[mkgmap-dev] naming map layers in a gmapsupp.img

Thu Dec 17 08:40:00 GMT 2009

Ralf Kleineisel wrote:
> On 12/15/2009 04:00 PM, Charlie Ferrero wrote:
> 
>> For the record,
>>
>> series-name: This is the name displayed in the top-left drop down list 
>> in MapSource and that is visible in the GPS menu (but only the series 
>> name of the top layer)
>>
>> family-name: This is the name that appears in MapSource's Map Product 
>> Manager (CTRL+U) and is also ascribed to each tile if transferred using 
>> send-map
>>
>> area-name: This is the name that appears against each tile in the GPS 
>> unit if transferred manually by copying a gmapsupp.img to SD card
> 
> Different GPS units seem to handle this differently.
> 
> My eTrex Legend HCx shows the "description" field in the "Setup map" menu
> where you can select individual map tiles. I set it like this in the
> template.args file:
> 
> [...]
> mapname: 10000058
> description: OSM_Berlin_W
> input-file: 10000058.osm.gz
> mapname: 10000059
> description: OSM_Berlin_O
> input-file: 10000059.osm.gz
> [...]
> 

Sorry Ralf,

I was only giving you half the information, let me try again and get it 
right this time.

series-name: This is the name displayed in the top-left drop down list
in MapSource and that is visible in the GPS menu [1] (but only the 
series name of the top layer) and that is also allocated to each tile 
[2] in certain circumstances

family-name: This is the name that appears in MapSource's Map Product
Manager (CTRL+U) and is also ascribed to each tile [2] if transferred 
using send-map

area-name: This is the name that appears against each tile in the GPS
unit if transferred manually by copying a gmapsupp.img to SD card

description: Applied to individual tiles [2]

[1] In map view, press Menu->Setup Map and scroll to Map Setup - 
Information, then press Menu again.  All OSM maps are listed with just 
the series-name of the top layer (even though each layer may have a 
different series-name)

[2] In map view, press Menu->Setup Map and scroll to Map Setup - 
Information: every tile is listed with a check mark.  Each tile is named 
according to a pattern that varies depending on how the maps were 
transferred to the GPS unit, see next section.

What names are given to tiles in different situations?
1) Create gmapsupp.img using sendmap, then copy to SD card manually:
  [description], [series-name], compilation_date

2) Transfer a single tile using sendmap over USB
  [description], mapset, compilation_date

3) Create a gmapsupp.img file using sendmap, then transfer over USB
  [description], [series-name], compilation_date

I haven't tried what happens if I use MapSource to create and transfer a 
gmapsupp because I haven't actually figured out how to do it 
[embarassed].  Even though I've got maps installed in MapSource, if I 
select "Send to device" it tells me that "To transfer data to your 
device, select maps or create waypoints, routes or tracks" but doesn't 
tell me how to select a map.

I also haven't tried using mkgmap to create a single gmapsupp.img out of 
multiple layers because I can't get it to work (it labels all the tiles 
incorrectly as , , compilation_date

--
Charlie