View My Tracks User’s Guide View My Tracks - User’s Guide

Table of Contents

Overview – GPS track ...... 3 Acquiring a (or ) account ...... 3 Storing your GPS track files online ...... 3 Creating your Owner Profile ...... 4 Authorization Request ...... 4 The Profile Page ...... 5 Uploading your GPS track files ...... 7 View Tracks page ...... 9 Right side – Trackpoint information ...... 9 Distances between trackpoints - Disclaimer ...... 12 Long trackpoint time intervals ...... 12 Select a trackpoint – drop down list ...... 13 Performance data display ...... 14 Time zone differences - Trackpoint and user ...... 14 Track date selection – Clickable Calendar...... 14 Track date selection – Sorting and filtering the list ...... 16 Left side – A map of the entire track ...... 18 View charts for the track ...... 20 Other features ...... 21 Owner profile setting – Minimum distance between trackpoints ...... 21 Owner profile setting – Maximum trackpoints to show ...... 22 Trackpoint filtering ...... 22 Using revised trackpoint speeds ...... 24 Using CSV files ...... 25 Multiple Owner profiles ...... 25 Owner profile setting – Include subfolders ...... 25 Other files appearing in your folder ...... 26 Allowing others to view your data ...... 26 Restrictions on Viewers ...... 29 Owners and Viewers – Additional comments ...... 30 Questions, suggestions, comments, issues? ...... 30 Appendix I – Capturing tracking files into ...... 31 Naming your tracking files ...... 31

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 1 Revised: 9/19/2021 Appendix II – Using subfolders ...... 32 Appendix III – Managing Viewer access ...... 33 Method 1 - Use the website to manage Viewer access ...... 33 Method 2 - Manage Viewer access yourself ...... 34

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 2 Revised: 9/19/2021 Overview – GPS track files

Many people use GPS devices to record the routes they take during outdoor activities and while traveling. In some cases, smart phones are used instead and there are dozens of GPS smart phone apps available for this purpose. Also, some fitness devices capture GPS data about the route taken during workouts. But regardless of the tool used, the information captured is stored on the device.

This information contains details about the route, referred to as a GPS track, and a GPS track has one or more trackpoints. Each trackpoint contains the GPS co-ordinates and other data about one point on the route, and there may be many trackpoints in a GPS track. Usually the trackpoints are recorded at specific time or distance intervals.

In many cases the GPS track data can be extracted from the device into various file types for use elsewhere. Among the commonly used file types are GPX, TCX, and CSV (CSV files are described in more detail later). This website reads track files of these types and displays the information. Acquiring a Google (or Gmail) account

In order to use this website you must have a Google (or Gmail) account, which you can easily obtain for free. If you don’t already have one, you can get your here.

NOTE: If you are using this website to view GPS tracking data belonging to other people and don’t intent to store your own data, then skip forward to the View Tracks page section. All the information you need to know is contained there.

Storing your GPS track files online

This website reads your track files and displays the data, including a map of the entire track, and also adds relevant information. For all of this to work, you must make your files available to the website. The solution is to have you store these files in Google Drive, which is a free online storage facility. Once your files are stored there, the website user needs to only specify the date of their activity, and the selected data will be displayed.

Most other GPS viewing websites require you to load your GPS track files on every usage, even when choosing a file viewed previously. But once a track file is stored in Google Drive, it’s easily available for repeated use via this website. As the owner of a Google account you automatically get 15 gigabytes of free space in Google Drive, enough space to store thousands of files.

Not familiar with Google Drive? No need to worry. This website will handle all the Google Drive functions for you. But if you have knowledge of Google Drive and would prefer to handle

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 3 Revised: 9/19/2021 those operations yourself, information for this is included in the appendices of this document.

NOTE: All the data you store in Google Drive is accessible only by you, unless you allow other people to view it. More on this later.

Creating your Owner Profile

Once you have a Google (or Gmail) account, then you can create your website profile. Select Owner Profiles from the website’s home page.

NOTE: In some cases, a profile is created automatically. When that happens, the following steps can be used to modify an auto-created profile, if needed.

