ODK Collect v2022.2 Beta: select from map, geojson datasets

[LN]

@Ivangayton

I spent most of today testing.

We released v2022.2.0 on Apr 13. Is that the version you were trying out or was it still the beta? I realize now I should have made sure to announce the release in this thread. Next time!

@Ivangayton

When you first open the widget, the zoom level spans the entire data set.

One change we made from the last beta to the release is to zoom to current location on load. Please give that a try if you haven't already. One thing I am not entirely satisfied by is that acquiring location can take a moment and so the view can change once I've already started interacting with it.

@Ivangayton

my target location is not centered

I can't reproduce this. Is it maybe that it first centers on an inexact location and then gets a new location? A screenshot here might help us figure out what's going on.

@Ivangayton

I have to hit the icon to pan&zoom to my location, and then zoom in some more before I can effectively select a point.

Could you please share a screenshot? I'm interested in seeing the basemap that you are using, the size/resolution of your device, and the density of features you have to select from. If you haven't already, can you try this with an OSM basemap (https://docs.getodk.org/collect-settings/#maps-settings)? There's still some variability between the three engines we use and I'd say OSM is the best-behaved at the moment.

I think this intersects with Geo: Optimizing zoom levels for walking surveyors as well. Some of these zoom level considerations are going to be pretty domain-specific. It sounds like you're in a dense urban area. If the goal is to navigate to and select a field or a campground, the appropriate zoom level will be different. Can you share some example of datasets you want to use?

@Ivangayton

The GeoJSON is pretty unforgiving

Can you share forms and GeoJSON files you've tried to use? I have a guess as to what that Uncast Data error is about but I'm not totally sure.

@Ivangayton

using an XLSform that includes a Geopoint question that's relevant if there's nothing selected from the map.

That's how I would do it currently. I would also write instructions to that effect in the question label so that they show up at the top of the map screen.

@Ivangayton

Therefore it seems like a great starting point to add base layers from the Central server.

Currently custom offline layers exist and are configured at the project level, not at the form level. So there would have to be some thinking around how that's harmonized. Relatedly, Central only requests/accepts attachments that are explicitly referenced in the form and there's no form spec for declaring anything about custom map layers. None of this is insurmountable but it requires spec design work.