KML output cannot be displayed in Google Earth Web

[tomohiro-kond]

KML output cannot be displayed in Google Earth Web

Problem

I use GPSLogger to record GPS tracks as KML files.

When I import a KML file generated by GPSLogger into Google Earth Web, the track is not displayed.

Google Earth Web reports gx:Track as an unsupported element.

I confirmed the same behavior in both Firefox and Google Chrome.

What I tried

I tested the same GPS data in several ways.

1. Original GPSLogger KML

GPSLogger generates gx:Track like this:

<gx:Track>
    <when>...</when>
    <gx:coord>...</gx:coord>
    <when>...</when>
    <gx:coord>...</gx:coord>
    ...
</gx:Track>

Result:

• Google Earth Web: track is not displayed
• Google Earth Pro: track is not displayed

2. Reordered gx:Track

I changed only the element order inside gx:Track, so that all <when> elements come first, followed by all <gx:coord> elements.

<gx:Track>
    <when>...</when>
    <when>...</when>
    ...
    <gx:coord>...</gx:coord>
    <gx:coord>...</gx:coord>
    ...
</gx:Track>

The timestamps, coordinates and number of points were unchanged.

Result:

• Google Earth Web: still not displayed because gx:Track is unsupported
• Google Earth Pro: track is displayed correctly, including the time slider

According to Google's KML gx schema, this is the expected element order:

https://developers.google.com/kml/schema/kml22gx.xsd

3. Converted the same track to standard KML LineString

I converted the same GPS coordinates to a normal KML LineString.

For example:

<LineString>
    <tessellate>1</tessellate>
    <coordinates>
        longitude,latitude,altitude
        longitude,latitude,altitude
        ...
    </coordinates>
</LineString>

Result:

• Google Earth Web: track is displayed correctly
• Google Earth Pro: track is displayed correctly

I also tested a LineString using clampToGround, and that also displayed correctly in Google Earth Web.

What I would like

My main use case is viewing GPSLogger tracks in Google Earth Web.

Would it be possible to add an option to export KML tracks as a standard LineString, instead of only using gx:Track?

For example:

• gx:Track for applications that support timestamped tracks
• LineString for Google Earth Web compatibility

This would allow GPSLogger KML files to be imported directly into Google Earth Web without manual conversion.

There also appears to be a separate issue with the current gx:Track element order, because reordering only those elements makes the same track display correctly in Google Earth Pro.