**** GBM
This is a maintenance upgrade for existing GBM
Mobile customers and incorporates all fixes from the V4.15 and V4.18 patches
plus support for some new GPS devices. This patch only affects the mobile device.
The Mobile Manager installation on the support PC is not affected.
All GBM Mobile customers, other than those
using the optional GBM Survey Tools extension should upgrade to this release.
GBM Survey Tools customers have been supplied with the special GBM Mobile for
Trimble or GBM Mobile for ike editions that access
the special features of those devices and should continue using V4.20.0065 of
those products.
Please install GBM Mobile V4.10 from the
standard media and then run the V4.19a installer to update the mobile
component. GBM Mobile will need to be re-installed onto each PDA from the
support PC after installing the update on the support PC. Following
installation the version number (accessed through the ^ / about menu on the PDA) should read 4.19.0084a.
The version number of Mobile Manager (on the
support PC) will remain as V4.10.0081 but there will be a file called “Patch
Readme.txt” in the CAB sub-folder of the GBM Mobile Manger install directory
that will confirm that the mobile device installer has been upgraded to
V4.19.0084a of GBM Mobile.
Known
Problems and cautions
**** Unreadable text in some applications
·
The
HP asset viewer and some other applications occasionally display text using one
of the MapInfo Map X symbol fonts. These screen displays are not readable. To
rectify this problem, copy the Arial font from the Windows/Fonts folder on a PC
to the Windows/Fonts folder on the PDA (using Microsoft Active Sync and Windows
Explorer).
**** Windows
·
Be
sure to upgrade to Windows Mobile Device Centre V6 of later before connecting
your PDA to a Windows Vista computer via GBM Mobile Manager.
**** Waypoint Navigation
·
Customers
with low powered PDA units and complex maps are advised to refrain from using
the on map display of travel direction and direction to the waypoint. This feature
can be toggle on or off through a screen accessible from the waypoint/details
menu that is available from the devices tool button in GBM Mobile when waypoint
navigation is active. A heads up display of travel direction and direction to
the waypoint can still be accessed as a compass rose
presentation by clicking on the waypoint status bar at the bottom of the map
when waypoint navigation is active.
Includes
·
Upgrade
GBM Mobile (PDA) build to 4.19.0084a
Updates between 4.18.0062 and
4.19.0067a
1. General
·
Device
drivers have been tuned to operate correctly on Windows Mobile 6 PDA units.
·
There
is a new button on the devices activation screen to enable recording of systems
logs. These logs can be enabled briefly to record details that can assist
Exa-Min support personnel to debug device connection and machine resources
issues. This new option extends and supersedes the trouble shooting methods
outlined in Technical bulletin 10. Be sure to deactivate log recording and
delete the log files when they are no longer required.
2. GPS
·
The
GPS auto-detect module has been upgraded to optionally search for GPS units
that provide data at less common baud rates (Devices/NMEA GPS settings
/Hardware on the PDA). To activate the extended search select “all likely baud
rates” from the drop down list box at the top of the auto detect screen.
·
A
new configuration option is provided to poll the GPS for position updates
rather than rely on the GPS unit raising the normal systems interrupt when new
data is available. This update is required for the GPS unit built into some O2
and Intermec brand combined Phone/GPS/PDA units several other device models
(Devices/NMEA GPS settings /Hardware on the PDA)
·
End
user feedback on GPS status has been improved with a set of dots appearing on
the status bar at the bottom of the map on each GPS cycle
3. Wireless Camera Support
·
The
device driver “other camera” is offered for connection of wireless cameras that
directly write photographs to a folder on the PDA. Included here is the Trimble
TrimPix and similar devices. Be sure to specify the
location where the camera will be posting the photograph (click the devices
button on the settings screen to access this control). Leave the option for
running a capture program unchecked. Then click on the phot field in a custom
form and take the photograph in the normal way.
