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GarTrax

Contents

Introduction
General guidelines and conventions
Features
Restrictions
Configuration
History
Support
Download
Disclaimer

Introduction

GarTrax is an easy-to-use tool that has 2 main uses. It can exchange data between some of the more popular applications and devices (E.g. MapSource, OziExplorer, Garmin devices, Magellan devices) used by GPS users and it can download and store geocache information from the official geocaching web site. To learn more about the specifics of those features, see the sections on features and restrictions.
I've written this tool primarily for my personal use, but some people that saw me using it were so enthousiastic that I decided to make it available to the GPS users community. I still have some features on my todo-list, so keep checking my website for updates.

General guidelines and conventions

  • A waypoint that is used for geocaching will be referred to as geocache. Usually the link field of a geocache contains a link to the data on www.geocaching.com.
  • A geocache that is downloaded from www.geocaching.com will be referred to as local geocache.
  • The tab labelled 'Waypoints (x)' and the list on that tab will be referred to as 'Waypoint Manager'.
  • The tab labelled 'Routes (x)' and the list on that tab will be referred to as 'Route Manager'.
  • The tab labelled 'Tracks (x)' and the list on that tab will be referred to as 'Track Manager'.
  • The tab labelled 'Logs (x)' and the list on that tab will be referred to as 'Log Manager'.
  • The tab labelled 'Messages (x)' and the list on that tab will be referred to as 'Message Manager'.
  • When an error occurs during some operation, you will be notified through a message box and/or a message in the Message Manager.
  • When the context menu has to be opened this can be done by:
    • right-clicking (in a selection)
    • pressing the menu key
    • pressing shift-F10

Features

The main features of GarTrax are:

Reading and writing files Communicating with a GPS receiver Working with waypoints Working with routes Working with tracks Working with logs
Merging of waypoints, routes and tracks

Geocache functions Other topics

Reading and writing files

Command line arguments

GarTrax can be started from the command line with a list of file names that should be loaded on startup. The file names in the list should be separated by spaces. The list of files is handled exactly as if the files were dropped on a running instance of GarTrax.

Drag and Drop

Select one or more files from e.g. Windows Explorer and drag and drop them onto the GarTrax window. GarTrax will try to determine the file type and add (see 'Merging of waypoints, routes and tracks') all waypoints, routes and tracks found in the file. This works for all file types that GarTrax can read.

File associations

GarTrax can be associated with any supported file type, but the associations have to be created manually. GarTrax supports DDE Open commands. When GarTrax receives such a command, it responds as if a file were dropped on the GarTrax window.

Add, Subtract, Write

Files can be read using the 'Add' and 'Subtract' buttons (see below how the add and subtract processes work). The type of file being read is determined by the selection in the list box in the input section. For the specified type of file, GarTrax will determine the specific version being read. Whenever applicable, a small dialog box will pop up just before reading the file, where you can select whether to read waypoints, routes and/or tracks.

Files can be written using the 'Write' button. The type of file being written is determined by the selection in the list box in the output section. The specific version for that file type can be selected in the second list box in the output section, if GarTrax supports multiple versions for that file type. Whenever applicable, a small dialog box will pop up just before writing the file, where you can select whether to write waypoints, routes and/or tracks.

Supported file formats

The following table shows whether GarTrax supports the reading and writing of waypoints, routes and/or tracks for specific applications and versions of those applications :


Application Version Read Write
waypoint route track waypoint route track
Austria Map v 2.0 + + + + + +
EasyGPS binary v 1.1.1 + + + + + +
v 1.1.3 - 1.2.5 + + + + + +
XML actual (December 2003) + N.A. N.A. + N.A. N.A.
G7ToWin / G7ToCE A.00.145 (Win), beta 74 (CE)
 + + + + + +
GarTrax all
 + + + + + +
GARtrip - v 205a + + + + + +
GPX v 1.0 + + + + + +
MapSource v 4.0? + + + + + +
v 4.03 - v 4.09 + + + + + +
v 4.10 - v 4.13 + + + + + +
v 5.0 - 5.4
 + + + + + +
v 6.0 - 6.5
 + + + + + +
OziExplorer - v 3.95e
 + + + + + +
PCX5   + + + + + +
PsiGar5 Exported   + N.A. + - N.A. -
Binary
   + + + - - -
Text   - - - + + +
TomTom Citymaps/Route
+ N.A. N.A. + N.A. N.A.
Navigator v 1 - v3.xx + N.A. + + N.A. N.A.

