mapping tool: oceanic

[humanwoman]

IMPORTANT:

the new version of the tool has been released, please view this thread for more information.
all links for oceanic 1.0 were deleted, please follow up another thread and download oceanic 2.1

I came up with this tool for storing and displaying various location-related info on a EU continent map.

I use it to track some of my mining claims, but it can be used for pretty much anything: TPs, revivals, zones, roads, POI and just some general notes of any kind.

I decided to share it here as it might be useful for somebody else.

all info is stored in external XML files, so you can create your own type of entries to display, like "My favorite places" and design its shape, color etc. also you can add more continents and maps if you like.

here is a couple screenshots of it:



it's a stand-alone Windows application, Adobe Flash based, compiled under Win7 x64, confirmed running under WinXP as well (thanks doitordontdoit)

basic functionality:

you can drag the map around and zoom in/zoom out it with the mouse wheel.

there is a coordinate box, which shows the current position at the crosshair, you can type in coordinates and press Enter to go to the location. the box is draggable around by the green square

all entries are divided into three groups "Enmatter", "Ore", "Other", lists for every group are scrollable with a mouse wheel

also, there is a tooltip box, if you double-click on its green square, it will show/hide its details area.
the box works in two modes: by default you can drag it around by the green square, if you double-click on any feature placed upon the map it will become a tool tip, following the mouse, another double-click will unlock it and it will become draggable again.
when in tool tip mode, it's enough to roll over an entry on the map to see its info in the box, when in draggable mode, you need to click on an entry to see it.

-------

you need to download zip file and extract it to any folder you like, then run "map.exe", no installation required

please read a few posts below for the explanation of the program formats, more features and cycle analyzer

on the first sceenshot there are some sample LAs with the notes

on the second screenshot you can see the area where I placed sample loot finds, a couple of general notes and such

 

[humanwoman]

brief explanation of XML format and what you can place on a map:

there are two files, config.xml and entries.xml

config.xml contains:

1. the list of continent maps, every map is defined in a tag like:

<continent name="Amethera" map="https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/images/amethera.png" startX="15523" startY="66286" endX="41763" endY="23886" load="as default"/>

where attributes are the continent's name, image path, starting and ending coordinates of the map in EU meters and you place load="as default" piece to the map loaded by default into the program

2. design:

all data is organized into a three-level structure: groups, types, and entries.
the top level is groups, Enmatter, Ore and Other. every group contains types of entries, for example, "Acid Root" is a type which belongs to Enmatter, "Revival point" is a type of entries which belongs to Other
the third level is an entry, it can be a particular find of "Acid Root" or a "Revival point"

you can add your own types and entries to the groups and design them the way you like.

there is the top level of design applied to all types and entries, it can be overridden for any particular type, which in turn, can be overridden for any particular entry.

for example, you specify general design for all "Acid Root" claims on a map, but you can change it for any particular claim, if you like, so it will look different

the top level design is defined here:

<design type="default" color="0xff0000" alpha="0.75" shape="circle" radius="3" show="off" units="pixels" filter="glow" group="Enmatter"/>

this is the default design "for everything"
color is color in hex RGB, alpha is transparency in the range 0..1
shape is the shape of an entry, possible values are "circle", "square" and "poly" for polygons
radius is a circle radius, if a shape is "circle"; a square size, if a shape is "square", not used for "poly"
show can be "on" or "off", defines whether a certain type of entries is shown on a map by default

units: some entries are geographical areas, they belong to a map, have certain size in EU meters and scale along with the map when you zoom in/zoom out. for these entries you need to specify units as "meters". some other entries like TPs or claims are physically too small to be always visible on a map, so it's better if they always have certain size in pixels on the screen and do not scale along with the map. for these ones units should be "pixels"

filter: applies some visual style to an entry. currently you can specify "glow", which creates a white outline around the entry, and "bevel", which adds a bit of volume to it. you can use any of them or both. by default "glow" filter is applied to all entries, if you want to turn it off, use filter=""

group is not a part of design settings, it just defines which group tab is opened by default

the rest of the file describes all types which are in use, if you want your type to belong to Enmatter or Ore, you need to specify it, otherwise it will be displayed under Other

for example
<design type="Acid Root" group="Enmatter" shape="square" radius="2" color="0x6e6d08" alpha="1.0" show="on"/>
creates a type "Acid Root" inside "Enmatter" group, all entries of which are displayed as opaque dark-green squares 2px in size

entries.xml contains:

all entries, where you specify a type from config.xml they belong to, x and y coordinates, name which is displayed as a title in the tooltip box

you can choose any name you like, if the name is not specified the the entry's type will be displayed as a title

you can add notes inside an entry tag between <notes><![CDATA[ and ]]></notes>. use <br> to insert a line break

also, every entry belongs to a certain continent, so they are all placed inside continent tags with a name matching one of those in config.xlm, like:

