Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2015 January 1

= January 1 =

User friendly/freeware/shareware transit map creators?
Hi all, not just creating the map but actually running the virtual routes. Similar to this, anyone by chance know what kind of software or coding this designer is using for maps such as these. Even if there is something more for kids but still allows the visual of the routes being run it would help immensely. Thanks in advance!  Market St.⧏  ⧐ Diamond Way  21:07, 1 January 2015 (UTC)

Transparent windows
Medical works have shown the spatial relationships of various systems of the human body by means of overlaid transparencies. Those systems include the respiratory system, the cardiovascular system, the skeletal system, the muscular system, and the nervous system. Is it possible to have each system portrayed in a separate computer window, and to overlay various combinations of windows? Similarly, there are various types of maps, including physical maps, political maps, geological maps, climatological maps, population density maps, language maps, economic maps, and transportation maps. Is it possible to portray those maps in different windows, and to overlay various combinations of windows, where the maps show the same region with the same scale and the same map projection and the same orientation? (From a set of n windows, there are n!/(n - r)! combinations of r windows, so from a set of 8 windows, there are 8!/(8 - 3)! = 40320/120 = 8 x 7 x 6 = 336 combinations of 3 windows.) I have searched on Wikipedia and found the article "Transparency (graphic)". I have searched on the World Wide Web and found Google Maps Transparencies. Do applicable computer programs already exist for Windows or Apple or Linux platforms? Can such programs be developed for Wikipedia? —Wavelength (talk) 21:40, 1 January 2015 (UTC) and 21:47, 1 January 2015 (UTC) and 22:10, 1 January 2015 (UTC)


 * The general term for these is layers. Geographic information systems in particular usually present different types of data in layers (example). If one were implementing a layered display system on the web, one might choose to use a Scalable Vector Graphics image for each layer - SVG has good transparency support. Good vector drawing programs (like Inkscape) and pixel drawing programs (like GIMP) support drawing in layers. -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 22:16, 1 January 2015 (UTC)


 * CAD software also frequently uses layers, e.g. for the different types of things that make up a building - see CAD standards. A designer will typically set their system to display only a few of the layers at once (because they're so many, all overlapping, that the totality would be an unreadable jumble). -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 22:22, 1 January 2015 (UTC)


 * I'm not aware of a Mediawiki extension for layers, but one wouldn't be difficult to write. If each layer was an image (hopefully, but not necessarily, an SVG or PNG) then Javascript could be used to turn display of each layer on or off, and some additional syntax would be required to list each layer, its label, its default condition (on/off), and some meta-information about the whole graphic. -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 22:33, 1 January 2015 (UTC)


 * I am visualizing a Wikipedia article called "California maps" or "Maps of California", which is loaded by default with a matrix of many maps, all with the same scale and the same projection and the same orientation. The reader drags the climate map over the elevation map, and it snaps into place.  To release the climate map and return it to its default location on the page, the reader first identifies which maps are in the overlay combination, and selects the climate map.  Alternatively, reloading the page restores all the maps to their default locations on the page.
 * Additionally, the elevation map is included in the article "Physical elevation of California", and a household income map is included in the article "Household incomes in California", and so forth.
 * Is it possible for those reader interactions to be enabled in the MediaWiki software?
 * —Wavelength (talk) 23:57, 1 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Specifically for maps, there is the Maps extension, which apparently suports OpenLayers. -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 00:51, 2 January 2015 (UTC)


 * The first link is to a page with a section "Download and installation", indicating that download and installation of specific software are prerequisites at this time. Thank you for all your replies.
 * —Wavelength (talk) 01:44, 2 January 2015 (UTC)


 * To help with the "too many overlapping images" problem on a 3D object (like the human body), you might also want to implement Z-clipping. You could combine this with color-coding of the various systems (blood vessels, nerves, skeletal system, muscles, etc.) to make the image clear.  Using a dial (say the mouse wheel) to adjust the Z-clipping plane helps, too. StuRat (talk) 17:00, 2 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your reply.
 * —Wavelength (talk) 03:39, 3 January 2015 (UTC)

Correction: In my calculation above, I overlooked the fact that 336 is the number of permutations of 3 windows from a set of 8 windows. Each combination of 3 windows has 6 permutations, so there are 336/6 = 56 combinations of 3 windows from a set of 8 windows. The number 56 is the 6th tetrahedral number, the sum of the first 6 triangular numbers. —Wavelength (talk) 03:39, 3 January 2015 (UTC)