Can you extract and build a Custom POI file from built-in POI files?

I've done it, in a somewhat round about way.

1) Find what you want and save them to your favorites.

2) With GPS mounted to PC copy the temp.gpx file to PC desktop.

3) Open temp.gpx file in Extra_POI_Editor and edit as you wish, save as gpx or csv file for POIloader use.

Download Extra_POI_Editor here
http://turboccc.wikispaces.com/Extra_POI_Editor

You can't do anything with the built-in POIs as they are part of the map data, however you can download and install the files provided here.

Here is a procedure for installing Custom POI into the memory of your unit.

POI Loading Procedure Using WINDOWS

Following these instructions will allow you to load custom POI into your Garmin unit. These are BASIC but VERY detailed instructions 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. POI files may be either CSV or GPX format. GPX format files are written using the XML programming language and normally contain more information about a particular point of interest so the downloaded file size is much larger than a CSV format file.

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. Nüvi 2XX and Nüvi 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.

6. Using Windows Explorer, go to C:\Garmin. This must be the same folder that has the program POI Loader.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 POI Loader.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 Nüvi. POI Loader will only load about 32 POI files along with their icon and alert sounds from a single folder.

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 Nüvi to your computer using the USB cable. Wait for the Nüvi 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 Nüvi. The Nüvi 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 Nüvi. Feet and Miles per hour or Meters and Kilometers.

16. The Nüvi POI Loader 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 sounds to play, you must select MANUAL and set either a distance or speed alert trigger. The default alert sound is a bong or ding. NOTE: If a file name contains ANY numbers, POI Loader will assume it is a speed alert and play the sound file for that POI automatically. If you have set a speed alert and are travelling faster than the alert speed, the alert will continue to sound until you are at or below the alert speed. Press Next.

17. POI Loader will read and convert the POI files, ICONs and ALERT sounds and load them to your Nüvi. 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 Nüvi.

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 so all files have to be present in the folder every time you run POI Loader.

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

19. Power up the Nüvi 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.

ADVANCED OPTIONS

POI files can be grouped and categorized. The most common method is by using sub folders. Sub folders are created under your main folder holding your POI files. You can only have one level of sub folders.

An example is:

My POI top level

>Food sub folder
>>Applebees.csv POI file
>>Applebees.bmp icon file
>>Applebees.mp3 (wav) custom alert sound file
>>Cracker Barrel.gpx POI file
>>Cracker Barrel.bmp icon file
>>Cracker Barrel.mp3 (wav) custom alert sound file

>Stores sub folder
>>Best Buy.csv POI file
>>Best Buy.bmp icon file
>>Best Buy.mp3 (wav) custom alert sound file
>>Wal Mart (Combined).csv POI file
>> Wal Mart (Combined).bmp icon file
>> Wal Mart (Combined).mp3 (wav) custom alert sound file

>Fuel Locations sub folder
>>Loves.GPX POI file
>>Loves.bmp icon file
>>Loves.wav custom alert sound file
>>Pilot Locations.GPX POI file
>>Pilot Locations.bmp icon file
>>Pilot Locations.wav custom alert sound file

Selecting Where To --> Extras --> Custom POI will show three entries, Food Fuel Locations and Stores. Pressing one of these names will show the POI files contained in that folder. NOTE: You must have more than one category in order for the category method to work. Having only a single subfolder will display all the file names rather than the desired group name.

There is no change to how POI Loader is run. POI Loader is told to load the contents of the top level folder, My POI. The sub folder names become category names. Using the subfolder method you can have 32 sub folders each with 32 POI files along with custom icons and alerts.

If you are interested in locations in your immediate area, then philyguy's suggestion above is the way to go. However, if you are interested in building up a collection of POI (Points Of Interest) files that relate to some of your favorite places (you mentioned McDonalds), then you need to use the POI files available from this site. Also, you seem to be asking for "proximity" alerts of a "radius" type. Typically, alerts work only when the upcoming location is "along the road" on which you are currently driving (say, in the 50 to 75 feet off the road range). This usually requires using files that have TourGuide somewhere in the file name. Many people use this technique for Cracker Barrels because those restaurants are almost always more than 50 feet from the "main drag" you would be on.

Try walking thru these instructions with the McDonalds file (link: http://www.poi-factory.com/node/11603) and one or two other to get a feel for the process. What I did when I started was to "cut and paste" instructions into a Word doc so I could print them out and be looking at them as I worked.

POI Loading Procedure Using WINDOWS

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

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

Step 2. Create a Folder to hold all your Custom POI. For these instructions, we will assume the Folder is C:\My POI

Step 3. Download the desired POI files from POI Factory and put them into the folder created in Step 2. POI files may be either CSV or GPX format. GPX format files are written using the XML programming language and normally contain more information about a particular point of interest so the downloaded file size is much larger than a CSV format file.

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

Step 5. Visit the Sounds Library and download the desired sound files for your POI. Nüvi 2XX and Nüvi 1XXX units require WAV sound files. WAV files require you to install a sound conversion program called SOX.
A. SOX.EXE can be downloaded from http://rapidshare.com:80/files/139638423/sox.zip.
B. Unzip the folder containing the program SOX.EXE. Select the SOX.EXE file, right click and select COPY.
C. Using Windows Explorer, go to the folder that contains the program POI Loader.exe. Let’s assume this is C:\Garmin. Right click on any BLANK space in C:\Garmin. Select PASTE. SOX.EXE should now be copied to the folder. Check and be certain the folder contains BOTH POI Loader.EXE and SOX.EXE. If SOX.EXE is not copied to this folder, WAV sounds will not play.

