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

First let me say thanks for your great program and your contributions to the POI Factory community.

In another thread regararding a discussion about line breaks in the description field, you said this:

Would it be possible for Extra_POI_Editor to have a feature where you could specify the type of line break character(s) you want in the description field when you save the file as a Garmin CSV file. It seems like the choices are CR/LF (HEX 0D0A) LF (HEX 0A) or the HTLM <br> sequence.

Thanks again for your work.

Hi Alandb,

Check v3.71. You can select the preferred line break code in Options->Preferences. I put your choices there: CR/LF (HEX 0D0A) LF (HEX 0A) or the HTLM <br>. I am sure the next step will be to have this in the GPX output, but I decided to start slow and see if it was worth it.

Turbo

Thanks so much for the quick response TurboCCC. I will give it a try tomorrow, but it sounds like exactly what I need. It will save loads of time in changing to the different formats required by different nuvi models.

I tried this out today and I don't think it is working quite right, or at least not as I expected. Here is an example from the AAA American Automobile Association POI file. This file has line feed characters (HEX 0A) separating the lines in the address (description field). Here is a sample line in the file showing [LF] at the locations where the line feed characters are (verified by looking at it with a hex editor):

-91.65925,42.0213,AAA Minnesota/Iowa,"1519 42nd St NE #100[LF]Cedar Rapids, IA 52402[LF]319-393-0400"

To make it display right on my nuvi 755T, I need to change it to this:

-91.65925,42.0213,AAA Minnesota/Iowa,"1519 42nd St NE #100<br>Cedar Rapids, IA 52402<br>319-393-0400"

If I open the file in Extra_POI_Editor V3.71, set the line break preference to HTML <br> and save the file, it changes the line breaks to commas like this:

-91.65925,42.0213,AAA Minnesota/Iowa,"1519 42nd St NE #100,Cedar Rapids, IA 52402,319-393-0400"

Thanks again Turboccc for your work in this program.

Please make the delay configurable or put it back to zero. It drives me crazy!

Thanks for the scroll wheel support. It is very useful! One minor problem - if the window is moved the scroll area coordinates are not updated.

The launch POI Loader feature doesn't work in Windows 7 or Vista because the registry key you check doesn't exist.

The POI Loader key in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Garmin\Applications IS present in all Windows versions (contains the executable name as well as the path) and would work as an alternate test.

I like the delay a lot. It prevents network hiccups when scrolling the list. Don't put it back to 0. ...You could make it configurable to please everyone.

This being said, Turboccc, we can only thank you again for your effort. This is a great tool

Hi Alandb,

Ok. There is a little side effect here.

When you save to a 4-column CSV, I take the information from the preview window (top right) and just replace the line breaks by commas. This ensure consistency from POI created with GPX files (when the address is formed of many fields like address, city, zip, phone, ...) and CSV files (where the address is the 4th column).

My solution to you would be to use the M-Column CSV output format. You will get what you want. One little problem: if the phone is extracted from the address field, you will have it in a separate column. No way to put it back in the 4th column.

I need to think more about this. All was working well until I extracted the phone. Feedback is welcomed.

yes, it drives me crazy too. 3 seconds was better but much too long. 0 second prevent us from using the mouse scroll correctly. It seems that my web browser window takes the focus when the map is updated. I have no workaround for now. Maybe I will make the delay programmable...

As long as you are playing with making the delay programmable by the user, try seeing if you can set a minimum default of 100 ms to keep the mouse scroll working. A range between 0.1 and 3 would probably fit everyone's needs.

v3.72:

* Added map delay in Preferences. It sets the delay before the map is updated.

* Added Start MapSource from the Tools menu or F7 key.

* Now uses the proper registry key to start POI Loader from Vista.

* Mouse position detection now takes the position of the window into account.

Thanks for looking into the line break issue. Sounds like I am better off just sticking with a manual conversion filter to change the line feed characters to html <br> tags.

