VicMap 1:25k topo maps and MacGPS Pro

The 1:25k topo maps for the whole of Victoria are now available through MapTrax. There is a package of sample files available for download to check whether the VicMap maps will work with your application: they are designed to work with Ozi Explorer on the PC, but if you want to run them on the Macintosh you will have to use your own application since Ozi Explorer doesn't run on the Mac. I downloaded the sample package but the .ecw file in the package would not import into MacGPS Pro with the coordinates set.

I wrote to James Associates and Larry James was quick to respond with the answer: when you try to import an .ecw file, MacGPS Pro looks for a .map file in the same folder with the same name if it can't find the georeferencing information in the file itself.

Unfortunately the .map files are named differently from the .ecw files they relate to, but the fix is simple: rename the .map file with the same name as the .ecw file (or vice versa), just keep the original extensions, .ecw or .map. Now when you import the .ecw file it finds the .map georeference file and sets the coordinates automatically.

So I bought the set. 846 maps. I copied the entire ECW VicGrid folder across from DVD 1 to the hard drive, took the "georef25k_" off the beginning of all the filenames using the freeware Name Mangler, then went through all the files manually and renamed the .ecw files with the same name as the .map files: I couldn't think of an easy programmatic way of doing it. So now I just find the .ecw file of the map I need and import it into MacGPS Pro.

To find the map I want, I've converted the mapping_program_25kindex.pdf file into several PICT files using Graphic Converter, then manually added the coordinates (using the .ecw files to find coordinates). I've assumed the projection is Transverse Mercator and the geodetic datum is GDA94, which isn't exactly true, but it gives enough of an indication of which topo maps to look on for a waypoint created on Google Earth or in MacGPS Pro.