Additional fixes needed for MacStumbler 0.75b's broken logs?

[datahavok]

Note: I wrote the post below before finding I could do a text query on Hollister CA and see my uploaded points there. Somehow Wigle is dealing with the broken logs from MacStumbler 0.75b. I don't see them on any Wigle maps but maybe it just requires someone triangulate them.

Anyhow, kudos to Wigle for somehow working around these broken logs!

--DataHavok

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Well, I finally uploaded a MacStumbler .plist file with GPS data on 29 accesspoints I discovered. Unfortunately none of them show up on Wigle because All MacStumbler 0.75b GPS logs are MAJORLY screwed up.

I saw a thread earlier discussing just one or two minor issues when in fact there are MULTIPLE very serious problems involved.

I've written the MacStumbler author about this twice but he hasn't responded, nor issued any new release, so here are the details so Wigle can make a special case for MacStumbler 0.75b's screwed up logs (I thought they perhaps already made a special case... however, it appears they need further fixes) to avoid screwing up their database with bad input from MacStumbler 0.75b users. I have screenshots and sample logs very clearly illustrating the problem, and will mail these to anyone who asks.

MacStumbler 0.75b reverses BOTH the Latitude/Longitude AND the N/S/E/W values associated with the GPS. Some mixups are on-screen and others are in the logs (some issues in plist, more issues in wiscan). These are messed up almost everwhere. It ALSO seems there is incorrect decimal point placing (although I don't know GPS too well so I'm not 100% certain of where the decimal should be). I'm ALSO wondering if perhaps the minus (-) sign is also missing when it is needed. (Again, not a GPS expert, but I would guess there should be a minus sign here.)

In detail, here is a description of the issues:

BACKGROUND: I am using an Earthmate Serial GPS with Byonics Rockwell to NMEA converter and a KeySpan USB Serial Adapter, which all works perfectly with several different NMEA Compatible GPS software products on a Powerbook G4 under OS X 10.3, yet MacStumbler mixes up the coordinates as shown below...

The -CORRECT- GPS Coordinates for my general location in Hollister, California (per several GPS/Mapping websites) are roughly as follows:
Latitude: 36.853 N
Longitude: -121.401 W

(Note: I have uploaded a file with 29 accesspoints discovered very near that location... However Wigle doesn't display any accesspoints anywhere near there... it's about 75% probablilty they appear in the ocean, because the MacStumbler .plist and .wiscan files are completely backwards.)

BUGS 1, 2 and 3:
If you run MacStumbler and open the various logs and details windows you will see the following: The N/S/E/W indicators in the "wiscan_log.txt" and "plist_log.txt" and the "Details" window DON'T MATCH the N/S/E/W indicators in the "GPS Status" floating window. ALL THESE INDICATORS COME FROM MACSTUMBLER AND THEY DISAGREE.

Unfortunately, I'm very sorry to say, the "GPS Status" floating window is the ONLY correct display, so the CONFLICTING (1) "Wiscan" log, the (2) "Plist" log and the (3) "Details" window are all INCORRECT/BACKWARD in thier display of the N/S/E/W indicators.

BUG 4:
Look at MacStumbler's "wiscan_log.txt" compared to your ACTUAL location (per an accurate source, not MacStumbler...) and notice the following: In addition to the backward N/S/E/W indicators, the NUMERIC values displayed under Latitude and Longitude indicators are ALSO backward! Apparently in the "wi-scan" log format, Latitude does come before Longitude, so the top level lables are correct, but the NUMERIC values are IN THE OPPOSITE COLUMNS compared with where they should be. So, with the NUMERIC values reversed, IN COMBINATION WITH the reversed N/S/E/W indicators being displayed, this double-error creates the ILLUSION that the correct numbers are under the correct lables. THE NUMBERS ARE HOWEVER INCORRECT. AGAIN, THEY ARE IN OPPOSITE COLUMNS FROM WHERE THEY SHOULD BE.

NOTE: This is MOSTLY a problem with MacStumbler's incorrect implementation of the "wi-scan" format log. HOWEVER, even in the "plist" files, despite saving out correct Latitude and Longitude values, the "plist" still has the incorrect N/S/E/W indicators next to the numeric values, as mentioned in bugs 1, 2, and 3.

BUG 5 (?): I'm not 100% certain this additional item is a bug. I'm a newbie to GPS, but since I found several other bugs here, and I find this item more than a little odd, I'll assume it is a bug too...

Every other GPS application I use displays and saves my coordinates something like:
Latitude: 36.4929345 N
Longitude: -121.2221 W

However MacStumbler is displaying and saving my coordinates something like:
Latitude: 3649.293945 N
Longitude: 12122.21773 W

As you can tell, there's a big difference in the decimal placement here. Again, I'm a GPS newbie so I don't know for sure, but it does seem the decimal point is wrong.

BUG 6 (?)
Again, I'm not certain this item is a bug. I don't know enough about GPS to be 100% certain:

I notice many web sites and GPS applications use the minus sign (-) in South or West coordinates, but MacStumbler doesn't. However since it doesn't, it's messed up N/S/E/W issues seriously leave you lost.

Again, I don't know enough about the Wi-scan or P-list file formats (I don't use the PC version of NetStumbler, to compare with), nor do I have any idea how WifiMaps.com or Wigle.net servers parse these, so I don't know whether the minus sign (-) is needed. But considering all the other issues with MacStumbler GPS handling, I figure this one is also worth pointing out.

Of course MacStumbler's a neat application so I hope the GPS issues get ironed out somehow, either with a new version of MacStumbler, or a custom parser to deal with the consistently backwards/mixed-up logs MacStumbler 0.75b currently writes. Just to be clear, I'm not writing this to slam MacStumbler, but these GPS issues are both extremely severe and extremely subtle and require considerable emphasis for most people to understand why this must be fixed one way or another.

Additional Note: Here's more info on the MacStumbler 0.75b .plist which should contain 29 accesspoints for Hollister CA but Wigle doesn't display anywhere near Hollister because MacStumbler 0.75b writes such messed up GPS log files:

Transaction ID - 20041024-00000
Status - Done
Percent Status Complete - 100%
Upload to Done (seconds) - 34
Upload Date (CT) - 2004-10-24 00:20:58
File Name - stumble_2004_06_11.plist
File Size (bytes) - 18,598
File Lines - 32
New Discovered Networks with GPS - 29
Total New Discovered Networks - 29
Total Networks in File Total New Locations - 29

Please let me know if you need any further information or testing on this. I will help in any way that I can.

--DataHavok