+ = supported (for the indicated version, might work on other versions too)
- = not supported
N.A. = Not applicable

Communicating with a GPS receiver

Add, Subtract, Write

Waypoints, routes and/or tracks can be read from a GPS receiver using the 'Add' and 'Subtract' buttons, with 'Garmin GPS' or 'Magellan GPS' selected in the list box in the input section (see below how the add and subtract processes work). When reading from a GPS, a small dialog box will pop up just before reading, where you can select whether to read waypoints, routes and/or tracks.

Waypoints, routes and/or tracks can be written to a GPS receiver using the 'Write' button, with 'Garmin GPS' or 'Magellan GPS' selected in the upper list box in the output section. Whenever applicable, a small dialog box will pop up just before writing to the GPS receiver, where you can select whether to write waypoints, routes and/or tracks.

Supported GPS receivers

The following table shows whether GarTrax supports the reading and writing of waypoints, routes and/or tracks for specific GPS receivers:

GPS Read Write
waypoint route track waypoint route track
Garmin devices + + + + + +
Magellan devices + + + + + +*

+ = supported
- = not supported
N.A. = Not applicable
* = Not all Magellan devices accept tracks. Track data is appended to the existing track.

In principle, all Garmin and Magellan devices are supported. When there is a problem, please report it at GarTrax support.

Working with waypoints

Create a waypoint

In the waypoint manager, open the context menu and select 'Add waypoint', or press 'Insert'. An empty 'Edit Waypoint' dialog will appear for the new waypoint. Adding waypoints to the waypoint manager is handled as described under 'Merging of waypoints, routes and tracks'.

Edit a waypoint

Open the context menu for the waypoint to be edited and select 'Edit', double-click the waypoint or press 'Enter' while one waypoint is selected. The 'Edit Waypoint' dialog will appear for the selected waypoint.

Edit multiple waypoints simultaneously

Select the waypoints to be edited. Then press 'Enter' or open the context menu and select 'Edit'. An empty 'Waypoint Edit' dialog will appear. On OK, only the fields that were changed in the dialog will be updated at the selected waypoints.

Cut, copy, paste and/or delete waypoints

Waypoints can also be cut ('Cut' or 'ctrl-x'), copied ('Copy' or 'ctrl-c'), pasted ('Paste' or 'ctrl-v') and deleted ('Delete' or press 'Delete'). Pasting waypoints to the waypoint list is handled as described under 'Merging of waypoints, routes and tracks'. Copying waypoints (or cutting) is mainly useful for pasting them into routes (see 'Add and/or remove legs'), they are not placed on the clipboard.

Waypoint symbols

The set of symbols available is determined by the GPS device selected (see 'GarTrax configuration' and 'Symbol conversion').

View a geocache online

Select the waypoint to be viewed online. Then open the context menu and select 'View online'. (This menu item is only available when the link field is not empty.)
The default internet browser will open with the page referred to by the link field from that waypoint.

Download a geocache

See 'Download geocaches'.

View a local geocache

Select the waypoint for which to view the local geocache (refer to 'Download geocaches'). Then open the context menu and select 'View local'. (This menu item is only available when the local geocache is available.) The default internet browser will open with the local geocache.

Create a log

See 'Create and submit logs'.

Automatically rename waypoints

Select the waypoints for which the names should be automatically generated. Then open the context menu and select 'Auto name'. The name will be created using the options in the dialog presented. In the format field, any text can be entered. The autoname process will replace a '#1' in the format text with the current waypoint identity (the name field), '#2' with the cache name (text before the last 'by'  in the comment field) and ' #3'  with the cache owner (text after the last 'by'  in the comment field). If the option 'Remove non-alphanumeric characters' is enabled, the generated waypoint name is stripped from all non-alphanumeric characters. Finally the waypoint name is limited to the number of characters specified in 'Max length'. The settings for autoname will be remembered between instantiations of GarTrax.

