Extra_POI_Editor v5.0 beta (.gpi file creation only in this thread)

vestenfjell,
thank you very much for explaining this en detail. However, I'm still wondering where this information is stored in the GPI file. Here is a hexdump of an alert record which has a size of 20 bytes.

03 00 00 00 0C 00 00 00
F4 01 00 00 00 01 00 01
01 02 01 20
---^^------

Is it true, that the type of alert is encoded in the 18th byte?

yes.

sounds good look fworward to seeing it

Nice.
If the possibility of drag and create the circles directly on the map will be implanted also ,these circles will be quite fast to create.

I'm getting there. I solved most of my problems. I can drag the different circles and I have a way to get the coordinates back into EPE.

To change the circle radius, the easy way is to let you change it manually in EPE rather than directly on the map, but with a bit more work I can probably make do this too.

Im not sure if we need to change the radius on map. It is quite easy to cange it manuall, so I dont know if you can make it easier on map?
But I think it would be nice to have the circle start size as last used, rather than an default one.

Turbo,
A little bug that makes for a lot more mouse clicks happens when I hit the Grab button after Geocoding a new POI. The map zooms out to a full earth view. It is much nicer when it stays with the current zoom level as in previous releases. Maybe a program call without the size parameter? It only happens after the Geocoding button, then the Grab button are hit in order. Manually moving a POI pointer has a different bug in that if the display is Hybrid Mode, the Grab button refreshes in Map Mode. Similar Mode change in Maximize map mode.

The zoom issue while grabbign the coordinates is already fixed. I found it this morning as well.

Good news! Circle processing is done. Too late to post now, but you can expect to see it tomorrow.

1- Add new circle by right clicking a spot on the map
2- New grab button to grab all circles that were created or moved on the map

I am somewhat happy with the end result. More on this tomorrow.

Turbo

Here's EPE v5.16:

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

What's new:

In the POI edit window, you can:

1- Add a circle by right clicking on the map at the desired location. It will add a circle of 50m (164 feet) at this location.

2- You can move any circle on the map using its central marker.

3- Use the Grab button in the Circle List group to grab any new circle coordinates or circle that changed location

4- Click on any row in the Circle List table to highlight the selected circle in red on the map. If you move it on the map, it will become green again. It is ok. It is only intended to provide a feedback of where is each circle on the map so you know which one you are editing.

5- Normally, this should work fine in both US/Imperial units and Metric units.

As far as I can see this works just fine.
This was very easy to use and I liked the way of making the circles. Great job again.
Thanks.

I am not personally using circles, but I am happy with the final product. I create dummy circles, move them and grab the results just for the fun of playing with the interface.

Now I really need a kick in the butt to finish EPE v5.xx and add audio and picture attachments. Right now, this is the major drawback compared to POI Loader.

If you Maximize the map after modifying the circles, make sure to Grab the circles otherwise you will lose your changes.

In the coming version, I made added a "Grab Circles" button over the map so you have access to it while the map is maximized. If I am not too lazy, I will try to keep the changes when maximizing/minimizing the map without modifying the original list until you hit the grab button.

EPE v5.17:

- .wav or .mp3 with same name as poi file are now saved to .gpi

It will not use the audio file from the Link field. Still not everything you wanted, but it is a start. So, if you have the following files:

Rest_Area.gpx
Rest_Area.wav (or .mp3)

The .wav (or .mp3) will be saved with the proper alert into the .gpi file. You need to put SOX.EXE in the Extra_POI_Editor folder to ensure proper .wav conversions.

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

Edit: Pfff! I just realized I coded this on a Friday the 13th. That's bound to be bugged...

Unless you're Italian. For them, it's a lucky number. Bella!

One problem I was having with 5.16 is a runtime error 9 when trying to save as M Col XLS.

Bug: audio wav is saved to .gpi but not linked to POIs. I will fix that.

BoxCar: I'll check. Do you know which fields you were using to save?

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

Boxcar: works for me. Let me know which fields...

I get a subscript out of range and then the editor hangs (quits responding).

Go in the M-Column Assignment and show me the fields that are set there.

Emailed the GPX and a source file. Your email has the details.

Emailed the GPX and a source file. Your email has the details.

Ok. Fixed in v5.18. Download file has been updated. I missed one correction when I increased the number of M-Column from 48 to 72.

we got it fixed. About this time, with all the changes and adds you've been making you are probably dealing with what we used to call "spaghetti code" because the links to different modules is like a plate of spaghetti - hard to follow a single strand.

Yes, some part of the code has a life of its own... For example, I can't fix the scrolling bug in the main window. It seems I have a feedback loop between the arrow keys and the scroll bar preventing page scrolling from working correctly. That is why I prefer to work on the new stuff rather than the old stuff...

