Hi All Site Engineers out there,
I had searched for ages to find an app for windows mobile devices that quite simply calculated either new grid co-ordinates from a know point given its bearing and distance or to calculate a bearing and distance given two known points.
I had written a program for a personal computer using (BASIC) but why carry a phone and a computer with you on a building site!
I couldnt find one that was simple, meaning less mistakes when "in the field", so Gino wrote me one. Feel free to download, use and change. Many thanks to GinoAMalone for this simple app, so please donate to either him or XDA of course
The app has a simple home screen giving you 3 choices:
1. New Co-ords Calculator
2. Distance & Bearing Calulator
3. Pythag Calculator
The app is tested on Touch Cruise 6.0 & 6.1, Prophet 6.1. & Blackstone 6.1 & 6.5, Touch Pro & HD2.
Other devices not tested so please give feed back & Screen shots to come.
UPDATE: December 2010: This App has now been written for Android also, please head over to this for info and give thanks to Captainkrtek & Scary Alien
How's this...
Here's a first pass at the app. This sounded like an interesting challenge and something to get me started learning more of WinMo programming. This is my second or third app for .Net. This is written in C# and should only need CF .Net 2.0.
I still need to clean up some rough edges. Right now it doesn't do anything about formatting the output how you requested and most input errors will cause it to crash.
I'm not sure if it's using the same distance algorithms you used. I got my code from http://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html and http://bryan.reynoldslive.com/post/...2c-Cardinal-Direction2c-Distance2c-and-C.aspx. The algorithm I used is called the spherical law of cosines on the first link.
But, let me know if it looks like the sort of thing you need. I'll PM you with my email address.
Thanks,
Gino A...
Update [20 mins later]: I had a boneheaded mistake in the CAB. Fixed now.
GinoAMelone said:
Here's a first pass at the app. This sounded like an interesting challenge and something to get me started learning more of WinMo programming. This is my second or third app for .Net. This is written in C# and should only need CF .Net 2.0.
I still need to clean up some rough edges. Right now it doesn't do anything about formatting the output how you requested and most input errors will cause it to crash.
I'm not sure if it's using the same distance algorithms you used. I got my code from http://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html and http://bryan.reynoldslive.com/post/...2c-Cardinal-Direction2c-Distance2c-and-C.aspx. The algorithm I used is called the spherical law of cosines on the first link.
But, let me know if it looks like the sort of thing you need. I'll PM you with my email address.
Thanks,
Gino A...
Update [20 mins later]: I had a boneheaded mistake in the CAB. Fixed now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Gino,
THanks for the app. have given it a test and come up with error on coords and vector parts:
"latitude value cannot be greater than 90"
ALso suggestion, can you also have metres and millimetres as units too? sounds daft maybe, but if working out bearings and new co-ords for setting out a building units would be in metres or mm. This woud prob explain the latitude error.
Also when im inputting in the bearing how should it be inputted? like this: 95'32'25' ?? or have you done in decimal.
Ok, after thought. I know the reason why the latitude error occurs, its beacuse the co-ords input is in degrees, minutes, seconds. I would need an option for co-ords based in meters for example, easting=500.735 northing=345.321 This is important when calculating results for buildings setting out. Can you please put an option in for this, or even purely base the program in metres/mm rather then degress. Obviously the bearing would still need to be in degree, minutes & seconds.
Thanks Gino, the app looks great and im sure with minor tweaks you will have it running in no time!
What about a simple GPS related program which allows you to put in waypoints? It'll give you the distance, heading, etc.. Most of them you can also do offsets of X distance and Y heading, etc..
They do not imply having or using the GPS. Generally you turn the GPS on if needed, but you could use the coordinate related stuff without it.
khaytsus said:
What about a simple GPS related program which allows you to put in waypoints? It'll give you the distance, heading, etc.. Most of them you can also do offsets of X distance and Y heading, etc..
They do not imply having or using the GPS. Generally you turn the GPS on if needed, but you could use the coordinate related stuff without it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Khaytsus thanks for your thoughts. I dont think the GPS is the way to go with this. Yes it would calculate distance and bearing, but i need to input grid line references (co-ords) like 500 metres east, 200 metres north. the calculations in my basic code are based on a 2d grid line system. the app would not need to to use gps. Sometimes when working out co-ors or bearing and distance for setting out a building, the distance from 2 given points could be 100 metres but anything as little as 3 metres. GPS may not provide 1mm accuracy.
If my code was used in the app, it would work, i know it does as i have used it many times before. dont think about curvature of the earth or lon & lat think more grid lines like a flat map. see next post for example.