I am not familiar with the M-column CSV format...will have to do some research on that.

Hi Alan,

Just do a File-Save As and select "M-Column CSV" as the file type. It will save all GPX field to some column.

To specify which GPX field goes to which column, see the CSV Fields in Options. For each CSV column, you can specify a corresponding GPX field.

In the meantime, I will think about your problem. The goal is to make a tool/feature that is usable. I will find a way.

Thanks for v3.72! All the fixes/features work great.

For me, a scroll delay of 0 or 0.1 works best. 0.5 starts to slow down the scrolling.

MapSource is yet another nice addition. Would it be possible to load the current set of waypoints in MapSource similar to how Google Earth loads with the current set of waypoints?

Been playing with this program,
and i must say I love it

Its not so much the interface i like, but the formats it supports - The Garmin extended GPX, google's KML, TOmTOm....the works...

Wish list:

fix the zip code field from dropping leading zero (text vs numeric). The original GPX has the leading zero in the data but it is being dropped when converted to CSV.

If you are using excel the column may be formatted as numeric. It needs to be formatted for zips which make it a fixed 5 digit field and put in the leading zero. Otherwise Excel strips off leading zeros.

Thanks....I should have check the file in notepad first.

It may be possible. How do you want to do it?

1- I save the current editor in a temporary file and open this file in MapSource. If you make any change in MS, you have to save it to a real file.

or

2- I force you to save (if needed) and then I edit the saved file in MapSource.

What is best?

I am asking this because the current file could be a GPX and not all fields can be imported or viewed in MapSource. Also, the current file could be a multi column CSV (> 4 column) and I need to know what need to be edited in MapSource.

I could strip fields (or let MS strip them), but then there is no point in saving back from MapSource.

So, again, what do you want to do in MapSource?

Thanks for doing all the leg work for us.

v3.73

* Added Open in MapSource under Tools to open all loaded POIs in MapSource.

I decided to save the current editor POIs to a temporary file and load this file into MapSource. Any change you make in MapSource will be lost. I did not merge any fields either, so MapSource will decide which information it wants to display.

Cause I've only had my 750 4 months and hadn't found that thread yet......lol.

I may not be explaining it right, and shopping or food may not be the best examples of what I am doing.

But thanks for the link to that thread, it did help!

turboccc,

Thanks again for all your hard work and being so responsive to all of us!

I'm using CSV files.

At this point, I open the merged file and then add the new version of the file. So far, it looks like it puts the new POI's at the end of the CSV file (I tell by the line number). I am assuming a lot here, but I then delete #3472 which is a duplicate of #4387, for example. I never thought of opening the new file first, which if my assumptions are correct, should fix my problem! Call it a blonde moment....lol.

And your response to onestep is exactly why I merge certain files, lol.

enjoy using your software,thanks for your hardwork,your help,and for sharing with us all.its fellow members such as yourself,that makes this site the best.

Hi goldn40,

You could also open the 2 files and use the sort functions in the Tools menu. A sort by name would make any duplicate POI one after the other.

You can also use the Find Duplicates under the Edit menu and this will find all duplicates and offer you to delete them. If you open the new file first and the old one after, you will notice all new POI will be checked (to be kept) and the other one could be deleted easily by clicking the right button.

Not sure if this is of some interest, but my goal is to make a tool that can be used by people like you. If there is anything that I can do, just let me know.

Turbo

**Changes from v3.73 to v3.80**

* Added possibility to have more than one Link for a single POI. MapSource allows also to add more than one link. POILoader asks the first link to be the pointer to a file or directory when present. Second and more links can be anything. Only the first link is checked for image or audio.

Usage: Use the Add button to display a file/folder dialog. Type in anything in the combobox and it will be added at the end of the list. Use the UP and DN button to move the selected link up or down in the list. You cannot edit an existing link. Just overtype and it will be added at the end of the list. Select the old link and click DEL.

Post feedback about this to tell me how you like/hate this interface. Try the one in MapSource first.

