Author: Tobias Kühn

I’m pleased to present a new rendertheme of our new Co-Author Tobis Kühn.
Tobias agreed to present this theme on Openandromaps on his own page:

https://www.openandromaps.org/en/legend/elevate-mountain-hike-theme

The theme is clearly focused on serious Alpine/Mountain hiking.

All weak points/issues of the more general andromaps_hc theme are adressed:
– Ski slopes are rendered more decent
– Better visibility of ways and paths, yet with visible route information
– Better perfomance doe to optimized, clear coding
– Ridges, cliffs, scree, scrub, etc. are rendered much better.
– etc…

For me the decission is clear: This is the theme I will use hiking in the mountains.
The Theme is compatible both for Oruxmaps and Locus.
I strongly revommend to install it on Orux in the folder ../oruxmaps/mapstyles/ELV/

Thanks to Tobias
and
Best regards, Christian

Themes

The new tags/symbols are part of the themes for Oruxmaps with themeswitcher (available as Beta)
-Download-

New/fixed Symbols:

  • mountain_pass=yes
  • amenity=biergarten 😉
  • tower/communication/observation: These tags were already included in the maps. However for some reasons Maspforge hav’nt redered them. So I transform “tower:type” to a value of “tower”, so the tags to render are:
    • tower=communication
    • tower=observation

    This works perfect and helps a lot for hiking in free countryside.

  • Die Cycle Barriers: rendering was brocken so far (my foult, nobody’s perfect ,-) ), now it works fine

Maps

The map of Baden-Württemberg noe includes the whole Vogesen

Pictures of the new symbols:

Best regards, Christian

Oruxmaps update is available from playstore with the long awaited themeswitcher for vectormaps like the openandromaps.
This Themeswitcher need a complete different installation of the themes and once Oruxmaps is updated it will switch back to the minimum-theme (osmarender.xml).
To be prepared for this situation I strongly recommend to install the new Themes for Oruxmaps RIGHT NOW, even the old Version of Oruxmaps is still installed.

HOW TO:
Download the new Themes
Right within the folder ./oruxmaps create the subfolders /mapstyles/OAM/ .
Unzip the themes and copy them to ../oruxmaps/mapstyles/OAM/.
The folder structure now should look like this:
../oruxmaps/mapstyles/OAM/symbols/*.png
../oruxmaps/mapstyles/OAM/patterns/*.png
../oruxmaps/mapstyles/OAM/andromaps_hc.xml
../oruxmaps/mapstyles/OAM/andromaps_mtb.xml
../oruxmaps/mapstyles/OAM/andromaps_light.xml

Once the new version of Oruxmaps with the themeswitcher is installed (updated) aktivate one of the themes for the openandromaps by calling the themeswitcher in Oruxmaps, switch to the folder /OAM and tap on the theme you want to be displayed (eg. andromaps_hc.xml).

Why install the openandromaps in a subdirectory /OAM ? (it is perfect possible to install theme right in ../oruxmaps/mapstyles):
Once the oruxmaps with the themeswitcher is out there will be a lot of custom themes (maybe your own ones), probably with different symbols/patterns. So you can install them in a different subfolder like:
../oruxmaps/mapstyles/MYTHEME/
../oruxmaps/mapstyles/MYTHEME/symbols/*.png
../oruxmaps/mapstyles/MYTHEME/patterns/*.png
../oruxmaps/mapstyles/MYTHEME/andromaps_modified.xml

Again: I strongly recommend to install the new themes right now or you maybe run into the situation where you are on a mountain_hut with wlan – Oruxmaps is updating in the background and you loose contourlines, routes and all goodies of the openandromaps

Switching Themes in Oruxmaps:


From orux map viewer, press the android menu button->tweaks->mapsforge style-> select the xml you want.

Best regards, Christian

Orux has released a beta with full functional themeswitcher: http://www.oruxmaps.com/cs/

In short: Its working flawless, no artefakts from previous used theme after switching.
The Openandromaps – Locus Themes with all goodys are working perfect in Orux now.

I will provide the themes in a special directory structure once the new version of Oruxmaps is released in playstore.

EDIT: I’v provided a complete set of the new openandromaps themes with optimized folder structure for download:
www.openandromaps.org/wp-content/files/themes/orux_new/themes_orux_new.zip
Unzip the contents to /oruxmaps/mapstyles/ (dont forget the /patterns /symbols folders) for the switching themes look at the oruxmaps site: http://www.oruxmaps.com/cs/

Its easy, enjoy!

Best regards, Christian

Updates

The summer break is over,  starting with Germany and Europe the regular update scedule is in operation again.

Volker has contributed a very slim general World-Map covering zoom-levels 1-7. The appearance is very fine with decent relief-shading – download it in the Genaral Maps section.

NOTE: There are lots of inprovements with the maps/themes,  please clear the cache of your APP!

Georgia – incl. Armenia, Azerbaijan was flooded by sea so far – this is resolved with the new coastlines-file.

