Post by Steve HayesMy wife has to go somewhere tomorrow and downloaded a map that she wanted me
to print out, so she sent me the file, and I found it has an .ospx extension,
and my computer could not open it.
Why do Google maps send files in such an obscure format that I'd never heard
of it before?
I did a web search, and found here
http://www.pagemarktechnology.com/home/products.html
that I would have to pay $US 169 to print a one page map!
Is this the future of computing?
"You cannot open an .oxps file in Windows 7"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2732059
1. Install the OXPS to XPS converter tool
2. Use the tool to convert the .oxps file to an .xps file.
3. Use XPS Viewer to open the .xps file.
32 bit converter for 32 bit OS (.oxps to .xps), for Win7 only
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3c696281-02c9-43a8-b8a0-9d32028b7f21
64 bit converter for 64 bit OS (.oxps to .xps), for Win7 only
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=b2bbd7eb-c26f-4875-a124-67e0e68597e7
*******
There doesn't appear to be a path to go from OXPS on Windows 8.1
to XPS on WinXP directly. The XPSviewer.exe on WinXP no longer starts here
(it won't run for me). It seems broken.
The following has four packages, two for WinXP 32/64 and
two for Vista 32/64. Select the package right for your system.
That may give a working XPS Viewer, you never know. And indeed it
does. This tool takes the place of XPSViewer.exe on WinXP. It
still (stupidly) will not open an .oxps.
(XPS Essentials for WinXP)
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=11816
Version: 1.2 Date Published: 12/2/2010
File Name: File Size:
XPSEP XP and Server 2003 32 bit.msi 7.5 MB <--- Tested on WinXP
XPSEP XP and Server 2003 64 bit.msi 9.7 MB
XPSEP Vista 32 bit.msu 1.9 MB
XPSEP Vista 64 bit.msu 2.8 MB
After installing that on this WinXP machine, the new
executable added is "XpsRchVw.exe".
*******
Google Earth details:
When I printed from Google Earth, on a Win8.1 machine without
any additional print drivers, I was faced with the Microsoft
XPS Printer (print to file) driver.
Fortunately, for Google Earth, they tend to prepare a bitmap
image of the screen. There are some decorations at the bottom
of the page, but they don't add much value. So the map
fortunately, is a bitmap image, which saves many steps.
I printed on Win8.1, from Google Earth standalone tool,
to "map.oxps".
I booted Windows 7 SP1, installed the 64 bit converter
Windows6.1-KB2732059-v5-x64__Oxps2xps_converter_win7.msu
and when clicking on the .oxps from the previous step,
was offered an "OXPS to XPS" converter tool. I didn't
check to see what the executable name was.
This produced an XPS file.
I carried the XPS file back to WinXP, and XpsRchVw.exe
both ran and was able to view the document. For a person
on WinXP, this is the path you'd take, to get from the
Win8.1 output, to viewing on a WinXP screen. If you
were instead using Win7 as your main machine, you
should be able to open the XPS file on Windows 7,
after the converter is finished with it. In fact,
the converter opens the file for viewing anyway,
so you immediately get to see the doc, right
after conversion.
*******
Bonus step:
This avoids *ALL* of the above.
Take the "map.oxps" from Win8.1.
The following works on any Windows that can run 7-ZIP.
Using a modern copy of 7-ZIP, open the archive. The file
is in fact an archive, like a ZIP file.
Once 7-ZIP opens the archive, you will see
Documents\
Metadata\
_rels\
FixedDocumentSequence.fdseq
[Content_Types].xml
Continue to open folders inside 7-ZIP. Navigate
to Documents\1\Resources\Images and you will find
1.PNG
and a couple more files. Click the 1.PNG to
highlight it, select Extract from the button
bar at the top of 7-ZIP. I know this is the
file I want, as it is the biggest file in the
folder. And is likely to be a snapshot of the
screen in Google Earth view.
Now, open that image in your image viewer.
That image contains the essence of the map.
Ready to print. No converters necessary.
No $169.
Paul