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Add additional POIs to your Mio Device

The POI Loader tool extracts POIs (Points of Interest) from xls and csv files and loads them onto an SD card in a format that MioMap can read (kml files). This allows you to add additional POIs to your Mio device and this next to the already thousands of POIs present.

The POI Loader does not contain POI information and can only be used to upload your own POIs or POIs created by third parties from your computer to an SD card. This SD card can be placed into your Mio device. You can then decide to view all these new POIs or to navigate to one of them.

The POI Loader works with the following devices :

The following devices with MioMap v3.2 or MioMap v3.3 installed, can read the kml files on an SD card:

• Mio C210
• Mio C320(t)
• Mio C710
• Mio C220
• Mio C510
• Mio H610
• Mio C250
• Mio C520(t)

If you own a MioMap lower than MioMap v3.2, you can update your MioMap to MioMap v3.2 via the Mio Update Tool.

Other Mio Technology devices cannot read correctly the kml files on an SD card.

Content Overview :

• Download POI Loader
• Creating POI import files
• Saving xls and CSV files in a correct location
• Running the POI Loader
• Finding your own POIs in MioMap
• Adding new POIs
• Error! Transfer file fails!

Download POI Loader

The POI Loader has successfully been tested on Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista.

how to install the POI Loader

Creating POI import files

Excel file format

Coordinates must be entered in WGS84 decimal degrees format and as follows:

• Column 1: longitude coordinate. Positive number is East, negative number is West. No characters other than a decimal point can be used.
• Column 2: latitude coordinate. Positive number is North, negative number is South. No characters other than a decimal point can be used.
• Column 3: name of the POI.
• Column 4: description field.

Rows that are not in this format will not be uploaded. This allows you to add field names (as shown in the first example).

Correct examples:

Incorrect example:

This is an incorrect example as the nice hotel in Finland will not be uploaded due to the " character present in the longitude column.

CSV file format

You can use a text editor or spreadsheet program that supports CSV (comma separated value) file format to enter data.

Coordinates must be entered in WGS84 decimal degrees format and as follows:

longitude coordinate, latitude coordinate, name, description.

The following rules must be applied:

• longitude coordinate: positive number is East, negative number is West. No characters other than a decimal point can be used.
• latitude coordinate, positive number is North, negative number is South. No characters other than a decimal point can be used.
• no spaces are allowed
• the field names (see example below) must not contain any special characters.

Any rows that are not in this format will not be uploaded. This allows you to add field names.

Examples:

longitude, latitude, name, description
25.74891,61.92422,Finland,nice hotel in Finland
2.30214,48.08256,Paris,place to be in Paris

General remark

The description field will only be read by MioMap v3.3. On older MioMap versions the description field is not visible. More information here.

Saving xls and CSV files in a correct location

The POI Loader will read all files in a certain folder. The folder name will be used as the POI category name in MioMap. More information here.

Note: files in sub folders are not imported!.

If you want to add different POI classes, for example restaurants, shops, petrol stations, then you have to create different folders and upload folder per folder with the POI Loader. You can save these folders anywhere on your computer.

An example:

If you want to group certain POI types, then it is best to create separate folders per type.

In each folder you can add as many xls or csv files as you wish. The name of these files are not relevant. All information found in these folders are entered into one kml file.

Running the POI Loader

• Enter an SD card into the SD card reader of your computer.

  If you have a C320, C520 you also have the option to place the SD card into your device. You will then have to connect your device to your computer via a USB cable and start up your device. In this case, your device will be recognized as an external mass storage device and the SD card in your device as a removable disk.

• To start up the POI Loader, click on the POI Loader icon on your desktop or go to Start/Programs/Mio Technology/POI Loader.

  The POI Loader will then open.

• Select Next

  

• Select the location of the SD card. Search through the pick list and if you cannot find the location, click on Search.Make sure to select the correct location of the SD card manually.

  
• Click on Next.

• Select on the local drive of your computer the folder which contains your import files you want to import by clicking on:

  
  
  

• Click on Next and wait until the following message appears:

  

The kml files created by the POI Loader are stored on the storage card in the folder POI. The kml file will have the following structure:

name of folder_date/time.kml.

For example:

For every run one new kml file is created. An existing kml file is never overwritten.

Finding your own POIs in MioMap

Starting MioMap

After having run the POI Loader, insert the SD card into your Mio Technology device.

For your Mio to read the new POIs on the SD card, MioMap has to be restarted (if MioMap was already open). In most cases, MioMap will restart when an SD card is inserted but in case this does not happen, close and restart MioMap. With a C220 and C210 it might be necessary to restart your device (how to do this can be found in the hardware manual of the device).

For this example, we have run the POI Loader on the following two folders (Hotels and Petrol Stations):

and the following xls file in the folder hotels.

Navigating to your own POIs in MioMap

• In the main menu select POI/ My POI.
  The POIs uploaded via the POI Loader tool can be recognized by the info icon.
  The category names you see are the names of the folder in which you stored the import xls or csv files.
  In this example, we have uploaded a folder called Petrol Stations and Hotels.

  

• Click on POI/Hotels. In the form that opens, you can see a list of the hotels that have been imported. They are ordered according to the distance to the current location. You can also order them alphabetically be clicking on .

  MioMap 3.2 or lower	MioMap 3.3

• Select the POI you want to navigate to by clicking on the POI. The following form then opens:

  MioMap 3.2 or lower	MioMap v3.3

  As you can see, the information present in the description field is only visible in MioMap v3.3.

• Click on OK to navigate to the POI

Adding new POIs

New POIs can always be added to your SD card. Important is to remember that an existing kml file on an SD card is never overwritten. Every time you run the POI Loader, new kml files are created.

If you have updated your source file, make sure to delete the kml file on the SD card of the first import. If you do not do this then the POIs will appear twice in MioMap.

An example:

In the first run of the POI Loader an excel file with petrol stations was uploaded. The folder in which this excel file is stored is also called petrol stations. In the personal POI folder of MioMap you can then see a category called petrol stations that contain all these petrol stations.

After a month, you have updated the petrol station file on your computer and you now want to upload the updated POI file to your SD card.

How to proceed?

• Insert the SD card into the computer.
• Go the the folder POI

• delete the petrol station kml file

• run the POI Loader as explained earlier.
• A new petrol stations.kml file will be created.

Error! Transfer file fails!

If you receive the following message, it means that either:

• no SD card was found in the location you selected
• the folder you selected is empty
• a file in the folder you selected is open on your computer.