Merging GPX files

[climo]

I often download gps files and sometimes they are comprised of small sections which by themselves aren't much use eg French gps routes from the Eurovelo sites
I'm just planning a trip to Budapest via Berlin and Prague on cycle.travel in smaller sections, say 3 days at a time. I'd like to see larger sections of the route and maybe the whole route at once just to get an overall sense of it. Bit like spreading a large paper map out on the floor.
Thought it would be simple but no.

[PH]

I often download gps files and sometimes they are comprised of small sections which by themselves aren't much use eg French gps routes from the Eurovelo sites
I'm just planning a trip to Budapest via Berlin and Prague on cycle.travel in smaller sections, say 3 days at a time. I'd like to see larger sections of the route and maybe the whole route at once just to get an overall sense of it. Bit like spreading a large paper map out on the floor.
Thought it would be simple but no.

Is this to look at on a computer, or do you need one file to load onto a GPS device?
If it's the former, then maybe you're asking the wrong question, there are programs that allow you to view more than one route at a time. I use memory map which I paid for, but I'm pretty sure GPX editor does the same
http://www.gpxeditor.co.uk/

People have different devices and use them in different ways, but I've had no problem missing the end of the route on those I've had, I'm either expecting it, or I can see where it ends, or I have one of the data fields set to tell me how far to the end of the route. I've done that with two or three routes, like when they cross each other and I don't want any confusion, it'd be annoying if it was lots of short ones, but it takes minutes to make a route for a days riding so that wouldn't happen.

[climo]

I often download gps files and sometimes they are comprised of small sections which by themselves aren't much use eg French gps routes from the Eurovelo sites
I'm just planning a trip to Budapest via Berlin and Prague on cycle.travel in smaller sections, say 3 days at a time. I'd like to see larger sections of the route and maybe the whole route at once just to get an overall sense of it. Bit like spreading a large paper map out on the floor.
Thought it would be simple but no.

Is this to look at on a computer, or do you need one file to load onto a GPS device?
If it's the former, then maybe you're asking the wrong question, there are programs that allow you to view more than one route at a time. I use memory map which I paid for, but I'm pretty sure GPX editor does the same
http://www.gpxeditor.co.uk/

Ideally both. I'll look at gpxeditor. I was puzzled that to merge 2 routes was so difficult hence the question.

[PH]

I was puzzled that to merge 2 routes was so difficult hence the question.

Me to and there may well be a simple solution that no one has come up with yet. It wouldn't surprise me, it's not that I've failed to find one, I've just never felt the need to look.

[Richard Fairhurst]

I often download gps files and sometimes they are comprised of small sections which by themselves aren't much use eg French gps routes from the Eurovelo sites
I'm just planning a trip to Budapest via Berlin and Prague on cycle.travel in smaller sections, say 3 days at a time. I'd like to see larger sections of the route and maybe the whole route at once just to get an overall sense of it. Bit like spreading a large paper map out on the floor.
Thought it would be simple but no.

You can use cycle.travel to see all the journeys in one folder on a map. If you click 'My bike' -> 'Journeys', then the folder list on the right has little 'Map' links: click one of these and all the journeys in that folder will be superimposed together on a map. Click one of them to open it in the route-planner.

[Sweep]

I often download gps files and sometimes they are comprised of small sections which by themselves aren't much use eg French gps routes from the Eurovelo sites
I'm just planning a trip to Budapest via Berlin and Prague on cycle.travel in smaller sections, say 3 days at a time. I'd like to see larger sections of the route and maybe the whole route at once just to get an overall sense of it. Bit like spreading a large paper map out on the floor.
Thought it would be simple but no.

OK.

To be honest if the bits aren't too short, and as others have pointed out it is no great problem to display several gpxs at once, I'd be inclined to use separate files, maybe no more than a day's riding each. It's not unknown for files to screw up/get corrupted. Less of a problem if they are separate.

[climo]

You can use cycle.travel to see all the journeys in one folder on a map. If you click 'My bike' -> 'Journeys', then the folder list on the right has little 'Map' links: click one of these and all the journeys in that folder will be superimposed together on a map. Click one of them to open it in the route-planner.

Richard, you're a star! Anyway to enlarge the window?

[ConRAD]

... can't for the life of me find a simple way to merge (join) 2 or more GPX files ...

1. within basecamp convert first all your routes to tracks
2. then select all the converted tracks and right click your mouse selecting "join the selected tracks" action
3. that's it

[Richard Fairhurst]

You can use cycle.travel to see all the journeys in one folder on a map. If you click 'My bike' -> 'Journeys', then the folder list on the right has little 'Map' links: click one of these and all the journeys in that folder will be superimposed together on a map. Click one of them to open it in the route-planner.

Richard, you're a star! Anyway to enlarge the window?

Not as yet I'm afraid but I'll give it some thought!

[climo]

... can't for the life of me find a simple way to merge (join) 2 or more GPX files ...

1. within basecamp convert first all your routes to tracks
2. then select all the converted tracks and right click your mouse selecting "join the selected tracks" action
3. that's it

Well done Conrad. It works and is simple. Only issues are that cycle.travel won't import the resulting gpx file or at least I gave up waiting and Basecamp only routes on the road. It reroutes any off road routes sometimes miles away.
The exported file imported quickly into Komoot

[st599_uk]

Can you not just use notepad, copy the trackpoints from the track in one file and paste on to the end of the list in the second?

[Sweep]

yes that's what I was thinking, if the separate gpxs really end and begin close by.

Still need to run the file through a syntax checker though. Usually straightforward though now and again I am baffled by the report back/can't for the life of me see the problem.

[climo]

yes that's what I was thinking, if the separate gpxs really end and begin close by.
Still need to run the file through a syntax checker though. Usually straightforward though now and again I am baffled by the report back/can't for the life of me see the problem.

Yes of course you can copy/paste and I've done that and it works. My point is that there is no easy program to do this job. One that you have 2 routes on a map, highlight both and click "Join". That surprised me.

[RickH]

You can use cycle.travel to see all the journeys in one folder on a map. If you click 'My bike' -> 'Journeys', then the folder list on the right has little 'Map' links: click one of these and all the journeys in that folder will be superimposed together on a map. Click one of them to open it in the route-planner.

That's very good. Is it a recent addition or have I just missed noticing it?

One minor point though - when I click on the "Map" link all the distances of the routes inside shown at the left side are in km, even though it is set to miles in my preferences (& the routes are all in the UK).

[Tinnishill]

postby climo » 23 Jan 2019, 4:58pm

Sweep wrote:
yes that's what I was thinking, if the separate gpxs really end and begin close by.
Still need to run the file through a syntax checker though. Usually straightforward though now and again I am baffled by the report back/can't for the life of me see the problem.


Yes of course you can copy/paste and I've done that and it works. My point is that there is no easy program to do this job. One that you have 2 routes on a map, highlight both and click "Join". That surprised me.

GPSPrune.

I have just done a test. I used cycle.travel to create and download two GPX’s, Cockermouth to Keswick and then Keswick to Penrith. I dragged and dropped the GPX’s onto GPSPrune, which I already had on my computer. Using the “edit” feature I moved the contiguous ends of the tracks until they met. From the drop down menu it was “Range, select all > merge” and “Export GPX” naming the new GPX. I have now loaded the new GPX onto my Android phone to test on Osmand and seems to work fine.