Replacement for "DIY - Do it yourself datafield" - fully customizable data field

Hello,

I have been using the DIY data field for a long time and am very happy with it. But it seems that the developer has stopped his activities and is no longer developing the data field. It would be nice if there would be such a data field in the future (e.g. after a watch change). For me it is the best data field in the store and I use all 3 versions for different activities (running, cycling, hiking). Layout and data are fully customizable (if you invest some work).

It makes sense if Garmin offers such a data field.

It would be nice if a developer could be found for a replacement of DIY. I think I'm not the only one who wants such a data field. I think many users would even pay for such a data field (me too).

Christian

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Attila over 4 years ago

Yes please! I'm using it on my FR935, and just now I see that probably it won't be adjusted for my new Edge 530 . I really hope the developer picks it up again, or somebody makes anything comparable. I checked last time, I had ~20 datafields on one screen, nothing comes close to this densitity of information from other data fields. (Yes, I'm a data nerd.)

Bodenseematze over 4 years ago

Has anybody contact to the DIY datafield developer?

Would he provide the source code for his datafield and also of the web page to create the strings?

Would be much easier if a new developer could use the existing code base...

Bandit over 4 years ago

jup, the DIY data field is the most important addition to my fenix 5 and i am afraid to switch to another/newer fenix, because i will have to find an alternative. horrible imagination... i use the DIY data field for all of my activities.

as far as i have read, the developer dissapeared and is not reachable anymore. somone contacted him to offer further developement, but no reaction. very, very sad. the source code would help a lot. i would pay for this kind of data field as well.

i don't understand why garmin does not offer something similar (as data field and watch face as well). they should have enough ressources and everyone would get he/she needs/wishes.

hundsmiachn over 4 years ago in reply to Bandit

+100

hundsmiachn over 4 years ago

After trying to reach the developer several times and not getting any response I finally decided to code a replacement myself.

I am thinking of a similar approach of creating a layout and copying the layout as string to the settings.

My idea would be to create an xml file, convert it to a compressed string via a little win32 app/skript (dont know yet) to be able to copy it to the settings.

In the beginning there will be no GUI to create the xml. I will try to create the base for importing a "xml" layout and I will try to add more features when the base works fine.

I keep you updated, but the first version will take some weeks I think.

I will leave out graphs for the moment, only text and some basic graphics will be supported in the first versions.

Any inputs from your side are appreciated.

regards

Erich

fjelsten over 4 years ago in reply to hundsmiachn

Sounds fantastic

Attila over 4 years ago in reply to hundsmiachn

Happy to hear you're going for this, hundsmiachn! I'm fine with manually creating a file, but if there's no strong reason to use XML, for example it being natively compatible with ConnectIQ or something, maybe use a more user friendly format to edit, like YAML.

I've never tried to code for ConnectIQ, but I'm otherwise a techy person, so I'm willing to contribute with testing on the Edge 530 and Forerunner 935, but only in case you're making it open source from the start. I don't want this thread to repeat in a year with the project abandoned and no code to continue.

Nonetheless, good luck with the project, however you decide to make it.

hundsmiachn over 4 years ago in reply to Attila

I made a new thread for this:

https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/f/app-ideas/196407/diy-datafield-replacement

regards

Erich

dpawlyk over 4 years ago in reply to hundsmiachn

Use JSON (not XML).

hundsmiachn over 4 years ago in reply to dpawlyk

First release

https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/f/showcase/206277/hundsmiachn-diy-datafield