Help Needed with Vector Maps

[skids]

Hi there
I recently got my first Android phone, and one of the things I was excited about was the GPS/mapping capabilities.  Spent a while with 'MyTrails' - quite a nice app - runs really smoothly and scrolls really quickly.  Then (mainly because of the geocaching capabilities and interaction with c:geo) thought I'd try out Locus.  What a wonderful app! In terms of functionality it leaves MyTrails standing.  Took me about 30 minutes to decide to 'go Pro'.

My question is about Vector Maps - I'm new to all this stuff, so keep your answers simple please  :?

I'd been using MOBAC to create Google and UK OS maps of areas I go to most often before I realised there was an update that allowed me to download the OSM vector maps.  For high level zooms (ie street level) these vector maps are fantastic, but I'm a bit disappointed with the details when you zoom back.  As certain zoom levels there can be missing town names, and although you get street names at high zoom, you don't seem to get road numbers at any zoom level! This makes these maps pretty useless for car navigation.  I know this is an OSM issue rather than a Locus one, but can anyone help me - are there OSM vectors maps available somewhere with better labelling at lower zoom levels?  At present I can see myself using (offline) Google raster maps at lower zooms, then switching to OSM vector for Street level nagivation, which isn't ideal because the zoom level is not maintained when you switch between them.

Also - I really like the OpenCycleMaps with coutours.  Anyone know where I can download these in vector form for offline use (or any other OSM based maps with contours?)

By the way - the areas I'm interested in are mainly the UK, Ireland and France.

[novus]

Hi skids.

The original OSM-vector-maps have to be prepared for Locus with another tool, called mapsforge.

As I understand it, this tool also creates the style and the content of the map in locus.

The style at the moment is close to Osmarender.

Here you can see a view to Whitehall in London with official Osmarender style of OpenStreetMap: http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=51.50 ... 8&layers=O

Compare it to what Locus shows to you. I think the difference should be caused by the configuration while creating *.map-files with mapsforge out of the original files, you can find here: http://download.geofabrik.de/osm/

I personally would also like to see housenumbers, but this probably only can be done by menion and his team or by anyone who is able to install and use mapsforge, osmosis, and so on...

Is this correct so far, menion?

[rijackson741]

Osmosis and the Mapsforge mapsfile-creator do not have any settings that allow you to change the way the map is rendered or what is included.

I have noticed that in some cases much more than just street numbers are missing though. As an example, this image is what you see at //http://www.openstreetmap.org/, but with the arrow added by me. It is Shotover Hill, immediately east of the Oxford ring road. If you look at it on the phone, on a map rendered by the Mapsforge map creator, the indicated byway is missing. That's not a minor omission, because you can drive a car down that. I know, because I have done so  

[skids]

The map of my local area looks pretty similar to the map on that OSM website with one major exception - the website map give road numbers, whereas I see none whatsoever on my Locus vector map.

[Menion]

answer is simple

vector maps do not contain any information how final map should look like. All these infos are in library I use and in locus itself. So if data are in map file (and they probably are) then they should be rendered. If they're not rendered, then problem is in MapsForge library and I suggest to post precise issues on their web page here. When they'll have new version of they library, I'll put it into Locus

[skids]

Thankyou.  Ive asked over at mapsforge and it seems they do not yet support road numbers but it seems they will sometime in the future.   For now I guess I will continue to use raster maps for large scale navigation and vector for street level.  These vector maps are amazing in most urban areas but not quite so detailed (yet) in some of the more rural areas like mine.

Are there any other OSM file formats that are compatible with locus.  I've been looking at the stuff available at Geofabrik and was wondering if it was possible to convert these somehow.

Thanks again for the fantastic app!

[rijackson741]

If you look at it on the phone, on a map rendered by the Mapsforge map creator, the indicated byway is missing.

Fixed already    //http://code.google.com/p/mapsforge/issues/detail?id=157

[vertago1]

Has anyone checked to see if there is any plan on adding a feature to adjust what zoom levels street names appear on?

[dupko]

Has anyone checked to see if there is any plan on adding a feature to adjust what zoom levels street names appear on?

In far future :lol:

[tommi]

Has anyone checked to see if there is any plan on adding a feature to adjust what zoom levels street names appear on?

There is no feature need for this in Locus.
When the maps are generated this is configured in a file called tag_mapping.xml. Usually a certain tag is generated for a range of zoom levels.
When the map is displayed on the screen the render theme (another xml file) is used to configure on which zoom levels (only those in the above used range will lead to an actual display result) and which properties (e.g. font size, color) the item is really displayed.

[tommi]

In far future :lol:

Welcome in the forum, dupko.
I just want to tell you that in this forum we try to help others fixing their problems resp. answering questions in a helpful way.