--- title: GPX file format --- # { title } The GPX file format is an open standard for exchanging GPS data between applications and GPS devices. It essentially consists of a series of GPS points encoding one or multiple GPS traces, and, optionally, some points of interest. GPX files may also contain metadata, of which the **name** and **description** fields are the most useful for users. ### Tracks, segments, and GPS points As mentioned above, a GPX file can contain multiple GPS traces. These are organized in a hierarchical structure, with tracks at the top level. - A **track** is made of a sequence of disconnected segments. Furthermore, it can contain metadata such as a **name**, a **description**, and **appearance properties**. - A **segment** is a sequence of GPS points that form a continuous path. - A **GPS point** is a location with a latitude, a longitude, and optionally a timestamp and an altitude. Some devices also store additional information such as heart rate, cadence, temperature, and power. In most cases, GPX files contain a single track with a single segment. However, the hierarchy described above allows for more advanced use cases, such as planning multi-day trips with several variants for each day. ### Points of interest **Points of interest** (technically called _waypoints_) represent locations of interest to show either on a GPS device or on a digital map. In addition to its coordinates, a point of interest can have a **name** and a **description**.