What
GPX is an XML
format for GPS data. Many personal GPS devices now support
outputting their track logs to GPX. If you want to do something
fun with the data from your GPS device, then this might be a
good place to start.
Why
This gem is the direct result of my work on a site I once wrote called WalkingBoss (RIP).
It powered the trip creation and editing parts of the site. After talking
about WalkingBoss at a few different Ruby groups and RailsConf,
I was convinced that I really should release this code back to
the community. After all, a large portion of the site would not
exist were it not for the many other open source ruby projects I
used in creating it.
How
Version 0.1 of this library relied entirely on REXML for XML
parsing, which was convenient (no dependencies) but slow on
large GPX files. Since version 0.2, the library relies on
the libxml-ruby bindings.
Instead of taking minutes to run, the unit tests now take a matter
of seconds.
Who
My name is Doug Fales. I'm a software consultant in Montana.
I enjoy writing software but would rather be outdoors making
more GPX files on most days. If you would like to contact me
about anything (bugs, patches, or freelance work), I can be
reached at: doug [at] falesafeconsulting [dot] com.