applying changes to a poi file

As I download POI file updates that I use alerts for I always load them in EPE, set the proximity alert distance, save as a GPX file and delete or rename the original file if it was a CSV file. Then POI Loader can be run in Express mode.

Convert them to GPX files. The GPX format lets you enter the alert distance individually for each entry. You can change an entry without having to change all the others, the change stays with the file.

I personally use the GeePeeEx program but I understand that EPE will also do that. GeePeeEx costs money while I understand that EPE if free.

I've been here a while but editing a POI is still foreign to me, what is EPE? The files are in csv format and I have a reader I can open them with but I see nowhere that lists the distance, speed etc options for the alerts. All I can see is what I think are coordinates and red light camera number so & so.

I have never encountered a gpx file before.
Do I use the POI loader to install it?
Thanx in advance,

I figured out EPE is Extra_POI_Editor V5.32 correct?

I opened it and it's still confusing, 4 little windows but again I see no proximity alert area to make any changes. Nor do I see a way to change from csv to gpx.

This is frustrating I'm not computer illiterate.

See http://www.poi-factory.com/node/28521

Quick and Easy
* Start EPE
* File/Open a CSV file
* Click Edit/Replace Field and a popup box will open
* In the Fieldname pull down box select "Proximity"
* In the "New Field Value" enter your distance in feet the select Replace All. that puts this alert distance on every single POI in the file.
* Click "File/Save As" and the default selection will be as a GPX file.

Your done!
=========================================

One NOTE - For the first time EPE use you will need to set your preferences.

* Click "Options/Preferences.."
* In UNITS set -
Editor > Imperial/US
CSV File Read > Metric
CSV File Save > Metric
@Speed Units > Same as CSV
* Click Close

Good Luck!

bear007 .... Many thanks I was able to follow that. However there is now a gpx and csv file with the same name, do I get rid of the csv file?

I followed the directions bear007 gave, all appeared to work. I took out the csv files and put them in another folder, using just the gpx files I did a custom install to see if the changes were actually made, they were not, I had to again manually change the proximity for each???

With EPE you do a CTL-A to save as. The default folder is a temp folder and you have to specify where the file will be written. You then tell it what format in which the file is to be written. If you save the file as CSV, no proximity information is written - CSV files don't have a way of storing that information. The file has to be saved as a GPX.

Oh, POI Loader won't know what's in a file, so it won't display any proximity or speed data it reads that is in a GPX. Just be assured if it shows in the EPE editor, it's in the file and the alert will be set.

Since you removed the CSV file from the folder try this. Just re-open the GPX file in EPE, double click on any POI in the top left box. This will open another window with all the info for that individual POI. Look in the "Proximty" box and see if your distance (in feet) is there. If not, try the "Replace All" feature again and then re-check any POI again to see if it's there. If it is there the alert distance will automatically load when POI Loader is run.

Thanks but I followed the directions exactly as bear wrote them and saved them as gpx in the correct folder for transfer.

.... doing as you suggested here but when I chose a custom install to check (as they were being loaded) the original info was there, not mine?

oh well, I do appreciate the help folks.

POI Loader has NO idea what is in a file. It does not read a file and display any data that is in the file -none NADA! That's why you will never see any alert information displayed when doing a load. The only thing you see doing a manual load is the name of the file, nothing about what's in the file, just the file name. Believe us, the proximity distance is in there, just as the speed data is in the speed camera file which you never see when loading either.

Boxcar, when I choose manual load (custom) I do see some POI's that have a proximity sensor spot, one in particular for speed traps on I-95 has the limit set at 95mph by the author, kind of ridiculous, when I do the express install and pass by a known spot nothing happens since I am not going 95 mph. When I do the manual install I get rid of the speed and put in a specific distance and go by the same spot I now get the tone alert.

This is why I asked how to change a poi, if I do the express I'm not warned in the spot I know exists, but if I do the manual I am.

Maybe I'm not explaining myself properly, here is a screenshot of what I see when I choose a custom install via the Garmin POI loader:

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/soberbyker/poi1.jpg

If I do not do a custom install and change what you see here when I go by known spot the alert will not sound.

Here is a screenshot of what I change it too and would like to see stick:

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/soberbyker/poi2.jpg

When I do make the change you see here and go by a known spot I do get the alert tone.