4. Drawing Tools
·
A
new precision drawing method allows users to choose where to add vertices to
linear and polygon objects when drawing features using the GPS. It is now
possible to locate some vertices from the GPS and other by clicking on the map.
To use this feature draw linear and polygon features through the standard and
GPS drawing tool buttons rather via GPS Tracking.
5. Moving Map
·
Significant
processing efficiencies have been introduced into the module that centres the
map on the current GPS location. moving map. This will
improve responsiveness when used with complex maps and will reduce battery
drain.
6. Waypoint Navigation
·
The
method for establishing the direction of travel has been improved to reduce the
effect of GPS scatter. Also to avoid confusion arising from GPS scatter,
waypoint navigation now terminates when the distance between the device and the
target waypoint is less than the GPS accuracy. GPS accuracy is set through the
GPS Settings / Track tab.
·
A
new waypoint details menu presents when waypoint navigation is active. Click
the waypoint status bar when waypoint navigation is active to see the enhanced
heads up display.
7. Tracking
·
Robustness
of the module that prevents the PDA from going into sleep mode when tracking is
active has been improved. GBM Mobile will now prevent the PDA from powering off
when tracking is active and a GPS unit connected, even when the unit is
temporarily not recording GPS fixes or the user adjusts status bar display
options.
Updates between 4.15 and
4.18.0062
8. GPS
·
A
new configuration option allows static navigation to be disabled on SiRF III GPS units (refer to Technical Bulleting No 9 at www.geobasemap.com for further details)
·
A
Sky plot has been added to show the position of GPS satellites
9. Waypoint Navigation
·
Way
point navigation has been enhanced. When a waypoint is active, click on the
waypoint line of the status bar at the bottom of the map to see the new
display. The display shows both the current direction of travel and the
direction to the waypoint.
Updates between 4.10.050 and
4.15
10. GPS
·
Upgrades
to GPS sub-system to improve robustness with
Windows Mobile 5 (refer to Technical Bulletin No 8 at www.geobasemap.com
for further details)
Details of
GBM
Includes
·
GBM
·
GBM
·
Profile
Loader 3.0.0.12
·
Profile
Retriever 3.0.0.12
·
Portable
Exporter 1.0.0.6
·
GBM
***
Updates between 4.10.0049M (pre production) and 4.10.0050 (production)
11. Photographs
·
Connection
of Pretec and HP cameras has been simplified through
predefined device profiles
·
There
have been further refinements to improve robustness for Pretec
cameras
12. Mobile Manger
·
Robustness
has been improved when using the save button in Custom Forms editing
·
GBM
Mobile is automatically shut down when data is retrieved to avoid possible file
conflicts
13. Mobile Merge
·
The
installer has been upgraded to account for unusual MapInfo Professional
installation folders
14. Documentation
·
User
documentation has been proofed and additional GPS trouble shooting notes added
15. GPS
·
GBM
Mobile now works with GPS devices that do not send the expected RMC NMEA
sentence.
·
Error
reporting has been improved for occasions when connection to the GPS is severed
during operation
16. GBM Portable
·
The
exporter that prepares custom forms for use with GBM Portable has been update
***
Updates between 4.10.0049k and 4.10.0049M
17. Raster Images
·
Memory
management has been improved for projects with numerous (tiled) ECW raster
images. Out of memory error messages should now be very rare.
18. Photographs
·
The
camera device driver has been upgraded to overcome a problem with the Pretec cameras that occasionally resulted in copying of
incomplete images
19. Installation
·
The
Mobile Manager installer has been upgraded to smooth the transition from
earlier V4.10 beta versions to the current system in the case where users
failed to uninstall the existing version before installing the upgrade
·
The
Mobile Merge installer now accepts V4 as well as V3 serial numbers
20. Custom Forms
·
Improvements
have been made to the part of the Custom Forms editor that recovers form
definitions when the structure of the underlying MapInfo .tab files has been
changed.