* Corrected a problem with links to images starting with "file://".

* Corrected special character coding in Link field.

* Prevented program crash when invalid JPG or link path occurred.

Hi all,

I do not post such beta often, but I added a feature and I want your opinion. I did this in the intend to help Bobkz with his Offbeat Tourist Attractions csv file. I wanted to extract all the states. I realized afterward that some of the adress column were not all in the same format, but it works partly anyways. It worked better on the Mc Donalds file.

v3.81 beta
- Added "Address, City, State" as a CSV field. This take a single CSV column with comma separated fields and split it in distinct address, city and state fields. If there is not at least 3 fields, everything is put in the address field. The same applies for "Address, City, State, Phone", but with 4 fields. If you use M-Column CSV file save, it will create a column with the specified fields comma separated. If one field is missing, I do not insert empty ",,".

An example:

-23.34, -75.23, McDo #1, "123 Peach St, Atlanta, GA"

would lead to:

Address = "123 Peach St"
City = "Atlanta"
State = "GA"

Instead, if you have:

-23.34, -75.23, McDo #1, "123 Peach St, GA"

you will get everything in the address:

Address = "123 Peach St, GA"
City = ""
State = ""

If you export as an M-Column CSV, it will get back to:

-23.34, -75.23, McDo #1, "123 Peach St, GA"

and not:

-23.34, -75.23, McDo #1, "123 Peach St, GA, ,"

Post feedback. Thanks.

Turbo,

I just downloaded this version and linked both a WAV and MP3 to the same file. I'm interested in how it will work as it's now posted as a file update. We'll see if we get any complaints.

It is nice to be able to link multiple files to a GPX.

I am not sure it works that way.

The only thing I am sure is that if you have audio (MP3 or WAV) and image (JPG or BMP), you put both in a directory and link the directory only. It needs to be the first link.

If you want to add a web site, you can add it as a second link.

I have not tried anything else. In fact, I have not tried anything. I have just been told it worked that way.

Please do test and let us know what works.

Turbo

My intent is to link a sound file - either a WAV or MP3 to the entries in the GPX file. as in: >/Dunkin%20Donuts.wav"/>

But I don't know how to have the program load the sound file from the user's directory. I would like to have the GPX and the sound file (either the WAV or MP3) in the same folder as the GPX so when POILoader is run it will link to the file in whatever directory is on the user's machine. What is needed is not an absolute reference to the file location on my machine, but a reference to the file on the user's machine.

I need <> to be a reference to the folder where the GPX file resides on the user's machine. They would then put the sound file (or picture or whatever else was to be linked) into the same folder as the GPX file and POILoader would link them together.

The LINK variable in EPE would only specify the file name and the path variable for the current location of the GPX file would be derived from the user's machine. The path has to reflect wherever the file currently resides. I may have it in MY POI, someone else could have the GPX and sound file in FOOD_POI and the GPX (or POILoader) would pick up that path when the GPI was created.

I know there are methods to determine where files are stored and create the dynamic variable, but it has been so long since I wrote code I'm no longer certain of the syntax.

turboccc,

Thanks so much for all your help! I was doing all of those steps, except opening the new one first, THEN the old. That should fix my problem! I love the program and appreciate all your hard work!

This forum has definitely made getting to know my GPS fun!

Thanks again, and consider the problem solved, hehe.

EPE V3.80& v3.81 bugged. Use v3.82

Sorry about this.

**Changes from v3.82 to v3.83**

* Added an "Open" button for the links in the POI edit window. When possible, the web link, email link or the image/audio links will be open as done in MapSource. These are nice shortcuts!

Hi I tried loading one csv file and after that i clicked file>save as and it is giving options for magellan csv, I thought it should give magellan .mgln files. I am a newbie can you give me suggestion.
By the way your software looks awesome, the moment you click, the map comes up.
thanks

Hi herald9999,

I understand nearly everything in the Magellan file, except one little part which prevents me from saving to this format.

