GPX Versions 1.1 vs 1.2 for Garmin Visually Explained

[Steve Jarrell]

I haven't found any clear explanation that made sense to me regarding the differences and pros and cons of the gpx 1.1 and 1.2 export formats. I'll outline what I have found after hours of testing and hopefully it will be of some help.

I'll start off with the basics for anyone that's totally new to .gpx files to lay the groundwork, then I'll include screenshot examples that clearly show the differences. I know the first part of this will be unnecessary for most of you, but for any new users I think it will be helpful.

THE BASICS

Bear in mind these examples are for the Garmin XT series of GPS devices. 1.2 may or may not work the same on other gps units (it probably doesn't) but even so the limitations of the 1.1 format will be the same regardless of what type of unit that you may have and it's important know how to work around them.

A .gpx file is a simple text file. You can open it with any text editor and inspect it. The file basically has three sections... 1) the header, 2) the route information, and 3) the track information.

The header section tells the GPS the general information about the file, the route section gives the GPS the information that it needs to create the turn-by-turn route when it imports the .gpx file, and the track is simple gps latitude and longitude coordinates (breadcrumbs) that form a simple path. A track doesn't know if it's on-road or off-road, or in the middle of a lake or the ocean. It's simply a series of coordinates (many times thousands of them in a file).

In MRA, or pretty much any route creation program, you create two basic elements that will form the route and track. You have waypoint (aka via points, but we'll just ) and shaping points. Waypoint you must go to (either a stop or pass through it) unless you purposely choose to skip it, and shaping points are just that, their purpose is to solely shape the route. Here's an example of a simple route in MRA showing 3 waypoints (Start, Finish and a gas stop) and 17 shaping points that (try to) force the route to go where I wanted it to.

When you export the route (save as and upload) to your GPS, whether it's in 1.1 or 1.2 format, the GPS takes the .gpx file, reads it and creates a route based on the information in the route section apply its own logic (shortest route, fastest route, etc) and that's the route that you see on your GPS. The track is also imported from the .gpx file, and it should always look exactly the same on your GPS as the route looked in MRA.

SO, ENOUGH OF THE BASICS... WHAT'S THE PRACTICAL DIFFERENCE IN THE GPX 1.1 AND 1.2 FORMATS???

The primary difference between the two formats is quite simple, but the difference in now they create a route is significant! Both formats are basically the same except for what's in the Routes section, but this is a BIG difference.

1.1 Route
In our example MRA screenshot above, when the route is exported in (saved as) gpx 1.1 format it contains the 3 waypoints and the 17 shaping points. When the 1.1 file is imported into the Garmin XT GPS, the GPS begins at the first waypoint, then finds the shortest or fastest route (depending on your navigation settings) to shaping point #1, then to shaping point #2 until it gets to the gas stop waypoint (#10), then it continues by finding the shortest or fastest route to the next shaping point (#11 in our example) and so on until it reaches the next waypoint (which, in our case is the end of the route.

1.2 Route
When the MRA route is exported in (saved as) .gpx 1.2 format the route section DOES NOT include any shaping points! Instead, it includes gps latitude and longitude coordinates in its route section just like those that are included in its track section. When the gpx 1.2 file is imported into the Garmin XT GPS, it starts at the beginning waypoint, then follows the GPS latitude and longitude coordinates to the gas stop waypoint (#10) then it continues following the GPS coordinates to the next waypoint (the end of the route in our simple example).

Summary
Finally! The 1.1 format contains route shaping points that the Garmin XT GPS uses when it creates its route based on the criteria in its navigation settings, and the 1.2 format uses route gps coordinates (just like a track) that isn't affected by the Garmin's route creation logic when the route is created.

So, What Does This Look Like VISUALLY?
Ok, here's a section of the route above shown in a screenshot from MRA. As you can see the route I planned goes down Evans Road until it meets Crab Creek Road.

So I exported this route in 1.1 format and imported into my Garmin XT3 and my navigation setting was set to "Fastest". The XT decided that "Fastest" (and it did the same when I set it to "Shortest") way between to take Hidden Lake Road instead (purple line) even though the track clearly showed that I intended to go down Evans Road (you can show the track and route simultaneously with the XT3 which I did here for clarity).

Next, I exported this EXACT same route from MRA in gpx 1.2 format and imported it into my Garmin XT3. Notice two important things - the route followed what I was seeing in MRA, and there are NO shaping points.