In summary, I used the EPE program and verified it has changed the info within as I want it (from the program itself) and has converted the csv file to gpx, however after the changes when I do a custom install as shown above the original parameters are still showing, and my changes have seemed to disappear.

I guess in reality the only way to know for sure is do an express install and drive by known spots and see if I'm alerted or if the original info loaded and the poi alert doesn't activate because of the reason described prior.

PS the links are photo's on my photobucket account.

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I haven't used manual mode in over 3 years, much less with any version since 2.6.1 (or before). When I update, I load over 170,000 POI, some with speed and others with proximity alerts and even TourGuides. Every one of my POI that has a built in alert has never failed to sound as directed.

The only CSV file I have with an alert is the reworked speed camera file (every entry alerts based on speed, not speed/distance). all the rest of my files that automatically alert are GPX and I normally set a fixed proximity varying between a 1/4 mile and 5300 feet (for rest areas). I rework the Wal-Mart file, strip the gas stations and put them into a tour guide with a 1 kilometer radius. The stores themselves are not alerted and that file also includes fuel, but it doesn't alert.

The point is, I don't try to check the alert distance or speed is correct by running POI Loader in manual mode, I run in auto and load all my custom POI in less than 90 seconds from the time I select POI Loader on the desktop until I acknowledge it has successfully loaded my POI and "some units may need to be booted" message. Quit using Manual!

Using alerts in the manual mode with CSV files will cause the alert to sound every time you move up in the queue at a stop sign or drive-thru. Using TourGuide in GPX, the alert only sounds one time. (usually)

And you, my friend, keep missing my point, if I use express mode the alerts don't work on the GPS, if I manually change them to reasonable limits they do.

Did you look at the screen shots I provided? Did you see how high the author made the limit? This is why the express mode doesn't work for this file, I have to change the limits so it will, it's all right there in the screen shots.

AND the screen shots were taken AFTER I changed them in EPE.

Go back and read what I wrote, I explained it all.

.

I think you and BoxCar are on different paths.

When you say "custom" I think you are speaking of "manual" mode of POI Loader. Most of us think of "Custom" as a way to distinquish between "Built-in" POIs and those that we load ourselves - ie. Custom. That is how the Nuvi refers to those you load yourself.

You say that you have used EPE to change proximity and that you have saved the changed file as a .gpx file. Assuming you have done that then you would load that changed file using "express" mode of POI Loader.

Since you can run POI Loader to load only one file and give it a unique name, I would suggest that you do that. Perhaps you would create a new folder on your PC and give it a name like MyTestPOIs. Move the .gpx file you are trying to test into that folder.

Then run POI Loader (pointing it to the folder MyTestPOIs) in "Express" mode. Once it has finished, safely disconnect the nuvi.

Make sure you have Proximity alerts turned on.

Let us know what happens

I think the reason you are seeing the 95 MPH default is because of the file name I-95 Speed Traps.gpx. Change this name to I-Ninetyfive Speed Traps.gpx and that will not happen.

thanks for the reply, actually I used both custom and manual as interchanging words here, sorry, didn't know there was a difference.

I am simply looking for a way to make permanent change to my RLC and Speed poi files, all of them.

Using the I-95 speed trap example I had JM, a moderator here, add a few places near me to the file. I then loaded them onto the GPS via the Garmin POI loader in express mode. The next time I approached the area I knew should ring an alert there was no sound, just a dot on the map where it was.

Being a greenhorn here I then asked JM why the location was marked but I got no alert tone. It was he that suggested not using the express mode and set my own parameters. When I did that I found the reason for no sound alert was the speed limit the author of the poi set in the file, 95mph. So I chose to use a distance instead of a speed that would set the alert into sound mode. The next time by it worked, I got the tone before I got the the spot where the dot was. All was well in Mudville.

The next time the RLC and Speed info was updated here I reloaded my POI files, included the newly updated files, in express mode, and the next time by that same area, no sound alert. I then once again chose the POI loader manual mode reset the parameters I wanted and wallah, it worked again.

Getting tired of going through all of the different poi's each time I reload my files I came here looking for a way to make the changes stick. That's when EPE was brought into the mix.

