CourseLogV2

Description:
This is CourseLogV2, an EWE application that runs under Windows Mobile 2005, WM 6 using your GPS receiver to tell you where you are, how long and how far you go and where you have been.

This version 2 provides a great improvement : it displays your position on a map. You can insert as many maps as your device can handle, provided each one is small enough to be handled in memory. The software uses a concept of calibrated "tiled maps", only a set of tiles is in memory at a time and switching between tiles is automatic.

The software also displays your track on the map and you can set waypoints to check your direction, distance, time to arrival. You can also re-use your track as waypoints and even reverse it so that you can find your way back ;-))

Note : if, by chance, you have been using the version 1 of this software (without map), please switch to V2. I will no longer support version 1 because of too many bugs. Version 2 has all features of version 1.


What do I need to make it work?

First CourseLog is a freeware, open source (see CPL down) programmed in java on a specific virtual machine name "ewe". The virtual machine is freeware too so there is no licence fee required to use CourseLog. You need a GPS receiver connected to your Windows Mobile device. This is usually done using a serial port (COM6: on my QTEK 9100), possibly mapping a Bluetooth connection to a serial port using Windows pocket Bluetooth . If you have a device with a builtin GPS receiver, it should also be mapped to a serial port so that you can access it. CourseLogV2 reads in NMEA sentences to determine your position.
Second, you need a map to display your position on. I personally use several sources such as
http://maps.google.com
http://www.geoportail.fr (french maps)
(if you know about other sources, send me links)

These web sites provides only pictures coded as bitmaps without any associated geographic information. If you want to use that picture to locate yourself, you need to give the software some points to use as references. This is done by providing a small text file with longitude and latitude values, associated to (x,y) positions on the picture. You need only 2 points per picture.

Please refer to section How to generate a calibrated map? to see how this is done in practice.

Note that the software provides several tools to ease calibration.


How do you install it?

You need to agree the license and disclaimer agreement (end of this page). This does not mean you have to sign something but installing the software implies you accept this license.

This application is fully based on the EWE virtual machine (free java for many mobile systems). Look at the http://www.ewesoft.com web site.

Note : A new version of the virtual machine has been issued (called EVE) Please click to the link Go here to access the old Ewe Virtual Machine because this is the machine you need to run CourseLogV2.


How to install it on your WM device?

You must install the ewe runtime on your device before running CourseLog.

For that, the easier way is to unzip the file Download/Ewe149-CAB-PocketPC2003.zip on your PC, upload the cab file on your device and run it.

For CourseLogV2 application, you have to download the CourseLogV2.exe file in a CourseLogV2 directory you can create on your device and then just click on the exe file.

It will start with default values and display the "options" panel to let you select your serial port, maps directory, track file name, accuracy and units..

That’s all!


How to install it on your PC?

This is easier, just download the static linked version of CourseLogV2 (Download/x86-Win32-StaticLinked/CourseLogV2.exe)

But don't forget to place the ewe dll in the directory (Download/ewex_registry.dll)

Then start the exe file and it should work. By the way, I never tried to use a GPS connected to a PC. Tell me if it works!

You want to update or modify it ?

The source, class files and (easier) ewe file are also provided. in the download section.

You can generate a target using the JEWEL tool for your own target. See the EWESOFT web site to get the tools and use them.


How to generate calibrated maps?

This will probably be the first thing you'll need to do to use CourseLogV2. Generating the text file by hand is not an option unless you like tedious tasks!
Nevertheless, you have to understand the general use of the software to do your first calibration.

2 possibilities are proposed.
Specify known reference points on the calibrated map.
Match points with a .kml file generated from google earth.
You can do those calibrations on your pocket device but it is generally more convinient to use a PC connected to the web because most of the pictures and data are available from the web. For that purpose, you can use the Windows version of CourseLogV2 which behaves almost exactly the same as the WM version.

But first you need to understand the calibration concept.


Requirements:
- Pocket PC WM 5.0
- Pocket PC WM 6.0

More information:
http://courselog.free.fr/


Download
ARM exe file : To run on a PocketPC2003 and higher with ARM processor (tested on QTEK 9100)
To install on you pocket-pc device, use Ewe149-CAB-PocketPC2003.zip
Windows exe file : To run on a Windows system (Tested on Win XP). This can be used if you have a GPS connected to your PC or also to convert files faster.
To run on your PC, you need to run with the following dll in the directory of your exe file : ewex_registry.dll
EWE file : use this to convert to another platform using EWE application builder.
JNF file : Also useful to determine which files are used to generate the EWE file.
Classes files for use with Jewel : Compressed version of the whole CourseLog Netbeans project directory.
Source zip file : Zipped java sources.
Javadoc zip file : Zipped javadoc HTML. You can browse the CourseLog javadoc online here