Main features

Main features

What GPSMan does:

• GPSMan keeps lists of waypoints, routes and tracks, whose information can be written to and read from text files, or got from and put into supported GPS receivers;
• GPSMan lets the user create new waypoints, routes and tracks, as well as modify or delete those already defined;
• GPSMan lets the user create, modify and delete groups (sets) of waypoints, routes, tracks and other groups; groups are very helpful in keeping and classifying the existing information, as well as in the selection of information to be processed;
• GPSMan makes conversions of
  • routes into tracks;
  • tracks into routes, by keeping a certain number (fixed by the user) of track points;
  • tracks into a waypoint taking the averages of the latitudes, longitudes and altitudes of the track points;
  • waypoints in a group into a waypoint taking the averages of their latitudes, longitudes and altitudes;
• GPSMan records real-time track logging information that can be displayed on a moving map and used to create a track (that may be then converted into a route);
• GPSMan makes computations of,
  • for waypoints: distance and bearing to another waypoint, nearest waypoints (in fact, distances and bearings to all other waypoints ordered from nearest to furthest), clusters of waypoints with given centres,
  • for routes: distances, azimuths and differences in altitude between consecutive points, total distance, and enclosed area (under certain conditions),
  • for tracks: distances, differences in time, speed and azimuths between consecutive points, cumulative distance and altitude at each point, total distance and average speed for the track, distance from first to last point, maximum distance from first point to any track point;
• GPSMan can make a map to scale, using one of a choice of projections, of waypoints, routes and tracks; the map can be saved as a Postscript file for printing or further processing; images may be used as background for the map and geo-referenced; waypoints can be represented in different ways (any combination of symbol and name or comment); an animation of the movement along the real-time track or of a recorded track can be shown on the map; elevation graphs of routes and tracks can be plotted and saved as Postscript files;
• GPSMan allows for data items to be searched by:
  • patterns matching the item name, comment and/or remark,
  • distance to a given waypoint or location (given by its coordinates), for waypoints and tracks,
  • symbol, for waypoints,
  • waypoints, for routes,
  • start date, for tracks.
• GPSMan provides conversion between different position formats (latitude/longitude in DMS, DMM or DDD, and some grid coordinates, including UTM/UPS) and/or different datums; there is support for user-defined datums, ellipsoids, projections and related coordinate grids.
• GPSMan allows the user to change its configuration, providing a choice of languages (Dutch, English, French, German, Italian and Portuguese in the current distribution), and accepting new values for parameters related to the GPS receiver, default settings, and concerning interface appearance (colours, dimensions, positions).

GPSMan User Manual
©Miguel Filgueiras, mig_at_ncc.up.pt, DCC-FC & LIACC, Universidade do Porto, 2002

Main features