Using BABEL

 

I have a POI from the Discovery RV Group which was written in text on NotePad. Which format do I select for the Input field on BABEL since there is no selection for NotePad text? I assume the output should be CSV in order to load it to my nuvi 350 using the POI Loader.

In addition, do POI files always have to be CSV in order to load them onto the 350? GPX files will not display on my 350.

If the file is formatted

If the file is formatted correctly in notepad all you have to do is click on file at the top of the page and click on save as.On file name type in the name then put a period after it then type csv.Click save and you will have a csv file. See http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25752

Example Discovery Rv Group.csv

Garmin will use csv or gpx files.

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

Look at the file

eagle95 wrote:

I have a POI from the Discovery RV Group which was written in text on NotePad. Which format do I select for the Input field on BABEL since there is no selection for NotePad text? I assume the output should be CSV in order to load it to my nuvi 350 using the POI Loader.

In addition, do POI files always have to be CSV in order to load them onto the 350? GPX files will not display on my 350.

Look at the Notepad file. Are the entries separated by commas within a single line? If so, it is a CSV file.

What do you mean when you say "GPX files will not display on my 350."? Are you loading them just as you do with CSV files or are you putting them into the POI folder on your device? GPX files need to be loaded just as CSV files using POI Loader.

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

Yes, I am loading GPX files

Yes, I am loading GPX files just as I do with CSV files using the POI Loader. However, after downloading GPX files off this site into a file on my computer called POI, they do not have CSV after the title of the file. When loading into my Garmin 350, all files except the ones that were labeled as GPX files on this site load in o.k. The GPX files do not even show up in the custom POI section of the 350.

I think I may not be making this too clear. The bottom line is when I download GPX POI's off this site and load them via POI Loader just like I do with CSV files, the GPX ones do not show up on the 350.

No, it's not clear

eagle95 wrote:

I think I may not be making this too clear. The bottom line is when I download GPX POI's off this site and load them via POI Loader just like I do with CSV files, the GPX ones do not show up on the 350.

Are the GPX files in the same folder you load the CSV files from and do they have the extension GPX?

A lot of the information in the following writeup is probably old hat to you, but follow the steps - especially about the naming and extension information closely.

Basic POI Loading Procedure Using WINDOWS

Following these instructions will allow you to load custom POI into your Garmin unit. These are VERY BASIC instructions and are intended as a process on how to load POI to the memory in your unit.

1. Download and install the latest version of POI Loader from http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader/.

2. Create a Folder to hold all your Custom POI. NOTE: I put my folder on my Desktop.

3. Download the desired POI files from POI Factory and put them into the folder created in Step 2.

4. Visit the Icon library and download the desired icons for your POI files and put them into the folder created in Step 2.

5. Visit the Sounds Library and download the desired sound files for your POI. NUVI 2XX units and all NUVI 1XXX units require WAV sound files. WAV files require you to install a sound conversion program called SOX. SOX.EXE can be downloaded from http://rapidshare.com:80/files/139638423/sox.zip. Unzip the folder containing the program SOX.EXE. Select the SOX.EXE file, right click and select COPY. NOTE: You only need to load SOX once.

6. Using Windows Explorer, go to C:\Program Files\Garmin. This must be the same folder that has the program POILoader.exe. Right click on any BLANK space in this folder. Select PASTE. SOX.EXE should now be copied to the folder. Check and be certain the folder contains BOTH POILoader.EXE and SOX.EXE. If SOX.EXE is not copied to this folder, WAV sounds will not play.

7. Using Windows Explorer or another program, open the folder containing the files to be loaded into your NUVI.

8. Match the file name to the ICON file. Rename the ICON file so it has the same name as the POI file. POI files can be either CSV or GPX – it doesn’t matter. These file names must match exactly with the exception of the file extension. NOTE: there can only be one period in a file name. A period in a file name marks the beginning of the file extension. Icon file names can only end in BMP.

9. Match the file name to the SOUND file. Rename the SOUND file so it has the same name as the POI file. POI files can be either CSV or GPX – it doesn’t matter. These file names must match exactly with the exception of the file extension. NOTE: there can only be one period in a file name. A period in a file name marks the beginning of the file extension. Sound file names can only end in MP3 or WAV. Using WAV files requires another program not found on POI-Factory.

10. Connect your NUVI to your computer using the USB cable. Wait for the NUVI to show it is connected and ready to receive files (Black screen with an ICON at the bottom showing it is connected to the computer.)

11. Run POI Loader.

12. Select Garmin Device as Where to save your Points of Interest.

13. Press Next and wait for the program to find your NUVI. The NUVI will be shown in the box labeled Device:.

14. Press Next. The program will ask the location of the files to be loaded. Use the BROWSE button and select the FOLDER containing the POI, ICON, and SOUND (Alert) files.

15. Select the measurement units used for your NUVI. Feet and Miles per hour or Meters and Kilometers.

16. The NUVI suggests running the program in Automatic. For BASIC file loading, this is sufficient. NOTE: The only two alert sounds that will play automatically are for Red light and Speed cameras. For other alert icons to display or sounds to play, you must select MANUAL and set either a distance or speed alert trigger. NOTE: If a file name contains ANY number, POI Loader will assume it is a speed alert and play the sound file for that POI automatically. Press Next.

