Changing typ File in a Topo Map

[LostAgain]

I recently purchased from Garmin the Topo Australia & New Zealand V6 map on SD card.
Is it possible to change the .typ file in this map without rendering it unusable?

Thanks

[GPSrChive]

If you want to apply an existing TYP file to your map, JaVaWa TYPchanger is a good option (Make sure you backup the original TYP files first!).

Or are you wanting to create a new TYP from scratch? Or edit an existing TYP file? This is far more involved...

See GPSrChive > How To... > Software for additional software options.

[LostAgain]

Hmmm...I'm sure your reply was different when I quickly glanced at it yesterday

I've pretty much only used Linux systems for the last 15 or so years, but do have Windows 7 I run in a QEMU Virtual Machine that I use for updating my Garmin devices when required.
JaVaWa TYPchanger did the job nicely using that.
I removed the MicroSD from the 700, put it in a reader ensuring it was accessible in the VM, then drag/dropped the map and typ file into TYPchanger, within about 10 seconds it was successfully finished.

As for editing the typ file that came with the topo map, that's a whole other story...

Experimented with a typ file I had here and found it wasn't to my liking in the topo map, so thought while I was using Win7 in a VM I might as well use TYPviewer to make some changes to the original that came with the map.
Turned out TYPviewer wouldn't even open it in the Win7 VM, it kept crashing out with an error about something or other.
So I downloaded Typwiz7 and it seemed to open it ok, made a few changes then discovered a license was needed for it to save the full typ file correctly.
Decided to use it and TYPviewer side by side, going through everything in Typwiz7 and creating a new typ file in TYPviewer creating the same display elements one at a time from scratch.
That sort of worked but I hit a snag after a while when I discovered a lot of the polythings shown from the original typ in Typwiz7 were "Customizable_Line_9" etc. and it was practically impossible to figure out what the hell Garmin had used each of them for, and there's only 1024 of those to choose from for each newly created one

So I've now spent most of last night and today creating and testing a typ from scratch again in TYPviewer and just included everything I reckon it would need to display all the map elements correctly, which it does except for one thing, fences, it shows the labels ok but the fences themselves aren't visible as they're the same colour as the land area, white during the day and black at night.
I cannot figure out what polylines are used for them and everything I change to try and get them to display correctly on the map so far hasn't worked, they remain invisible except for their labels.

Seems I just stumbled across something that might help me sort it out, I just loaded the original typ file from the map into TYPviewer on my Linux system (runs under WINE as a lot of Windows software does) and it didn't crash like it did on Windows 7 and loaded the typ properly, wish I'd thought of trying that last night...

[GPSrChive]

Can you share your TYP file with the fence issue?

[LostAgain]

I can

Spoiler

toppo.zip

EDIT: made no difference going through everything with TYPviewer, still the same results.
I'm starting to think that for some reason it's displaying the colours back to front on whatever polyline it's using for the fences, white for day and black for night instead of the other way around, though the labels are correct, white for night and black for day.
I believe that some Garmin devices have like a 'default' typ included that's not user editable for maps that don't have or have wrongly formatted .typ files, perhaps it's using that for that particular feature, it may not even be in the .typ as there's no option to add one for fences that I can find.
A while ago when I was trying to get 2 maps the same but with different .typ files working, the only time I did manage to get it working both maps used a .typ display that wasn't in either map, it had to be hard coded to the device.

[LostAgain]

Couple of screencaps that might help explain what I'm seeing...

The top photo is the Garmin topo map with my modified typ file.
As well as the fences not showing I see it appears I missed one of the road types when recreating the typ as it's not showing where the 'track' label is.

2nd one is the Garmin topo map with it's original typ file, the fences do show, but they're not showing the labels and I'd prefer to have their colour different from any track or road types, like in pic 3, which is the free Australian topo maps called ShonkyMaps, with my own custom typ file were all is well.

Spoiler

001-topo-nofence.jpg

002-original-typ-night.jpg

003-shonkymaps.jpg

[Przekątny]

I believe that some Garmin devices have like a 'default' typ included that's not user editable for maps that don't have or have wrongly formatted .typ files, perhaps it's using that for that particular feature, it may not even be in the .typ as there's no option to add one for fences that I can find.

Each Garmim device has a standard Type set. An object not defined in the .Type file uses the definition contained in the device software. In the .Typ file editing software, you can turn on or off the display of labels and the graphical representation of objects.
You should determine which type is responsible for displaying fences, in the case of non-NT maps you can load the .img file into mapping software, point to the object and read the type name. In the case of NT maps, you can determine which type is responsible for displaying the object, "by trial and error", or approach it systematically. When working on a copy of the original file, you can delete individual entries one by one and check the effect on the device each time, the second method - you can label subsequent elements 1,2,3....., turn on Extendet labels, search for the fence object in the device and read the label.

In the new, unedited copy of the file, find the name of the Type and edit the display method on the device, during editing, you can enable the display of labels and change the graphical presentation.

[GPSrChive]

Based on your description, it sounds like maybe the day and night colors for the fence element are somehow switched. In going to have a look at the typ file this weekend.

[LostAgain]

Yes I'm thinking the colours may be switched too, I'm busy myself now until next week sometime, will play around with it then perhaps.
With the Garmin topo's original typ file perhaps it's only the labelling that's set at the wrong colour as with it I can see the fences but no labels, with my typ I can see the labels but no fences.
I was thinking of trying reversing the colours in my typ for the ones that are black for night and white for day to see what happens, I know there's a few different things I've set that way, though I did think they were only polygons, not polylines.

Przekątny,
Thanks for confirming what I suspected with regards to hard coded type sets.
I have no troubles with typ files and non NT maps, and this recent purchase from Garmin of the Australian topo maps I believe is my first experience trying to edit anything NT.
I think it'll be a simple fix, the hard part, well not so much hard but time consuming, is finding what to fix.

Yes I discovered the extended labels settings during these experiments using TYPViewer.
My Montana 610 and 700 both display some labels very small when using the free ShonkyMaps, even though they're both set to display all labels largest size for everything.
However, my 276CX displays the same labels all as expected, large.
Now the labels I previously needed a microscope to see are also displayed large as they can be on the Montanas thanks to the extended labels settings.

With regards to that the only thing left to do is maybe try to help Garmin understand that when you nearly double the number of pixels on a screen going from 480x272 to 800x480, but only add about an inch in actual total size increase, large text will not appear as large as it did on the smaller resolution screen.
Not everyone uses these devices in ideal conditions with them sitting on a desk with no movement and good glasses on.
I find the largest sized text on the 610 much easier to see when using on motorbikes or in cars than the largest sized text on the 700 or 276CX.
An 'extra large' choice would suffice I believe, though I will probably not be holding my breath waiting for that to happen

[GPSrChive]

A Garmin type code for 'Fence' (found in active routing maps) is '0x10F03', which does not exist in your TYP file.

Try adding a polyline using type '10F03' to your TYP file and see what happens...

toppo2.typ

toppo2.zip