Examples:
Identity = GC1234
Comment = [My Cache Name Here] by cache placer"

Using:
Format = "#2", Remove non-alphanumeric characters = not checked, Max length = 20,
this becomes "[My Cache Name Here]"

Using:
Format = "#2 (#1)", Remove non-alphanumeric characters = checked, Max length = 40,
this becomes "My Cache Name Here GC1234"

Set as reference

See 'Determine distance and bearing from a reference point'

Set as home location

See 'Determine distance and bearing from a reference point'

Use home location

See 'Determine distance and bearing from a reference point'

Determine distance and bearing from a reference point

In the waypoint list, two columns were added, showing the distance and bearing from a reference location. The reference location can be the home location or a selected waypoint.

To set the home location, select a waypoint, open the context menu and select 'Set as home location' or used the edit controls to directly edit the location. To use a waypoint as reference location, select that waypoint, open the context menu and select 'Set as reference'. To stop using a waypoint reference location, open the context menu and select 'Use home location'. The home location can be edited as long as it is used as reference location. If a waypoint is used as reference location, the home location edit controls will be disabled and the selected waypoint in the waypoint list will have a different color.

The home location will be remembered between instantiations of GarTrax.

Create a clickable map

Using the menu option Index -> Create clickable map, clickable maps can be generated for the waypoints listed in the waypoint manager (see 'Create clickable maps' for details). When creating a clickable map from waypoints, no cache type information is available, so all waypoints will appear as dot in the color of the unknown cache type.

Working with routes

Create a route

In the route manager, open the context menu and select 'Add route', or press 'Insert'. The 'Edit route/track name' dialog will appear to specify the name of the route. Adding routes to the route manager is handled as described under 'Merging of waypoints, routes and tracks'.

Edit a route

Open the context menu for the route name to be edited and select 'Edit' or press 'Enter' while one of the routes is selected. The 'Edit route/track name' dialog will appear for editing the name of the selected route.

Delete a route

To delete one route, open the context menu for the route to be deleted and select 'Delete' or press 'Delete' while the routes is selected. Pressing 'Delete' while one or more routes or route legs are checked, will delete the checked routes and route legs.

Add and/or remove legs

To remove one leg, open the context menu for the route leg to be deleted and select 'Delete' or press 'Delete' while the route leg is selected. Pressing 'Delete' while one or more routes or route legs are checked, will delete all checked routes and route legs.

Waypoints of one or more routes can be cut ('Cut' or ctrl-x) or copied ('Copy' or ctrl-c) and pasted ('Paste' or ctrl-v) to another route or the waypoint manager. The same selection rules apply as for deleting route legs. If a complete route is being cut or copied, only the waypoints it contains are copied.

Pasting waypoints when a route leg is selected will insert the waypoints before the selected waypoint. Pasting waypoints when a complete route is selected will append the waypoints to the route.

Copied waypoints can be pasted into the waypoint manager and added to other routes, they are not placed on the clipboard.

Working with tracks

Edit a track

Open the context menu for the track name to be edited and select 'Edit' or press 'Enter' while one of the tracks is selected. The 'Edit route/track name' dialog will appear for editing the name of the selected track.

Delete a track

To delete one track, open the context menu for the track to be deleted and select 'Delete' or press 'Delete' while the track is selected. Pressing 'Delete' while one or more tracks or track points are checked, will delete the checked tracks and track points.

Remove track points

To remove one track point, open the context menu for the track point to be deleted and select 'Delete' or press 'Delete' while the track point is selected. Pressing 'Delete' while one or more tracks or track points are checked, will delete all checked tracks and track points.

Split a track

To split a track, open the context menu for the track to be split and select 'Split Track'. From selected track new tracks with a maximum of 100 track points will be created. The newly created tracks are named after the selected track, with a sequence number.

Working with logs

Create a log

See 'Create and submit logs'.

Edit a log

Open the context menu for the log to be edited and select 'Edit', double-click the log or press 'Enter' while one log selected. The 'Log Entry' dialog will appear for the selected log.

Delete logs

Open the context menu for the log(s) to be deleted and select 'Delete' or press 'Delete'.

Submit logs

See 'Create and submit logs'.

