GPS integration although relatively trivial has always been a problem for Java apps because the necessary APIs to talk to the hardware (RS232, USB or Bluetooth) have never been part of the standard Java distribution. Therefore you always need extra stuff: either the missing APIs (eg the RXTX open source implementation of the javax.comm API) or a OS dependent daemon (service) that bridges the data from hardware to network socket which can be easily read by Java.
But a few things have changed in the past few years: 1. Most GPS receivers sold today are part of a smart phone (that's a guess -- but I'm pretty sure I'm not far off right :-) 2. There is now a standard and readily available (sort of) Java bluetooth API in the form of Android 2.0+. So: you could achieve GPS integration by writing a small Android app (it's Java, free SDK and easy to learn) which will take location updates from the built in GPS and and send them via a network socket. Or, you could use the app in a different mode: to connect to a separate Bluetooth GPS unit and transmit the data via a network socket. One fly in the ointment: Up to the recent announcement of Android 2.2 (aka Froyo) tethering a unmodified Android phone to a computer via WiFi was not easy unless you had an access point. Froyo allows the phone to become an access point: so you can connect a laptop directly to the phone. There may be other modes supported (eg adhoc networks etc.. I haven't looked at the details yet). Unfortunately most phones are not running Froyo (yet), but should be receiving over-the-air updates in the next 6 months. Joe. On Tue, Jun 8, 2010 at 4:12 PM, <edgar.sol...@web.de> wrote: > On 08.06.2010 16:48, Larry Becker wrote: >> Seems like GPSylon is a large program and you only need the small >> portion ( gpsinput library?) that communicates with GPS devices, but >> apparently that library depends on external code. >> >> (From the GPSylon web site): "The library that is used to communicate >> with the gps device can be used independently and is provided as a >> separate jar file (since version 0.5)". > > > That's the plan, gpsylon is actually a suite of tools (jars). > > What's missing is somebody volunteering or paying for the modifications. > > ..ede > > >> >> Larry >> >> On Tue, Jun 8, 2010 at 9:19 AM, <edgar.sol...@web.de >> <mailto:edgar.sol...@web.de>> wrote: >> >> >> the old version is dead, there was an updated version which >> was supposed >> to work on various platforms 2 years ago. >> i think they developed into .. >> http://www.tegmento.org/gpsylon/ >> >> >> Last update to GPSylon was more than three years ago. Is it reliable >> enough to use or should everything be made again with some other >> library? >> Gpsd http://gpsd.berlios.de/ seems to be rather commonly used >> but the >> developers say that it will never support Windows which is not >> so great >> news. >> >> >> gpsd is not java based. I'd rather use as less platform dependent >> code as possible. >> But as GPS data is generally a plain text serial protocol one could >> of course use data from a gpsd source and let gpsylon interpret it. >> There seems to be a windows alternative as well >> http://code.google.com/p/gpsd-4-win/ . I dimly remember tat gpsylon >> supported this type of input. >> >> gpsylon worked reliably then .. question is if the binary serial >> libraries work with windows 7 / vista ... they are readymade >> compiled for XP/NT .. it looks like it is possible to compile >> mingw32 version of the underlying http://rxtx.qbang.org/ rxtx library. >> >> Hence even if the serial input does not work, gpsylon still has >> value in interpreting the gps data. >> >> .. ede >> >> > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > ThinkGeek and WIRED's GeekDad team up for the Ultimate > GeekDad Father's Day Giveaway. ONE MASSIVE PRIZE to the > lucky parental unit. See the prize list and enter to win: > http://p.sf.net/sfu/thinkgeek-promo > _______________________________________________ > Jump-pilot-devel mailing list > Jump-pilot-devel@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/jump-pilot-devel > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ThinkGeek and WIRED's GeekDad team up for the Ultimate GeekDad Father's Day Giveaway. ONE MASSIVE PRIZE to the lucky parental unit. See the prize list and enter to win: http://p.sf.net/sfu/thinkgeek-promo _______________________________________________ Jump-pilot-devel mailing list Jump-pilot-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/jump-pilot-devel
