ForeRunner WebTools

ForeRunner 201 picture This is the home page for the ForeRunner WebTools project. This project provides a simple web interface to examine your Garmin ForeRunner 201 track data similar to the Windows application that came with the unit (that application is in fact, currently required to make use of these tools). The main advantage (for me at least) is that it displays the data on an aerial or satelite photo instead of in a blank window. There are similar tools to do this:

  • USAPhotoMaps suppports direct ForeRunner data importation, but uses www.terraserve.com for it's base maps, which is 10 year old data, and thus most of my neighborhood does not exist. Plus, it's a Windows program, and I don't really run Windows unless absolutely necessary.
  • Garmin MapSource supports plotting gps tracks on a map, but I don't believe that it supports plotting on aerial or satelite photos. Plus, it too is a Windows program.
  • These tools should work with a ForeRunner 101 (if it had a serial interface, that is) and with the ForeRunner 301 (but heart rate data would not be displayed), but since I don't own either of those, I can't say for certain. I notice that Garmin has released a 205 and 305 and I would hope that these would also work with this software, but once again, since I don't own one, I can't guarantee it. I'll also look into adding support for the output from the Training Center application if need be. You're welcome to send me the XML file from a ForeRunner 205, 301, 305 (or 101 if you can get it out) and I'll see if it can't be easily supported. Other GPS units may also be supportable, but I'd need detailed track data and information on file formats (or at least a couple of examples) to add support for them.

    At present, things are fairly stable. The web tools work fine if given a proper base map to plot on and basemap generation is mostly automated, save for the trial and error of getting the alignment offsets correct. I have mostly switched away from the original version in favor of using the Google Maps API. This provides a much simpler solution (since I don't need to generate the base maps anymore, but does so at the cost of the pace and elevation graphs). The elevation graphs are available in the Google version by clicking on the lap markers and a popup will display with that lap's elevation inforamtion. I'll probably add the pace graph in a similar way.

    Comments and suggestions are welcome, please use the bug tracker tool to do so.

    Traditional version, requires generating basemaps for each run area Google Maps API version. No base maps needed, but no elevation and pace information on the map
    Track Display Example Google Maps Version Example

    Useful Project Links
    CVS Access Information - If you want the latest Screen Shots Garmin ForeRunner201
    Project Page Live Example, please be kind Google Version


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