Missing water in Lakes like the Como-See: I constantly try to correct geometry errors in the OSM-Database, the Como-Lake was rendered without water (white),  this should be resolved now (as it was with the Vierwaldstädtersee, the Thunsee aso..).
Unfortunately Mapsforge (the Renderer used for the openandromaps) is very strict concerning geometry errors – so the only way to ensure correct rendering is to constantly resolve errors in OSM.

New/modifiedTags:

highway=via_ferrata as standalone was not rendered so far.
This issue is resolved, highway=via_ferrata is transformed to  highway=path +  sac_scale=T4 + via_ferrata_flag=set and rendered as via-ferrata (black/white dashed). There is no need for changes with the theme, all transforming is done pre rendering.

Campsite und Motorhome sites now appear from zoom-level 12 on, a most frequently requested feature.

building=terrace and 9 more kinds of buildings added, transformed to “building=yes” – so no changes with the theme are necessary.

Churches, Chapels and Cathedrales are now rendering more reliable (Hikers will love it, it makes navigation easier)

Themes:

natural=forest|wood is rendered with transparent coloring.

The Captions (names) of rivers are rendered from zoom-level 12 on , streams and canals from level 14

			<rule e="way" k="waterway" v="river" zoom-min="12">
				<pathText k="name" font-style="bold" font-size="18" fill="#3464a5" stroke="#ffffff" stroke-width="2.0" />			
			</rule>
			<rule e="way" k="waterway" v="stream|canal" zoom-min="14">
				<pathText k="name" font-style="bold" font-size="14" fill="#3464a5" stroke="#ffffff" stroke-width="2.0" />			
			</rule>

Experimental: The captions (names) of lakes are now rendered from level 14.
The solution was to calculate the center of the polygon (the lake) and place a node there with the name of the lake. This reders fine for usual geometrys, for ones like extreme “L”or “U”-shapes the names may be rendered outside the lake.

Renderrule:

	<rule e="node" k="natural" v="water">
      <caption k="name" font-style="bold" font-size="14" fill="#3464a5" stroke="#ffffff" stroke-width="2.0"/>
	</rule>

Barriers are now rendered with MTB+HC theme :
(Thanks to Fabrizio)

		<!-- barriers -->
		<rule e="way" k="barrier" v="*">
			<rule e="way" k="barrier" v="fence|wall|city_wall">
				<line stroke="#000000" stroke-width="0.1" stroke-linecap="butt" />
			</rule>
			<rule e="way" k="barrier" v="retaining_wall">
				<line stroke="#888888" stroke-width="0.1" stroke-linecap="butt" />
			</rule>
		</rule>

		<!-- barriers -->
		<rule e="node" k="barrier" v="*">
			<rule e="node" k="barrier" v="bollard" zoom-min="16">
				<circle r="3" fill="#707070" />
			</rule>
			<rule e="node" k="barrier" v="lift_gate|chain|cycle_barrier|stile" zoom-min="16" zoom-max="17">
				<circle r="6" fill="#ff0000" stroke="#00ff00" stroke-width="4" />
			</rule>
			<rule e="node" k="barrier" v="lift_gate|chain|cycle_barrier" zoom-min="18" zoom-max="18">
				<circle r="9" fill="#ff0000" stroke="#00ff00" stroke-width="6" />
			</rule>
			<rule e="node" k="barrier" v="lift_gate|chain|cycle_barrier" zoom-min="19">
				<circle r="14" fill="#ff0000" stroke="#00ff00" stroke-width="10" />
			</rule>
			<rule e="node" k="barrier" v="gate" zoom-min="16" zoom-max="17">
				<circle r="6" fill="#ff0000" stroke="#606060" stroke-width="4" />
			</rule>
			<rule e="node" k="barrier" v="gate" zoom-min="18" zoom-max="18">
				<circle r="9" fill="#ff0000" stroke="#606060" stroke-width="6" />
			</rule>
			<rule e="node" k="barrier" v="gate" zoom-min="19">
				<circle r="14" fill="#ff0000" stroke="#606060" stroke-width="10" />
			</rule>
		</rule>

Rendering of power lines  are now adjusted to zoom-levels:
(Thanks to John)

