Bing (Live.com) exports GPX files

Wow
now that sounds incredibly useful...

I beleive you can do that with google earth, but not google maps. (correct me if i;m wrong there)

Sounds like MS is actually ahead of the game for once

I tried Bing maps with my nüvi 650. It requires you to plug the GPS into a computer with the Garmin Communicator installed. It then adds the waypoints to your Favorites (which are in the file Garmin>gpx>current.gpx).

Since my nüvi does not permit multiple waypoints I have to enter the second waypoint first, then add the first waypoint as a Via. Alternatively, you could just set a course for the next waypoint, then go to the next one when you arrive or are getting near.

This does aid in helping the GPS avoid routes you would rather not take. For example, from Philadelphia to Maine the GPS wants to take me across New York City which is almost never a good idea. It may be shorter but is likely to be jammed. I set waypoints for Danbury, CT and Worcester, MA to create waypoints away from NYC.

The Bing GPS export seems like a useful feature to me. I look forward to laying in waypoints for other trips I plan.

Open your collections and select a particular collection. Then click "Actions".

Move your mouse to the next lower selection below "Send", which is "Export".

You will then see "KML", "GPX", and "GeoRSS" as the three options. Selecting GPX will create a file on your computer for you to edit or load.

Because they can update their scripts at any time, it's not a one-and-done deal with web capabilities. They clearly added this since you last checked. This applies to the other mapping sites as well. It's an arms race.

If you're reading this message 6 months from now their menu tree might even be different.

Gonna have to try this.

Thanks. I found the export option but I still have a problem. How do I get the results of a direction/routing request into My Collections in order to export?

Thanx I will have to check it out.

I don't know. Bing doesn't do trip routing AFAIK.

I just want a quick and easy way to get the points on the web onto my computer. Then I can do whatever I want with them, including to let the GPS route via those very same waypoints.

As much as I love to hate Micro$oft, this is a huge feature for them. Bastards!

It would be better to first check out the feature. I have exported routes from Bing to the GPSr on many occasions especially when I want to take particular routes that Garmin wants me to take.
It is much easier with MSN Direct since it is sent over the air to my receiver.

I see that the Bing maps have the ability create a collection. What I can't figure out is how to add a point from a map to a collection. I can find no links or buttons that would let me do this. I see you can export to a GPX file but how do I get the waypoints into a collection???

To add a waypoint to Bing maps, first save yourself a headache and log in or create an account and login.

Now that you're logged in, find the exact point on the map and right-click, then select "Add a pushpin"; this sounds like a holdover from Microsoft's Streets and Trips program and even earlier software that used the term 'pushpin'.

I have discovered that the tip of the middle finger in the little hand pointer icon is where the pushpin will go.

The popup dialog box will offer a dropdown listbox of existing collections as well as the Unsaved collection, which is where newbies will put their first pushpins.

I just discovered that whatever you type in the Notes field on Bing maps exports to the Description field in the resulting GPX file, so you can really trick out these waypoints.

Once you have one or more collections you can then make one collection active in order to Export it to GPX.

Adding pushpins to a collection worked. I created a route with multiple waypoints first then hovered the pushpin over each waypoint. A small map pops up that shows where it wants to place the pushpin. If there are turns involved around the waypoint (such as directions into a city) you can select previous or next turns to place it where you want it.

After exporting the GPX file I got "invalid file" errors when trying to load it using POI Loader. I ran the file through the converter at GPSverifier.com. The GPX file it generated did load on my nuvi.

These are pretty primitive GPX files from Bing maps. If I can ever claim 5 minutes to myself uninterrupted on this trip I will license GeePeeEx editor and load the exported Bing GPX into that, then add alert sounds and comments as needed.

I suppose other GPX prettifier programs would do similar work as well.

I still think the best part of this is that you have the exact same waypoints on the web as on your GPS sensor. Pretty neat-o!

Extra POI Editor. It will do the same things and cost you only bandwidth.

I tried Extra_POI_editor and chose to do it the old fashioned way.

It's clear that the author put a lot of time into developing it and improving it, but it's not ready for prime time.

It's a good thing that I had only edited one waypoint because I would have been really irritated if it had crashed after a lot of work had gone into waypoints.

I wouldn't expect hitting a letter to start an incremental search on the Symbol listbox would throw an 'index out of range' exception.

I have used it successfully to verify my hand-edited GPX files, so the maps and sound player are nice for that.

I gave the wrong URL before. GPSvisualizer is an online tool that can take a Bing gpx file and fix it to work on the nüvi. Just upload the Bing generated file and have GPSvisualizer export it as a gpx file. Works great and there is no software to install.

http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/convert?convert_output=gpx&unit...