<continent name="Amethera">
...
<continent/>

attribute "data" is used to define a "poly" shape. the data contains pairs of x,y coordinates in EU meters separated with ":" like this data="x1,y1:x2,y2:x3,y3:..."
place ":0" at the end if you want it to be an outline or ":1" if you want it to be a filled area

with "poly" you can build closed shapes like LAs and PvP zones, you need to put ":1" at the end of the data. in this case the last point will be connected to the first automatically to close the shape, so you don't need to mention one point twice

with "poly" and ":0" you can make closed outlines or open polygons to build paths, roads, zone borders and such. in this case your points will be connected with lines of specified color and transparency


you can add as many attributes to an entry as you like, for instance if it's a claim, you might want to specify its size, depth, amp used to get it and such, like:

<entry X="64089" Y="77771" type="Crude Oil" size="II" depth="413" amp="XX-104" name="My Best Claim Ever"/>

all these info will be displayed in the tool tip box in the details text area, name attribute will be displayed as the title.


there is lots of info to be added to these files, you want to contribute you are welcome, just send me XML files with your data and I'll add them to the download package

 

[humanwoman]

------------

 

[moademonio]

thanks for sharing this tool, sounds good

 

[humanwoman]

so here is how cycle analyzer works:

first, you start in a normal mode:



then I'd recommend to which to black&white mode for viewing the map and you turn "spectrum mode" on. this will filter out all entries without time stamps and will show the spectrum band, which represents a time cycle:



you can input the length of the cycle in the text field to the right from the band, the range is 1...999999, measured in minutes

on the example above the cycle length is an hour, so claims found at the beginning of each hour will be red, in the middle - blue, at the end of an hour - purple/red again

so if there is a repetitive dependence on finding claims of some type(s) at certain times in certain areas for you, this feature might be useful

here are the same claims at different cycle lengths (1 minute; and 999999 which is about 2 years, if I'm not mistaken):



here is the oceanic XML data and cycles' values for the claims used in the example:

<entry X="22600" Y="48370" type="Force Nexus" time="2010-08-10 07:40:24"/>
<entry X="22564" Y="48650" type="Force Nexus" time="2010-08-10 07:48:36"/>
<entry X="22435" Y="48697" type="Acid Root" time="2010-08-10 07:51:09"/>
<entry X="22101" Y="48966" type="Crude Oil" time="2010-08-10 08:28:29"/>
<entry X="21802" Y="49677" type="Acid Root" time="2010-08-10 07:55:29"/>

cycle values for a cycle length of 60 mins:

0.6733333333333333
0.81
0.8525
0.4747222222222222
0.9247222222222222

1 minute:

0.4
0.6
0.15
0.48333333333333334
0.48333333333333334

999999 minutes:

0.0008444008444008444
0.0008526008526008526
0.0008551508551508551
0.0008924842258175591
0.0008594841928175261


in case you choose to set a cycle which doesn't fit into a calendar day or hour (for example 7 minutes) - you need to know that cycles are counted starting from 00:00:00 Jan 1 2003

 

[humanwoman]

thanks for sharing this tool, sounds good

you're welcome, I see quite a few downloads, so if you have any feedback/questions, let me know

 

[doitordontdoit]

hmm, looks cool...

Downloading... Installing.. Let's see whatcha got there; looks pretty cool so far.

Ossi!


Edit... Nice program, indeed! I realize now that there is no installation involved, just an executable, which is nice. For the update, I just copied over the old 'map.exe' with the new one offered in the patch/update and all runs perfect! Thank you humanwoman!
I'll get some locations (TP, Revive, etc.) to you soon!

note: running on WinXP confirmed!

 

[Wizlawz]

Error code 2302

on your updates im getting that message when i launch the map, i can howver launch the first map download in your thread with spectrum working, i did allow the config file to run, but its only showing Amethara and Euduria, was there an update showing the new Calypso and other areas?

or am i suppose to edit the config file manually to get the new areas onto the map?

plz help, this looks to be a great tool.

i read your explanations for editing, but i think i may be hopless as i dont understand any of it; (unfortunately) and i wouldn't know what to send you for a DL package.

maybe something like this:
can i manually put in coords for when i find mining spots, good hunting spots, pvp areas, run routes, (which i am absolutely sure this can be done as of your explanations but i do not understand how to put them in, i do not know how to XML edit, etc.)

maybe i can get a walkthrough so i can get a hands on understanding? maybe through VENT if you have it?

