Extra_POI_Editor - A tool to View/Edit/Convert POI/TourGuides (Part 1)

 

Well, I guess it's time I start an official thread about Extra_POI_Editor at POI Factory.

It does too many things for me to explain in a short post, so let's say it will allow you to view, edit and convert (new!) any GPX/CSV/OV2/JPG/KML/MGLN POI file to GPX/CSV/OV2/KML. Yes! Geocoded JPG can be imported too!

* There are preview windows specially designed to simulate a 4.3" widescreen GPS like a nuvi 760, but the program will work for other GPS; the display in the program will not match exactly the non-widescreen GPS.

* The tool will allow you to see the POIs on a map. You can drag also the marker on the map and update the new coordinate. This is very cool to fine tune the POI location.

* You can also preview linked images and sound files used in TourGuides.

* EPE can do batch geocoding and reverse geocoding. It has special filters to extract State, Postcode, Phone and more. You can create custom column formats for your CSV files input and output, ...

* You can open POI Loader, MapSource or GoogleEarth directly from EPE to see all POIs on the map.

This is it for now. It does more than that and will probably do more later. Please post your comments and suggestions here.

Turbo.

Oh yeah! For those who do not know, the download link is here:

http://turboccc.wikispaces.com/Extra_POI_Editor

If you find something missing, just post your requests. I will see what I can do.

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EPE v4.01

Hi all,

This version gets me very excited. Many things have been added and improved. I will just highligh here some of them:

* Added new field type (Address | City State PostCode | Phone) in M-Column CSV for loading CSV files. Improved also field separation when complex field types are used. Note: The | (pipe) character above means a line break separation. For example:

123 Main Street
Las Vegas NV 76019
612-342-3545

will be separated each in their own GPX field. Isn't it nice? Also, if you have more crap after the third line, it will be extracted and put in the description field.

* Added "4-Column CSV" in "Options" and "File->Save As". It is now possible to format exactly what you want in the 3rd and 4th columns. Very powerful and unique to EPE. See Options->4-Column CSV for moe informations. For example, you can easily create a 4th column like this:

123 Main Street
Las Vegas NV 76019
612-342-3545

* Corrected a major memory leak causing EPE to jam if the POI Edit window is opened and closed often. Update from any previous version to 4.01 is mandatory.

* (Request) Added a startup path in Preferences. This path will be used for the first File->Open. If the path is left empty, the first open will be in the EPE application forder.

* (Request) Added a Preferences to indicate if the GPX timestamps should be written for each POI, at the file level only or not at all.

* (Request) Added a Preferences to disable all internet activity for computers w/o internet.

* (Request) Added navigation buttons in POI Edit window to view previous and next POI.

* (Request) Added line break configuration in Preferences for GPX file output.

* (request) Added Batch Geocoding in Tools. It will scan all POIs *without* lon/lat and try to find a match using the address information. A report log will appear if some entries could not be geocoded.

* (Request) Better handling of invalid CSV entries. Now it is possible to accept POI without lon/lat coordinates and do a Geocoding requests.

* (Request) Treat the | (pipe) character as a line break in the Preview & More windows.

* Corrected a problem introduced lately with v3.81+ when reading Current.gpx (Favorites)

* Other minor fixes.

Thanks turboccc

Looks like you need to correct the download link for 4.01 on your wiki -- the text is ok but the link is pulling 3.91

--
Expect nothing!, appreciate benignity!

Link to v4.01 corrected!

Sorry for that. The link on the EPE page is corrected. It was ok on the Download page.

Have fun!

EPE v4.02

Some minor improvements, but still new features you requested.

**Changes from v4.01 to v4.02**

* Added CSV field "Address, City, State PostCode, Phone" for M-Column CSV import.

* (Request) Added PostCode field to Geocoding request in the POI Edit window.

* (Request) Added File->Open Garmin Favorites. This should open your Current.gpx file directly on your GPS assuming this one is connected with the USB. You can save back after making changes. Remember that you cannot delete any POI. Just add or modify them. Sometimes, your GPS may create a duplicate of a POI if you change it too much. Just delete the old POI manually.

* Corrected a problem where the first POI in a GPX file could not be read into EPE.

Wow

Gone for a few weeks and look what you have done. Think when I went on vacation I had the newest v3.6? and you have gone to 4.02 with and internet off/on option. Thank You turbocc for your great work.

--
Looking for a place to go this summer? Try Oshkosh, WI, July 20-26, 2015. The largest gathering of aircraft in the world. http://www.airventure.org/index.html

Proximity problems

Turbo,

I'm having problems with proximity alerts. My preference options are edit, file input and GPX are all set to Imperial.

