THE PROBLEM
- There are simply too many gratituosuly different file formats to
- hold waypoint and route information in various programs used by
- computers. GPX (http://www.topografix.com/gpx.asp) attempts to
- define a standard in XML to contain all the data, but there are
- too many programs that don't understand it yet and too much data
- that are in an alternate format.
+ There are simply too many gratituosuly different file formats to
+ hold waypoint, track, and route information in various programs
+ used by computers. GPX (http://www.topografix.com/gpx.asp)
+ attempts to define a standard in XML to contain all the data,
+ but there are too many programs that don't understand it yet and
+ too much data that are in an alternate format.
THE SOLUTION
- I needed to convert waypoints between a couple of formats, so
- I whipped up a converter and based it on an extensible foundation
- so that it was easy to add new formats. Most file formats added
- so far have taken under 200 lines of reasonable ISO C so they can
- be stamped out pretty trivially.
+ I needed to convert waypoints between a couple of formats, so I
+ whipped up a converter and based it on an extensible foundation
+ so that it was easy to add new formats. Most file formats
+ added so far have taken under 200 lines of reasonable ISO C so
+ they can be stamped out pretty trivially. Formats that are
+ ASCII text delimited in some fixed way can be added with no
+ programming at all via our 'style' mechanism.
-BUILDING IT
+GETTING IT / BUILDING IT
- The code should be compilable on any system with ISO C89
- compilers. It's been tested on UnixWare, OpenServer, OS/X,
- Linux, Solaris, and a variety of processors and compilers.
+ GPSBabel is distributed in source format that will work on about
+ any operating system and as ready-to-run binaries for some
+ operating systems, notably Windows. See the "OS-Specific notes"
+ at http://gpsbabel.sourceforge.net for instructions on those
+ binary kits.
- The code should be compilable on any system with ISO C89
- compilers. It's been tested on UnixWare, OpenServer, OS/X,
- Linux, Solaris, and a variety of processors and compilers.
+ For operating systems where no binary is provided, you will have
+ to build it. The code should be compilable on any system with
+ ISO C89 compilers. It's been tested on UnixWare, OpenServer,
+ OS/X, Linux, Solaris, and a variety of processors and compilers.
Libexpat is required for source builds. If you get errors about
expat.h being missing, you must either edit the Makefile to tell
Meridian, and SportTrak family. I expect it to work on any modern
Magellan unit.
- As of 08/30/02, gpsbabel can also read and write the files that
- can be stuck on the flash memory parts for the Meridian models.
- Simply specify a file instead of a serial port.
+ As of 08/30/02, GPSBabel can also read and write the files that
+ can be stuck on the SD memory cards with the Meridian models.
+ Simply specify a file instead of a serial port.
- As of this writing, there is still a lot of "scribbling" in the
- source for functionality that isn't hooked up to the rest of the
- program. Communication errors are handled and verification of
- data is turned on.
+ Communication errors are handled robustly and verification of
+ data is enabled.
- Additional options:
+ Additional sub options:
baud: may be 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, but must match receiver.
GARMIN
- Waypoint serial upload and download works reliably under both
- POSIX and Windows. I tested it with a Vista graciously provided
- on loan by Joe Armstrong. The communications library used, jeeps,
- claims to support most models of Garmin hardware. Be sure the GPS
- is set for "Garmin mode" in setup and that nothing else (gpsd, getty,
- pppd, etc.) is using the serial port.
-
+ Waypoint serial upload and download works reliably under both
+ POSIX and Windows. I tested it with a Vista, a V, and a base
+ eTrext, all graciously provided on loan by Joe Armstrong. The
+ communications library used, jeeps, claims to support most
+ models of Garmin hardware. Be sure the GPS is set for "Garmin
+ mode" in setup and that nothing else (gpsd, getty, pppd, etc.)
+ is using the serial port.
+
GPSMAN
GPS Manager can read and write formats that this converter doesn't
GPSUTIL
- GPSUtil has a simple file format of this program that runs on POSIX-
- compliant OSes like UNIX and Linux. Reads and writes of this format
- are reliable. (I've also contributed to this program.) It's
- available at http://www.cs.uakron.edu/~hennings/gpsutil/.
+ GPSUtil has a simple file format of this program that
+ runs on POSIX- compliant OSes like UNIX and Linux.
+ Reads and writes of this format are reliable. (I've
+ also contributed to this program.) It's available at
+ http://www.cs.uakron.edu/~hennings/gpsutil/.
TIGER
CSV variants. This is the format used by XmapHH SA USA on
(at least) PocketPC O/S. Please see README.xmapwpt for more
information on it's intricacies. This XMap is not to be confused
- with the XMap mentioned above. Contributed to gpsbabel by
+ with the XMap mentioned above. Contributed to GPSBabel by
Alex Mottram.
XCSV
By itself, it doesn't comply to any format, however *most* CSV
variants can be described as a "style" and fine-tuned by the end
user. For more information on it's use, please see README.style
- in the style/ sub-directory of gpsbabel. For an example of using
+ in the style/ sub-directory of GPSBabel. For an example of using
the XCSV module within your C program, look at the ozi.c, mxf.c, and
- xmapwpt.c sources in the gpsbabel directory. This module was
- contributed to gpsbabel by Alex Mottram.
+ xmapwpt.c sources in the GPSBabel directory. This module was
+ contributed to GPSBabel by Alex Mottram.
Additional Options:
style - **REQUIRED** Path to XCSV style file.
Cetus GPS (http://www.cetusgps.dk/) is a program for Palm/OS.
Working with Ron Parker and Kjeld Jensen, we can now read and write
- files for that program. It hasn't been exhaustively tested, but
- has seemed fine on every input and output we've tried.
+ files for that program.
QUOVADIS
You can write the same data in different output formats:
gpsbabel -i geo -f 1.loc -o gpx -F 1.gpx -o pcx 1.wpt
+
+ROUTE AND TRACK MODES
+
+ The presence of "-t" on the command line tells us to work with
+ tracks. The presence of "-r" tells us to work with routes.
+ Tracks and routes are advanced features and don't try to
+ handle every possible hazard that can be encountered during a
+ conversion. If you're merging or converting files of similar
+ limitations, things work very well. The presence of "-s" on
+ the command line tends to creat havoc because tracks and routes.
+