EDIT:
ok so i thought i give it a shot and do a couple of coords, it wont let me even edit it;.. so here is an idea i have for your tool:

when i run your tool while i am (we) in game what ever coords, cities, etc that are on the map interface coud be displayed on your map, when in game and i (we) find coords we like all we have to do is move the crosshair to our corresponding coords and click it ( on the crosshair point of convergence) then in the info box (i think thats what it is ) we can put in there what we like and it gets added to the lists of your tool and then shows on your map.

thats prob some kind of revamp, but would be alot simpler to make it customiseable imho.

 

[humanwoman]

well, as I have said, the program is a stand-alone Windows executable file so all you need to do is to run "map.exe", it doesn't produce any errors, at least under WinXP and Win7.

if you have downloaded the update, you need to put new file on top of the existing one and then run it, that's it. the error you getting might be specific to your computer OS or the access rights you have.

all data regarding maps, mining data you track and any other possible data you want to place on the map is stored inside XML files

I described the format up to my ability to explain formats or whatever, but still some basic knowledge of XML is required to understand how to add/modify/delete data stored in these files.

considering that you can create any data you like (not only a couple of mining coordinates), then describe it and place it on the map, making a box for managing all possible data is more like writing a full blown text editor, which doesn't make sense as there are plenty out there

 

[Smoerble]

Looks amazing, great work.

Please don't get me wrong, but how can someone/me make sure, that the tool does not install any malware/trojan in the background?

(again: no offense, it's a real question)

 

[humanwoman]

err.. in the same way you make sure any other program you run on your computer doesn't install it

 

[Wizlawz]

well, as I have said, the program is a stand-alone Windows executable file so all you need to do is to run "map.exe", it doesn't produce any errors, at least under WinXP and Win7.

if you have downloaded the update, you need to put new file on top of the existing one and then run it, that's it. the error you getting might be specific to your computer OS or the access rights you have.

all data regarding maps, mining data you track and any other possible data you want to place on the map is stored inside XML files

I described the format up to my ability to explain formats or whatever, but still some basic knowledge of XML is required to understand how to add/modify/delete data stored in these files.

considering that you can create any data you like (not only a couple of mining coordinates), then describe it and place it on the map, making a box for managing all possible data is more like writing a full blown text editor, which doesn't make sense as there are plenty out there

ahh ok some XML experience, that i do not have sadly, but here i have a addy to a tool that would you be interested in making ur tool work like this one? (for those of us who have no XML experience?) :::

http://www.fewasteland.com/few.php?type=wc&id=wc&title=Wasteland Cartographer

i did go into config and allow what was blocked, and i could not edit, so where (if i knew how) would i put "My" xml files for it to update into your tool?

 

[humanwoman]

ahh ok some XML experience, that i do not have sadly, but here i have a addy to a tool that would you be interested in making ur tool work like this one? (for those of us who have no XML experience?)

well, I already explained why editing XML files is easier for this program than creating an editor for all possible forms of XML files. there is no point of making this program more complicated than it is.

i did go into config and allow what was blocked, and i could not edit, so where (if i knew how) would i put "My" xml files for it to update into your tool?

you don't need to put "your" XML files anywhere, you need to edit the existing ones.

all XML files are simple text files, they are fully editable, always, 24/7/365, before after and during execution of the program.

nothing blocks any files, never ever. and when I say nothing, I mean it. you are absolutely unstoppable in your attempts to modify their contents.

if you are unable to edit an XML file that has nothing to do with my program, it has something to do with your computer and your file access rights.

 

[Zacariaz]

Looks really great. Yes it has been done before, but not this pretty

One thing that concerns me though, is the fact that you use flash. No I haven't tried it and no, I'm probably not going too, as I haven't got much use for it, but flash usually course problems for me.

anyway, a little suggestions that might attract more customers.

As you may or may not know, I've created the mining logger (look at signature) and people who use it are able too download their data in csv format. the only map feature so far is online and I'm not likely to provide any client based map feature any time soon, so if you could get your map thingy to read import those csv files, it may just be something that people are able to use.

Well, just an idea.


Best regards.

