GPI File not recognized - Help!

They're not encrypted - they're just a GPI variant that no-one has fully reverse-engineered. Garmin's GPI_Viewer utility can read them - but it has no export/conversion function.

I'm surprised this data doesn't already exist elsewhere, in other formats...

You may want to check out 'POI Editor' at
http://garmin.gps-data-team.com/poi_manager.php

It has an option to read gpi files and save it as csv. It works in a (poor) fashion, depending on the number of fields.

RT

Bummer - looks like Phil is right about not being able to reverse-engineer these particular GPI files yet. I tried RT's suggestion of inputting the files in POI-Edit and POI-Manager - but the format wasn't recognized. Thank you both for the scoop & suggestions - even if it wasn't the answer I was hoping for!

I checked Google Earth for the availability of similar data, but I didn't see any 2008 Olympic data that looked as complete as this one. Please let me know if you happen to come across any. Thanks again.

I wonder if the file wasn't encrypted in some form. At least two other website forms are complaining about Garmin encrypting their files.

Another reason I suspect encryption is I created a csv file and used 'POI Loader' to create a gpi file. I then used the above mentioned 'POI Editor' to convert it back to a csv. It worked as long as there were only 3 fields and the third field did not contain a comma. So it works in some fashion on other non-encrypted gpi files.

I wanted to try the file you mentioned above, but it appears to no longer be available.

RT

I just converted some gpi files using visualizer at http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/convert

Are you converting GPX? Maybe I missed it but I didn't see any GPI conversion with gpsvisualizer.com.

RT

Encryption can be applied to .GPI files, but AFAIK, you then need a matching .UNL file (matched to your unit or SD card ID). In other words, it's a very similar scheme to the way maps work.

In other cases where you can download encrypted .GPI files from the Garmin website (eg their own 'Safety Camera database'), it generates the matching .UNL file as part of the download mechanism.

This encryption mechanism is used for commercially available 'Travel Guides', including those created by Garmin's GPI Creator (which is part of the Content Toolkit).

My reason for saying that the 'Olympics' .GPI isn't encrypted, is that it's readable by a Garmin Unit without a .UNL file. Also, the Garmin GPI_Viewer that I mentioned earlier, isn't capable of reading encrypted .GPIs, but it can read these.

I converted a gpi file to csv using visualizer.Just go to the site and put the file you want to convert in browse selection and scroll down until you see Plain text delimiter: and put check mark in comma.Go back up and click convert.

Thanks, charlesd45. Works great!

RT

Garmin files are not encrypted. They are stored in XML (eXtended Markup Language), but they are stored in a binary file, instead of the usual ASCII format. At least my 660 stores them that way. ASCII basically is text with End Of Line characters and a binary file looks like one continous line - that's a very simple explanation.

It's their own version of XML though. Open a file up with a text editor like Notepad and you will see text that looks like HTML, but it's not. You will even find the name of the original file in there (minus the ".csv").

I can tell you converting gpi files is crzay hard. There is no quick fast answer. However if you make a new folder (name the folder extras) put the gpi file into the folder then copy the folder with the file in it to your garmin. Remove the garmin from the computer goto where to, extras, custom pois and there your files will be.

Did you realize you were responding to a 2 year old topic? A lot of the information is no longer relevant or has been superseded.

So never answear!