Understanding routes tracks waypoints navigation tracking.

[RbtWmn]

Please, I would like a clear explanation of how Oruxmaps works with routes, tracks, waypoints, navigation and tracking.



I understand these concepts/ideas/tools when using my Garmin gps device. A track records where I have been. A route records where I want to go. Waypoints are a record of a point. I can navigate by asking the gps to follow a track, or to plan how I should  travel from waypoint to waypoint.



I have tried hard but I have failed to understand how Oruxmaps works with these ideas.



I need to also understand why the menu items on the map view are organised how they are.



I think that if I cannot understand this then many other people also cannot understand it.

[panda]

Hello,

have your read the manual? p 20 (english) explains these things.



You should note, that om is not a turn by turn navi, but can simply inform you, when you're off the route or reach a WP,

This is configurable in the settings.

(In fact you can make something like a turn by turn navi, if you add waypoints to the track with names like "turn left", ...

and let the TTS-engine read the name or you can even add an audio to the WP that can be read).



The menu I think is locigal exept one point, where I also had some probs at the beginning:

-> when you use routes/manage you come to the tracks-database, this should be under tracks/manage.

[RbtWmn]

I did try the manual - and maybe I'm being stupid, but it didn't help. Perhaps I just need to really study it hard. I guess though what I'm looking for is something to get me started.



To be clear - I'm no stranger to gps technology - I'm no stranger to gpx files. I often hand-edit gpx files with a text editor, or produce them from other GIS data. And I'm no fool when it comes to apps like this, I've successfully made the app work with brouter for example... but I simply haven't been able to take the first steps in properly getting to grips with a mental model of what button does what.

when you use routes/manage you come to the tracks-database, this should be under tracks/manage.

Thank you - that helps lots. It's this kind of thing I'm finding confusing.



I think that I've understood this - please tell me if I'm correct...

- the little arrow symbol provides a menu about recording tracks

- the  little pin symbol provides a menu about waypoints

- the little road symbol provides a menu about routes



But...

- the little pin symbol also has an option for making a route (out of waypoints)



This route seems to be some kind of current route, because if you make up a second route the first is still on the screen, but with a different style of line shown.  I have no idea how to interact with it at this stage.



- the little road symbol provides also the 'Manage' option, which actually manages tracks, not routes.



Presumably as you say, this should be under the little arrow symbol.



- the little road symbol also provides options like 'Follow' but 'follow' what? Follow the route made up of waypoints? Does 'follow' just tell the device to provide advice about being on the route or not?



- the little road symbol also provides a 'Statistics' option, which also seems to be about a track not a route.



- the little road symbol gives the option 'Create' which seems to be about creating a route, but not using waypoints... except that I can tell it to make waypoints as it does it.. except these waypoints don't appear in the list of waypoints available under the little pin symbol, so does that mean they aren't waypoints, in which case what are they???.... And then having done this there seems to be a new route on the screen, but again this doesn't seem to be the current route and I see no way to manage this (given that the manage option manages tracks....)



?.....confused....



I realise that the translation issue may make things more complex - and I'm happy to help to make things simpler and/or clearer once I can understand what's going on.



Thanks

RbtWmn

[orux]

I did try the manual - and maybe I'm being stupid, but it didn't help. Perhaps I just need to really study it hard. I guess though what I'm looking for is something to get me started.



To be clear - I'm no stranger to gps technology - I'm no stranger to gpx files. I often hand-edit gpx files with a text editor, or produce them from other GIS data. And I'm no fool when it comes to apps like this, I've successfully made the app work with brouter for example... but I simply haven't been able to take the first steps in properly getting to grips with a mental model of what button does what.

when you use routes/manage you come to the tracks-database, this should be under tracks/manage.

Thank you - that helps lots. It's this kind of thing I'm finding confusing.



I think that I've understood this - please tell me if I'm correct...

- the little arrow symbol provides a menu about recording tracks

- the  little pin symbol provides a menu about waypoints

- the little road symbol provides a menu about routes



But...

- the little pin symbol also has an option for making a route (out of waypoints)



This route seems to be some kind of current route, because if you make up a second route the first is still on the screen, but with a different style of line shown.  I have no idea how to interact with it at this stage.



- the little road symbol provides also the 'Manage' option, which actually manages tracks, not routes.



Presumably as you say, this should be under the little arrow symbol.



- the little road symbol also provides options like 'Follow' but 'follow' what? Follow the route made up of waypoints? Does 'follow' just tell the device to provide advice about being on the route or not?



- the little road symbol also provides a 'Statistics' option, which also seems to be about a track not a route.



- the little road symbol gives the option 'Create' which seems to be about creating a route, but not using waypoints... except that I can tell it to make waypoints as it does it.. except these waypoints don't appear in the list of waypoints available under the little pin symbol, so does that mean they aren't waypoints, in which case what are they???.... And then having done this there seems to be a new route on the screen, but again this doesn't seem to be the current route and I see no way to manage this (given that the manage option manages tracks....)



?.....confused....



I realise that the translation issue may make things more complex - and I'm happy to help to make things simpler and/or clearer once I can understand what's going on.



Thanks

RbtWmn

Hi, All help is wellcome, specially with English translations.



Always for OruxMaps:

->A track is your current path, the one you are recording. After you stop recording, the track is stored in a database. Red color by default. Some days after you saved that track, you can continue it (adding more segments, or wpts) or use it as a route to follow it.



->A route is the path you want to follow. Blue color small arrows, by default. You can load a route in the map viewer in different ways:

:from a gpx/kml/kmz file-->click - the little road symbol -

:from an old track previously stored in the database-->click - the little road symbol - manage option, then click the old track you want to use as a route, then 'Load as route'.

