| Author |
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Guest
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 Posted:
Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:08 am Post subject:
Garmin track file questions |
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two questions, thank all in advance:
1) is there some doc or spec on the Garmin track format? I want to
write some code to do some processing on it.
2) is a track file simply a collection of short straight line segments?
If so, how short is short? in other words, is the track a piece-wise
linear approximation of the actual trip path, and if so, how is the
segment decided? Does the Garmin (276c in my case) look at your
position every second, and say that is a new segment from last second
to this instant?
If so, can you adjust the segment time slice to be smaller in order to
get more accurate picture of the actual path?
again, thx. |
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Heinrich Pfeifer
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:08 am Post subject:
Re: Garmin track file questions |
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<iamtonyz@gmail.com> wrote in
news:1133161420.865859.51670@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | two questions, thank all in advance:
1) is there some doc or spec on the Garmin track format? I want to
write some code to do some processing on it.
|
what "Garmin track format" do you mean? The transfer protocol used to
transfer the track from the receiver to the PC, or the file format used by
Mapsource, or PCX5, or GPX? Please be a bit more specific with your
question.
| Quote: | 2) is a track file simply a collection of short straight line segments?
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it is a series of track points, each with coordinates, date and time, and
altitude. These track points are normally shown with straight lines in
between.
| Quote: | If so, how short is short? in other words, is the track a piece-wise
linear approximation of the actual trip path, and if so, how is the
segment decided? Does the Garmin (276c in my case) look at your
position every second, and say that is a new segment from last second
to this instant?
If so, can you adjust the segment time slice to be smaller in order to
get more accurate picture of the actual path?
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all this isn't a property of a track file format. It is a user definded
property of the GPS receiver. Have a look into the manual of your 276C, and
set your tracks setup as required.
--
Heinrich
http://www.gartrip.de
mail: new<at>gartrip.de |
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GSV Three Minds in a Can
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Nov 28, 2005 4:27 pm Post subject:
Re: Garmin track file questions |
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Bitstring <dmefje$2dl$2@online.de>, from the wonderful person Heinrich
Pfeifer <nws@gartrip.de> said
| Quote: |
iamtonyz@gmail.com> wrote in
news:1133161420.865859.51670@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
two questions, thank all in advance:
1) is there some doc or spec on the Garmin track format? I want to
write some code to do some processing on it.
what "Garmin track format" do you mean? The transfer protocol used to
transfer the track from the receiver to the PC, or the file format used by
Mapsource, or PCX5, or GPX? Please be a bit more specific with your
question.
|
If someone really want to manipulate it, several of the downloaded
formats are pure text and really easy to decode/edit/manipulate.
Oziexplorer .plt files for instance.
--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Contact recommends the use of Firefox; SC recommends it at gunpoint. |
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David Lee
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Nov 28, 2005 5:08 pm Post subject:
Re: Garmin track file questions |
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GSV Three Minds in a Can wrote...
| Quote: | If someone really want to manipulate it, several of the downloaded formats
are pure text and really easy to decode/edit/manipulate. Oziexplorer .plt
files for instance.
|
GPS Trackmaker has a text format that it can import as well as output which
I find useful for manipulating track data (using Excel or TextPad, which
allows you to select 2D blocks of text). Once data is back in GPSTM you can
export it in Garmin PCX5 format which can be opened in Mapsource (although
IIRC Garmin are going to remove this functionality from future versions).
If you buy the pro version of GPSTM (normal version is totally free) then it
has the facility to use spreadsheets directly. However most people don't
need the pro version and the author actually does his best to persuade you
NOT to buy it!
David |
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Heinrich Pfeifer
Guest
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| Posted:
Mon Nov 28, 2005 5:08 pm Post subject:
Re: Garmin track file questions |
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"David Lee" <davidlee_malvern@dont.use.this.bit.hotmail.com> wrote in
news:qP2dnVQ-o--rdxfenZ2dnUVZ8qOdnZ2d@eclipse.net.uk...
| Quote: | Once data is back in GPSTM you can export it in Garmin PCX5 format which
can be opened in Mapsource (although IIRC Garmin are going to remove this
functionality from future versions).
