Extra_POI_Editor - A tool to View/Edit/Convert POI/TourGuides (Part 2)

Hi all,

Nothing really impressive, but I have added a few things that have been asked for a while. It's a start. More will come.

**Changes from v4.49 to v4.60**
* Added "Save to Garmin Favorites"
* Added concatenated address information from POI to Comment field in MapSource (Open in MS fonction)
* Better search for Favorites on some 1xx0 models.
* Added support to display Batch Geocoding report in Notepad for Windows 2000.

* Improved some html processing (more colors). Still ignore font size, sub, sup, ... commands.
* Search for Current.gpx in GPX\Current.gpx for nuvi 1690
* Corrected a crash issue when saving to a file already opened by another application.
* Corrected a problem with command-line prompts with folder name with spaces and double quotes.
* Corrected a bug in CSV passing with "" (double double-quotes)

* Convert special characters in file path to http/MapSource valid characters.

Turbo

Hi Turbo,
Another change that would greatly assist me would be that once I move a window, if EPE remembered where I moved it and left it there. When I'm reviewing POIs and use the Next POI or Previous POI in the POI Edit window, that window jumps back to the center of the screen. When I have two windows open, one with a gpx or Excel version of the POIs, or a MapSource window, this frustrates me when it keeps covering up the other window.
Thanks.

Luckily Windows 7 snap feature fixes that issue but your right, having the program remember the screen position would be nice for other Windows versions.

Turbo, thanks again for your great program.

Like the save to Garmin Favorites nice addition.Again great job on your program.

Thanks for the program.

Wi8th the latest EPE, I cannot get the Open in MapSource or Start MapSource to start MapSource. How does EPE start MapSource? Does it look for file associations or a specific pathname?

I was interested in looking at how the Comment address is formatted, as I just developed a manual way of doing that using EPE to export the combined address information in M-Column csv, Import with EPE into the Comment field, save as gpx, then using batch edit functions of Gvim to edit the XML. Your program changes sure sound easier.

I'm running Win 7x64 and when I try to use Extra_POI_Ed V460, it says I 'm missing RICHTX32.ocx, then I d/l'ed the Installer and it will not install. Is it because of the 64-bit OS?

I was wondering if you would consider something for the next release. I would love the ability to swap information from one field to another. For example, sometimes I have poi's that have a random name that isn't really important to me say GX54ST8 (something like that). I think it would be nice if it had something like Clark's Pool Store in the description that you could swap the description field with the Name field. Does this make sense? I like the replace all in a certain field but I think it would be a great feature to have a Swap fields option as well. Just a though. Thanks for the program though, its amazing!

JJC
You have to use the older version to install then use 460 for EPE to work in all respects or the you will get an erro message saying file missing.

Turbo, have you given any thought to converting your update files into a self-extracting executable using WinRAR? This would allow the install process of the update file to be a bit more automated. Some out there just don't like fiddling around with extracting the file from the archive and copying it to the Extra POI Editor directory.

I'm not one of those that have a problem with zip files, thankfully. But as a proof of concept (and given about ten minutes time) I've made a self-extracting archive for both the updated exe and the chm file and placed it in my mediafire account:

http://www.mediafire.com/?ztj2qimwttj

I will not keep this file up longer than 72 hours, since this file is intended for you to see, and since people should be downloading from your site anyway.

*************************************************

One other thing. I noticed that in the duplicate check function, the program deletes unchecked duplicates. This to me feels "off"...or more accurately, reversed. Shouldn't it be the checked items that get deleted? In going through a POI or two checking for duplicates, I found myself having to pay extra attention to not check the duplicates I wanted to delete.

Thanks for the update, Turbo! I just downloaded and installed it.

I look in the registry for the installation folder. I did not changed anything to the Open in MapSource function lately.

Questions:
1- Have you tried both "Open MapSource" and "Open in MapSource" functions?
2- Have you updated to a new version of MS or changed anything to your OS?

Let me know.

Easy fix. Just read the TroubleShooting section here:

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

You are just missing an OCX librairy. This happens on some computer. After using the installer and updating to the new version, all will be fine.

Turbo

Wow this is a very cool program. Thanks so much for producing it. I am looking forward to working with it.

Hi Strephon_Alkhalikoi,

Got your file. Yes, it is possible to do a self-extracting archive. I am not sure how much time is saved by doing this. You still have to save the exe at the right location, execute it and then dispose of the .exe.

