Discussion: oomap enhancements - feedback sought

We extensively use Ollie O'Brien's OpenOrienteeringMap (oomap) website for informal urban events: https://oomap.co.uk It's already a fantastic resource and I've been working, with Ollie's knowledge, to add my own improvements. The main ones are:

Global contours (from SRTM - so a bit ropey but better than nothing)
LIDAR-derived contours at 2.5m, 5m or 10m (most of England & Wales, some major population centres in Australia and NZ so far).
Up-to-the-minute mapping data.
Magnetic North grids and map alignment. Also arbitrary rotation (Alt+Shift+Drag)

Downsides: No pre-rendering of O-style maps - only on the PDF and image export. Things take a bit longer as the map data is fetched on the fly. Adding SRTM contours adds a minute or so as the data is only downloaded when needed.

I'm now seeking feedback to see how valuable these additions are. So - please give it a try at the site below. Be aware that this is an ancient PC running off my broadband connection so don't hit it too hard! If feedback is positive I'll work with Ollie to integrate this code into his site.

http://oomap.dna-software.co.uk:8888/

David

JPG, JGW and KMZ exports were broken - now fixed.
Also LIDAR contours added for Perth, WA

I can't take advantage of the LIDAR (due to location) but really happy with the addition of global SRTM contours. As you note, it is not perfect, but great to have the option to include them. Hopefully you are getting more positive feed back so this can be implemented into the main site.

Thanks

Thanks Michael. Not a huge amount of feedback so far...

Ottawa (I'm assuming) - have a look now! I've processed a chunk of data from:
https://geohub.lio.gov.on.ca/datasets/mnrf::ontari...

Similarly, if there are areas where better contours would get used and you can point me at a suitable digital elevation model I can see what's possible. E.g. Austria is there now - there are *lots* of contours there!

Hi David, the added LIDAR data looks great. I don't know why the limited feedback. I know in my club we have a number of very qualified mappers and the club has OCAD licenses (and they also know how to suck in LIDAR etc) so OOmap is not used a lot, although our outreach group does use it for quick events for schools etc. I've definitely seen other Canadian clubs using OOmap, especially for MapRun style events.
The few times I have used it has been as a base template in OOM (the application) and then with Purple Pen. Having the contours on the base is very handy (even if just being used to then draw over).
It would be good to add to the local area North in Quebec (the current ontario set you have "die" just across the provincial border). I'll see if I can track down a source.

Thanks for your effort with this.

I've now added an alternative to the NASA SRTM-derived contour set. This is from the recently-released GLO-30 elevation model from ESA's Copernicus project. Advantages over SRTM: global coverage where SRTM stops at ~ 60 deg N/S, more recent data, and looks to be a bit higher quality. Background at: https://spacedata.copernicus.eu/fr/dataset-details...

Looks really nice David. Thanks!

hi David, i fully understand that you are experimenting with the contour sets so this may be completely irrelevant but I noticed that when using your version the JGW files have rotation values in the two applicable lines. Is this just an artifact of your testing or are you doing something different with the export from the original site?

Hi Michael, yes this is deliberate and new - the map area is automatically aligned to magnetic North which of course for you is a long way from true N. So - the resulting map is tilted compared to true N and therefore needs a rotation value for it to be properly georeferenced.
I *think* that it works as intended (eg for Routegadget), but happy to be told if it doesn't!
If you want a true-N map click on the small arrow at the top-right of the map view (only appears once magnetic adjustment has been made on adding a new map area). Alternatively add an arbitrary rotation to *really* confuse your local orienteers - Shift-Alt-drag on the map background.

