As blogged about before, in KDE Apps 4.8 you will be able to enter geographic coordinates in Plasma Runner and then have Marble show it to you.
But there is a problem: the current code is only detecting coordinates where more or less the symbols for degree, minutes and seconds are °, ′, and ″ and where the directions are given as a single word/letter (with letter the first letter of the word, like North, South, East and West in English).
But looking e.g. at the Wikipedia pages about London in some different languages, where the coordinates is given in the DMS format (degree-minutes-seconds), I can see that the parser will fail, perhaps:
Japanese: 北緯51度30分28秒 西経0度07分41秒
Persian: ۳۹″ ۷′ ۰°غربی ۲۶″ ۳۰′ ۵۱°شمالی
Russian: 51°30′26″ с. ш. 0°07′39″ з. д.
Czech: 51°30´25´´ s. š. 0°07´37´´ z. d.
Georgian: 51°30′00″ ჩ. გ. 0°07′00″ ა. გ.
(no idea why the center of London is different in each language 😉 ).
So, to support as many languages as possible and to know what is needed, could you please help me with yours?
Please post a comment with a sample how the geographic coordinates are constructed in your language, and which symbols for degrees, minutes and seconds are used and which terms to describe the directions?
Template to use:
Language (in English):
Degree symbol:
Minutes symbol:
Seconds symbol:
Term(s) for North:
Term(s) for South:
Term(s) for East:
Term(s) for West:
Some example(s) (e.g. London):
Examples could be also additionally in DM or D format.
Looking forward to many examples, best today/tomorrow 🙂
Attracted by virtual constructs 
Language (in English): Dutch
Degree symbol: °
Minutes symbol: ‘
Seconds symbol: ”
Term(s) for North: Noord
Term(s) for South: Zuid
Term(s) for East: Oost
Term(s) for West: West
Some example(s) (e.g. London): N 52° 8′ 32.14″ , E 5° 24’ 56.09″
As you can see the E is used for Oost to prevent confusion with the zero.
There’s not really one defined way to write down coordinates in Dutch. On Wikipedia there’s a big discussion as well: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Opinielokaal/Schrijfwijze_van_co%C3%B6rdinaten_sjablonen
The N 52° 8′ 32.14″ , E 5° 24′ 56.09″ example above is more like the international way of writing it (with N, E, S, W), so it’s always good, but it’s not really Dutch… In coordinates in Dutch one would for example use NB (“noorderbreedte”) for North, ZB (“zuiderbreedte”) for South, WL (“westerlengte”) for West, and OL (“oosterlengte”) for East. The example above would become: 52° 8′ 32.14″ NB , 5° 24′ 56.09″ OL
And then you could also decide to use dots (N.B., O.L., Z.B. W.L.), or just use the first letter (N, O, Z, W), etc. 🙂
Russian:
Degree: ° or град or градусов (degs/degrees)
Minutes: ‘ or ′ or мин or минут (mins/minutes)
Seconds: ” or ” or ″ or сек or секунд (secs/seconds)
North: с. ш., северной широты (north lat.)
South: ю. ш., южной широты (south lat.)
East: в. д., восточной долготы (east long.)
West: з. д., западной долготы (west long.)
Example: 51°30′26″ с. ш. 0°07′39″ з. д.
Also, there’s no ‘ symbol on Russian keyboard layout, but most people switch to English for that. And no backticks either.
I have never seen ‘ used as the minutes sign.
Language (in English): Polish
Degree symbol: °
Minutes symbol: ‘ , ′
Seconds symbol: ” , ″
Term(s) for North: północnej, Pn. (also without .), N (English notation is most popular)
Term(s) for South: południowej, Płd., S
Term(s) for East: wschodniej, Wschod., Wsch., Ws., E
Term(s) for West: zachodniej, Zach., Z, W
Some example(s) (e.g. London):
52°13′56″N 21°00′30″E (Warsaw)
Language (in English): Turkish
Degree symbol: °
Minutes symbol: ‘
Seconds symbol: ”
Term(s) for North: Kuzey
Term(s) for South: Güney
Term(s) for East: Doğu
Term(s) for West: Batı
Some example(s) (e.g. London): 51° 30′ 28″ K, 0° 7′ 41″ B
Language (in Italian):
Degree symbol:°
Minutes symbol:’
Seconds symbol:”
Term(s) for North:Nord
Term(s) for South:Sud
Term(s) for East:Est
Term(s) for West:Ovest
Language (in English): Spanish
Degree symbol: º
Minutes symbol: ‘
Seconds symbol: ″
Term(s) for North: Norte
Term(s) for South: Sur
Term(s) for East: Este
Term(s) for West: Oeste
Some example(s) (e.g. London): 51°30′25″N 00°07′39″O
Minutes should be ′. For simplicity, ‘ and ” should be used for input and the ″ ’ characters for presentation. The ′ key is a dead key in spanish keyboards, you have to press it twice to get the character. I do not think ″ is available in any keyboard.
Nevermind, the comments are being reformatted. I will shut up now.