·
It
is now possible to set the number of decimals to display
21. Demonstration Data
·
The
demonstration data set has been upgraded to show off the new custom form features.
The new custom forms and data files have a _V4 extension.
*** Updates between 3.51.0043
and 4.10.0049k
22. General
·
Customers
require a new (V4) serial number to install this release.
·
This
release is tested for installation on Pocket PC 2003 and Windows Mobile 5
devices
·
The
device interface (including GPS interface) has been re-written to support easy
addition of new devices. A list of supported hardware devices (cameras, GPS,
Laser distance equipment etc) is now presented on the devices menu on the PDA
where devices that are currently available can be activated.
·
Internal
memory allocation has been reworked to minimise the occurrence of “insufficient
memory” messages when loading external programs such as the Bluetooth manager.
The new release should be significantly more robust, especially when operating
with ECW images and third party plug-ins.
23. Photographs
·
Support
for ike and IMATE integrated cameras and Pretec and HP CF card cameras on the PDA
·
There
is a hot-link button on the tool bar for viewing photographs or documents
associated with map objects
1. Custom Forms
·
A
number of minor operational problems with custom forms in V3.51 have been
fixed, especially in conditional (cascading) drop down lists and expressions.
More complex expressions are supported.
·
Pictorial
pick lists (where users select an image to have the corresponding text value
entered into the data) are now fully supported.
·
Operation
of interdependent (cascading) drop-down lists has been improved
·
Operation
of conditional visibility option (where fields in a question list are visible
or hidden depending on the value entered in another field) has been improved
·
Long
pick lists are now correctly rendered on small and landscape format devices
·
Additional
automatic fields have been added. Automatic value options now include:
X and Y - The
map feature's longitude or latitude. If a GPS is being used, the feature will
have been created at – or moved to – the GPS location.
Can be used with text or
numeric (non-integer) fields.
Altitude - The
altitude indicated by the GPS. Otherwise, zero. Can be used with text or
numeric (non-integer) fields.
Length,
Area, Perimeter -
The feature's length, area, or perimeter from GIS
query. Set to zero if the feature is a not of the appropriate type. Can be used
with text or numeric (non-integer) fields.
Creation
time, Creation date -Time of feature creation – from the
device’s system clock – expressed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC/GMT).
Times can be used with text or floating-point fields. If floating-point,
they’re expressed as VARIANT times. Dates can be used with date fields.
Last edit
time, Last edit date - Time of the feature’s last edit –
from the device’s system clock – expressed in Coordinated Universal Time
(UTC/GMT). Times can be used with text or floating-point fields. If
floating-point, they’re expressed as VARIANT times. Dates can be used with date
fields.
GPS time - The
GPS time (it’s in UTC) represented as a string: HHMMSS.SSS. Can only be used
with text fields.
GPS PDOP - The
PDOP for the GPS position(s) received when creating or moving this feature. Can
be used with text or numeric (non-integer) fields.
GPS
post-processing ID - The internal ID used to associate a
feature in a data file with the points in the POSTPROC.TAB file that are to be
used by the post-processing MBX to correct the feature’s position. Unless a
field has this auto-value, features created using the form cannot be
post-processed. Can only be used with text fields.
Incremental
number - An
incremental number from a range specified by the profile loader. If the range
is exhausted, zeros are used. Can be used with text or numeric fields.
From the
last-created object - The value from the same field of the
last created object on the layer. If no object is found, the field is left
empty.
From an
object on another layer - Looks for objects on the specified
layer that are within the specified buffer. If multiple objects are found, they
are listed and the user selects one. Copies the value from the specified field.
From the
selected object - The value from the specified field
of the currently selected object. Only works with the “Create from Selection”
command.
