CRACKER BARREL using "TourGuide" (w/ .wav & .bmp) for a 2 mile away alert "if" I want to stop
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 14 years
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I need a lesson and some advice! I'm full of questions...
Here is what I want to do: I want the CRACKER BARREL POI to alert me from 2 miles away as I travel close-by on the Interstate highways (but not on the actual address road of the restaurants). I also want to use a .wav file for the alert notice. And the .bmp icon if possible.
As I travel on the Interstate highway I want the "option" to stop at various Cracker Barrel restaurants nearby my travel route. And I want to be alerted a couple miles down the road before needing to exit off the Interstate "if" I do choose to stop. I will be using a Garmin Nuvi 255.
This is what I think I need to use: I think I need to use "TourGuide" for this alert because I will need a radius distance (around the restaurants' locations) to trigger the alert. Of course since my planned travel will not have me traveling the "same road" as the restaurants are located I would not get an alert using any of the other alert methods, e.g. keywords or codes.
I believe (not sure) that the POI must be .gpx format to use the "TourGuide" alert method, however I have read that .csv formats can also be used with "TourGuide" in the filename. (If the POI must be in .gpx format converting the Cracker Barrel POI file from .csv to .gpx is no problem.) Can anyone confirm if a .csv will work using "TourGuide"?
GeePeeEx Editor Questions:
(1) When using GeePeeEx Editor (with a .gpx file) how do I make the file a "TourGuide" file?
*(2)* (Major headache!) When using GeePeeEx Editor must I link my .wav file to each (of the hundreds of Cracker Barrel POIs) individually? Wow! I don't see a "Select All" or method to globally add the .wav file to each of the POI locations easily all at one time. Note: I can globally add my proximity distance (10,560 ft.) to each POI location.
(3) When using GeePeeEx Editor I do not see how to link a .bmp icon if there is already a link added for the .wav file. Can both files (.wav & .bmp) be linked in Ex Editor?
(4) If, in #3, only one file (.wav or .bmp) can be linked how do I get the other file (say the icon .bmp file) to work with all the POI locations?
(5) I don't think I understand how "linking" works! With reference to questions #3 & #4 - when I "link" a .wav and/or .bmp file (hopefully both) using GeePeeEx Editor, I don't know how the link happens. When I add just a .wav file the link text in a .gpx adds: "link href: "linkfilename.wav"/>". And when I link to a Folder (holding both a .wav & .bmp file) the test in the .gpx adds "link href: "linkfoldername"/>" with no attributable suffix. (Note: This "link" information is only put on one POI at a time...) Does this link information in the .gpx text allow the Garmin to link to the file [or Folder] and grab the .wav and .bmp? Am I right to assume that I can link to a Folder holding both the .wav and .bmp files (of the exact same name) and both will work? Am I right that if I only wanted one link (either .wav or .bmp) the link would include the suffix .wav or .bmp? But, if I linked to the Folder that holds both a .wav and .bmp file the link will show a Folder name. Is linking the Folder method correct?
(6) Can Ex Editor catch a mistake if the linked Folder has a different name from the .gpx file? Or if the .wav and .bmp file names are different from the .gpx file name? When you "link" to a Folder or file does it really matter if the names are not exactly the same...as long as you load Folder or file with the .wav and .bmp files? Can you really load a Folder...or does the loader just pull the files from the Folder?
Loader and/or Garmin limitations question:
(1) I have run into a situation where .bmp icons don't show up when I add more POIs (with their associated .bmp icons). When I remove the newly added POIs (and their .bmp icons) the icons would appear again. Is there a limitation?
Proper alert method question:
(1) Is "TourGuide" the only method I can use to accomplish what I want to do? Is it the best method?
Garmin use question:
(1) If I use "TourGuide" for the Cracker Barrel POI file locations will this prevent me from using my GPS for other purposes when I'm within 2 miles of a Cracker Barrel location? (If the GPS is unusable inside the 2 mile radius I guess I could always keep this POI on a microSD and just pull the disc out...
I know...too many questions? Help!
What Boxcar said +
With a proximity alert, every time you stop and start within the alert distance, you will get the alert sound. Using a TourGuide, you only get the alert upon entering the zone.
Think Mcdonalds drive-thru as an example.
1490LMT 1450LMT 295w
More info
My testing indicates that the side to side distance from the centerline of the road on which the GPS is traveling is 30 meters (roughly 98 feet) for alerts "along the road"
So, if the coordinates of the POI location place the GPS within 98 feet of center of the road, an alert will be activated.
In another thread, I wrote:
To visualize how an alert you have established works, imagine a rectangle that is roughly 200 feet wide with a height of whatever distance you gave POILoader in manual mode. Imagine your vehicle on the bottom side of the rectangle at the center point on that bottom line. When the coordinates of a custom poi come within the top of the rectangle, the alert is triggered.
The GPS is smart enough to account for the fact that roads are not straight but curve from time to time. So, for our purposes the road can be considered essentially straight.
If the coordinates of a custom POI location does not come within this rectangular box, the alert will not sound.
When BoxCar wrote
Think of an along the route alert as a rectangle that extends for the distance specified in the alert and is about 75 feet wide on either side of the POI. When you approach this type of setting, you will get an alert if your current direction will take you within about 75 feet on either side of the point.
I had to think a minute. But, here is another way to visualize what he said.
Let's suppose you have created a POI location that is within a triangle created because the road on which you are traveling has - as a continuation of such road - two new roads bearing off at, say, 30 degree angles from such road. If you choose the left continuation road, then the POI location will be coming up on your right. If you choose the right continuation road, then the location will be coming up on your left. So, you could take either continuation road and be alerted if the POI location was within 98 feet of the centerline of the continuation road chosen.
Gosh, have I confused this issue more?
in a word
Gosh, have I confused this issue more?
Yes. I don't think quibbling over 8 meters difference in placement makes any real difference when you are speaking in generalities to begin with. Or was it just you didn't understand the use of the word approximately in my post? We aren't looking at this from an engineering standpoint, we are looking at the relationship of the indicated point in relationship to the route of travel.
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