BASIC - code
Ok my BASIC code below, also attached is a simple (apols) jpeg of what the app should be doing. You will see a red house situated in a grid line system, with its grid co-ords above the relevant point. Hope this is of some help to Gino and anyone else
Code:
To Calc New Co-ords
10 print "New Co-ords"
20 input "Easting=",A, "Northing=",B
22 input "Bearing=",C, "Distance=",D
30 F=sinC*D+A
40 G=cosC*D+B
50 set F4
60 print "Easting 1=";F; "Northing 1=";G
65 goto 22
70 End
To Calc Distance & Bearing
10 print "Bearing & Distance"
20 input "E0=",P,"N0=",Q
30 input "E1=",A,"N1=",B
40 C=A-P
50 V=ABS(C)
60 D=B-Q
70 W=ABS(D)
80 if C=0 then 210
90 if D=0 then 260
100 if C>0 then 160
110 if D>0 then 140
120 E=(ATN(V/W))+180
130 goto 300
140 E=(ATN(W/V))+270
150 goto 300
160 if D>0 then 190
170 E=(ATN(W/V))+90
180 goto 300
190 E=ATN(V/W)
200 goto 300
210 ifD>0 then 240
220 E=180
230 goto 300
240 E=0
250 goto 300
260 ifC>0 then 290
270 E=270
280 goto 300
290 E=90
300 H=(C~2+D~2)~0.5
310 print "Bearing=";DMS$(E)
320 print "Distance=" H
330 End
please note symbol "~" means to the power of (could not find the proper symbol on my keyboard)
also DMS$ = degrees minutes seconds (the new bearing should be displayed in this format, not in decimal)
ATN = (shift tan on sci calculator)
ABS = (shirt LOG on sci calculator)
Pythag Calculation
10 print"Pythag"
20 input "side A=",A,"side B= ",B
30 C=(A~2+B~2)~0.5
40 print "Hyp= ";C
50 goto 10
60 end
timmymarsh said:
Khaytsus thanks for your thoughts. I dont think the GPS is the way to go with this. Yes it would calculate distance and bearing, but i need to input grid line references (co-ords) like 500 metres east, 200 metres north. the calculations in my basic code are based on a 2d grid line system. the app would not need to to use gps. Sometimes when working out co-ors or bearing and distance for setting out a building, the distance from 2 given points could be 100 metres but anything as little as 3 metres. GPS may not provide 1mm accuracy.
If my code was used in the app, it would work, i know it does as i have used it many times before. dont think about curvature of the earth or lon & lat think more grid lines like a flat map. see next post for example.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aha, okay. I was thinking larger scale, less precision, etc. I have to 'deal' with northings and eastings every time I look up benchmark documentation and I always have to figure out how to convert it.. Grid, datum, etc..
Hi Guys,
Any updates? Please dont think im impatient, im certainly not, just willing to help in anyway i can
Regards.
timmymarsh said:
Hi Guys,
Any updates? Please dont think im impatient, im certainly not, just willing to help in anyway i can
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't get as much time last weekend to make progress as I hoped. I did do some cleanup of the UI and add several more units. I believe there are no more circumstances where poorly formatted input causes crashes. I also eliminated the "calculate" button and have it calculate whenever enough info is available. The biggest motivator for this was so the UI works fine with a SIP open.
I still need to look at formatting the output and spend some time with your algorithm.
Thanks for the challenge. this is working as an excellent vehicle for me to learn about .Net CF programming.
try G7toCE
http://www.gpsinformation.org/ronh/
this javascript page will run offline in PIE
http://williams.best.vwh.net/gccalc.htm
GinoAMelone said:
I didn't get as much time last weekend to make progress as I hoped. I did do some cleanup of the UI and add several more units. I believe there are no more circumstances where poorly formatted input causes crashes. I also eliminated the "calculate" button and have it calculate whenever enough info is available. The biggest motivator for this was so the UI works fine with a SIP open.
I still need to look at formatting the output and spend some time with your algorithm.
Thanks for the challenge. this is working as an excellent vehicle for me to learn about .Net CF programming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gino,
Thanks for the heads up, the app is comin on great. Did you understand my rarther poor explanation of what i meant about inputting the grid line co-ords and did my crude diagram help? I am very thankful and glad i am able to help stimulate you grey cells Get back if i can be of any help please.
Hi All,
Does anyone else want to have a go at this, seems to have fallen by the wayside
As stated in the first post, i will help in any way i can, test and donate of course!
Good luck!
Take a look at this try.
GinoAMelone said:
Take a look at this try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gino,
Well done my friend, i think you have cracked it. I will test it for accuracy when at work monday with results i know are correct (simple tests like 500.000E & 200.00 N with bearing 90 and distance of 100) work fine.
I see the bearing is entered in decimal, which is not a problem, but it is favourable to enter it in DMS (saves having to calculate this before hand) for example 45o30'00'' (which is 45.500 in decimal)
Really brilliant and im very pleased, let me know if the DMS thing is possible? Cheers Gino.
The labeling of the bearing fields isn't entirely clear. But, it's looking for Degrees, Minutes and Seconds.
I'm pretty sure I'm doing the DMS conversion correctly, but don't trust it till you've tested it. Let me know if it's right.
Thanks.
Gino,
Many thanks my friend, the app with the bearings works very well (dms works). One final thing, could you set the eastings and northings to be rounded up to 3 decimal places for example 500.216 and not 500.21578767.
That would make the app perfect
Well done, you know there is market for this app if you are interested?
I rounded all outputs to three digits.
I've also put a BSD license on this. So, you're free to share it with others if you want. Also, they'd be free to make changes.
If anyone wants to tip me for it, I won't object.
I can't figure out how to do the cute little PayPal button in an XDA post. https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=3275014
Congrats to a sucessful app Gino, get that button working and i will happily donate!! I will have a look and see if i can get it working for you!
I too am a site engineer and produced an excel spreadsheet to calculate bearing and distance about 10 years ago. I have just tested and it works on the touch pro so I have attached it here in case it is of use to you.
dougalls said:
I too am a site engineer and produced an excel spreadsheet to calculate bearing and distance about 10 years ago. I have just tested and it works on the touch pro so I have attached it here in case it is of use to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kool, nice one Dougalls!! the more the merrier!! Have you tested Gino's app? I did some brief testing and it appeared to give accurate results, but test it and let me know on here please!
