GPS Visualizer can now create Google Maps

Hi GPS fans,

It's been months since I posted an update about GPS Visualizer.
There've been a lot of changes and improvements lately, but the most
significant is the addition of Google Maps as an output format. You
can upload your GPS data file (in a supported format) and instantly
view it in Google Maps:
http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/map?form=google

Aside from the GMap-optimized form listed above, it's also available as
an output choice in the other input forms, including the address form:
http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/map?for...&format=google

Unfortunately, compared to SVG or JPEG you don't get nearly as much
control over the output in Google Maps -- for instance, you can't
colorize your track by altitude or speed, and waypoint labels are
invisible until you click on them -- but the maps are interactive and
can be zoomed, panned, etc. Hopefully people will find it useful
and/or fun. Please let me know if you have questions or find any bugs.


A few other notes on recent changes/additions:

* GPSBABEL GATEWAY: I've created an on-line interface to a copy of
GPSBabel running on my server: http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/gpsbabel/
It can't do everything the command-line program can do, but almost --
and the output page includes instant "map this data" links.
(This is significant enough that I may post separately about it.)

* CITY,STATE MAPPING: The address form has always recognized bare ZIP
codes as valid locations; now it can also handle city/state pairs,
like "Seattle, WA" or "W. St. Paul, MN." This could be helpful for
mapping quantitative data.

* TIMEX TRAINER & IGN RANDO FILES: Files exported from Timex's Trainer
software and from the French Geographical Institute's "IGN Rando"
are supported.

I'm still wishing and hoping for a free source of street maps to use as
backgrounds, though...


If you haven't seen GPS Visualizer before, please drop by and check it
out at http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/. It's free, platform-independent,
and it supports many, many GPS data file formats, as well as mapping of

street addresses or raw coordinates. Output can be in the form of
SVGs, JPEGs, PNGs, or, now, Google Maps.


Adam Schneider
adamschneider.net


..

If any Internet Explorer users tried, but failed, to draw tracks on
a Google Map using GPS Visualizer in the last couple days, please
try again. It turns out one has to jump through a few extra hoops
to get IE to display tracks in Google, and I didn't have those hoops
formatted exactly right.

Hopefully everything should be OK now:
http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/map?form=google


Adam