Language: Spanish (Latin America, I guess the exclusive Spain too)
Degree symbol: °
Minutes symbol: ‘
Seconds symbol: ”
Term(s) for North: Norte, N
Term(s) for South: Sur, S
Term(s) for East: Este, E
Term(s) for West: Oeste, O
Example: Bogotá: 4°35’53″N 74°4’33″O (4°35’53″N 74°4’33″W)
London: 52° 8′ 32.14″ N, 5° 24’ 56.09″ W
Language (in English): French
Degree symbol: °
Minutes symbol: ′
Seconds symbol: ″
Term(s) for North: Nord
Term(s) for South: Sud
Term(s) for East: Est
Term(s) for West: Ouest
Some example(s) (e.g. London): 51° 30′ 18″ N 0° 04′ 43″ O
Language (in English): Portuguese
Degree symbol: º
Minutes symbol: ‘
Seconds symbol: ”
Term(s) for North: Norte
Term(s) for South: Sul
Term(s) for East: Este, Leste
Term(s) for West: Oeste
Some example(s) (e.g. London): 52° 8′ 32.14″ N, 5° 24′ 56.09″ E
Just to be clear, as Pedro’s almost correct:
Language (in English): Brazilian Portuguese
Degree symbol: ° = U+00B0
Minutes symbol: ′ = U+2032
Seconds symbol: ″ = U+2033
Term(s) for Noth: Norte
Term(s) for South: Sul
Term(s) for East: Leste [‘Este’ is only used in compounds like Sudeste = Sul + Leste, Nordeste = Norte + Leste]
Term(s) for West: Oeste
Some example(s) (e.g. London): 52° 8′ 32,14″ N; 5° 24′ 56,09″ L
Note that in Brazilian Portuguese:
Decimal separator: , = U+002C
Group separator: . = U+002E
List separator: ; = U+003B
It should be allowed, for it’s more easely typed on Brazilian’s keyboards:
Minutes symbol: ‘ = U+0027
Seconds symbol: ” = U+0022
Abreviations (not all used in coordinates) are used like this:
North = Norte = N
South = Sul = S
East = Leste = L
West = Oeste = O
Northeast = Nordeste = NE
Southeast = Sudeste = SE
Northwest = Noroeste = NO
Southwest = Sudoeste = SO
* I used unicode notations for the characters as the blog’s commenting engine might mess with them, as can be seen on other’s comments.
That Spanish minutes symbol should be: ′
Language (in English): Hindi
Degree symbol: º
Minutes symbol: ‘
Seconds symbol: ″
Term(s) for North: उत्तर
Term(s) for South: दक्षिण
Term(s) for East: पूर्व
Term(s) for West: पश्चिम
Some example(s) (e.g. London): 51°30′25″उ 00°07′39″पू
Language (in English): Tamil
Degree symbol: º
Minutes symbol: ‘
Seconds symbol: ″
Term(s) for North: வடக்கு
Term(s) for South: தெற்கு
Term(s) for East: கிழக்கு
Term(s) for West: மேற்கு
Some example(s) (e.g. London): 51°30′25″N 00°07′39″S
Language (in English): Bulgarian
Degree symbol: °
Minutes symbol: ′
Seconds symbol: ″
Term(s) for North: север
Term(s) for South: юг
Term(s) for East: изток
Term(s) for West: запад
Some example(s) (e.g. London): 51°30′26″ с. ш. 0°07′39″ и. д.
Language (in English): Czech
Degree symbol: ° (U+00B0 DEGREE SIGN)
Minutes symbol: ′ (U+2032 PRIME)
Seconds symbol: ″ (U+2033 DOUBLE PRIME)
Term(s) for North: sever
Term(s) for South: jih
Term(s) for East: východ
Term(s) for West: západ
Some example(s) (e.g. London): 51°30′42″ s. š., 0°02′56″ z. d.
Sydney: 33° 52′ j. š., 151° 13′ v. d.
The terms for directions need to be made into adjectives and conjugated when used as full words: s. š = „severní šířka“ but 51° s. š. = „51° severní šířky“.
For simplicity, ‘’’´′ etc. and “””¨″ etc. (or doubled ‘’’´′), and English direction abbreviations, should be used for input. The ′ ACUTE ACCENT and ¨ DIAERESIS are dead keys on Czech keyboards; you have to press one twice to get the spacing character. But it’s easier to use the ASCII quotes.
Consider just displaying the English notation, though: GPS devices often aren’t localized. The English notation seems to be most popular with power users (and naïve users won’t need coordiates!)