Step 6. Using Windows Explorer or another program, open the folder containing the files to be loaded into your Nüvi. TIP: POI Loader will only load 32 POI files (along with their icon and alert sounds) from a single folder.

Step 7. Rename each ICON file so it has the exactly the same name as the associated POI file. The file names of the POI file and the ICON 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.

Step 8. Rename the SOUND file so it has exactly the same name as the associated POI file. The file names of the POI file and the SOUND file 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 - see Step 5 above.

Step 9. Connect your Nüvi to your computer using the USB cable. Wait for the Nüvi 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.)

Step 10. Run POI Loader.
A. On the opening screen, click “Next >”
B. Under “Save Options”, Select “Garmin Device” as where you would like to save your Points of Interest. Click “Next>”.
C. On the “Select the device…” screen, your Nüvi will be shown in the box labeled “Device”. Press “Next>”.
D. On the next screen, choose “Install new custom POIs on your device and click “Next>”.
E. POI Loader will ask you to select the directory of the files to be loaded. Use the BROWSE button and select the FOLDER containing the POI, ICON, and SOUND (Alert) files.
F. Select the measurement units used for your Nüvi. Feet and Miles per hour or Meters and Kilometers.
G. The Nüvi POI Loader suggests running the program in Express mode. 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 sounds to play, you must select MANUAL and set either a distance or speed alert trigger. The default alert sound is a bong or ding. TIP: If a file name contains ANY numbers, POI Loader will assume it is a speed alert and play the sound file for that POI automatically. If you have set a speed alert and are traveling faster than the alert speed, the alert will continue to sound until you are at or below the alert speed. Press “Next>”.
H. POI Loader will read and convert the POI files, ICONs and ALERT sounds and load them to your Nüvi. 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 Nüvi.

NOTE: Every time you run POI Loader, it will overwrite the previous output file and you will loose any POI not contained in your just chosen source folder so all files you want as Custom POIs have to be present in that folder every time you run POI Loader.

Step 11. Disconnect your Nüvi using the Stop or Eject USB device.

Step 12. Power up the Nüvi and select WHERE TO -> EXTRAS (for some Nuvi’s this is MY LOCATIONS) and see if CUSTOM POI is displayed. Press CUSTOM POI and you should see a list of all the POI loaded.

TROUBLESHOOTING:

A. 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.)
1). 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.
2). 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.
3). Restart this procedure at Step 6. Repeat as necessary.

ADVANCED OPTIONS

POI files can be grouped and categorized. The most common method is by using sub folders. Sub folders are created under your main folder holding your POI files. You can only have one level of sub folders.

An example is:

My POI [top level]

>Food [sub folder]
>>Applebees.csv POI file
>>Applebees.bmp icon file
>>Applebees.mp3 (wav) custom alert sound file
>>Cracker Barrel.gpx POI file
>>Cracker Barrel.bmp icon file
>>Cracker Barrel.mp3 (wav) custom alert sound file

>Stores [sub folder]
>>Best Buy.csv POI file
>>Best Buy.bmp icon file
>>Best Buy.mp3 (wav) custom alert sound file
>>Wal Mart (Combined).csv POI file
>> Wal Mart (Combined).bmp icon file
>> Wal Mart (Combined).mp3 (wav) custom alert sound file

>Fuel Locations [sub folder]
>>Loves.GPX POI file
>>Loves.bmp icon file
>>Loves.wav custom alert sound file
>>Pilot Locations.GPX POI file
>>Pilot Locations.bmp icon file
>>Pilot Locations.wav custom alert sound file

Selecting Where To --> Extras (or My Locations) --> Custom POI will show three entries, Food, Fuel Locations, and Stores. Pressing one of these names will show the POI files contained in that folder. TIP: You must have more than one category in order for the category method to work. Having only a single subfolder will display all the file names rather than the desired group name.

There is no change to how POI Loader is run. POI Loader is told to load the contents of the top level folder, My POI. The sub folder names become category names. Using the subfolder method you can have 32 sub folders each with 32 POI files along with custom icons and alerts.

If you have Mapsource you can use the option find then find places to pull up pois on the map data base.When the screen comes up make sure feature is showing.The fields are set up to search by category like you do on gps.For example if I want to search for landmarks in DC.I put in place category using down arrow attractions.Place subcategory landmark.State DC and country USA.Then click find.Once list comes up highlight one and click make waypoint.On next screen you can add more data and click OK.Continue same method with others on the list.Once completed click OK.You will see the list for waypoints you made.Click file,save as and put name for file name and using pull down window select for save type GPS exchange format (gpx).

By no means the fastest method and will only be as accurate as the data available.

Forgot to mention I use Mac computers exclusively. Don't have access to a PC. thanks

The steps are the same, the locations of the files will differ.

There are a great many programs that can be used to create custom poi, Excel or another spreadsheet being the easiest as everything is organized into columns. Garmin has POI Loader versions that work with both operating systems, so that isn't a problem. Some of the "more sophisticated" tools used by a great many here are PC only though.

You may want to check some of these posts out for mac.
http://www.poi-factory.com/forum/51