Authorization Request

The first time you use the website, several authorization request pages are displayed asking if the website may access your information in Google Drive.

After Sign in/Authorize is selected, then you’ll see:

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Select Allow to continue.

The Profile Page

Then the Profile page is displayed.

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Enter an owner name or description, an optional profile comment, and the name of your Google Drive folder (a default name is provided). Leave the other settings unchanged for now. NOTE: It is recommended that the folder specified is used only for your GPS files and that no other files are stored there.

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Press Save Profile, then return to the home page. If the Google Drive folder you specify in the profile doesn’t exist, it will be created for you. The message Profile successfully added - Folder created will be displayed in this case. Otherwise Profile successfully added – Folder already exists will display.

NOTE: If your Google Drive folder isn’t a top level folder, use a forward slash as the separator between folder levels to provide the full path to your folder. For example: folder1/subfolder1/subfolder2

Uploading your GPS track files

Now that you’ve created your profile, it’s time to upload some files. There are many methods to upload files to Google Drive, and some of these are discussed in Appendix I. The website has an upload feature, which includes numerous validations and safeguards for proper operation. This section describes the website’s upload. You may want to review Appendix I to assess other upload options.

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In order to use the website’s upload, the files must be stored on your computer’s hard drive. Many GPS tracking tools provide an option to copy the track files they’ve created to your hard drive, or send them to you as email attachments. In the latter case, you simply open the email message and save the attached files to your hard drive. The device or app you use may provide other options.

NOTE: A sample GPX file can be obtained via the Quick Start page. Get to this page by selecting Quick Start and Try Out from the website’s home page.

To initiate an upload, select Upload Files from the home page.

Once the Upload Files page is presented, choose at least one tracking file from your hard drive for uploading (you can choose up to 6 in each upload request). Then press the Upload Files button.

The website will guide you through the uploads and present a summary page when completed.

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 8 Revised: 9/19/2021 You can return to the Upload Files page whenever you’d like to upload additional files. Now that some files have been uploaded, it’s time to view track data.

View Tracks page

From the home page, select View Tracks.

The View Tracks page is split into halves, with the right side showing information about trackpoints and the left side showing a map of the entire track. An example is below.

NOTE: Website response times are sometimes slow when presenting the View Tracks page, especially when displaying a new track for the first time (see the topic: Other files appearing in your folder).

Right side – Trackpoint information

The bottom right side of the View Tracks page has buttons and a drop-down list for selecting a day for viewing. Choosing Select a track date will list the dates of all the track files you’ve stored in Google Drive (the most recent listed first).

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When the View Tracks page is first displayed, track data for today’s date is shown. If a file isn’t found for this date, this initial page will contain no data. In that case, use Select a track date to select a track date to view.

Once track data is found and displayed, the right side of the page initially shows details about the track’s first trackpoint. An example of an entire right side display is below.

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 10 Revised: 9/19/2021 Information about the trackpoint is at the top, followed by buttons and a drop-down list for selecting other trackpoints, as follows:

And then buttons for additional trackpoint features.

This is followed by the day selection area, which was discussed previously. The additional trackpoint features are: - The Day title button allows you to create a title for the day (maximum of 45 characters). Day titles you create are also included in the Select a track date list and the Show clickable calendar feature (described below). NOTE: This button is not available when viewing data belonging to other people.

- The Trackpoint comment button allows you to add a comment for the currently displayed trackpoint (maximum of 100 characters). Trackpoints with comments are indicated in the trackpoint drop-down list (see: Select a trackpoint - drop down list). NOTE: This button is not available when viewing data belonging to other people.

- The Feet/miles and Meters/km (not shown in the above example) buttons allow you to toggle the displayed distances between metric and imperial units.

- The Set measuring start point button can be used to display the time and distance between any 2 trackpoints. When a track is initially displayed, these measurements are made starting with the first trackpoint. This is designated by *Measuring start point* being displayed for trackpoint 1.

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 11 Revised: 9/19/2021 When you choose another trackpoint to display, the time and distance from trackpoint 1 is calculated and shown.

