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How to export and save MilX overlays

MilX layers that you have created can be saved locally with this function.

Overview

The file has the extension .milxlyz. In the case of individual layers, the layer name is used as the file name; in the case of several layers, the file is called LayerCollection.milxlyz. Vector and image layers are not saved.

Save Layers

To save one or more layers, follow these steps:

Step	Remark
	Open the layer dialog.
	Click the export button.
	Mark the layers that are to be exported.
	Click the green export button.

The layers are saved in your local download directory.

If you have loaded vector or image layers, these will not be exported with the MilX layers.

Undo and recovery — save MilX often

map.army provides a limited undo capability: the undo button at the bottom-centre of the map recovers the last deleted symbol(s) only. Other edits — placement moves, modifier changes, layer renames, deletes beyond the immediately previous one — are not undoable inside the app.

For real protection against mistakes (including accidental layer or symbol changes you only notice later), treat the Save MilX action above as your “save the document” workflow:

• Save frequently. A complete MilX export takes seconds; keep dated copies in your download directory.
• Before a risky edit (large delete, layer merge, work-mode switch) — save first.
• A saved .milxlyz can always be re-imported as a fresh layer if the in-app state becomes corrupted or unsaveable.

Export as KML / KMZ for Google Earth and ESRI Earth

In addition to the native .milxlyz save, map.army can export MilX layers as KML or KMZ for opening in Google Earth or ESRI Earth. This is the standard path for sharing a finished situation map with stakeholders who do not have map.army.

To export:

1. Open the Layer Manager via the Map Overlays button.
2. Click Manage MilX Layers to open the layer-management dialog.
3. Select the layers you want to export.
4. Click Google Earth Export.
5. Choose the format (KML or KMZ) and save the file locally.
6. Open the resulting file in Google Earth, ESRI Earth, or any other KML/KMZ viewer to verify.

KML/KMZ is a lossy export format compared to MilX — MIL-STD-2525 attributes are rendered as static graphics rather than editable symbol metadata. To keep the symbology editable, keep a copy as .milxlyz and use the KMZ export only as a snapshot.

For loading a KML/KMZ into map.army — see Layers → Import Overlays — Vector Layers.

Reading polygon vertex coordinates

To get the WGS84 coordinates of every vertex of a polygon or multi-point symbol drawn in map.army , export the containing layer to KML or GeoJSON and open the resulting file in any text editor. Vertex coordinates appear in the file as:

• KML — <coordinates> element inside <Polygon> / <LineString>, one lon,lat,alt triple per vertex.
• GeoJSON — coordinates array inside each Feature.geometry, one [lon, lat] pair per vertex.

For tactical graphics with many vertices, exporting to GeoJSON gives the cleanest machine-readable form. The vertex coordinates cannot currently be read directly inside map.army ’s UI — the export-then-read workflow is the supported path.

Cross-browser save workaround

If the green Save Layer button does not respond in your current browser — a sporadic issue seen on certain Chrome + macOS combinations — you can transfer your layers to a working browser via a MilX Share:

1. In the failing browser, create a MilX Share of your layers via Map Overlays → Share Military Map → Create New MilX Share (see How to create a share).
2. Copy the share link.
3. Open the share link in a different browser (e.g. Firefox or Edge).
4. From the working browser, save the layers to .milxlyz normally.

This is a workaround for an in-progress UI bug. If you hit this regularly, report the symptom plus your browser / OS version via the contact form so it can be reproduced and fixed.

Working with very large MilX layer collections

.milxlyz files with many hundreds of symbols or many layers can hit two practical limits:

• Failure to load — a layer collection that grows over months may accumulate empty layers and metadata that exceed the loader’s working buffers. Symptom: the file refuses to open and the app shows a load error.
• Slow editing — even when the file loads, painting and modifier edits can become sluggish.

Mitigations:

• Periodically clean up empty layers — delete layers that hold zero symbols via the Layer Manager (see Edit Overlays).
• Split very large operations into multiple files — for example one .milxlyz per phase / per unit / per sector.
• For a layer collection that already fails to load, save your local copy and contact us via the contact form — we can manually trim the file as a one-off recovery.

Exporting MilX in an older format version

When you need to exchange a layer with a system that expects an older MilX format version — for example KADAS Albireo, or another MIL-STD-2525 consumer pinned to a specific MilX version — open the layer-management dialog and set the target version in MilX-Layer Advanced Settings (under Options → General) before exporting. The export then writes the layer in the requested MilX schema.

map.army can write older MilX versions for export but always reads the current version on import — round-tripping through an older format may drop attributes that exist in the newer schema.