:downloaded from mapquest servers (or offline using BRoute), if you know the first and last points-->click - the little road symbol - Search route option.

:creating a route in the map viewer linking different points-->click - the little road symbol - then 'Create'. You can create a route only with route points or with route points and route wpts. With a route point you can do nothing. With route wpts you can add alarms, photos, a description,... But those Wpts must be in the Wpts. database (after you finish the route creaton).

:linking old waypoints that you have stored in the wpts database-->click - the little pin symbol - then manage option, then select (checkbox) a set of wpts, then click the second bottom-left button.

:I'm sure there are more ways



->You can load more than one route in the map viewer, but only one can be the 'active' route, in order to follow it. Each route should have a fisrt point with a pin with a green point; if you tap that pin, you can 'activate', 'delete from map',... that route.



->When you load a route into the map viewer, you shold see a dialog with different options about:

:start the gps

:start recording a new track

:start folowing that route mode, with or without alarms

:start wpt navigation mode (I talk about this mode below)

...



->A different mode is [waipoint navigation], useful for sea navigation, flight, or walking, when you do not care about the path you walk. In this mode what you want to know is the distance to the next wpt, ETA, ETE,...



->There are a lot of options:

in follow a route mode, load more wpts to the active routee-->click - the little pin symbol - then manage option, then select (checkbox) a set of wpts, then click the first bottom-left button. if you have enabled wpt alarm, you should receive a warning when you are next to those wpts.



and so on

...













orux

[goosiebn]

- the little road symbol provides also the 'Manage' option, which actually manages tracks, not routes.



- the little road symbol also provides options like 'Follow' but 'follow' what? Follow the route made up of waypoints? Does 'follow' just tell the device to provide advice about being on the route or not?



- the little road symbol also provides a 'Statistics' option, which also seems to be about a track not a route.

I think the piece of information you're missing is as far as the Manage Track/Route database is concerned, there is no distinction between Tracks and Routes.  The Route menu is how you get to the database, but don't let that guide you as to the purpose of the database or the records within it.



A Track is what you're recording, a Route is what you're following, but any record from the database can be loaded as a Track (to continue to record), or as a Route.  I've you've gone out and recorded a Track, this becomes a little more obvious.



If you have loaded a record as a Route, the Route menu helps you interact with it, by setting it to be followed, etc.  The Track menu is always about recording a Track (or just turning the GPS on), including continuing a Track you've just loaded, or a Track you didn't remove when you last used it.



Once a Route is set to be followed, etc, the GPS just has to be on (including by recording a Track) for the alarms and vocal guidance to function.



G

[RbtWmn]

This is good stuff. Orux, could you say more about the difference between 'waypoint navigation' and whatever the other not-waypoint-navigation mode is called please? Do you mean that 'waypoint navigation' only tells me about distance and direction to the next point, but not-waypoint-navigation also tells me about whether I am on track? Or does not-waypoint-navigation also interact with additional functions like 'brouter'?

[orux]

This is good stuff. Orux, could you say more about the difference between 'waypoint navigation' and whatever the other not-waypoint-navigation mode is called please? Do you mean that 'waypoint navigation' only tells me about distance and direction to the next point, but not-waypoint-navigation also tells me about whether I am on track? Or does not-waypoint-navigation also interact with additional functions like 'brouter'?

Hi,



Waypoint navigation: OruxMaps does not care about the route path. The wpts are a sorted set of destiny points. The 'far from route alarm' has no sense, you can't enable it. But you can see another information (like XTE -cross track error-) in the dashboard. When you are near the current objetive wpt, OruxMaps will take automatically the next wpt as objective; all the dashboard information (distance to next wpt, ETA, ETE,...) will be updated accordingly. And you can tell OruxMaps to alert you (wpt. alarm) when you are near each wpt. You can force OruxMaps to take another Wpt. as current objetive in different ways (tap the wpt, select 'navigate to', adding new buttons to the buttons bar that do that, in TC-5 view,...).



Following a route: The important thing is the path. You go along the path, and you can receive alarms if you are far from the route path. Waypoints work in a different way from 'wpt. navigation mode'. The wpts are an unsorted set of special points related to the route. You do not receive information in the dashboard about the wpts, but you can turn on wpt alarm, that alert you when you are near a wpt (a point of interest, when you have to take a decision, for example).



orux

[RbtWmn]

Thank you. This is very very helpful. I will try to use these functions before asking more questions.

[chobkwon]

a Path is "a Way" or "a Trail" or "a Road"

a Track is "a Recorded Path".

a Route is "a Path to follow".

a Active Track is "a Path that you're recording"

a Active Route is "a Path that you're following"



A Track is saved as "Trail" or "Path" or "Tracklog" or "Trace" in Database

any Tracks from the database can be loaded as a Track (to continue recording a track), or as a Route(a path you're following).



Tracks/Routes in database are "Tracks" or "Trail"

there is no distinction between Tracks(Static Tracks) and Routes(Static Routes).

In fact, Tracks/Routes are Paths



-> a Active Track is your current path that you are recording. Red color by default.

After you stop recording, then the track is recorded track, it is stored as a Path in the database.

Some days after, As saved paths, you can continue track recording or use it as a route to follow it.



->A route is "a Path to go". Blue color small arrows by default.

You can load path as a route in the map viewer



A route is "a path to go"(the future) in the map viewer

A track is "a recorded Path"(the past) in the map viewer

A path is "a way"(the present) in the map viewer