MDBCT Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Hey. just got the new Garmin StreetPilot c340 and tried to dump a bunch of geocaches and benchmarks in using GPSbabel to convert .loc to .csv then garmin's POIloader. it SAYS that it loaded 68 (or however many) POIs, and i see the folder names on the unit, but none of the actual locations made it in. i suspect it's the file format, but can't find specs telling me what it's looking for. the CSV file i have is just LAT, LONG, NAME. any ideas? (can't use easyGPS 'cause the c340 is a USB connection... i'll use that to get them into my (now old) eTrex as soon as i get a cable) THANKS! -Mike Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 Show me a file that POIloader will read. GPSBabel has a zillion CSV formats and the ability to create a bazillion more. The one GPSBabel calls "CSV" is exactly what you describe: a comma-space separated lat,lon,name triplet with the coords in signed decimal degrees. Exhibit A: $ gpsbabel -i geo -f geocaching.loc -o csv -F - 35.97203, -87.13470, Mountain Bike Heaven by susy1313 36.09068, -86.67955, The Troll by a182pilot & Family 35.99627, -86.62012, Dive Bomber by JoGPS & family 36.03848, -86.64862, FOSTER by JoGPS & Family When you say it doesn't have locations, do you mean it read them as "0,0" or something? Quote Link to comment
MDBCT Posted October 7, 2005 Author Share Posted October 7, 2005 well, that's the thing... i don't have anything i know it can read yet. i just got the unit and the POI loader is a bit less robust than i'd hoped -- i was thinking I'D be able to generate my own POI data (from maps, from a pull off my old eTrex, or even just hand-keying stuff). ohwell. anyway, yes, the file from gps babel looks exactly like your example. what i end up with in the streetpilot is two folders (i guess you'd call them) under "Custom POIs", Geocaches and Benchmarks (the names of the CSV files). Howver, when i open either one, there's nothing listed, and i get a "no matches found" message. i tried stripping out the spaces, but that made no difference. each time i try it, it tells me that however many POIs were loaded, and the counts match the line counts in the files. so it THINKS it's doing something, i'm just not sure what. if anybody's got a CSV file that they know works with the c340 (probably the same as the 320 and 330?), i think that may hold the key. Quote Link to comment
scarey2004 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 here in the uk we are using csv files for speed camera alerts and other stuff like shops etc...these csv files work well with the new i3 and other streetpilots..here's a link to the uk gps forum,have a read and it will probely help solve your problem..http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=96.. Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 If we look carefully at a file picked at random from the linky link that scarey2004 posted (I chose http://www.maft.co.uk/garmin/download.htm) we see that it starts off: Longitude,Latitude,Name -5.66934,54.64596,KFC [bangor] Ring Road -4.7561,55.94944,KFC Container Way -4.59583,55.47915,KFC [Heathfield Industrial Estate] Liberator Dr Note carefully that lat and lon are in the reverse order that you said above. So is this format like PCX that reads the header (i.e. if you insert "Latitude, Longitude, Name" at the top of your file does it work) or is it like many other formats that ignores that first line and merely needs the two columns swapped. I guess it's kind of academic. The file is easy to mimic even if the details don't matter. We just have to tell GPSBabel how to do this. Create a file named "garmin_poi.style" # gpsbabel XCSV style file # # Format: Garmin POI # Author: Robert Lipe # Date: 10/07/2005 # # DESCRIPTION Garmin POI database SHORTLEN 8 # # # FILE LAYOUT DEFINITIIONS: # FIELD_DELIMITER COMMA RECORD_DELIMITER NEWLINE BADCHARS COMMA PROLOGUE Longitude,Latitude,Name # # INDIVIDUAL DATA FIELDS, IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE: # IFIELD LON_HUMAN_READABLE, "", "%08.5f" IFIELD LAT_HUMAN_READABLE, "", "%08.5f" IFIELD DESCRIPTION, "", "%s" OFIELD LON_DECIMAL, "", "%08.5f" OFIELD LAT_DECIMAL, "", "%08.5f" OFIELD DESCRIPTION, "", "%s" And tell GPSBabel to use it. Here's