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Offline Viewing - A Basic Question

PJB+
over 8 years ago
Hi To All!
I use a Vivoactive HR and Garmin Connect. My question is probably quite basic, but being rather computer 'dopey', I could not figure this out nor find the answer:
Is there a way to save the data from an activity for viewing offline later? (I use a Mac computer.)

I tried the various exporting options shown under the gear icon on the activity's page.
With "Export Original", I get a file with the extension FIT. From reading here, I believe this is for use with Strava. Nothing on my computer opened it.
With "Export To TCX" I get a file that Mac's Text Edit app opens, but it looks like random numbers & words.
With Export to GPX" I get the same result as TCX gave me.
The exporting to Google Earth option shows the browser downloading something, but no new file shows up in the default save location. I didn't find it anywhere else on the Mac.
Exporting "Splits to CSV" gives me an xml file. I changed the extension to CSV so Excel could open it. The spreadsheet had a mess of numbers on it. (Screen Shot Attached)

Is there a way to save workout data to disk for offline reading?
And, for curiosity, what are those file formats used for? (FIT, TCX, GPX and Google Earth) Just Curious

Thanks For Your Guidance & The "Exporting For Dummies" Lesson. It's much appreciated!
Paul
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    Is there a way to [save the data from an activity]¹ for [viewing offline]² later?
    Yes (but not in, say, Garmin Express application or Garmin Connect Mobile app installed and running on your devices, and I don't think anything else would present the data in the same way you're used to seeing in Garmin Connect).

    Breaking it down, the way or approach is simple:

    Step 1: Save the data, which I believe you already know how to do
    Step 2: Load the data into a suitable offline viewer, which is the slightly ‘trickier’ part

    (I use a Mac computer.) …‹snip›… Nothing on my computer opened it.
    So develop and/or install an application for OS‑X that parses FIT files and presents the information therein in a manner that's useful to you. FIT files are not so common to the average computer user (cf. PDF, CSV and HTML files) that software to make use of them come pre-installed by the likes of Apple and Microsoft.

    Is there a way to [save workout data to disk]¹ for offline reading?
    But you've already done that. “For offline reading” clearly indicates your intent, irrespective of whether you already have offline processing capability for the saved data ready at your fingertips.

    And, for curiosity, what are those file formats used for? (FIT, TCX, GPX and Google Earth)
    There are Wikipedia articles on TCX and GPX files, but I guess there is a good enough summary here: ">://www.earlyinnovations.com/gpsphotolinker/about-gpx-and-tcx-file-formats.html">http://www.earlyinnovations.com/gpsphotolinker/about-gpx-and-tcx-file-formats.html

    As for FIT files, see: https://www.thisisant.com/forum/viewthread/4275

    (I'd link you directly to http://www.thisisant.com/resources/fit/, but the first thing it does is ask you to accept an agreement before accessing any documentation that describe the content of FIT files.)

    The more relevant question to ask is probably, “How do I view activity data that is already exported/saved to disk?” … in which case, the reply would necessarily be a follow-up question of, “Which information exactly do you want to see within the saved data?” A FIT file may contain dozens or even hundreds of information items, and it wouldn't be sensible to treat “viewing offline” as meaning, “show me everything, including information that I didn't know was captured and can be reviewed, and also perform analysis on the data for me in some way that is useful, not just show me the numeric data and leave it to me to make sense of all that in my head.”

    Exporting "Splits to CSV" gives me an xml file.
    No, it doesn't. It gives you a text file of comma-separated values that is for some reason saved (inappropriately) with a filename with the extension of .xml by default. You can confirm that by opening the file in a text editor (such as TextEdit) and looking at the file's contents.

    (Yes, I just tried it, and there is no XML in the file thus created.)

    I changed the extension to CSV so Excel could open it. The spreadsheet had a mess of numbers on it. (Screen Shot Attached)
    That doesn't look right. I think you instructed Excel (or accepted Excel's suggestion) to open the file as text, without actually having changed the extension to .csv first and then opening the file in Excel.

  • 0 over 8 years ago
    And, for curiosity, what are those file formats used for? (FIT, TCX, GPX and Google Earth)

    There's a lot of information about GPX and TCX files on the web, but not so much for FIT files. You can go to ThisIsAnt resources and download the FIT SDK (Software Development Kit) - even if you have no intention of programming - because it (it is a Zip file) contains a couple of PDFs and Excel sheets with very good, complete descriptions of exactly what is in the files.

    It also contains a ready to use Java program to convert any FIT file to a CSV (FitCSV.jar), which results in a CSV that may not be easy to work with, but this will show everything.

    Edit: GPX files contain less information than FIT (no running dynamics, for example), but lots of programs and websites can read GPX files.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    I am really sorry & apologize for my delay in thanking you both for your help.
    For some reason, I have not been able to sign into the forum for quite a while. Today it's working again for me.

    Your explanations and links are very helpful and I'm now on the correct path to learning more as I go along. (Cool Stuff, indeed!)

    Thanks Again ASmugDll & Twinaxx. I really appreciate the time you both took to publish the information!

    Enjoy This Day!
    Paul