Importing specific icons with marks

[AllAtSea]

Hi All,

New to the forum and have been reading up (with interest!) on importing POI files into MM2004. I have downloaded the excellent POIConverter AND the equally excellent Speed Camera Database with its cute BMP camera pics BUT how do you import the specific icons WITH the Maptech .mxf file?

I have converted the .ov2 file to .mxf but the Maptech options only allow me to utilise the standard icons - not any of the speed cam (or other) ones I've downloaded, modified (size is too small!) & imported into MM. The thought of "updating" the symbol in more than 3000 marks doesn't impress me!

I've also downloaded a couple of the other POI databases which, very thoughtfully, come with BMP's of their own and envisage the same problem.

I suspect I may have to edit the POI file in another format but how do I specify the correct .bmp file for the symbol?

I have even suggested to MM that they actually PROVIDE a facility to allow batch changes to groups of overlays - now is that desperate or what!

Any ideas?
Frustrated

[Greymane]

Once you have it all in MM, you could export the waypoints to a CSV file and then you can modify the CSV as follows:

- Add IC01 format lines (specified in the MM help) to designate your icons.
- Modify the WP04 lines (for the marks you exported) to use the new symbol number in place of the default symbol number.

If you already have the icons in the program, just change one mark to use that icon and you will have the symbol number to designate the rest.

It is really easy to do in a program line MS Excel.

[AllAtSea]

Thanks Greymane,

Appreciate your input. I've successfully exported the whole MM database in CSV format (as there isn't an option to export just a category!), edited it as you suggested but the edited file can't be read by POIConverter - some problem with the Longitude format (?????) so I can't convert it back to a Maptech .mxf file so I can REimport it into MM.

The only problem I can think of is that I'm actually editing in a Works spreadsheet - I wonder if the .xls format I'm saving it in is somehow "different" to a true Excel version?? Have to try editing at work Monday and try again.

Can't help thinking that this is a completely OTT way of doing something that should, by rights, be simple! Ah......software!! Kinda puts you off if every time you update the speed cam database (or upload any other POI) you have to spend an hour uploading, converting, editing, downloading, etc, etc.!

AAS

[Greymane]

Why can't you just import the CSV file back in? MM should take that format.

[AllAtSea]

Greymane.......thanks but, well, if only it were that easy! My version of MM2004 (v 4.4.3 Build 565) will NOT import .csv files - I've confirmed this with MM support - I would require the "professional" version.

I've finally managed it by converting the speed camera .csv file into an .mxf file using POIConverter then importing into MM, BUT FIRST creating a dummy mark using the appropriate camera icon and setting this as default - when the .mxf file imports it picks up the default icon. It is a bit messy as I cannot set up categories for each of the camera types as I would have liked but I tried every combination of exporting/editing/reimporting and the file always seemed to corrupt somehow..like all the positions defaulted to the same place!

Of course there MAY be a better way..........? Anyone else got any ideas?

AAS

[Greymane]

You have been misinformed. If you can export CSV, you can import CSV. The older versions had CSV as a Pro feature, but not anymore.

Also, you mentioned categories. There are a couple ways to handle this. The best thing is to make a master backup of your overlays (using the EXPORT ALL feature). Then, you can delete the excess and work with just what you want. You can save as many MMO files as you want, so you can have Speedcam.mmo, Walks.mmo, BikePaths.mmo, etc.

You can also create categories by typing a new word in the CATEGORY box (in Properties). To create a subcategory, just add a colon ( like this WALKS:EASY, WALKS:HARD. Once you do this, you can select it from the drop down list (so you don't need to type it in each time). You can also use the HIDE feature and the EXPORT VISIBLE feature to export just the items you want. Once you create the categories, they show up in the HIDE and SHOW menues.

In the new Version 5, this is all much easier, as there are right-click menu options for adding and deleting categories and you can drag and drop items into categories.

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