Load in the Rest Area POI using a standard 4 column mask.

DO A [CTL]R to invoke Replace Field and select Proximity
Enter 5000 - as in Feet. Check a couple other rest areas to be certain the Proximity is set. Save the file as a GPX.

My alert is going off at 5 Km not 1524 meters. Same issue with the Red Light cameras. Same procedure, distance set to 650 and the alert goes off at 2132 feet or 650 meters. I'm using an 885 with the latest Garmin software/firmware and POI Loader and EPE 4.01.

Next question: Speed settings

The speed camera CSV file is modified to have those cameras with a speed listed set to alert at that speed by adding an @ before the digits. In this instance, the first camera in the listing shows an @65 in column C.

If I load the camera file using EPE after setting the speed alert, and using the same procedure as for RLC, EPE puts an @25 in each record which I wanted as a default speed. The question is how does EPE handle a speed setting? If if just rename the CSV to Speed-Camera 25.CSV, the alert sounds at 25 MPH if there is no speed set for a camera with an @.

I do not want to convert the file to a GPX at this time as I am afraid the @[MPH Speed] will be converted to Km when processed by POILoader.

--
ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

a_user. I had the same

a_user.

I had the same problem with setting the distance for my rest stops in ft.You have to have editor set for imperial,file read metric and file save metric.The output will be in ft for the gpx file if that is what you are after.

--
Charlie. Nuvi 265 WT and Nuvi 2597 LMT. MapFactor Navigator - Offline Maps & GPS.

Imperial vs metric

You are correct. POI Loader works in metric by default. This means you should keep the output units in metric.

As for the editor, let do this one because it is easy: you want them to be displayed in metric, select metric. If you want them to be displayed in Imperial/US, select it. This unit system is only to display numbers in the editor.

A for the input units, this may depend. In GPX, nearly everything is in metric. If you input GPS file, you should set the units to Metric. As for CSV, I guess this depends: some files are in metric, others are in Imperial/US. This is why I provided a configuration in the Preferences.

As Charles said, the best course of action is to set the editor in Imperial/US and the file input/output to Metric. This is a good place to start.

I apologize for making this complicated. I thought I would solve all problems by being more flexible.

Turbo

FOUND IT!

After some careful searching I found an old POI.GPI that needed to be deleted. This was the source of the problem. Just ran the simulation again and the RLC alert went off about 600+ feet from the intersection.

Now on to cleaning up other artifacts on this unit. It is not the easiest to manage. Much more difficult than my old Nuvi 200 as it did a fresh boot every time it powered up.

--
ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

It makes my head spin to

It makes my head spin to whatch how fast you whip up these changes and additions and realease a new version!

Thanks so much.

Updates...

Well, I was on vacations lately. Now, updates should be less frequent. Also, I am getting out of clever ideas. Still, there are lots of requests I did not implement yet.

There is one thing that I really want to do is to make life easier for all those of you who try to start or maintain POI databases. Adding the 4-Column CSV formatting ,the multi-line/multi-field extraction from one CSV column and the batch geocoding all go into that line of thinking.

Feel free to post anything that would make your life simpler.

Turbo

Google Street View

Adding Google Street View would be a big help for me. In the POI Edit, is it possible to add Google Street View to the Google map? The address file I got from one company has no zips and lots of misspellings. As a result, the geodecoder had a lot of trouble so I'm going through them and fine tuning them using Google Street View. Having it all in one program would be nice. Thanks for all the work on this program.

.

Yes, I remember that one. I spent some time trying to enable it, but I did not find how to do it. I need to read more about it.

I Second That Motion

turboccc wrote:

Yes, I remember that one. I spent some time trying to enable it, but I did not find how to do it. I need to read more about it.

I would probably use that ability as well. Right now I am geocoding some store locations and would love to be able to fine tune the coordinates from within one program using the aerial view. Right now, I am doing a lot of Alt-Tab to switch between IE, Notepad and GE.

--
Tampa, FL - Garmin nüvi 660 (Software Ver 4.90), 2021.20 CN NA NT maps | Magellan Meridian Gold

We had our chance in 1975 go metric with the rest of the world

turboccc wrote:

You are correct. POI Loader works in metric by default. This means you should keep the output units in metric.

As for the editor, let do this one because it is easy: you want them to be displayed in metric, select metric. If you want them to be displayed in Imperial/US, select it. This unit system is only to display numbers in the editor.

A for the input units, this may depend. In GPX, nearly everything is in metric. If you input GPS file, you should set the units to Metric. As for CSV, I guess this depends: some files are in metric, others are in Imperial/US. This is why I provided a configuration in the Preferences.

