How can I get timestamps from Garmin's .gdb files?

Question

I have got the some Gps data in the form of Garmin's .gdb files. I have converted it to CSV files using GPSBabel.

The CSV output contains Latitude, Longitude, and some kind of free form text remarks. I do not see any timestamps.

Do Garmin's .gdb files contain timestamps?

This is the first time, I'm working with this file format, so my understanding of the format/data is spotty at best.

Where can I find more information about this format? How can I get the TimeStamps of the Gps points?

AndreJ · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-10 05:41:58Z

1

It's not a matter of the gdb format, but the CSV output driver of GPSbabel.

If you select that, only waypoints are available for conversion, and additional information gets dropped. See http://www.gpsbabel.org/htmldoc-development/fmt_csv.html for more details.

On this page you will find a note that the gdb format is undocumented.

You better select GPX output, which can be read by QGIS and others, or try some other formats suitable for you.

answered Jun 10 '13 at 5:41

AndreJ

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+1 for solving my current Issue; But I'll still like to know more about the .gdb file. Not necessarily the specs of the format, but how it is used, and for what purpose. What kind of information does it contains? things like that. – Devdatta Tengshe Jun 10 '13 at 5:55
It is a binary format invented by Garmin for storing GPS route, track and waypoint data. They have not documented it officially, but Garmin BaseCamp and GPSbabel can read it. – AndreJ Jun 10 '13 at 6:13

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