Track (GPX) to Course converter

[SomeJoe]

GPX2CRS is a small utility that enables users to convert GPX files to Training Center Course files. This allows you to download GPX files from the internet or other applications and convert them to courses so you can upload them to your Edge or Forerunner. It also supports the conversion of a course file to GPX making it possible to view your runs in Google Earth i.e.

I deliberatly chose GPX as the source format since the major applications support it and for everything else you can use G7ToWin to convert to the gpx format.

The utility has some extra features like speed simulation, speed adjustment, track reversing and automatic creation of course points. It als allows you to add track points to avoid the 'Off course'/'Course found' problem.



You can download the application here: http://www.niniu.com/Garmin/Gpx2Crs.zip.
Current version: 1.0.2.1 (2006-08-24 19:00) Release Notes

Some bad news: The application requires the .Net Framework 2.0 which, if you don't have it, you can download  from Microsoft. It is a bit of a download, sorry about that .

[idefix]

really really cool. thank you.

I will try it right away, well maybe not today since today is pretty much over here but I might have time for a ride tomorrow. definitely trying it on the PC today though.

Idefix

[squired]

Wow, exactly what I've been looking for!  Have given it a try, but am not having much luck so far.  It fails every time. 

This may be of help to you... here is the full error report I get:

See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at Gpx2Crs.MainFrm.Convert()
   at Gpx2Crs.MainFrm.btnConvert_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mevent)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)


************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
Gpx2Crs
    Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 1.0.0.0
    CodeBase: file:///C:/David%20Files/Gpx2Crs.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll
----------------------------------------
nqrgey-h
    Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
5miv_nik
    Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
    <system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

[idefix]

I first had a problem when starting it from a network drive. it crashed on start. but from the local harddrive it works fine.

I have now generated a route with MapSource, saved as gdb. changed the route to a track with WinGDB. opened again with MapSource, saved as GPX and then used your very nice little course converter on it.
I left the 60? turn and set it to 20 kph and have now imported the crs in Training Center. looks good. the only oddity about it is Training Center reports an average of 20 kph as I specified but the speed graph it shows is not a flat line at 20 but spikes wildly up to over 600 kph (a bit much for a bike ride).
is that supposed to happen? why? if not what did I do wrong? my Training Center seems to love speed spikes to incredible high values, see my thread about them, somewhere down the page. maybe I have a problem there. I just don't see what I could have done wrong in installing Training Center.

Idefix

[SomeJoe]

squired: Could you sent me the GPX file you used please? I send you a PM with my e-mail address.

idefix: I have exactly the same thing. I don't understand it myself. I calculate the distance between each track point and then use the speed you set in the UI to calculate the amount of time you would need to get to the next point. So in theory you should get a perfectly flat speed line for the entire course. But like you, it spikes all over the place in TC. Another thing is that the bottom axis of the graph show a lot shorter distance then the course actually is.

I'll take a good look at a TC generated course to see what I'm doing wrong.

[idefix]

ok.
I'll try it tomorrow on the Edge. maybe it's only a Training Center issue.

Idefix

[SomeJoe]

Nope, I found the problem. The speed still fluctuates, but it is now nicely around the speed you set. Also the distance is now correct. The small fluctuations that still exist are probably caused by the fact that I calculate time stamps a lot more acurate then TC can handle. You can see that especially with short track segments the speed is more off then with the longer ones.

You can download the updated version from the same URL as in my original post.

[idefix]

hmmm, now I have the crash on start problem, wherever i put it. and I have deleted the old version so I can't check back if it just worked once or what ever.

The crash message "... has ancountered a problem and needs to be closed" pops up in german. I am german and lots of my software is german but my windows is english and the .net I downloaded and installed is english too. so that's a bit weird.

I tried it on my laptop too, same thing. maybe it crashes with some of my other programs.

Idefix

[SomeJoe]

Ok. Just put up a new version that not only converts tracks but also does routes. That should solve squired's problems.