Hadn't noticed the arrow pop up. I think it is a good addition and always wondered why it wasn't available in the original - having the maps True North oriented I'm sure caused some confusion. For me however it was not working for my work process. I've been using the output as a template in Open orienteering Mapper georeferenced with the JGW (and modifying where needed including any rotation) then making courses with PurplePen. Problem was that the original JPG is not really great resolution so either using the JPG in the KMZ file or, even better, saving the PDF as an image JPG, I have much more usable quality. With a 0 rotation in the JWG, it is easy to convert from the original to an updated JWG as it only involves the x and y ratio difference in the two images (I have an app that does this but a spreadsheet or calculator is all you really need). Add rotation in and the math becomes much more complicated. Now that I know about the arrow on the map then not a problem. There are a few more gotchas with the process I use - selecting the right coordinate system and saving the OOM file in OCAD format but it works really well, it is fast and allows a lot more flexibility in making any required additions to the map before using (such as marking out of bounds areas, adding a path or trail etc).
I had also forgotten that the "UK" version of Routegadget uses a world file - we are still using the original version that just uses the corners.

Hi Michael - ah I see - always interesting to hear how others put together a process! I typically use Inkscape to composite the final map from the PDF output.

I've made a couple of modifications to help:

1. JPG output resolution is now doubled (and reflected in the worldfile)
2. PDFs are now georeferenced, so can use these directly in OOMapper - that'll fix another of your gotchas.

Nice. I think the changes you are making are fantastic, especially meeting the needs for those that want to use this tool to make easy maps and courses. My goal has been to provide a process to expand this for those that want/need to make map modifications and more flexible courses while sticking with free software (full disclosure - I do have OCAD.CONDES, Adobe, but I actually like OOMapper (the windows app) and Purple Pen!). The extra resolution output makes this process easier with less finicky bits, but, as you would expect, there are still some gotchas when trying to integrate the free software (example - purple pen cannot use an OMAP file with a PDF template yet, although this is expected to be fixed "soon"). I'm looking forward to your changes being implemented in the original (as I realize you do not want lots of hits on your site!).

One request - can you make the Northing lines you have added optional? In most cases I will likely do the rotation in OOMapper and add the Northing lines from there.
Thanks

Optional Northings - yep, can do that (after a bit of refactoring!). There's no option in the web interface yet so try the following:
Download the pdf/jpg/kmz as usual, then go to your browser's history and find the link - it should look like:

http://tile.dna-software.co.uk:8888/jpg/?style=ote...

If you manually edit the last two parameters (eg "grid=no") you can turn the grid off, and also produce a file of arbitrary resolution by changing the dpi value. Remember to create the jgw and jpg files with matching dpi values!

Very useful info - little tricky to initially pull the calls out (needed to use the developer console network log functionality) but have now thrown together a small app to produce custom files starting with the map center lon/lat. Much appreciated.

Now with LIDAR-derived contours for Austria, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Hi Dave,

Just noticed you have added rendering options including Grid On/Off and DPI options. I can now get rid of the small app I built to set all the parameters based on pull down menus that then built the URLs. This is great. Do you have plans going forward with this version?

Hi Michael, sorry not checked here recently. Thanks - the major goal now is to work with Ollie O'Brien to get these updates onto the main site - this is ongoing. After that, I'm open to suggestions! More rendering options? More LIDAR-derived contours? Pulling in more points of interest from OSM?

Hi Dave. Looking forward to it going main stream! From my perspective it gives me everything I need. For anything more complex (map changes, more course designer options etc) I use it as a georeferenced map template and utilize other tools already available (OpenOrienteering Mapper, purple Pen). Because of this, I rarely use the course design capability built in - not sure if other users would like to see this area made a bit more flexible (pt to pt course mapping etc). Always a hard balance between keeping it simple and adding more functionality.

More updates to try - and now on https at https://oomap.dna-software.co.uk.

- will pull in old maps from https://oomap.co.uk using the 13-character code;
- can drag-and-drop a GPX file on the map to show a track;
- repositionable controls and other overlay features;
- feature scaling to give a WYSIWYG web view;
- plenty of other fixes and tweaks.

