iOS issue? - FIXED

I pushed a code change to the site and, for some reason I haven't been able to determine yet, the site is failing to initialize properly when launched directly from the homescreen on iOS. If you load it in Safari it's fine.

I'll fix ASAP.

UPDATE:

Fixed. I just needed to ensure that older versions of the scripts weren't used.

I also noticed and fixed an issue with "Add to Home Screen" - if you have moved the map from the default location before you pick "Add to..." it would embed the new location and options in the saved URL, and every time you open the map in "standalone" mode it will return to those coordinates; this annoying if you were at a random location/scale and particularly annoying if you had "Save Location" checked. Now the saved URL parameters are ignored if running "standalone".

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New UI Design

I've redesigned the UI for the main map page. Please try it out:

http://travellermap.com/new.html

I've tested in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer 8/9/10, and on iPhone and iPad - yes, you now have full UI control on touch-based devices.

Please let me know if you have any issues with the page. If you notice any glitches, it'd be nice if you check with the "classic" page as well to see if you've discovered a long-standing bug or something new with the UI.

Let's shake those bugs out!

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PNG and DOM

Two hopefully invisible changes today, but scream if anything breaks:

• I've changed the map to generating PNGs by default instead of GIFs. This is to work around a bug in embedded WebKit (seen in the Second Life Viewer 2.0 Beta) where it may not display GIFs correctly.
• I've rewritten the event handling code for the map to more correctly manage DOM events, in both the W3C and IE models. This is to try and make dragging work correctly in the IE9 Platform Preview (I'll test tomorrow), clean up the code (this was my first interactive web site!), and as a side effect it fixes mouse wheel support in Chrome.

I've tested in IE8, Safari (Win), Firefox 3.6 (Win), Chrome 4 (Win), and Opera 10 (Win). Looks good, but I'm nervous and ready to roll back if anyone sees any issues.

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Bug Fix: Opera/Safari Searching

David Somers reported an issue with searching on Opera and Safari - odd, since I tested those browsers!

It turned out that search worked, but the options panel didn't reconfigure to make more room for the search results, so on small screens the results would be hidden. I think this dated back from the browser compatibility work from a while back... and I just assumed those browsers were buggy. Oops - turned out to be a subtle JavaScript issue - comparing an uninitialized parameter against null instead of undefined. It only worked because IE and Firefox apparently would report that state as === null and === undefined, even though null !== undefined. Weird.

Anyway, fixed. Ω

LBB Generator

I played a bit more with the sector.htm page - adding a title page, tweaks to the layout, and so forth. The page code is also slightly more interesting to peruse - to make it easier to modify I wrote a JavaScript Template mechanism that defines the transform using XSLT-like constructs (if, foreach) embedded in the HTML as attributes (jt_if, jt_foreach) itself, and JSONT-like expression embedding sequences ({$.index}, {$.title}), and operates over a JavaScript data construct. The expression language is JavaScript itself and "$" is set to the current object as the parse descends. Check the page source for details.

It ended up working pretty well, once I sorted out some cross-browser issues (IE doesn't have a convenient mechanism for enumerating explicitly specified attributes, alas). Tested in Firefox 2, IE7, Opera 9 and Safari 3 on Windows XP. Ω

We're out of beta - we're releasing on time!

I'm calling the credits experiment done, and out of beta. Shipped!

You'll now see metadata in the page footer for the area on which the map is centered - including world data if you're over an occupied parsec. The data shown will include:

• Sector Name
• World Hex
• World Name
• World UWP
• Sector Era
• Author
• Source
• Publisher
• Hyperlink to source of data
  

Although not present in the beta, I've added in the Era ("circa 1117") if this is known for the particular dataset - corrections welcome!

Another feature that was in beta was a map legend, a new link in the lower left. This launches a popup window (your browser might block it) which uses the current map style to explain the details. (Question: with J-6 and unlimited fuel, how long would it take to get from Regina to Tertius?)

Also, I've added an experimental new API: /SEC.aspx?sector=SECTORNAME - this dumps a standard SEC file for the specified sector. The column widths are undefined - you'll want to use a regular expression to parse it.