To change the starting point for these measurements, press the Set measuring start point button when viewing the trackpoint you want to start from.

Distances between trackpoints - Disclaimer

Distances between trackpoints are calculated by accumulating the straight-line distance between adjoining trackpoints. This essentially follows the track as shown on the map. If your route had many turns or indirect travel between trackpoints, the distances calculated may be considerably less than actually traveled. This difference may be even greater if the time or distance between trackpoints is long. Specifying a short trackpoint interval in your GPS tracking tool will cause the calculated results to be closer to the actual distances.

Long trackpoint time intervals

Occasionally the elapsed time between trackpoints is more than normal. It may be significantly longer than the interval time used by your tracking tool. There are several reasons why this may happen: - You stopped moving

Some tracking tools will detect if there’s no or minimal movement, and stop logging trackpoints during this period. Also see: Owner profile setting - Minimum distance between trackpoints).

- No signal

If your tracking device was sometimes unable to acquire a GPS signal to determine your location, then some trackpoints won’t be logged.

- Your tracking device or app was temporarily stopped

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 12 Revised: 9/19/2021 You stopped logging, then started it again later, and captured all the trackpoint data to the same GPS track.

When a long interval time is detected, a message is shown at the Recorded at time display:

Long intervals are marked on the Select a trackpoint drop-down list (see next topic) and are also designated on the map displayed on the left side of the page (more on this later).

Select a trackpoint – drop down list

This Select a trackpoint drop-down list shows all the trackpoints for the current track, and selecting one will cause it’s details to display.

NOTE: To avoid showing all trackpoints, see the topic: Trackpoint Filtering appearing later in this document. Indicators are used to highlight certain conditions. In the following example, the asterisk next to the time for trackpoint 3 indicates a long next interval. The letter near the time for trackpoint 6 indicates that this trackpoint has a comment associated with it.

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Performance data display

Some tracking tools used for fitness activities will capture performance data along with the other trackpoint information. This is most commonly found in TCX files. If present it will display as follows:

Time zone differences - Trackpoint and user The Recorded at time displayed for trackpoints is based on the time zone of the trackpoint. If the user is in the same time zone, then just one time is displayed.

But if someone is viewing the data from a device configured for a different time zone, then both local times are displayed. For example, a computer belonging to someone who resides near the USA east coast is probably configured for the east coast time zone (UTC-05:00). If they view a trackpoint on the USA west coast (UTC-8:00, or 3 time zones earlier), the trackpoint’s time will display as:

NOTE: The times displayed in the trackpoint drop-down list always use the trackpoint’s time zone.

Track date selection – Clickable Calendar

As described earlier, the bottom of the View Tracks page contains several methods for selecting a track date to view. Choosing Show clickable calendar will cause a calendar to display.

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The calendar is available in monthly and yearly formats, and you can toggle between them. An example monthly calendar display is below:

This calendar initially shows the currently viewed month and highlights the days where tracking data is present. The title for each day is listed below the calendar. You can click on any day of the month to select it for viewing. Also, you can easily jump to other months using the scrolling arrows and the drop-down menus for month and year.

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Selecting Show yearly calendar displays a yearly calendar, similar to the following:

Scrolling and day selection features are similar to the monthly calendar. Also, if you hold the mouse pointer over a day, a pop-up window will display its title.

Track date selection – Sorting and filtering the list

Another method to select a track for viewing is Select a track date. Choosing this will show a drop-down list of the dates of all your tracks.

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An example track date list is below:

**** Sort in ascending date sequence **** **** Filter the list **** May 16 2017 Hike up South Mountain May 15 2017 Visit dad May 11 2017 Another day working at remote site 3 May 10 2017 Work at remote site 3 May 9 2017 Attend conference in New Hampshire May 7 2017 Return from London

As you can see, the items in the list contain track dates in descending sequence, followed by its title.

At the top of the list are 2 special entries:

**** Sort in ascending date sequence **** **** Filter the list ****

If you select Sort in ascending date sequence, the list of dates will be rearranged into ascending sequence (oldest date first). This entry will then change to Sort in descending date sequence, to allow you to return to descending sequence (most recent date first), if desired.

