Olex Imports¶
Bristol Maps works with Olex exports. You can bring two kinds of Olex file across:
- Marks, routes and tracks (the plotter export, usually
olexplot.gz). Imports on desktop and mobile. - Depth data (the XYZ export, usually
export.gz). Imports on desktop only, into My Charts.
Olex is a product of Olex AS. Bristol Maps is not affiliated with Olex AS. Menu names below come from Olex’s own manual and may differ between Olex versions.
Olex does not publish its file formats
Bristol Maps reads these files from published examples and works out the layout from the data itself. If an import puts your marks or soundings in the wrong place, stop and contact us with the file. Real Olex files help us tighten the importer.
Marks, routes and tracks¶
Export from Olex¶
- Plug a USB stick into the Olex computer.
- Either save everything with Settings > Save data to storage device > All plotter data, or export one layer from the plot-layer panel with Export these objects.
- Olex writes a gzipped file, by default
olexplot.gz. Leave it compressed; Bristol Maps unpacks it.
Import on desktop¶
On the Waypoints, Routes or Tracks tab, click Import Olex… and pick the file.
The button imports everything in the file, whichever tab you use. Olex keeps marks, lines and tracks in one file, so one import brings them all in.
Import on mobile¶
Open Settings > Maps & Data > Import / Export GPX, or the GPX button on the waypoint list. Tap Choose Olex File… and pick the file. As with GPX, the page shows what is in the file and lets you tick waypoints, routes and tracks before you import.
What comes across¶
| In Olex | In Bristol Maps |
|---|---|
| A single mark | A waypoint. Its Olex name becomes the waypoint name, and any Olex note becomes the description. The date the mark was made is added to the description. |
| Quick marks (Hurtigkryss) | One waypoint per mark. |
| A line or route with several points | A route. Up to 50 points become route waypoints; longer lines are drawn as a single line. The Olex line colour is kept where it is one of Olex’s standard colours. |
| A track | A track line, with its timestamps. |
| Mark symbol | The closest Bristol Maps icon (see below). The original Olex symbol name is always kept in the waypoint’s tags. |
| Olex symbol | Icon in Bristol Maps |
|---|---|
| Kryss (cross) | Crosshair |
| Fish symbols (Enfisk and others) | Fish |
| Warning symbols (Gulfare and others) | Warning sign |
| Net start and stop (Garnstart, Garnstopp), flags | Flag |
| Anchor | Anchor |
| Star | Star |
| Circles and anything else | Plain circle |
Importing the same file again updates your marks instead of duplicating them. On mobile, turn off Update items that already exist to import a second copy.
Plot layers, lock settings and other Olex display options are not carried over.
Depth data (desktop)¶
What you need¶
- The Olex DX add-on. Olex’s XYZ export is part of this paid add-on, so without it Olex won’t offer the export.
- Live chart building turned on in Overlays > Bathymetry > My Charts Settings. Imported soundings go through the same pipeline as your own recorded depth, and that switch is what turns them into chart tiles.
Export from Olex¶
- Select a closed area around the ground you want.
- Choose the XYZ export and press Export. Olex writes a gzipped text file, by default
export.gz. Large areas may be split into several files; import each one.
Import¶
In Overlays > Bathymetry > My Charts, click Import Olex Depth Data… and pick the file. Before importing, the window shows how it read the file: the column order, whether it found degrees or arc-minutes, and the first sounding’s position and depth. Check that position is where you expect. If latitude and longitude look swapped, change Column order and import.
Choose how to treat the tide, then press Import. The window shows progress, and Stop keeps whatever was already imported. When the import finishes, the window shows how many soundings were imported and how many were rejected and why. Rejected soundings include unreadable lines, bad positions and depths outside 0–11,000 m.
Tide and datum¶
Olex files do not record whether tide correction was on in Olex, so you tell Bristol Maps:
| Choice | When to use it | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Already tide-corrected in Olex (default) | Olex’s Adjust bottom calculation for tide level was on. It is on by default and meant to be off only on lakes and rivers. | Depths are imported as they are. |
| Correct to MLLW using the file’s timestamps | Only offered if the file has a time for each sounding. | Each depth is corrected with NOAA tide predictions, the same way your own recordings are. Soundings with no tide coverage are skipped, not imported uncorrected. |
| Import uncorrected at reduced weight | Tide correction was off in Olex, or you aren’t sure. | Depths are imported as-is at low weight, so your own soundings win wherever both exist. They can be off by up to the tide range. |
Olex’s low water is not exactly MLLW
Olex corrects depths with predicted tides from the nearest station it knows, down to its own low-water level. That is close to the MLLW datum NOAA charts and Bristol Maps use, but not guaranteed to match it. On big-tide ground like Bristol Bay, a datum or station difference can show up as a steady offset between Olex depths and your own. Compare a few spots you know before trusting the contours.
Survey date¶
Olex depth files usually carry no dates. The import asks roughly when the ground was surveyed, and defaults to a year ago. The date matters because My Charts trusts newer soundings over older ones, and a date set too recent could override your own newer data.
How Olex depths mix with yours¶
- Olex soundings carry less weight than live soundings from your own sounder. Olex has already averaged them into roughly 5 m boxes, reduced them with predicted tides, and applied a transducer offset Bristol Maps cannot see.
- Imported depths build chart tiles the same way recorded depth does, and you can rebuild or delete them from My Charts.
- Delete All… with “also delete survey data” removes them along with everything else. There is no way yet to remove only the Olex soundings.
Sending data to Olex¶
Bristol Maps does not write Olex’s own file format. Olex 14.13 and later can import GPX, so use Export GPX on the Waypoints, Routes or Tracks tab (desktop) or the GPX page (mobile), and import that file in Olex. Older Olex versions can’t import GPX.