Photograph -
A photograph taken using – typically – the device’s
in-built camera. This is the photograph taken when in the feature attributes
dialog. (It’s more of an edit method than an automatic value.) Stores the photo
filename in the field. Can only be used with text fields.
ike
photograph, Target photograph - This refers to the photo
taken as part of the target (offset) capture. (No longer referred to as an ike photo, as the ike can now
take photos from the attributes dialog as well as the target capture dialog.)
Stores the photo filename in the field. Can only be used with text fields.
Expression -
Either a numeric or text expression that can include
references to other fields. (Now supports referencing other fields that are
themselves evaluated as expressions.) Can be used with text or numeric fields.
Specified
time - A time specified by clicking the “Now” button in the
attributes dialog or typing in the date/time. (Like “photo” this is more of an
edit method than an automatic value.) If the user takes the time the device’s
system clock, it’s expressed in local time (not UTC/GMT).Can be used with text
or floating-point fields. If floating-point, they’re expressed as VARIANT times.
Measured distance, Measured area, Measured perimeter - These are the measurements that can be taken with a rangefinder – such as the Contour XLRic. The distance could be a range, a horizontal or a vertical distance. Can be used with text or numeric (non-integer) fields
2. Mobile Manager
·
The
user interface for editing custom forms has been improved and simplified
·
There
is a new Export forms option for using GBM Mobile custom forms with GBM
Portable on a Windows desktop, laptop or tablet PC
3. GBM Survey Tools
·
This
release includes a pre-production implementation of the optional GBM Survey
Tools extension. Survey tools supports direct entry of distance and point
offsets from the Contour XLS ic laser distance
measurement equipment. It also provides post-processed GPS positions when used
with a Trimble GPS receiver. A separate serial number is required for GBM
Survey Tools installation.
4. Web Services Integration
·
A
new software framework has been implemented to simplify future interfacing with
external web processes.
·
This
release is ready for implementation with the wireless data transfer plug-ins
that are part of the GBM Integrated Command Centre distribution. With these
optional plug-ins, GBM Mobile can transmit wireless GPS location updates to a
web server and trigger data updates to a central GIS database when data is
edited through GBM Mobile custom forms. A separate plug-in is available to call
a MapInfo location server and return the street address corresponding to a
point clicked on a map.
5. Documentation
·
The
user manual has been updated.
*** Updates between V3.50 build 37 and V3.51 build 43 (test release)
1. CUSTOM FORMS (Mobile Manager)
· Three new options have been added to
the Automatic Tab:
o “Expression” allows the entry of a numeric or text expression
o “Photograph” to capture the ID of photos collected by the device (currently restricted to the iMate)
o “ike photograph” to manage the ID of photos taken on an “ike” device
· A “Visibility” button has been added
to the Data Tab which sets the visibility of a particular field, dependent on
the value in another field
· Expressions
and field names with underscores are now handled robustly
· There
is a new dialog for specifying the location to store photographs.
2. ON THE PDA
· "Layers and Forms" function on the File menu on the PDA extended to report fields required by the Form that are missing from the associated file
· Menu buttons re-arranged to simplify user operations. There are now two toolbars with an icon on the far right of the button bar used to toggle between the two button groups.
· “Selection Attributes” added to the
Selection Tools to allow for the editing of attributes for multiple selections
· All MapX DLLs are now pre-loaded improving a number of processes and eliminating problems with opening the Layer dialogue when memory was limited
· The loading of geosets has been
re-implemented to avoid MapX bugs and prevent the
application from locking up when opening invalid geosets.
· Pull-down
lists will now scroll correctly when visibility dependent fields are used
· GPS
positions can be logged to a web server (this is a early implementation that
will be refined before release)
3. CUSTOMISATION FOR IKE HARDWARE
· This version has been developed to run on “ike” hardware
· Settings
dialog now lets you specify separate contrast, brightness and saturation for
the video and the captured image.
· Settings
dialog allows you to preview the abovementioned settings for the video and the
captured image.
· Capture
window now displays the compass bearing and the distance to the target.