5/10m LIDAR contours for:
- England, Wales & Northern Ireland
- France
- Belgium
- Luxembourg
- Austria
- Australia population centres
- New Zealand population centres
- Bits of Ontario, Canada.

Very nice set of updates Dave! Really like the GPX file drop capability to validate trails and control locations. The ability to edit control locations will certainly make it easier to set up simple Score-O courses. Thanks

These enhancements especially the additions of the GLO-30 contours are fantastic. Here in Alberta we have almost no free LiDAR so 5m contours for quick street training maps is awesome.

I might be misunderstanding, but it seems like the PDF that gets generated for me is still oriented to true north while the northing lines are angled at the declination angle (about 13 degrees here). Having magnetic north lines is a great improvement over the original Oomap, but it would be nice to have the PDF generated with the top of the map oriented to magnetic north which is what seems like the Apr 16 comment in this thread is the intended behavior. Or at least have a button or ability to rotate the map precisely so that mag north is at the top. I also agree that having the option to rotate to grid north and to hide the northing lines might be useful for basemaps.

Thanks Michael, Tim.
Tim, when you first click to create the web map, it *should* calculate the local declination value and rotate the map accordingly - and this should also translate to the PDF. A small arrow will appear in the top-right of the web view; clicking this will re-align the map to true North - so don't do that! Alternatively, use Alt-Shift-drag to rotate the map an arbitrary amount.
If it isn't doing that for you let me know.

David, Brilliant! I must have clicked the arrow at one time before bookmarking the site. For that case, it would be great to either have a button to realign with magnetic north again or to be able to rotate a specified number of degrees (rather than get out my protractor) but as a workaround I can always reload the MapID in a new tab.

Thanks Tim, added to the to-do list (mag N button) - just need to work out how...

...and now enabled. Should be self-explanatory.

Lots more goodies in the latest release at https://oomap.dna-software.co.uk/

Line courses enabled (in rendering options);
In-browser map preview (new button at top-right);
Pull in OpenStreetMap POIs as controls - postboxes, lampposts, benches, permanent O-markers, and any other node type through a custom option;
Double-click editing/deleting of controls & other features;
"Letter" paper size added.

Hi David.
Once again thanks for all the work you are doing with this project. I have some initial feedback on the recent changes - take them all with a grain of salt!
1. I don't see a Letter/A4 option in the main menu (upper left). Not sure if I'm just missing it.
2. IMO the line course option dramatically increases the usefulness of this app! I know it is early in the work but their is a conflict with things like still showing the score points when selecting a line course (although I guess some still run a line score course most line courses are not score based??) Obviously it takes a lot more work to modify the app for one or the other format.
3. The double click to edit is another really helpful feature.
4. The main menu has an Add Map Features and also the Plaques selection option that appear to do the same thing.
5. I'm not sure what to suggest for this but I found the Add Map Features a bit difficult, mostly because the selection immediately becomes controls on the map no matter how many are there and whether they are usable as Controls. This is especially amusing when a line course is selected - and too many items are also found! Each needs to be manually deleted and those that are to be used then need to be manually renumbered for a line course. I think I was intially assuming the items would be shown on the map so you could see the location and then add controls at the locations of the ones that made sense.
6. Love the preview (but won't use it too much!). Fantastic for doing any final adjustments.

Again - thanks for the hard work!

Thanks Michael.
1. Letter - there now - it was in the code, just not on the site...
2. Line course - good point re: the scoring. I guess it doesn't matter since the scores don't make it to the final PDF, but it would be good to tidy that up. At the moment this is more of a cosmetic change (join the dots!) and the bigger underlying change is having separate start and finish.
4. There's a subtle difference! The original oomap gets plaque data from OpenPlaques, and the "Plaques" button still does that. The plaques option in "Get Features" gets plaques from OSM - and the two sets are different. Still confusing though...
5. That's useful - thank you. What's doable is to get the retrieved features and stick them in an optional temporary layer. Clicking on them there would promote them to controls so you could pick and choose what you wanted.
6. Glad it's useful!

