Itinerary upload on new devices

[Giuliano Rescaldani]

I have thoroughly read most of the posts in the forum without finding a definite conclusion on the questions I have. My main concern is to be able to create "routes" at home and be able to upload them to my TomTom navigator. I perfectly reached my goal years ago on a simple Start Classic 1EX00. I have an archive with several chunks of my preferred routes, created by Tyre, Here (the only tool I fond with "avoid tunnels" feature), etc. I combine them on the need with the help some Excel-VBA scripts that create one or more .ITN files that I finally copy to the \ITN directory and I am done.

Of course, I would like to migrate to something newer that Start Classic but it looks impossible! Reading here and there, I think I must assume that devices based on MyDrive instead of Home2 cannot handle .ITN files. Of course, it is not a problem for me to to eventually convert my .ITN chunks to .GPX or anything else but I wonder if any of the new devices and MyDrive itself can handle the transfer of routes. Presently i think NO!

My questions are:
-Is there a list of devices handled by Home?
-Is there a method to upload routes/itineraries to newer devices?
-is there a way to handle MyDrive based devices filesystem locally?
Thanks

 

[canderson]

1) I have a list, but it's huge, and dates back to the earliest TomTom models. There hasn't been what we call a Nav2 device (one manipulated by Home) released since 2010 apart from the odd motorcycle version.
3) No, only Home based devices have open file systems
2) There is for what we call the Bridge devices, which can handle both *.itn and *.gpx files, but that's another whole class of device (not really consumer devices). https://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/business-and-government/bridge/

 

[Giuliano Rescaldani]

So, you confirm that, in order to upload "routes" to a today's navigator, the only way is switch to Garmin? Unbelievable regress of TomTom!

 

[dhn]

Not at all. Here's a guide to a Go 6000
http://download.tomtom.com/open/manuals/new_GO/refman/TomTom-GO-EU-RG-en-gb.pdf

see pg 34 and then 51

 

[canderson]

Sorry. I neglected to correctly observe your comment "Of course, it is not a problem for me to to eventually convert my .ITN chunks to .GPX or anything else". I had read that as "it is a problem". The Bridge unit I mentioned can handle both *.itn and *.gpx, but all of the newer Nav4 models do, as David has said, accept *.gpx files. You will need to save them in a format that produces either "trk" style *.gpx (very dense points) or "rte" style *.gpx files (only points at required turns). TYRE will typically generate both at once, which is a bit of overkill, but it works.

So far, I've had very good luck using *.gpx files with these newer units, even when many points are involved, which is always the case when TYRE starts creating a "trk" (track) style file.

However, allowing TYRE to create a file containing TRK points creates a problem of its own, and is something I've always wondered about. Any other software generates either TRK or RTE, but not both, and the TomTom units, when they see TRK style files, won't include their own routing to get you where you want to go, it'll force the route to the track.

You can, of course, strip out all of the <trkpt> data from a TYRE file, leaving a much cleaner file with only the <rtept> data at the top.

 

[Giuliano Rescaldani]

Thanks dnh! So, can I assume all MyDrive based units [Nav3?] can now handle [multiple] routes created on the web application or is this limited to the "GO" series? That could be fine because the present version of MyRoute is quite powerful. But...

Canderson, let me say I have a quite deep experience in .gpx creation and conversion while I work with them for many applications, mainly in aviation. As you suggest in your answer, simply stating .gpx is not enough to clarify what we are talkng about while we may have Wayponits, Tracks and Routes in them. Of course a Track is not what we like for two reasons: huge number of points and, I guess, impossibility for the device to give driving directions. Waypoints may be considered POIs or destinations, etc.: not exactly what we need in this context. What we really need is a Route: in this case we have a minimal number of points to reach and TomTom is free to choose the correct and best routing between them.

I just created a "thrill" route with MyRoute and exported it. Unfortunately, in the resulting .GPX I see a route with two points (start and destination, of course) and a huge number of trkpt (Track Points). So, if *this* is what would be sent to the navigation device, it is no good at all.

 

[canderson]

You said that you've used TYRE in the past. I would recommend sticking with that tool for now. It does, as noted, create an odd combination of <rtept> + <trkpt> entries, but you can quickly take a text editor and strip out all of the latter, leaving you with a relatively clean <rte> type *.gpx file, which allows the routing engine + traffic awareness of the TT unit to do its work.

Other options include Garmin's Mapsource or the newer Basecamp tool to generate clean <rte> type files.

 

[Giuliano Rescaldani]

Hi Canderson, I am totally confused from your last answer! I like Tyre and I would remain with it forever. I have NO problems converting myself anything to either .ITN or route-type GPX, and I can do all what I like with "nav2" TomTom devices because I see the \ITN folder and I can simply copy my routes there. The problem is that I don't find how to upload a route (or itinerary, if you like) to the newer devices that don't connect through Home. In the previous posts, it looks the only way is to leave MyDrive to create and send the route. Non way to import anything not created in other ways.

 

[canderson]

Ah, as we told them ages ago, one too many "My Drives" (there are 3, if you count the one for smart phones as well). It gets confusing at times.

If you go here https://mydrive.tomtom.com/it_it/ and log in with the same information as you use to log into the cloud with your device, you will find that there are several options on the far left of the screen. Top one looks like a magnifying glass, the next is some cross road arrows. Third is the 'bubble' that manages POI files and favorites. Fourth is cross arrows with a little head. That's the tool for sending a *.gpx file to your device.

As to the former -- it has been my experience that TYRE *.gpx generates a series of sensible <rtept> entries in the XML, but follows it up with a zillion <trkpt> entries as well. I always strip out the latter so that your TomTom doesn't see them. These new units WILL accept the entire lot, so you would want to take a text editor and retain only the <rte> information at the top of the xml file.

 

[Giuliano Rescaldani]

>"Fourth is cross arrows with a little head. That's the tool for sending a *.gpx file to your device."

Yes: I saw that icon months ago but I didn't investigate too much because once clicked, it says: "import and sync your preferred tracks (.gpx)"
As we pointed out in previous posts, a track is not what we really want to import: we want to import a route! As far as I can guess, when I send a track to a navigator, it shows the track but not routing information. Or... do they call track a route? I am still quite confused, even because Tyre closed my support ticket with this answer:

Only the new TomTom Rider is connected with Tyre.
You can use .itn and .gpx files.

Of course, the word "connected" may be the key here: other devices cannot be connected but can be uploaded anyway through extra steps: quite stupid not to give a complete answer...

 

[canderson]

Don't be confused by the terminology TT is using. You can import a 'track' (*.gpx file) that is comprised of <rte> entries, <trk> entries or (in the case of raw TYRE output) both of these. The only format it won't accept is <wpt>.

 

[canderson]

FWIW, TYRE's message is confusing as well. They only direct connect to those devices. Their exported *.gpx files work just fine on the newer non-Rider units using TomTom's web interface as earlier described.

 

[Giuliano Rescaldani]

Thanks canderson! I think we finally have a final answer that shows that both TomTom and Tyre seem not so clever to explain with right terms the features of their products! By the way, can you confirm that all the "new" TomTom (Start, Go, Via as far as I can see), accept those "tracks" that are really "routes"?

 

[canderson]

As far as I know, all of the Nav4 models will support this, but because I do not have all of them to test, I cannot confirm. I know that some of the other moderators have different units, so perhaps they can confirm. I am confident that all of the GO models will support it. Start models don't always have quite as many features, which is why I hesitate to say 'all'.