Converting Google Maps to CSV and back

Nice step-by-steps.. Will give your way a try and am looking forward to the script. Thanks

I have created a simple instructional and download page for the conversion script here...

http://dr5274.googlepages.com/poiconverter

Went to the page no problem; however; when trying to download the script; nothing happens. I'm using Windows Xp and Mozilla Firefox as my browser. Right clicking gives me "Save Link As"; Thats the closet I get to "Save Target As". Clicking on save link as does nothing!

hope you get it working, looking forward to trying it.

I get an error indicating: "Internet Explorer cannot download."

Didn't work for me either.. Save Target As brought up a window to save a file "navcancl" with no extension

ok....sorry everyone....I'll look into it right away

ok...I just re-added the link, and it worked from here...can anyone else verify?

Thanks!

so the download works...have you tried the process? If there's any steps I've missed, or any that need clarification, just give me the input.

And, of course, I've only tried this script on my limited set of files and their limited data. I'm sure others will find issues, but I'll make improvements as time allows.

Problem right from step one. I went to maps.google.com. I don't seem to be able to set placemarks. I can in Google Earth; but not maps! Also; looking at step 3; I don't see a "View in Google Earth" link. Obviously doing something wrong. Please enlighten me!

Well, also in step 1 it mentions "My Maps", which is a feature of Google Maps that requires signing in.

However, using Google Earth, you can save KML files, too. I haven't looked in to this path, but will, as I think that's a likely use for me, too.

dr5274, you're steps works perfect. I just created one and all is well.

My only problem, was that when I uploaded my new file, it overrode all my other custom poi's (no big deal, there was only 1 location). I guess you have to create all the POI's into 1 file.

Thanks again for the steps.....

I think that would be something with POILoader, not my converter....my converter only converts the file. If you had other POI's in the file, then yes, they will get overwritten, as is noted in the instructions.

Keep up the input, and I'll get making improvements I'm working on Google Earth support right now.

I've made some changes to better support Google Earth KML files...so maybe that can help some

Works fine for me.. got through the instructions easily.. Thanks very much for taking the time to write the script, put up the page and sharing it..

Everything seems to work until I get to step 6. No matter what I do, I cannot get the kml file to drob on anything associated with the .wsf file.

I have the .wsf file open... and find the window that pops up with the ok in it... but the kml file will not drop on it.

Any suggestions?
Thanks

Typically, I'll have the script on the desktop. Then I open the folder where I have my CSV or KML files, drag a file and drop it on the icon for the script. There's no need to have the script open.

Hope this helps...
David

I have not worked with scripts every that I know of. But your suggestion cleared it up.
Worked like a top.

Thanks

I've updated the script to convert CSV to KML or GPX, KML to CSV, and GPX to CSV.

http://dr5274.googlepages.com/poiconverter

I get an error now when running this.
Line 341
Character 14
'undefined' is null or not an object.
800A138F

What kind of file were you converting, and to what format?

(and...I've converted the script to a JavaScript file, as my dev tools provide better assistance for those than WSF files)

I fed it a small CSV. I looked at it to be sure there weren't any extra commas or null fields, etc.

silly of me not to have figured this out on my own

Regards, Ted

Thanks for the GREAT work, awsome. Here is another tool that might help!!

I used to use POIEdit2007:
http://www.poiedit.com/downloads.htm

there always a but...some with two "t's"....

anyone get this to work with Firefox?

I used it successfully with IE but I don't have IE on one of my machines (intentional).

Yes I use Firefox (version 2.0.0.12) and it worked for me. Just made a file called Test. Put three placemarks on Google Maps and saved the kml file. Converted it to csv. Also then converted the csv file to gpx format. All seems to be OK.

I just made another small test file. I notice that when I look at the csv file in Notepad that I have column headings and that the closing paren (") for column 4 shows by itself on a separate line, except for the first entry where it is placed correctly. The column headings were deleted and the resulting file was run through PoiVerifier which corrected the paren ("). Other than these two minor problems it seems to work OK for me.
The column headings must come from the Google Maps kml file - maybe a way to fix it there. Not sure why the lonely (") occurs, but PoiVerifier fixes it. Maybe it is a problem with how I made the file. But it has occurred with two different test files.

I am assuming you right clicked on "view in google earth" which gives 4 choices: open new window, open new tab, bookmark, save link, send link, copy link location - which did you use? or have I missed it?

Use copy link location and paste that into the address bar and change the portion of the address that is "output=nl" to "output=kml" (about half way through the address in my two tests) and it should work.

Following these steps are very important, as the KML file produced by the "View in Google Earth" link ONLY provides a URL to the uique Google Map. In order for the output to contain ALL placemarks, you MUST follow the steps above, which are also noted on the POIConverter download page.

I've made some improvements this weekend, mostly in how CSV files are parsed, and for support of multi-line names. I'll look into the lonely " issue, but it would be great to get a copy of the KML/GPX where the issue came from. Just the waypoint that showed the issue would be enough.

I have the kml file, but I don't see any way to e-mail it to you. Doesn't seem like there are e-mail links on this forum. Any suggestions?
BTW I see by your profile that you are in Central TX - both my children live in Austin.