Addendum:
4. There was also an error - fixed.
5. Temporary layer enabled as an option - does this work for you?

I feel like I'm the only one causing you to work but I'm also guessing you are having fun!?

The temporary layer is great but I do have some observations and suggestions. keep in mind that these are not based on a bunch of experience using things so treat them as such.

There is a weird (but minor) inconsistency based on how you select the marker. If you single click on it first (becomes a filled circle) then double click to turn to a control, if this is a linear course, the lines are drawn partially to the marker but no control circle. If you single select another marker (or double click another) the previous circle is then drawn, Similar with a Score-O as the control is not drawn until another marker is selected. Just some "confusion" between number of clicks? I also found (but harder to reproduce) that, in the same situation as above (marker single selected), the double click would create two controls when markers are close together. Not of these are serious in that they are easily corrected.

I was originally confused why the 'Minimum Distance' was not working and then figured this was by design when using a temporary layer. IMO (and this may not be shared) I would see being able to set the minimum distance regardless if using the temporary layer or not assuming this is not difficult to implement.

Now for the harder stuff...
Is it feasible allow for multiple marker types being selected at once? I suspect this would be more useful designing a pt to pt due to the limited ability to reorder controls (not needed with a Score-O). Selecting a few markers of one type as controls then displaying another type of marker and trying to fit these into a pt to pt is not easy. There certainly comes a point where the best approach is to export the map into something like Purple pen for more complex course design but it is hard to decide what that point is.
With the above multi select the next issue would be how to determine on the temporary layer which symbol was which type of marker. Even with a single selection, the small blue circle can be hard to spot among all the other blue items on the map (bus stops etc). Not sure how feasible it would be to use a more easily spotted symbol/colour and differentiate between types.

That's that. If you don't mind I'd like to post about this on the mapRun forum.

Thanks Michael.

Selection inconsistency - fixed.

Minimum distance - now works across control layer + temp marker layer.

Multiple marker types - I've thought about a multi-select option but have left as-is for now. My reasoning is that a) you can add these 1-by-1 now so it's not much more clicking, and b), I can see that the order you bring in the different markers could be important when combined with the minimum radius option. E.g. "Bring in all the postboxes first, then find lampposts that are a minimum distance away" gives very different results from doing lampposts then postboxes.

To help though - I've now colour-coded the hard-coded feature types, and also added a popup label when hovering so you can see more details. Hopefully that is good enough!

I'm anticipating that the next request will be to allow control re-ordering - and that's now on my to-do list.

MapRun forum - yes of course!

I was leaving control re-ordering for later!!! This would really help with the aspect of single POI at a time options.
One more suggestion, when you do not select the temporary layer and end up with way too many controls on the map there is no simple way to remove them all - either you need to delete the sheet and start again or one by one on the control list.

Thanks

OK - both these now addressed:

"Ctrl-z" will delete the last control or batch of controls added.

"Ctrl-g" toggles a greyscale map option to help see the markers.

Rows in the control description table are now draggable so can be re-ordered.

As well as the different node search options, there's now also a "pull all tagged nodes" option to give you *everything* from OSM that might be useful as a point feature.

Really nice! Need to show these options on the screen somewhere. Perhaps the two Ctrl- features in the "tip: section top of the screen and the reorder added to the control section.

From my perspective this is it! Anything more (map modifications, more complex set of courses) I would download a hi res JPG/JGW and import into OOMapper then purple pen for courses.

Done!

Oh, and I've thrown in a location search option, and GPX tracks coloured by speed too...

Like the way the "Tip" changes based on likely task. That's it from - I've got nothing more! Thanks again for all the work.

There are a fair few updates since I last posted but most importantly, https://oomap.dna-software.co.uk/ now has a set of help pages at https://oomap.dna-software.co.uk/help and a feedback page to raise any issues.