Cartographica Blog

Due to the quick-moving nature of the COVID-2019 (2019 Coronavirus Disease), we are not going to publish any maps here directly, as they would be nearly immediately out of date.

However, if you're interested in the latest updates from the World Health Organization you can visit their Coronavirus disease 2019 situation reports page to get the latest. They are posting a new report (PDF) daily.

In addition, There is a daily map being produced by a number medical establishments available at HealthMap.ORG, complete with links to a data archive on GitHub.

Updated Raster and Vector format support

With version 1.5 moving to a newer (2.4.4) version of the GDAL libraries, Cartographica is now supporting a variety of new Raster and Vector formats.

Note that there are some file formats which we haven't been able to test, due to lack of example files. GDAL writers have tested previously (presumably), but if you can help us out with example files for these formats, please contact Support.

New Vector Formats

• OpenStreetMap OSM and PBF files (no tests)
• Geomedia MDB
• EDI Geo
• SVG
• IDRISI Vector
• ARC/Info Generate files
• SEG-P1 / UKOOA P1 …

TL;DR - if you're using formulas, read the Practical Changes section.

Background

Although it's been called out in our documentation for years, many people don't realize that the underlying system behind Cartographica's calculated columns is actually a full Python interpreter. This has allowed us to provide a full-featured function/method interpretation system, with sophisticated math and date calculation capabilities without having to build and maintain such a thing ourselves.

Along with the many internal changes in Cartographica 1.5, we are preparing for Apple's announced deprecation of the Python libraries in macOS by moving to using our own internal Python …

This is the seventh follow-up to Onward to 1.5 documenting the move to the 1.5 release.

It's been a quick few weeks since the last update. We're refining some new testing processes (yet more automated testing) and that exposed some issues that we needed to take care of in the UI. As an added bonus, we've got yet more modern code in the system.

A few of the changes for this release, besides a number of bug fixes and visual tweaks:

• Updated our internal version of Python which is used for Column Formulas. Previously, we'd used the OS …

This is the sixth follow-up to Onward to 1.5 documenting the move to the 1.5 release.

The last month or so has been a head's-down push to remove all bugs we could find and get Cartographica 1.5 to beta so that we can release it before the end of the year. It's been a busy fall, and there was some delay due to some iOS 13-induced emergency work on CartoMobile, but Cartographica is looking very strong going into version 1.5, and a lot of the work that we've done in automation and code clean up should …

CartoMobile 2.1.1 is now available on the AppStore.

This is a bug fix release that resolves the following:

• Fixed a crash which would sometimes occur when loading existing configurations
• Fixed a bug which cause problems rendering when changing from Heat Map to data display
• Fixed a bug where selection of polygons and lines with some imagery backgrounds failed

Incompatibility with iOS 13 and CartoMobile 2.0

Due to a last-minute change in behavior for iOS 13 (one we didn’t see during the beta period), we needed to release a new version to maintain compatibility with iOS 13.

Along with fixing the problem with iOS 13, we have improved performance in line and polygon drawing.

If you are using iOS 13, please update to version 2.1 ASAP, as it fixes these incompatibilities.

GPS Tracking warning

If you are using background tracking (for example, you start a line and then turn off the phone's display or switch to …

Catalina and Cartographica

As of October 7, 2019, Apple has released macOS Catalina (version 10.15).

ClueTrust is unaware of any problems with the current shipping version of Cartographica (1.4.9). All functionality tested is working and we have not experienced any issues with internal testing.

Please make sure that you are using the most recent versions of Cartographica (1.4.9) or LoadMyTracks before reporting a bug when running macOS Catalina.

NOTE: Some users have reported seeing 32-bit warnings for Cartographica. As long as you are using 1.4.9, you should experience no problems. The last version …

This is the fifth follow-up to Onward to 1.5 documenting the move to the 1.5 release.

It's taken a bit of time to get to this development release (d17), but that's because I've been working on an oft-requested improvement for Raster fans. In this case, it's a new Georeferencing system. It's not completely finished yet (development version, remember), but the bulk of it is in and solid, and I'd appreciate feedback from anyone who works with Georeferencing Raster images.

I'm leaving the existing Georeference Editor (located in the Edit > Georeference… menu) in place for the time being, and …

This is the fourth follow-up to Onward to 1.5 documenting the move to the 1.5 release.