Turbo

I think it finally sunk in, at least it looks correct now when I open the .gpx file in MapSource. I'm in the US, so I want the displays to be Imperial... But the value I want to input into the Proximity field is metric, is that correct? I entered 1610 to get a 1 mile warning and it seems to be okay. Thanks for the additional explanation, was thinking my yardstick had turned into a rubber band! grin

--
"There's no substitute for local knowledge" nüvi 750, nüvi 3597

Thanks.

turboccc wrote:

Yes, I remember that one. I spent some time trying to enable it, but I did not find how to do it. I need to read more about it.

Thanks, turboccc. I hope you get it to work.

Streetview

Second day: getting closer.

Thanks

Love the program - thanks for all the hard work you put in for all of us.

--
vshigeru

dogtown commons, cape ann, ma

I have a book which gives the coordinates of a place called, "dogtown commons." The place is a wooded area with trails and interesting engraved rocks and stone cellars and each is described in this book giving lat and long coordinates. There are no vehicular roads, only trails. Could One (I?) make these coordinates into a poi that when loaded into my garmin g-2 would be usable on my bicycle to get from point to point? I am not familiar with street gps use off-road or even if one could use one off-road. Not sure how this would work. Any expert advice or suggestions?

--
Garmin Nuvi 1350, Garmin Nuvi 1490T(X2) Garmin Nuvi 1450T

What you are really trying to do

riggs point wrote:

I have a book which gives the coordinates of a place called, "dogtown commons." The place is a wooded area with trails and interesting engraved rocks and stone cellars and each is described in this book giving lat and long coordinates. There are no vehicular roads, only trails. Could One (I?) make these coordinates into a poi that when loaded into my garmin g-2 would be usable on my bicycle to get from point to point? I am not familiar with street gps use off-road or even if one could use one off-road. Not sure how this would work. Any expert advice or suggestions?

From the question, you are really describing routes and building the routes into a tourguide that can be used while on a bicycle. You can build the route using EPE, it realy is a set of POI or waypoints in the order you need to visit them. Your device needs to be able to accept a route otherwise it will just display the waypoints as a POI location and not direct you to them.

Working with trails is different than roads, your map needs to display the trail, or your waypoints need to be close enough together that you can see and follow the trail by following the directions. Your "road" unit will probably not route on the trails even in "off road" mode, but it will in off road tell you to go to the next waypoint.

--
ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

Most would

The Garmin Nuvi line of auto gps models all have an off road or pedestrian mode which could be what your looking for.

--
Nuvi 350, 760, 1695LM, 3790LMT, 2460LMT, 3597LMTHD, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, DriveSmart 61, Garmin Drive 52, Garmin Backup Camera 40 and TomTom XXL540s.

dogtown commons, cape ann, ma

I found a gpx file that's supposed to have gps- friendly coordinate locations of dogtown in gloucester, MA. I can't open it with my older mac (which has been fine with opening csv poi-s that open in excel and can be saved into my poi folder.)

We're on vacation and I took my Powerbook Pismo with me and don't have my Athlon PC which is at home in California. I do have a Garmin g-2, 205W and Street Pilot 320 with me and I'll be leaving the G-2 and 320 here in Massachusetts for next summer.

thanks for the replies, a_user and T923...
Steve (Riggs Point)

--
Garmin Nuvi 1350, Garmin Nuvi 1490T(X2) Garmin Nuvi 1450T

dogtown commons, cape ann, ma

GPX file are XML and can be opened in a text editor.

--
ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

Turboccc, Thanks for the

Turboccc,

Thanks for the updates. I will download the latest version and see what I can break. You have a great tool....Keep up the great work.

-- DRMCMTR

--
Garmin Nüvi 650, 255WT

3.5" Screenshot requested!

Hi all,

I can improve EPE and provide a preview for 3.5" GPS display. As you know, I have only a 760 with a 4.3" display. If some of you could provide some screen shots in your Extra folder (not in your Favorites for now).

I need especially the POI List window (top left), the Preview window (top right) and More page (bottom right).

Please provide different examples with short and long lines.

Do not forget to include in your email your GPS model as a reference. I am looking for Nuvi models for now.

Thanks,

Turbo

3.5" Screenshots

Hi again,

I posted a POI file here:

http://turboccc.wikispaces.com/file/detail/3.5_inch_gps_disp...

If you just use POI Loader to load it on your GPS and take some screen shots of what you are seeing, I would appreciate a lot. You should have 18 screenshots to take: 2 for the list of POI, 8 for the preview screen and 8 for the more page (if applicable)

Thanks for the help. I am doing this for you.

