[Xastir] Xastir with offline maps

[Lee Bengston]

On Sun, Jun 10, 2012 at 9:32 AM, Mathew F <n1mjf at n1mjf.com> wrote:
> Hello Xastir crew,
>
> I've been trying to work with Xastir on my shiny new Raspberry Pi. I've got
> it setup and running great in an online bench-test but I'm having issues
> figuring out what maps to use for offline use. I attempted the 'planet'
> file from openstreetmaps but that was WAY too big. Next I selected most of
> New England on bbbike.org to be extracted as a shapefile, that seems like
> it would work but was again too big for the memory in the Pi.
>
> I don't want to just select RI (The state I'm in) because I frequently find
> myself in MA, CT and NY. At this point I'm unsure what maps to use and
> wanted to see what maps others are using for offline operations. I will say
> I really like the online MAPNIK map the best but cannot figure how I would
> export it to be local.

Someone emailed me offline about using the OSM shapefiles not long
ago.  Below is what was in my reply:

(Just substitute minnesota for your your state).  You can download as
many states as you need.

http://downloads.cloudmade.com/americas/northern_america/united_states/minnesota#downloads_breadcrumbs/

The shapefile download toward the bottom will get you a set of files
to unzip.  What I do is create a new folder under
/usr/local/share/xastir/maps called "Offline".  Then I create another
folder under that called something like "osm-shape".  Then I create a
folder for each state under osm-shape such as "MN".  So you will want
to copy the applicable map files for Minnesota to
/usr/local/share/maps/Offline/osm-shape/MN.  For other states, just
create a different folder under osm-shape for each of those.  Of
course you can create a different directory naming scheme if you want.

What are the applicable files?  There are dbfawk files in Xastir that
support the following:

administrative, coastline, highway, natural, poi, and water.  You need
to copy the files that have extensions of "dbf", "shp", and "shx' into
your maps area.  So for example, for Minnesota, you would copy or move
minnesota_administrative.dbf, minnesota_administrative.shp, and
minnesota_administrative.shx into the MN map folder. Then copy the
files with the same 3 extensions for "minnesota_coastline",
"minnesota_highway" and so on.  You will end up with 18 files per
state.

Then in Xastir, go to Map - Configure - Reindex all Maps.  The new
offline osm folders should show up, and you can either select an
individual state or the directory above that for all states.  Things
should work similarly to the Tiger maps once you get them into the
right place.

Regards,
Lee - K5DAT