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 17 Revised: 9/19/2021 The other special entry, Filter the list, allows you to temporary change the list to include only certain dates based on search words you specify. Choosing this entry will cause the following to display:

The titles in the entire list will be compared to the words (or parts of words) entered, and only those entries that match each word will appear in the revised list.

NOTE: The compare is case insensitive, and the specified words need not appear consecutively in the title to be included.

To indicate that a filtered list is in effect, the Select a track date prompt will change to:

Select a track date (filtered: nn matches found) where nn is the number of entries included in the filtered list. The filtered list will also include the following entries:

**** Remove the filter **** **** Change the filter words ****

Select one of these to remove or change the filtering.

Left side – A map of the entire track

The left side of the View Tracks page shows a map of the entire track, with a small circle representing the location of each trackpoint. A purple colored circle indicates a long trackpoint interval (see: Long trackpoint time intervals). A dark colored circle represents the trackpoint that’s currently displayed on the right side of the page.

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NOTE: To avoid showing all trackpoints on the map, see the topic: Trackpoint Filtering appearing later in this document.

Use the typical Google map icons to alter the map’s appearance, as follows: - Map type: A Google street map is initially displayed. This is the default map type. Use the icon in the upper left corner of the map to temporarily switch to a terrain, satellite, hybrid (a satellite map with labels), or OpenStreetMap (OSM) map type.

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 19 Revised: 9/19/2021 Use the button above the map to set a different default map type.

- Full page map: Click on the icon in the upper right corner for a full page map. Click on it again, or use the Escape key, to return to the smaller map size.

- Street View: Use the icon in the lower left corner to invoke .

- Zoom level: Use the icon in the lower right corner to zoom in and out.

- Pan/Scroll: Click and hold on any part of the map, then drag and drop.

- Scale units: Click on the distance scale at the bottom edge of the map to toggle it between metric and imperial units.

Also, if you hold the mouse pointer over a trackpoint, a pop-up window will show the trackpoint’s number and time.

Clicking on the trackpoint will cause its details to display on the right side of the page. This is equivalent to using the trackpoint selection buttons and drop-down list that appear on the right side.

View charts for the track

Use the View charts button that appears below the map to see charts for elevation, speed, and performance data, if this information is present in the track file.

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 20 Revised: 9/19/2021 A sample chart is shown below:

Other features

Owner profile setting – Minimum distance between trackpoints

If your tracking tool is logging based on a time interval and you temporarily stop moving, many repetitive trackpoints may be logged. Some tracking tools will detect when there’s minimal movement and stop logging during this time. If your tracking tool doesn’t do this, you can use the Minimum distance between trackpoints setting in your Owner profile to avoid repetitively logged trackpoints from being shown on the View Tracks page.

To invoke this feature, modify your profile to specify the minimum distance that must be traveled from trackpoints before subsequent trackpoints are shown. Also indicate if the distance you specify is in meters or feet. The distance specified is used for all your track files.

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Trackpoints under the minimum are bypassed until the distance is met or exceeded (trackpoints with comments are always included). No data in the track file is changed or removed.

NOTE: This process may lead to some larger than normal elapsed times occurring between the remaining trackpoints, possibly resulting in long trackpoint intervals (discussed previously at: Long trackpoint time intervals).

Owner profile setting – Maximum trackpoints to show

Displaying of your tracks may be slow if your file contains many trackpoints. You can speed this up by having the website ignore some of them. This is especially useful if a high level of detail isn’t required when many trackpoints exist.

Use the Maximum trackpoints to show setting in your Owner profile to control this.

The value specified is used for all your track files, and happens before any trackpoint filtering is performed (Trackpoint Filtering is discussed next). If a file contains more trackpoints than the maximum specified, then some redundant trackpoints are ignored (trackpoints with comments are always included). No data in the file is changed or removed.

NOTE: The algorithm used to reduce the number of trackpoints does not adversely distort a track’s path on the map.

