Map&Guide Tourenplaner (.bcr)

A .bcr file is a stop-off station list from Map&Guide Tourenplaner, the German route-planning software now sold as PTV Map&Guide — coordinates, cities and vehicle/cost data for a multi-stop route.

At a glance

Extension .bcr
Encoding text
By PTV Group

History

Map&Guide is part of PTV Group, founded in 1979 in Karlsruhe, Germany by Dr.-Ing. Hans Hubschneider and Michael Sahling. PTV's Logistics division, which carries Map&Guide today, was spun off as PTV Logistics GmbH in August 2023. Note: 1979 is the parent company's founding year; no publication date is available for the BCR format itself.

Where it is used

BCR files move stop-off lists between Map&Guide Tourenplaner, PTV Navigator and PTV's current commercial truck route-planning software (PTV Map&Guide / PTV xRoute) — logistics and route planning rather than consumer GPS.

Structure

A BCR file is a plain-text, INI-style station list. RouteConverter's two reader/writer classes track two format generations: the 2008/2009 generation adds a structured zip-code/city/street/type description field to each station line that the 2006/2007 generation doesn't have.

How widespread

Still in active commercial use: PTV's current Map&Guide and xRoute logistics software both read and write it.

RouteConverter support

Reads Map&Guide Tourenplaner 2006/2007, Map&Guide Tourenplaner 2008/2009
Writes Map&Guide Tourenplaner 2006/2007, Map&Guide Tourenplaner 2008/2009

RouteConverter reads and writes both station-list generations, Map&Guide Tourenplaner 2006/2007 and 2008/2009.

Specifications and documentation