Hi. I have a file in Microsoft Excel and I want to convert it so I can put it in Garmin Mapsource. Is this possible?

mvh peter

Hi Peter,

What kind of data is in the Excel file? Without knowing that, it's impossible to say if it can be converted.

The simple answer is that there are conversion programs and web sites out there that can convert between a large variety of formats. It all depends on what data you want to convert.

...ken...

sorry it´s xls file

Yes, I know that Excel makes .xls files. We need to know what kind of data is actually in the file. Is it addresses? Is it waypoints with latitude and longitude coordinates? Is it Points of Interest?

Exactly what is in each column?

...ken...

Yes, it's waypoints, and the line look as this:

or you have the line look like this
Latitud: 58 01,263 Longitud: 11 14,951

and if i can look in lowrance waypoint file

You might need to use Excel to save your file as a .CSV file before doing the conversion.

Here is one possible solution. It seems to be a popular one.

http://www.poiedit.com/

Here is another:

http://download.cnet.com/G7ToWin/3000-12940_4-10676231.html

And another:

http://sites.google.com/site/lschwabe/

And another:

http://geepeeex.googlepages.com/

I hope one of them will work for you.

...ken...

thanks i try

Hello I also have a similar problem.

I have coordinates in ArcGIS which were created as point data. They are projected by British National Grid. I have managed to get them into an Excel file. But, I now want to get them into Mapsource so I can upload them to my Garmin GPS. But, I can't seem to manage it. Can anyone help me please? I have been trying to use gabel.

You could try saving the worksheet as an XML file, then rename the file to be a .GPX file (just a particular type of XML) and see if Mapsource will accept it. It only takes a minute to try and it can't hurt anything.

...ken...

Hi Ken. I tried that, but when I tried to save it as XML, it said it did not contain any XMP mapping. :-( any other ideas?

save as CSV. Convrt 2 GPX w/gpsbabel. Chk for correct colmn ordr.

That's what I have been doing. Convert to CSV. Maybe I'm using the wrong CSV type within the Gpsbabel as there is a couple. What do you mean with regards to the column.

I'm using British National Grid, which might make it tricker to work with? No GSW 84 etc, but could convert.

I have also tried it another way. To create a shape layer out of my Excel file. Give it British National Grid as its source, but convert it to WSG 84. Then load it into DNR. Then, upload it to my Garmin device. Which it does, but the coordinates are always out, sometimes as far as the other side of the world. Ie I'm UK, and they're near South America. Hmm...

When using GPS Babel to convert files you need the columns to be in the correct order in Excel before you save the CSV file. You need the latitude and longitude coordinates to actually be latitude and longitude coordinates. I'm not familiar with the British National Grid so I don't know how GPS Babel will handle them.

You have not told us enough about the details of what you have tried and the results to do any more than offer these general suggestions.

1. What columns do you have in the Excel file?

2. What order are the columns in from left to right?

3. Are there Latitude and Longitude columns?

4. Is the first row in the spreadsheet a row with the titles in it?

5. After you create the CSV file, if you look at it in a text editor do you see everything looking as it should? E.g. the first line should contain the titles separated by commas. Each subsequent line should have the data as they were in each row with the data that was in each column separated by commas.

6. What happens when you try to convert the file to a GPX file in GPS Babel? Does it produce a GPX file for you?

7. If GPS Babel produces a file for you, what happens when you try to load it into Mapsource?

...ken...

I have two columns, as shown below, X and Y. That is all. Yes the first Row has a title (x and y)
Lat (X) long (y)
581147.76163 271838.105187
I then go to save as, other format. I chose to save as CSV (MS-DOS) as opposed to CSV (Macintosh). It says some of the features may not be compatible with CSV MS-DOS. I click yes and move on. Everything looks fine when I go back into the file. Titles are seperated by columns, not commas. I split them into columns before. Is this wrong?


In GPSbabel, I chose the columnbus/vision CSV type, as opposed to the other CSV type Mapopolis.com Mapconvertor CSV for no particular reason. Then chose the output type as GPX XML type.

I then click apply, but an error comes up. GPSbabel has stopPed working, windows error. The output is.

gpsbabel -w -t -i v900 -f G:/GIS/Thetford Forest/Sampling locations/the new coordinates again CSV MSDOS.csv -o gpx -F C:/Users/Lee Rudd/Desktop/the new coordinates again.gpx
v900: skipping malformed record at line 1
Assertion failed: line.bas.cr=='\r', file v900.c, line 304

This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.
Please contact the application's support team for more information.

Error running gpsbabel: Process exited unsucessfully with code 255

So I never get to Mapsource with this method.

When I tried to use the DNR method. I load the excel file, as in the formate as said in the prior message (I can email this to you if you like along with any of the shape files etc). I then save as a shape file. I convert its projection in management tools to WGS 84.
(ps. im using windows vista).