Related
Please don't get excited, this is far from finished, and I'm about to go away for a week.
What I have done so far has taken about a week, but I guess its still a month away from a beta release,
sorry about that but I'm doing this in my spare time.
After reading this thread, I thought this would be a good project to learn VB.net with.
I did a bit of VB6 years ago, but since then its been mainly web stuff (php, javascript, sql),
more recently I have been studying oop Java with the Open University.
I'm going to look for a good VB.net forum when I get back, Ill probably need some help to finish this.
Let me know if you know of one, or even better a VB.net for windows mobile forum
So far, I have read the text files in and drawn them to the screen using GDI+.
The next step is to write the code to let you edit, but before I get to that I need a little help with something else.
The images I'm drawing to screen do not line up perfectly with the levels in Teeter,
have a look at the first 6 levels on this page to see what I mean.
These are composite screen shots, I have overlaid what my program draws onto the real levels in Teeter.
You can ignore the starting dots as the ball had moved by the time i took the screen shot.
My guess is I need to apply a transformation of some kind on the data before I draw it to the screen
(and eventually in reverse before I write it back to the text file),
but I'm not 100% sure if that's right, am I missing something about why this is happening?
Will there be any problems with this approach?
Maybe I can just move the holes a set amount, but what about the walls?
Anyone have any ideas?
Hi
Im not a coder, but just my observation. The black lines that you draw go from corner to opposite corner on each graphic, minus the drop-holes but there still in the corner.
My gues is the coding is seeing this as a full object. So that data that you are pulling and showing looks correct.
Ahh, yeah, so maybe the coordinates of the walls represent the top left and bottom right of the walls, not just end points.
Ill make some screen shots of the rest of the levels to check.
I guess the levels where the walls are not straight up or straight down will give more clues.
Thanks
Glad i could help
I code in php and using the GD graphic librays to display line graphs etc always do have stripped down co-ordinates, i suppose its so you dont have to use loads of info just to draw a line. top corner, bottom corner is far more speedy then drawing 6 coordinates or more.
How have you dound going from php, javascript mysql to vb? I keep getting tempted by vb and id love to make some interesting things for my mobile.
Im pretty much high level php/sql medium javascript, high level xml. Where would you recommend i begin? Cheers!
PS: im from Leeds so just up the motorway lol.
My memory of VB6 is that in general, all the books are wrong.
I really struggled to find examples that worked without fiddling around with it.
VB.net has been a similar experience, maybe a bit easier because Visual Studio has improved so much. I'm still a massive noob with it so I cant really give you that good an answer.
I'm starting to realise that the reason I find programming for the web so much easier than for windows is that the latter has so much more to deal with.
If you think on the web, your playing field is the browser, in windows, your playing field is the OS. There is so much more that you can do, finding help with what you want to do is so much harder.
Some people are very good at working out how to get something working, it sometimes takes me hours to solve one little problem. I don't have that much formal training in programming, so I tend to work by fiddling with things until they work. The difference in php is I've seen so many working examples that I know what I am doing is 'a good way' to be doing it.
In VB I have no idea if what I am doing is good, its just the only way I've found that works. Eventually I will release the source files for this, in the hope that 'good' VB programmers can help me do things in 'a good way'.
Where to begin? Get yourself a copy of Visual Studio, there are loads of versions, don't ask me which one you need, I don't know, I got mine of a friend who runs a software company, they have some package of set software from MS and more licenses than she needs.
Bookmark the MSDN library and start reading
All I use at the moment is that page and google.
Good luck!
Problem solved, it was pretty simple in the end
The top left, bottom right thing dzign-it pointed out (many thanks),
and the gdi draws the hole with the coordinates you give as top left.
I can move on to the actual editing now
Hey
Great to hear, not many people seem interested in this lol, i am though, a level editor would be fantastic, and im sure when you have a beta out for people to start making thier own levels etc..everybody will jump on board.
yeah go for it
go for it hellodavedave. People will be glad.
and credit to you
yeah!
That would be nice!
My little 2-year-old girl loves Teeter but she only solves the first level.
I'd like to have a "kids version" with only a green hole in the middle and kind of these easy things...
(yeah, I know: WHAT!? You give your diamond a baby...!? )
Has any progress been made on this? I'd love to see this working
There is now a level editor. You can download a new level here.
http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=1536
Surur
Updated: 2009-01-03, 21:05 (GMT+1)
Me and Swoop2 is creating a Tetris game for us HTC Touch Diamond users out there in need for a great one! Why I wanted to create a new Tetris game for the HTC Touch Diamond was because all of the Tetris games out there got some flaws (imo); not supporting VGA resolution, visually looking bad, running slow etc.. The closest thing I got was TeKnowMagic Tetris, but I wasn't satisfied either way. There's simply no Tetris game out there filling my requirements.
DiamondTris so far:
VGA resolution
Moving pieces - with the wheel sensor or via the on-screen buttons
Rotation of pieces - with the enter button or via the on-screen buttons
Line completion and destruction
Statistics: score, hi-score, level, lines done/remaining
Difficulties: easy, medium, hard (different speeds)
What needs to be done:
Some minior GUI tweaks
Sound effects
Settings (sounds, controls)
You'll need .NET Framework 3.5, which you'll find here
Changelog:
DiamondTris_20090103.cab:
Installs on device or internal storage
Creates a shortcut in Programs\Games
Pause function implemented
DiamondTris_20090102.cab:
New, better looking on-screen buttons
Added some statistics
Disabled piece rotation by tilting the device (needs further tweaking)
Application icon added
+1
sounds like a fairly simple and easy project... if only i had listened in class...
