* Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

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tatewise
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Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by tatewise »

The Map Life Facts plugin relies on OLE COM access to the Internet Explorer 11 Shell to display the Map Pane.
From 15 June 2022 IE 11 will be 'retired' and be 'unsupported' in Windows 10 and 11.
However, one announcement says: "The Internet Explorer files will not be removed from devices after support ends, as these are required for IE Mode."

If "IE Mode" is the IE 11 Shell required by Map Life Facts then it should keep working.
Otherwise, Map Life Facts will stop working some time after 15 June 2022.

I know that the Edge browser does not support OLE COM access.

Does anyone have any better understanding?
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Re: Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by ColeValleyGirl »

I suspect IE mode is explained here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deploy ... ge-ie-mode
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Mark1834
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Re: Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by Mark1834 »

IE mode in Edge works very well for a couple of old IP cameras I have that use ActiveX controls. It enables me to access all cameras with just one browser.

Presumably it will need to be configured appropriately when called from FH, but I can’t see any fundamental reason why it shouldn’t work.
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Re: Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by ColeValleyGirl »

I'm running Windows 11 (on the Insiders beta testing channel). I can't run Internet Explorer as a standalone app (I get Edge instead if I try), but your plugin seems to work fine.
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Re: Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by tatewise »

Thank you for those replies. It does seem as if the plugin will survive for the time being. Phew!
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Re: Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by ColeValleyGirl »

Is there a wider need to be able to use the Webview2 control from within Lua? Opening a web page (e.g. for Help) isn't an issue, and I can't immediately think of another plugin beside Map Life Facts that needs to interact with a browser window, so I don't think that such a need exists but I'm prepared to be wrong.
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Re: Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by tatewise »

I think you are correct Helen. Currently, it is only the Map Life Facts plugin that needs LUA OLE COM support.

I suspect a Webview2 Lua control would be rather different because I don't think Edge supports the OLE COM features.
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Re: Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by trevithick »

I started using Family Historian v.7 several months ago, and though the GUI is dramatically different than what I'm used to (might be some European logic going on there) in Legacy, it appears to have some serious thought behind its development. It also support Plugins that are Open Source, a huge plus for me. The ability to do mapping was a big plus.

After years of Legacy refusing to recode the mapping part of Global Locations, I started looking for something else. I saw that FH v.7 was highest rated, and thought I'd try it. It worked to some degree though the map was incredibly cluttered.

Today, I updated to the latest Map Life Facts plugin, acquired a Google API Key, and plugged it into the Geocoding/Mapping program. I first got an error message telling me that my browser is unsupported. with the following:
"https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js ... Initialise"

I use Vivaldi, formerly Opera, which is based on Chromium, and functionally supports most Chrome Extensions with no problems. I do NOT use Chrome, Edge, Firefox, IE, or others, and have no issues. Vivaldi will allow me to change the security settings for a particular site, but the page does not load. When I check for more details on the error, it claims my browser does not support Google's Mapping JavaScript. I can and have changed my settings to allow JavaScript to be used in the address.

Geocoding all places functions properly, and they are all generated in the default folder.

I am running NordVPN, have shut it down temporarily, and have disabled the Threat Protection features, but the VPN does not appear to be the problem.

If I change the plugin to use Leaflet Maps in the Web Page Options tab, it appears to work, but definitely what I was hoping for. Initializing that tab also generates an error saying that it failed to sync.

Please help. I would like to get mapping working.
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Re: Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by tatewise »

Welcome to the FHUG. I am the Map Life Facts plugin author.

The difficulties with the Map Life Facts plugin need a little explanation.
All its internal browser errors refer to the Internet Explorer shell used to implement its GUI Map Pane.
That IE shell is the only browser option available to plugins. They cannot use your preferred browser.
Microsoft and some mapping products no longer support IE so this plugin may sooner or later become unusable.
That applies to the Map Pane Mode: Google Maps option, so only the Leaflet Maps option is operational.