View a geocache online

Select the log for which to view the geocache online. Then open the context menu and select 'View online'. (This menu item is only available when the link field is not empty.) The default internet browser will open with the page referred to by the link field from that log.

View a local geocache

Select the log for which to view the local geocache (refer to 'Download geocaches'). Then open the context menu and select 'View local'. (This menu item is only available when the local geocache is available.) The default internet browser will open with the local geocache.

Merging of waypoints, routes and tracks

When a file is being read, it can be added to or subtracted from the existing lists of waypoints, routes and/or tracks. Adding or subtracting a file relies on finding non-unique waypoints, routes and/or tracks. Routes and tracks are unique if their identity is unique. Waypoint uniqueness depends on the settings. By default a waypoint is unique if both identity and location are unique.

When adding a file, unique waypoints, routes and/or tracks will be added without user interaction. When a non-unique item is encountered during the addition, a dialog will pop up.

For waypoints this dialog will show both matching waypoints. Waypoint A is the waypoint already in the list, waypoint B is the waypoint to be added. It is then possible to specify some options:

  • A check for 'Match name' instructs the adding process to find matches on 'name'.
  • A check for 'Match position' instructs the adding process to find matches on 'position'.
  • A check for both 'Match name' and 'Match position' instructs the adding process to find a match if either of the two matches.
  • A check for 'Use both waypoints' instructs the adding process to add waypoint B to the merged list.
  • Use the radio buttons to choose whether to use the field entry or value from waypoint A or B when the waypoints must be merged.
  • Clicking 'Use A' or 'Use B' moves the selection to the fields of A or B respectively.
  • Clicking 'Cancel' aborts the addition process.
  • Clicking 'OK' accepts the settings, merges the waypoints according these settings and continues the adding process with the next waypoint.
  • Clicking 'OK All' does the same as clicking 'OK', except when a further match is found. The addition process will then merge the waypoint according to the settings without further user interaction.

For routes and tracks, basically the same holds, except that the adding process can only match on route or track name.

The subtraction process will remove a waypoint, route or track from the list when a match is found in the file being processed. When a match is found a dialog will pop up. This dialog can be used to change the matching option, keep the matched item or keep all matched items, like in the addition process.

Geocache functions

Download geocaches

GarTrax can download geocache pages from geocaching.com and store them in folders. Downloading is controlled by the list of waypoints. For each waypoint for which the link field is not empty, GarTrax can try to download the specified URI. The pages stored in the folders can be simplified, images can be downloaded and links can be followed. This is all controlled by configuration files (see 'Download configuration').

Several types of downloads are available:

  • To download all geocaches, select 'Download' from the 'Geocache' menu
  • To download only the selected geocaches, select 'Download Selection' from the 'Geocache' menu
  • To download all geocaches, one at a time, select 'Serial Download' from the 'Geocache' menu
  • To download only the selected geocaches, one at a time, select 'Serial Download Selection' from the 'Geocache' menu
When starting a serial download, a dialog will appear to specify the number of seconds to wait before starting the download of the next cache. This waiting time is remembered between instantiations of GarTrax.

When the download is started, for each waypoint a subfolder is created in the download folder (see 'GarTrax configuration'). The name of the subfolder will be the name of the waypoint. For each waypoint the page referred to in the URI will be downloaded and stored as 'file1.htm'. Once the download is started, a progress dialog appears. This progress dialog can be used to abort the download process.

The dialog shows two progress bars. In case of a normal download, the upper bar displays the progress on pages (i.e. HTML-files). As pages get downloaded and processed, new pages and other files may be added to the queue of files to be downloaded. This might cause some seemingly erratic behaviour on the progress bars, since the percentage of the files that are already downloaded may decrease by adding files to the queue. In case of a serial download, the upper bar displays the progress on downloaded geocaches.The lower progress bar shows the overall progress (i.e. all files: pages and images).

