When do I need to update my POI files?

You should d/l the current updated POI, we are always working on updating the POI's here to be as current as possible.
NickJr
Nuvi660

What is the procedure for updating someone else's file? Do we email them the info, or take new ownership? Both can have issues. Updates could be as simple as adding a new location or eliminating one that has closed. Or could be a major improvement where one has added the address and other contact info. Your thoughts?

nuvi 350

I have a poi file that I downloaded and during my travels I manually add new poi locations to the file in order to add the missing locations or new ones .
But I would also like to update the file to contain the latest files from the newly downloaded one.
What is the best way to not delete my manually added poi's?
Could I append the 2 files together with poiEdit ? or is there a better way ?

Thanks for any info

I use EXCEL. You could also use a text editor, however using EXCEL allows you to remove duplicates. It is quite simple although the explanation may be long. (Note that I have used this method with over 20,000 locations and it is complete in under 5 minutes). I use the following method:

1. Combine the two files into a single EXCEL spreadsheet.
I open each one in a different worksheet within one workbook. Then, I copy the data from one of the worksheets and paste it into the other worksheet (at the bottom of the list in column A.

2. Select the entire worksheet and sort it
(I use column A and then by column B i.e. long and then latitude).

3. Find the duplicates.
I do this in a five stage process. (Note: you can do the formula entries in step #1-#3 and then replicate them as apposed to replicating in each step. This is particularly useful if you have a long list)

Step #1: In cell E1 I enter the formula: =IF(A1=A2,1," "). In this statement, if the longitudes of row 1 matches row 2 then cell E1 will be equal to 1. Otherwise, E1 will be blank. I then replicate this formula down to the last row. Any 1 will mean that the longitude in that row matches the one below it.

Step #2: In cell F1 I enter the formula: =IF(B1=B2,1," "). In this statement, if the latitudes of row 1 matches row 2 then cell F1 will be equal to 1. Otherwise, F1 will be blank. I then replicate this formula down to the last row. Any 1 will mean that the latitude in that row matches the one below it.

Step #3: In cell G1 I enter the formula: =SUM(E1:F1) and then replicate down the spreadsheet. Any value of 2 in column G means that both the longitude and the latitude match (probably a duplicate).

Step #4: I copy the data in column G and do a paste special (values) in column H. This is done so the values (Column H) will not change when I resort the data.

Step #5: Select all of the data and sort by column H. All of the entries with a 2 (they will be grouped together) can now be deleted.

4. I now delete columns E-H as they will no longer be necessary. I then save the file with a new name as my new .csv file.