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Subject:Waypoint tools 

shchenka

19:32
Monday
22-Sep-2008

Finally I was able to play a bit more with some of the 0.6.1 new features, particularly the "Waypoint tools".
It seems pretty cool, although a few words of explanation on what each option does (particularly "select wpt" vs. "select if nearer"
and "nearest waypoint groups" vs "alert waypoint groups") would still be helpful :)

Two things that I lacked (and did not realize this until tested it in action):
1. allowing for larger "alert distance" values, say 25-1500m as it is and then 2000-10000m in a thousand metres increments
  (useful when driving and willing to take a detour)

2. "auto-unselect" the previously selected waypoint if the distance is larger than another threshold - that would be the reverse
  of the auto-selection feature above, and both could be used in combination to set a "waypoint-glueing-factor" behaviour.
  Eg. auto-select a waypoint if nearer than 500m and auto-unselect if futher than 2000m.

I found myself unselecting manually a lot when travelling, which could be automated.

Thanks,

--shchenka
 

Stephen

9:28
Tuesday
23-Sep-2008

Location:
Surrey, UK

Phone Model:
BB 9800 Torch
BlackBerry 8900
SE W910i
Nokia 5800

Hi Shchenka,

" It seems pretty cool, although a few words of explanation on what each option does (particularly "select wpt" vs. "select if nearer"
and "nearest waypoint groups" vs "alert waypoint groups") would still be helpful :) "


Ah yeah, just noticed I forgot to add these bits into the user guide.

The two Waypoint Group lists select the active groups to be searched when finding the nearest waypoint and displaying proximity alerts.

The Proximity Alert actions are:
- Alert Msg: displays a message when a waypoints becomes closer than the Alert Distance.
- Select Wpt: selects any waypoint as it becomes nearer than the Alert Distance. (note this can result in the selected waypoint sometimes changing quite rapidly if a number of points come into range one after another).
- Sel if Nearer: selects the nearest waypoint that is also closer than the Alert Distance

" 1. allowing for larger "alert distance" values, say 25-1500m as it is and then 2000-10000m in a thousand metres increments (useful when driving and willing to take a detour) "

I'll look into this (the code is currently optimised for fairly small distances which is why its limited to 1500m).

" 2. "auto-unselect" the previously selected waypoint if the distance is larger than another threshold... "
Yeah, not a bad idea, will see what I can do...

Cheers,
Stephen
 

shchenka

10:46
Tuesday
23-Sep-2008

Hi Stephen,

"
- Alert Msg: displays a message when a waypoints becomes closer than the Alert Distance.
- Select Wpt: selects any waypoint as it becomes nearer than the Alert Distance. (note this can result in the selected waypoint sometimes changing quite rapidly if a number of points come into range one after another).
- Sel if Nearer: selects the nearest waypoint that is also closer than the Alert Distance
"


I see. My grasp of English is very limited but maybe "Select Nearest" would be a more intuitive mnemonic than "Sel if Nearer" ?

Do you think it would be possible to combine some of them, e.g. Alert with wpt autoselection ? E.g. the "Alert Msg" could be turned on/off with a checkbox ?

Thanks,

--sh
 

Stephen

14:58
Tuesday
23-Sep-2008

Location:
Surrey, UK

Phone Model:
BB 9800 Torch
BlackBerry 8900
SE W910i
Nokia 5800

Actually I forgot to mention an important bit of the 'Sel if Nearer' option, it should read:

- Sel if Nearer: selects the nearest waypoint that is closer than both the Alert Distance and the currently selected Waypoint.

ie: the label is a shortened version of 'Select if Nearer than current Waypoint' - makes a bit more sense now!!

" Do you think it would be possible to combine some of them, e.g. Alert with wpt autoselection ? E.g. the "Alert Msg" could be turned on/off with a checkbox? "

Yes okay, although I'll probably just add it as another Action option rather than a new checkbox - save changing too much code!
 

ChrisM

15:32
Tuesday
23-Sep-2008

Location:
Bedfordshire, UK

Phone Model:
Sony Ericsson W770i, Blackberry Playbook(?)

Just to stir things up a little more... :-)

Would it be possible to somehow make the action dependant on the Waypoint group?

I'm thinking along the lines of having (say) a 'Speed Cameras' group that I'd want an Alert Message for, and then a different group (GeoCache Locations?) that I'd want the 'Auto Selection' option for.

Chris.
 

Stephen

16:25
Tuesday
23-Sep-2008

Location:
Surrey, UK

Phone Model:
BB 9800 Torch
BlackBerry 8900
SE W910i
Nokia 5800

Errrr... <sharp intake of breath>!!

I suppose it could do this, but I need to be realistic about how complex this all gets!! There are already a number of potential pitfalls in the alerting code, mostly due to a pay off between simplicity and processor load when dealing with large numbers of waypoints, so I'm a little reluctant to add more complexity than necessary.

Having said that, if you think it would be really useful I could look into it. The simplest thing would be changing the Alert Groups menu to have individual 'Action' selectors rather than checkboxes. But then I guess you might also want to have a different distance setting per group as well. Mmmmm. Could I pass on this, please!!!

 

ChrisM

19:18
Tuesday
23-Sep-2008

Location:
Bedfordshire, UK

Phone Model:
Sony Ericsson W770i, Blackberry Playbook(?)

Naa,
Don't do it on my account. It's not something I'd use much. I think I'd mostly use the proximity alert function (maybe for speedcameras). I can't honestly think when I'd use the 'select nearest' type functionality at the moment.
I just tend to mention things when I think of them, to see what you think of my ideas... :-)

Chris.
 

Maverick1

3:51
Wednesday
24-Sep-2008

Stephen, you are very polite with your answers. :-)
 
 

Stephen

9:29
Wednesday
24-Sep-2008

Location:
Surrey, UK

Phone Model:
BB 9800 Torch
BlackBerry 8900
SE W910i
Nokia 5800

:-)
 

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