Why don't you get some pledges to encourage a developer
I would pay around £3 for a tetris game designed for our device
Not loads, but if enough people were too pledge their support...
hays said:
Why don't you get some pledges to encourage a developer
I would pay around £3 for a tetris game designed for our device
Not loads, but if enough people were too pledge their support...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good idea.
i'll let hays pay £3 for a Tetris game
(and i suppose i could chuck a few quid in as well )
Of course I'm in for some donations if this game is created
I started a very basic Tetris app for my touch diamond a while ago - just as a play around as my first Windows Mobile application. It uses the wheel for moving the current piece left and right and I was going to have a go at using the accelerometer to turn the piece clockwise/anticlockwise (i.e. a flick to the left or right).
I've never used OpenGL or anything so it was just done using a timer and the graphics object off the OnDraw event. I got as far as creating the grid, drawing the pieces, moving them around and knowing when lines were completed, etc. Still had a lot to do but it was a proof of concept more than anything else.
I'm just a normal application developer and develop form based applications and back end stuff. If I can get to where I am with my effort in the time I have, then someone who knows how to write games properly could easily do something really good.
Swoop2 said:
I started a very basic Tetris app for my touch diamond a while ago - just as a play around as my first Windows Mobile application. It uses the wheel for moving the current piece left and right and I was going to have a go at using the accelerometer to turn the piece clockwise/anticlockwise (i.e. a flick to the left or right).
I've never used OpenGL or anything so it was just done using a timer and the graphics object off the OnDraw event. I got as far as creating the grid, drawing the pieces, moving them around and knowing when lines were completed, etc. Still had a lot to do but it was a proof of concept more than anything else.
I'm just a normal application developer and develop form based applications and back end stuff. If I can get to where I am with my effort in the time I have, then someone who knows how to write games properly could easily do something really good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, that sounds great! Got any plans on continuation of your work? Onscreen buttons instead of accelerometer sounds even better imo, and is easier to do I think..?
Care to share your source? I can have a look at it myself and see if I can get into Mobil application programming too... or at least someone else here can continue on your base work.
I do plan on finishing it at some point - though I'm not 100% sure when! I don't mind sharing the code anyway, so once I'm back home I'll try and remember to put it on here.
Swoop2 said:
I do plan on finishing it at some point - though I'm not 100% sure when! I don't mind sharing the code anyway, so once I'm back home I'll try and remember to put it on here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds cool. Looks like I might get a good weekend after all! Do... not... forget... the... add... the source code!
Here's the source code. It is VERY much a work in progress. I started it as a windows application and ported it over to WinMob6. Here's a list of things that I know I still needed to do:
1. Optimise the graphics to get rid of the irritating flicker.
2. Add the piece rotation.
3. Add the score and level display, etc.
4. Decide on the size of the grid (considered leaving it customisable).
5. Add score saving and option saving, etc.
6. Add some backing music.
They're the things I can remember off the top of my head anyway. Lemme know if you have any ideas or questions, etc.
Swoop2 said:
Here's the source code. It is VERY much a work in progress. I started it as a windows application and ported it over to WinMob6. Here's a list of things that I know I still needed to do:
1. Optimise the graphics to get rid of the irritating flicker.
2. Add the piece rotation.
3. Add the score and level display, etc.
4. Decide on the size of the grid (considered leaving it customisable).
5. Add score saving and option saving, etc.
6. Add some backing music.
They're the things I can remember off the top of my head anyway. Lemme know if you have any ideas or questions, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet! I'm at home now, downloading all the requried applications to put up a proper environment here... big packages, so it'll take a while until I'm set.
I'll see if I can manage to do anything, and in case - I'll get back to you
Hi there again Swoop2!
Just tweaked the grid some, added some stats + onscreen buttons (stretched until later ;P) and changed some minor stuff. Here's my latest source. Thanks for sharing!
There's still bunch of stuff to tweak and add. Adding rotation to the game would make it fairly playable. The screen flickering is quite annoying, but perhaps we'll manage to get it working right in the future
Also adding a screenshot of how it looks with the current source.
EDIT: removed the source code, since there's a newer one out there.
Hi Sibbor
That's looking pretty good mate - I like it! I already have some ideas on how to fix the flicker - for the majority of the time anyway. Rendering the image as a bitmap in the background and then just drawing that should hopefully work like a double buffer or something. Also, only invalidating the relevant part of the screen instead of all of it should make a difference too. It worked for my other application anyway.
I'll try and have a play with it this week and send you an update
Swoop2 said:
Hi Sibbor
That's looking pretty good mate - I like it! I already have some ideas on how to fix the flicker - for the majority of the time anyway. Rendering the image as a bitmap in the background and then just drawing that should hopefully work like a double buffer or something. Also, only invalidating the relevant part of the screen instead of all of it should make a difference too. It worked for my other application anyway.
I'll try and have a play with it this week and send you an update
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds great! Made a few more changes but haven't got the latest source available here at work. I'll see if I can get time to upload it later. Otherwise it doesn't matter too much.
