Skip to content

Marker (MXF) File Import/Export Format

MXF File Format Specification

This document explains the export/import format of Terrain Navigator Pro's Marker files.

If you have coordinate data that you would like to transfer to Terrain Navigator for display as markers, you can create MXF files using Windows Notepad, Wordpad, or a word-processing program.

Terrain Navigator handles internal data conversions in WGS84 datum. When you export data from Terrain Navigator, the coordinate data in the resulting MXF file is given in WGS84 datum.

Therefore, when importing marker data into Terrain Navigator, be sure to use WGS84 datum when creating your MXF text file. Using a datum other than WGS84 will affect the accuracy of the coordinate locations in Terrain Navigator.

Format
In the .MXF mark text file, each mark is described on a separate line. Each line contains several fields of information about that mark. These fields are separated by commas, and presented in the following order:
Latitude, Longitude, Full Name, Short Name, Comments, Color (#), Symbol (#)

Sample
43.7601389, -071.2791299, "Cottonwood", "Cttnwd", "A very large tree", 800080, 137
43.7617236, -071.2917695, "Fencepost", "Fncpst", "", 808080, 14
43.7576237, -071.2888850, "Aspen", "Aspen", "", ffff, 137
43.7562457, -071.2777147, "Cache", "Cache", "", ff, 138
43.7576583, -071.2701399, "Tent site", "Tntst", "", ff, 111

Explanations
This sample file contains data for five markers. The first marker is named "Cottonwood" and is
located at latitude 43.7601389 N, longitude 071.2791299 W. The coordinates are given in decimal degrees. For latitude, North is a positive value and South is a negative; for longitude. East is positive and West is negative.

Important Notes
- Be certain to press Return after the final line of your MXF file.
- You must supply all latitude and longitude data in decimal degrees, and WGS84 datum.
- Remember to save your text file with the file extension .MXF.

You can convert from degrees/minutes/seconds with the following formula:
Degrees + (minutes/60) + (seconds/3600) = decimal degrees
For example, a latitude of 43 degrees 30 minutes 50 seconds would translate to:
43 + (30/60) + (50/3600) = 43.5138888

The next two values in the line are the full name and the short name of this marker. Following is a space for the marker comment, if any (in this case, "A very large tree").
The field after the comment contains a number specifying the color of this marker.
The next number refers to the symbol selected for this waypoint within Terrain Navigator.
The symbols are numbered in the same order they appear in the Symbols drop-down menu from the Define/Edit Markers dialog, starting with 0 for "none," the first option in the list.

The numeric codes for the available colors are listed below:
light green ff00
forest green 808000
yellow ffff
light gray c0c0c0
royal blue ff0000
purple 800080
light purple ff00ff
navy blue 800000
aqua ffff00
light olive 8080
white ffffff
green 8000
dark gray 808080
brown 80
black 0
red ff
orange 80ff

Related Knowledge Base Articles & Downloads
Symbol Key for .MXF/.RXF Files
FormatMXF - a Marker Import Utility
MXF Conversion Tools: ASCII, DAT, POS, ATT, GDB

Feedback and Knowledge Base