With the current zip method, I open the zip while downloading instead of saving it. Once opened, I simply drag the files to the EPE folder and kill the zip process. Seems slightly faster to me.

To me, the best thing would be to have an installer like the one used for many software. I do one from time to time for those missing OCX libraries. I hate installer, but at least it always installs in the right folder without having to bother with anything.

In conclusion, I am not against it. If others prefer this as well, I can change to .exe instead of .zip. It's the same to me.

***************

About the checked/unchecked duplicates. I think you are right. It would have been probably wiser to delete checked duplicates. I am not quite sure how I ended doing the opposite. Maybe I thought highlighting the ones to be preserved was a better idea. Not sure. I do not mind changing it, but I am reluctant to change the program's logic and confuse other users. Let me think about this.

Thanks for the good feedback.

Turbo

As usual another bunch of great addon's
Thanks for the work.

Extra PIO Editor has grown nicely and I have enjoyed using it since one of the earliest versions. Your work on Free Garmin Tools keep the GPS world moving forward. Thank you.

That was probably in the previous thread, but I got a request to allow Drag&Drop between 2 EPE applications. I spent some time on this yesterday, but some more work will be required before it happens.

Turbo

You are just missing an OCX librairy. This happens on some computer. After using the installer and updating to the new version, all will be fine.

Turbo[/quote]

Captcaper & Turbo:

Thanks for the tip. I did that and all is working well. Turbo thanks for the program. Very nice.

turboccc

I tried the save to favorite with the following result.What I did was put all the info in address,phone number etc for one location to test it.Selected save to Garmin favorite.Look at the drive for the gps and it save next to current.gpx as EPE.gpx.Rebooted the gps.Only the name carried over all other info not there.I did change EPE.gpx to temp.gpx with same results

Yes, saving to EPE.gpx or Temp.gpx does not same. On next power-up, the POIs within all .gpx files are merged with Current.gpx.

Still, adding a phone number should have worked. Welcome to the strange world of Garmin.

edit: I did some testing and got the same result, but after selecting the POI I modified, I hit the "Modify" - "Phone" buttons and I noticed the phone was there. I clicked on "Previous" and now the full address and phone number are there.

edit 2: I tried again to add more information to existing POIs, but now it works perfectly everytime. I am puzzled. My theory is that it takes some time for the GPS to process the new .gpx file the first time. After that, it seems all POI are updated faster...

Did I say: "Welcome to the strange world of Garmin"?

The modify button.Not sure I followed you on that.Are you talking about under prefermces, enable automatic phone number extraction?I have check mark there.

I thought I was the only one that had this problem with new gpx files.

Not in EPE, on the GPS.

Once you select a POI on your GPS, instead of clicking "Go", select "Modify". Then you'll see that the address and phone you added will appear.

After more tests even with different .gpx file, I noticed the new information appears right away. It only did what you described once.

Thanks will give it another try.

One issue that I wonder about is the POI Factory Terms of Service with regard to editing POI lists. The TOS explicitly prohibits derivative works. That usually means that you can't edit any list obtained from the POI Factory, can't convert formats, select only those POI's in your area of interest, or add enhancements.

There are some limits that may invalidate some parts of the TOS as determined in court cases about telephone directories, but I wonder: is the TOS a bit more strict than common practice? Should we forget about POI editors and adhere to the TOS as written or should we just ignore the TOS when it is inconvenient for our personal use?

Yeah, I know, this one often gets contentious. Just take a look at the discussions of FOSS software licensing agreements. But I am curious about how I should accept the TOS at the POI factory in regard to editing the data I download.

Yo! brianl! I really think you should post this outside this thread. It was probably not your intention to hijack. I suggest you pursue your topic in the main Garmin discussion area. Thanks.

Still not working.Re-booted several times.Never seen the additional info.Any other 265wt users tried it and was successful?

=)

Is there anything out there to tweak POI's on a Mac? Is Garmin's POI Loader the best option still?

Thanks TurbCCC

So I started the pgm and realized I had missed the self-installer (yep, missing ocx file) so I went back and got the installer.

And it scares the beegees outta me.

My windows-7 home premium has more recent versions of some of your files, others that are apparently in use already during the update, and even the backout has me nervous.

Did I just do it wrong? Any advice as to what I should expect to see during the install and what my responses should be?

