RouteConverter
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GPX (.gpx)

GPX, the GPS Exchange Format, is the open XML format that almost every GPS device, app and mapping service can read and write. If you only ever learn one GPS file format, learn this one.

At a glance
Extension .gpx
Encoding xml
Media type application/gpx+xml
Invented 2002
By TopoGrafix — maintained by Dan Foster
Current version 1.1, released 9 August 2004

History

GPX was published by TopoGrafix, and is maintained by Dan Foster. The initial GPX 1.0 release appeared in 2002; GPX 1.1, still the current version, was released on 9 August 2004. TopoGrafix describes GPX as an open standard and places the specification text in the public domain, which is a large part of why it spread so far: anyone can implement it without asking permission or paying a licence fee.

Where it is used

GPX is the interchange format of the whole GPS world rather than the native format of any one device. Garmin handhelds and bike computers, Google Earth, OsmAnd, Strava, komoot, Wikiloc, QGIS and effectively every route planner on the web import or export it. Where a device uses its own native format internally, GPX is usually the export it offers.

Structure

A GPX file is UTF-8 XML with three top-level containers: waypoints (wpt), routes (rte, an ordered list of rtept turn points) and tracks (trk, split into trkseg segments of recorded trkpt points). Every point carries latitude and longitude attributes and may add elevation, timestamp, name, description and symbol. GPX 1.1 adds a typed extensions element, which is how vendors attach sensor data without breaking other readers.

How widespread

TopoGrafix calls GPX "the de-facto XML standard for lightweight interchange of GPS data" and states it is used by hundreds of software programs and web services. In practice it is the safest format to hand to an unknown device or service.

RouteConverter support
Reads GPS Exchange Format 1.0, GPS Exchange Format 1.1
Writes GPS Exchange Format 1.0, GPS Exchange Format 1.1

RouteConverter reads and writes both GPX versions, and understands three Garmin extension namespaces inside GPX 1.1 — GpxExtensions v3, TrackPointExtension v1 and TrackPointExtension v2 — so heart rate, cadence, temperature, speed and waypoint symbols survive a round trip. Garmin TripExtensions v1 (shaping and via points) is written only when the "writeTrip" preference is enabled; it is off by default.

Specifications and documentation