Begin by either creating a New file, or opening an existing one. If you choose to open an existing .csv or .kml file, rather than a .gpx file, it will be automatically be set READONLY; for .gpx files this is user-selectable, unless they were produced by a 3rd party utility. The Merge function allows you to 'include' an existing file within the one you are editing. The menu to the left is also used to write your edited data back to a file. "Save" writes .gpx files, with Export options for kml and multi-column .csv files.
The 'Import/Export Favourites...' options access the Garmin unit directly and apply different formatting rules. The resulting files have different requirements, to those destined for use by POILoader. There are also differences between the various models - GeePeeEx Editor should detect and handle these differences automatically.
The Waypoint to edit is selected from the Tree on the left hand side and the details are amended on the form to the right. New waypoints are inserted using the Shift+Ins key combination (or the menu option). Although a mechanism is provided to delete Waypoints, you can also simply de-select them in the 'Tree' to the left. Such de-selected waypoints are not written to the output file.
Some of these menu functions are also available by right-clicking in the 'Treeview' area.
The "Author details..." and "File details..." functions are described on the following page.
Global Proximity Alert Parameters can be defined. Speed/Distance parameters entered on this screen are applied to every existing Waypoint. There is also an option to set these as a "Default" - in which case they will also be applied to every new Waypoint. If this function is used when there is no file open, it will only set defaults - as there are no existing Waypoints. Defaults are cancelled, if parameters of "0" are set for both values, or by clearing the option - as appropriate.
View in Google Earth™: Pressing "F9" will generate a .kml file from the currently selected Waypoints and attempt to invoke Google Earth™ to display them. It will annotate the description to highlight the source of the data (ie. address, telephone etc). If you have associated .jpeg files, it will use thumbnail versions as place-markers*. Moving the mouse over them, will expand them to full size. Clicking them will display the associated description. If you have Google Earth™ installed, here is an EXAMPLE of the output. (*This idea was borrowed from the user known only as 'Brian' on the The Zumo forums!)
The "Export as kml" function creates a fairly 'plain' file by comparison, more suited to sharing with other Google Earth™ users.
GeePeeEx Editor can also import .kml files, making Google Earth™ a rich source of ready made Points-of-Interest. Address, Telephone number and Description data will be imported. Use the Batch Geocoder to refine/reformat Address information.
View in Google Maps™: This creates a Google Maps™ view of the currently selected Waypoint. You can use the embeded controls to zoom in and out, select Satellite, Map or Hybrid views and move around the map. If you drag the map, or the pointer, the coordinates of the Waypoint will be updated in the map window and can be copied back to GeePeeEx Editor, by pressing the "Update from Map" button. If you don't update the coordinates manually, you will be prompted to save any changes, when you exit the map view.
Preview: This attempts to simulate how the Waypoint information will display on the currently selected device. Note - this functionality is provided as a "guide" only - it is not guaranteed to be 100% identical to the actual display.
Pressing F2, or selecting "Options" will take you to the Options Page. This is documented separately.
The "GeoCode displayed address" option is used to find the Geographic coordinates for a place, using address information. The service is currently provided using "Web Services by Yahoo!". This Geocoding service is very good at finding coordinates, but the refined address information returned is currently most meaningful for North America. Therefore, the user is given the choice of using "Lat/Lon" (ie just the coordinates), "Address Only" or "All Data" . If no information is returned, or is of insufficient precision, you can amend it on the Geocoding form and retry the operation from there.
"Batch GeoCode all entries" is a related function, but applies to all Waypoints currently in the file. It is especially useful, if the input came from non-gpx input (such as an Outlook address book). There are some sub-options that you can use to fine-tune the results:
- Skip entries that have non-zero coordinates. If this option is selected, it is assumed that any entries that have non-zero coordinates are to be left intact - i.e. they are correctly assigned and need no further refining.
- Skip entries already Geocoded. Selected by default, this option prevents Waypoints from being Gecoded, if they have already been successfully processed (during this editing session).
- Skip entries 'not selected for output'. This is also a default option and prevents non-selected Waypoints from being sent for Geocoding. The reasoning is, that if they are to be discarded anyway, there is no point spending time geocoding them.
The data returned can be fine-tuned, according to user requirements. Data will NEVER be returned, if it does not meet a user-specified precision level.
