Suggestion for POI Files

 

I think it would be helpful if the names of the locations in POI files included something identifying which POI file they appear in.

For example, a restaurant in the "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" POI file might appear as "Mad Greek's Diner [DDD]", or a location in the "Best Pizza In America - Rachel Ray's Picks" POI file could be listed as "Antica Pizzeria [Best Pizza-Rachel]".

When you have multiple POI files loaded in your GPS and you're traveling in an unfamiliar area, it would be useful to know whether a listing is from a "roadside greasy spoon" type of database or from a "fine dining experience" type of database.

Also, if a location is listed in multiple POI files on your GPS, and you notice an error in one of the listings for that location, it would make it easier to determine which POI file should be corrected and/or updated.

Screen size may be a problem....

Having the desc too long may cause screen problems

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Garmin Nüvi 650, 255WT

no need for excessive length

I've never had a problem displaying lengthy POI descriptions using multiple Garmin models. The text wraps, and if it's more than one screenful, there's a "more" button to display the rest. I don't know about TomTom, Magellan or other GPS models…

In any case, I agree that shorter is better, so long as it's enough to adequately identify the POI file. There's no need for "this listing appears in the Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives POI file maintained on the POI Factory website" when "DDD" will do just fine.

Each to its own folder

When I build my custom poi file with POI Loader, I just have each one in the "Food" folder. Choosing that in your Custom POIs on your unit you can display each individual listing (DDD, Donut Paradise, Best Places to Pig Out, whatever) or you can just touch "All Categories" at the top and display the closest 50. That way you choose the places from the individual shows, or from them all at the same time.

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Drivesmart 66, Nuvi 2595LMT (Died), Nuvi 1490T (Died), Nuvi 260 (Died), GPSMAP 195

One problem i see

poidog wrote:

I think it would be helpful if the names of the locations in POI files included something identifying which POI file they appear in.

For example, a restaurant in the "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" POI file might appear as "Mad Greek's Diner [DDD]", or a location in the "Best Pizza In America - Rachel Ray's Picks" POI file could be listed as "Antica Pizzeria [Best Pizza-Rachel]".

When you have multiple POI files loaded in your GPS and you're traveling in an unfamiliar area, it would be useful to know whether a listing is from a "roadside greasy spoon" type of database or from a "fine dining experience" type of database.

Also, if a location is listed in multiple POI files on your GPS, and you notice an error in one of the listings for that location, it would make it easier to determine which POI file should be corrected and/or updated.

One possible problem I see is the fact POI names are not wrapped but truncated.

Mad Greek's Diner (DDD) works, but
Super Wal-Mart #0507 GAS/DIESEL: Lawrenceburg (NOP) (Wal-Mart_US&Canada) or even just (Wal-Mart) won't display on many units correctly.

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