Zumo User Forums

Hi
Iv'e been trying to teach myself how to modify an already planned route on the XT2. I've have been using the instruction provided by Garmin it's self on the following Website.

How to Manually Shape a Route on a zūmo® XT2

https://support.garmin.com/en-AU/?faq=I ... tab=topics

Garmin instructions are not very clear, and I left this a feedback on their help page .... "On a Zumo XT2 the Route needs to be running first in order for the Shape Route function to be available once a location has been touched on the screen. This is not mentioned on this page's instructions.

Also under the "These Changes can be Saved to Your Route for Future Use by Going Into Route Planner" at step 5 where it says Type the desired name for the route, then touch Done" The virtual keyboard never shows after touching the save icon. Only a list of previously saved routes appear and there is no option to save the newly Shaped Route"

Has anyone else been able to save a modified route, as a new route, using the Garmin help page instructions?
Thanks.

Hi Sean OZ,
I haven't seen the list you mentioned before.

and I “only” have seen the virtual keyboard when I create a completely new route and then want to save it.

Now to your problem, may helps a workaround.
First create a copy of your original route.
To do this, when the route is selected and open, use the wrench symbol and select the Save copy option. then the virtual keyboard appears and you can enter a name. Then edit this copy.

I hope this helps.

PS
Of course it does not help with the otherwise inadequate Garmin documentation

PPS
I did not know the way as described by you https://support.garmin.com/en-AU/?faq=I ... tab=topics
but I just tried it as described in the documentation, and I got some times the virtual keyboard as in the documentation and some time a list.
But in this moment i have no time to look deeper which reasen has which rule.

The route does not need to be running. You load it in trip planner.

To edit the route you have to select a segment. That is a stretch of magenta line bounded by a via point at each end.
You can then select the Via Point / Shaping point button to choose what type of point you want to place.

Then zoom in and select where to place the point. If you miss, then use the undo button.

Note that it is easy to add a via point between two others. Shaping points are more problematic.

If the segment already contains a shaping point, then no matter where you place the point on the map, it is always added to the route list AFTER the existing shaping point. This means that if you want to add a shaping point between the start of the highlighted segment and an existing shaping point - you cannot do it.

The map will look as though you have succede but the route will be plotted via point, original shaping point, new shaping point.


Using the Copy route feature is also a good idea if the route has come from a gpx file. It stops the route from displaying RUT behaviour.

Thanks once again jfheath for your in depth understanding of the Zumo XT2.
Your input always appreciated mate.

proofresistant wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2025 9:12 pm Hi Sean OZ,
I haven't seen the list you mentioned before.

and I “only” have seen the virtual keyboard when I create a completely new route and then want to save it.

Now to your problem, may helps a workaround.
First create a copy of your original route.
To do this, when the route is selected and open, use the wrench symbol and select the Save copy option. then the virtual keyboard appears and you can enter a name. Then edit this copy.

I hope this helps.

PS
Of course it does not help with the otherwise inadequate Garmin documentation

PPS
I did not know the way as described by you https://support.garmin.com/en-AU/?faq=I ... tab=topics
but I just tried it as described in the documentation, and I got some times the virtual keyboard as in the documentation and some time a list.
But in this moment i have no time to look deeper which reasen has which rule.

Thanks proofresistant for the info!

With the 595 and the XT I have never once used the Shaping tool. It never seemed to work "right" for me. I'll tell you how I modify my route if you want to hear it but I have no idea if the process works for the XT2.

rbentnail wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2025 12:13 pm I have never once used the Shaping tool. It never seemed to work "right" for me.

I just recently tried it on my XT as a way to correct a route that did not calculate to match its track. I really like it under certain conditions. At first I wasn't keen that it placed the shaping point at the nearest intersection, and that you can't zoom close enough for precise placement, but I'm OK with both of these concerns now. The number of forum members who intentionally place route points at intersections makes me think that my concern may be misguided, reaffirmed by the fact that I have since ridden one of these routes without issue. Also, when fat fingers result in the shaping point being misplaced, it is very easy to delete it and try again. That said, it is very obvious that the XT is placing the shaping point on the nearest road that it thinks it should be on. I would not be surprised if it would not work to place a shaping point on a secondary road that closely parallels a primary road, assuming "Faster" is set. So, I would not use it in that situation or to try to shape a route on specific roads through a very urban area. It just doesn't seem like you could select a point on 1st Street North when North Main Street is a larger parallel road. This is just conjecture based on how it appears to work. Now, if riding in a rural area and the calculated route is not on the road that runs parallel to the river, using the Shaping tool to change it should work fine.

Via Points are much easier to work with than Shaping points on the XT2. It is much easier to use the Trip Planner on the XT2 itself to edit in additional Via Points. Shapingpoints are a pain to edit in or change on any of the apps. Not least becasue it gives all of them the same name - Shaping Point.

The XT2 seems to calculate its route between via points - and shifts the shaping points onto the route that it has chosen.
It moves the Via Points a little bit too - but that has been going on since the 595 - but nothing affects the route too much.