Everything is moving toward the MS Edge browser but there is no plugin-compatible Edge solution available.

I have been tempted to look at the Bing mapping tools but cannot find the time at present as it is far from trivial.

Are you saying that when using the Create Web Page Maps tab the resulting exported HTML files are not compatible with your Vivaldi browser?

It helps to be very specific about the commands and options you have used that lead to error messages.
Also screenshots of appropriate details can be very helpful. See FHUG Knowledge Base Forum Usage Tips on Attachments and Taking Screenshots.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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Re: Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by tithepit2022 »

From reading the discussion here I think you are doing yourself a disservice in the title of this series of posts if all that stops working is the Google Maps while you already have the Leaflet Maps alternative up and running....

As I'm sure you are aware Open Street Maps seems to be a very popular alternative to Google Maps for various applications these days, notably WebTrees, so I see no problem with simply switching to that as you have advised - which seems to work just fine for me.

Be that as it may there is, I fear another issue with the Leaflet maps in that the option of using the National Library of Scotland (NLS) Maps as the third option "NLS Historic UK" no longer works. All I get is a window filled with images of the UK overprinted with "NLS maps upgraded" and "maptiler/nls".

After some digging around I believe the the explanation is to be found here : https://maps.nls.uk/projects/api/

Happily the NLS give details as to how to implement the API for this new service on the above page.

An example of the alternative implementation is given on the NLS site here: https://maps.nls.uk/projects/api/maptil ... aflet.html

Hope this helps...
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tatewise
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Re: Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by tatewise »

The main concern is support for the Internet Explorer browser engine that must be used by the plugin as explained earlier.
That depends on what Microsoft supports and what Google and Leaflet support.

Thank you for the feedback regarding NLS Historic UK maps.
When I can find time I'll investigate the solution.
However, the fact that "To use the NLS Historic Maps API, you need to create an account in MapTiler Cloud" will need significant changes to the Plugin to allow users to enter their account details similar to the Google Maps API Key.
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Re: Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by AdrianBruce »

tatewise wrote: 27 Aug 2022 12:28...
Thank you for the feedback regarding NLS Historic UK maps.
When I can find time I'll investigate the solution. ...
Easy for me to say but I would certainly appreciate being able to get back to the NLS Historic maps.
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Re: Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by ColeValleyGirl »

AdrianBruce wrote: 27 Aug 2022 19:14 Easy for me to say but I would certainly appreciate being able to get back to the NLS Historic maps.
This may be relevant -- NLS are monetising access...
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Re: Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by tatewise »

That is the situation for commercial organisations whose licenced users may rack up many accesses.
However, low usage private users are not charged (currently). It is similar for Google Maps users.
Map Life Facts allows users to register a free Google Maps low usage account.
Something similar would be needed for a Leaflet MapTiler Cloud account.
That is explained at https://maps.nls.uk/projects/api/:
There is a 'free' tier for all non-commercial subscribers using 100,000 tile requests per month or less, but commercial or higher usage levels are charged for according to the volume of requests.
To use the NLS Historic Maps API, you need to create an account in MapTiler Cloud and select the appropriate plan, based on whether your usage is commercial/non-commercial and the monthly traffic you expect.
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Re: Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by AdrianBruce »

Would / could the sub be with Calico Pie or with the individual users? Presumably if it's all bundled up with CP having the account then that's a single and therefore potentially high-volume use? But it's vastly easier for the end-users...
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tatewise
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Re: Map Life Facts may not work after June 2022

Post by tatewise »

Yes, that is effectively what the CP article says that Helen referred to.
The choice seems to be between users paying an optional subscription to CP to use the NLS Historic UK maps in FH, or users creating a free account to use the same maps. However, CP have no definite plans and it is not clear how that would impact plugins such as Map Life Facts.
Mike Tate ~ researching the Tate and Scott family history ~ tatewise ancestry
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