Mapping and GIS Solutions Community

Hi,

I have encountered some odd behaviour concerning the browser position:

When I "lose" the "Trimble position" in the browser, I can't manage to get an current, valid Trimble position again.

To test the behaviour, I've adapted a JSFiddle: Geolocation API Demo - JSFiddle 

The Trimble position gets "lost", when I perform the following steps: 

1. TMM working, delivers and shares valid, current positions. Firefox (JSFiddle website) also uses these positions and updates them after every click on "Get position" => OK!!
2. TMM: Disable "Connect"
3. Browser: "Get position": after a few clicks, I get the less acurate "internal smartphone GPS" position => OK!!
4. TMM Enable "Connect" again, wait till TMM has a position (sharing is still active)

After 1-3 iterations, in step 1, the "Trimble position" is not availabe to the browser, although TMM shows position updates. Only "internal GPS" positions (you can tell by the accuracy) are availabe.

The logfile shows a message: "Publish old positions".

The same behaviour can be reproduced by:

• locking the screen - waiting some time - unlocking
• deactivate sharing - activate it again
• closing the TMM app - open it again, connecting, enable sharing, ...

but "disconnecting" (in TMM, not USB/device) and reconnecting is the fastest way to reproduce the error.

Tested on

• Huawei P10, Android 7.0,
• Samsung Galaxy A5 2017, Android 7.0
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+, Android 7.0
• with Firefox 58.0.2
  • and Chrome 64 (not recommended, see Mock locations and browser behaviour with Trimble Mobile Manager (TMM) and Trimble Catalyst )
• all devices should be supported according to Trimble Catalyst | Compatible Devices)

Can anyone confirm this behaviour?

Thanks and best regards, Greg

Hi Gregor,

I have reported the issue to engineering.

Problem is that technically overwriting mock locations is pretty trivial - so we don't do much here. But we also only feed a black box - so what drops out at the other end is a different story. Plus whatever the browser does with the data. 

We try to reproduce the problem and see if we can change/ affect/ improve the behavior. 

But I can't promise anything here.

Regards

Nico

One easy thing you can do right away is simply disable default phone locations - so disable the phone internal GPS.
This should stop the hiccup right away.

In the mean time we will check how to improve this on our side as well.

Hi Nico,

thanks for your quick reply.

Unfortunately, disabling the default phone locations, did not help to fix the error: 

TMM shares current positions, but in Firefox, I get a Timeout. After a minute or so, the browser has access to the Catalyst position and is able to refresh it.
But if I disable "Connect" in TMM and run the steps mentioned above, the problem still exists.

I found out another way to reproduce the problem using the same Geolocation API Demo - JSFiddle (default phone locations are turned off)

1. TMM and browser are working correctly, position updates are available to the browser (Firefox)
2. Lock the screen (or, after a while, it will lock itself)
3. Unlock the screen

After 2-3 iterations the browser won't get positions updates (position is old, see timestamp /age). Sometimes, after unlocking, position updates are available, but if I click 10-15 times on "Get position" I will get older ones again.

I guess, locking the screen is the most frequent kind of interruption in pratice (out in the field). E.g. when you're talking to someone, having to walk without taking measurements, saving battery life, ...

I hope you are able to reproduce the errors (and agree, that this isn't a satisfying / suitable solution).

This behaviour was reproduced on a Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017).

Thanks for your support!

Regards

Gregor

Hi Gregor,

I tried to reproduce this on a Samsung S6 but without success so far.

So I generally followed your workflow:

1. Start Firefox and load the Geolocation API Demo - JSFiddlewebsite
2. Go to TMM, connect to Catalyst, share position
3. Press 'Find my location' in Firefox --> shows correct location (phone internal GPS is off)
4. Lock screen/ unlock
5. Rotate screen (portrait to landscape and vice versa)
6. Either reload Geolocation API website or simply press 'find my location' again - in all cases I always get a valid, correct position

I also tried to push TMM in the background or 'distracted' Android in other ways - but so far Firefox always showed the correct position.

I'm wondering if this is an issue with the phone performance/ garbage collector from Android/ OS cleanup.

Android cleans up or freezes processes in the background if resources get low. Assuming Google has a priority list of 'things that can be killed' I would guess mock locations are high in the list - they are less important then your music stream or e.g. your Bluetooth headset communication (from a consumer point of view).