3.5_inch_gps_display - for Nuvi 255

Can't seem to locate a direct email address to send them to you so put them here:

http://www.easy-share.com/1907452854/Nuvi255_3.5_inch_gps_di...

I hope i got all the shots that you wanted smile

--
Expect nothing!, appreciate benignity!

@ Kwibbly

This is perfect. I can get them from there. Did you include your GPS model in the file? (I am still downloading...)

Thanks for your help.

Turbo

Yes,, in the filename

turboccc wrote:

Did you include your GPS model in the file?

I put the Model # in the RAR filename. -->Nuvi255

--
Expect nothing!, appreciate benignity!

Would love to have it,

Would love to have it, thanks

Nuvi 255 Preview

Half done. Font sizes are giving me a hard time... smile

newbe at this

thanks, i'll give it a try

.

Good. I need feedback. I should be done tonight once the kids are in bed... LOL!

Screenshots for 3.5" GPS

Oh! Man! I made a mistake. the gpx file I posted a couple post above has a number in it: 3.5_inch_gps_display.gpx

Big mistake. Can someone rename it to something with no numbers in them. Like: small_gps_display.gpx

I need only one screen shot to see if the "Alert Information" will get away and what will be displayed instead. I assume all will go away.

Ok redid the screenshots for my Nuvi 255

--
Expect nothing!, appreciate benignity!

screenshots for the Nuvi 255

Hi Kwibbly,

Thank you very much. I appreciate the time you spent doing this. Much appreciated.

This is very interesting. There is one POI ("This is a very long POI Name with wraparound on 2 lines") that does not show the address anymore. I wonder what goes in Garmin's head sometimes... sad So far, EPE does not look at numbers in the POI name to simulate the display.

In the previous version, I know where the 3 mph is coming from, but not the 0.2 mi distance. It could be a default number...

Well. Some work ahead...

EPE V4.05

Coming soon in v4.10: Nuvi255 preview.

**Changes from v4.04 to v4.05**

* Improved the categories (added categories from MapSource and those from the input file to the drop down in the POI Edit window).

* Restored categories read from Magellan files in category field.

* Corrected a problem when geocoding and an apartment number was present in the address.

**Changes from v4.03 to v4.04**

* Added some missing complex fields in M-Column CSV File Save.

* Decided to force separators in complex field formatting in M-Column CSV File Save even if some fields are missing. For "Address, City, State" it could lead to ", , " if M-Column CSV output if all 3 fields are missing. Previously, it would have lead to "". I did this because when you have partial fields like "123 Main St, , CA", you can still decode it afterward.

* Improved address parsing for geocoding.

* Other minor changes.

Extra_poi_editor no show

Hi.

I've just downloaded Extra and when I attempt to open it instead I get the following message: "Component 'RICHTX32.ocx' or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid".

I have no idea what this means, nor do I know how to proceed to correct the problem. Please help.

Search is your friend.

Geoff4U wrote:

Hi.

I've just downloaded Extra and when I attempt to open it instead I get the following message: "Component 'RICHTX32.ocx' or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid".

I have no idea what this means, nor do I know how to proceed to correct the problem. Please help.

Try running a search on this site for your error. 'RICHTX32.ocx'

--
Nuvi 3790LMT, Nuvi 760 Lifetime map, Lifetime NavTraffic, Garmin E-Trex Legend Just because "Everyone" drives badly does not mean you have to.

Read this too!

Solution here:

http://turboccc.wikispaces.com/Extra_POI_Editor#toc6

Use the installer, then copy the latest version (v4.05) over the installed copy (v4.02). All will be fine.

EPE v4.07

Oups! Some minor bugs were left:

**Changes from v4.05 to v4.07**

* Corrected (again) a problem when geocoding and an apartment number was present in the address.

* Corrected a bug preventing EPE from terminating when images were enabled and maps disabled.

* Corrected a symbol lookup problem with 3 symbols. For example, "Gas Station" was pointing to an anchor. Symbol names were ok. Just a picture issue.

Thank you

Thank you gr88 job

Turbo...

I want to tell you, I have been using your program to help me do all the updates that I have been doing. I am not using all of your fancy stuff YET, Just the normal CVS file right now.. Once I get my file all updateded and stuff I want to change it to have the information where you intend it to be. I might be getting you to help me out with that since right now my file will be over 4000 lines of places.

I still wish there was a way to split my files by state (or any other manaer that I may wish)

BTW I tried to run the geocoding and was reported back that I ran out of time and to purchase the professional version.. I am also starting to find bugs in the software and will start reporting them to you if you like. I need to save my cvs file every so offen or else I lose everything thhat i import and need to start over due to your program shutting down on its own with no error.