· The
photographs dialog can be used to specify a storage location for the photos and
their associated TAB file.
*** Updates between V3.10 build 34 and V3.50 build 37 (production release)
1. CUSTOM FORMS (Mobile Manager)
· Code tables are now supported. Users can select a descriptor from a drop down list and have an associated code entered into the data file.
· Reference images and sound files can now be presented when users are selecting data entry options from drop-down lists.
· The number of decimals to present when displaying numeric data can now be set explicitly.
2. GPS CONNECTION
· New auto-detect function searches communications ports to find a connected GPS receiver
· Disconnecting the GPS while raster images are displayed no longer caused problems
· GPS update interval can be set to zero to ensure that all position reports are processed
· The GPS log can now be viewed by another application while GBM Mobile is running
3. MOBILE OPERATIONS
· High resolution and landscape screen displays (such as found in the iPAQ 4700) are now supported
· Value based graphical styles are now correctly applied when new map objects are created
· The dialog that lists multiple results from the find function can now show two values for each object
· Auto values entry from another map layer is no longer affected by null data in the source layer
4. LOADING DATA (Mobile Manager)
· Data Loading - Improved management of data files stored on external memory (eg CF cards)
· Custom Forms - Improved date/time checking to identify files and forms that should be updated
5. MOBILE MERGE
· Constraints checking for consistency in map projection have been relaxed to allow data files created with earlier versions of MapInfo to be merged in MapInfo V8
6. HOUSE KEEPING
· Evaluation timer now works correctly when users do not have Windows administration privileges
· New "Layers and Forms" dialog added to the File menu to assist trouble shooting custom form operation
· Mobile Manager Dialogs - Now auto-adjusts for unusual screen display settings
· Mobile Installation - no longer creates multiple program icons on re-installation
·
· Migrated to Microsoft Pocket PC 2003 SDK
· Wait cursors implemented for most long operations
· Additional optimisation of screen layouts for the PDA form factor and landscape display options
*** Updates between V3.10 build 32 and V3.10 build 34
1. CUSTOM FORMS ON THE PDA
· When creating a map object via a custom form (using a selection, the GPS, or a drawing tool), clicking Cancel now correctly exits without creating a map object.
· It is now possible to tag data fields as requiring mandatory data entry. Mobile operators cannot exit a data form until date is entered into all mandatory fields.
2. MOBILE MANAGER
· Error messages are now written to a log file.
· In the automatic values tab, the “buffer” and “buffer_unit” settings are saved correctly.
· Custom forms are now automatically recovered after fields are removed from the underlying .tab file. If the field used for value based styles is removed, value based styles are turned off. The form editor recovers the remaining settings.
3. LOAD DATA WIZARD
· Memory checks in Step 3 now correctly handle reference data in storage card sub-folders
· Checking for out-of-data custom
forms is now performed correctly
·
Fixed
all issues reported during beta testing, including those associated with
network pathnames, extended PDA memory and file error reporting.
5. DOCUMENTAION
· The user manual has been fully updated.
· Windows help is now available from the Mobile Manager Help menu.
· Animated tutorials are now accessible from the training tab.
5. GPS LOGGING
· Added Altitude to the fields recorded in the GPS log. The log now contains the following fields: GPS Date/Time, Longitude, Latitude, Altitude, Number of Satellites, HDOP and Fix (0=None, 1=GPS, 2=DGPS)
*** Updates between V3.10 build 31 and V3.10 build 32 (beta)
1. MOBILE MANAGER - PROFILE & LOAD DATA WIZARD ERROR LOGGING
· If a fatal error occurs in either the Profile Wizard or Load Data Wizard, a dialog will be presented to the user providing the option to generate an error log.
· The log will be sent to the Exa-Min web site or if the users PC cannot connect to the website, will be written to a file "GbmMobile.log" in the users My Documents folder. The log contains no personal information, only version numbers and stack traces to be used in de-bugging the problem.