Finally, per request on COTI, you will now see UWPs when zoomed in to 128 pixels/parsec. Ω

Nothing to see here (almost)

Well, hopefully no changes. I've done some behind the scenes tweaks recently though:

• Can now parse other data file formats. This is in anticipation of new data files for T5. Not used yet.
• The web services now provide either XML or JSON data, depending on the HTTP "Accept" header (specify "application/json" to get JSON data, default is still XML). For the curious, the services are:
• /Coordinates.aspx?sector=SECTORNAME[&hex=XXYY] example
  
• /Credits.aspx?x=XCOORD&y=YCOORD (in internal map coordinates) example
  
• /Search.aspx?q=QUERY example
  
• The Beta Page now uses JSON instead of XML for smaller queries and faster parsing
  
• The Beta Page no has switched from using XML/XSLT to JSON/JSONT and should now work in Safari 1.3 (e.g. MacOS X 10.4)

I've also cleaned up a few label positions around the edges of the Imperium, but nothing special. Ω

Browser Compatibility Changes

Testing in Apple's new Safari 3 Beta for Windows*, I found some issues with the map. They turned out to be caused by some layout hacks I had in the page code to handle the dynamic layout of the page.

The page is composed of resizing (map) and docked (controls, footer) boxes containing other resizing elements (label controls, search results). Ideally, each element should be sized by the content - i.e. the area taken up by the footer is defined by the size of the elements in the footer, and so on. The page did that using old-school HTML <table> elements, but had some issues I'm still not sure of. (Short version: a relatively sized div set to overflow: scroll, inside a relatively sized table cell makes the cell expand if the content overflows, even if the cell and div size correctly with non-overflowing content.) To overcome the issues I had to have some script that would fix the sizes of some elements when the page size changed. These hacks - often browser specific - worked in IE6, IE7, Firefox 1.5 and Firefox 2.0, Opera 9, and Safari 2. But they caused Safari 3 to stop performing layout correctly - everything looked great, but you couldn't drag the map!

So... not wanting to layer on further hacks I redid the page entirely using modern CSS, and the end results were beautiful. Worked like a charm with IE7, Firefox 1.5 and 2.0, Opera 9 and Safari 2 and 3. Unfortunately, they didn't work in IE6. After much teeth gnashing I found a workaround. (Short version: even in standards compliance mode IE6 can't correctly size elements having top and bottom or left and right defined; however, you can use CSS expressions to compute the width or height.)

(Aside: when CSS was young and fresh, Microsoft took the interpretation of "width includes margins, borders and padding" whereas everyone else took the interpretation of "width excludes margins, borders and padding", and it was the latter which eventually became codified in the CSS standards. You can tell that Microsoft was in the "web developer" mindset rather than the "web designer" mindset. When you are designing for the look of content, you want to frame items (text, images, etc) so the exclusive width makes sense. However, when you are developing a UI, you often compose and nest relatively sized boxes. The CSS notion of "width: 100%" when nesting items is absolutely useless when combined with exclusive margins, padding or border, since the element will end up offset and overlapping its parent's right edge!)

Anyway, the map it all appears to work now... but it's probably broken in some obscure browser. If the map suddenly broke for you (boxes everywhere! oh the huge manatee!) I have the retro version available here: http://www.travellermap.com/index_classic.htm - I'll try to keep it working, but I might break it by accident with future changes to underlying shared components such as styles or code. And please let me know what platform and browser you're using - I might be able to bludgeon the page into shape.

* Safari for Windows is a subtle but effective ploy by Apple to encourage Windows-using web developers who haven't shelled out for a Macintosh to do more testing on their platform. Worked for me!

[Update: January 2008]
Given that the old version works in browsers as old as IE5 and no-one has screamed and complained, the "classic" version of the page is no longer available.
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Far Frontiers! Borders! And more!

I've been working on a bunch of different pieces, some of which are "close enough" to roll out, others need additional work. But I need to get things out for users to try out and comment on, so here's an intermediate step.

Far Frontiers Sector

Before FASA lost its license to publish Traveller material, Dale Kemper was working on a manuscript for a supplement for the Far Frontiers, the setting for most of the FASA adventures like the Sky Raiders trilogy, Ordeal by Eshaar, etc. Didn't know that's where they took place? That's 'cause the supplement never came out! Parts were published in Ares magazine and somewhat more in the Traveller Chronicle, but those are hard to come by.

Dale has recently started selling copies of the manuscript on eBay (seller id: sbgames999) and I picked one up. Nice stuff, and it’s a shame it never saw the light of day. I asked Dale if I could include his Far Frontiers work in the map site, and he agreed!

