What are GPX and KML files ?
A GPX file is the data generated by a GPS, or possibly by any other map-based program. It is in fact a standard XML file whith a defined standard, which can be edited as a text file. For those who have manipulated this kind of file format, or used only HTML, this is pretty easy to understand, which means it is almost possible to create one using Notepad, and without any knowledge. However, with a lot of data, it quickly becomes hardly readable, and the main purpose of editing manually such file is generally for some kind of “cutting” job. Between the heading and ending tags “GPX” (the header containing some standards information along), we can find: – Waypoints (“wpt” tags) – Treks (“trk” tags) A waypoint contains : – Its GPS coordinates (“Lat&Lon”) – A name – Possibly, its elevation A trek contains also a name, and one or more segments (“trkseg”). Each segment is made of several trekpoints (“trkpt”), defined identically as Waypoints, but without a name for each. This is the standard 1