Once it was clarified how to use the program I then reloaded the now gpx files,(minus the old csv files) but I chose to do the manual mode to see if in fact things had changed, they hadn't. At least it appears they didn't as they still had the original parameteres, not the ones I set, and I haven't had a chance to drive by the spot again in the couple days since I started this thread.

I guess I'll try what you suggested here this weekend, try an express mode load, even though in manual mode it looks like they haven't changed, and see if I do get the sound alert. I hope they do.

Boxcar, I didn't come here looking for an argument, I apparently wasn't making myself clear enough as to what I was doing and had tried, express mode by far IS the best way to go, but if it doesn't load the POI's in a manner in which they will actually work as expected then it's no good, in which case the manual mode has to be tried.

Have you ever tried simulation? This is a good way to add a new POI and then test it while sitting in the chair at your computer.

Look at http://www.poi-factory.com/node/31482.

You also might want to build a file specifically for testing alerts from the comfort of your home. To learn how to build a nearby POI file specifically for yourself, you might look at
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/36195

Thanks for reporting what has happened so far. Whenever anyone does this, it helps us learn how to better respond to questions.

From POI Loader's help:

Emphasis mine. Pay particular attention to the relative priority of those three items.

CSV files do not explicitly contain speed information -- that's not where the 95 came from. If the individual entries have "@25" in their names (the "@" is critical here), for example, then POI Loader will automatically assign a speed alert of 25 MPH for those entries. That will have a higher priority than any speed alert you specify in manual mode.

In your case, since the name you gave the file has "95" in it, POI Loader assumes you want a 95 MPH speed alert for all points in the file. If you specify a manual alert speed, that will override this assumption, as you have experienced.

As bwarden has indicated, you have been trapped by something that has bit a lot of us - a number in the name of the POI file.

I have often thought that a number should not be allowed in the name of a POI file uploaded to this site. It is guaranteed to cause someone a problem.

At the very minimum, the file maintainer should be required to post IN BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS the warning that a number in a file name will cause POI Loader to create an alert.

I agree "I-95 Speed Traps" makes that file easier to find but one probably could not count the number of times that the "7-Eleven" file has bit people. However, just because the name in the POI file list contains a number does not mean that the name of the file poi-factory offers to download has to have that number. If "I NinetyFive Speed Traps.csv" was what was offered to you for downloading, the problem probably would not have occured

Maybe we can figure out collective how to solve this ongoing problem.

@soberbyker,

Thanks for the photos. They explain your problem with the alert very clear. You may or may not be happy to know that you are not, by far, the first person to be caught by a number in the filename or in a POI name. We've all been nailed by it more than once.

Renaming the file without using any numbers will fix the 95 mph alert problem. Also make sure that none of the individual POI names in the file have any numbers in there name. Things should work the way you want then.

Ride safe,

for the explanation, maybe the reason I was able to get the file to work via manual mode was because I didn't assign it a speed but rather a distance.

For what it's worth I did not create the file I got it via moderator JM who added a few spots to that file when I tried to add them to the speed camera list, but they weren't cameras. I've never made a POI file.

@soberbyker,

it should not take too long to do Beginners Exercise 8 – Testing POI Alerts – Manual mode

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/36195.

Try it and I think you will like it.

I maintain the I-26 Speed Traps POI. If you download it, it is really named "I-TwentySix Speed Traps.cvs".

I too was caught by the number in the file name at first.

I maintain a 24 hour pharmacy in my area but I do not use "24" in the title of the download.

Hope we can get more maintainers changing the numbers to letters.

Interesting, it really wasn't that hard, even did a simulated run on the GPS to see/hear it, HOWEVER, unless I used the manual mode to load the POI and checked the box that it had a proximity alert and gave it a speed or distance I wasn't alerted to it's existence. I did this with both a csv and gpx saved file using the lesson 8 within which I had coded in the distance for the alert while creating?

Still, I think I can make my own file now, run a manual load and get what I'm looking for, since during this lesson I realized I didn't need to reload all of my POI's each time I added a new or updated one.

Again, thanks to all who offered help guidanceence.

.

@Soberbyker,

Did you rename the POI, wav and bmp files and get Express Mode to work and give you an alert?

Followed all directions to a T.