Tested "export by filename">gpi.
Im not sure if epe have an limit on files or not when save as gpi ,but this is what I get when merge several gpx and export by filename :
Bmp: bmp ikons get mixed up.
Wav: only one wav file contains in the gpi.
One wav file change name to xxxx_epe.wav in the folder, and this is also the only wav file that contained in the gpi.

I had problems with the bmp icons with the previous versions (starting with v5.11) when trying to export by filename and category to gpi. I only get the last merged file's bmp for all POIs in all files.

I informed TurboCCC then but suggested he keep his train of thought at the time on circles.

I also had problems with the 2 merged files that I exported as file on the same level as Favorites messing with my alerts. I would have a place where my Extras/Custom POI Dunkin Donut alert file, done with POILoader and already existing on the GPS, would alert but show me information from a Persanal Saved Favorite of my sister's house in the banner and have no sound. This was the same for the zumo 660 and the nuvi 765T except that the banner would many times just be blank or have different information at the different alerts.

Yes, you can have only one wav per .gpi for now. I did the obvious and lazy thing at first. The next step is to have one wav per category. I'll get on that one next. Finally, multiple wav per category.

As for the BMP, I forgot that there was an issue. Let's see if we are on the same track.

1- Assuming we merged multiple POI files and you make a regular Save As .gpi:

a) EPE tries to use a map symbol .bmp with the same name as the source POI name and in the source folder. This is the preferred selection.

b) If it does not find it, EPE looks in the Path to .GPI Icon File and uses the name of the .gpi file you are trying to save to as the .bmp file name.

c) If not found, it looks into its internal symbol list and assign a .bmp matching the symbol for that POI. If there is no symbol defined, it uses the .gpi file name. For regular save to .gpi, I assume EPE will not find it in the last list.

Does this makes sense? Remember that you merged multiple file. If those POI files had a .bmp, I guess you want them. If not, the .gpi file name is the alternative. If you have a mix and match, that may give funny results.

2- Assuming we merged multiple POI files and you save using Export By filename:

a) EPE looks for the .gpi file name first (go figure why...)

b) then it looks for the source POI file name and path.

c) then it looks in the internal symbol list.

Ok. Ok. Something looks funny here. Let's start over: Think about what you think EPE should do for the different cases:

i) with a single source POI file
ii) with multiple source POI files
iii) any of the 2 cases above, but with a symbol name in each individual POI

and then for the different save:

1) regular save as .gpi
2) export by filename
3) export by symbol

We need to do something that is clear and obvious to all users to avoid confusion. Hopefully, there is only one normal behavior. If there are more than one, then this is confusing and each user will have to decide what they want at save time. Maybe an extra configuration panel...

Let's see one case here:

You are merging 5 files that are not related to each other. Obviously, the .gpi file name is not related either (ex: my_poi.gpi). If I export by Filename, I would like to use the .bmp from each source POI file name. If it does not exist, I would like to use the symbol name specified in each specific POI.

If I make a regular save to .gpi, it may mean all source POI files are related (ex. Rest_Areas_USA.gpi). Maybe I want to use my own specific .bmp for this file and using the .gpi file name makes sense. If there is no corresponding bmp, then maybe using the individual symbol name makes sense.

Ok, here are my thought about this:

Save:
1- Link field
2-use the bmp and audio with corresponding names
from the poi folder.
2-use the internal symbol list. No audio

Save merged files:
1-Link field
2-open a path window to chose bmp and audio, and oppertunety to chose the internal symbol and no audio.

Export as:

By Filename:
1-Link field
2-look for bmp/audio corresponding file names in poi folder
3-internal symbol list and no audio

By Category:
1-Link field
2-Look for bmp/audio with corresponding category names in poi folder
3-internal symbol list and no audio

By symbol
1-internal symbol list, and audio in linkfield > corresponding audio symbolnames in poi folder > no corresponding audio name then no audio

All gpi name= poi.gpi > change it to what ever you like.

Did I mention it all, probably not. Did I forget something, probably.

Vestenfjell

Edit :
About the mixup bmp.
They all where in poi folder. Names with number like Speed 50, speed 60 etc. They all get mixed, xx60gpx.get xx70.bmp, xx70.gpx get xx80.bmp and so on. All bmp mixed from same poi folder.

Edit: just edit some horribe english writing.

I haven't done much this week with EPE because reading about the circles has my head in circles. Now that your back to the bmp icon problem I went to document the steps I was taking when making my gpi when I ran into a bigger problem. I do know that my Win7 did some updates this week and now I can't open either version, v5.11 or v5.14. I immediately get a "Run-time Error 13: Type mismatch".

Any ideas?

I do not think it is related to a Win 7 issue. If you do not care too much about EPE's configuration, I suggest you open a DOS box and type "Extra_POI_Editor -reset". This will clear the registry from all EPE's settings. This is the first thing to do. Then run EPE normally. You will have to reconfigure EPE (Preferences, M-Column Assignments, ...)

