[mkgmap-dev] generating custom maps (stylesheet or typ files)

Tue May 26 21:18:26 BST 2009

On Tue, May 26, 2009 at 06:18:21PM +0200, Clinton Gladstone wrote:
> On Tue, May 26, 2009 at 9:14 AM, Marko Mäkelä <marko.makela at iki.fi> wrote:
> >
> > If you find a good tutorial into TYP files and a nice set of tools, I'm
> > interested.  I use Debian GNU/Linux, and I am distributing a map of Finland
> > that I would like to be more useful for cycling (but still useable for
> > pedestrians and motor vehicles).
> 
> The following is a web-based TYP file editor, which has worked well for me:
> 
> http://ati.land.cz/gps/typdecomp/editor.cgi
> 
> Since it is web-based, you should be able to use it on a Debian system
> (I have always used Firefox as the browser).

Are there any freely distributable TYP files that could be used as a starting
point?  I understood that TYP files can only be created with closed-source
Windows programs (GenTYP <http://cypherman1.googlepages.com/genTYP>
and cGPSmapper <http://www.cgpsmapper.com/>).  I would like to contribute
to a common TYP file in some way: writing translations, suggesting custom
POI types (e.g., shop=bicycle, amenity=recycling), and so on.  The preferred
format for editing would be text, and the textual source of the TYP file
would live in some public svn repository.  Does that sound doable?
I wouldn't touch Windows with a 10-foot pole, but I reckon that someone
could regularly compile the text file to a TYP file, or even set up an
automated system for doing that.

> The cGPSmapper manual contains some more information about TYP files,
> and the following "Kochbuch" is also useful, if you can read German:
> 
> http://maptk.dnsalias.com/Docs/Kochbuch.pdf

Thanks, I downloaded that "cookbook" some time ago and finally read it.
I also skimmed the cGPSmapper manual.

> You may find it easiest to start with one of the existing OSM TYP
> files, and to adapt your own from this.

Which ones would you recommend?  I was able to find this one:
http://svn.openstreetmap.org/applications/utils/export/garmincyclemap/4011.typ
Its POI icons look quite crude, and it redefines some built-in POI and
line types.

> One thing that I have done, in order to make my maps more useful both
> for cycling and automobiles, is to add a definition for cycleways as
> Garmin 0x0f in both the lines style file and the TYP file: this
> appears to work correctly for routing, and differentiates better from
> the 0x16 code used for footways, etc.

These appear to be undocumented in mkgmap/resources/garmin_feature_list.csv,
but the web-based TYP editor <http://ati.land.cz/gps/typdecomp/editor.cgi>
says that 0x0e is Trail and 0x0f is Major trail.

> Some more work in this direction
> could be possible when creating routable hiking/cycling maps with a
> larger number of specialized ways defined.

Right, it would be nice to be able to distinguish unpaved routes or
mountain bike trails from paved streets on the map screen, even if the
pavedness status is missing from the routing information.

Thanks,

	Marko