       <!-- power lines  -->
       <rule e="way" k="power" v="*">
          <rule e="way" k="power" v="line" zoom-max="16">
             <line stroke="#799079" stroke-width="1.3" stroke-dasharray="3,44" stroke-linecap="butt" />
             <line stroke="#799079" stroke-width="0.25" stroke-dasharray="3,7,30,7" stroke-linecap="butt" />
          </rule>
          <rule e="way" k="power" v="line" zoom-min="17" zoom-max="19">
             <line stroke="#799079" stroke-width="0.8" stroke-dasharray="6,65" stroke-linecap="butt" />
             <line stroke="#799079" stroke-width="0.2" stroke-dasharray="6,10,45,10" stroke-linecap="butt" />
          </rule>
          <rule e="way" k="power" v="line" zoom-min="20">
             <line stroke="#799079" stroke-width="0.6" stroke-dasharray="9,88" stroke-linecap="butt" />
             <line stroke="#799079" stroke-width="0.2" stroke-dasharray="9,14,60,14" stroke-linecap="butt" />
          </rule>
          <rule e="way" k="power" v="minor_line" zoom-max="16">
             <line stroke="#799079" stroke-width="1.0" stroke-dasharray="3,32" stroke-linecap="butt" />
             <line stroke="#799079" stroke-width="0.15" stroke-dasharray="3,6,4,4,4,4,4,6" stroke-linecap="butt" />
          </rule>
          <rule e="way" k="power" v="minor_line" zoom-min="17" zoom-max="19">
             <line stroke="#799079" stroke-width="0.7" stroke-dasharray="6,48" stroke-linecap="butt" />
             <line stroke="#799079" stroke-width="0.15" stroke-dasharray="6,9,6,6,6,6,6,9" stroke-linecap="butt" />
          </rule>
          <rule e="way" k="power" v="minor_line" zoom-min="20">
             <line stroke="#799079" stroke-width="0.5" stroke-dasharray="9,64" stroke-linecap="butt" />
             <line stroke="#799079" stroke-width="0.15" stroke-dasharray="9,12,8,8,8,8,8,12" stroke-linecap="butt" />
          </rule>
       </rule>

The new Themes for Oruxmaps are included in the *.zips of the Map-Downloads, the new Themes for Locus are available in the “downloads” + “legend” section and below.

High contrast theme for Locus Cycle/Hike
High contrast theme for Locus MTB
High contrast “light” theme for Locus without Cycle/Hike routes

Last but not least I want to say thanks for all the Bugreports, code snippets, feature requests and – of couse – donations. Thats essential for running and constantly improving the biggest source for free Android vectormaps.

Best regards and pleasant hiking in the Indan Summer
Christian

Its time for a summer break, I’m on tour with MTB and Kajak in the beautifull forrest+lake district in the north of Austria near the border of Czech republic. Unfortunately the 3G-Net is weak in this area 😉
Begining from September on I will update the whole Mapset.

The current update is made with a new set of coastlines – I tried my best to correct errors.
However, if you experience flooded areas please report them – Thanks.

The support will be very basic in the next 3 weeks, if Im sitting at the notebook all the time even during vacance my wife will kill me slowly….

Best regards, Christian

As a fan of Scotland – I’v spent 8 sommers walking in Scotland – I have released a map of Scotland with extreme high details at low zoom-levels. The mapping is the same as for Iceland.
For the lowlands this is in parts a kind of overkill, there you can use the Great_Britain map.

However, for walkers and cyclists able to withstand midges and ocasional showers, walking the Hebrides, the Orkneys, the Shetlands, Skye aso. this map is a great addition to the portfolio.

A great walk in one of the most beautiful nature scenes in Europe
and
Best regards, Christian
… and don’t forget to drink a pint of Guinness to my health …

Hello,

Two weeks ago I moved this website from a shared account to a VirtualPrivateServer wit 8GB Ram and 2Vcores.
In addition I moved the critical parts like js, css and pictures to ContentDeliveryNetwork.
This eliminates the need of questionable and sometimes inkompatible tricks like Browser caching, minifying aso..

Advantage: Usualy the pages are now delivered in less than 2sec to all kinds of browsers
Downside: Costs 378.–€/Year

Anyway, I don’t like to stop half the way – so enjoy it.

Best regards, Christian

Hello,

For Locus and Oruxmaps there are general maps in zoom-levels 4-9 covering the whole world for download.
These maps are perfect for overview and switching to the detailed Vectormaps for navigation.

The format of the maps is sqlite (bitmaps) for faster handling in these zoom-levels.

  • Oruxmaps: Please decompress the zipfile and copy the whole World_OSM folder to the map-folder on the smartphone.[download]
  • Locus: Decompress the file and copy WorldOSM_Locus.sqlitedb in the \maps – folder on the smartphone (\maps , NOT \MapsVector!)[download]



While the first loading of the maps (or starting the app after copying the maps on the phone) these maps have to initialised – this may take a while, but only once.

Best regards, Christian

Hi,

Russia and Canada maps are updated as announced last weekend.

Website issues:
I’m working hard to find a faster webserver for the openandromaps. However, comfortable solutions are starting at about 100$, cheap one occupy far to much of my time resources to maintain, resources that I want to invest in improving the maps and not in constant maintaince.
The current cache-solution I used so far (W3TC) worked lightning-fast or completely failed depending on Browser, Browser version and appearently on weather conditions – so I disabled and deleted it.
The loading time now increased (of course), BUT the pages ARE loading no matter what browser you use. In worst case it takes 7-8 seconds for a page to load. Google will punish me in ranking. However, it’s YOU this site is made for and not Google 😉

So again, I will find a solution (maybe with YOU as sponsor 😉 ) for hosting.

Best regards
Christian