Depending on the contents of the configuration files, the behaviour of the download process can be tuned:

  • Pages can be stored partially. This can be used to limit the data stored to ones needs. 
  • Certain elements, such as forms and scripts, can be completely removed.
  • Images can be downloaded to a specific folder or be discarded.
  • Links can be followed and parsed as a certain type of page. Linked pages will be stored as <parent_page>-x.htm (where x is the x-th link followed on this page, e.g. 'file1-2-5.htm' links to the 5th page for which GarTrax created the name on the page 'file1-2.htm') if the name cannot be determined from the URI, otherwise its original name will be used. If the linked page is not to be stored, that page will be downloaded anyway to be able to determine the first link (after parsing) on that page. The anchor on the original page will then be linked to what that first link refered to (also after download). Links will be followed to a maximum of 5 levels deep.
  • Followed links will be remembered in the link_cache that is stored in the link_cache folder. For each geocache in the download folder there will be a 'file1.glc' file in a sub folder in the link_cache folder (see 'GarTrax configuration'). This file contains the information to which stored files anchors on the downloaded pages must be linked. Upon a subsequent download of the page, links qualifying to be followed will not actually be followed if there is an entry for that link in the link_cache file and that file is present.

GarTrax comes with a set of configuration files that is preconfigured to download cache pages with all loggings, strip forms and scripts, store only the 'white part' of the page and link submitted images directly to downloaded and stored images.

Extract local geocaches from a GPX file

GarTrax can create local geocaches, similar in layout to downloaded geocaches, from a .GPX file. Select 'Extract GPX' from the 'Geocache' menu. This will open a file open dialog that can be used to indicate which GPX file to use for the extraction. The local geocaches will be created in the download folder (see 'GarTrax configuration'). For the extraction, GarTrax uses three template files (GPX-template-available.htm, GPX-template-unavailable.htm and GPX-template-archived.htm) that can be tuned to ones own needs (see 'GPX extraction templates'). The progress of the extraction process is shown in the progress dialog. This progress dialog can also be used to terminate the extraction process.

Create an index on the local geocaches

GarTrax can create an index page for the local geocaches in the download folder. The index file 'Index.htm' will be created in the download folder. The indexing process is controlled by a configuration file and a template file (see 'Index configuration').

By selecting 'Create Index' from the 'Index' menu the index creation process is started. First the 'Select Clickable Map(s) To Generate' dialog appears (see 'Create clickable maps'). If this dialog is cancelled, only the index will be generated.

GarTrax comes with a configuration file that is preconfigured to extract the data in the correct way when used in conjunction with the download configuration files that also came with GarTrax.

View the index on local geocaches

To view the index file 'Index.htm', select 'View index' from the 'Index' menu. This menu item is active only when there is a file called 'Index.htm' in the download folder.

Create and submit logs

With GarTrax, it is possible to create logs and submit them to a host.

To create a log, select the geocache to be logged in the waypoint manager, open the context menu and then select 'Create Log'. (This menu item is only available when the link field is not empty.) A dialog will appear in which the log can be entered. When the log is completed, it will be added to the Log Manager. This manager can be used to edit and remove logs, before submitting them.

After creating one or more logs, they can be submitted to a host. The submitting of logs is controlled by several keys in the log configuration file (see 'Logging configuration') and is started by selecting 'Submit Log(s)' from the 'Geocache' menu. After starting a log-submission, GarTrax checks the log in status at the specified host. If the user is not logged in, or logged in under the wrong name, the correct username and password can be entered by clicking 'No' on the messagebox showing the log in status. When the user is logged in, the submitting of logs continues. The progress of the submitting process is shown in the progress dialog. This progress dialog can also be used to terminate the log submitting process. Once a log is successfully submitted to all hosts, it is removed from the Log Manager. The logs in the Logging Manager are saved between sessions, so logs do not have to be submitted before closing GarTrax.

GarTrax can submit the logs to more than one host. The latest logs on P-Terminators web site were submitted to both geocaching.com and the p-terminator.nl hosts using GarTrax.

Create a subset from the local geocaches

In the Waypoint Manager, select one or more waypoints, open the context menu and select 'Create Subset'. You will be asked to specify the destination and when confirmed, the copy process will begin. After copying all data for the selected local geocaches and the 'IMAGES' folder, automatically an index will be created for the subset. This index file will be stored in the destination folder.

When only one waypoint is selected, the option 'Create subset' will only be available when the local geocache is present in the download folder.

