GPS Exchange Format

<h2 id="data-types">Data types</h2>

<p>A GPX file's main components are <a href="/facts/Waypoint/JAytkj9C">waypoints</a>, <a href="/facts/GPS_route/JAytkj9C">routes</a>, and <a href="/facts/Ground_track/HDgwB9RP">tracks</a>:
</p>
<ul><li>A waypoint (wpt) contains the <a href="/facts/World_Geodetic_System/V9wSJnjX">World Geodetic System#WGS 84</a> (GPS) coordinates of a point and optionally other descriptive information.</li>
<li>A route (rte) is an ordered list of waypoints (rtept) representing a series of significant turn points leading to a destination.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> In general, a route is used to describe directions for a journey which someone wants to take at some point in the future.</li>
<li>A track (trk) consists of possibly multiple segments (trkseg), which in turn each contain a series of waypoints (trkpt). It is typically used to represent journeys which somebody has already completed or recorded.</li></ul>
<p>Note that the XML tags enclosing each waypoint of a route or track segment are called rtept and trkpt, respectively, while the tag for the basic waypoint element is wpt. Despite this difference in name, they all hold the same data type called wptType.
</p><p>In addition to the above, GPX files can also contain additional data. The minimum properties for a GPX file are latitude and longitude for every single point. Some vendors, such as Humminbird and <a href="/facts/Garmin/ogjlaRwp">Garmin</a>, use extensions to the GPX format for recording street address, phone number, business category, air temperature, depth of water, and other parameters.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="units">Units</h2>
<p><a href="/facts/Geographic_coordinate_system/RkjfcY6k"> Latitude and longitude</a> are expressed in <a href="/facts/Decimal_degrees/kNoEsSDG">decimal degrees</a>, and elevation in meters, both using the <a href="/facts/World_Geodetic_System/V9wSJnjX">WGS 84 datum</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> Dates and times are expressed in <a href="/facts/Coordinated_Universal_Time/2EnjfSyu">Coordinated Universal Time</a> (UTC) using <a href="/facts/ISO_8601/4N8kykG9">ISO 8601</a> format.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="sample-gpx-document">Sample GPX document</h2>
<p>The document below is a sample GPX file which contains three waypoints which correspond to the locations of the German, Swiss, and Austrian parliaments.
</p>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no" ?>
<gpx xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1" version="1.1" creator="Wikipedia"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1 http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1/gpx.xsd">
 
 <metadata>
  <name>Data name</name>
  <desc>Valid GPX example without special characters</desc>
  <author>
   <name>Author name</name>
  </author>
 </metadata>
 <wpt lat="52.518611" lon="13.376111">
  <ele>35.0</ele>
  <time>2011-12-31T23:59:59Z</time>
  <name>Reichstag (Berlin)</name>
  <sym>City</sym>
 </wpt>
 <wpt lat="48.208031" lon="16.358128">
  <ele>179</ele>
  <time>2011-12-31T23:59:59Z</time>
  <name>Parlament (Wien)</name>
  <sym>City</sym>
 </wpt>
 <wpt lat="46.9466" lon="7.44412">
  <time>2011-12-31T23:59:59Z</time>
  <name>Bundeshaus (Bern)</name>
  <sym>City</sym>
 </wpt>
</gpx>

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
Concepts
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Point_of_interest/vblaV6XM">Point of interest</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/OpenStreetMap/Hd3yejum">OpenStreetMap</a>, a collaborative project to create free editable maps using, among others, GPX traces</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Waypoint/JAytkj9C">Waypoint</a></li></ul>
File formats
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Exchangeable_image_file_format/KHFgGnk6">Exchangeable image file format</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Geography_Markup_Language/IEMlqp0s">Geography Markup Language</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Keyhole_Markup_Language/6L7da3xC">KML</a> format, compatible with <a href="/facts/Google_Earth/jjJmIjmb">Google Earth</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Shapefile/mbCAeoFp">Shapefile</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Training_Center_XML_(TCX)/kgWzlg04">TCX</a>, Garmin Training Center XML</li></ul>
Standards
<ul><li><a href="/facts/NMEA_0183/LXbdy2qW">NMEA 0183</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/NMEA_2000/rYP6berF">NMEA 2000</a></li></ul>
Software
<ul><li><a href="/facts/GPSBabel/se2jh5kB">GPSBabel</a>, used to upload/download/convert GPX files</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"wptType". GPX 1.1 Schema Documentation – topografix.com. <a href="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1/#type_wptType" target="_blank">http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1/#type_wptType</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"rteType". GPX 1.1 Schema Documentation – topografix.com. <a href="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1/#type_rteType" target="_blank">http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1/#type_rteType</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"Garmin Mass Storage Mode Devices - Garmin Developer". Garmin. Archived from the original on 2014-08-20. Retrieved 2013-03-26. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140820153733/http://developer.garmin.com/web-device/garmin-mass-storage-mode-devices/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20140820153733/http://developer.garmin.com/web-device/garmin-mass-storage-mode-devices/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>"Garmin Gpx Extensions Schema" (xsd (XML schema)). Garmin. Retrieved 2013-03-26. <a href="http://www8.garmin.com/xmlschemas/GpxExtensions/v3/GpxExtensionsv3.xsd" target="_blank">http://www8.garmin.com/xmlschemas/GpxExtensions/v3/GpxExtensionsv3.xsd</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>"GPS eXchange Format (GPX) Reader/Writer". docs.safe.com. Retrieved 2024-02-04. <a href="https://docs.safe.com/fme/html/FME-Form-Documentation/FME-ReadersWriters/gpxx/gpxx.htm" target="_blank">https://docs.safe.com/fme/html/FME-Form-Documentation/FME-ReadersWriters/gpxx/gpxx.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>"GPX: the GPS Exchange Format". topografix.com. <a href="http://www.topografix.com/gpx.asp" target="_blank">http://www.topografix.com/gpx.asp</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

GPS Exchange Format open-in-new

GPS Exchange Format