Language (in English): Arabic
Degree symbol: º
Minutes symbol: ‘
Seconds symbol: ″
Term(s) for North: شمال
Term(s) for South: جنوب
Term(s) for East: شرق
Term(s) for West: غرب
Some example(s) (e.g. London): 52°13′56″ شمال 21°00′30″ شرق
(LTR)
Language (in English): Esperanto
Degree symbol: ° = U+00B0
Minutes symbol: ′ = U+2032 or ‘ = U+0027
Seconds symbol: ″ = U+2033 or ” = U+0022
Term(s) for Noth: Nordo N
Term(s) for South: Sudo S
Term(s) for East: Oriento Or
Term(s) for West: Okcidento Ok
Some example(s) (e.g. London): 52° 8′ 32,14″ N; 5° 24′ 56,09″ Or
And, for Esperanto handling of numbers:
Decimal separator: , = U+002C
Group separator: = unbreakable space U+202F or U+00A0
List separator: ; = U+003B
Your ‘japanese’ is actually Chinese.
Language (in English): English
Degree symbol:
Minutes symbol:
Seconds symbol:
Term(s) for North:
Term(s) for South:
Term(s) for East:
Term(s) for West:
Some example(s) (e.g. London): 52.4482842633, 13.3072583377
#17 Emm, Actually not, Japanese also use some Chinese character. (I’m Chinese).
I’m not sure, how would this cord be used in krunner? Copy and paste from wiki? since symbol like “º” is not so easy to input. And krunner input accept localization I don’t think is a good idea. People use Chinese, Japanese, Korean (and maybe other languages), will take more effort to input character and might not match your built-in pattern.
Language (in English): Chinese
Degree symbol: º / 度
Minutes symbol: ‘ / 分
Seconds symbol: ″ / 秒
Term(s) for North: N / 北纬
Term(s) for South: S / 南纬
Term(s) for East: E / 东经
Term(s) for West: W / 西经
Some example(s) (e.g. London): 51°30′25″N 00°07′39″S
Language (in English): Norwegian
Degree symbol: °
Minutes symbol: ‘
Seconds symbol: ”
Term(s) for North: N
Term(s) for South: S
Term(s) for East: Ø (Ø)
Term(s) for West: V
Some example(s) (e.g. London):
London: 51° 30′ 25” N 0° 7′ 39” W
My hometown Ålgård (Ålgård) in Rogaland: 58° 45′ 53.38″ N 5° 51′ 19.74″ E
Note: A shorthand notation is perhaps more practical, especially as the degree symbol isn’t easily available on my (most?) keyboards.
In the shorthand notation your London example would be given as “N051 30.150′ W000 07.234′”, i.e. a notation of the form “[N/S]ddd mm.mmm’ [E/W]ddd mm.mmm'” where there is no need for any special characters.
The shorthand notation form is becoming more common. It can of course be easily translated to the old DMS notation by multiplying the decimal part of the minutes by 60 to obtain the number of seconds.
One has also taken it one step further for a notation in the form “[N/S]ddd.ddddd [E/W]ddd.ddddd” where reverse calculation is a two-step process multiplying the decimal part by 60 to get the minutes first and then multiplying the decimal part of the minutes by 60 to get the seconds.
Then of course there are other formats, such as UTM which most GPS units can understand, and . Sometimes the coordinates are only available in one format – then
My hometown in alternative notations (all in the WGS84/EUREF89 datum):
DMS: 58° 45′ 53.38″ N 5° 51′ 19.74″ E
Shorthand DMS: N58.764828 E5.855483
UTM 32V E 318152 N 6518134
Talk about pressing “Post Comment” prematurely….
As I was saying, there are other formats such as UTM and the Swedish Grid, where negative numbers represent the southern and western hemispheres (after they moved the zero east/west point to Greenwich). Like UTM the numbers indicate distance (a number of meters from the zero points), and there’s an offset to be considered (“false easting”).
I’m not suggesting all the world’s formats should be supported, but perhaps the design could take the format as a parameter, with a default if none is specified.
As I was also saying, sometimes the co-ordinates are only available in one format. What’s worse is that sometimes the co-ordinates are only available in another datum than WGS84/EUREF89 – e.g. if one has an old map.
Just thought i’d mention it – perhaps some work on it could be a task for a GSoC student 🙂
I agree with those who adds that the shorthand notation is more used and more useful: N58.764828 E5.855483
So you should add as a parameter the decimal separator:
In French, the normal decimal separation is ‘,’ but we’re also used to use ‘.’.
Language (in English): Greek
Degree symbol:°
Minutes symbol:΄
Seconds symbol:΄΄
Term(s) for North:Β ,Βοράς
Term(s) for South:Ν ,Νότος
Term(s) for East:Α ,Ανατολή
Term(s) for West:Δ ,Δύση
Some example(s): Χαλκίδα 38° 28′ Β 23° 36′ Α
Sorry correction:
Degree symbol:°
Minutes symbol:’
Seconds symbol:″
Degrees, minutes and seconds are the same as English.
Also note that in Greek N stands for South and not North!!
Btw thanks for your work with integration marble to krunner looks really cool!
the correct is Βορράς with 2 ρ’s!!!!!!!!!
Thanks so far for your input, keep it coming. I see already lots of useful information, and all your examples will also make it into the test database. So the more you give, the better things will get. Well, hopefully 🙂
list of coordinate systems:
http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/coordsys/coordsys_f.html
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