Sharing a route or POIs

[Pieter_Litch]

I am very experienced with GPS handhelds, but my 350xl is the first road gps I have owned. Therefore, I am a bit ignorant of its abilities.

I would like to share some POI's or a route connecting POI's with a (single) friend - not a community.

I can see how to move information from the TomTom to the PC, and I guess by emailing a person the zipped file downloaded to the PC via TomTom Home it might be possible to transmit the POIs, but how do you install them on the friends TomTom unit? I see no "upload" ability in Home.

It seems like a rediculously easy question to answer, but I can't find a way to share the info necessary to "pre-program" a friends TomTom to a route I design.

Thanks, Pieter

 

[dhn]

You are talking about two different things: pois and routes (which are called itineraries in tomtom vernacular).

If the friend's model is a Nav2 device (using Home 2 such as your model) and not MyTomTom which the newer models require, then just send him the ov2 file (and associated bmp file, if available) in an email and he can copy them into his specific map folder.

For itineraries, first of all, not all models have itinerary functionality; certainly, none of the newer Nav3 devices do.

If his is a Nav2 device and if it can deal with itineraries then the process is the same. Your created itinerary will be found in the itn folder on your unit with a .itn extension. So, you could email him that file and he can copy it into his itn folder.

So, what device does your friend have?

 

[- et -]

If the friend's model is a Nav2 device (using Home 2 such as your model) and not MyTomTom which the newer models require, then just send him the ov2 file (and associated bmp file, if available) in an email and he can copy them into his specific map folder.

As additional information, the same thing can be done if your friend has one of the later (NAV3) devices that use the MyTomTom software to interface with the computer, but the way in which it is accomplished will be different.

The earlier models that use the Home 2 software to interface with the computer will allow your friend to just copy the POI files onto the GPS, as the GPS appears to the computer as if it were just another drive. With the later models, your friend's computer will not see the GPS as another drive, so your friend cannot directly copy the files if he has one of those models.

However, the current version of the MyTomTom software used to interface the GPS to a computer can accomplish the same thing. There is a function in the MyTomTom program called "Add Community Content". With this, if your friend has the POI files on his computer, MyTomTom can be instructed to browse to the location where the files are located and then install them on the GPS. The actual copy process is hidden from view, and you cannot see where on the GPS the files are being installed, but the end result is essentially the same.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

 

[Pieter_Litch]

I appreciate all the advice. My friend has an XXL which does use Home (home2?). I would not like to share the location of the OI with the whole world, so an attchment to an email would be better than a posting to a public area - and I am assuming that "comuinity content" would be available to all users, not just my friend.

Given my considerable experience with handheld GPSs, mapping trails, and sharing data, I am surprised at how non-technical the TomTom is. Good for the average user who wants to get to point B. However, I can't ever get the lat, long coordinates for a POI saved on my 350xl. Frankly, it would be easier to have my friend create a POI with those coordinates than try to transfer files from my PC to his to his TomTom.
Did I miss something - I can't access POI coordinates?

 

[dhn]

What application is on your 350? The latest is 9.430.

Also, the 350 is a model with EasyMenu which has many user options missing than the full menued models. That is one of them, I believe.

 

[- et -]

I appreciate all the advice. My friend has an XXL which does use Home (home2?). I would not like to share the location of the OI with the whole world, so an attchment to an email would be better than a posting to a public area - and I am assuming that "comuinity content" would be available to all users, not just my friend.

The "Community Content" phrase does not mean that the data is posted publicly. I have no first-hand knowledge of why TomTom calls it that, but I can guess that it was just to say that the data files are not "locked" to a specific unit, as is the case with maps. If the files are "community content", they can be installed on anyone's GPS, not just a GPS with a specific serial number.

With both NAV3 and NAV3 units, you would just send your friend an e-mail with the POI (.ov2) files attached, and he would load those files onto his GPS. The only difference is that on the NAV2 devices that use the HOME 2 software to interface to the computer, the files can be copied to the GPS with a standard file manager such as Windows Explorer, if he prefers to use that instead of HOME 2. With the NAV3 units that interface to the computer using MyTomTom, that option is not available. The only way to get the POI files onto a Nav3 GPS is using a menu item within the MyTomTom software that is called "Add Community Content".

The reason for this is that Microsoft sued TomTom, and forced them to change the file structure on their GPS devices to a format that cannot be read by standard Windows file management software.

Fortunately, since your friend has an XXL, which is a NAV2 device, he will have flexibility in how he copies your POI files onto his GPS. He can use either HOME 2 or a file manager of his choice.

- Tom -

 

[Pieter_Litch]

Thanks for the reply. My 350xl has version 9.430 firmware. I am completely new to TomTom GPS and the user interface, so please excuse my dumb questions. I will investigate the "community" thing further. I don't see any references to it on my tomtom 350xl menus or in the tomtomhome2 pc software.

 

[dhn]

No, the Community reference relates to only Nav3 devices using MyTomtom.

Since you have an older Nav2 device (using Home 2), then it doesn't relate to you.

Bottom line: to get the poi ov2 files and the itinerary .itn files to your friend, you need to send by email to him.

 

[Pieter_Litch]

you are quite right about the "community" thing. I have emailed hime the POI file and the associated BMP (graphic of a dot). It is surprising to me that TomTom didn't incorporate a menu driven "dumb user" way of exchanging POIs by email with all you friends. Maybe even a Facebook linkup.

Many thanks for all your help.