Remove a subset from the local geocaches

In the Waypoint Manager, select one or more waypoints and open the context menu and select 'Remove Local'. You will be asked to confirm that you really want to remove the selected subset. When confirmed, the removal process will begin. All data for the selected local geocaches will be removed, including the link cache.

When only one waypoint is selected, the option 'Remove Local' will only be available when the local geocache is present in the download folder.

Recreate waypoints from local geocaches

The Recreate Waypoints function reconstructs the main waypoint of a local geocache and attempts to find other waypoints in the file (see configuration). The other waypoints are named after the main waypoint if the local geocache waypoint could be reconstructed, otherwise its base name will be the local geocache sequence number. The other waypoints have a sequence number after the base name.

To recreate waypoints, select 'Recreate Waypoints' from the 'Tools' menu.

Other topics

GarTrax configuration

Selecting 'GarTrax Configuration' from the 'Configuration' menu open the main configuration dialog. Using this dialog, all settings that are most likely to be changed can be altered.
  • The com-port and baudrate used to communicate with the GPS receiver
  • Whether GarTrax must ask for confirmation before exiting
  • Whether GarTrax must perform a cleanup after a download (removes all files that are not related to a just downloaded local geocache)
  • The waypoint property to sort on when generating the index file
  • The folder (download folder) where the local geocaches will be stored
  • The folder where the link_cache data will be stored
  • A piece of text that will be appended to the URI in the waypoint link field when requesting that page from the server (the default value retrieves the geocache page with all logs, not just the 5 most recent logs)
  • The brand and type of GPS receiver to present data for (affects set of symbols available for a waypoint, see 'Symbol conversion')

Help

Selecting 'User documentation' from the 'Help' menu opens this document. Selecting 'About GarTrax' from the 'Help' menu shows GarTrax version and copyright information.

Mapsource Routes

When reading MapSource routes, distances and directions are shown in the route manager. When legs are added to or removed from such a route, this routing data will be removed.

When writing routes with MapSource auto-routing data to a MapSource file, only the start and end points and via's will be written. The auto-routing data can be recalculated within MapSource.

OzieExplorer attachments

In OziExplorer, a file can be attached to a waypoint. GarTrax uses this feature to associate a waypoint with it's local geocache or link data. When the waypoint has a local geocache, that local geocache's file1.htm is used as attached file. When the waypoint does not have a local geocache, the data in the link field is used. If that data starts with 'http' GarTrax creates the attached file as a call to the default internet browser started with the URI from the link. When reading from an OziExplorer file, the call to the internet browser will automatically be removed.

PsiGar

Waypoints, routes and tracks are processed as data for the Garmin device selected in the 'GarTrax configuration'.

Test download configuration

The download configuration files can be tested off-line by selecting 'Test download configuration' from the 'Configuration' menu. The file that will be used to test a specific download configuration file must be stored locally. Enter the name of this file (use 'Browse' as an alternative to manually entering the file name) and the parse type definition number (see 'Download configuration'). Clicking 'OK' starts the parse operation on the specified file. Links will be processed, but not followed. The result will be written to a file called 'test_d.htm', where 'd' is the parse type definition number. The result file is stored in the download path.

GPS configuration

For both Garmin and Magellan devices, a configuration file lists the capabilities of the specific GPS receiver types (see 'GPS configuration'). One of the properties listed here is the symbol conversion file to be used for the various receiver types. These names are also used to construct symbol file names when an application needs GPS receiver specific symbol conversion (see 'Symbol conversion').

Other properties in the configuration files are used to control the communication with the GPS receivers.

Symbol conversion

GarTrax uses 2 types of symbol files (.sym) (see 'Symbol conversion'). The first and most important one is 'GarTrax.sym'. This file lists all symbols GarTrax knows, number and name. This list of symbols is the reference list for all symbol conversions. The second type of symbol files defines the conversion of the symbols of a specific device or application to the GarTrax symbols. These symbol files are named as specified in the GPS configuration (see 'GPS configuration'), or after the application for which they define the symbol conversion. When an application needs GSP receiver specific symbol conversion, the name of the symbol file is a combination of application name and the name of the symbol file for that GPS receiver.

