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GPX making browser-based programme

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10 comments

  • Mike Davies

    OSmaps, gpsies.com

    I'm sure that there are many others.

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  • Sofa Jockey

    Awesome, I'll take a look. Thanks. 

    EDIT: The free version of gpsies (now alltrails.com) seems to do nicely.

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  • Al M

    I can't say I've tried alltrails but I use plotaroute.com for creating routes and for navigation when walking, it's free to use.

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  • nickw

    This is what I would like to do as well.. I have many suggestions in my area (routes I am very familiar with having walked them extensively in the past 20 years or so) but am unlikely to have the time to physically walk all of them in the near future.

    I do have one question about "license contamination" though with these tools. It says elsewhere that Slow Ways' intention is to make the GPX available as open data, using the ODBL, a step that I would 100% support. Would using some of these tools enforce proprietary licensing on the GPX thus created? e.g. would it be copyright AllTrails, etc? Not sure, just wondering if anyone here would know.

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  • nickw

    ... to follow up on this, my ideal tool would use OpenStreetMap maps as a source map - *however* this would actually enforce ODBL. and OpenStreetMap contributor copyright, on the generated GPX file. As a long-term OSM contributor that would be no bad thing in my view, but wondering how it would fit in with Slow Ways' aims. 

    So for the moment I am happy to use any GPX generating tool which does not impose copyright restriction on the generated file.

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  • Slow Ways Support

    Hi.

    Please do check the terms of any route generation software. Some explicitly limit your rights.

    It's important that you own the route and are not limited in contributing it to the project. If you have a subscription, we recommend using OS Maps at the moment as we have a relationship with them.

    Nickw is right that we are working towards ODBL, still need to do some legwork to get there.

    - Dan

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  • nickw

    Hi Dan, thanks. It's unfortunate that the OpenSpace API appears to have been deprecated, as that would have allowed the development of open-source software with a Landranger-based tile map. Unfortunately the new OS Maps API appears to limit access to layers with ROW data to paid-for customers.

    I'm wondering whether there's scope to develop something which will allow the creation of GPX traces - for future (rather than current) use in Slow Ways - using OpenStreetMap data. Such traces would become "OSM derived data" so would be copyright OpenStreetMap contributors - *but* would legally preserve free and open licensing.

    I would imagine that many contributors will be like myself and know routes through knowledge of their local area, may not have time to walk all of the routes (much as I'd like to spend one day of the weekend walking from Romsey to Salisbury, for instance, and taking a GPX trace, I doubt I'm going to have time) - and would want to create GPX traces through drawing their route on a map. Given  footpath data seems to be hard to come by outside of OSM, it would be great if Slow Ways could somehow use OSM as a legitimate data source.

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  • nickw

    Actually one question. Is it acceptable to use the 7-day free trial of OS Maps to create the routes? I don't really want to pay for a subscription as I don't need to use it for any other purpose, but if I can create all the routes I want to in the next 7 days then I will do that.

    Thanks.

     

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  • TC

    gpx is just a data file. You can make your own if you have the lat and longs otherwise just get one from some website and edit it to remove 'creator'.

    GPX: the GPS Exchange Format (topografix.com)

     

     

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  • Sofa Jockey

    I actually prefer the off-road path information in AllTrails (I have free access) to OS maps, but AllTrails won't load on Slow Ways so I make an AllTrails GPX, upload it into OS maps, save it again and upload that into Slow Ways.

    Life could be simpler but that seems to work.

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