I reacted at the code where the grid updates, but have too less experience with WM6 and .NET to actually optimize this to a grade where we'll have no flicker at all. So with other words: I'm looking forward to your anti-flicker code !
I should finally have some time to look at this at the weekend so if you have an updated version can you post it on here?
Swoop2 said:
I should finally have some time to look at this at the weekend so if you have an updated version can you post it on here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi again mate! Good to hear. Sadly I haven't been able to get too much done since last time, but I'll attach the current source now.
Thought about the rotation and how to create it. Had an idea where you could destroy the current piece when rotating, and creating a new - rotated - piece at the given location. You got any ideas about it otherwise?
I've been looking for a decent Tetris game for Diamond/TP myself.
Question: are you planning on implementing the scrollwheel to move the pieces? I think that would be a nice touch.
Good luck on this. I'll donate to the cause when you guys have something.
hefman said:
I've been looking for a decent Tetris game for Diamond/TP myself.
Question: are you planning on implementing the scrollwheel to move the pieces? I think that would be a nice touch.
Good luck on this. I'll donate to the cause when you guys have something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The requested function is already supported We'll make sure to setup donations when we're ready
this is definately a worth while project, i wasted my time for about 3 hours looking for a nice tetris game 4-5 days ago and came up with very nasty looking basic tetris clones.
which all sucked, id donate £5-7 just for saving me the time!!
thanks
CDMA Tetris
I am so all about Tetris.
I also spent some time looking for some decent versions of Tetris but they all flopped.
I cannot wait till you guys complete this.
My team has been vigorously working on a CAD application for android. I will post some screenshots of the tool if anyone is interested, so please let me know.
It's currently being tested and developed using a Motorola Droid running 2.0.1. Although we can run the emulator and test different screens using it, we find great difficulty in knowing if the "feel" is nice on a smaller screen.
Anyway - current features that are working:
Objects: Line, Circle, Ellipse, Rectangle, 3 Point Arcs, Text Areas
Drawing Modes: Orthographic (including 45s), Grid On Off, Snap Mode On Off (Endpoints, Centerpoints, Midpoints, Quadrants)
Other Things: Undo, Redo, Erase, Modify (reshape & move), Pan, Layering System, Linetypes, Colors & Text Sizes.
In The Works: Zoom (Option for Pinch), Configurable Toolbar (Add/Remove Tools), Export to DXF & Linetypes.
We are looking for a few people that would be willing to get in on a "PRIVATE Beta" to assist us with the continued development. We have our day jobs, so this is a project that when we have time to work on, we do. However, we do spent quite a bit of time working on it .
Anyway - We want to be picky about the testers, simply because we need to have a nice round group of people. Not plumpy, just round. We need a couple guys that are good with input, finding problems, etc. And we also need a few that dont know anything about CAD and can help us to see if the average joe can figure it out.
We also need a couple good mathmeticians or programmers. Or even one would do. We are having some trouble computing certain boundaries (ellipses to be more precise) that we need to understand so that we can build in other commands like Trim or Extend. (Plus our select option on ellipses is a bit hokey, but knowing how to find an ellipse will solve that for us)
For now, the only assistance I can give you is through the board here, and help you get started. The tutorial will come soon, once we get the basics figured out as to how we want to make it really work.
Anyway - To make a long story even longer - let me know if you might be interested. I would be more than happy to post some screenshots if you like of its current state. So let me know if you are interested.
Thank you very much for sticking through the long a$$ read, or even for skipping through to the "thanks" is enough for me.
That being said - LMK! Thanks!
A capacitive touch screen doesn't seem a good candidate for controlling a smooth CAD experience. However on second thought, when coupling together this technology with a trackball, the possibilities really open up. Harness these well and I know you'll be onto something here.
Post some screens to show everyone the progress of your development and I'll let you know if I'd be interested in testing.
Cheers
Well if your looking for anyone with CAD knowledge, I have a degree in engineering with CAD, and Pro Engineer. I don't have much time to devote to beta testing, but I do have time every now and then. I run a ION with 1.6. Good luck on your software!
(Unfortunately - my account has not been enabled for posting outside links or images - so this is the best i can do for you until that is enabled)
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/11.jpg
Above is a screen shot with a couple drawn elements, and the right side of the toolbar tools.
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/09.jpg
Above is a screen shot with a couple drawn elements, and the left side of the toolbar tools.
There are a handful of more screenshots posted up on my site, the links are as follows:
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/01.jpg - Layer select screen
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/02.jpg - File Operations
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/03.jpg - Display Settings
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/04.jpg - Samle Help Screen (Line)
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/05.jpg - Snap Settings
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/06.jpg - Color Picker
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/07.jpg - Snapping to Midpoint
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/08.jpg - Selection of Ellipse
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/10.jpg - Text Input Screen
That should be plenty of screens to keep interest.
@Lancealot - Thank you very much, and I completely agree, that when we started this, there was some doubt as to how precise you could actually be using a "touch based" screen. The good news, through playing with it, and given ability to set tolerances based on the size of your "touch area" as well as snapping options, we found that you can actually be quite precise.
Ill fiddle with it a little today, put together a drawing and give you a nice example of something that can be made with this.
Keep in mind, this is a work in progress, and although much of the functionality that is currently built into the tool, is at a "finished" state, there is certainly room for input and comments from others that may find use in this tool.
Anyway - here are the screenshots as promised, let me know if you have any further questions.