I will email you more information with this info. I also will be using your software for all my other stuff that I am about to create..

I just want you to know that your hard work is very much appreceated bugs and all.. I can not yell and screm if your program MIGHT fail once or twice since your doing this for free and do love to help us all.

I need you to know that I applaude your hard work and it is beeing used!

Thank you VERY much.. Your program is making it much easiier to update my poi files!!

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!

Bob

--
Bobkz - Garmin Nuvi 3597LMTHD/2455LMT/C530/C580- "Pain Is Fear Leaving The Body - Semper Fidelis"

bobkz

Hi Bobkz,

Thanks for the feedback. Just a couple comments:

If you get a geocoding error, it is not to get a professional version of EPE, but to buy a commercial license from the geocoder company because you made more than 5000 (or something like that - read the pop-up message again) geocoding requests in an hour. Just wait for the hour to complete and you can continue.

Please do report any bugs you find. I have never experienced any program crash without notice. If you can reproduce this at will, let me know how and I will correct the issue. It is very frustrating to lose any work you did. I am not working with big files like you often. This could be the problem.

EPE is free with no limitation, and I intend it to work on it until it is fully reliable and complete.

Please do post/email me any issue you have. I will take care of them. I also help people in splitting the 4th column into the different address components.

Thanks,

Turbo

Bulk edits & sorts, etc.

bobkz wrote:

[snip]...
I still wish there was a way to split my files by state (or any other manaer that I may wish)
...[snip]
Bob

Bob, manipulating large POI files (bulk sorting, deleting, etc by various criteria) is why I use a spreadsheet in combination with Turbo's program.

If you have Excel I made an add-in that has a couple of bells & whistles to help with some POI file specific issues like some line break conversions, speed alert conversions, and it will launch Turbo's program with your edited file right from Excel.

Haven't updated it in a while, but it's here:
http://gpspois.wikispaces.com/

--
It's about the Line- If a line can be drawn between the powers granted and the rights retained, it would seem to be the same thing, whether the latter be secured by declaring that they shall not be abridged, or that the former shall not be extended.

File splitting

bobkz wrote:

[...]I still wish there was a way to split my files by state (or any other manaer that I may wish)
[...]
Bob

Oh yeah! I forgot about this one. I need some major work, but is is not impossible to do.

EPE crashes with reverse geocoder

Hi Bobkz,

Using your 4000+ POI file, I ran the reverse geocoder and made EPE crashed. Yes, this is a known issue. I posted it when I first released the reverse geocoder. I am not sure it has something to do with the reverse geocoder itself, but something makes the program crash. It is not a memory leak. Maybe a memory fragmentation.

My recommendation is to let reverse geocoder run for less than 1000 POI. Then stop it by clicking on the red X. You may have to click a lot to stop it because the CPU is busy. Then save your result and continue afterward. At least, you will not lose everything.

I am in the process of splitting your file into different columns. This will save you the trouble until I find the crashing issue.

GARMIN MAP SYMBOLS

I was really excited about downloading POI Editor...
...unfortunately it's for PC (and haven't used one in almost 15 years)

I only use Apple Macs and I am desperate to upload some new 'MAP SYMBOLS'
to my Garmin.

I know how to navigate through the menu and select "Change Map Symbol" etc., but there aren't many really cool or useful !!
(the existing one's are poor and/or not enough.)

like many others, I also would like to add more symbols for destinations I use like Soccer, Scooter, Train, Ferry, Boat etc. etc..

I wish I could just 'drag and drop' them into a folder when I connect my Garmin to my Mac via USB (as I did successfully with other files).

Any help RE this, is greatly appreciated.

Also, is possible to have a feature on this blog, to enable me being notified automatically when I get a response? – Thanks.

Cheers,
RV

Symbols

Yes, there are not many symbols. I used to have all MapSource symbols, but they are not compatible with most GPS. The gps will show them simply as "Waypoint"s. Good job Garmin!

Here are your options:

1- Although the list is small in the drop down, you can type any symbol name you like in the box and the program will keep it. So if you want a symbol call "Soccer", just type it and you are done.

2- I can offer a checkbox in the Preferences allowing you to see all MapSource symbols. So the drop down box will offer many more cool choices. If you download this to your GPS, there is a chance many of them will revert to a "Waypoint" symbol but it will depend on your GPS model.

Symbols, MapSource...???

I was really excited about downloading MapSource...
...unfortunately it's for PC too (and haven't used one in almost 15 years)

I only use Apple Macs and not sure how to do it!?

I seem to understand now I need to create custom POI.
But how do I create .csv files?

Thanks,
RV

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