While this is a very small example of what happens during the Garmin's route creation with a gpx 1.1 file, on a large, complex route the Garmin can make a LOT of unintended changes. I have wound up on nasty gravel roads on a Goldwing, down back alleys, missed curvy sections that I wanted to ride, etc. etc. because of this issue.

I'm exclusively using the gpx 1.2 format using the "Save As" feature and uploading the file manually to my XT3 using a USB cable as I described in detail earlier today in this post.

So What if My GPS Doesn't Support the 1.2 Format?

Use a LOT of shaping points to force the GPS not to "cut corners". Then export it (or "save as") in the 1.1 format and import it into your GPS. Show the route and the track simultaneously (you'll have to figure out how do this on your own.... your owner's manual is a good place to start).

You can normally spot the differences in the route and track (which was your intended route) fairly easily by looking for where their paths diverge. This is much easier if you can set your track to a color that's completely different from your route color.

You can also compare the mileage shown for the route in your GPS and MRA and they should be very close.

If you see any issues, go back into MRA and add shaping points to fix the problem(s). Delete the route and track from your GPS, export it again from MRA then import it into your GPS and check it again. It may take several tries if you want your GPS route and the route that you see in MRA to match exactly.

Steve

p.s. Here's a link to the example MRA route that I used above. Ignore the 1.1 in the filename as I had 2 identical MRA routes, on with a 1 in the filename and 1 with a 2 just so that I could test quickly and tell them apart. This file can be exported as gpx 1.1 or 1.2 to achieve the same results as I did above.

[Marinus van Deudekom]

Thankx @steve-jarrell fir making this perfectly clear. That’s why we advise thé usées to use the 1.2 format to export there besutifull MRA routes to Garmin devices and keep them as they intended. No Garmin recalculating bulls…

[Con Hennekens]

I think this was known by many already. GPX 1.2 is basically a track with VIA points present as POI. Besides that, if you save a GPX 1.1 there is also a track included as well as a route.

[nomko]

Just to be clear as well, gpx format 1.2 is not an official format!
See: https://www.topografix.com/gpx.asp

1.1 is still the official format.
1.2 format is intended for Garmin usage.
1.2 format is introduced by MyRouteApp just to avoid some shortcomings in the 1.1 format.

[Marinus van Deudekom]

@nomko Yes you are wright but its the only format that keeps Garmin from doing its own gecalculating trick witch messes up your route

[Lenny O]

Very good read! Thank you all!
I would like to bring another twist into this
It has to do with the Avoidances set in your Garmin.
Let's say your MRA planned route has some Highways you plan to ride, but your Garmin is set to avoid Highways.
If format 1.1 is used to transfer your route from MRA to the Garmin, when you select the route for navigation on the Garmin, it will calculate the route and change it to avoid the Highways.
But when format 1.2 is used, then Garmin will ignore your Highway avoidance preference and will go on the intended Highways just like you planned it.
So, 1.2 format is eliminating another potential discrepancy between MRA planned route and Garmin's calculation.
Please, correct me if I am wrong!

[Marinus van Deudekom]

When using a Garmin don’t set any avoidance items. It will mess up your route. For Pete’s sake deactivate recalculating

[Mzokk]

As stated. If you use 1.2 you can't use recalculation. The reason why I used 1.1 with my XT and pinned the route with lots of shaping points. Better still I now use MyRoute app for navigation and the XT for proximity alerted POI's and tracks.

[Steve Jarrell]

@Marinus-van-Deudekom I completely agree that Garmin's avoidances certainly mess up a gpx 1.1 route in sometimes VERY unpredictable ways.

However, Garmin's avoidance settings do not in any way alter a gpx 1.2 route as the Garmin is forced to follow the gps coordinates in the route section of the file and not the shaping points or, in the case of this example, just the beginning and ending waypoints. That is the BIG difference between the gpx 1.1 and 1.2 formats.

The following example route and screenshots show this clearly. Here's a very simple 2 waypoint (Start and Finish) route in MRA that I created this morning to show this visually. In this example route my MRA's Route Optimisation is set to "Fastest" and my Garmin's is set to "Fastest" and its Avoids are set to "Freeways" and "Toll Roads".

The EXACT same route was saved as gpx 1.1 and then 1.2 formats and then both formats were imported into my Garmin XT3. You can see that the Garmin totally ignored the planned route when importing using the gpx 1.1 format file and followed its Avoid settings, however it followed the planned route exactly when importing the route using gpx 1.2 format file and totally ignored its Avoid settings.