Create clickable maps

Clickable maps are images on a web page that have active areas. Clicking on or hovering over such areas can trigger an action. The clickable maps that GarTrax creates, have an active area for each waypoint or local geocache. When the standard clickable map template supplied with GarTrax is used, hovering over an active area brings up a menu. Using this menu, the page referenced in the waypoint link or the local geocache page can be openend. Using a menu enables the user to distinguish between overlapping waypoints or local geocaches. Only when the clickable map is created from local geocaches, information about geocaches is available. When the standard clickable map template is used, menu items will appear like: "ST, 3.0, 2.5, Geocache (10)". This means: cache type is 'single cache' and has a travelbug (T), difficulty is 3.0, terrain is 2.5, geocache name is 'Geocache' and it has been visited 10 times. When the geocache has one or more travelbugs, the travelbug icon will be attached to it. When a clickable map is created from the waypoints in the waypoint manager, they will appear as type 'unknown' geocaches and the menu items will only contain the waypoint name.

The creation process is driven by a configuration file that lists all available maps and their calibration data and a clickable map template (see 'Clickable map configuration'). The calibration uses 2 reference points, one somewhere in the top-left corner and one somewhere in the bottom-right corner of the image. Before the creation starts, a dialog opens to select the maps to be updated. All files are generated in the download folder.

Proxy authentication

When a proxy server requests authentication (when downloading geocaches or submitting logs), the username and password as specified in the 'GarTrax configuration' file will be used in a first attempt to authenticate. If this fails, a dialog will pop up to collect the correct user credentials.

Restrictions

File conversions:

  • An input file must be valid in its original format
  • Map datum of the input file must be WGS-84

Waypoint, route and track management:

  • Tracks and track points can only be renamed and deleted

Download:

  • There is no limitation to the number of caches that can be downloaded in a single session. However, since the download process relies heavily on threads and events, GarTrax might run into a lack of resources, which results in undefined behaviour. Also, be sensible in your downloads: do not overload the servers of geocaching.com.

Configuration

The behaviour of GarTrax is controlled by several configuration files. There is a configuration file for GarTrax general options, several that control the download process, one for the indexing process, several GPS configuration files, many symbol conversion files and a clickable map configuration file. Besides those, GarTrax also uses several template files: one for the index creation, three for the GPX extraction and one for the clickable map generation.

All configuration files should reside in the current working directory or the GarTrax program folder. They are plain text files in a standard ini file format and can be edited with any text editor. For the configuration items that are most likely to change, there is a dialog available (Configuration -> GarTrax Configuration).

See the document about configuration for details.

History

2005-03-03. version 3.00. Changes from version 2.00:

New features:

Improvements:

  • Selection behavior of route and track managers has changed.
  • Context menu handling in managers has changed.
  • Menu 'Index' is renamed to 'Tools'.
  • Menu option Geocache->Extract GPX has been moved to Tools
  • Files used by GarTrax are now organized in sub folders.
  • Clickmap configuration has been extended.
  • Internal error handling has been improved.

Solved bugs:

  • In some cases GarTrax cannot find its configuration files.
  • For some regional settings the creation of clickable maps started by the Create Index does not work.
  • PCX5 track export is wrong on the western hemisphere.
  • Error in parsing waypoints from some Garmin devices (GPSMap 76S / GPS V).
  • OziExplorer progress indication during track writing is wrong.
  • OziExplorer gives the wrong error message when the map datum is incorrect while reading route or track files.
  • Index creation for waypoints on western or southern hemisphere not correct.
  • Remove waypoint dialog latitude field displays longitude.
For the full history of GarTrax, see the document about the changes.

Support

If you have any questions, remarks, tips, bugs, please send a message to GarTrax support.

Download

You can download the latest version of GarTrax here. I would appreciate it if you give me feedback on GarTrax!

Disclaimer

Please bear in mind that this is a hobby project and that you may use it for free. I tried hard to make it as reliable as possible, but still, it might give some problems on certain systems.

GarTrax IS FREEWARE. IT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

IF YOUR LOCALITY DOES NOT ALLOW THESE WARRANTY CONDITIONS, YOU ARE NOT GRANTED PERMISSION TO USE GarTrax.