In my efforts to automate offline maps to my tablet, I have come with something that works for me.
Requirements for this process are:
- DroidPlanner - Free - Program used for making antonymous missions
- DropBox account - Free - Storing map cache in the cloud used with FolderSync
- FolderSync - Free - Android app for syncing your dropbox folder to the local folder on your tablet
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dk.tacit.android.foldersync.lite&hl=en - DirSync Pro - Free - Computer application used to copy files from MissionPlanner map cache folder to your DropBox folder on your computer
First you need to have used MissionPlanner and used the prefetch tool to download the maps offline.
When you are in MissionPlanner, in Flight Plan, you can prefetch maps by using the alt key and the mouse to select a given area to download offline or you can simply download the entire map thats in view.
When you right click on the map, choose Map Tool and Prefetch
The process will begin to download the map files. It is usually safe to say that zoom level 20-21 should be good enough.
On your local computer the Mission Planner map files are located at:
(64 bit)
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mission Planner\gmapcache\TileDBv3\en\GoogleSatelliteMap
(32 bit)
C:\Program Files\Mission Planner\gmapcache\TileDBv3\en\GoogleSatelliteMap
One could easily copy and paste files from windows while the tablet is plugged in, depending on the transfer rate, this could be hours.
To automate this process, I installed the drop box application on my windows desktop.
In the special drop box folder created, it will show your drop box file folders.
Although it duplicates the space, this is where I use DirSync Pro to sync my MissionPlanner maps cache folder to my dropbox cache folder within windows.
Once that is in place, login to your tablet and download FolderSync Lite from the play store.
After you install FolderSync, run it, from the menu choose accounts and then add your dropbox account. And this doesnt have to be a dropbox account. There are a ton of providers to choose from.
This is to add your dropbox account so that it can sync your drop box folder to your tablets/phone maps cache folder for Droid Planner 2. The path to offline maps for DroidPlanner is Internal storage\DroidPlanner\Maps
After you have added your DropBox account to FolderSync, from the FolderSync main menu, go to Folderpairs.
This is where you create the sync from your DropBox maps cache folder to the local DroidPlanner maps cache folder. Make sure you pay attention to the sync type. Since your dropbox account is added, folders within it are already an option.
There are a lot of options to go through.
Once that is saved, you can run the sync and monitor is changes. I didnt notice a need to restart DroidPlanner 2 to get the updated tiles. However you may.
In conclusion, when I want to update my tablet with offline maps, after I prefetch them, I run the DirSync Pro tool, and then then FoldySync tool, both of which can be autotomatically run.
If something isnt working, triple check folder paths.
Replies
Awesome, thank you!