Bringing Garmin GPS Data

Into ArcView 3.2

with DNRGarmin

John Q. Murray
Murray Information Services, Inc.

April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 1

 Download the software
• Available from http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/
mis/ gis/ tools/ arcview/ extensions/
DNRGarmin/ DNRGarmin.html 
• A copy is also available on
http://www.murrayinfo.com/ gis-course

April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 2

Install the DNRGarmin extension
• Unzip the file DNRGarmin_Setup
• Run the Setup program
• Copy the .exe file to the directory:
esri/av_gis30/arcview/bin32
• Copy the .avx file to the directory:
esri/av_gis30/arcview/ext32

April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 3

 Start ArcView 3.2, and select the
DNRGarmin extension
• Make the
extension
available to your
ArcView project
• A new menu for
DNRGarmin is
created

April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 4

 Set the default projection
• From the “DNR
Garmin” menu,
select the “Set
Projection”
command
• Set the default
projection to
“State Plane 1983”
• Select “Montana”
April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 5
 Open the Garmin GPS
• From the DNR
Garmin menu,
select “Open
Garmin GPS”
• The following
dialog is
displayed:

April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 6

 Connect the GPS unit
Verify the data cable
is connected to the
computer
You may need to
change the settings
at “Assign Port”
Status changes from
“Not connected” to
“Connected”

April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 7

 Download waypoints
From the “Waypoint”
menu, select the
command “Download”
A small dialog displays
when it is complete
Click the “Advanced”
button to see more

April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 8

 You can edit the points
• Delete points
that you do
not want in
your shapefile
• Select the
points, then
click on the X
button
April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 9
 Save the points as a shapefile

• From the File

menu, select
“Save As” and
select “ArcView
Shapefile”
• Specify a file
name

April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 10

 ArcView adds the waypoints
• The shapefile appears in the view’s table of
contents; click to make it visible

April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 11

 The GPS points are projected
• The theme uses the default projection that we set
to Montana State Plane (meters)
• You can also use the Projection Utility if needed

April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 12

 Download the track data
• From the “Track”
menu, click
“Download”
• A message
displays the
number of
records
successfully
transferred from
GPS to PC

April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 13

 Save the track as a “line” theme
• From the File
menu, select
“Save As” and
“ArcView
Shapefile”
• In the Output
Shape dialog,
select “Line”
and click “OK”

April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 14

 Create a new shapefile
• Add the tracks
as a “New
Shapefile”
• Click “OK”

• Specify the
shapefile name
• Click “OK”
April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 15
 Add the shapefile as a new theme
• From the “View” menu, select “Add theme”
• From the “Add Theme” dialog, select the
newly-created file, click “OK” to add the track
theme to the view

April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 16

 The new shapefile is displayed
• (my route this morning along I-90 to the
Sidetrack Café in Alberton for breakfast)

April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 17

 Close the DNRGarmin extension
• All data is
present in
shapefile format
• From the “File”
menu, select
“Exit”

April 17, 2002 johnnyq@murrayinfo.com 18