*** Updates between V2.51 build 27 and V3.10 build 31 (beta)
2. DATA LOADING
· New load data wizard - This streamlines the loading of GIS data and custom forms onto mobile devices. It includes extensive error checking and automated correction of file path names. The wizard supports loading of working data into main memory and loading of reference data into auxiliary storage, effectively superseding the Mobile Merge "prepare data for mobile" function.
· Load data wizard - Maintains a log file that records when data sets are loaded onto each mobile device.
· New Operator Profiles - These allow data administrators to associate data sets with form definitions and specify file locations on the target mobile device. Profiles, when used in conjunction with the new load data wizard, greatly simplify the installation of routine data and custom form updates onto differently configured mobile devices.
3. MapInfo UPGRADE
· The application is now compiled with MapInfo MapX Mobile V5.05. Benefits of this upgrade include:
· Support for ECW format raster images
· a fix for previous stability problems displaying TIF and JPG images
· a fix for the problem where certain symbols were not drawn by MapInfo MapX Mobile even though they were correctly rendered by MapInfo Professional.
· Map X Mobile V5.05 will only install on Pocket PC 2003. Customers with older PDA devices will need to install a Pocket PC 2003 upgrade or continue to operate with GBM Mobile V2.51.
4. CUSTOM FROMS
·
·
· Mobile Manager Automatic Tab - option added to derive a value from a nominated field in the currently selected object.
·
·
· Date entry - The calendar control is presented when editing MapInfo .tab files, but when linked to hierarchical database tables (custom editions) is replaced by a date/time control to allow entry of time of day details.
· Alternative form definition files -
A new "tools" option on the mobile manager screen allows users to
specify a new location for GbmMobile.xml that holds
the form definitions.
5. CREATE FROM SELECTION TOOL
· Extended to allow
building of polygon objects from a single poly-line (of 3 or more nodes)
6. MOVE TO LOCATION
· New menu item, mirroring the
behaviour of the "Move to GPS Location" item but supporting
entry of target location via co-ordinates rather than just GPS input
7. MOBILE MANAGER
· new start up screens incorporating the load data and profile editor wizards. Functions are now arranged in four tabs to reflect user roles Dialogues now pop-up cantered on the screen
· When editing Forms after the MapInfo table structure has been changed, settings for fields that have not changed will now be retained
· Mobile Manager dialogs can now be resized and are more informative
8. GIS SUPPORT
· GPS Coordinates can now be displayed in the status bar. A check box to enable this display is located on PAN tab under GPS setting on the PDA
· A GPS logging option has been added. There is a new tab (called 'Log') in the GPS settings dialog. On that tab, you can specify whether logging is enabled. Also, you can specify which time zone (UTC or Local) to use for the logged times. The log contains the following fields: GPS Date/Time, Longitude, Latitude, Number of Satellites, HDOP and Fix (0=None, 1=GPS, 2=DGPS) The log file is created in the location: \My Documents\GbmMobile GPS Log.TXT
· A special message will now display on the status bar to alert users when the GPS is compiling its Almanac
· Panning option "always pan" has been removed. "Pan if out of view" is now set as the default option. This setting eliminates processor overload that arose from excessive redraws when GPS updates were received at 1 second intervals. The map will now only re-centre when there has been a significant location change, although the current location is updated on every GPS update.
9. INTERNATIONALISATION
· Corrected problem with locale settings (surfaced in testing under German editions or Windows and mobile devices.
10. MAP EXTENTS
· The "View Entire Layer" option has been removed from the Map Navigation tools and replaced with a new Zoom/extents option. This tool exposes the map display projection/co-ordinate system and allows operators to set the map centroid and zoom width.
11. INSTALLATION OPTIONS
· The GBM Mobile "Standard Edition" has been discontinued. Version 3 is available as a "General release" that includes all the capabilities of the V2.51 "Extended Edition" and customer specific "