Whitestone Interactive GPS Software / News: Recent posts

There's been some updates to the Java Comm API and to RXTX which is not compatible with the latest version of the WIGS API. I'm also starting to use NetBeans instead of JDeveloper. Expect to see a minor release in... well, you know me... don't expect it shortly ;P

After some testing, bugfixing, more testing, and lots of procrastination, version 2.0 of the WIGS API is finally released. The code has had a complete rewrite, and all traces of the old code is the actual decoding of the NMEA messages (though I've given that a overhaul as well). I'm very happy with the results and I can finally start working on the actual WIGS application... and you, the public, can start working on writing drivers to make the API talk to a GPS receiver using something other than the serial port (Bluetooth anyone ;).
The new release can be found in the download section on both the project homepage and the sourceforge page.

I've now tested with a GPS receiver, and everything works. Yes, there were a couple of bugs to iron out, and I'm sure there will be more, but at least it's able to get data from the GPS receiver, and decode them correctly. After some minor bugfixing, the release of API 2.0 are right around the corner. This is bugfixing in the new code, and not in the old, reused API 1.0 code. Stay tuned!

I've now finished the new API. I now just need to test it with a real GPS receiver to confirm that everything works as it should. If all goes according to plan I'll do the testing this weekend. If everthing goes well the new API will be released next week.

I apologize for the lack of updates lately. Between a total lack of summer vacation and lots to do at my daytime job, as well as some data loss at home, I just haven't had the time to finish the next version of the WIGS API. But I can promise you that it will arrive. I'm just now quite sure when, since there's still alot to do at the office. But seeing as the new API has had all the technological quirks worked out, it shouldn't take a whole lot of work to get it finished.

I'm mostly done with the API 2.0 now, but it wouldn't be much without a driver to actually communicate with the GPS device. During the development of this driver I met an unexpected problem. Apparently there is no Windows version of the Java Communications API anymore because Microsoft changed the specs for the interface. This leaves me with no means of communicating with the serial port, which means a slight set back. I'm currently looking into other solutions, but the brilliance of WIGS API 2.0 is that any of these solutions will work with the API, regardless.
Expect a release within a month after drivers have been developed, and the entire API has been tested extensively.

Now that I've finished writing the Design Document for the new version of the API, I've started the development. I hope to have version 2.0 finished a lot quicker then the bugfixes for version 1.0.
Stay tuned.

Today I published the first documentation for the WIGS project. You can find the two released documents under "Download" on the website, or in the file repository at the SF.Net project page. The current documentation describes how the GPS Communications API 2.0 will be built, and also what NMEA messages it will be able to decode, and their contents.

After some heavy duty thinking I've come to the conclusion that I need more from my own API than it can currently give me. Adding these new requirements will be a lot of work, so I'm doing a major rewrite of the whole API to make them, and future enhancements, easier to implement. New features include logging, and support for 3rd party developers to write their own device communication drivers.
This time I'm going even more scientifically to work and I'm in the process of writing a design document before I start the programming. This document will be available here when it is complete.

After some heavy procrastination, the bugs reported in the bug database has finally been fixed. Download the GPSCommAPI 1.0.2 to get these fixes. A special thanks to SF.Net user 'darkeye' for pointing these out and providing a fix.

This is a minor release fixing a bug when receiving NMEA messages with very little data in it. For those downloading this API, feedback is very much appreciated.

Today we released the official project web pages. On these pages you will find additional information not available from the sourceforge pages, in addition to what can also be found on the auto generated source forge pages.

Today the API for communicating with a GPS was released to version 1.0. This API includes full capability to communicate with a GPS device over the serial port, and has a striking ease of use.
Phase 1 of the WIGS project is then done and phase 2 (development of a GUI which use the WIGSGPSComm API to present GPS data in an intuitive fashion) has started.

This weekend the beta release for the GPS Communications Package should be ready. This is the package that communicates with the serial device. It receives NMEA data from the COM port on the computer, interprets these data and notifies all listeners about which data has been changed.
Beta testers are needed as I have limited access to a real GPS device.