an example: gpsbabel -i geo -f geocaching.loc -o xcsv,style=garmin_poi.style -F blah.txt Now 'blah.txt' contains: Longitude,Latitude,Name -87.13470,35.97203,Mountain Bike Heaven by susy1313 -86.67955,36.09068,The Troll by a182pilot & Family -86.62012,35.99627,Dive Bomber by JoGPS & family -86.64862,36.03848,FOSTER by JoGPS & Family -86.74177,36.11218,Logan Lighthouse by JoGps & Family -86.79052,36.06408,Ganier Cache by Susy1313 -86.80973,36.08777,Shy's Hill by FireFighterEng33 -86.89200,36.05750,GittyUp by JoGPS / Warner Parks -86.86728,36.08280,Inlighting by JoGPS / Warner Parks Tell me that this works and I'll add it to the GPSBabel tree. Quote Link to comment
MDBCT Posted October 7, 2005 Author Share Posted October 7, 2005 funny.. i was doing just that as you were posting your reply! i created test.csv like this: -73.39972,41.46278,LX1905 -73.40083,41.46417,LX1906 (tried with and without headers.. didn't like the header at all) i'll try the style file now & see hopw that works... back in a few... Quote Link to comment
MDBCT Posted October 7, 2005 Author Share Posted October 7, 2005 worked great on the geocaching.loc file which looks like: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <loc version="1.0" src="Groundspeak"> <waypoint> <name id="GCQ9E2"><![CDATA[Timber by glowstick]]></name> <coord lat="41.46265" lon="-73.4023666666667"/> <type>Geocache</type> <link text="Cache Details">http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GCQ9E2</link> </waypoint> ...etc... but didn't know WHAT to do with benchmark.loc which contains all sorts of crazy stuff i can't get pasted into here. for now i'll send it over to my AIX box and use sed/awk to swap it around. ;-) ..also, managed to find help in POI loader that says: POI Loader accepts .csv files that contain longitude, latitude, and speed alert information. A .csv file can contain multiple POIs. POI Loader assumes a .csv file utilizes the following format for each POI (brackets [ ] denote optional text): <Lon>,<Lat>,["]<Name>[@<Alert Speed>]["] Longitude and latitude must appear in WGS84 decimal degrees format (ddd.ddddd; negative numbers indicate West and South). The following are examples of Custom POIs in the proper format: -94.81549,38.80390,Bonita -94.79731,38.81099,Ridgeview@25 -94.74240,38.81952,Heritage Park ...my bad. didn't look hard enough the first time through. thanks for all the help!! Quote Link to comment
MDBCT Posted October 7, 2005 Author Share Posted October 7, 2005 Hmm.. OK. Turns out I had downloaded an older version (1.2.5), and saw that 1.3.7 added USB support for Garmin. I just installed that, and I still see only the serial ports as connect options. I looked through the help and clicked around through the menu options, but didn't see anything related to USB. This is probably going to be something simple (again), but... what am I missing? Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 The benchmark.loc files from this site use exactly the same format as the geocaching.loc files. Exhibit A: $ gpsbabel -i geo -f /tmp/benchmark.loc -o xcsv,style=style/garmin_poi.style -F - | head Longitude,Latitude,Name -86.86417,35.92306,FD0485 -86.86833,35.92472,FD0486 -86.86861,35.92500,FD0487 -86.88222,35.87556,FD0488 -86.83917,35.91667,FD0528 -86.85583,35.91833,FD0529 -86.87833,35.88611,FD0659 -86.87824,35.88627,FD0660 -86.87833,35.88611,FD0661 My prediction is that you pulled benchmark.loc into EasyGPS and saved it as an EasyGPS file. If your file starts with something like "TerraByte Location File Copyright 2001 TopoGrafix" that's what you've done and you'll need to change the input file type from "geo" to "easygps". GPSBabel should run on AIX, though it's been a while since I tested it. Are you saying that the files from the referenced site won't work becuase they have a header? If that's the only problem, I'll drop the PROLOGUE line and add this to the GPSBabel tree. (And you shouldn't need sed.) Quote Link to comment