 

[Wizlawz]

well, I already explained why editing XML files is easier for this program than creating an editor for all possible forms of XML files. there is no point of making this program more complicated than it is.



you don't need to put "your" XML files anywhere, you need to edit the existing ones.

all XML files are simple text files, they are fully editable, always, 24/7/365, before after and during execution of the program.

nothing blocks any files, never ever. and when I say nothing, I mean it. you are absolutely unstoppable in your attempts to modify their contents.

if you are unable to edit an XML file that has nothing to do with my program, it has something to do with your computer and your file access rights.

ahh ok, i am administrator, what could u suggest i do so i can access in order to edit? plz help me with this, i think your tool is awesome and would really like to make use of it.

 

[Wizlawz]

ok i think i got it, im using word pad to edit and then saving it, i have "Outpost" in the right screen under other, now i just have to put it in entries with coords to put it on the map.

sounds about right?

 

[humanwoman]

ok i think i got it, im using word pad to edit and then saving it, i have "Outpost" in the right screen under other, now i just have to put it in entries with coords to put it on the map.

sounds about right?

I don't think Wordpad is a good program for editing text files, it's better to use Notepad, I use Dreamweaver but the sequence is always the same: you open a file, for entries it's "entries.xml", modify its contents according to the file format described here (add new coordinates or whatever you need), and save it.

after that you need to close "map.exe" and run it again so it will re-read "entries.xml" with the new data

 

[humanwoman]

One thing that concerns me though, is the fact that you use flash. No I haven't tried it and no, I'm probably not going too, as I haven't got much use for it, but flash usually course problems for me.

well, it uses Flash but doesn't require you to have a Flash player as it's a stand alone program, so whatever problems you might have on your PC with Flash will not bother you

As you may or may not know, I've created the mining logger (look at signature) and people who use it are able too download their data in csv format. the only map feature so far is online and I'm not likely to provide any client based map feature any time soon, so if you could get your map thingy to read import those csv files, it may just be something that people are able to use.

this program is not just a mining logger, you can put anything you like on the map, in regards to mining, hunting, places of interest of whatever else. so converting abstract ".csv" into abstract ".xml" won't work

if someone specifically needs to convert tons of mining data from your program using your .csv files into oceanic, I can write a converter

 

[johan roadkill]

looks awesome will have to try it out

 

[Wizlawz]

I don't think Wordpad is a good program for editing text files, it's better to use Notepad, I use Dreamweaver but the sequence is always the same: you open a file, for entries it's "entries.xml", modify its contents according to the file format described here (add new coordinates or whatever you need), and save it.

after that you need to close "map.exe" and run it again so it will re-read "entries.xml" with the new data

ahh ok gotcha, thx

 

[Zacariaz]

well, it uses Flash but doesn't require you to have a Flash player as it's a stand alone program, so whatever problems you might have on your PC with Flash will not bother you



this program is not just a mining logger, you can put anything you like on the map, in regards to mining, hunting, places of interest of whatever else. so converting abstract ".csv" into abstract ".xml" won't work

if someone specifically needs to convert tons of mining data from your program using your .csv files into oceanic, I can write a converter

It was just a suggestion as a lot of people already have a lot of data in that format by now. It's a pretty simple task to do, so I just thought you might want to consider it. I certainly don't need it.


Best regards.

 

[humanwoman]

map update 10.12.2010 Medusa Islands with LAs TPs Revivals

update 10.12.2010:

Revised Eudoria map:
added Medusa Islands with 9 Land Areas TPs and Revivals, all I could find

updated camp Phoenix area, Port Atlantis area since they've been redesigned

added a few more TPs and Revivals across Eudoria

any contributions in a form of coordinates (oceanic xml files) or info about LAs are always welcome

files description and how to update here

 

[Wizlawz]

Thank You



Ahh cool as i have taken a screen shot of Medusa and put it into the tool and have been trying to figure out how to do the Start and End Coords for it alone (no other land mass) to match up to Medusa in game map coords :

i enter the top left of the Medusa islands coords for start then enter the top right coords for end, did not work out.