Just checking ... ride safe

But haven't had a chance to verify it works properly yet in real life, although to work in simulation mode I had to load it in manual mode.

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/37454

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Good for you.

It would help me a lot if you would try out a new Exercise. This one has you create a .gpx file with multiple audio alerts built in.

Suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Beginners Exercise 8A Testing POI Alerts Express Mode

OK, you say you want audible alerts when you approach your favorite “whatever” (restaurant, bank, Walmart). You may or may not, after you do this exercise, but you do want to know how to create audible alerts.

What we are going to do is to build a test POI file that will demonstrate what happens when you approach a POI location with alerts on. Not only that, we are going to build a POI file that has unique audible alerts for each of the points of interest within this new POI file. And, we are going to load this file in “Express” mode of POI Loader.

In order to do this, we need a .gpx file. We are going to use Extra POI Editor which was written by Turbocc, one of our members. One reason for using this tool in this exercise is because it is so valuable that everyone should know about it.

Step 1: Get a copy of EPE
What follows will be a link to EPE - but I would like you to use a special technique to go to the link – a technique that will keep this Exercise active and will also let you access Turbocc’s program.

When you click on the link below, hold down the CNTL key as you left click. This will open a new window in your browser under a new “Tab”. You can then come back to this Exercise by clicking on its tab in the browser.

1.1 Access the program at:
http://turboccc.wikispaces.com/Extra_POI_Editor#toc5

1.2 Scroll down about 2/3rds of the way on Turbocc’s webpage and download the latest “zip” file into a some new folder on your computer. Also, download the latest help file “zip” into that same folder.
1.3 Navigate to that folder on your PC and extract the files from the zip archives.
1.4 Then, from that folder, run Extra_POI_Editor.exe by left double-clicking on it.
NOTE: If you want to be able to run EPE from your desktop from now on, then do a right-click on Extra_POI_Editor.exe; from the dialog that appears, move the cursor to the “Send To” line which will open another dialog; move the cursor over to “Desktop” and left-click. This will pot a shortcut to EPE on your desktop. You can not do a WINDOWS-D key combination to get to the desktop where you will left double-click the EPE shortcut icon to start the program.

What you will see will be four panels within EPE that are currently empty. Before proceeding,

Step 2: Set preferences.
2.1 Click on Preferences. We will be working in feet, so
2.2 Under units, change the Editor setting to Imperial/US.
2.3 Finally, click Close.

Step 3: Create a POI location near you.

3.1 At the bottom left of the upper left panel is the button “Add New POI” – click it.
3.2 Now, you have a dialog box called POI Edit.

Step 4: Find your home
4.1 In the address box at the middle left, enter your home’s address.
4.2 Enter your city
4.3 Enter your State
4.4 Enter the Post Code (aka zip code).
4.5 To see your address on the map, click the big “Geocoding” button (slightly right of center in the dialog box). Behold – a Google map appears with your house under the red pointer.
4.6 Check it out. Change from “Map” to “Satellite” and press the “+” button on the upper left side of the map section to zoom in on your house.
4.7 You may find that the pointer is not exactly where you might expect it (mine was in my back yard). Even thus, it is pretty amazing that technology gets as close as it does.
4.8 Switch back to “Map” view and zoom back out using the “-“ button, because what we are now going to do is to create a POI that is within easy-driving distance from your house. What we want to do is to get out of the residential area and onto a main road that is fairly straight for perhaps a couple of miles – a “golden mile”, so to speak. The main reason for doing this is just to give us some space to test out various proximity distances. Later, you are going to drive to this road and listen to your alerts.
4.9 Drag the pointer that is currently over your house to some spot on this “golden mile”. You “drag” the pointer by positioning your cursor on the pointer, pressing and holding the left mouse button, and moving to some new location onto which you can drop the pointer by releasing the left mouse button. It is important that you locate the pointer within 98 feet of the road on which you will travel. Any further off the road and the alert will not sound.

If the “golden mile” nearest your house is some distance away, you will want to have EPE zoom out (by clicking the “-“ in the map panel) until that major road comes into view. Once you find the major road, position the pointer on the road and release the left mouse button.

