Discussion: Routegadget and Java

Is there any viable alternative to Routegadget -- with all the Java exploits out there I tend to disable Java plugins in my browsers these days.

Depending on what you´re after there are a few other alternatives. I fear that some (or all) of them are also based on Java though.

The Swedish Orienteering Federation has a page where they list a few of the available services for splits and/or route choice analysis. The page is in Swedish but you can always try Google Translate for a (terrible) translation.

Opath and MapAndCoach seem to be similar to RouteGadget - you´ll find the links on the above mentioned web page. GPSSeuranta is great for live GPS tracking but apart from that I don´t know enough about it to have an opinion...

MapAndCoach and Opath look good. GPSSeuranta requires Java.

Thanks!

Good to hear :)

I think Opath is exactly what I was looking for, let me see if I can make it work for our events.

Java's fine if you upgrade it.
Have read reports of routegadget not working 100% with some versions/browsers, so it seems to be a bit pot luck.

Yes Java is fine until it is not fine and then it is fine again.

One should not really require Java for this kind of thing Javascript should be quite enough.

For Mozilla Firefox there is a plug in NoScript which lets you easily choose to allow Java to run selectively on trusted sites. I've been running it for a few years and it seems to work well. Disclaimer: I know nothing about Java vulnerabilities except I hear they exist :-)

Yes, you can disable but the problem is -- I cannot really recommend to install Java plugin to members of our club because these vulnerabilities exist and I cannot be sure they will actually go through all the steps to make it secure.

"One should not really require Java for this kind of thing Javascript should be quite enough."
write a better non-java version, then!

Looks like Opath is already doing that a lot of what I need. I do not really want to bash RG in any way, it is great.

I "upgraded" Java recently (many times actually, including five minutes ago) and now RouteGadget asks each time I run it if I want to use the latest version of Java. There does not seem to be a "Do not ask me again" option!

The patch upgrade proudly proclaims "3 billion devices run Java". Why? I do not know.

A timely question - companies here are starting to ban client-side Java as a security measure, forcing people to abandon RouteGadget and get back to their work as a side effect.

RG is great. Opath looks promising. I've always liked the idea that we could use RG for live tracking (possibly with cheap Android phones - do I need client-side java as well as the HTML5 Geo support ?), but have never really given that a go. It doesn't look as though live tracking on the plan for OPath.

There's a problem with Java in Google Chrome, but easily bypassed. When Routegadget page comes up there will be a message saying Java is blocked because it is out of date. Just click on the Run This Time button.

That's because your Java is... (wait for it)... out of date, Simmo. :p

I'd happily re-write RG in Javascript if Jarkko would give me the source code ... *grumbles* :)

GPSSeuranta doesn't require java. There is html client alternative.

I do get "do not ask me again" and "always activate for this site" option it works, in firefox and chrome.

I have been hearing of an increasing number of people having problems running RG recently. Many seem to be Windows 7 or 8 related or OS X. Which implies that newer OS's are getting much tighter on security and Java is the door that many new exploits seem to be using.

Considering how long ago RouteGadget was last updated it almost seems a miracle it's still working and popular with all the changes that have happened in web development. It's testimony to how well written it was in the first place and how ahead of the game.

But the fact that it can't be used on some of the most popular devices in use, tablets & smartphones, combined with the Java security risks, means that a new web based application/service that will work across platforms & devices is needed.

I'm not a programmer, so I'm dependant on others to come up with the code. But I'm happy to help with the development and promotion of it. RouteGadget UK has over 70 clubs in the UK and some major events like the OMM and LAMM using the service. If the product is good and reliable I think clubs could be persuaded to pay for it. I ask for a small contribution towards the cost of hosting etc. and I suspect many would pay more. So there may be a regular income available on licensing. But putting it on a more commercial basis would require guaranteed support.

Is there a help forum/discussion board for opath.se? I am climbing a learning curve...

How did you go ?

I sucessfully got results, course, map and control locations set, but after that I either got application crashes or not-what-I expected.

It didn't like my 3.0 XML results, but seemed to swallow my 2.0.3 ones.

I was able to get the map in, and then a course added manually by clicking. Also uploaded some tracks, it needs tracks that had splits added in QR. I tried adding courses in XML and splits in CSV but I do not think it took them. I cannot delete tracks -- somehow the deleted ones still show on the map. Once in a while I get an error page. Would be great to have some sample result/course files posted to check that my format matches.
I'll probably give it a shot once our season starts.

The upside of RG is that it doesn't require any login to upload GPS routes against an event whereas you need to be registered on OPath etc to upload route.
With Australia going down the Eventor path, splits & GPS routes can be uploaded. By doing so splits can be analysed in Winsplits (sorting that out as we speak) but there is still a gap in visually analysing the GPS data.
More than happy to install RG on the OA server if it is the "best" option at the moment. Need someone with coding skills to fill the gap between Eventor & RG specifically around uploading results/splits & GPS routes.

Need someone with coding skills to fill the gap between Eventor & RG specifically ... GPS routes.

Hmm...that would be an interesting exercise, at least. If you send me an email with some details - at least from the Eventor side - I'll see what I can do.

API documentation available at https://eventor.orientering.se/Api/Documentation (use Google translate). http://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/ is the Australian instance of Eventor.

My favourite bit is how the "In English" link...isn't. :)

I can't see how to drag the GPS route back out though - split times looks easy enough.

Don't think the GPS routes are exposed via the API. Will ask the developer :)
Sent you an email Juffy.

@obewan,Juffy

a) This doesn't address the OP's point about RouteGadget and Java
b) The ResultList data from the API doesn't include the course, so you may have to screen-scrape the results HTML as well (yippee).
[I suspect this is a defect, but I'm probably wearing out my welcome on the issues log for Eventor Australia]

@undy

a) definitely doesn't. It does however answer your question about "where the splits go in Eventor".
b) a defect or just not made available through the API? No issues with millions of issues/suggestions being submitted to the issues log/wish list (noting that the document has now become a wish list) so long as people understand that OA don't have an infinite amount of money, the person managing the implementation (me) has a full time job & family and the priority is to implement solutions that benefit the majority.
If people have pressing problems (ie unable to enter, problem with an membership etc) they should be made using the "Need Help?" link at the bottom right of any Eventor page.

@obewan

No worries, I suspect that this fix/enhancement is low priority, but would affect what Juffy was going to do.
I think its a bug, the documentation in the XSD for the IOF 3.0 XML result list says that the minimum number of courses detailed for a class element is 0, but then says one (course) element is required per race...

I appreciate your work, Eventor is solving a stack of problems for us which we had bodgy solutions to, some of which I'm very happily scrapping.

There is also http://3drerun.worldofo.com/ of course, I am wondering why nobody mentioned it. Looks very nice.