Odd MRA treatment of last shaping point

[tombarrington]

I am a dedicated BaseCamp user but just started with MRA as a way to generate routes using my iPad while on a trip. I could have used it last fall when our route took us into areas with heavy forest fire smoke. We canceled our original trip plans and headed the other direction. I created new routes directly on the Zumo which was cumbersome to say the least.

For practice I created a local route on MRA using only shaping points and sent it to the Zumo via the Drive app. Oddly, the Zumo preview showed the last shaping point as a flag as though it was a via point. As a check I saved the route as .gpx 1.1 in MRA, imported it into BaseCamp, and sent it to the Zumo via USB. Once imported by the Zumo, that same shaping point showed properly. Any thoughts as to what's different about MRA? See the screen captures below.

Route in MRA (point 35 is the one in question):


MRA to Zumo, point 35 showing as via/flag:


Route in BaseCamp:


MRA to BaseCamp to Zumo, same point showing as expected shaping point:

[FrankB]

HI Tom,

I just opened one of the few MRA routes I have, exported to GPX, and that looks fine. I could have a look at your GPX file, but will probably only confirm your findings. I think your best bet is to contact MyRoute App helpdesk. (You may need a subscription for them to accept a ticket)

[tombarrington]

Thanks @FrankB. I'm running the Basic subscription of MRA so I probably won't be given the helpdesk option. There are some Zumo XT users there and I'll try posting this in the MRA forum.

Tom

[Mzokk]

I'm a gold MRA member. MRA routes always treat the first and last points in a route as Via points. I too use basecamp but having an online version of your routes and being able to change routes or create new ones on tour on a phone or Ipad is a game changer compared to carrying a Windows device. It's what Garmin Explore should have been. I was in the Scottish borders in October and completely rejigged a route on my phone while having a coffee when the weather turned nasty. Good product.

[tombarrington]

MRA routes always treat the first and last points in a route as Via points.

This was my expectation, too, and it actually did that both in MRA (point 36, the hand) and in BaseCamp (the checkered flag). It's the previous point, the orange flag, that stumps me.

I agree, this is a good program, maybe good enough to spring for the Gold subscription. It's so convenient having access to routes and routing tools on many devices wherever I am. As I understand, it would also get me the same map used by the Garmin.

[Mzokk]

Yes gold membership gets planning on Here maps as used by Garmin. I have an Africa Twin Adventure Sports and I'm increasingly using the navigation app in Android Auto mode instead of my Garmin XT.

[jfheath]

Just snippets of info. Something may hit the spot.

1. MRA GPX v1.2 Exports only via points. Shaping points are left out. But it does export hundreds of invisible route points which make the receiving software plot the planned route exactly. Ghost Points.
2. GPX V1.1 Exports all of the route points and identifies them as either Via or Shaping points. Always correctly in my experience. No ghost points to plot the original route.
3. GPX V1.0 Exports all of the route points, no ghost points. It does not identify any points as either via or shaping. It leaves the receiving software to treat them as it wishes.

The XT messes with the route points that it receives, seemingly adjusting them to ensure they are plotted on roads. Nothing drastic like the XT2 though. I have never seen it change a shaping to a via though.

The Tread App and XT2 make significant changes to route points when gpx files are sent to the XT2 via the Tread app.
That is irrelevant, but I wonder if the Explore app does something similar when a gpx file is sent to the XT1 via the Drive app.

You could save the route as a gpx file v 1.1 in MRA and inspect it in a text editor. Ignore all of the track commands, just look at the rtept commands nearer the top and see which are set as via and which are set as shaping. Then send that to drive and see what happens.

I wonder if it being the next to the last point is significant ? The first and last point have to be vias. A route with 36 segments has to have 37 route points. I wonder if a programmer has been tripped up and set point 36 to a via instead of the last one which is point 37.

Is that point at a known location ?

Sorry just hurling silly ideas. I can't check anything out at present. I'm not at home and have only an ipad. But I know I haven't seen this before.

[tombarrington]

I wonder if a programmer has been tripped up and set point 36 to a via instead of the last one which is point 37.

Thanks @jfheath. My eyes are watering from looking through the gpx 1.1 file but I confirmed point 36 designated as shaping.

It could be fatigue but I found something on the Zumo that confounds me. When I look at the route preview map I can see point 36 (4306 Old Auburn Rd.) as an orange flag and the destination (Old Auburn Rd.) as a checkered flag. This is the reason for my post and can can be seen in the second image. However, when I then look at the shaping points in the route preview I see that the original destination is gone, and point 36 (4306 Old Auburn Rd.) has become the new destination (see image below).



In contradiction, the turn-by-turn preview shows a break in the route which is normal when a via point is thrown in (4306 Old Auburn Rd., the shaping point in the gpx file) and the original destination has returned (see image below). I don't know if the problem lies here or I'm just misunderstanding what I see.

[jfheath]

Can you share the MRA route - I have MRA, I can take a look. If not can you pm me the gpx file. Im curious.

One thought - does the offending point appear in your "Favourites" or "Saved" on the XT. ? I'll explain later.

[Mzokk]

Also just wondering, the route was plotted using Open Street Mapping and the device uses Here mapping. Gold members can use Here mapping for route construction. I wonder does that have an effect as both mapsets will be slightly different??