alpha, that is no longer the case. Is this intentional?

[Menion]

Uff, done.
So added clever delete function that should really delete only content, not anymore needed by any other installed theme.
As a bonus, I created a function that validates, that really all necessary resources are available.

Test on your side (after a backup of themes) is of course welcome. If anyone will be interested in improving this "validate" function, let me know. Currently, it only checks resources defined as "file:/" in xml file.

@john_percy
because Locus Map does not use full system offered by MapsForge library, but still try to render map tiles and draw them in own system, I'm worried, this does not have a simple solution.

100% scaling ... hmm, there is no longer anything like "100%" scale as before. Anyway in top toolbar may be still visible, the scale of the current map. So by fingers, app snaps little to this 100 %. Then you may zoom by buttons by predefined step that should be same as one zoom in vector maps.

[michaelbechtold]

That scaling thing hurts me a bit, to be honest.
I like very much after adjusting to a specific %, e.g. 70%, then +/- preserves this.
However, dare not to hit 69%, then things start to jump to lower zoom level.
Offering some reasonable %s from a list, like 50%, 75% (or user configurable) would help - in fact extending the "map resolution" below 100% would do the job ...

[michaelbechtold]

One more thing, re. Quick Map Switch. Of course the World Map should not populate that list, right ?
So I set their center to the west corner of Antartica - does not help, though.
Any hint ?
Thank you.

[Menion]

Hi Michael,
not sure I perfectly understand what is the problem with scaling.
Are you playing with vector maps? Then manually set scale should be preserved when scaling by hardware buttons.

Anyway, app currently computes real resolution (pixels per meter) for every map zoom and during zooming, it searches for optimal zoom level from the source map, where scale will be as low as possible.

Quick map switch: hmm world map should be there only in case, there are no better alternatives for some smaller local maps. Is this your case? Btw. defined "map center" has no effect here. Only coverage and it's relation to current map center is important.

[michaelbechtold]

Hi Menion, I am trying to scale down below 100%, regardless if vector or world map.
But when I "cross" 70%, it jumps down one ZL and goes to 130% roughly.
My objective is to be able to get below 100% in an easy and controllable way.

Re. Quick Map Switch: the world map is in top positions in the list, although there are vector maps nearby.
Would it make sense to exclude active overlay and world maps from the Quick Map Switch list ?

Cheers
Michael

[john_percy]

My problem with scaling is that if I have adjusted the zoom with two fingers and end up with a display of, say, 75% of a certain zoom level, the text may be quite difficult to read. Tapping the zoom + button goes to the next zoom level, but still at 75% and leaves the text too small because the MF v4 renderer can't scale text (which the Locus renderer can do).


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[michaelbechtold]

Hi John, I just double checked with Hessen_ML from OAM, which is MF 4 that the text scaling is working.
I like a setting with generally 70%, but text scaling of 200%.
Am I talking about the same thing?
Cheers
Michael 

[john_percy]

No, we're not talking about the same thing. Locus-specific themes have a command scale-text-size which scales the text as the map is zoomed. There is no equivalent command for MF V4. Previously, if the map (and text) was at 75% of a zoom level, tapping the zoom + button restores the map (and text) to 100%.

[Menion]

@michaelbechtold
isn't scaling same in current Pro version? It should also somewhere around 70% jump to the previous zoom level. To prevent this, it is needed use "zoom lock" function.

Agree with the world map: I've added the condition that the map has to have at least zoom level 11 to appear in quick map switch.

There still appears vector maps optimized for "world map", which is hard to detect. Maybe just by its name "world"? Hmm.

@john_percy
understand. How to solve this ... maybe some option "snap to zoom levels". I'll look at it.