'Not a valid .gpx file' message while Importing

Former Member over 10 years ago

Hi, using Basecamp on my Mac, I get the above message when loading the file below.

I have used the validator at "www.validome.org/.../" and get a “the document is well formed” message which I presume means that it finds the file OK.

Any thoughts anyone?

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<gpx version="1.1" creator="The Hug - http://maps.the-hug.net/" xmlns="www.topografix.com/.../1" xmlns:xsi="www.w3.org/.../XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemalocation="www.topografix.com/.../1 www.topografix.com/.../gpx.xsd">
<rte>
<author>Elizabeth Oldham for WalkLakes</author>
<copyright>Copyright (C) 2013 Hug Solutions Ltd t/a WalkLakes</copyright>
<name>yewbarrow</name>
<rtept lat="54.450369157134" lon="-3.2854084638703">
<name>1:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.45206060047" lon="-3.286926700367">
<name>2:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.454672067632" lon="-3.2843478573479">
<name>3:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.456995421911" lon="-3.2834950837502">
<name>4:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.457931083668" lon="-3.282136000804">
<name>5:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.458644566922" lon="-3.2805385205734">
<name>6:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.459623485926" lon="-3.2793349346411">
<name>7:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.465044447502" lon="-3.2766497129197">
<name>8:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.467715272993" lon="-3.2748041347285">
<name>9:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.468206986269" lon="-3.2750508751029">
<name>10:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.470268566533" lon="-3.2755779188665">
<name>11:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.471022891952" lon="-3.2764886816852">
<name>12:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.47440841456" lon="-3.2750508654101">
<name>13:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.470956357192" lon="-3.2785312361892">
<name>14:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.467086793435" lon="-3.2832323483098">
<name>15:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.463115535119" lon="-3.2848051758296">
<name>16:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.458851944945" lon="-3.2842859450808">
<name>17:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.456717278983" lon="-3.2842962344843">
<name>18:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.455169071536" lon="-3.2840935082234">
<name>19:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.452150508628" lon="-3.2869295978686">
<name>20:</name>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="54.450369591319" lon="-3.2853699502033">
<name>21:</name>
</rtept>
</rte>
</gpx>

0 Former Member over 10 years ago

Most of the time this is the problem of the website owner, because he does not create GPX following standards (open an BC generated GPX for example).

You can solve this by using JaVaWa RTWtool to convert to a standardized GPX track by choosing Garmin 9GPX/GDB) and no modifications. Save the file and you can import it in BaseCamp.

Or us a website like gpsvisualizer to do the conversion for you.

0 azdrmn over 10 years ago

Just to clarify, "well formed" typically only means it is a valid XML file, but BaseCamp also validates the file against the GPX schema which is almost certainly where the issue is. If you look at the console after the attempted import, BaseCamp should tell you what the first issue in the file is, or you can just use one of the above methods to fix the file.

0 JaVaWa over 10 years ago

"well formed" typically only means it is a valid XML file

No, it just means that it's well formed, but not necessarily valid. In this case it isn't valid; the <author> and <copyright> tags aren't allowed there.
The tool on the website http://maps.the-hug.net/ doesn't add those tags, so somebody else (probably Elizabeth Oldham) added them; clearly not knowing that you can't just add your own stuff to XML files...

The correct way to add that information is to put this right after the <gpx> tag and before the <rte> tag:

<metadata>

	<author>

		<name>Elizabeth Oldham for WalkLakes</name>

	</author>

	<copyright author="Hug Solutions Ltd t/a WalkLakes">

		<year>2013</year>

	</copyright>

</metadata>

0 Former Member over 10 years ago

Many thanks everyone, from me and the creator of the file

Pete