(Note: Dale's manuscript covers just the lower half of the sector - the top half is mostly Zhodani space. For now I’ve just left the top half of the sector empty. Also note that the data is slightly inconsistent with other publications – Traveller Chronicle, Trail of the Sky Raiders, etc. – I’ve left it as close to Dale’s original manuscript as possible, rather than incorporating other sources or corrections. Those may come later.)

Borders

At long last (and thanks to pioneering work by J Greely over at http://dotclue.org/t20) accurate micro-scale borders are starting to see the light of day! Zoom in to 16 pixels/parsec or lower and the hand-drawn borders will disappear and (if you’re in the right place, e.g. near the Domain of Deneb or Gateway Domain) you’ll see hex-level borders. Yay!

Now for the down sides:

• The border generation is not complete. Although J Greely’s allygen is an amazing tool, it does only a single sector. Rather than modifying it to handle multiple sectors I’ve been adding outsector hex runs by hand. (And if that sentence made sense to you, please volunteer to help!) So it’s been slow – about 20 minutes per sector.
• Most of my resources are in storage – all of the DGP Travellers’ Digest issues I paid far too much for on eBay and classic sources are unavailable to me right now, so I have to go on guesswork and automated border generation.

But worst of all: the map is now a hideous amalgam of different eras:

• Some of the data files are Rebellion-era (1120 or so)
• Some of the data files are Classic-era (1100)
• Some of the data files are Gateway-era (M1000)
• Routes are whatever I could find, so mostly a mix of CT and RT
• Borders are based off of the data for the sector at hand

Data files from different eras aren’t immediately obvious – you have to drill in and notice that the Vargr really made a dent in Deneb but hardly touched Corridor! Even Routes are usually not obvious, unless there’s a gap. But mismatching borders stick out like sore thumbs. Bleah.

Poster

Someone on COTI mentioned that he stitched together the tiles for the whole Spinward Marches by doing screenshots of the site. Ouch! To prevent that necessity in the future, you can now ask for a render of a sector in one shot. Just do:

http://www.travellermap.com/Poster.aspx?sector=Spinward%20Marches

You’ll get a GIF of the whole thing at 64 pixels/parsec resolution. Change the sector name (replace spaces with %20 or +) or tack on &options=nnnn – use a permalink in the main map to figure out the combination you like. I like 833, which turns off the subsector names.

Other changes

• Added xboat routes for the Corridor sector from the map in FFE04 The Short Adventures - the Memory Alpha adventure reconstruction includes the routes on a hex grid of the sector (circa 1111), in addition to the Atlas of the Imperium sector copy - w00t! The Imperial xboat network now actually connects the Spinward Marches to the core!
• Since I was dorking around with Corridor, I used the data from FFE04 to "regress" the sector to the classic era. This makes the borders mismatch (especially with Deneb) but my goal for the map is Classic Era (or Second Survey) so I actually want the DoD connected!
• In Firefox/Safari/Opera, when dragging the map, you can now drag with the mouse over the non-map parts of the page and the mouse won't freeze. Just stay inside the page itself - there appears to a bug (feature?) afflicting all W3C event model browsers such that they stop giving you mouse events outside the page, if you started the drag over an image.
• I moved the Map Style options to the top, and slightly compressed the control options, to give more room for search results.
  

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New Features: Options, Styles, and Eggs

While moving to the new host I snuck in a few more features:

• Simplified options - there's really no need for the "minor borders" and "minor names" label options, and it just made the page harder to use.
• New rendering style - toggle the Poster and Atlas radio buttons at the top to see the map in the "Imperium Map"/"Spinward Marches" Poster-style (color-on-black) or the Atlas/LBB style (black-on-white).
• One new easter egg added: type "(Arrival Vengeance)" (with parenthesis, but no quotes) into the Search box and you can retrace the last epic journey before night fell on the remnants of the Third Imperium. (And see some glaring examples of sector data issues.)

I haven't tested the map in Opera or Safari for a bit, so please report any issues encountered.

[Update: January 25th, 2008]

D'oh... I'd spelled "Vengeance" as "Vengance". Fixed in the blog and on the site.
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Compatibility Fix: Dragging in Safari 1.3

Fixed dragging in Safari 1.3. Ω