I have not tried to crack this format in a long time. Too bad, though. This format is much more interesting than OV2, but nearly as good as GPX.

If anybody as information about MGLN files, please post it or send me an email. Thanks.

Edit: I tried some more last night and Magellan files are still a pain in the neck...

As per whoaboy's request, I made a few changes to Extra_POI_Editor to help in the line break conversions when saving to CSV files. I should apply this to GPX files as well and the preview window, but this may be coming later.

Here's how to make line break conversions using EPE v3.84:

1- Select the line break you want in the Options-Preferences. You can choose among the proposed choices whoaboy made in his posts. I added "Same as Input" to disable this feature. Remember, this will be the line break character(s) used in the output CSV.

2- You probably want to disable phone number extraction in Options-Preferences if the phone is part of the address field.

3- In Options-CSV Fields, edit the column assignment to Col1=Lon, Col2=Lat, Col3=POI_Name, Col4=Address. You can have more columns if you want, but do not merge columns together. This column assignment will be the same for CSV input and output.

4- Open your CSV file in File-Open.

5- Do a "Save As" (very important) and select "M-Column CSV" file type and type your filename. Use the down arrow to select the proper output file type.

If you select 4-Column CSV rather than M-Column CSV, you will see that all line breaks are gone. Do not use that one for now. It should only be used when converting from GPX to basic 4-column CSV.

Feedback is important. It tells me if the program does what you want it to do.

I've been trying to create my first POI file and have been trying out this tool. I really like the layout since I own a Garmin too. I thought the POI Edit window would be handy for fine tuning coordinates. When I double click on a waypoint and it opens the POI Edit window, I see a google map but I don't see the street view icon. Is there a way to add Google Street View to this map? Sometimes when using the satellite from above, all the buildings look the same so having street view would make it easier adjusting coordinates.

Thanks for all the work on this program. Looks great.

**Changes from v3.84 to v3.90**

* Added geocoding for City, State and Postcode when not present. Fields filled with geocoding information will be marked with an * to highlight them. Warning: Sometimes, massive geocoding may crash the EPE application. I need to check this.

* Added automatic State+Postcode extraction from address field when reading CSV. This feature can be disabled in the Preferences. Works for US and Canada only for now.

* Improved automatic phone number detection and separation.

I have another anomaly for you to look into.

I have a folder - POI - that sits on my desktop. This is the folder I use for files to be loaded using POILoader. This folder also contains alert sounds and icons - pretty standard.

I have a second folder under My Documents called POI Source Files. This is where I usually build the input data for both CSV and GPX files. Also pretty standard as an input file could be spread over several worksheets if I working with states.

Once I build the final file by combining all the pieces, I want to output a GPX with a link to both the alert sound and Icon fromthe folder on my desktop. Under 3.84 and earlier (and I assume 3.9) you cannot browse to the actual alert files as they are in a different folder. If I copy the file to the POI folder on my desktop, then I can link the alert and icon.

It's not a big thing, there is a work-around but being able to browse to a folder structure outside the current folder set would be nice.

Get it! I fixed some bugs.

**Changes from v3.90 to v3.91**

* Added a parameter in the Preferences to add prefix character(s) used to fields that were geocoded. This is intended for validation by the POI owner. Just clear this box and the geocoded fields will have no prefix.

* Modified the address field in the POI Edit window to make it multi-line. It becomes easier to play with the line breaks.

* Reversed the "polarity" for the Phone, State and postcode automatic extraction in the Preferences. Some people prefer not to alter anything by default.

* A couple bug fixes introduced in the last few versions. Some improvements as well.

@a_user: I need to read your comment again. Too late for mew to think straight.

Request #1:

Is there a way to shut off the time stamp
ex: 2009-08-07T19:51:57Z

I dont mind the time stamp at the file level in the Gpx but I want to turn it off at the entry level.

Every entry that is updated gets a new time stamp record included.

