Background Map Sources

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There are many online map sources that are compatible with Maps n Trax for use a background maps.  Some government mapping agencies make their maps available this way as do some smaller private groups.  Some of these maps are based on government or private data, while others use publicly submitted data to compile the maps.

Maps n Trax can load background maps from both TMS and WMS services.

Details of some popular online TMS map sources can be found on the Open Street Map Wiki at:

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Slippy_map_tilenames#Tile_servers

You should consult the documentation for any background map you wish to store on your device before doing so.  Some may have copyright or licensing restrictions regarding offline storage and some may require the purchase of a license key to use the maps at all (such license keys are usually specified within the URLs for accessing the maps).  Be sure to comply with any such requirements for the online map sources that you use.

Manage Online Background Map Sources

  • Tap the ‘Background Map Sources’ item in the Settings View.

The Background Map Sources view will appear.  If there are any custom background map sources already configured they will be listed in a table on this view.

Add a New Online Background Map Source

  • In the Background Map Sources view, tap the ‘Edit’ button at the right end of the top Navigation bar.  A ‘New’ item will appear with a green ‘+’ button at the left of it.
  • Tap the green ‘+’ button to create a new map source.  A background map source editor will appear in which you can enter details of the new map source.
  • Enter details for the map source as described in the ‘Edit an Online Background Map Source’ section below.

Edit an Online Background Map Source

  • Tap on the title on the map source to be edited in the Background Map Sources view (or create a new map source as described above).
  • Enter or edit the title of the map source in the ‘Title’ field.  This can be any name to help you identify the map source when choosing it from a list of map sources later.
  • Enter the URL template for the map source.  Online map sources use URLs to request map tiles and Maps n Trax uses a URL template to build the URL for each tile request.
    • The template should include either the [wms] placeholder (for WMS) or all of [x], [y], [z] placeholders (for TMS).  The purpose of each of these placeholders in the URL template is explained below the URL template field.
    • Note that the ‘Variable Content’ field can be ignored.  However, if the map source uses several servers you can optionally enter the list of server-specific parts of the URL in this field.  In this case, use a [v] placeholder in the URL template and it will automatically be replaced by one of the listed ‘Variable Content’ items when requesting tiles.

Hypothetical Example

If a TMS map source was available at the following base URLs:

  • http://server1.source.com/tiles/
  • http://server2.source.com/tiles/
  • http://server3.source.com/tiles/

You could specify either one of those URLs as the common URL with nothing in the prefix field, or you could specify:

  • URL Template:  http://[v].source.com/tiles/[z]/[x]/[y].png
  • Variable Content Options:  server1, server2, server3

Note that if the common URL starts with “http://”, then you can omit that when entering the URL and it will be added at the beginning of the URL automatically.  Also the commas (,) can be omitted.  Therefore the above example could be entered more easily as:

  • URL Template:  source.com/tiles/
  • Variable Content Options:  server1 server2 server3

Real Examples

Open Street Map

  • URL Template:  http://[v].tile.openstreetmap.org/[z]/[x]/[y].png
  • Variable Content Options:  a b c

Open Cycle Map

  • URL Template:  http://[v].tile.opencyclemap.org/cycle/[z]/[x]/[y].png
  • Variable Content Options:  a b c

Delete an Background Online Map Source

  • Tap the ‘Edit’ button in the Background Map Sources view.
  • Tap the red ‘-‘ button at the left of the map source that is to be deleted.  A ‘Delete’ button will appear at the right of the map source.
  • Tap the ‘Delete’ button at the right of the map source.
  • Tap the ‘Done’ button when finished deleting map sources.

Alternatively, without using the ‘Edit’ button:

  • Swipe horizontally across a map source in the list of map sources.  A ‘Delete’ button will appear at the right of the map source.
  • Tap the ‘Delete’ button at the right of the map source.