Trackpoint filtering

Use the trackpoint filtering feature to show only certain trackpoints on the map and in the details on the right side of the page. Invoke this feature by selecting the button above the map on the View Tracks page:

You can then choose from several criteria for selecting the trackpoints to display. Multiple criteria may be used.

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Trackpoints that are part of the track but do not meet any of the chosen criteria will not be shown, but will still be used to draw the track on the map. Map creation is faster when fewer trackpoints are displayed.

The following example shows the map that was displayed earlier, but with some of the trackpoints not shown due to filtering. Trackpoint details on the right side of the page will also show only the included trackpoints.

Once trackpoint filtering is invoked, it remains in effect until it is disabled via the Trackpoint filtering button, even across multiple sessions.

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 23 Revised: 9/19/2021 NOTE: Trackpoint filtering may be used together with the Maximum trackpoints to show feature (discussed previously). The Maximum trackpoints process happens first, whenever a track file is chosen that exceeds the maximum number of trackpoints. The trackpoints that remain once the Maximum trackpoints process completes are then used for displaying and filtering.

Using revised trackpoint speeds

One of the details shown on the View Tracks page is the trackpoint speed, which indicates the speed you are traveling at each trackpoint. Some tracking tools do not provide this information, and in those cases the speed will display as follows:

In cases where GPS speeds are provided by the tracking tool, they are sometimes very inaccurate.

You can invoke the Use revised speeds feature to resolve these issues. Activating this will cause the website to calculate trackpoint speeds, using the time and distance between adjoining trackpoints. Invoke this feature by selecting the button above the map on the View Tracks page:

When this feature is active, the display of the above trackpoint information is:

Once this feature is invoked, it remains in effect until it is disabled via the Use revised speeds button, even across multiple sessions. Also, when revised speeds are used they replace GPS

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 24 Revised: 9/19/2021 speeds on viewed charts and during trackpoint filtering (these features were discussed previously).

NOTE: The validity of the revised speeds is dependent on the calculation of the distances between trackpoints that is performed by the website. If these distances are less than actual, then the revised speeds will be lower than the true speeds. For more information see the topic: Distances between trackpoints.

Using CSV files

Some GPS tools will extract their tracking data to CSV files. Unlike GPX and TCX files, tracking information in CSV files does not follow a standardized format. But in many cases the website is able to interpret the data and display it on the View Tracks page.

If your tracking tool creates CSV files, you can try uploading a few to determine if they can be successfully processed. The website’s upload feature will alert you if it is unable to interpret the data. If it can’t, you can send the samples to the website’s support personnel using the email address listed later in this document. The files will be reviewed and the website’s processing may be adjusted to accommodate their format.

If the website is able to interpret the files, you then have the option to upload them in addition to GPX and TCX files. CSV files are sometimes created with more details (for example, accuracy and provider data) than the other GPS file types, and some of these additional details are displayed on the View Tracks page.

NOTE: If you are not using the website’s upload, then keep in mind that CSV files must follow the same file naming standard as discussed in Appendix I and must keep their suffix (.csv) in order to identify their file type. If the file’s content cannot be interpreted successfully, an error message will display on the View Tracks page.

Multiple Owner profiles

There may be situations where you’d like to have some of your tracking files kept separate from others. For example, track files for leisure activities versus those that are job related, or files from tracking devices for a fleet of trucks. In cases like this, you can create multiple Owner profiles, each specifying a different Google Drive folder. Then upload your files to the appropriate profile or Google Drive folder.

If you select View Tracks, Owner Profiles or Upload Files on the home page and have multiple profiles, you are asked to choose the profile before continuing.

Owner profile setting – Include subfolders

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 25 Revised: 9/19/2021 Another setting in your Owner profile is Include subfolders. This setting may be beneficial if you do not use the website’s upload feature, and instead use a different method to capture your tracking files into Google Drive. It is discussed in Appendix II.