Load up DNR and connect the garmin device. I upload the shape file from load file and they get addedd succefully.

First I try uploading, using the British National Grid (OS) as the projection. They get added to my GPS device fine. I then go into google earth and upload my waypoints to see where they sit. Device garmin, waypoints and output as KLM instead of strings. I try both adjust heights to altitude and not so if they this does anything.

They load. But, they are north of Iceland which is about 2-3000 miles away from where they should be. hmmm.

I also then try.

I look at the set projection. I am using GCS_WGS_1984 as I projected them in that before, although its source is british national grid (a UK system). I then asks for a description and I highlight datum WGS84. It then says it is projecting in WGS 1984.

Now an error message comes up. lat/long values out of range of record 1. Then that no waypoints were uploaded. This is where im at the moment.

I did try another method. I created a KLM file from my point data (coordinates) in arcgis. I then uploaded this to google earth. They are infact roughly where they whould be. But, most points are out by about 100m. But, obviously these are not on my GPS. this is really strage. Im obviously rather new to this stuff as well.

What do you think?
Again im happy to send any files your way if you want to look at them.

I'm not sufficiently familiar with the DNR and arcGIS stuff that I can help you out there. First some more questions and then a suggestion relating to the GPS Babel conversion.

1. What model of Garmin GPS are you using?

2. Do you have a standard Garmin map already loaded on the GPS?

3. What Garmin map(s) do you have loaded? E.g. just the basemap that normally comes preloaded on Garmin's units? Or some detail maps, like Topo or City Navigator or Metroguide, etc.?

4. When you do the DNR or arcGIS conversions are you loading a vector map to the GPS or a raster image (and do you know the difference)?

I am beginning to suspect, from your comments about using a KML file, that it's an Oregon or Dakota or Colorado or similar model that supports Garmin's Birdseye imagery (e.g. raster images) and that you are loading a raster image. If so, I have no personal experience with that so I can't make any useful comments.

5. Comment, not question: When I asked you about the CSV saved file I asked you to look at it with a text editor, like Notepad. Opening it again in Excel tells us nothing because it will always display it in columns. What matters is what the saved CSV file *really* looks like when it gets fed into GPS Babel. You can only tell that by looking at it in its raw form with a text editor.

The CSV file is just plain text so it will be obvious as soon as you look at it. As I described in my previous post, the first row of the spreadsheet should show up in the saved file as the first line of text with the title text separated by a comma. The rest of the rows should show up as your long/lat pairs, each pair on a separate line and separated by a comma.

6. You are missing at least one piece of data in order to create waypoints using this method. You need an additional column in the spreadsheet for the waypoint name.

7. The titles for the long and lat values should be "Longitude" and "Latitude" so GPS Babel will know how to tag them in the GPX file it will create.

Here's a sample of the first two lines in a CSV file:

Latitude,Longitude,Name
35.97203, -87.13470, Mountain Bike Heaven

If you include the column titles in the first row of the spreadsheet so the first line of text in the CSV file contains the titles you should select "universal CSV" in GPS Babel.

That should result in GPS Babel producing a good GPX file.

You can check the GPX file with your text editor. It should be pretty obvious whether the right data values got put in the right places because they will all be tagged, e.g. <waypoint>Mountain Bike Heaven</waypoint> <latitude>35.97203</latitude>, <longitude>-87.13470</longitude>, etc.

If you are still having problems with your installation of GPS Babel crapping out on you (it should work if you get the file format and contents right), use the online version (your search engine is your friend).

After that you're on your own with getting from the British National Grid to WGS84. If I was doing it I would set the projection in Mapsource to the British National Grid (if it's a selection in Mapsource) before you import the GPX file. You can test whether this works by simply opening Mapsource, selecting a detail map (e.g. Topo, City Navigator, whatever you have installed), changing the projection and creating a waypoint using the British National Grid coordinates from one of the waypoints in your file (just manually type the coordinates in). If that works, you should have no trouble with the GPX file.

I don't know what Mapsource supports at the moment because I don't have it installed yet. I just did a clean install of Win7 a couple of days ago and I don't have any of my navigation stuff reinstalled yet. That's on my todo list for today.

...ken...

MapSource does not list British National Grid. From what I read, you cannot convert directly from BNG to WGS84 because it uses a different globe layout.

More info here:
mapping - British National Grid Shapefile - convert to WGS84 Lat/Lon - Stack Overflow

Terry

Convert projection to WGS 84 and change coordinates to Lat/Lon. Do it in your GIS program. Then you can think about any way to convert it to gpx. For example exel -> csv -> gpx. Gpx files are supported by Mapsource and POILoader, both program can transfer your POI to GPS.

Hi,

Can smb help me in converting long lat into mapsource? I have tried all convertors that exist but no luck. Here is an example of how do my source data in Excel look like and I have like 5000 rows just like that. Would save me a lot of time if I could visualize those GPS´es

50.0818;14.5193

Thanks

L.