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DocumentationHow is it different from online map sites? IntroductionWhat is Roadnav?Roadnav is an open source program that builds maps of places in the USA using the freely available TIGER/Line files from the US Census Bureau. It can identify landmarks and points of interest using the freely available GNIS data files from the USGS. Roadnav can also find the fastest route from one place to another, and track your progress along that route if you have a GPS unit. Roadnav works well under Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, and can potentially be ported to any platform wxWidgets supports. Roadnav is licensed under version 2 of the GNU General Public License. How is it different from online map sites?The primary advantage of Roadnav over online map sites is that Roadnav is capable of offline operation. Once Roadnav downloads the necessary data files for your area, it does not require an Internet connection. It is therefore suitable for applications where an internet connection is unavailable or difficult to come by (e.g. a car navigation system). If you have a GPS unit, it can also track your position and show you what's nearby. Roadnav does have some disadvantages compared to online map sites, largely due to the source data. Most notably, the TIGER/Line data does not contain information on which way one-way streets go, so Roadnav may calculate routes incorrectly if one way streets are involved. Additionally, TIGER/Line does not include highway exit numbers, so directions involving highways don't mention exit numbers - they only list the distance and what street you're turning onto. Online map sites have access to higher quality commercial data that includes all of this information. Should freely available data including one way streets and exit numbers become available, it will be integrated into Roadnav. InstallationWindows1. Go to the downloads page and download the precompiled Windows setup package. 2. Run the setup program. A setup wizard will appear. 3. Click Next, then accept the license agreement by clicking Accept then Next again. 4. You can optionally change the installation directory. Click Next. 5. You can optionally change the other settings, or keep clicking Next/Install until the software is installed. 6. An icon labeled "Roadnav" will appear on your desktop. Double clicking on it will launch Roadnav. Fedora Core 61. Download the .rpm package from the downloads page. 2. Login or su to a superuser account: su 3. Install the package using rpm: rpm -i roadnav-0.19-1.fc6.i386.rpm 4. Return to your regular non-superuser account: exit 5. Roadnav can then be launched by executing the "roadnav" command: roadnav Debian1. Download the .deb package from the downloads page. 2. Login or su to a superuser account: su 3. Install the package using dpkg: dpkg -i roadnav_0.19-1_i386.deb 4. Return to your regular non-superuser account: exit 5. Roadnav can then be launched by executing the "roadnav" command: roadnav Mac OS X1. Download the .dmg disk image from the downloads page. 2. Double click on the disk image in Finder to open the image. 3. Double click on the Roadnav icon to launch Roadnav. Gentoo1. Login or su to a superuser account: su 2. Add Roadnav and LibRoadnav to package.keywords: echo "dev-libs/libroadnav ~x86" >> /etc/portage/package.keywords echo "app-misc/roadnav ~x86" >> /etc/portage/package.keywords 3. Install Roadnav using emerge: emerge roadnav 4. Roadnav can then be launched by executing the "roadnav" command: roadnav All Other Platforms1. Go to the downloads page and download the LibRoadnav and Roadnav source tarball. 2. Unpack the LibRoadnav tarball. If you're using GNU tar, you should be able to use the following command: tar zxvf libroadnav-0.19.tar.gz If that does not work, these commands should work instead: gzip -d libroadnav-0.19.tar.gz tar xvf libroadnav-0.19.tar 3. Change into the LibRoadnav source directory cd libroadnav-0.19 4. Configure the LibRoadnav source so it will build properly under your version of Linux using the configure command ./configure 5. Compile LibRoadnav using the make utility make 6. Become a superuser using su, then install the software using "make install" su make install 7. Return to your regular non-superuser account: exit 8. Unpack the Roadnav tarball. If you're using GNU tar, you should be able to use the following command: tar zxvf roadnav-0.19.tar.gz If that does not work, these commands should work instead: gzip -d roadnav-0.19.tar.gz tar xvf roadnav-0.19.tar 9. Change into the Roadnav source directory cd roadnav-0.19 10. Configure the Roadnav source so it will build properly under your version of Linux using the configure command ./configure 11. Compile Roadnav using the make utility make 12. Become a superuser using su, then install the software using "make install" su make install 13. Return to your regular non-superuser account: exit 14. The software can then be run by executing the "roadnav" command roadnav UsageGetting StartedOnce you start up Roadnav, it will download some data files it needs from the Internet. If you have personal firewall software installed, you may have to give Roadnav permission to access the Internet. Once the main window appears, click on the Map menu and select Set Address. Enter an address you'd like to look up in the top-left three fields, then click OK. Roadnav will download some map files from the Internet describing the state and county you specified. Once the files have been downloaded, a map will be shown of the address you entered. BasicsYou can move the map around by left clicking on it or by using the arrow keys on the keyboard. The map will recenter itself on where ever you click. Zooming in and out is possible through the zoom in/out buttons, scrolling the mouse wheel, by pressing + and -, or through the Zoom In/Out items in the View menu. You can get directions from one place to another by pressing the Get Directions button or selecting Get Directions from the Map menu. You can also identify a street or location by right clicking on that street or location. A box will pop up indicating what you clicked on. If you have not downloaded the maps for an area, right clicking on that area will trigger a download. Full screen mode is available from the View menu or by pressing F11. Full screen mode can be exited by pressing escape or F11. Using a GPS unit with RoadnavIf you have a GPS unit, Roadnav can plot your current position and heading on the map. Attach the GPS unit to a serial port. If you are running