Other files appearing in your folder

If you are familiar with Google Drive and you view the contents of your Google Drive folder, you will see some files you didn’t upload. These files, with suffixes of .gdoc or .gsheet, are created by the website during display of the View Tracks page. They contain data extracted from your files, but formatted for presentation. These files are typically created the first time a new track is displayed, and there may be a noticeable delay on the View Tracks page when this happens. Once created, they are used repeatedly whenever the track is displayed in the future.

WARNING: Do not delete or modify these files, as this may adversely affect the operation of the website.

Allowing others to view your data As the Owner of your tracking data, you have the option to allow other people to access it on a “view only” basis. These people are referred to as Viewers. To do this, select Owner Profiles on the home page, and then select Viewer Access on the Profile page. Later you can also use Viewer Access to remove Viewers, if needed.

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After the Viewer Access button is selection, the following is displayed:

Many users will probably select Use the website to manage Viewer access. But people who have technical knowledge of Google Drive folder permissions may want to perform the needed adjustments themselves. This is described in detail in Appendix III of this User’s Guide. For now, let’s assume Use the website to manage Viewer access is chosen.

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 27 Revised: 9/19/2021 NOTE: Because the website requires additional Google Drive privileges to manage viewers, an authorization request page is displayed the first time Use the website to manage Viewer access is selected. See Appendix III for more information.

Select Allow to continue.

The following page will then display:

Enter a Name or Description for the Viewer, their Google account name (or Google email address), and press Add Viewer.

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This user can now view your website data. Also, the permissions on your Google Drive folder are modified to allow this user “view only” access to its contents.

The Viewer, after signing in with their Google account, can select View Tracks on the home page and view your tracks. There is no need for the Viewer to have a website profile (unless they decide to store their own data - more on that later).

NOTE: If the Viewer is a first-time user of the website, several authorization request pages are displayed asking if the website may access data in Google Drive. They must select Allow to continue. See Authorization Request for more information.

Restrictions on Viewers

Since Viewers can’t update the data or Google Drive folders they access, there are a few restrictions imposed on them:

- The Day title and Trackpoint comment buttons on the View Tracks page (explained here) are not displayed during Viewer access. The Viewer will see the Owner’s titles and comments, but cannot modify them.

- In rare situations a .gdoc or .gsheet file (explained here) will need to be created during Viewer access. In that case, the website will create a folder in the Viewer’s Google Drive called View My Tracks Viewer and place the file there.

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Owners and Viewers – Additional comments

- If a Viewer decides to store their own tracking data, they can create profiles for this purpose. Otherwise, there is no need for a Viewer to create a website profile. They are considered Owners when accessing their own data, of course.

- An Owner may grant access to their data to any other Owner or Viewer. The recipient is always considered a Viewer when accessing this data.

- If a user selects View Tracks on the home page and has access to multiple sets of data as an Owner or a Viewer, a selection page is presented for them to choose.

Questions, suggestions, comments, issues?

Please email: [email protected]

I hope you like my website.

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 30 Revised: 9/19/2021 Appendix I – Capturing tracking files into Google Drive

Instead of using the website’s upload feature, you can choose to use another method to capture your tracking files into Google Drive. There are many ways to do this, for example:

- Capture your activities using a GPS tool that will store your tracking files in Google Drive. There are many that will do this for you, some automatically and others when manually triggered.

- If your GPS tool creates the tracking files on your phone, use a phone app to upload the files into Google Drive. There are several phone apps available to do this.

- Use your GPS tool to send the tracking files to you as an email attachment, a feature typically available. Then open the email message and save the files to Google Drive (easy to do in Gmail). Or save the attached files to your computer’s hard drive and use the upload feature of Google Drive that exists online (or use the website’s Upload Files).

There are many other methods of uploading files to Google Drive. There is much information on this subject available on the Internet.

Regardless of the method used, the files must be stored in the folder that’s specified in your website profile, or one of its subfolders (see Appendix II for information about using subfolders). Also, the file names must adhere the naming standard described below.

