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Is it not possible to export the complete waypoint coordinate list to a text file?

Former Member
Former Member
I used to use Garmin's Mapsource to download tracks and waypoints from my various Garmin GPS devices.
The Mapsource program allowed exporting complete lists of waypoints to text files.
At one point (probably with the purchase of a newer Garmin GPS device), the Mapsource no longer would work with my device, so Garmin's tech support advised me to migrate to Basecamp instead.
My daily work requires downloading and exporting tracks and waypoint lists for use with other software.
I quickly figured out how to do this with tracks, but I have not seen any capability within Basecamp to export a complete waypoint coordinate list to a text file.
Instead, I have had to cut & paste each individual waypoint, which is exasperating with I have to deal with hundreds of waypoints every day!
Am I mistaken that Basecamp has no feature that allows exporting complete lists of waypoint coordinates?
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 12 years ago
    I have not tried it, but I THINK that if you highlight "My Collection" at the top of the the library you will then get all the waypoints and routes etc on one map so you can export to the txt file. Or you can "move" (you do not really move them) to a new list such as "All my wayponts to export" and them highlight this new list.

    I put all my re-usable waypoints into a list call "Waypoints" and them "move" them to a new route when I need them to start a new trip.
  • You could still use Mapsource if you're used to it. In Basecamp select the data you want to use in Mapsource, then Ctrl+C, open Mapsource and hit Ctrl+V and your data is then in Mapsource, which you can export as before.

    There may be easier ways as this is not something I use, but it should work for you unless someone can suggest a more elegant way :)
  • You can export them from BaseCamp just as TENOC explained. You can export to a tab (.txt) or comma (.csv) separated file.
  • WJBZONE,

    Up thru version 4.1.1 BaseCamp only exports data in the units required by gpx (likely the way it is stored as well) – WGS84 datum decimal degrees for horizontal position and elevation in meters (on my GPSr, elevation is not GPS height above ellipsoid).

    For what you are doing, I would probably export the waypoints as a gpx file and use Excel to clean it up, convert elevation to feet and then save as a cvs file. The PC version of Excel should be able import a gpx file and parse it into columns and rows. Excel also has a very powerful macro language which would allow you to automate the process if you desired. Manually, it should take only a couple of minutes at most. If you need help, let me know.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 12 years ago
    I just switched from Mapsource to Basecamp. (have a garmin 76csx). Here is what I find so far:

    In Mapsource the Waypoint Tab allows user to copy and paste ANY/ALL the points from the waypoints list to a text editor (or spreadsheet).

    Basecamp waypoint list changed a lot from Mapsource. To get the waypoint list to display position you have to use menu "view-swap data data views" (or ctr-tab). Then you click the Show Waypoints Icon. The list looks like Mapsource, but you cannot copy and paste from this screen to another application like Mapsource would allow.

    Basecamp has a file-export menu with an option to export an entire list or the selected waypoints. This has options for exporting csv or tab delimited formats.
    Basecamp needs to have more options for the data it exports. I do not see a option to export elevation in feet. Hope I am missing something here because it only exports meters. Suggestions appreciated.

    I use the Basecamp exported data as a Corpscon input file to convert to State Plane coordinates.

    I have to change the Basecamp exported data to get the field order right for Corpscon. A great feature for Basecamp would be to have options for the fields to export.Corpscon needs these fields in a comma delemited format:
    pointnumber,latitude,longtude,elevation

    I have a autolisp program that will read the Corpscon output file into Autocad.


    I know this isn't something the average user would do, but if you happen to be an advanced user with some XML/XSLT knowledge, you can use BaseCamp's Data Converter Plugins to pretty much export data in any way you like. It's just not feasible for us to provide all the specific output formats different people prefer. With the plugins you can output data any way you like (as long as the data is obtainable from what we write out in GPX).
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 12 years ago
    Another option would be to use GPSBabel. It can convert to and from various sorts of CSV formats, and supports different coordinate systems. See for example details of universal CSV format: http://www.gpsbabel.org/htmldoc-development/fmt_unicsv.html
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to JaVaWa

    In some useless fashion. I record in UTM but the export converts it to degrees!

    I would love to hear that I am being stupid but I fear that is not the case.

  • This is a 8 year old thread, please start a new one and give more details, including which BaseCamp version you have, as BaseCamp has been updated many times in the past 8 years