EDIT: Actually I see one can send e-mails to forum members who have enabled "Personal contact form" in one's account settings.

We're northwest of Austin, out by the lake. The city's getting too young for us, so we'll be moving someday

I didn't think you'd need to email me the whole KML file. I thought you might be able to cut-n-paste just the entry that was causing the problem. With that said, however, I had some ideas on what was causing the problem, and made some adjustments to the script. I've posted the new rev. Basically, when you add a placemark in Google Maps, and then modify the description, sometimes there are extra lines in the text. I've added some "trimming" to the script that should help eliminate this. Let me know...

David

David,
I downloaded your update to POIConverter and ran the kml file through it. It is a little file of 5 wineries in VA. Below is the csv file generated by the version of POIConverter I downloaded earlier today. The line break of the first line in each file shows wrong due to the limited width of our forum pages. Notice the lonely " in the last four files. That is the only problem I see.

longitude,latitude,name,description
-78.670822,38.820469,"Cave Ridge Vineyard","1476 Conicville Road
Mt. Jackson, VA 22842
540-477-2585"
-77.652756,39.211872,"Corcoran Vineyards","14635 Corkys Farm Lane
Waterford, VA 20197
540-882-9073
"
-77.826332,39.094284,"Bluemont Vineyard","18775 Foggy Bottom Road
Bluemont, VA 20135
near Leesburg
540-554-8439
"
-75.895042,37.491123,"Holly Bluff Vineyards","6404 Holly Bluff Drive
Franktown, VA 23354
757-652-7067
"
-79.408226,37.344372,"LeoGrande Vineyards","1343 Wingfield Dr
Goode, VA 24556
near Bedford
540-586-4066
"

The following is the same kml file run through your updated version. As you can see, the first file is OK but the other four have had the address line (description field) removed and replaced by the winery name.

longitude,latitude,name,description
-78.670822,38.820469,"Cave Ridge Vineyard","1476 Conicville Road
Mt. Jackson, VA 22842
540-477-2585"
-77.652756,39.211872,"Corcoran Vineyards","Corcoran Vineyards"
-77.826332,39.094284,"Bluemont Vineyard","Bluemont Vineyard"
-75.895042,37.491123,"Holly Bluff Vineyards","Holly Bluff Vineyards"
-79.408226,37.344372,"LeoGrande Vineyards","LeoGrande Vineyards"

I should have my Contact enabled. If you email me I will send you the kml file I generated from Google Maps. Maybe I did something wrong that you will notice.

My son has been in Austin since January 1990 except for about two years around 1993 - 1994. The city has sure changed since he moved there. Wife and I visit twice a year- usually May and October. Won't visit in the summer- too hot! Trip planned for the first two weeks of May.

that sure is odd....i've sent a contact, so hopefully you can get me the KML and I'll get it solved asap!!!

David

Nicely done..I have had a few people create a few Disc maps of thier states and now I can just up load them into the GPX creator for further edits!!!
Awesome thank you for the instructions and scripts!

Since I haven't been able to find any mention of this freebee software elsewhere on POI Factory, I thought I should post this. "KMLCSV Converter" is a tool that enables you to convert a KML file generated from Google Earth into a formatted CSV file. You can also convert the CSV file back to KML. It comes in both a GUI and a CLI version. I've used the GUI version and it not only worked, it was easy to use. For more about it, including a download link, go to:

http://kmlcsv.pbwiki.com/

My free converter does that, too, if interested. And you get the source code to tweak it to your liking

http://dr5274.googlepages.com/poiconverter

When I tried this in FF3beta4 I got a lot of info poiconverter couldn't deal with.

a href=/maps?f=l&hl=en&geocode=&q=starbucks&near=indiana&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=37.052328,59.765625&ie=UTF8&latlng=40595871,-86866171,18109080833738982&ei=PJ3mR9aPG4qwjgH8kuDsDQ&cd=2>more info »

Did you have this problem? Or did I do something wrong?I had to clean it up manually.

Never tried all of this in the comment field, as my 200 can't do anything with it

New updates to POIConverter(http://dr5274.googlepages.com/POIConverter). Many thanks go to Luis Schwabe for these latest improvements.

Thanks for this great procedure & utility. I am a new Nuvi owner and new to the site.

This process will make creating poi files for metro areas much easier. Uses a lot less gas than driving to all the places.

Easiest way to clean this up for me is when I am saving a place to "My Map". After you choose"Save to My Map", and choose which of your maps to save to, a final text box opens. Scroll to the bottom of the box. usually the last thing is a "more info" link. Click below the more info link and start deleting. Delete any pictures too. Only leave the text you want to see in your poi. Then click on OK.

This will get rid of all that stuff.

How strong are you? Can you lift a small cow?

Warning...
If you update to IE-8 this won't work. And it doesn't work with Chrome or with Firefox either. Like a dumbkoff, I upgraded to IE-8... duh!

...for the heads up. I won't upgrade my pc.

Where do I find the script?
The Link mentioned earlier is dead now:
http://dr5274.googlepages.com/poiconverter

Stumbled upon this thread and the script sounds worth checking out but the link is still dead.

Use Extra POI Editor instead of the script to do the conversions. EPE supports opening KML and CSV files, and can output in both formats and much more.