Coordinate Parser June 12, 2020
FAQ EN
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The coordinate parser is part of the coordinate functions. It is used with the coordinate insert function and with the variable coordinate tool. Its job is to interpret a meaningful coordinate (latitude and longitude) from a text.

Coordinates can be specified in various formats. The parser is limited to:

  • DEC (decimal degree; DD.DDD°)
  • DEG (degree, decimal minutes; DD° MM.MMM’)
  • DMS (degree, minutes, decimal seconds; DD° MM’ SS.SSS”)

Many other formats are not necessarily unique. For example, the values for SwissGrid and Gauss-Krüger basically look the same. They cannot be so easily distinguished from one another on the basis of a certain pattern.

But even with the above mentioned formats there are several differences in the way of writing. Let’s take the “geocaching format” DEG, for example. You can find it with and without prefixed N/E letters or with minus instead of S/W. With and without degrees/minutes/seconds signs, with comma or dot separator, with spaces and without, with or without leading zeros…

Here are just a few examples:

  • N 52° 12.312′ E 20° 12.312′
  • N 52° 12. 312′ E 020° 12. 312′
  • N 52 12,312 E 20 12,312
  • N52 12.312, E20 12.312
  • Nord 52 12.312, Ost 20 12.312
  • 52 06.312 S 20 06.312 W
  • -52 12.312 -20 12.312
  • 52 12.312 20 12.312

To ensure that the user gets as few problems as possible from GCWizard, the parser is designed for very high flexibility. However, problems can occur from time to time. Single characters can be enough to turn a seemingly valid format into a text that cannot be interpreted. Even if the parser tolerates a lot of typos, the user should still take great care. Should the parser fail, it is necessary to look carefully which character could lead to an invalid format.

Here are a few more random valid examples:

DEC:

  • 00.12312 S 000.12312 W
  • 52.12312N, 20.12312E
  • 52. 12312 20. 12312
  • 52 n 20 o
  • 92 Westen 0
  • +2.12312 -020.12312

DEG:

  • 52° 12.312′ N 20° 12.312′ E
  • 52 06 S 20 6 W
  • N 051° 39.688′ E 006° 27.336′
  • 52 12 20 12
  • N52 12 E20 12
  • -052 6 -20 06

DMS:

  • 52° 12′ 30.15″ N, 20° 12′ 30.15″ E
  • 52 12 45 S, 20 12 45 W
  • North 52 6 30.15, East 20 06 30.15
  • 52 6 9 20 6 9
  • N52 12 30,15, E20 12 30,15