(Again - sorry about the inconvenience on the links)
(edit to update image types to jpg instead of png)
@zul8er - we are certainly interested in your input. Check out the screenshots and let me know if you are still interested. We dont need a huge commitment, but anything that you might be able to provide would certainly be a big help.
Android 1.6 is the minimum OS currently supported. We need to do some work on the graphics to go as far back as 1.5 to compensate for screen size, and we intend on doing so.. Just not at this current time.
I would be interested in trying out your CAD program. I've been doing CAD for ove 10 years now, started with AutoCAD but have been using Solidworks for the last 8 years.
In addition to using the touch screen for input, will you be able to enter X and Y coordinates using a keyboard or virtual keyboard?
What format will it save the files? DXF, JPG, or what?
Noob Squared said:
I would be interested in trying out your CAD program. I've been doing CAD for ove 10 years now, started with AutoCAD but have been using Solidworks for the last 8 years
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Seems there are more and more of us creeping out of the woodwork on a daily basis
Noob Squared said:
What format will it save the files? DXF, JPG, or what?
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Currently the file format is a proprietary format. But we are currently (today actually) working on saving out to a DXF format to be able to reload your files into AutoCAD or other supported softwares.
The ability to import is also in the works, but will require some massaging on the users end to make sure the DXF file is not binary etc. (MTEXT may not be supported either)
Noob Squared said:
In addition to using the touch screen for input, will you be able to enter X and Y coordinates using a keyboard or virtual keyboard?
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We have toyed with the idea of being able to put in specific dimensions on objects, and also work with x/y coords, but at this time, it only supports point to point drawing. We arent completely sure if we intend on building a "FULL ON CAD" application, or an application for people to use to simply get an idea of what they need to do for a job. The other key, is to keep the application at a price range that is reasonable for people. Most "PocketCAD" applications run around 50 bucks a copy - and rightfully so. To keep the tool at a reasonable range (below 10 or 15 dollars) it may need to be a bit lighter weight than those. Most people cringe at a 2.99 app..
IF we could devote our time 100% i am sure we could build a really nice full blown cad app Unfortunately as with most of us, the day job prohibits some of that time.
Its a WIP I'll put you on the list. Thanks for the input.
Are you looking for beta testers?
Hi, are you looking for beta testers. I'm a long year CAD user, and I'm sure I can help with the app development.
[email protected]
Have you tried using some of the java based cad software as a source for your project? There are many and some might be open source.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ycad/
Yeah I am still interested. It will be neat to play with and see how it works. The coordinate input is a good idea, also, ever play with Pro Engineer? They have a cool way of building an initial drawing. You just sketch, regen, and then input your dimensions to make the object to your liking. Makes things a lot faster and easier to edit a shape if changes need to occur.
I dont know how in depth you want to go, or if that idea can be used.
My email is [email protected]
Nice
Give me a couple more days to get a good product out for you guys to test. Currently we are cleaning up a few little "we'll get that later" issues, and should be good to go by mid/late next week.
Thanks for providing the contact info, I will shoot you a message through email shortly.
Thanks agian for the interest.
@zul8er: nice. Look forward to hearing how you like the feel of it. I havent had a chance to play with ProE, as AutoCAD has been my forte for the last couple decades. Ill see if i can any kind of demo for ProE, and get an idea of how it works. Who knows Anything to make it easier for everyone is a good thing.
But yah - the indepth thing is the issue. We keep tossing with ideas and putting them "on the list" in case people start asking for them. I guess it just depends on how people really want to use this tool. (and of course, how much time we can continue to devote to it) - bah i hate day jobs
I enjoyed the screen shots that were posted. Any idea whether you guys will support rendering/raycasting, or physics with inverse kinematics? Either way it looks great; Sign me up!
haha Not sure if we are going to go the IK way. Maybe as a different project, something more suited to 3D, but for this app, we are only intending on running the 2D route.
My lack of knowledge about the OpenGL portion, really limits us with regards to 3D implementation. I spent a good 3 days just trying to get ahold of loading in a 3D model.. Still never got there (or would have probably released a 3D model viewer first).
At any rate, its hard to say where this will go. It mostly depends on the overall interest i suppose. Its certain that the sky would be the limit, if time were as available as the sky
But cool.. Glad I was able to keep your interest.
Currently (as I type even) I am finishing up all of the help documentation for the app, the inline tutorial, and what not.. A couple more days on the file handling (DXF in particular) and should be set to go for a BETA run. ('couple more days' - like we all havent heard enough of that)
@lancelot - can you send me your email address via private message? That way I can do the BETA communications through there (link to files etc). You are welcome to email me as well:
support AT talon-designs.net
cheers!
Hey, I'm a high school student that has just started learning CAD, does that count as average Joe? I'd love to help beta test, I really want android to overpower iPhone 3.0 lol. My e-mail is [email protected] I use g1 with cyanogenmod 1.6...so idk if that qualifies. But anyways, Good luck!
This really sounds promising. In the last few weeks, I really had the need for a good drawing software on my mobile device. But my Tytn II lacks of power. As I soon will get the Desire, I will hopefully have a quite powerful device for all day use (my Tytn II really sux atm). And because I have the re-occurring need of a drawing app, this could be it.
I mean I don't need it for simple drawing, but for constructing things CAD style and on the go Graphics of furniture or something with measures and all that stuff.