17. POI Loader will begin to convert the POI files, ICONs and ALERT sounds and load them to your NUVI. If POI Loader encounters an error with a source file, it will tell you the name of the file POI file containing an error. When finished, POI Loader will tell you the number of POI successfully loaded to your NUVI.

NOTE: Every time you run POI Loader, it will overwrite the previous output file and you will loose any POI not contained in your source folder.

18. Disconnect your NUVI using the Stop or Eject USB device.

19. Power up the NUVI and select WHERE TO -> EXTRAS and see if CUSTOM POI is displayed. Press CUSTOM POI and you should see a list of all the POI loaded.

TROUBLESHOOTING:

20. If you do not see a custom icon or hear the custom alert sound for a Custom POI that successfully loaded, it is most likely because you have a double file extension (two periods in one or more of the file names.)

21. Open Windows Explorer. Select TOOLS. Select Folder Options. Select VIEW. Under FILES AND FOLDERS uncheck the box that states: Hide extensions for known file types.

22. Using Windows Explorer, open the FOLDER containing the custom POI files, icons, and alert files. Verify each file name has only ONE period just before the 3 character file extension. Rename any files containing more than one period so the file contains only ONE period.

23. Restart this procedure at Step 8.

Repeat as necessary.

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

O.K. Let me work on some of

O.K. Let me work on those suggestions and yes the GPX files are in the same folder as the CSV files and they have the GPX file extention after them.

eagle95 If I understand

eagle95

If I understand your custom poi structure you have one main folder called poi with all your gpx and csv files in it and you load them all at one time correct?Do you get message at end after running poiloader so many custom pois have been loaded?If you have loaded them correctly and you do get message so many pois loaded without error message.It may be possible that you have reached the limit of the number of custom pois that will show on the gps unit.How many gpx and csv files do you have in that one folder?Past posts have put that limit somewhere around 32 when they stop showing.The work around is using subfolders to expand that number.

Here is the post on that http://www.poi-factory.com/node/15907

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

Yes, I have one main folder

Yes, I have one main folder called POI with all gpx and csv files int and Yes I load them all at one time. Yes, I get a message at end of load saying so many custom POI's have loaded succesfully. I have 38 files in the one folder. 36 are CSV files and 2 are GPX files but only the CSV files show up on my nuvi 350.

Thanks for your help and this is not a big deal because I only have 2 GPX files and I can do without them.

Most likely that is the

Most likely that is the problem with to many custom pi files in one folder.If you just loaded nothing but the gpx files I bet they would show.If you decide to do the subfolder here is a outline that I typed out http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25721 .

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

Which .GPX files specifically?

eagle95 wrote:

...
36 are CSV files and 2 are GPX files but only the CSV files show up on my nuvi 350.

Thanks for your help and this is not a big deal because I only have 2 GPX files and I can do without them.

Let's see if we can help verify that the 2 particular .gpx files you are working with are even any good. Can you post the file names here and I or someone else will try loading or looking at them to see if they are even good files. It is not unheard of that a file gets uploaded and is somehow corrupt.

Usually POI Loader will toss its cookies on bad files, but things happen.

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

It's not the files

The OP has exceeded the number of files POI loader will handle in a single folder. The only solution is to either eliminate files or start using subfolders. POI Loader should have given an error message about the max number of files being exceeded.

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

Wow, another day and learned something new

Thanks a-user!

I had grouped my files in subfolders since the beginning so I was not aware of file limits. I just did a search and found: http://www.poi-factory.com/node/15907

They were stating a 32 file per folder limit. Looks like 255 or 256 folders are the limit, but I wouldn't want to scroll through that many folders anyway. Are these numbers still valid? I was hoping to find a specific answer in POI Loader Help, but that must not be the right place.

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

I'm not certain

I don't know about subfolders, I assumed the same limit. 32 x 32 is 1024 files in 32 folder and I can't imagine that many different poi files.

I'm on a project right now where I'm taking all the truck stops and reformatting them so the information is the same for each. I will then combine these into a single large GPX so I don't have to search all. I'm also using the highway and exit number as the address so it displays when you do a search. To give you an idea, look at the Love's GPX file I just updated. It's my new format.

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

O.k. One of them is Old Time

O.k. One of them is Old Time Radio and I cannot find the other one since I had already deleted it. I could not even find it in my Recycle bin.

eagle95As I posted above

eagle95

As I posted above the problem is with the number of files in one folder.Go with the subfolders and you shouldn't have a problem loading the csv and gpx files. See http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25721 .If you plan to add any more files later on csv or gpx to what you have now you will need the subfolder.Not much to add the subfolders.

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

Charlie, you were absolutely

Charlie, you were absolutely right. I had too many files so created subfolders and GPX files showed up on my nuvi just fine. However; I do not see the subfolders or any of the files I put in them on my nuvi 350 in the Custom PIO section. Eveything that is not in a subfolder both CSV and GPX now show up o.k.

when it come...

when it comes to questions being answered. this is the gps place to be. your in good hands here.