GPS::Magellan version 0.5

The feature list is rather short:

Downloads waypoint and tracklog data from Magellan receivers via serial port
Dump coordinates on stdout or into a file. At this moment the GpsDrive way.txt file format is implemented, and there is a flexible framework so adding new formats/parsers shouldn't be too hard.

STORY

This module first came into existence as a set of hacks against Brian J. Hennings' gpsutil[1] program, which was working with my Magellan receiver (thanks for that, Brian). But I wanted a Perl interface and GPS::Garmin (although Magellan support is mentioned in the docs) it couldn't talk to my Magellan.

In the first iteration the C code was just passing back output to Perl, which then re-parsed it (I needed to convert the data convert into different file formats)...

Eventually, I rewrote some of Brian's code (the higher level protocol and message-parsing routines) as a Perl module, which then I glued to some parts of his code using perl XS. Essentially, the C code takes care of the serial port and NMEA checksums. Perl routines do their job on clean CSV data.

STATUS

This project is far from being mature, it's ALPHA code (although it does contain a quite extensive test suite that covers most of the functionality).

Originally, I was looking for a similar project in a more matured state but couldn't find one. But I'd still be up for it, so please mail me if you work on such code!

I'm also looking into the possibilities of sharing code or joining other module trees (beneath GPS:: for instance, but anywhere it makes sense). Having a common interface with other device-specific GPS communication modules (GPS::Garmin the only one I know of, there may be others...) would also be a nice thing.

PLANNED FEATURES

There are going to be implemented Real Soon Now as I want to draw maps during my trip to the US in June!

A command line tool (look in the examples/ directory for an almost finished one, it takes care of the core business with a little obvious tweaking involved ;-) (TRACKLOG/WAYPOINT)
Uploading waypoints to the receiver
Even write documentation!

[1]
http://www.cs.uakron.edu/~hennings/gpsutil/

INSTALLATION

To install this module type the following:

tar xzvf GPS_Magellan-0.5.tar.gz

# First build the C library

cd GPS_Magellan-0.5/gpslib

make

cd ..

# Standard Perl installation from here on

       perl Makefile.PL
       make
       make test   # TEST_VERBOSE=1
       make install

BUGS

Send bugs to <peter@login-fo.net>.

DEPENDENCIES

A few modules that should be among the standard Perl libs.

DISCLAIMER

All standard disclaimers apply; this code is provided "AS IS". If it erases your three years' worth of tracklog database, all you can do is sit back, open a beer and relax. Please let me know, however, about serious bugs like sleeping with your wife or stealing your bike.

COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.