I got the same "Run-time error 13: type mismatch" when trying to run reset. I tried the old 4.70 installer again and the following 3 files fail, expsrv.dll, vbajet32.dll & ieframe.dll, even though they are already in the Windows\system32 directory.

If you can tell me where it is in the registry I can run regedit and delete the lines.

"Extra_POI_Editor -reset" does exactly that: clear the registry. You should not get any runtime error while doing so. Make sure not to put any space after the dash ( -reset) and not ( - reset).

In the registry, delete the entire TurboCCC key here:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\TurboCCC

@TurboCCC,

Deleting it in regedit worked fine. Everything is back up and running except my M columns. Don't know why "Extra_POI_Editor -reset" wouldn't work but not worth worrying about now!

Thanks, Now I can start looking into the bmp icons on merged file exports. I'll start tomorrow, I have some family coming by for the Survivor Finally tonight, I show up for the popcorn.

Thanks again!

@TurboCCC,
still on v5.14 for this test, I don't know that there were any changes to the export for filename in the last few versions.

1st problem
Before I was a little confusion about where the file's bmps should be stored. Recently you posted the order EPE looks for them. I had a copy of the different bmps in all of the locations, had the category set to the same name and set a link to the bmp, all of which might have confused EPE causing the problem with only one bmp being displayed for all files. I removed all the categories, links & bmps except for one copy in the same folder as the file and it works fine now for FILENAME export.

2nd problem
No problems going to work this morning. When I turned the zumo 660 on at lunchtime I heard the BONG - BONG and saw the alert banner popped up with no wording or other sound. I turned it on & off a few times and could not clear the false blank alert. On the zumo I held the on/off button for 10 seconds and it resets the GPS but doesn't clear the current.gpx file and the banner was gone. Then driving down I-79 in Western PA I had my usual existing alert for a rest area (compiled by POILoader and stored on the SD card) but the sound was a BONG-BONG and the banner wording was off a Favorites/PHOTO Navigation POI from Frankfort, KY for the upcoming KY Bourbon Trail trip we are about to take.

The 2 files I merged and exported by filename are displyed to the right of the Favorites icon but have no alerts in them. I don't know why the GPS (zumo 660) confuses my Favorites with my other existing POI files stored on the SD card, some with alerts and others with none. It did the same on my wife's 765T also. There are other times when I'm not near any alert I know of and the blank banner comes on, sometimes with the BONG-BONG, other times with no sound. Most of the time once the blank banner comes on you have to reset the GPS to get rid of it.

I thought I would next try to export by filename as a POILoader file under "Extra / Custom POIs" to see if it reacts the same.

@bear007,

1- Link field to load bmp (or wav) is not implemented in EPE. When it will be, it will be the first place to look for.

2- I am not sure why you got all those problems, but Favorites do not contain Links at all. Only a Symbol. No alerts either. Unless you meant the Where-To icon, the only place where you normally would have alerts is in the Extra/Custom POIs. It should work there.

@TurboCCC
Yes, all of my alerts and other POI Loader files are in the Extras/Custom POIs. I have probably around 50 Favorites in about 8 different categories. They all work as they are supposed to. I merge open 2 gpx files (my Fidelity Banks-PA & Massage Envy files on this site) and filename export to gpi with emulate POI Loader set to OFF the file that I create and load on the GPS for some reason causes the GPS to lose track of the alert files already loaded. What is really strange is that I'll get an alert from a file in Extras/Custom POIs and the banner will display the POI name from a Saved Favorites entry.

Tomorrow I will have the same file but will export it with the emulate POI Loader set ON to see if it still disturbs the alerts and their banners.

I am using v5.18 now.

Everything else is the same except I checked the emulate POI Loader. I have the file loaded and noticed the 2nd file's bmp is being used for both files again. I'm confused.

I'll run it tomorrow to see if I still have alert problems with it in Extras/Custom POIs.

Time for some sleep. Thanks,

With all versions since 5.14, when I Add New POI, put in an address and hit Geocoding, then Grab, I get an error message "You must move the marker first before you can get the coordinates." There is no way to add new points.

Concur with addition of new POI's. I've had the same problem.

@TurboCCC, FYI ...

I get the same problem when I create the gpi file to be under Extras/Custom POIs. The GPS confuses all of my existing alerts done with POI Loader with info from my Favorites or nothing at all on the banner. Not sure why but it doesn't like it on the zumo 660 or 765T. I als never did fix the icon problem either. Both Fidelity Banks - PA and the Massage Envy files show the bmp icon from the second Massage Evy file when I export by Filename. I tried giving them catergories and exporting by category and had the same results. Once I delete the gpi and soft reset the GPS everything is back to normal.

I don't know why. Any thing I can do on my end to help figure it out?