Idefix, the app writes a small config file in the same dir as the app. Could you please delete that and then see if the app starts up?

Oops, it was actually the config file not being there that caused the crash. Fixed now.

[idefix]

I've already done that it still doesn't start. I'll try the new version now maybe we're lucky.

Idefix

[idefix]

me again.

no luck. the new one doesn't start either. the first one did the same thing a few times then I copied the folder with the file to my c:\ and then it worked. I've only started it once but it worked. with version 2 and 3 I can't get it to work no matter where I put it. I'm gonna test some more tomorrow.

Idefix

[SomeJoe]

Just put up a new version that solves the crash (sorry about that). Maybe I should do a bit more testing before I put out all these versions 

[squired]

Fantastic!

I was actually on the verge of buying Tracklogs because Memory Map (which I have at the moment) has just been updated, but still doesn't allow you to create courses for the Edge.  I can't tell you how useful this is going to be for me, and no doubt many others too.  All I can hope for now is that there is soon an update to Mapsource to let you load a course, edit it (which can already done), then send back to the Edge (which doesn't happen at the moment).  At the moment I'm just loading courses into Wordpad and manually removing points I don't want.

[idefix]

hey, no need to apologise, SomeJoe. there's no problem in a new program having a few bugs. especially when the program comes for free and the bugs get fixed real quick.

it's now working perfectly as far as I can tell.

good job and thanks again. that one was really needed to make the Edge a navigational aid as well as a cool bike computer.

Idefix

[mindracing]

So, this seems like a great tool.

How do I use it with memory map?

Thanks.

[SomeJoe]

Goodmorning all. I have just added the ability to convert a Course back to a gpx track. So now you can also export your courses to other applications. Give it a try, let me know what you think.

Mindracing: Eh, sorry, drawing a blank here. What is memory map?

There also seems to be a problem when trying to load a course with a lot of coursepoints in to an Edge. I have a course with a little more then 500 track points. If I add turns to it, the TC tells me that loading it would require 143% of the available memory. If I don't add any course points, it comes to 5%. Could it be that a course point is treated as a waypoint internally and is therefore limited to 100 course points?

Does anyone now the limit to the total amount of track points and course points a course (or courses) can contain? I can then adjust the app to warn users about approaching limits. Thanks to anyone who can provide this info!

[timgrose]

Memory Map is http://www.memory-map.com/ for US users, http://www.memory-map.co.uk/ for UK users

It is a program that (for a fee) allows you to see high quality maps onto which you can plan routes, locations and download your tracks, routes and locations direct from the device. Doesn't yet support courses but does allow import/export of GPX files so I can see you could plan a course in Memory Map using the base map and then use your tool to convert to a course at your desired speed.

Of course then you won't get the variability due to prevailing wind and terrain but hey one step at a time!

Not sure about the memory limits will need to test. I suspect you can't have more than 100 course points in total just like the 100 locations limit. Course points are considered quite expensive in memory terms and the device would need to do all sorts of extra processing to handle them. They are designed to be more like intermediate check points in a time trial and not to give every turn by turn info.

[idefix]

I don't know about the max points and so forth but the name of the track/course cannot be longer than 15 characters or Training Center won't import the crs.

maybe you could check that while exporting.

and MapSource doesn't export all the via points in a route when saving it as GPX. that's weird. I wanted to not convert the route to a track with WinGDB and then save it as GPX as I first did. but when I save the route as GPX in Map Source only the basic points get exported.

Idefix

[mindracing]

My question is really "How can I create a track on Memory Map and then get it into my Edge?"

Does this app help with this?

[idefix]

I don't know Mamory Map and if I understand SomeJoe right he doesn't either.

if Memory Map can somehow produce a GPX file that's got a track or a route in it then SomeJoes Gpx2Crs can help you converting that to a Course that can be imported in Training Center and then downloaded to the Edge.

Idefix