(I just want to get hold of favorites I added using "Where Am I" because nothing I can apparently do on the GPS itself reveals the lat-longs that were evident when I did the save.)

Sorry about the embedded gripe... but it's a new PC and I hate the thought I might have bolluxed it up.

Ozme52 I had the same problem with my laptop, win 7 pro 64 bit config, using the installer. I let it complete either answering to keep newer files or ignoring warnings @ 12 in total. The program ran ok, but I removed the program then just reinstalled without the installer and had no problems. I also Emailed Turbo about the issue, he got back to me and said he would be looking into the issue.

Still on my todo list. I will not forgot. For Win7, I would keep the newest files.

I am trying to invent something new these days. Not GPS related. Sorry. This is taking all my free time.

Best regards,

Turbo

@Ozme52 @d-moo70:

As Turbo already said, keeping the newer files will work safely.

I have successfully done a manual install of the .ocx file in both 32 and 64-bit versions of Win 7 Home and Pro. You can find instructions here (6th post): http://www.poi-factory.com/node/24294

.

about time what took so long

FYI, the thread was started on March 5th.

I have a problem where the display in the map panel occupies only a little more than 1/4 of the panel. I have Windows 7 x64. Changing the screen resolution doesn't help.

Hi all,

I am getting there. I am currently adding "Multiple Category Support". It means that if you have one of the newer GPS model, you can specify more than one category for a POI.

Example: Comfort Suites POI. Categories can be "Lodging", "Food", ...

What is missing:

1- Export & Sort by categories: I need to review the way I sort the POIs to create the files. This is a bit tricky now. If you have more than one category, it will create a file with all categories in the file name.

2- Creating and deleting categories: The way it works now, categories are created automatically by extracting them from your POI files. I added also a textbox to add new categories. They will be saved and restored automatically when EPE starts.

For those of you who wants to test EPE with Multiple categories, here's v4.70:

http://turboccc.wikispaces.com/file/detail/Extra_POI_Editor+...

Not released yet. This is just a beta. Let me know how it goes.

Turbo

Have you given any more thought to including color?

Are you talking about HTML code to specify color in the POI?

So far, I support those colors: red, green, blue, black, white, orange, magenta, purple and yellow.

For example:

<font color=red>This text is red</font>

You can set your own color using this more generic command:

<font color=#FF0000>This is red too</font>

Several months ago we had discussed adding the code to generate the html code when creating a GPX file rather than having to either add it in the input file or editing the output from EPE. It's one of those things where it would be nice to have something like: [red]Parking NO[/red] in an input and having the font statements automatically generated. It would make the input files easier to build some color into and of course troubleshooting any errors in the font statements much easier.

I guess I could add the suggested keywords. The next step is to add [b] and [/b] and so on...

I see one problem coming: to be compatible with the GPS, I need to convert those to html. To edit them back, I need also to make the opposite conversion.

This is getting a little bit too complex. Doing one way is somewhat easy, but the other will be much more job.

Thank you for considering it. It is a lot of work and does add quite a bit of complexity to the program. I suppose I could do it in Excel as well, but it would be only one way.

I just posted a full installer which is compatible with both Win XP and Windows 7. Now, there should be no problem installing EPE on Win7 computers.

The installer is posted at the same place as EPE.

Turbo

Looks good.Like the way you have set up the categories for favorites and adding a new category.

Just in case some members have not noticed it there is option under tools Sort by Best Route.Good for planning a trip to get best route.What you do is transfer your file of the places you plan to visit to EPE.Click on the starting poi once just to highlight it.Then click under tools Sort by Best Route.The list will show in order of the stops.You also have have option to show on map.I put my home as the start point.This works good for units that don't have route option.I just printed the list out.With the file on my gps I can check against the list the order of the stops.

Thanks Turbo, you rock

Super program...just downloaded and installed with minimum problems....had to use the 'installer' .zip with Windows 7.

Map problem: on both the main screen and on the POI edit screen, the map has about .75 inch white border on the right side and the bottom. Changing the zoom factor in preferences doesn't fix it. I use an HP laptop with 1600x900 resolution and a 17" screen.

Any hints?

Thanks.....

Also just noticed that the symbol display on the POI edit page is out of whack.....the symbol description doesn't match the symbol shown, and the symbol isn't centered in the little box.....????

Try setting your screen to a lower resolution. It will often correct problems just as you are describing. More is not always better.