- Update with returned Longitude and Latitude. This is selected by default, and tells GeePeeEx Editor to update each Waypoint with the returned coordinates. Any existing values are overwritten.
- Update with returned Address information. This is De-selected by default, since it only works properly for North American addresses. When selected, the full address returned by the Geocoding service, will be used to overwrite any existing data.
- Stop on address NOT FOUND. Normally, the Batch GeoCode function runs to completion. If this option is selected, it will abort if any sought address is not found (or not found to sufficiently great precision). This can be used if it is preferred to deal with the exceptions one-at-a-time.
The "Minimum Acceptable Precision" option is used to prevent low grade data from being returned. If the returned data is not of the required precision, it will be re-classified as "Address Not Found".
The 'Throttle' setting introduces a delay between calls to the Geocoding service. This can be used, if it is found that the service is returning "Service Unavailable". With the throttle at its highest setting, the length of time required to Geocode any given number of Waypoints will be significantly increased.
Please note: once this "Service Unavailable" situation has been triggered, it is necessary to wait for a few minutes to allow the service to 'reset' itself. The details, as to when this condition occurs are not documented...
Any entries updated via Geocoding, will have their display colour changed to Magenta (in the Waypoint 'tree').
The geographic coordinates of the Waypoint are normally locked against accidental editing. If you need to change the Longitude, Latitude or Elevation details, click the UNLOCK button on the 'Geo Options' . They will automatically be UNLOCKED if you activate the Google Maps™ display.
To add a photo (i.e. JPEG image), custom Icon (.bmp) or alert sound (.mp3) to the Waypoint, click the [...] link button and select a file. If GeePeeEx Editor cannot find a file that has been previously selected, it will 'blink' the field.
When saving the file, you have the option to store relative filenames - (relative to the directory containing the .gpx file). This makes it easier to share files with others. If you want to specify a directory, you can type it into the box directly and end with a "\" character (but, see below).
NOTE: POI Loader 2.5.4, will only utilise a single statement, despite the gpx format allowing for multiple such statements. So, for any particular Waypoint, you can use it to associate EITHER a JPEG image, OR an MP3 file for an alert (which you will NOT be able to 'control' i.e. Start/Stop) OR a BMP to use as a custom bitmap for the Waypoint. If an MP3 filename contains "TourGuide" as part of its name, then you will be able to 'control' it. Additionally, the Alert associated with it, will be a true circle, rather than the normal "Along Road" type. Note: the phrase is case-sensitive.
If you require more than one type of file, place them together in a directory and 'link' to that directory instead. The "Automatic Enhancement Detection" feature incorporated into GeePeeEx Editor, will try and detect such groups of files and will offer to automatically change a link to a file, into a link to a directory, in such circumstances.
It is possible to change the Symbol that is associated with a Waypoint, but please note that this symbol is only displayed if the .GPX file is transfered as a Favourite. POI Loader does NOT make any reference to this symbol in its output file (POI.GPI). Any unknown symbols read from a gpx input file, will be added to this list and preserved. The option has to be 'Enabled' before it can be used.
To enter a "Description" which is displayed when you press "More" (Except Nüvi 3xx, which presents this information on one Page), click the label "click to edit". This is currently entered in plain text, including any desired markup .(Simple html can be used to change the font size, text colour etc, see this page for examples).
You can also have this field include the Longitude/Latitude and Elevation, by pressing the [INS] button to the right of description.
At the side of each Tree entry (i.e. the Waypoints on the left-hand side), there is a tick/check box. If the entry is ticked/checked then it will be written to the output file. This allow entries to be written selectively and is most useful when used with the "Save As..." function.
You will also notice that entries in the tree are colour-coded. Normally they are blue, but when edited or if imported from another file, they are displayed in red. Entries read from . CSV file are always displayed in red. Note: if they are duplicates, they will be renamed and displayed in grey (if the appropriate option is selected). Their corresponding tick/check boxes will be cleared, so that, by default, they will not be written to the output file. Entries that the GeoCoder has updated will be displayed in Magenta.
Pressing the "Sort" button, will result in the Waypoints being sorted alphabetically, by name.
If you make any accidental amendments to a Waypoint entry, you can reverse them by pressing the UNDO button. The only exception to this, is the actual name of the entry which is changed as soon as you 'leave' the corresponding field.