 

[humanwoman]

Ahh cool as i have taken a screen shot of Medusa and put it into the tool and have been trying to figure out how to do the Start and End Coords for it alone (no other land mass) to match up to Medusa in game map coords :

i enter the top left of the Medusa islands coords for start then enter the top right coords for end, did not work out.

u r welcome

the map is built of segments (actually, each segment is processed by a separate server, so "server borders" are borders between these segments on the map)

the segment size in pixels is 512 x 512, in ingame coordinates 8192 x 8192 meters

for Medusa Islands MA added two new segments, since one of them protrudes now to the left of the original map border, I added more space at the left part of the map to fit it in, 512 pixels precisely

so to make up for it, I made "startX" value for the continent map to be 8192 meters smaller than before

my maps have some margins around them, so start and end coordinates do not match any server border, they are custom. if you add some pixels to the image on any side, you need to change the appropriate start/end X/Y coordinates in config file, keeping in mind that every pixel is 16 meters

 

[CaptSpaulding]

Very nice. After a little cut and paste from your entry examples and a little trial and error I got it to work. A point that needs to be made clear, however. Entry data types must match config types exactly, otherwise the map freezes. Also, I had to create ore and enmatter sections in the Entry file by copying, pasting and renaming the Loot section. I'd ask that you include those sections in any future updates.

Some wishes for future updates:

Have the program remember settings from one session to the next. I set the program to filter tp locations only to have them reappear with the next session.

Some sort of OCR capability would be nice. It would save a lot of typing and appease my general laziness.

Other than that a very nice job, indeed.

 

[humanwoman]

Very nice. After a little cut and paste from your entry examples and a little trial and error I got it to work. A point that needs to be made clear, however. Entry data types must match config types exactly, otherwise the map freezes.

Yes, it's a bug, thanks for pointing out! I'll fix it once I have time, the idea was, if the type is not found in config, the default design should be applied to it, and the map shouldn't freeze

Also, I had to create ore and enmatter sections in the Entry file by copying, pasting and renaming the Loot section. I'd ask that you include those sections in any future updates.

You mean to add something like this:

<!-- enmatter -->
<continent name="Amethera">
<entry type="..." name="..." ... />
...
</continent>

<continent name="Eudoria">
<entry type="..." name="..." ... />
...
</continent>


<!-- ore -->
<continent name="Amethera">
<entry type="..." name="..." ... />
...
</continent>

<continent name="Eudoria">
<entry type="..." name="..." ... />
...
</continent>

yes, I'll add that

Some wishes for future updates:

Have the program remember settings from one session to the next. I set the program to filter tp locations only to have them reappear with the next session.

It's scheduled for future updates. Meanwhile, if you always want some type like TP to be on or off, i.e. every session, you can use "show" parameter in config file.

<design type="Force Nexus" group="Enmatter" color="0x0000cc" show="on"/>

Use "on" and "off" values to to turn it on or off by default.

Some sort of OCR capability would be nice. It would save a lot of typing and appease my general laziness.

Other than that a very nice job, indeed.

Yes, it would, I'm still thinking about it though. Programming OCR for Flash might be as complicated as writing the whole "oceanic"

Maybe I'll come across some easy solution

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[CaptSpaulding]

I need a little help with the VML code. I'm trying to define PvP2 (the rig) by altering your existing code for PvP3. Here's what I've got"

<entry type="PvP and contaminated zones" name="PvP 2 Oil Rig" X="83312" Y="79317"
color="0xF2D635" shape="oval" style="width:2148;height:2148">
<notes><![CDATA[Non-looting. Oil rig is a hangout for douchebags.]]></notes>
</entry>

Of course, since I don't know squat about VML this code doesn't work. Have you any suggestions how to code this?

 

[humanwoman]

I need a little help with the VML code. I'm trying to define PvP2 (the rig) by altering your existing code for PvP3. Here's what I've got"

<entry type="PvP and contaminated zones" name="PvP 2 Oil Rig" X="83312" Y="79317"
color="0xF2D635" shape="oval" style="width:2148;height:2148">
<notes><![CDATA[Non-looting. Oil rig is a hangout for douchebags.]]></notes>
</entry>

Of course, since I don't know squat about VML this code doesn't work. Have you any suggestions how to code this?

that will be

<entry type="PvP and contaminated zones" name="PvP 2 Oil Rig" X="83312" Y="79317" color="0xF2D635" shape="circle" radius="2148">
<notes><![CDATA[Non-looting. Oil rig is a hangout for douchebags.]]></notes>
</entry>

 

[CaptSpaulding]

redacted.....

 

[humanwoman]

Are you doing any more development on this tool? If so, I'd like to suggest creating a "depth" data type to display with the "date/time" data.

To record claim depth you can just add it to a claim, as well as any other claim attribute you like, it doesn't require adding a data type, for example, you can write down your claims like this:

<entry X="89270" Y="96695" type="Lysterium Stone" size="II" depth="41" time="2011-04-24 05:02:09" mood="contemplative" pants="on" weather="cloudy"/>

it should be displayed automatically when you click on the claim
let me know if it doesn't work