batch KML file downloads from GE?

[dweeb4]

Is there a way to download a batch of KML files from GE (to put on my GPS for a visit to a city)?

I'm sure others have done this before a trip to a city - gather a tourist guide to load into their GPS, but I can't locate anything using search

I want all the restaurants in Florence, for instance - so I do a search for "Florence restaurants" and I get over 60 KML files listed with 10 entries in each file. I have to save each file as a KML file and go to the next 10, etc. (This takes a long while, is boring & life is too short for mindless activities like this.)

I then merge all these files (maybe 60 - takes a long time) into one KML file using GPS Converter and bring this new KML file accross to my Navman S30.

Is there a search facility like this i.e. that allows you to gather all entries for one or multiple layers within a square bounded by latitude:longtiude into one KML file?

Like I'm trying to do for my travel guide to Venice, Florence & Rimini.

[Forkboy2]

Try this.

1) Open each individual KML file into Google Earth.
2) Create a folder in Google Earth called "Florence Restaurants"
3) Drag each of the KML files that you downloaded into the Florence Restaurants folder.
4) Save the Florence Restaurants folder as a single KML file.

It will probably not be very well organized, and may be some duplicates, but you'll have them all in a single file.

[dweeb4]

Thanks Forkboy,
But it's gathering the individual files that's more of a problem - I want to be able to do a search in GE for "Florence restaurants" and be able to save one KML file that contains all the restaurants and not have to open & save >60 KML files which each contain 10 restaurants and then have to combine these >6o files into one KML file.

I just wondered if an application had already been created to do this as it looks like it's not natively available from GE unless I'm missing something.

I've looked at the GE API to see if there were built-in routines that might easily be called but I'm not sure there are - there are search routines & I guess that it's possible but I'm not sure?

Has nobody done this with their GPS before ie put a city guide into it before visiting the city? Wife & I were in Venice recently & got lost a number of times while looking for a restaurant, eventually tiredness usually left us eating badly in a random restaurant This was before I got the GPS.

[Forkboy2]

After you do your search and you see the results under the Search box in GE. Right click on the top of the search results and select Save To My Places. i think that will put them alltogether in a single KML file.

If that doesn't do it, then I have no idea.

Matt

[dweeb4]

No Matt,
That won't do it - If I understand you correctly.

When you do a search, for Florence Restaurants for instance, GE returns the first 10 and shows them on the map. Right click/save will only save the current search results page of 10 restaurants in a KML file. At the bottom of the search results are further pages 1,2,3,4....... - you then have to select the next search results page,save it and so on until you have them all.

As I said more than 60 pages (I don't know because I didn't go to the end) for Florence - a slow process.

Then you have to bring them all together into one KML file (for use within GPS) with some merge utility - I use GPS Converter.

I'm surprised nobody has had a need to do this before!

What's the consensus- would this be a useful facility to have? Edit: I have started a poll!

Post here & let me know - maybe somebody can put it together if there is enough interest!

[ocojaa]

Wondering if this was still a possibility as it would be of great use to me.

[dweeb4]

I think the poll reveals the level of interest in this - just you & me - I don't understand but that's democracy!

Is it for holiday type uses that you want this facility or do you have other uses I haven't thought of?

[ocojaa]

I think the poll reveals the level of interest in this - just you & me - I don't understand but that's democracy!

Is it for holiday type uses that you want this facility or do you have other uses I haven't thought of?

Not necessarily for holidays. I've found that POI's from poiplaza and the like lag my GPS terribly but my own creations from GE do not.

So what I was wanting to do is add the entire state of Texas for certain businesses, but as you said it's a long process if you have to add each page of results individually.