Cue Sheet Maker

An EXCEL add-in, called CueSheetMaker, can be used to make cue sheets from files saved from any of several mapping programs: MapSource, DeLorme, TOPO!, and GMapToGPX files derived from Pedometer. Unfortunately, CueSheetMaker will not run on MacIntoshes.

Check out GooglyCue for a web based cue sheet maker that will run on all platforms.

Scroll down to “Setup and Usage” for installation instructions.

About CueSheetMaker.

CueSheetMaker takes a saved or pasted in file and processes it into cue sheets. Details about the several programs that prepare such saved files are accessible from the side bar hyperlinks to this left of this page. Please read the appropriate one for your interests. MapSource Paste is by far the easiest to use.

The CueSheetMaker icon bar looks like this:

The help button no longer works. I will fix this at some time.

The first two icons on the tool bar are used to load the output of various mapping programs. The first icon, which looks like a folder, may be used to load a saved file. The second icon, the paste pot, may be used to paste in the “Directions” information from a program — currently paste may be used only with Garmin’s MapSource.

To capture the “Directions” from MapSource, double click on the ride name at the left hand side of the MapSource screen and then on the “Directions” tab. Hi-light the directions information with Ctl A, and then copy them with Ctl C. Open EXCEL and click on the paste bottle in the CueSheetMaker menu bar, illustrated above, to obtain the “Edit cue sheet” similar to that illustrated below.

Double Click on the folder icon if you are using a saved text file as you would from DeLorme.

CueSheetMaker will then create an “Edit cue sheet” similar to the following for a read-in text file:

Very little editing will be needed for pasted in directions, but examine it carefully, because MapSource can omit turns and of course knows nothing about trails, which you may want to add to this edit sheet.

For saved files, editing will usually be needed. The WayPoint names can be expanded, and careful attention should be paid to “close” turns, since it is difficult to calculate these precisely. In particular, BR, and BL, should be inspected. In the above case row 9 should be R and not BR.

Lines can be deleted — select an entire line and right click the delete key. The lines will be removed when the cue sheet is made; and of course new lines may be added. (If lines are not removed properly, it is likely that you have not deleted them, but only blanked the cells. You may prefer to right click on a line and use the delete on the menu which removes the line from the Edit cue sheet.)

After revision, the above Edit Cuesheet appears as:

Once the Edit cue sheet is to your liking, click on the drop down list and choose a cue sheet template: the present choices are

The choices with “Heading” in their names contain heading information. Choosing “Three Stripes Heading” produces a cuesheet containing heading information. The following shows only the upper left quadrant of the such a cuesheet.

Note: I f a cuesheet is not produced, the most likely culprit is an active cell in the “Edit Cue Sheet” area. Simply click somewhere in a column after D and try again.

The ride name and other information may be filled in as desired before printing. Note that the long line has been broken into two rows — the breakpoint is at about 30 characters. Had there been more turns than space in a cue sheet, additional pages would have been produced.

If the cuesheet is not quite what is wanted, the Edit cue sheet may be revised and a new cuesheet produced, and of course one can create multiple cue sheets with different templates if desired. Reading in or pasting in a new .file will delete the existing workbook.

To edit an existing cuesheet, simply load in the EXCEL file

Set up and usage:

Download the program by clicking on the following link: CueSheetMaker. The downloaded file is a self extracting zip file: simply click on it to extract the files. The extraction program will open a save-as dialog which you can use to place the files wherever you like. If EXCEL is running, I suggest that you close it now.

If you are updating, simply replace the existing file named “CueSheetMaker.xla” with the new one, and you are done. The next time you open EXCEL, the updated file will be used.

Overview of the process:

  1. Download the file CueSheetMaker.exe to a folder.
  2. Double click on CueSheetMaker.exe, and fill in the “Extract to:” window by using the browse button and browse to the AddIns folder.
  3. Click “OK”.

Details:

Do not download the file CueSheetMaker.xla directly into EXCEL,instead place the file in the preferred AddIns location. In order to navigate to this location files which are ordinarily hidden must be visible. To make them visible go to the Control Panel and then Folder OptionsView and click the radio button for “Show hidden files and folders.” After this is set, the AddIns folder may be browsed to as follows:

For newer versions of Windows running EXCEL 2007 and 2010, it is something like                                                      “C:Users###AppDataRoamingMicrosoftAddIns”, where ### is a local name, often the user’s.

For older versions of Windows, it is It is something like “C:Documents and Settings###Application DataMicrosoftAddIns”, where ### is a local name, often the user’s.),

If neither of the above seem to work, you will have to fiddle around until you locate a normally hidden folder called “AppData” or “Application Data” and then the “Microsoft” folder somewhere under it, and the AddIns folder under that.

You must now activate the add-in inside EXCEL. Your goal is to bring up an Add-Ins dialog that looks like the illustration below. How you get to it depends on the version of EXCEL that you have — Microsoft changes things between versions for no good reason, but keep trying it is there.

For EXCEL 2007 click on the doohicky in the upper left of the widow, and then click on “Excel Options” at the bottom of this window, and then on “Add-Ins” at the left of the new window. Highlight “Cue Sheet Maker” in the list, and then at the bottom of the window make sure Excel Add-ins appears in the Manage drop down list and click “Go.”

For EXCEL 2010. If the “Developer” item appears at the top of the page, click it and then click on the Add-In icon with the yellow gear wheels. This should bring up the Mange Add-in drop down list shown below. If the “Developer” item does not appear, click ” File/options/Add-Ins”. A drop down box will appear at the bottom of the window with the word “Manage” at the left. Make sure “Excel Add Ins” appears inthe box , then click “Go.” The Manage drop down list below should appear.

For previous EXCEL’s, simply pull down the EXCEL Tools menu and then click on the “Add-ins…” menu item.

The Manage Add-Ins dialog that appears should resemble the following: “Cue Sheet Maker” should appear in the Add-ins list, and all you have to do is put a check mark on it and close the dialog with OK.

Add-Ins2

For older EXCELS you will then see a new menu bar like the following:

For EXCEL 2007 and 2010 you should see an Add-In item at the top of the EXCEL page. Click this to see the above menu icon bar