GPX search

You can search for routes in the route library. This service is easier to work with than GPX search. In general, we suggest you start there and come back here if you can't find what you are looking for.

However, the Route library searches only the route library. GPX search includes all GPX files held in our web site. GPX search is therefore more comprehensive than the Route library search.

We provide three search options:

1. Route library finds GPX files attached to entries in the route library, or which are not attached to anything.
2. Just PCTC events finds GPX files attached to events, including rides. Note that it is possible to link rides with GPX files without attaching them. GPX files linked this way will not appear in search results using this option.
3. All GPX files finds all GPX files held by our web site regardless of which document they are attached to, or if they are attached at all.

For all these options you can provide a search term. The search will look for that term in:

• The title of the GPX file in the WordPress media library
• The name of the GPX file
• If the GPX file is attached to a document, the title and content of the document.

Most entries in the Route library include intermediate destinations so GPX search can find them, but most events don't. You might need to be inventive with your event searches if you want to find routes that go via a place you are interested in.

To see all available GPX files, select 'All GPX files' and leave the search term blank.

If you select 'Just PCTC events', you also get the option to select events led by a given ride leader. Useful if you know they led a ride you are interested in. For example, most Sunday morning rides led by Roger Paddy include his planned route.

We present matching GPX files, most recent first, in a table with these columns:

• GPX file
  • Name - the name of the file in the WordPress media library. This is usually the file name without the .gpx extension.
  • Date - the date the file was uploaded to our site.
  • Action - There are two links
    • Download allows you to download a copy of the GPX file. What happens next depends on what you are using. Most PC browsers will present a dialog allowing you to save the GPX file wherever you like. Some phones and tablets running GPX software (notably OSMand) will offer to store the file in that software. You might also see a page of gobbledygook - unfortunately you will have to create a blank GPX file using, for example, Windows notepad, and copy the downloaded text into it.
    • Visualise presents the route on a map using a full screen page. Arrows on the route help identify which direction the route goes in.
• Attached document - details of any document this GPX file belongs to. Note that if the same file is attached to multiple documents, only one is shown (it's a WordPress limitation):
  • Title - the document's title, click to open the page.
  • Type - the document type, usually 'event' for a PCTC event, or 'route' for an entry in the Route library.

Note that:

• All links from the search results display in a different browser window or tab. You can return to the results display without having to resubmit your search.
• Click the 'Search again' button at the bottom of the search results to make another search. Your previous search is retained so you can easily modify it.
• It might not be obvious why a given file has matched your search. During testing we found a match made because an event linked to another event that had changed destination, so the link address (which was matched) was different the the linked text. Also, if a GPX file has been superseded by a different one, the document linked to a GPX file might now link to a completely different one.
• Some events are linked to multiple GPX files; typically an outgoing route and a returning route. You might need to visualise each route to decide which one you want.