under the Linux operating system, ensure you have sufficient permissions to access the serial ports. To activate GPS support in Roadnav, go into the Tools menu, and select Preferences. Click on the GPS tab. Next, specify how Roadnav should connect to your GPS unit from the GPS Type drop down box. Select Serial to have Roadnav directly access the serial port your GPS unit is connected to, or gpsd to have Roadnav connect to your GPS unit through a gpsd daemon (must be separately installed and configure). If you selected Serial, specify the serial port the GPS unit is attached to and the baud rate to use on the appropriate lines. If you selected gpsd, specify the hostname and port number of gpsd daemon. Generally, the default gpsd settings are correct, if gpsd is running on the same computer as Roadnav. Click OK to save your settings. If your GPS unit is locked, a red arrow will then appear on the map indicating your location. Waypoint ManagementRoadnav has some basic waypoint management features. To access these features, open the Map menu, and select Waypoints. A dialog box will appear, allowing you to specify new waypoints on the left, and to manage saved waypoints on the bottom right. The onscreen keyboard can be used to fill in any of the fields in this dialog. To use the onscreen keyboard, first click on the field you would like to fill in, then click on the Keyboard button to bring up the onscreen keyboard. Waypoint Management - Creating a New WaypointTo create a new waypoint, enter an address or set of coordinates on the left side of the Waypoints dialog box, supply a name for the waypoint in the Waypoint Name field, and click the Add button. The specified waypoint will be saved. You can optionally have Roadnav draw a picture at the specified waypoint on the map by entering the filename of the picture in the Icon Filename line. The Show Callout Box and Show Small Label check boxes allow you to specify if a large label, listing the name and address of the waypoint, and/or a small label, just listing the name of the waypoint, should be drawn on the map. Waypoint Management - Updating an Existing WaypointTo update an existing waypoint, first select the waypoint in the listbox in the bottom-right. The dialog box will be updated with information about the waypoint. Modify the fields you would like changed, then click Update to save your changes. Waypoint Management - Deleting a WaypointTo delete a waypoint, select the waypoint in the listbox in the bottom-right, then click the Delete button. Adjusting PreferencesMany Roadnav settings can be adjusted by going into the Tools menu, and selecting Preferences. The Preferences dialog will appear. Any fields requiring keyboard input can filled in using the onscreen keyboard by first clicking on the desired field, then clicking the Keyboard button. The dialog is arranged into five tabs, discussed in the following sections. Preferences - General TabAutomatically Download Maps - If checked, whenever an address is requested for an area that has not been downloaded yet, Roadnav will automatically download the appropriate maps. If not checked, attempting to enter an address for an area that has not been downloaded will result in an error message. Daytime/Nighttime Skin - Roadnav's appearance can be customized through the use of skins. Two skins are included with Roadnav - "Default-Day" and "Default-Night". The first is designed for daytime use, and the latter for nighttime use. The Daytime Skin and Nighttime Skin settings can be adjusted to select which skin is active during the daytime, and during the nighttime. To use the automatic day/night switching feature, make sure the Home Zip Code setting, discussed below, is set properly. Proxy Host and Proxy Port - Roadnav can be configured to use an HTTP proxy by entering the hostname and port number of the proxy on the Proxy Host and Proxy Port lines. North Always Points Up - If checked, and a GPS unit is in use, Roadnav will not automatically reorient the map as your heading changes. If left unchecked, the map will be rotated so that up corresponds to what's ahead. Verbalize Directions - If checked and a text to speech system is available, Roadnav will provide verbal cues about approaching turns when using the turn by turn directions feature. If unchecked, no verbal cues will be supplied. Zoom Maps - Changing this setting to a value greater than one will make everything on the map larger. Setting this to a number between 0 and 1 will make everything on the map smaller. Unlike zooming, this setting will also change the size of text, line thickness, highway marker size, and everything else on the map. This setting is especially helpful on small in-dash monitors. Home Zip Code - Roadnav uses the supplied zip code to calculate sunrise and sunset times for your location. If 00000 is specified, Roadnav will always operate in daytime mode. Preferences - GPS TabGPS Type - Specify how Roadnav should connect to your GPS unit. Available choices are None for no GPS connection, Serial for direct serial connection, and gpsd for connecting through a gpsd daemon. Some choices are unavailable on certain platforms. Serial Port/Baud Rate - If Serial is specified as the GPS type, enter the name of the serial port in the Serial Port line, and the baud rate of the GPS unit (typically 4800) in the Baud Rate line. The serial port should be specified as COM1, COM2, etc. under Windows, and /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyS1, etc. under Linux. gpsd Host/gpsd Port - If gpsd is specified as the GPS type, enter the hostname and port number of the gpsd daemon on these lines. If gpsd is running on the same computer as Roadnav, the defaults should be correct, port 2947 on localhost. Preferences - ThemesThe themes page allows the map color scheme to be modified. Color schemes can then be saved as themes. Themes are currently completely separate from skins. One theme can be selected for nighttime use, one for daytime use, and one for when aerial photo more is on. Themes can be modified by first selecting the theme in the list on the left, then clicking the Edit button. Themes can also be created and deleted using the Add and Remove button. Preferences - URLsThe URLs page lists where various map data is downloaded from. It should only be necessary to modify these entries if the files on the USCB or USGS web site are relocated. Preferences - UnitsThe Units page allows you to customize the way coordinates are formatted, and whether US or SI units are used to represent distances and speeds. |