rynd Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 File then Preferences then click settings and check use usb. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Hmm.. OK. Turns out I had downloaded an older version (1.2.5), and saw that 1.3.7 added USB support for Garmin. I just installed that, and I still see only the serial ports as connect options. I looked through the help and clicked around through the menu options, but didn't see anything related to USB. This is probably going to be something simple (again), but... what am I missing? You're missing that this is about the sixth time this week this has come up. :-) In fairness, though it is a FAQ on this forum, it's in the FAQ for a _different_ model of Garmin, so you can't be faulted for missing it. (Dan _really_ needs to address this...) Choose "garmin 60" in the EasyGPS setup and you'll get a "use usb" checkbox to appear. That box should be checked. But since I (presumably) have your attention, I'm interested in hearing how well GPSBabel works with c340 If it doesn't Just Work, please send the the output of gpsbabel -D9 -i garmin -f usb: to me privately so I can see what kind of protocol zanines these units have. If it does Just Work, please let me know. Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 If I look closer at that thread, I see that at least some models support four fields. It's a two line change to make the generated file look more like: -87.13470,35.97203,GCEBB,Mountain Bike Heaven by susy1313 -86.67955,36.09068,GC1A37,The Troll by a182pilot & Family -86.62012,35.99627,GC1C2B,Dive Bomber by JoGPS & family -86.64862,36.03848,GC25A9,FOSTER by JoGPS & Family -86.74177,36.11218,GC2723,Logan Lighthouse by JoGps & Family if you're interested. Just tell me what works best. Quote Link to comment
MDBCT Posted October 7, 2005 Author Share Posted October 7, 2005 OK.. hopefully my very last post on this topic: you were absolutely correct.. when i read your message about saving in easyGPS i remembered doing that at some point. i went back to the benchmarking page, grabbed the file again, and it was fine. i can now translate stuff to csv just fine using that new style file. i was also able to get a "USB" checkbox by selecting the 2650, and I can send & receive just fine between EasyGPS and my c340. BUT (and yeah, i know i'm being picky),when i sent the caches and benchmarks over via easygps, they all ended up under "favorites" instead of "Custom POIs". So, i just did the CSV thing and used POIloader to push them over. Now they're listed in two separate categories (Geocaching, Benchmarks) under Custom POIs. just kind of neater for big lists of similar stuff like that. (easygps may even let me do that, i'll RTFM sometime soon... i promise ) SO, that's it. I've got GPSbabel creating CSVs that my c340 likes, EasyGPS is talking to it via USB, and everything looks great. When I get the cable for my eTrex, I'll load everything up over there also and head out to see what I can find. Thanks again to everyone for your help getting all this working. -Mike PS- Robert, if there was something else you want/wanted me to try with gpsbabel, just shoot me an e-mail. Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 [ mutter, mutter, can't edit old posts... ] In the name of closure, here's the version that I'll add to the official tree. It adds shortname support and the four field variation. # gpsbabel XCSV style file## Format: Garmin POI# Author: Robert Lipe# Date: 10/07/2005##DESCRIPTION Garmin POI database### FILE LAYOUT DEFINITIIONS:#FIELD_DELIMITER COMMARECORD_DELIMITER NEWLINEBADCHARS COMMASHORTLEN 24# PROLOGUE Longitude,Latitude,Name, comment ## INDIVIDUAL DATA FIELDS, IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:#IFIELD LON_HUMAN_READABLE, "", "%08.5f"IFIELD LAT_HUMAN_READABLE, "", "%08.5f"IFIELD SHORTNAME, "", "%s"IFIELD DESCRIPTION, "", "%s" OFIELD LON_DECIMAL, "", "%08.5f"OFIELD LAT_DECIMAL, "", "%08.5f"OFIELD SHORTNAME, "", "%-.24s"OFIELD DESCRIPTION, "", "%-.50s" [/code[ Quote Link to comment
peaynut Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 (edited) So, if I understand what I have read in the forum about creating a CSV file with POIs, then I would enter known coordinates into MICROSOFT EXCEL exactly as below? And then SAVE AS: xxxx.CSV If this is correct, then where can I obtain the LONGITUDE LATITUDE coordinates for FREE from: Google Earth, MapQuest? Thanks for your help in advance! Edited May 14, 2006 by peaynut Quote Link to comment
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