Request #2:

Add NEXT/PREV buttons to the DB entry form. I would like to move to the next/prev record without having to go back to the main 4 screen page.

Thank you for your time/efforts (these are just suggestions).

Version 391

... (and others) if there are tracks in the GPX file being MERGE-OPENed the last POI name being merged is replaced by "ACTIVE LOG: xx XXX xxxx yy:yy" with xx XXX xxxx yy:yy being a date and time.

Keep up the great work!!!

@Panache,

I think I got it. The problem was happening with tracks or routes when present in the GPX file. Not only with Merge Open.

I also corrected a problem introduced with v3.81+ which was causing Current.gpx (Favorites) from being read correctly.

Hi DRMCMTR,

1- I have no problem disabling the timestamp for a POI, but can you tell me why this is a problem? Also, do you want me to remove the POI timestamp or just not update it? Still, why? why? why? Thanks.

2- Good idea. I think somebody else already asked me this in the past. I probably turned him down because of the amount of work to do. I will check again.

This is a beta link for those who wants to try some new features and most of the requests I got in the last few days.

http://turboccc.wikispaces.com/file/view/Extra_POI_Editor+V4...

- 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.

- Added navigation buttons in POI Edit window to view previous and next POI.

- Added line break configuration in Preferences for GPX file output.

- Renamed previous "Batch Geocoding" to "Batch Reverse Geocoding" which fits what it does.

- Added Batch Geocoding in Tools. It will scan all POIs *without* lon/lat and try to find a match using the address information.

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

- Added CSV Field "State PostCode" to contain both the state and post code separated by a space character. This is a neat way to solve the problem of a post code starting with a 0 (ex. 08423) which gets removed in a CSV file (ex. 8423).

- Corrected the header issue in M-Column CSV file save when a column was unused.

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

- Corrected a problem when reading a GPX with tracks or routes and last POI was getting corrupted.

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

- Renamed "Batch Geocoding" to "Batch Reverse Geocoding" which fits what it does.

- Other minor fixes.

YOU DA MAN

Will be happy to do some testing for you this weekend.

I often compare the old version of a gpx/csv to the new version to see what has changed. When using your tool to update the gpx it adds the updated time stamp which appears as a change on the compare.

I do like the fact that you update the file/header time stamp but I would like to turn it off at the detail/entry level.

My preference (if you care...HAHAHA) is if you can add 2 more options on the GPX pref.

a) on/off - time stamp at file/header level
b) on/off - time stamp at entry/detail level

I am sure some people like the time stamp at a detail level and would like to keep it. If you add the on/off option then everyone wins.

In my opinion, Gpx tags/elements should be kept to a min (only what is required/necessary).

Thanks for all of your efforts. I am just tring to improve a great tool you have built.

-- DRMCMTR

Hi DRMCMTR,

I get it. Thanks for your input. I put it on my TODO list.

In the meantime, I am using the last features in EPE to create a POI file for Friendly's restaurants. There is one on POI Factory, but half are missing. I discovered Friendly's while going on vacations. Really good with kids.

Here are my tricks:

1- Hack their script to give me 99 POIs instead of only 3 or 5.
2- Grab everything and paste in Excel. Do a couple lookup and re-ordering automatically. This gives me POI Name, Address, City+State+PostCode and Phone columns.
3- Repeat step 1 & 2 until I get all restaurants. Save as CSV.
4- Open the CSV in EPE using the M-Column Fields. I now have everything in their fields including City, State and PostCode in their own separate field.
5- I use Batch Geocoding to get all the coordinates. I check manually the suspicious coordinates from the report.
6- I remove duplicates using EPE.
7- I save to GPX and to a 4-Column CSV to match the original POI file.

I did this in less than one hour. The only flaw is the geocoding, but it is a great start for anybody wanting to start a POI file. I guess I will have to write a guide for newbies to do the same.

Turbo

Hi DRMCMTR,

A added your preferences for the GPX timestamp in v4.01.

Turbo