Hey guys.. just wanted to pass you an update on status (which is so much more than I seem to be getting from Verizon on the 2.1 update).
Small rant, but its done now.
Ok - status..
DXF Export is working now, supporting layers, linetypes, colors, and elements throughout the drawing. Am having some issues with getting ellipses to export via DXF (and im not alone - faulty specs are at fault), and that combined with the other issues regarding the math behind finding ellipse edges, we decided to comment out the ellipse alltogether for now. Not that it wont be back, but having so many rules with "you can do this to anything - except an ellipse" left us with no other choice.
It's coming back, just not right now.
We have saving and opening completed (simple proprietary ascii format, but it works for what we need it to do).
Zoom is currently partially working (difficult to complete the recalculation on the elements, but its really close) touch events for zoom are coming up as well. Maybe a pinch zoom even, considering that all devices are getting the 2.0+ upgrade - but we will see.. We dont want to keep anyone excluded from being able to use the tool.
@Balrog82 - we have definately taken this tool a long way since its initial conception. We hope to be able to bring more features that are more "CAD Specific" to the application, and will if it becomes a tool that gets used. We want to release it initially as a "basic" drafting tool, and see what kind of input we get. If we see that a lot of people are using it, and would like the ability to put in dimensions the same way that cad does (within limits) we will certainly look into it.
That being said - I hope the tool is still something you would be willing to try out. I find a lot of enjoyment with working with a tool at its early conception (started using paint shop pro at version 1.42) and now its on to version 14 or something and owned by corel. I just kinda get into that sort of thing, and hope that you all will do.
Good thing is, we hope its a draw to the tool, we plan on releasing it at the market both as a free version (no saving abilities) and a full version at a low price. As the tool grows, the price may increase a bit.. Keeping of course the original buyers at a place that they can keep updating the software at no cost to them. We think that will help the advancement and development of the tool quite a bit.
Anyway - It is right around the corner for initial testing. Please to all interested - send me a PM with your contact information (just an email would be great) I am going to see if i can start a private discussion here to invite you all to as well.
@Lancealot - i got your PM.. Am very happy that you are interested in helping. Expect to hear from me again soon..
Until we can see a working model of this app, I thought I would throw out an app that has some great drawing capabilities. The paid was is called "Picso" by Tiki Move, but I used the free version to try out; it's called "Picso Lite".
It's not a CAD app, but it's different from the other Paint apps on Android in that it has tools the other ones don't. It has the usual tools a CAD user would need, such as Rectangles/Squares, Circles/Ellipses, and Lines. You can change the colors and widths of these entities.
What I like about your program is that it has snaps, and the tools are on the bottom of the screen so they are easy to get to: /talon-designs.net/android/andcad/07.jpg
A feature Picso needs is a Zoom tool so you can zoom in to an area and draw whatever you need to and then be able to zoom full screen. It also needs a text tool. Since there is no dimension tool, you could put a text for the dimension.
P.S.,
I want to try your app, but I am only posting this to show how someone else has put these tools on their app and also to have a comparison on ease-of-use. One other thought, you mentioned the files your CAD app will create will be proprietary file types. Will you be able to save-as .jpg or .png so you can email or text-message a sketch to someone? That way if your on-site you will be able to send someone back at the office whatever it is to explain your ideas, and also they would not have to have an Android phone to view it.
Idea sounds great. Good luck with it!
Sorry for being away for so long.. but we had something going on that we had to attend to..
http://developer.att.com/developer/index.jsp?page=event&id=6.3_v1_9700324
More news as it allows.
Android Category Winner
Talon Designs, AndCAD
This application allows users to create simple geometric shapes, combined with notes, to describe plans associated with the art, architecture, engineering and manufacturing industries. Many of the tools familiar to CAD users are incorporated into this utility, meaning that fluent CAD users will feel right at home using this tool. However, the interface for this tool is simple enough for even the most novices of users to understand. This enables certain users (Contractors, etc) to be able to take notes while on a job site and associate them with vector elements within the drawing.
talondesigns said:
Sorry for being away for so long.. but we had something going on that we had to attend to..
More news as it allows.
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AT&T Open Call-Apps for All! Contest
Thank you to all the participants in the 2010 AT&T Open Call—Apps For All! Contest. This year's contest was filled with many great entries. AT&T reviewed over 90 applications this year ranging from games to business applications. The winners from each category will receive $10,000 and co-marketing opportunities with AT&T.
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Did you get $10,000?
Hello Dev`s i have a request and idea about app if anyone like the idea can create app like this:
Im talking about Lotto for Windows Mobile 6.X WVGA VGA etc
One litle application with beautyfull interface
How to work:
By scanning the past draws, this program can detect patterns and calculate probability to predict the next set of numbers. After each draw, new numbers are added and considered for the next draw. The Picks can be exported to a text file.
For example, Lotto649 has 6 balls, 1-49. With 2200 past draws imported into this program, 5 lines were purchased to test the new version,
So i know its hard and i dont ask you to give me the lotto winning numbers but sometimes when you play lotto and you don`t know any numbers and you are pissed of you can try playing with this litle app... also will be easy to be used worldwide i mean for example if the file with all draws is some kind txt file so im in Bulgaria and here we have too 6/49 so i can download all draws in the past 5 years for example and transfer them to the app, everyone will be able to set the application depending of what lotto he wana play..
i found already app like this but is very OLD designed for WM 5 non touch screen and the interface look really bad.. http://www.handango.com/catalog/ProductDetails.jsp?productId=120196&platformId=30
If anyone like the idea is up to you.
probablitity and statistics, and perhaps a tiny bit of chaos theory. In the long run you will probally spend as much on lotto tickets as you win. By developing this program you're stating that lottery numbers can be calculated via an algorithm and thus defeating the purpose of the lottery being random.