In the first post you mentioned you also saw this behavior on a S6 Edge - did you perform the same workflow as detailed above? Or do I miss anything?

Regards

Nico

Hi Nico,

on the S6 Edge, I was able to reproduce the error by "Disconnecting" in the TMM app. I did not test the lock/unlock behaviour on this phone, as I borrowed it from a friend, to see if the problem occurs on other devices as well. So I only checked the fastest way to reproduce, which is "disconnecting/connecting".

I made a screenvideo for our local (Austria) Trimble Support Partner (Allterra) where you can see all steps neccessary to get the error on a Galaxy A5. If you want, I can send you the download link (with german comments ;-)

Regards

Gregor

Moin,

Deutsche Kommentare sind ok - das bekomm ich hin

Wie gesagt konnte ich das hier beim letzten Testen nicht reproduzieren. Die einzige Möglichkeit, das Location Sharing zu 'beenden', war entweder über das Abschießen von TMM oder via einer sehr hohen Systemlast, dass Android selbst das wahrscheinlich killt.

Ansonsten lief das eigentlich.

Daher wären wir sehr an dem Video interessiert - falls wir was übersehen haben.

Gruß

Nico

Hallo Nico,

danke für die rasche Antwort.

Du solltest soeben eine Mail (auf nico_becke@trimble.com<mailto:nico_becke@trimble.com>) mit Downloadlink bekommen haben, der PIN für den Zugang lautet: egz2v682

Das Video zeigt die Handhabung am Galaxy A5 mit Android 7. Gezeigt wird das „Connect/Disconnect“ Problem – ein Sperren des Bildschirms kann leider nicht gezeigt werden, da sonst der Screenvideo-Rekorder stoppt.

Die Seite zum Testen ist hier zu finden: https://jsfiddle.net/ubrvm4ao/675/

Im Anhang befindet sich auch der zugehörige Log.

Bin schon gespannt, ob es damit gelingt, den Fehler zu reproduzieren.

Danke und beste Grüße nach Deutschland

Gregor

Von: nico_becke@trimble.com

Gesendet: Montag, 26. März 2018 09:03

An: Zahrer Gregor, MSc - ENI

Betreff: Re:  - Re: TMM Location sharing: Unable to get new browser positions after interruption

Trimble <https://community.trimble.com/?et=watches.email.thread>

Re: TMM Location sharing: Unable to get new browser positions after interruption

reply from Nico Becke<@Nico Becke//community.trimble.com/people/nico_becke@trimble.com?et=watches.email.thread> in Catalyst - View the full discussion<https://community.trimble.com/message/9037-re-tmm-location-sharing-unable-to-get-new-browser-positions-after-interruption?commentID=9037&et=watches.email.thread#comment-9037>

Moin,

ich weiß nicht, ob das aufgefallen ist, aber es gab ein TMM Update Anfang dieser Woche, welches u.A. diversen 'Kleinkram' bei den MockLocations behoben hat.

Zwar gings hier primär um Crashes bei nicht vorhanden Werten und co, trotzdem wurde die interene Statemachine überarbeitet.

Gruß

Nico

Hallo Nico,

danke für deine Info – ich habe das Update (von TMM und Catalyst Services) bereits installiert:

damit funktionieren die Mock Locations deutlich besser. Bisher konnte ich beim Testen das Problem mit den veralteten Positionen im Browser nicht mehr nachvollziehen ☺. Auch im Chrome sieht es gut aus.

Vielen Dank für deine Unterstützung!!!

Beste Grüße

Gregor

Von: nico_becke@trimble.com

Gesendet: Mittwoch, 25. April 2018 16:15

An: Zahrer Gregor, MSc - ENI

Betreff: Re:  - Re: TMM Location sharing: Unable to get new browser positions after interruption

Trimble <https://community.trimble.com/?et=watches.email.thread>

Re: TMM Location sharing: Unable to get new browser positions after interruption

reply from Nico Becke<@Nico Becke//community.trimble.com/people/nico_becke@trimble.com?et=watches.email.thread> in Catalyst - View the full discussion<https://community.trimble.com/message/9408-re-tmm-location-sharing-unable-to-get-new-browser-positions-after-interruption?commentID=9408&et=watches.email.thread#comment-9408>