Naming your tracking files

The website uses the date you specify to determine the track data it displays. Scanning through all your track files to find the correct data may be time consuming, so instead it looks at the file names to find the data requested. For this date selection to work properly, the track files in your Google Drive folder must be named appropriately. Names of files uploaded with the website’s upload feature are automatically adjusted to adhere to the naming requirements listed here (see NOTE below). For files uploaded with a different method, it is required that the track date is present in your track file names, in one of the following formats: yyyy-mm-dd or yyyy_mm_dd or yyyymmdd

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 31 Revised: 9/19/2021 where: yyyy = the 4 digit year mm = the 2 digit month dd = the 2 digit day Also, the file names must end with .gpx, .tcx or .csv depending on their file format. Optionally, your file names may contain other information before and after the track date. For example, all the following GPX file names are acceptable for tracking activity recorded on February 9, 2017: 2017-02-09.gpx 2017-02-09zzz.gpx 2017_02_09.gpx 2017_02_09zzz.gpx 20170209.gpx 20170209zzz.gpx aaa2017-02-09.gpx MyTracks-2017-02-09_12345.gpx aaa2017_02_09.gpx MyTracks-2017_02_09_12345.gpx aaa20170209.gpx MyTracks-20170209_12345.gpx

Fortunately, many GPS tracking tools create their files with names that adhere to this standard. If the files are not named correctly when initially uploaded, you can use Google Drive’s rename feature to change the file names.

NOTE: If your Google Drive folder is searched for a file to display and multiple files exist for the date you’ve chosen, then only the most recent file is used. The other files with the same date are ignored.

NOTE: Files uploaded using the website’s upload feature do not need to have the date in their names, as that process will modify the names during uploading to conform to the standard, if needed. For example, if a file named xyz.gpx is uploaded with the website’s Upload Files and the track data is for February 9th in 2017, then the file will be stored in Google Drive as: 20170209_xyz.gpx

Appendix II – Using subfolders

As mentioned previously, some GPS tracking tools will store their tracking files in Google Drive

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 32 Revised: 9/19/2021 for you. Sometimes they will create Google Drive subfolders for these files. These subfolders will exist below the folder you specify in your tracking tool (which should be the same as the folder you specify in your Owner profile). The subfolders may be created with various names. For the website to detect tracking files in the subfolders, use the Include subfolders setting in your website profile.

NOTE: Tracking files in subfolders must also adhere to the naming standard described earlier.

Appendix III – Managing Viewer access

As mentioned in Allowing others to view your data, there are 2 methods available to manage Viewers. You choose the method via the following page, which is displayed after selecting Viewer Access on the Profile Page.

Many users will probably select Use the website to manage Viewer access. But people who have knowledge of Google Drive folder permissions may want to perform the needed adjustments themselves.

The following is a technical description of the 2 methods.

Method 1 - Use the website to manage Viewer access

This method will perform all the necessary permission adjustments to your Google Drive folder when adding or removing Viewers, and also updates the website’s list of Viewers. As described

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 33 Revised: 9/19/2021 in Allowing others to view your data, you supply information about the Viewers and the website performs the needed changes.

The first time you use this option, you will be asked to authorize the website for access to all the files (and folders) in your Google Drive.

This access is needed to enable the website to modify the permissions on your folder. You must Allow this authorization request to use this method. Some people may be reluctant to permit the website this level of access.

Method 2 - Manage Viewer access yourself

With this method, you go to Google Drive and modify the folder permissions yourself, granting “Viewer” access to new Viewers or removing it from existing Viewers, if needed.

After choosing this option, the following page is displayed:

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 34 Revised: 9/19/2021

For the website to properly build selection menus, it needs to know who your Viewers are. Choosing Sync folder permissions with website will cause the website to adjust its Viewer list to match the “Viewer” permissions on your folder. Unlike Method 1, authorization to access all your Google Drive files is not necessary to perform this task.

After the sync is complete, a page similar to the following is displayed:

The remainder of the page will show the website’s Viewer list for your folder.

NOTE: A permission sync may be performed at any time. It may be used, for example, to verify that your folder’s “Viewer” permissions are the same as the website’s Viewer list.

View My Tracks – User’s Guide Page: 35 Revised: 9/19/2021