GRUNT: The Grenadier User Network

[emax]

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Download the current KMZ file.
Add a workshop, dealer or yourself.
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...

I have tried something which might be helpful when on route.

The idea was to have kind of a map of forum members and dealerships, workshops and so on. My first thought was google maps, but this could only be maintained by those who have a google account. And not everybody wants to log in with his google account at any time.

So I tinkered with googleearth, which is free software and can run on premises without being online and on mobile phones as well. Furthermore, everybody can change the data set which is the basis for this feature, but I'll come back to this below.

To make a long story short: It is easily possible to import data to googleearth and create a layer which can be switched on or off within googleearth - without having to have a Google account. I don't know whether this will change in the future, but this was so since many years and will hopefully stay so for a long time to come.

What did I do?

• I created a small proof of concept example file which contains three data points: 'emax', "Matzker" and "Krah & Enders".
• Each record contains the name, the type and the coordinates of the respective entry.
• This file is easy to maintain as it is a csv-file. It can even be edited as a spreadsheet and then be exported to a csv file.
• The csv file can be imported to googleearth.
• After this, a new layer exists which can be switched on or off.
• The style of the entries is configurable, so I have created such a style which displays a "dealership" entry with an own icon and color, and a "member" entry with an own icon and color as well.

The idea is that everybody can add entries by just entering them into the above linked forms. The updated current master file from the second link above can then (with some delay for the processing) be re-imported into googleearth onto your own system whenever you want.

I would like to call this feature the GRUNT: the Grenadier User Network.

This data set, the GRUNT, should have a worldwide scope and is not limited to a single country. Googleearth is a planet-map, not a district map. ;-)

With the provided download everybody can try it and can (and should) make suggestions for improvements.

Privacy: Everybody can decide which personal data he or she adds or doesn't add to the file. For example, I have my own datapoint located in the middle of my village, which is NOT my precise address.

Attached files:

• see above.

Advantages:

• distributed work
• easy data maintenance
• data stays our property (no cloud...)
• redundant copies due to decentralized concept
• easy to extend (with camping sites, landmarks, viewpoints et.al.)
• should work on mobile devices as well (but didn't try)

Thats basically it.

Here is a screenshot of the resulting display for the first, very basic version of the GRUNT file.

 

[emax]

I have added some dealers, and that's what it looks like.

Our "forum dealer" is there as well.

Added "ineos auto" to the styles, thus Hambach has an own icon and color.

 

[emax]

To make things easier, the import file now contains the style and does it all in one wash.

Under Linux, the import dialog does not show this type of file: *.kmz

So just select "all files *.*" from the file types drop down list, and then click on 'grunt.kmz'. No need for style installation, it's all complete.

 

[emax]

If somebody wants to add his name and location, he/she can follow the link from the first posting.

The Coordinates in the respective forms field may be precise or e.g. somewhere close, or the middle of the city or the like. Without a location, an entry doesn't make sense at all.

As to the entry forms:

• The 'Name' should be your name, pseudonym, nickname or preferably your forum name.
• The type can be 'member' for entries which define a user. The type 'dealership' would mark an entry as a dealership (surprise). So if you are a dealer or want a dealer to be added, use 'dealership'. If you want to add an Ineos Automotive location, use 'ineos auto'.
• Over the time, new types might appear: landmark,viewpoint, whatsoever.
• The Coordinates are the lat/lon coordinates of the location for the entry. The number of decimals is overdone, but that's what google maps delivers. So take it.
• NOTE: Our forum dealer is west of Greenwich, so the longitude part (second number) is negative. Same goes for the southern hemisphere, e.g. Australia, where the first number is negative, and e.g. South-America where both numbers are negative. That's not a problem at all, as Google maps gives you exactly that if you right-click a location (and copy&paste the numbers).
• The 'Note' is optional. You can e.g. write 'Tel: 0815/4711' or '12 Buckingham Palace' or both or whatever you want.
• NOTE 2: commas are strictly reserved as column-separators, don't use them within a field.

How to get coordinates: On Google Maps, right click the location and copy&paste the numbers. That's all.
Post your entry or your entries here (line by line) and I will add them.

Happy coding.

 

[Ferrugenfish]

Thank you emax for all of that effort!  I have a feeling most people won't understand it, myself included, but I think I get the gist.  Isn't the main function the same as the app that comes on the rig?.... sharing where you are? Regardless, here are my city's coords
37.8044° N, 122.2712° W   

(Oakland CA, USA)

 

[emax]

Thank you, i will add this.

BTW: If you right click in google maps on your location, you get the correct format automatically: 37.80443777932961, -122.27120323794259

 

[emax]

Here you are.

Import the attachment into googleearth and after that double click on your name.

(would appreciate you do that as a double check).

 

[emax]

This posting is obolete due to the provided entry forms.

...

Maybe my developer brain is too ignorant about "normal" people.

So my suggestion is: Just send me some data like so:

yourname, 49.79930612512856,8.824847571892395,some personal note

with the red numbers being your coordinates picked from google maps and optionally a personal note instead of the green text.

If I have a dozen users or so, I will update the data and upload it here.

 

[Pat-Ard]

Patrick, 49.0031667,8.4145556,19, still waiting for a testride

 

[Sebastian]

Sebastian, 49.89154245413827, 10.886923281359202, Blue Fieldmaster

 

[emax]

Ok, thank you Patrick.

But what's that: 49.0031667,8.4145556,19,

A comma too much? Do these digits belong to the longitude (second number?)

 

[Pat-Ard]

Sorry, just skip it - mistake with c&p ?

 

[emax]

Ok, thought so. ;-)

 

[Paachi]

Thanks @emax I love the GRUNT nomenclature ?

my details

Prashant; (37.3229978, -122.0321823); Mushroom Trialmaster and TheAwryNeuron

 

[rovie]

Thank you emax. You deserve a Wennel ice cream for this work! ?

 

[amglounge]

AMGlounge,53°25'58"N 9°29'53"E,Solid Black 5 Seat Utility Wagon with all Trialmaster specs and more except snorkel 

Sorry, no right click on the iPad. Can just copy the coordinates. Will that help?
Thanks for your effort.

 

[emax]

[QUOTE username=rovie userid=8990308 postid=1332978420]Thank you emax. You deserve a Wennel ice cream for this work! ?[/QUOTE]
What do YOU know about "Wennel"?

 

[emax]

[QUOTE username=amglounge userid=8995096 postid=1332979144]AMGlounge,53°25'58"N 9°29'53"E,Solid Black 5 Seat Utility Wagon with all Trialmaster specs and more except snorkel 

Sorry, no right click on the iPad. Can just copy the coordinates. Will that help?
Thanks for your effort.[/QUOTE]

Bad luck for IPad users, I'd dare say.

How did you get the coordinates?

 

[amglounge]

It is possible to copy them 
 

 

[emax]

In google earth or in maps (i.e. safari) ?