RockGecko

This is a minor update to fix some new bugs with number formatting in certain locales.

v1.46 11-03-12

• Additional number formatting bug fixes for certain locales

A new update has been posted to the Android Market. This update adds the ability to export KML files for use in the desktop version of Google Earth. A KML file will be generated & attached automatically when ‘Email log’ is selected from the main logging screen. The file will additionally be stored in the /Rocklogger/kml directory.

If the log has associated photos, put the KML and JPGs in the same directory (on your computer) and the photos will be viewable within Google Earth at the associated coordinates.

KML export is available in the paid version only.

A new update has been posted to the Market. This update addresses a problem with corrupt log files affecting users in some countries (described here). It also adds a horizontal line to the logging screen, to make it visually easier to log in the same plane as the phone’s scree. Logging like this usually gives more accurate azimuth angles than logging planes at random angles to the phone’s screen.

v1.41 16-10-11

• Added a horizontal white line to the logging screen, to make it visually easier to log in the same plane as the phone’s screen (which is usually more accurate than logging planes at random angles to the phone’s screen)
• Fixed a bug where the logfile was corrupted in locales which use , instead of . for decimal points

I recently moved to Germany for a working holiday (software and GPS work for a research institute).

One odd thing I noticed is that in Germany, copyright to the word gmail belongs to some guy who registered the name back in 2000. The effect of this is that gmail is called Google Mail here. What was strange was that the gmail app on my phone changed its name, by itself, to Google Mail.

Back to Rocklogger, and an important lesson in localisation. In Germany and many other European countries, decimal numbers use commas instead of points, eg 5,3 instead of 5.3.
This meant that whenever Rocklogger saved a log on a European-localised phone, extra commas corrupted the CSV tables meaning recorded data couldn’t be used by the stereonet plotter, maps, or anything else.

An update is about to be posted, which replaces occurrences of ,s with .s in number strings.

Note that my Australian phone didn’t change localisation and have this problem, it only renamed gmail.

PS: German users can look forward to a German translation in the coming weeks!

The changes mentioned last week have been finalised, and a new version of Rocklogger posted to the Android Market. This update allows you to log from any orientation, rather than using strictly the pitch of the phone. Specifically, Rocklogger calculates the steepest angle for the dip angle, and uses the direction of that angle to calculate the new dip direction/strike. This is also shown graphically by a new symbol on the logging screen (pictured).

When taking a lineation, it is necessary to measure the dip of one specific axis, rather than the steepest angle. Thus, we have kept the old mode in the new version. To switch, just change plane types. By default, lineations and plunges use the old mode, now known as axial orientation. The rest use the new mode, known as Normal orientation. You can also specify which orientation you want when adding your own planes (paid only).
When logging in axial orientation, the symbol doesn’t rotate, it simply indicates which direction the phone is dipping (vertical line) and the strike (arrow).

Stereonet plotting is coming soon.

Enjoy!

v1.3 24-06-11

• Take a measurement from any orientation. The phone calculates the steepest angle for the dip angle, and uses the direction of that angle to calculate the new dip direction/strike.
• Live dip/strike symbol when logging, which points down, showing the direction of the steepest angle, and has an arrow indicating the strike.
• Choose whether to log in the new mode (normal orientation), or the old mode (axial orientation, which measures pitch only), by selecting the appropriate plane type. Eg you would still require the old mode when logging plunges and lineations, so select that plane type to log in axial mode.
• Specify axial or normal orientation when defining new plane types (paid only)
• Changes to the calibration screen to reflect the new features
• Additional improvements when scrolling through photos in the edit view

Update:
There was a small error when logging perfectly horizontally in dip & strike mode, which has now been updated in v1.31.
Support has been added to devices whose default orientation is landscape (eg tablets, Droid2 Global), so that they now display and record in the correct orientation.
Finally, the orientation sensor calibration has changed, and so all existing calibration data will be erased on upgrade.

v1.31 26-06-11

• Fixed an error when logging perfectly horizontally in strike mode
• Changed the orientation sensor calibration screen back to displaying pitch and roll in degrees
• Other changes to the calibration, which means any existing calibration data will be erased on upgrade (you should re-calibrate if you wish)
• Fixed compatibility problems with devices whose default screen orientation is landscape (such as tablets). Rocklogger should now work correctly (rather than 90° out) in portrait orientation on these devices.

We’re currently working on a few new features for Rocklogger:

• Log in any orientation – Instead of measuring the dip solely by the pitch of the phone, Rocklogger will now use all 3 axis to calculate the gravity vector. This means you can place the phone on a surface in any orientation, and the steepest angle will be recorded
• Live preview – A dip/strike/plunge/lineation symbol will be shown on the logging screen, that always points down – indicating the direction of the steepest angle, the direction of the dip.
• Stereonets – plot records on a stereonet

These features are currently being tested by our technical consultants, and the update should be posted to the Market in the next week or so.

A new update has been posted to the Android Market. It adds a camera mode, and the ability to view and save in quadrant mode instead of azimuth. There are a few caveats with taking photos, but there are workarounds (see below):

New features in v1.2:

• Camera mode. Easily take photos using the camera, and have the photos saved with your .csv files. Thumbnails are shown in the edit screen, and the files are automatically attached when you email a log.
• IMPORTANT: Due to the wide variety of Android devices, photo capture may not work correctly for everyone. Please report any problems using the button in settings.
• Also note that every photo taken will also always be saved to the DCIM directory (so just remember you may have to delete these duplicates from time to time).
• Finally, it may take a long time to display images you have just taken when you try to open them using the Gallery. This is because the media scanner hasn’t scanned them yet. Try another image viewer (eg ASTRO, QuickPic)
• Quadrant mode. Choose to view and record in quadrant mode (eg N45°W) instead of azimuth

A new version of Rocklogger has been posted to the Android market.

Key new features of v1.1 include:

• Plot records on a map, showing location, strike and dip angle, using standard map symbols
• View records in a list, where you can delete specific records, or copy them to clipboard
• Unique map symbols for S0, S1, S2, L1, L2 plane types, and for magnetic and GPS only records
• Rationalised the magnetic logging mode to use magnitude only, as 3 magnetic vectors are unnecessary. This has also resulted in a slight re-arrangement of the .csv format
• Paid version records both dip & dip direction and dip & strike when in either dip mode

Being able to instantly review recorded data, either in the list view or on a map, should be of great use to most people. The map plotting in particular has some interesting features:
When several records are too close together, they are grouped into a disc icon, with the number of records nearby written on the icon.
If you want to see what’s ‘inside’ the the icon, you can tap on it to show the nearby records in a list view, or you can tap menu-> show more points to increase the distance between records before they are grouped.

I hope you enjoy the new features.

I’m currently working on integrating maps into Rocklogger. I’m adding a screen that will display all records from a log file in Google Maps, using the dip/strike map symbol (aligned/rotated correctly) for each record.
Tapping on each will bring up a dialog with all the info saved for that record.

I have also decided to adjust the log format so that both dip & strike and dip & dip direction modes are always saved.

These changes should give users more confidence in what is being recorded, as you can instantly plot it on a map, and easily check every measurement.

Also, if you have any comments or feature requests, please leave a message in the comments on the Market page, or via the Contact button in Settings in the app. Thanks!