GMAPI file to MotionX?

[Salt1972]

After a few hours of frustration trying to get the Taylor Park Trails downloaded from GPS File Depot and then installed for view in Basecamp, I am at another challenge point...

MotionX is looking for a .GPX file format, but my files (Mac) are in GMAPI format.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Matt

[Boyd]

The only suggestion possible is to find a .gpx file to use in Motion X. .gmapi files are maps in Garmin's proprietary format. They have never officially published it and do not allow anyone else to use it. The only reason that the maps on this site exist is that Garmin has chosen to "look the other way" since they're free and provide additional incentive for people to buy a Garmin GPS. The mapmakers here (like me) must use third party tools that have reverse-engineered Garmin's format. If a company started selling a product that used their format without their permission, their lawyers woulld be all over them.

There's an app called OruxMaps on Android that attempts to use Garmin maps but the implementation is very poor. It basically renders portions of the map as a raster image using an open source library, which is slow and it looks ugly. There is no iOS version of this app.

Perhaps you could contact the author of the map you want? He should have the original data used to make the Garmin format map and it would be very straightforward for him to convert that to a .gpx file.

[Salt1972]

Boyd-

Thanks for your reply.  I'm not sure what format the original file by BobT is in.  It's zipped as it downloads via PC or Mac and then opens in gmapi (Mac) or .gdb (PC).  I'm not sure where to turn for assistance, but I'd really like to use those maps for an upcoming trip.  Again, thanks for your time and help.

Matt

[Boyd]

Well that's another matter. I believe you have two completely different types of files there. A gmapi file is a Garmin format map. But a .gdb file is a Garmin Database, the native format for storing tracks, routes and waypoints in the legacy PC Mapsource program.

You should be able to open it with either Mapsource or Basecamp on Windows, or Basecamp on the Mac. I have not used .gdb files in Basecamp myself, but I think it you first start Basecamp and then go to either open or import, you'll be able to load the file.

It can contain tracks, routes and waypoints, no idea what that file actually contains but it should be obvious once you get it into Basecamp. Then you can simply export whatever you want as a .gpx file which (apparently) MotionX supports.