The XT had limits on the number of Via Points that you could have in one route. The limit for the XT2 is so big that it doesn't really matter.

So having a route with all Via Points on the XT2 is a pretty good way of dealing with the XT2 problem. They are much easier to edit on the Trip Planner on the XT2 screen as well.

The only problem that I have is probably personal. I like the fact that shaping points on Zumos since the 595 are optional to visit. If you rejoin the magenta line the satnav carries on navigating ahead - and doesn't try to get you to go back to them. Not so Vias on the XT1. Not unless you skip a route point at some time - and then the XT1 will ignore anything that you fail to visit en route.

But also touring with my partner, she likes to know how far and how long to the next stop. If I make only the stopping places Vias and all of the rest shaping, then the Trip data at the side of the screen shows us Miles to the end of the ride and miles/time to the next stop. For us that is one of the most useful features when touring around.

But yes, Russ - your method of using Via Points and only Via points will give you pretty foolproof routes on the XT2. And since it calcualtes its fastest route between Via Points - it is more likely to give you the route that you want.

I never have asked the XT2 to skip a via / way point. I always open up the route and select the next via / way point that I want the XT2 to visit, which might mean skipping effectively 1, 2 or 3 via / way points.

I now have the method of only using via / way points to stop Tread and / or the XT2 causing mayhem, which when out and about was almost how I used the plan routes on the 590 as they were points I wanted to visit, eg a cafe / fuel / view point. Now fake via points have the designation SP in front of them so I know that on a 590 they would have only been a shaping point.

Works for me, YMMV.

Thanks @Oop North John

Query / Point of Information about Via / Waypoints

Alert - To MyRouteApp users, this will make little sense. MyRouteApp defines a waypoint as any point on a route - which is different.

With the Zumos and Basecamp - Waypoint has never meant the same thing as Via Point

Previously - before XT2 - a Waypoint could be created in Basecamp or on the Zumo itself, and it would be saved in 'Favourites' (UK) or 'Saved' (USA).
In the XT2 they have at last started calling them 'Waypoints' - which is the GPX standard for such a saved location (defined as <wpt> in the gpx file).
Such waypoints are saved with additional information - such as an address, phone number, symbol etc.

They can be used as part of a route if required. On the Zumos they then become either Via Points or Shaping points - but they retain their additional Waypoint Information.

I noted that with the XT1 and the 595, that 'normal' route points - although they could be given a name, the Zumo did not always keep that name. Points would be moved slightly - presumably some sort of check to make sure that they were actually on a road - or if their was a known location very close by, they would assume that the point was supposed to be placed on that location. They would move the point and rename it.

That was a bit of a pain - having a route point with a name that I do not recognise. But I discovered that if the point was first created as a Waypoint, used in a route as either a Via or a Shaping Point - then the Zumo would not move or rename the point.

What actually happened in the GPX file is that Waypoints are all declared at the top of the file, before the route is declared. When the waypoint is listed in the route section, the same point is declared, same name, same cooridnates. But it looks like any other route point. So before XT2 it seems that the Zumo would spot (by name and coordinates) a point that had been declared as a Waypoint and not alter the name or position.

As an anecdote, jfheath wrote:So because the XT1 and 595 messed around with route point names, I develeoped a work around for important long tours in unknown locations:

• I would have create a route with ad hoc points and when happy with it, create Waypoints adjacent to each of the route points that I had plotted previously.
• I'd name each point with with a 2 digit sequence number - which made it easy to select all the waypoints and rebuild the route from the Waypoints.
• I'd then set most of them to shaping points and the remaining locations (usually coffee stops) to Via Points.
• I'd rename the waypoints to indicate the mileage from the start - instead of the sequence. The Zumo kept the name and position.

It is tedious, I know - but for long trip of the year tours on the continent where the placenames mean nothing to me, it is worth it - as it provides a number of safeguards and get out of trouble options.

-----

With the XT2 - the behaviour of Genuine saved Waypoint is different. Use a Saved Waypoint in a route as a Via Point or Shaping Point and it seems that the software does not recognise the route point as matching one of the saved Waypoints. It relocates the via or shaping point, renames it and leaves the original waypoint as a standalone flag that is not part of the route.

This means that according to my observation if you have place a Waypoint so that it (say) navigates you to a car park at the back of a hotel, then it is possible that the Via Point will be shifted to the front of the hotel. The Waypoint symbol will still be shown on the map, but it isn't going to take you to it.

Although I have observed this behaviour a couple of times, I have not really tested it.

So the question is in three parts

1. Have you used Genuine Saved Waypoints as part of a route?
2. If yes, have you noted anything that is different from the above behaviour (Via point and Waypoint being separated from each other).
3. In which case, is the difference in postion significant ?

This post is still relevant to the original query - My first observation of this was when using Waypoints already stored in the XT2 to create a route using the XT2's Route Planner App.