To learn a little bit about EPE, zoom in some (by clicking the “+”) and adjust the pointer (you may have to drag the map with the left mouse button to find the pointer after you zoomed it). The pointer ought to be – for the time being for the reason mentioned above – literally right on the road. So, drag it there
4.10 Now, go to the top of the map section and press the “Grab” button. What then happens is that EPE will capture the coordinates underneath the pointer. BUT NOTE: EPE has not adjusted the address (which is your house) so you need clear out your home’s street address (And - unless you really moved the pointer a fair distance, it will be OK to leave the city, state and zip alone).
4.11 Type “Test Point One” in the Name field just below the coordinates.
4.12 Go to the bottom of EPE and click the “OK” button. EPE will create this location and you will be taken back to EPE’s four panel dialog which will now have one POI – Test Point One.
4,13 So that you can save this POI file somewhere, open Windows Explorer (I like to hold down my “Windows” key while also pressing the “E” key). Somewhere on your main hard drive, create a new folder called “My Test POIs”. You may already have a “MyPOIs” folder, if you have read the FAQs on this site. But, what we want to do is make sure that we separate test POIs from real POIs. (While you are in Explorer, go ahead and create another folder which you will name “My Test Wavs”. We will use this folder in step 5 below.)
4.14 Back in EPE, up in the menu bar, click on File > Save As. Navigate to your “My Test POIs” folder.
4.15 The “Save as type” is already “Garmin GPX (*.gpx)” which is what we want. For the “File name”, use “Test Point One”. (Note: type the letters “One” not the number “1”)
4.16 click “Save” to save the file.
4.17 You are now back at EPE’s four panels.

Step 5: Make some audio alert files
5.1 Open a NEWbrowser window
5.2 Enter http://www2.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php
5.3 This AT&T web site will let you create a .wav file of words you enter is the Step 2 block. So erase what is in the block and enter something like “you are approaching Test Point one”
5.4 When you click on the “Speak” button, your words will play in Windows Media Player.
5.5 Assuming that you like the audio, then in the menu for Windows Media Player, click on File; then on Save As… and navigate to your “My Test Wavs” folder. Save the file as “Test Point One.wav” (without the quotes)
5.6 Leave Windows Media Player open and return to the AT&T web page.
5.7 Create several more audio alerts by repeating steps 5.3 to 5.5. You could use words like “Coming up on Test Point Two”, “Watch for Test Point Three”; “Test Point Four is nearby”; etc.

Step 6: Put proximity distances and audio links in GPX
6.1 Switch back to the EPE
6.2 Double click on your Test Point One to open up the POI Edit dialog.
6.3 In the lower right section, enter a distance in the Proximity field – perhaps 500.
6.4 To put something in the Link field immediately below Proximity, click the Browse button. Then navigate to your “My Test Wavs” folder and click on the .wav file for this test point to select it. Then click Ok. EPE will fill in the location of the .wav file. NOTE: EPE is going to put this location in the .gpx file and the ,gpx file will let POI Loader know where the proper .wav file is located.
6.5 At the bottom of the EPE POI Edit dialog, click on OK.

Step 7: Create several more Test Points
7.1 Right-click on Test Point One.
7.2 Select the option to “Copy POI Info to Clipboard”
7.3 In the top left pane, left-click the “add new POI” button
7.4 In the POI Edit dialog that opens, right-click in the Description field and select Paste.
7.5 Copy and paste the longitude numbers from Description into the Lon field. Don’t forget to copy the minus sign in longitude. Copy and paste the latitude numbers from Description into the Lat field. 7.6 Now, click in the Lon field and EPE should create the map.
7.7 Delete what you pasted into Description.
7.8 At this point, you have a duplicate of your Test Point One. So, what you want to do is drag the pointer to a new location and click the Grab button to adjust the coordinates. Remember to keep your pointed on the main road.
7.9 Name this new POI Test Point Two.
7.10 Set a Proximity distance for Test Point Two
7.11 Browse for the link to the audio file and let EPE put it into the Link field
7.12 Click OK
7.13 Repeat Step 7 until you have 5 or so test points.
7.14 Save your file.

