Problem Using Excel When Saving As CSV
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  16 years
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I've read the FAQs and several related topics which answered most, but not all, of my questions.
I know from the FAQ that the normal Garmin CSV format is:
lon,lat,"Name","Comment" with the 3rd & 4th fields in double-quotes. I even looked at a few files from this site with Notepad to verify the format.
This quote, from an old thread, is the closest I found to my question:
Anytime a comma or linebreak is in fields 3 or 4 it must be enclosed in quotes. If using Excel to create the csv file, do not enter the quotes as Excel will do this automatically.
Use Notepad to view a csv POI file if you want to see exactly what it looks like. Excel will sometimes format a csv file in a way you don't want.
RT
Since Excel does not insert the double-quotes except as RT noted, is it OK to leave field 3 and/or 4 without quotes? I was able to load a file using POI Loader that had no quotes in field 3 and it loaded fine on my 660, but would this present a problem for other models?
My questions are all leading up to - what is the best format for uploading to POI-Factory? (Yes, I found and read that topic too, but it came to no real conclusion). I found one user created file (don't remember which one) where when I opened it with Excel, they had typed double-quotes around field 3 and it displayed that way.
.csv line
Gary A wrote...
Since Excel does not insert the double-quotes except as RT noted, is it OK to leave field 3 and/or 4 without quotes?...
Gary, here's a typical line from a working POI file that I have in my Garmin C530:
-81.704047,41.484528,"Great Lakes Brewing Co","2516 Market Av
Cleveland OH 44113
216-771-4404"
The only time quotes are REQUIRED is if there are imbedded commas in field 3 and/or 4. If there are no imbedded commas, then the quotes are optional. As for me, and just as a matter of habit, I always put quotes around each of those fields. I don't have to, but I do.
Though it's not apparent the way this response appears, the entry above has a 'new line' after the Market Av and after the 44113. That way, it appears on my C530 with the name in large characters on the top line, followed by the street address on the next line, the city, state, and ZIP code on the next line and the phone number on the last line. It's all neat and clean.
"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse."
One more thing
I find that working in Notepad using simple text characters is much easier than working in Excel. I just create the file then save it with the default .txt suffix. Then all I do is simply rename the file, replacing the .txt suffix with .csv and it's done. It's that simple. For example, I save it as misc.txt then rename it to misc.csv.
I run it through POI Verifier, fix any mistakes, and use POI Loader to load it into my GPSr. Done.
"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse."
Notepad vs Excel
I use notepad and it work s very good.
Claude using Garmin c330,Nuvi 250W and a Etrex venture Cx. Member #2602
CSV Double Quotes
Thanks for the replies! So using the quotes is more of a "good standard practice" than an absolute requirement. Makes sense.
I am also finding that Notepad is easier to work with than Excel for these types of files. Guess its just a personal preference.
Tampa, FL - Garmin nüvi 660 (Software Ver 4.90), 2021.20 CN NA NT maps | Magellan Meridian Gold
Text in Excel
One thing that has become a habit when working in Excel (and is a good practice) is to change the whole sheets cells format to text and if I need a formula than I change those cells individually!
It's those changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes nothing remains quite the same. With all of our running and all of our cunning, If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane.