Extra POI Editor (EPE) Problems/Issues/Comments

There is a Plug in for excel (I think it will work for all versions) It is Called ASAP Utilities
It can do a lot of things, one of them is to find Duplicates entries and highlight them for you. Another thing it can do is Remove all beginning and Trailing Spaces, and SO much more!

It is free for Personal use and can be found at:

http://www.asap-utilities.com/

For Excell. https://www.accountingweb.com/technology/excel/identifying-d...

When dealing with POI .csv files, there is a problem with "utilities" that find "duplicate values". This is because what the maintainers of POI files need to have is "Lon/Lat" combinations that are "essentially" at the same spot on earth.

As Bobkz pointed out relating to his Offbeat POI file, there may be entries that are literally only feet from one another (say, in the same building) but are not really duplicates. That is the reason I think that one should look for entries that are within 0.01 km of each other. Exact Coordinates matches will miss real duplicates that arise because the maintainer has moved the coordinates given by the "address" to, say, the entrance off the nearest major road.

As posted above ASAP Utilities can do many things. I have used it for years. Here is a method to check for duplicates and sort them together to view and do as necessary to complete your task.
http://www.asap-utilities.com/

1.Bring up your CSV file you want to check.
2.Highlight the columns you plan to sort.
3.Click on ASAP Utilities.
4.Select Range #5 and scroll down to #21. Count and/or color duplicates and click on it.
5.Next screen select yes for cell color and select the color you prefer.Then click OK.
6.Wait for program to find them it will give you a number.
7.While your columns are still highlighted click back on ASAP.
8.Select range #5 and scroll to advance sorting #2 and click on it.
9.In the sort by using the down arrow select the columns for sorting.A,B,C etc
10.In the value using down arrow.Change each one to cell color.Then click OK.
You will find the duplicates at or near the bottom of the file.

Paste this formula in next unused column e.g. E or F, drag down to last row, the formula will identify duplicate POI descriptions. Mind you, the POI descriptions must be exact match. After finding duplicate POI descriptions you would then review co-ordinates because they most likely don't match.

=IF(MAX(COUNTIF(C:C,C:C))>1,"Duplicate","Not Duplicate")

Another issue that I have with my Offbeat is when I get a email from someone letting me know of a Place that I should put in the file might already exist but the description and the Cords are off slightly. I need to manually check for these before I can update the File.

My method that I use when updating my poi file is:

The first thing I do is know what my 1st False Positive Duplication is in my Master file. I need to use that as my guild to what I do next. I do a Dup Search for .06 and take note what the 1st entry comes up with (They are 2 statues near each other - Reason I do .06 is due to the markers may not be exact to each entry and descriptions may be different. One might be the front door and the other might be in the back area.)

I create a smaller file with all my new entries in them. I do my mapping and description, etc.. Once this is done I save the file. Keeping the New small file open, I append my larger file to this file.

Now I "Append" my bigger file to this new file. I then do another Dup search for anything that is .06 away from each.

I unmark all the files then I look at all the Entries from top down until I Find My False Positive. This way I can look at only top lines and not worry about the rest. This is not a fool proof way since my markers could be farther away then .06 but it does help.

I then Manually mark all the Dups that I may find and delete them. Once this is done, I now can create ne new Master file for uploading here.

Hope this helps others out there!

I got distracted by other activities. I see that there is a need to help improve finding duplicates in EPE. Exporting the results seems to be a useful start. Will do something about it.

I may be distracted but I fixed the stupid bug when the EPE window is outside the screen and can't be seen. For once, it happened to me. The saved coordinates somehow became all negatives for no reason. I added a check to reset the values when this happened.

Not released yet but you'll see this coming with EPE v6.05. No need to do EPE -reset on command-line. Coming soon.

Turbo

Oh Man. I am getting this error message again. I really wish Google would stop messing with me.

I noticed, after the fact, that GE Pro was updated {Under the covers} on 6 Feb, 2018.

The Install Location for GE is now
C:/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google Earth Pro/client
Note: additional sub-folder of "client"

I changed the key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Google/Google Earth Plus to reflect the changed location.

The second RegKey
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Wow6432Node/Google

NO LONGER contains an entry for Google Earth, just Chrome crap.

Changing the 1st key has not fixed my problem this time around, still get same error message.

Correction: The Program Location, I just noticed is now in "Program Files", NOT "Program Files(x86)".

So, in addition to updating itself, GE also went 64bit.

Changed key accordingly, but still same error. I'm missing something obvious, I know it.

The 64 bit version will not work with EPE. You have to use the 32 bit version. BaseCamp has the same issue.

Download link for Google Earth Pro v7.3.1.4507 (32-bit)
https://dl.google.com/dl/earth/client/advanced/current/googl...

You don't have to uninstall the v7.3.1.4507 64-bit version first.

Your answer worked like a charm - that's the second time you've bailed me out.

Thanks

Just an observation for others after installing the 32bit flavour:

Both 32bit and 64bit are left installed, in their respective "Program Files" folder;

In Control Panel/Programs, only the latest one to be installed is reflected. Not separate entries for each. And no Start Menu shortcuts are created for either, at all.

I also noted that the desktop shortcut to 64bit was deleted and replaced with a shortcut to the 32bit.

As EPE was finding GEpro before, then I must have way-back already run into this issue and installed 32bit. (70th year, suffering Oldtimers. I can however, remember perfectly everything that happened before age 12, so there).

When an under-the-covers silent update happened beginning of February, I did not notice the update had happened, but I did notice that my GEpro shortcut had moved on my Desktop. I assumed it was "just a Windows glitch" at the time.

So, I am assuming that every time GE decides to update itself, it will switch to 64bit, and I will have to go get, and reinstall the 32bit.

Hopefully WAASup or others will be around to remind me in 6 months time when it next happens.

Thanks.

I'll look into it myself and see if I notice the same thing aswell.

I've got the Google Earth not found from EPE on a fresh Win10 64bit machine with fresh GE v7.3.1.4507 (64-bit) and EPE v6.04 installs.

Seems like the best fix would be if Turbo could add a Preferences dialog box so you could browse for the googleearth.exe yourself? That or write the path into an EPE registry value so it can be manually changed there.

Like the icons and startup paths.

Google Earth Pro V7.3.1.4507 introduced 64-bit support, and it is the 64-bit version which is installed by default. As I mentioned above this will NOT work with EPE, which is a 32-bit program.

The 32-bit version of Google Earth Pro V7.3.1.4507 must be manually installed for it to work with EPE (and also with Garmin BaseCamp).

The link to the 32-bit version I previously posted will NOT auto-update.

Here is a link to an auto-updating 32-bit version:
https://dl.google.com/tag/s/appguid%3D%7B65E60E95-0DE9-43FF-...

If you want to skip needing a reminder, re-install Google Earth Pro using this new link

Thanks, but I read that and I'm on the fence if I want 2 copies of GE on my computer, one 32 bit copy, or leave everything as-is and simply generate the kml or kmz files from BaseCamp and EPE to manually load into GE.

Can't imagine why a 32 bit program couldn't issue an execute command with a filename to a 64 bit program, but I'm not going to sweat it. Just thought I'd make a suggestion for Turbo if he's so inclined.

When I installed GE 32-bit it removed the 64-bit version and updated the Start Menu and desktop shortcuts. It seems oldboy had different results...

When I went to TurboCCC download area I gopt a message WikiSpaces is closing. I would hate to lose EPE because Wiki closes.

It looks like we will have it for a few more months. I seem to recall that TurboCCC had these files somewhere else long ago and it too went away and he found this place to host his files. Hopefully he will locate another place in the near future. We can also support TurboCCC by donating now and then.

Recently, any time I put in an address and hit the geocoding button I get "The requested search did not return any relevant result. I am running EPE 6.04 on a Win 7 system. Any ideas what I am doing wrong or how to get around this problem?

Turbo could not figure out why - but when I run EPE as Administrator, my geocoding works - versus the same message you are getting.

Be interested to know whether running as administrator works for you.

John

I tried it in Admin mode. once it worked then it wouldn't. I tried then putting the complete address in the address block and it worked (once). got out and started non admin. put all in address got error. Tried putting in street, city and state blocks. Worked once. I am not seeing the pattern of the problem. Appears to be random working, most error.

Had the same thing about a week ago, for each one of about 6 addresses.
I assumed at the time it was simply incomplete full addresses, or confusion with Canadian address details.
I used GPSVisualizer site and all worked OK.
Kinda forgot about it after, but as it is not just me, maybe I will try some variations to try and find a pattern.

Based on a test of ONE:

I still get this for a Canadian address.

If I slip "Canada" into the street address, then it works OK.

But, previously, just a street address, with a 2-char Province used to be fine.

I'm seeing this more frequently lately. I really think it is something Google is doing with how in interprets the address. I've noted that if I plug the same addy into GE, it also complains. If I massage the address a bit, it sometimes finds it. I need to pay more attention for those that EPE can't resolve, does GE or Google Maps fail also with the same address consistently?

If I use the GPS Visualizer site: http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/geocode

and put in the same Canadian address, without 'Canada' in it, and ask for 'Google Map' it works just fine.

Does this mean it's using a different Google API?

I've paid more attention the past couple of days. If I paste an address into EPE, it often fails to geocode to a location, but if I then paste the same address into Google Maps, Google displays the correct location. I can then copy the coordinates from Google and paste them into EPE so that I can complete that POI. It does seem that another Google update has interfered with how EPE can interface with it. Turbo must feel like he's playing Whack-a-Mole with this.

I just tried to use EPE and there may be a issue with the map screen again.

In the Google map part of the screen it says "This page can't load Google Maps Correctly. Then when you click OK, The Screen goes darker and across the screen it says "For Development purposes only"

Anyone else having this issue?

So, the good news is that everything still works (for now), in spite of the error message.

The bad news is that it appears Turbo would need to change some EPE
code to use a new Google API key. The key would provide free $200 monthly usage, and requires a credit card.

Some relevant Google Maps info:

https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/pricing/
On July 16, 2018, a new pay-as-you-go pricing plan went into effect for Maps, Routes, and Places

https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/...
A darkened map, or ‘negative’ Street View image, watermarked with “for development purposes only” is returned when any of the following is true:

The request is missing an API key.
Billing has not been enabled on your account.
The provided billing method is invalid (for example an expired credit card).
A self-imposed daily limit has been exceeded.

If you are the website owner, you can fix this by getting an API key and enabling billing on your account, or by increasing your daily limit. For help on finding error messages, see the section on checking errors in your browser.

Ah nutz, Google is messing around again. You have to look quick before the map screen goes dark.

Well, it was a handy tool, but I can see where it would take a lot of time, and money, to keep developing this application.

I'll manage without the map feature and use it as is for awhile, but when that fails, I'll delete the program.

Paging TurboCCC?

I no longer see any map, just a white window when I open any csv or gpx file in EPE. Did Google finally break the map link completely?

I see a normal map briefly, less than a second, then the Google message and a greyed-out map.

It is still usable if doing only one or two POIs, but it is hard on the eyes. Minor corrections are about all I can tolerate (70yr-old eyes!).

I would really like to have a solution for this, as I find EPE indispensable when creating a new file list.

Could some form of subscription plan help us here. I've gone to the applicable Google site for info, but have no idea what dollar costs are in reality, either to EPE itself, or individual users.

Pretty much, the developer of the software has to license the Google data from Google. He has to decide how many licenses he wishes to purchase. Then the developer has to turn around and sell you a license to access that data on an individual basis.

I don't think Turbocc is well enough or inclined to start being a clearing house for license fees. After all, the software was written to help out POI members. Maintaining any more than what he has in the past is too much of a financial burden, and would create the need for extensive software rewrites.

It's possible for you use Google Maps or Google Earth on your own and use the data back to EPE, but you will be on your own.

When and if TurboCCC is well enough to do so, he should consider looking into alternatives. For example, Here offers 250,000 API calls, I don't recall if per month or per day, for free. I'm sure they don't have a satellite option, but I'm also sure there's a way to feed the coordinates to Google Earth without requiring a Google API if needed.

I totally agree with phranc.

This would be huge burden for turbocc. I simply go to Google Earth and find the location, drag the marker to the right spot and transfer to EPE.

Not nearly as convenient as before, but it is what it is.

Turbocc is a great friend to POI Factory. I simply wish him the best and get well soon.

Was just checking to see what the word was about the EPE map display and I see Turbo isn't well? Very, very sorry to hear that. He put in a huge amount of effort for the gps community and never charged a dime for any of it. Anyone here know more details, or if we can help somehow? You're in my prayers, Turbo.

I still use Extra_POI_Editor, but it is showing its signs of aging. Is there an update and/or replacement?

at the website https://extra-poi-editor1.software.informer.com/. That site also has the comment “Info updated on: Jun 08, 2023” although that doesn’t mean the utility was updated then.

There's extra poi editor https://extra-poi-editor1.software.informer.com/
and poiedit https://poiedit.software.informer.com/5.2/
both haven't been updated since google changed the maps api
both authors -aint gunna
both work well if visualise(map view) is turned off

poiexplorer https://poiexplorer.software.informer.com/ visualisation don't work, no updates since 2006

Quick n dirty export a kml and test the kml on google earth

Also "Enable Internet". Otherwise you'll get a constant supply of annoying error messages.

I use Google maps to get the GPS coordinates to enter.

I'm not sure what you mean by "aging." If EPE worked yesterday it should work today.
FWIW, I use EPE for only one thing, and that's for converting .csv files to .GPX files which it had done and continues to do very nicely. The only problem I have with EPE is that very occasionally (like once every couple of months) it fails to start correctly. It's icon is in the system tray but it just doesn't come up. I learned years ago to retry it while holding the shift key down while starting it and it comes right up.

Phil

I make good use to Replace Fields, mainly for Proximity Alerts or Symbols. This is especially helpful for Rest Areas Proximity Alerts, since it sets the alert right into the file, so that you don't have to remember to set prox alerts every time you load a file, like Rest Areas etc. No more saying "Oh, Darn", I forgot the Prox Alert.

Oh, yeah, of course you do. I do too. I use the Proximity Alert function on the Red Light Cameras, Speed Cameras, and Rest Areas Factory POIs plus a couple of my own like my Ohio Wineries POI which alerts me whenever I get within a mile of any winery in Ohio.

Phil

I have the latest-and-greatest version (v6.04) of EPE, but it hasn't been updated -- at least as far as I know -- to keep up with changes to Windows, Google's API, etc. So while it is technically the exact same program, it unfortunately no longer works exactly like it used to.

I haven't had occasion to use EPE but I wonder if you used the compatibility tools within Windows if it would as expected. If you right click the executable, one of the choices is compatibility check. It might be worth a try, you can always set it back.

The program works on Windows 10 and 11, except for the functions for which the Google Maps API is needed. Since Google stopped allowing free access their API, and since TurboCCC isn't around and isn't able to update the program to work with another mapping service, the program works but is in many ways no longer truly fit for purpose.

I make POIs for my Accord in BaseCamp then change the file extension to work in my car Navigation. EPE still works great for that.
Needless to say the new Ridgeline Navigation does not have the POI option. (as far as I can tell)
Mary