dive location database?

[K. "pestophagous" Heller]

On Wed, Nov 25, 2015 at 1:47 PM, Dirk Hohndel <dirk at hohndel.org> wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 25, 2015 at 12:56:35PM -0800, K. "pestophagous" Heller wrote:
>> On Wed, Nov 25, 2015 at 11:50 AM, Dirk Hohndel <dirk at hohndel.org> wrote:
>> > On Wed, Nov 25, 2015 at 10:17:40AM +0100, Guillaume Gardet wrote:
>> >> Hi,
>> >>
>> >> I am working on a project of dive sites (and dive centers) database, which will be released under an open license.
>> >> It will be available on a GIT repo, probably github.
>> >> A website will be also available with an API to access the data (XML and JSON outputs).
>> >>
>> >> It would be very interesting if Subsurface could make use of it.
>> >> I can give access to the testing website if some subsurface devs want to play with it.
>> >
>> > We have a couple of other sources of dive site data bases. The more the
>> > merrier. But the gating factor is that someone needs to implement the UI
>> > to use this. It's on my todo list. So are many other things.
>> >
>> > It's our usual problem. No shortage of good ideas.
>> > A distinct shortage of people willing and able to work on the UI.
>>
>> i would be happy to work on this.  as a newcomer, i have been trying
>> to find all the "things that need doing" without bugging anyone with a
>> lot of questions.
>
> Ha! Wrong approach.
> Let me rephrase this. Great approach, but maybe not the best possible way
> to do this :-)

ok! nudge accepted :)

>
> I have noticed the patches and appreciate them a lot.

awesome. another one is coming in a few moments...

>
> But asking questions, creating discussions on the mailing list and
> eliciting feedback is actually the best way to move the project forward.
> There are weeks where it feels to me that I'm the only one doing that and
> that is at times a bit overwhelming. So other chiming in, driving parts
> forward is extremely helpful.
>
> For example, Robert has completely taken over maintenance of the planner
> and the deco side of things (and to some degrees the handling of photos).
> That to me has been among the best things that happened this year.
>
> I was thrilled to see Guido come in and rework the Uemis downloader.
> Desperately needed work, long overdue (but he's been rather quiet,
> lately... given his background I hoped that he would start pushing things
> further on the QA / testing side of Subsurface... guess I need to poke him
> a bit).
>
> Simon came in with the AppImage. OK, sorry Robert, THAT was the best thing
> that happened in the last few months. Or maybe it was Sebastian joining
> the team and taking over the QML UI of Subsurface-mobile?
>
> OK, I guess I shouldn't complain, there are a lot of people doing really
> amazing work here...

yes. i find it impressive. glad i could spur this moment of reflection.

>
>> or would the workflow be the opposite: enter some human-readable text
>> first, and then subsurface attempts to grab corresponding GPS coords
>> from the database?
>> or maybe people want both kinds of lookup?
>
> Yes they do. The rough idea of using the dive site data bases was
> something like this:
>
> a) user enters information where they are diving (this could be "for this
> trip" or something along those lines, or it could be when working on a
> specific dive site). The information could be textual, but I think that's
> way too complicated. So maybe it's easier if we ask the user to use the
> globe to show a rectagular area that encloses where the dives are. So the
> user can pan and scroll until the right area is shown and then click "this
> is where I'm diving"

ooooo. i really like that idea.

> b) now the user tries to set the location of a specific dive site; they
> enter a name or partial name. We use the dive site data base lookup to
> populate both a drop down list and the Marble display (the globe) with
> dive sites that match the partial name. If nothing is entered, all dive
> sites in the area are shown
>
> c) the user picks one of the sites (either on the globe or in the drop
> down
>
> d) success

ok. looking at Marble sounds like a lot of fun.  I will see if any of
these interactions are things that I can get working.

>
>> is there a trac ticket for this?  even if i am not the right person
>> for the task, writing a "rough spec" in a trac ticket might attract
>> the attention of others like me who have the quiet, lurker mindset :)
>
> Good point. I'll add one with the information above.
>

yep. i see 972 and 973. thanks!

K. Heller