st2gpx converts Microsoft Map to/from GPX XML

• Overview
• Capabilities
  • Supported Microsoft File Formats
  • Supported Elements
  • Warning
• Installation
• Usage
  • Quick usage samples
  • Detailed Usage
  • Detailed Driving Instructions
• FAQ

Overview

st2gpx is a program for Windows that reads/writes .est, .axe, .ptm files from Microsoft Streets and Trips, AutoRoute and MapPoint, and converts them to/from GPX data files for use by other programs.

st2gpx was written by James Sherring (james_sherring yahoo.com)

Capabilities

Supported Microsoft File Formats

st2gpx supports various incarnations of Microsoft's mapping application, including:

• Microsoft Streets and Trips 2000, 2001,  (2004?)
• AutoRoute 2001, 2003,
• MapPoint 2002, 2004.

Some versions have not been thoroughly tested. More versions may already be supported, please send me a sample of other data files versions (preferably including all types of data).

Supported Elements

Streets & Trips / AutoRoute / MapPoint Attribute	GPX Import	GPX Export
Pushpin	Waypoint	Waypoint
Pushpin Name	Waypoint Name	Waypoint Name
Pushpin Description	Waypoint Description	Waypoint Description
Pushpin Symbol n	<sym>MS Map Symbol n</sym>	<sym>MS Map Symbol n</sym>
Pushpin Position	Waypoint Lat/Lon	Waypoint Lat/Lon
Route	-	Route
Route Point (start/stop/end)	-	Route Point
Route Point Name	-	Route Point Name
Route Point Position	-	Route Point Lat/Lon
Poly-Line (from various line drawing tools)	Route / Track	Track
Poly-Line Point	Route / Track Point	Track Point
Poly-Line Point Position	Route / Track Point Lat/Lon	Track Point Lat/Lon
MapPoint Regions (these are currently treated like Poly-Lines)	-	Track

There are many more format attributes that could be imported/exported, such as hyperlinks. These may be implemented depending on the demand for supporting these attributes.

Warning

ms2gpx could corrupt Microsoft Streets & Trips, AutoRoute and MapPoint files when importing data. ms2gpx is based on my (James Sherring) limited understanding and guessing of Microsoft file formats. These file formats are undocumented, vary between products and versions, and certainly have some information that I do not understand.

There is no guarantee that this program will work correctly. It is possible that it will import or export data erroneously, corrupt your data files, that files modified by st2gpx will crash applications using them, or that there will be other loss of data or other effects. It is recommended that you backup any data before using this program. Usage of this program indicates that you understand this risk and assume all responsibility for your data.

Installation

Download st2gpx.zip from the files page and unzip into a suitable directory. You must keep libexpat.dll and st2gpx.exe in the st2gpx folder, and istorage.exe and istorage-make.exe in the istorage subdirectory.

To simplify usage, you may want to create bat file shortcuts , possibly combining calling st2gpx and GPSBabel. (FIXME: add samples).

Usage

Quick usage samples

Using the program is simple:

c:\st2gpx>  st2gpx   myroadtrip.est

creates a GPX file called myroadtrip.est.gpx. That GPX file can then used by GPSBabel or any other program that handles GPX .

c:\st2gpx>  st2gpx   -g mygpsdata.gpx   mymap.est

imports the gpx data in mygpsdata.gpx into mymap.est.

Note: If you are importing waypoints as pushpins, your existing Microsoft Streets & Trips, AutoRoute or MapPoint file MUST have either at least one pushpin already, or previously have had at least one pushpin in the file which has then subsequently been deleted.

Detailed Usage

Usage: st2gpx [-hr] [-v verbose-level] [-g gpx-in-file] [-G gpx-out-file]
              [-m mpst-in-file] [-M pcx5-out-file] [-F st-mod-file] stfile

-h : Help (this text)
-r : Export poly-lines as routes instead of tracks
-g gpx-in-file    : Import data from GPX XML format gpx-in-file
-G gpx-out-file   : Write output to GPX XML format gpx-out-file
-F st-mod-file    : Write modified stfile with imported data
                    to (new) st-mod-file.
-m mpst-in-file   : Import data from Garmin MapSource text-export mpst-in-file
-M pcx5-out-file  : Write output to Garmin MapSource importable pcx5-out-file

Detailed Driving Instructions

Only the start, stops, and end points are stored in the .est/.axe/.ptm files. Turn-by-turn route data is not stored in the .est/.axe/.ptm files, and is recalculated each time on opening the file. This means that the output of st2gpx will not contain driving directions.

One possible approach to achieve similar results is to use the Streets & Trips drawing tools to trace a line over the interesting parts of the route (interesting intersections etc). st2gpx extracts this as GPX track data, and writes it to the GPX file as a track. Uploading this track data to your GPS allows visual navigation with as much detail as you want to add when tracing over the calculated route.

Similarly, you can upload your GPS tracks as poly-lines.

FAQ

Please enjoy - James Sherring