Skip to content

--base-id Convention by Coverage Type

The --base-id flag of scripts/build-garmin-map.sh sets the numeric Garmin identifier of the compiled map (first of the 8 digits of the .img sub-file name in gmapsupp.img). It must be unique per coverage within the same Garmin family to avoid collisions when installing multiple maps on the same GPS simultaneously.

Automatic resolution

If --base-id is not provided, the script attempts automatic deduction from the first zone (e.g. D03838, cf. scripts/build-garmin-map.sh:580-584). For regions, quadrants and national coverages, no deduction is made — you must pass --base-id explicitly or follow the convention below.

Existing INSEE code ranges

Range Usage
0195, 2A, 2B Metropolitan departments
971978 DOM + Saint-Barthélemy / Saint-Martin
984 TAAF
986988 Wallis-et-Futuna, French Polynesia, New Caledonia
R11, R24, R27, R28, R32, R44, R52, R53, R75, R76, R84, R93, R94 Regions (INSEE regional codes)

No INSEE code exists for France quadrants (FRANCE-NO/NE/SO/SE) or for half-France or all of France — these are project-specific subdivisions.

Project convention (proposed)

The base-id values are chosen to avoid any collision with INSEE codes (notably DOM-COM in 971–988). The convention has three tiers:

Departments (tier 1–978)

→ Direct INSEE code (already automatically deduced by the script).

Metropolitan France:

Zone --base-id
D001 (Ain) 1
D038 (Isère) 38
D075 (Paris) 75
D02A (Corse-du-Sud) 201 (INSEE statistical code)
D02B (Haute-Corse) 202 (INSEE statistical code)
D095 (Val-d'Oise) 95

Special case: Corsica

Departments 2A and 2B (Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse) share the numeric prefix 2, which would cause a Garmin collision if both maps were installed simultaneously on the same GPS. The script therefore applies the INSEE statistical mapping 2A → 201 / 2B → 202 (codes used by INSEE in numeric datasets), guaranteeing their uniqueness.

Overseas (DOM + COM):

Zone INSEE code --base-id
Guadeloupe 971 971
Martinique 972 972
Guyane 973 973
La Réunion 974 974
Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon 975 975
Mayotte 976 976
Saint-Barthélemy 977 977
Saint-Martin 978 978
Terres australes et antarctiques françaises (TAAF) 984 984
Wallis-et-Futuna 986 986
French Polynesia 987 987
New Caledonia 988 988

Regions (tier 111–194)

100 + R-INSEE code: offset of 100 to exit the department range.

Region INSEE code --base-id
Île-de-France (IDF) R11 111
Centre-Val de Loire (CVL) R24 124
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (BFC) R27 127
Normandie (NOR) R28 128
Hauts-de-France (HDF) R32 132
Grand Est (GES) R44 144
Pays de la Loire (PDL) R52 152
Bretagne (BRE) R53 153
Nouvelle-Aquitaine (NAQ) R75 175
Occitanie (OCC) R76 176
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA) R84 184
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PAC) R93 193
Corse (COR) R94 194

Quadrants & national (tier 910–999)

→ Range 910–999, strictly above regional codes (≤ 194) and below DOM-COM (≥ 971) for quadrants. The national code 999 remains safe as no INSEE territory reaches this value.

Coverage --base-id Description
FRANCE-NO 910 North-West quadrant
FRANCE-NE 920 North-East quadrant
FRANCE-SO 930 South-West quadrant
FRANCE-SE 940 South-East quadrant
FRANCE-NORD 950 Northern half (FRANCE-NO + FRANCE-NE)
FRANCE-SUD 960 Southern half (FRANCE-SO + FRANCE-SE)
FXX 999 Metropolitan France (complete)

Potential conflict with DOM-COM

Values 971–988 are reserved for overseas INSEE codes. Never use a --base-id in this range for a project coverage; it is exclusively allocated to the potential publication of DOM-COM maps (department by department).

Defensive variant (optional)

To guard against a hypothetical future extension of COM INSEE codes, some projects place non-INSEE coverages in a 9xxx range (4 digits), completely disjoint:

Coverage --base-id variant
FRANCE-NO / NE / SO / SE 9001 / 9002 / 9003 / 9004
FRANCE-NORD / SUD 9010 / 9020
FXX 9999

This variant is more defensive but breaks the visual 3-digit consistency of other codes. The project retains the 910–999 convention, sufficient in practice.

Invocation examples

# Department (base-id auto-deduced from D038)
./scripts/build-garmin-map.sh --zones D038 --year 2026 --version v2026.03

# Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
./scripts/build-garmin-map.sh --region ARA --base-id 184 --year 2026 --version v2026.03

# South-East France quadrant
./scripts/build-garmin-map.sh --region FRANCE-SE --base-id 940 --year 2026 --version v2026.03

# Complete metropolitan France
./scripts/build-garmin-map.sh --region FXX --base-id 999 --year 2026 --version v2026.03

Installing multiple maps on the same GPS

The constraint is simple: two simultaneously installed maps must not share the same base-id. The convention above guarantees that a user can coexist on their GPS:

  • An Isère map (base-id=38)
  • An Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes map (base-id=184)
  • A FRANCE-SE map (base-id=940)
  • A DOM Guadeloupe map (base-id=971)

…without any identifier conflicts.

Comments

Comments are managed by Comentario, self-hosted at comentario.allfabox.fr. Posting a comment may set a session cookie.

Fund a summit