Track (TXF) File Import/Export Format
Terrain Navigator allows you to import and export tracks in text file format.
The file extension of these track text files is .TXF.
To import tracks that were previously exported, or track text files that you created by hand, go to the File menu, choose Import, Tracks and the select the file where the tracks are saved. Press "Open." Terrain Navigator imports your tracks, and displays a message telling you how many tracks were imported. The tracks will automatically appear in their proper locations on the map, in their proper color.
If you have coordinate data that you would like to transfer to Terrain Navigator for display as a track, you can create TXF files in Windows Notepad, Wordpad, or a word-processing program.
Terrain Navigator handles internal data conversions in WGS84 datum, and then presents the coordinate information in whatever datum you have selected in the Preferences dialog. When you export track data from Terrain Navigator, the coordinate data in the resulting TXF file is given in WGS84 datum. Therefore, when importing track data into Terrain Navigator, be sure to use WGS84 datum when creating your TXF text file.
Using a datum other than WGS84 will affect the accuracy of the coordinate locations in Terrain Navigator.
The degree to which the coordinates' accuracy is affected will vary, depending on the datum you used when creating your TXF file, and the coordinate system that you have specified in Terrain Navigator's Preferences. If a datum change causes a shift in coordinates' location, the shift will be more pronounced if you are using UTM coordinate system, and less noticeable if you are using latitude/longitude. Nevertheless, please bear in mind that creating a TXF file with any datum other than WGS84 will skew the accuracy of the coordinates as they are displayed in Terrain Navigator.
Below is an example of Terrain Navigator's TXF track file format.
38.2373733, -107.5542683, "My Hike", ff
38.2373388, -107.5542248, "My Hike", ff
38.2373044, -107.5541813, "My Hike", ff
This shows three track points. The first variable is the latitude, then longitude, track name, and color.
The latitude/longitude 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. This knowledge base article illustrates how coordinates may be converted into various formats.
The next item, in double quotes, is the name of the track. This is the same for each line (each point in the track).
The final field refers to the color used for the track's display in Terrain Navigator.
Here are the color codes:
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
Several customers have told us that they plan to use Microsoft Excel to manipulate their exported data. For your convenience, we include the following step-by-step procedure for opening mark text files in Excel. (These instructions were written for Excel97; they may need to be modified for use with other Excel versions.)
- From Excel’s File menu, choose “Open.”
- Browse to the location of your TXF file. (To bring the file into view, you may need to specify “All” or “Text Files” under “Files of Type” at the bottom of Excel’s Open window.)
- The next window that appears will offer you two choices. Choose “Delimited,” and press Next.
- Under “Delimiters,” check “Commas.” Press Next.
- In the final window, you may leave the Column Data Format settings as they are (unless you have a preference here), and press Finish.
Notes:
- Be certain to press Return after the final line of your TXF file.
- To import your track data, choose "Import" from the Tracks menu, select the TXF file, and your track(s) will appear on the map.
- Beginning in version 7.5 of Terrain Navigator Pro, three additional fields were added to the TXF format. Time (unix time), Leg Distance (in miles), and Leg Time (in seconds.) These fields are generated only when the track is created by a supported GPS (not when hand drawn). While distance and leg time are ignored upon input to Terrain Navigator Pro, these fields are provided for use with other track processing applications.