We've got some goodies for the Raster fans out there in this development release. I don't have time to get all of the documentation complete before posting the code, but the big feature this week is some serious Raster DEM (height) analysis. We're picking up most of the tools and options that are available in GDAL and thus much of what's in QGIS on this front. Future blog posts and docs will go into some detail about the options and the provenance …

This is the third follow-up to Onward to 1.5 documenting the move to the 1.5 release.

For those who noticed the update today, you'll note that the release notes were very short. All of the work the last two weeks was on internals. Much of the work was performance enhancement and modernization of some of the older code.

Stay tuned for the next release which should be more exciting.

Test versions

Today we're releasing the next development test version. This is not for the faint of heart. The development test versions are available by changing your Preferences to …

This is the second follow-up to Onward to 1.5 documenting the move to the 1.5 release.

This release should be the last update related to the replacement of our key libraries. I've finished getting up to the current 2.4.x release of GDAL and the latest component libraries, which should enable better and more compatibility with file formats.

New File formats

Updating to the latest GDAL libraries provides us with access to a number of new file formats. I'm still working at adding tests for the new formats, so if you have files of these types that …

This is the first follow-up to Onward to 1.5 documenting the move to the 1.5 release.

The last few weeks has been filled with a lot of internal library updates (and a week-long break for a long-delayed vacation) and preparation for building and testing under 10.15.

I've now posted 1.5d8 which is also available in the Development feed in Cartographica's Check For Updates…

Among the updates are major upgrades in the libraries we use for importing and exporting Vector and Raster files. These should mostly improve performance, reliability, and compatibility, but there are also some additional …

Cartographica has been stuck in the 1.4's for a while now, but there's been a lot of work going on as we're moving to get the long-rumored 1.5 out the door.

Moving the macOS requirements

Since October of 2014, we have been indicating that the 1.5 release of Cartographica will push the supported macOS substantially forward in order to allow us to adopt new features and improve the internal structure of the software. As we have been developing 1.5, we've pushed that expected version out a couple of times (as a consequence of being able to …

In June, Apple announced pre-release availability of iOS 13 and macOS Catalina (10.15). ClueTrust is working to verify complete compatibility with these versions prior to their release this fall.

However, as a rule, we caution against the use of pre-release operating systems for crucial work. Although we are unaware of any problems today that hamper the use of either Cartographica or CartoMobile, it is always possible to experience crashing and data loss with operating systems that have not been fully tested.

With that said, if you choose to experiment with iOS 13 or macOS Catalina and run into problems …

Dinosaur Database has a really interesting interactive map which will show a location on the Earth as it has moved through time.

Type in your address in the upper-left corner and then use the menu at the top of the page to dial back time to show that location as it would have been millions of years ago.

Although the map has few practical uses, the educational value is significant and it's a great illustration of the power of visualization.

Version 1.4.9 of Cartographica is now available for download from our site and is available in the update stream.

Changes are mostly bug fixes, including a critical fix to Activation and Bing Maps access.

Cartographica 1.4.x is now in critical update mode, with new features going in to 1.5 and beyond. The key changes will be for people with older versions of macOS.

After a lengthy development process and with the help of many fine testers, ClueTrust has released 2.0 of CartoMobile. CartoMobile 2.0 is now available on the App Store.

New for 2.0:

• Automatic bookmarks to zoom to full map or all features
• Receive Maps via email and web (c11amz format described on our support site)
• Send collected data via email
• Tiled raster maps from individually selected files or "rasterpack" folders
• Buffer ("range" bubbles) around point layers
• Now using MapBox for background maps with support for multiple types of imagery, including satellite and topo
• Support for latest iPhone sizes …

As of September 24, 2018, Apple has released macOS High Sierra (version 10.14).

ClueTrust is unaware of any problems with the current shipping version of Cartographica (1.4.8). All functionality tested is working and we have not experienced any issues with internal testing.

In addition, we've created a new beta of LoadMyTracks that addresses some recent issues with some devices and versions of macOS.

Please make sure that you are using the most recent versions of Cartographica (1.4.8) or LoadMyTracks before reporting a bug when running macOS High Sierra.

Version 1.4.8 of Cartographica is now available for download from our site and is available in the update stream.

Changes are mostly bug fixes, including a critical fix to Bing Geocoding with OS X 10.7.x (introduced in last month's update).

As of the July release, Cartographica 1.4.x is now in critical update mode, with new features going in to 1.5 and beyond. The key change will be for people with older versions of macOS.