I noted some of those bugs as well.

I got the "move the marker first"... It appears only after clicking the Geocoding button and clicking Grab. Right? I fixed it.

Can anyone give me a simple procedure that shows how you can terminate EPE without EPE disappearing from the Task Manager? So far, I was able to reproduce it, but it was simply a refresh issue in Task Manager. The process was gone.

For the alert/bmp issue, I need to explore a bit more what is happening. I need to compare the differences between EPE and POI Loader. Since POI Loader does not do Export by Filename, I need to put 2 files in a folder and run POI Loader over them. It should do something similar.

Hello turboccc and everyone.

I'm reading this forum for several days and I'm impressed by effort you put in Extra POI editor.

I was working on GARMIN TourGuide HrAcBpOdmorista for some time (collecting data) and I was making it in MapSource. Then I have discovered Extra POI editor and ditch the MapSource

I like Extra POI editor and its working fine for me in all aspects except saving file in GPI format.
First I create GPX in Extra POI editor with proximity alerts, images and alert sound (no problems with that). After that I use POI loader to create GPI file on HDD. On the end I copy that HrAcBpOdmorista.gpi on my nuvi 255W. Size of that file is about 4.8MB.
But if I use Extra POI editor option File\Save As and choose gpi file type, I get file about 35 KB. When I open that file in Notepad ++ I can find all my POIs. If I transfer that gpi on may nuvi, I have all POIs but without images and no sound of alarm?

What I'm doing wrong here?

Thanx.

Hi Amicus,

I am glad you like EPE. Saving to .gpi is not complete. If you have a look at the first post, you will see my current status.

If you were using the Link field to add audio and images, this may explain why the file size is small as EPE does not support the Link field when saving to .gpi. It is coming. For now, only .wav and .bmp files with the same name as the POI file can be used (more or less) and there is a few bug with them already as you can read in the last few posts.

I am currently out of town and in the country side of the UK for a few days. I'll fix the posted bugs as soon as I have a chance. Then, I'll get to the link field. This one is a bit trickier than the rest.

I'm thankful for your replay.
I will track this forum for news about EPE.

Have nice trip.

Yeap, I'd say going across the big pond is pretty much OUT OF TOWN.

Enjoy your trip!

Hello.

I'm reading, and reading, and I can't find tutorial about what steps are needed to create TourGuide (gpi) so it appears in Where to menu instead Where To\Extras\Custom POIs.
What are formats of images and structure of directories I need to make and what are needed steps?

Thank you.

P.S.
Sorry if explanation already exist, but I couldn't find it.

One more thing.
I like EPE so I would like to offer help to translate it to Bosnian language.
So turboccc, what do I need to do to see EPE in Bosnian?

Hi,

It is not ready to work as a TourGuide for now because the Link field is not processed to import audio or picture. The only thing that you can do if create POI with alert using a WAV file (or maybe MP3) that has the same name as the POI file. You can also have a custom symbol if the bitmap (256-color bitmap recommended) has also the same name as the POI file. In both case, the same symbol and audio alert will apply to all POI within the file.

This being said, you can create a .gpi that will appear in the Where-To menu. You need to go under Options-Preferences and select the Where-To option rather than the Emulate POI Loader.

For the Where-To icon menu, you should normally provide a 16-bit .bmp file (recommended, but 32-bit works fine too). The resolution for newer model can go as high as 140x140, but smaller is better on older GPS (maybe 70x70). Still any size should work. If the colors of the Where-To logo do not seem right on the GPS (or looks like a bit of garbage), go in the Options-Preferences and click the Alternate Where-To Format. One mode is for 6x0, 7x0, ... and the other is for newer GPS like 39xx, .... It seems there is not a single format that will work for both model of GPS. This happens also with GPI Creator from Garmin.

About foreign language: a year ago, I was producing a French version of EPE. Since the program has not been designed to do this from the start, it was a real pain. I used a shareware program (that expired), but it was not eprfect and everytime I was making a new version I had to re-translate half of the program. Definitively too much work.

I certainly appreciate your offer and I will keep it in mind if I find an easy way of doing this or I design a new program. For now, it is simply not possible. Sorry.

For those having the sox.exe error in v5.18 when saving to .gpi, you can use v5.18c instead.

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

Hi turboccc, I am currently using v5.18c and ran into the error stating that I must move the marker first. I am running on WinXP SP3.

I first ran the program (no POIs loaded) typed in an address to create the first POI, clicked on geocoding, and then clicked on Grab and the error then appeared. Any suggestions or ideas?

Even if I do move the marker, I still receive this error.

*****UPDATE***** I reinstalled and cleared the registry keys, and it is now working properly.

Hi shrifty,

I remember this error. I thought it was fixes in a previous version. I do not understand why clearing the registry would fix the problem. Is is a codig error on my part.

If you see the problem again, just let me know.