Step 8: Make sure you have SOX.EXE
It is suggested that you go ahead and get the proper version of sox.exe even if your GPS will play mp3 files. It won’t hurt.
8.1 Download sox.exe from http://www.poi-factory.com/images/csv/sox-14-0-1.zip
8.2 Unzip sox.exe and place sox.exe into the C:\Program Files\Garmin\POI Loader folder. This is the folder in which you will also find POI Loader.exe

Step 9: Load Test Point One to GPS
9.1 Attach your GPS to your computer with a USB cable. When it is ready, you should see - on the GPS screen - a picture of the GPS attached to a computer. Also, your computer will probably have asked you what to do the new drive(s) it found.

9.2 Start POILoader. If you do not have POILoader, go get it at (remember to CNTL-left click)
http://www8.garmin.com/support/collection.jsp?product=999-99...
When you click “run”, it should install itself in “Program Files\Garmin\POI Loader. Go to Start, Programs and find POILoader and run it.

9.3 Click the Next button and make sure the Garmin Device radio button is checked.
9.4 Click next.
9.5 Let POI Loader find your device, and click Next.
9.6 On the next screen, click the radio button “Install new custom POIs on your device” and then click Next.
9.7 On the next screen, navigate to your “My Test POIs” folder and click on it. POILoader will fill in the name “My Test POIs”.
9.8 We want to run POILoader in “Express” mode.
9.9 Click Next.
9.10 When you click Next, POILoader should load the POI file and notify you that “Congratulations! You have successfully loaded x custom POIs on your device”.

Step 10: Safely remove the GPS
Safely remove your GPS from your computer using the icon that is usually in your system tray.

Step 11: Check out your file
11.1 On the GPS, make sure that you have Proximity Point Alerts turned on. This will vary by GPS unit, but it is usually something like Tools > Settings > Proximity Points > [on/off]. You should be able to find this in your manual. If you have not gotten a manual, then look at:
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/30393

11.2 make sure your volume is not “muted” or so low that it would be hard for you to hear. Check your manual for how to do this. For many units, there is a “Volume” icon on your main screen.

Go for a ride on the road with your Test Points. You should hear a different alert for each test point you approach.

Before you posted this I had already tried EPE and did convert to a gpx file with the proximity built in. Didn't work when loading in express mode, but did when I recoded the proximity in manual mode.

At this point without someone looking over my shoulder to see if I'm doing something wrong I think we're just going around in circles.

Thanks very much for the help, I have learned a lot, even if it wasn't what I had hoped to learn.

ETA: I did not do step five above, when things worked correctly the GPS used the default tone.

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I am hoping that you are saying that when you loaded a .gpx file created by EPE with some distance (like x) in the Proximity field using Express mode of POI Loader, that the Nuvi default tone was sounded when you were x feet from the point of interest.

If a point of interest is more than 98 feet from the center of the road, the alert will not sound. That is why the instructions say to put the point of interest coordinates ON the road.

Using .wav files (as I always do even though my unit will play .mp3 files), one must have the correct version of sox.exe in the folder where POI Loader.exe is run from.

If one uses a single .wav file for any alert for a .gpx file then the name of the .wav file must match the name of the .gpx file except for the extension. Using the technique above, I could have asked EPE to replace all the link fields with one .wav file - but I wanted to test using multiple .wav files. One good reason might be to have one .wav file for ATMs only and another for brick and mortar banks.

Just before I posted the 8A instructions above, I followed them and got 6 unique alert audio files to activate as I drove along tmy chosen road and approached within 500 feet (in my case) of each point of interest.

Yesterday I made two different POI's along a route I would be driving later in the day. Both were made using EPE and saved as a gpx file, both had proximity distance info entered. Both POI's were made using the satellite map to be sure they were actually on the road and not in a field somewhere.

One I loaded onto the GPS in express mode, the other manually where I reentered the distance.

Driving the route only the manual mode POI sounded and was shown on the map, the express mode loaded POI didn't exist at all.

At this point I am frustrated, I once again thank you for your help, but I give up, for now anyway. Manual mode always works for me so I'll just load any new POI's with an alert in that manner.

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I have tried EPE several times but I have never gotten it to do what I want. I'm sure that the problem is with me or my computer and not the program. Others seem to use it with great success. That's one reason why I'm still using a program you have to pay for, GeePeeEx. If you don't mind spending around $18.00 then go to:

http://geepeeex.com/

The GUI is pretty good and it's almost fool proof to use.