Can POI Loader remember what I did last time?

The program is too dumb. It even assumes that if you have run it once, you're done with it and it closes down. If you want to write another POI to a different directory, you have to start it again and answer the same questions.

It would be nice if Garmin added some features to POILoader. It would seem relatively easy to save the location of the folder one last used to load POIs.

My guess is that most of Garmin's customers have never used POIs - let alone "custom" POIs.

Remember that we are on these forums because we do want and use custom POIs. We are likely not typical.

The program is too dumb...

I agree. I bet a Garmin programmer in one day could enhance the Loader to give us these improvements. Sometimes I wonder what in the world the decision makers at Garmin are thinking.

There are a couple of easy WORK AROUNDS that I discuss on the Garmin Tricks and Tips website.

=== One includes putting the distance in the file name as a reminder for each time you are using POI Loader in a Manual mode

=== Using .gpx files which has the information embeded

=== and my favorite of creating .gpi files that you can eventually place and easily remove, via your file directory system, into your unit so you don't have to constantly re-process them with POI Loader.

There are a bunch of articles that discuss these techniques.

Many here have also used those techniques and some have even written about it on this website.

Gary Hayman
Garmin Tricks & Tips website
http://bit.ly/garmin_gps_tricks

There are a couple of ways. See Gary Hayman's post for some tricks. The other way, which I and several others use is to load GPX files. You can set both speed and proximities in a GPX file. Once set, you can then load the file at any time without having to manually set alerts. The easiest program to use, if on a PC is Extra_POI_Editor from TurboCCC.

The only time you then have to reset the proximity is if you update the file.

There are others that will tell you to rename the POILoader GPI file, but then you need to keep running POILoader to initially load all your files, then remember the naming convention you used. I just happen to feel the GPX file is the easier solution.

I am one of those that favor selectively renaming the .gpi file created by POILoader. I say selectively because, as Box Car points out - you could rename every single input POI file to some name other than poi.gpi. That would be a lot of work.

I like a mixture of techniques. Take home improvement stores, for example. I have not found a need to set "alerts" for these stores. Thus, I could leave the imput files as .csv files and run POILoader in "express mode". Then I could rename the .gpi output file as HomeImprovementyyyymmdd giving me an easy recognizable name with a date tag. This would allow me later on to go to "My Favorite Files" and see if the files were still current before I started on a trip (I can easily keep track of closing or new stores in my own town). I can do the same thing with Department Stores and Malls and Airports and Car Dealearships and Pharmacies and other things.

I like to have "on-the-route alerts" for Rest Areas
and "radius alerts" for Cracker Barrel. These can be run uniquely in POILoader and appropriately renamed.

I do like to convert .csv files to .gpx files and set varying alert distances depending on the establishment. When I am out of town, I might like to know rather farther in advance that a Dairy Queen is approaching so I can make a judgment as to whether now is the time of evening I want a caramel sundae.

It does not have to be all or nothing. There is nothing to keep one from creating a text file with notes as to what actions you have taken (and why) and storing that test file on your GPS.

GPX does it all.

There is an option of /silent which used to work using the exact same options as the last run. It stopped working when the ability to name the POI output file was added.

I've found that with POILoader v2.61 the command line switch /s still works, but not like it used to. There is a new /d switch for specifying the output .gpi directory, and it needs to be used if you want the /s or /Silent switch to work. I think it works with the /u usb unit ID switch as well, but I've never used it that way.

When run with the switches /s /d "directory name" POILoader will use the last input directory & settings, and will put "Poi.gpi" in the directory specified after the /d. Using it with these two switches will run it 'silently', only giving you the result pop-up when finished.

The stupid thing (imo) is that the /d switch only gives you control over where the output file goes, but no control over the input directory or the compiled .gpi name.

Addressing the OP's automation question.. as mentioned already, if you use csv as the input format then you only have limited proximity options (running it in Express mode/automated) by using speed numbers and/or keywords in either the file names or the individual poi names. (see http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader/creating_custom_po... or 'Creating Custom Poi Files' in the POILoader help file).

If you want the flexibility of a proximity without a speed for a poi, or a proximity that uses a different value for your speed that isn't the default of Prompt Distance = 36 seconds * Speed, then you should use gpx files as the input.

Gary, thanks for the insight this has been helpful to me as long time use of garmin products but a newbie to poi's