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you should have said: "although Garmin *have* removed this functionality
from *present* version".
For this reason, Gartrip ( www.gartrip.de ) supports the state-of-the-art
exchange file format GPX.
--
Heinrich
http://www.gartrip.de
mail: new<at>gartrip.de |
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David Lee
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Nov 29, 2005 1:08 am Post subject:
Re: Garmin track file questions |
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Heinrich Pfeifer wrote...
| Quote: | Once data is back in GPSTM you can export it in Garmin PCX5 format which
can be opened in Mapsource (although IIRC Garmin are going to remove this
functionality from future versions).
you should have said: "although Garmin *have* removed this functionality
from *present* version".
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They've done it have they? I stopped installing MapSource updates a while
ago because for my purposes they had turned into downgrades and I couldn't
be bothered to keep two parallel versions installed, so I'm a bit out of
touch. (I may re-consider now that MapSource contains Google Earth
facilities)
There is a full archive available somewhere (non-Garmin) of ALL past and
present Garmin software and firmware versions so that you can roll back if
you find that you've gone one upgrade too far. I can't remember offhand
where it is but an appropriate Google search finds it.
David |
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David Lee
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Nov 29, 2005 9:08 am Post subject:
Re: Garmin track file questions |
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iamtonyz@gmail.com wrote...
| Quote: | To further clarify my original question: the file format is .gdb ... I
opened it up with a text editor and it looks like gibberish.
Is there a spec on this format, and if not, is there a program that can
transpose it to another format that I could program to? I would need
some sort of batch mode operation so as to have this done automatically
w/o human intervention.
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There are two files with known specifications of the MapSource gdb format in
the GarminGPSMAP60C_60CS Yahoo Group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GarminGPSMAP60C_60CS/ - in the "Files"
section.
David |
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Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Nov 29, 2005 9:08 am Post subject:
Re: Garmin track file questions |
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To further clarify my original question: the file format is .gdb ... I
opened it up with a text editor and it looks like gibberish.
Is there a spec on this format, and if not, is there a program that can
transpose it to another format that I could program to? I would need
some sort of batch mode operation so as to have this done automatically
w/o human intervention.
thx. |
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Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Nov 29, 2005 9:08 am Post subject:
Re: Garmin track file questions |
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thx David... just joined the group and downloading the spec. Doesn't
look like official specs but reverse engineered ones. Sounds like
Garmin likes to keep stuff proprietary. |
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GSV Three Minds in a Can
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Nov 29, 2005 9:08 am Post subject:
Re: Garmin track file questions |
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Bitstring <1133246405.929580.39900@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>, from
the wonderful person iamtonyz@gmail.com said
| Quote: | thx David... just joined the group and downloading the spec. Doesn't
look like official specs but reverse engineered ones. Sounds like
Garmin likes to keep stuff proprietary.
|
Indeed they do, although they have been known to 'leak' slightly I
believe.
There is no official (released) spec for their .img (map) format either,
but that hasn't stopped anyone .. up to, and including, routing data.
--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Contact recommends the use of Firefox; SC recommends it at gunpoint. |
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David Lee
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Nov 29, 2005 4:05 pm Post subject:
Re: Garmin track file questions |
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GSV Three Minds in a Can wrote...
| Quote: | Bitstring:
thx David... just joined the group and downloading the spec. Doesn't
look like official specs but reverse engineered ones. Sounds like
Garmin likes to keep stuff proprietary.
Indeed they do, although they have been known to 'leak' slightly I
believe.
There is no official (released) spec for their .img (map) format either,
but that hasn't stopped anyone .. up to, and including, routing data.
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Quite so - a new version of the .img file spec recently (Oct 29) has been
released by John Mechalas (AKA "JLS" AFAIK) and he's also posted a spec of
the .tdb format since I last looked. see
http://sourceforge.net/projects/garmin-img
David |
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Matt
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Nov 30, 2005 5:08 pm Post subject:
Re: Garmin track file questions |
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If you open up the .gdb file in one of the more recent versions of
MapSource, you should be able to save the file to GPX, which is an XML
format (you can do a search to find its format). That should be pretty
machine readable.... |
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