GPS2MI GPS software for MapInfo Professional

GPS2MI has been written to allow MapInfo Users to easily connect to GPS receivers. By Design have been using GPS receivers with Maps4Site since 2004. The code used in GPS2MI is shared code taken from Maps4Site. To use GPS2MI you need just four files in a single folder. (You also need a GPS and if appropriate a BlueTooth adaptor for the Desktop or Laptop.) There is no install needed on XP desktops, just put the four files in the same folder as each other. The four files are: GPS2MI.MBX VBGPS.EXE VBGPS.DLL XY.BIN The XY.BIN file contains the X and Y adjustments for OSTN02 correction to BNG. There is also a fifth file, which is this document - GPS2MI.PDF The program needs to be run from inside MapInfo Professional. From the Tools menu select Run MapBasic Program Navigate to GPS2MI.MBX and run it. You will now have a new menu GPS2MI. Before connecting to the GPS equipment make sure your GPS is turned on and connected to your computer. If you are using a Bluetooth GPS make sure that the Bluetooth equipment on your PC is also installed and connected. You also need to configure GPS2MI to match the COMPORT and BAUDRATE used by your GPS. This information will be displayed when you make the BlueTooth connection using your BlueTooth software. From the GPS2MI menu select Configure GPS and set the COMPORT and BAUDRATE accordingly. Having done this now select Link to GPS. You should now see the following dialog box on screen: The X, Y and Z textboxes show the current values transmitted from the GPS, using the projection set. (If you get zero values then the connection to the GPS has not been established Check the BlueTooth connection.) By Default this is BNG corrected using OSTN02. You can also set this to WGS84 for use anywhere in the World. However in Great Britain we would strongly recommend using BNG setting. The OSTN02 correction correctly transforms WGS84 to BNG. The large text box with a yellow background shows the speed the GPS is travelling at. By default this is in Miles per hour, but the radio group to its right allows this to be set to Kilometres per hour. The Z value is currently the height given by the GPS receiver with no adjustment. We have found that some receivers are sending an ellipsoidal height and some the Geoid height. We are seeking advice on these two values. Bear in mind that errors in Z are two to three times greater than the horizontal distance and that leisure GPS units are plus or minus ten metres horizontally! Version 1.004 of GPS2MI will run up until April 2006. After this date any attempt to insert points to MapInfo from the GPS will make the program close. To insert into a MapInfo layer, the front Window must be a mapper window and there must be an editable layer. There are two types of insert possible. A single GPS insert, which is done by pressing the top left button Single or a multiple insert. To do a multiple string insert check the GPS Multiple Inserts check box. Inserts will continue at 1 per second until the box is unchecked. If you are not getting any inserts the most likely error is no editable layer. Note you can also insert to the Cosmetic layer. We would be grateful to receive ideas for development. Our planned development is the use of XML schemas for data entry as used with Maps4Site.

Revision history:
1.004 12/02/06 - First public version. Evaluation will run until April 2006. GPS Single and Multiple insert to MapInfo current editable layer.