I don't think chaos theory is that easy to calculate lol...
i'm not putting you down or something, but i suggest you start on a smaller scale, like the output of sets of numbers followed by an algorithm to predict the next set of numbers and growing from there. try programming in java i suppose GO GO GO! time to go take my engineering final
Like i say i know this already and of course its not easy and i dont think that someone will make a software everytime i play lotto to know all the numbers the point was that this app can be something like fun tool for example of course i dont trust to this apps but sometimes you are going to play numbers and you dont have any numbers in your head then probably you can use app like this and to play lotto with this numbers.
Have few options the one alogithm to calculate the numbers from 1 to 49 how many times they appaear in the draws for example in the last 5 years but this is not working because for example 21 appear alot more times than all other but like you say its a chaos so this time 21 will not appear again because he already did so many times...
I think better variant is algorithm to calculate combinations of 6 numbers NOT only witch numbers appear mostly but Combination for example if appear the number 21 then have big chance to appear in the same draw 27 this is just example.. im talking about a pattern of 6 numbers combination, i think this is more corect calculating because if we chek for the last 10 years the numbers of course we can`t do it without a program but if we have a program like this we can see some pattern im not saying that this patern is 100% sure and you will WIN but its good to have it..
By this pattern i mean for example when appear the number 21 in the draw and the algoruthim to chek this that 70% of the draws for the last 5-10 years when the number 21 appear 70% from the times appear too the number 27 so for this im talking about.
On the final i will say again THIS APP IS FOR FUN when you wana PLAY LOTTO and you dont have in your head any NUMBERS.
Sorry, but your idea of stochastic is wrong. The draws are independant from each other. Impossible to predict.
Dont think, that programmers are as bad in math to waste there time building such an application.
Before answering, please consider to look in some stochastic books
Hey guys, I'm an amateur at android development and this is my first app. I'm trying to make an app which you could basically think of like a book. It will consist of verses from a certain scripture one verse per screen, the screen will have the verse in it's original language "sanskrit", and these three things: 1 it's meaning in english, 2. it's meaning in hindi, and 3. the word meaning of each of the sanskrit words in hindi and english. I want these three things inside a tabhost.
Now the scripture has like 500 verses divided into 18 chapters. Each verse is like 10 words long. So there will be like 500 different views (if that's the right word for it... what I mean is 500 "screens" if that makes any sense) What I've done till now is, I made a sliding drawer that would take you to one of the 18 chapters. Now choosing one of the chapters will take you to a fragment, in which there will be a viewflipper, and it will consist of the verses in that chapter and a title page for that chapter which will consist of links to each of the verses. (I've done everything upto here there's just one sample chapter and 2 sample verses and it works fine) Also in the actionbar there will be a dropdown menu kind of thing clicking on which will give a list of verse numbers, and you can navigate to any verse from there. (I haven't done that yet)
So the thing is, 500 verses, 500 "views" (if i'm using that correctly) I don't know if that will make the device slow or what. I wanted to know am I using the right tools for it? Like the sliding drawer, fragment, tabhost, viewflipper? And the way I've structured the app, what do you feel about that? Will doing it differently could make it faster? I haven't had any problem yet with 1 chapter and 2 verses, I'm going to try adding a bunch of sample chapter and verses and see how it affects the performance. Still I just wanted to know ahead of time if I'm making any huge mistake in using one of the tools that I'm using.
I'd really really really appreciate if someone would take his/her time and give some valuable advice. Thanks in advance.
EDIT: So initially I was planning to have minSdkVersion = "11" and targetSdkVersion = "21", but if that would be impossible due to the large number of verses, I might reconsider that. And I'm using Eclipse to code, and AVD (Android Virtual device) manager to test the app.
EDIT: Also, using maybe sqlite to get the verses (I've just heard a bit about it never used it), would that help?
I'm just replying because I would like to know the same thing...
It shouldn't make your app slow if you're managing View's lifecycle properly. Basically you need to make sure that you're reusing views instead of creating new ones, same thing for Fragments (take a look at android.support.v4.app.FragmentStatePagerAdapter).
surlac said:
It shouldn't make your app slow if you're managing View's lifecycle properly. Basically you need to make sure that you're reusing views instead of creating new ones, same thing for Fragments (take a look at android.support.v4.app.FragmentStatePagerAdapter).
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Okay so you mean when one navigates to a view it should not create a new view but it should reuse the existing ones? I actually made the sliding drawer (which navigates to the chapters) from a tutorial titled "android sliding menu using navigation drawer" (can't post links since me a newbie here ), I hope they managed View's lifecycle properly. And I'm using ViewFlipper to navigate between verses in individual chapters. So I hope that would be okay.
And I haven't used Sqlite but I vaguely know what it does. Will using that to extract the verses from a database then displaying them be of any help? Would it make the app any faster?
Thanks a lot for your help man, really appreciate it. :good::good:
kumar935 said:
So I hope that would be okay.
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Just give it a try, man. You will never know till you have it tried. Implement, test, improve. Don't be a victim of premature optimization . Good luck!