Trying to recover details in some older tracks by digging into previous Garmin Database folders in my iMac's Library files

I've upgraded to macOS Catalina and gone back to BaseCamp to store my tracks and waypoints since HomePort will never be 64-bit, I guess.

I've got everything restored to the way I had it previously, but I got to thinking:

I'd like to resurrect some of the detail missing in some of my saved tracks (date and time, elevation data) which had been lost a while back when doing a previous import and not paying attention to the loss of some of the data in the process. It's not a crisis, but many of my tracks from prior to 2011 or so are missing this information and I am hoping that there is a way to go back into the Database folders of previous versions of BaseCamp to find them and recover these missing details.

Digging into the 7 folders for my version history via Finder > Go > Library > Application Support > Garmin > BaseCamp > Database > [folders 3.3, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.5, 4.6, 4.8] > TrackSegments reveals thousands of files such as 'F38154AC-6579-44C8-AE63-429F2460AF86' in each folder. (Right off, it seems a daunting task as there is no track identifying information in the file name...)

Temporarily renaming older folders to '4.8' (the current version) did not work; the resulting My Collection was completely empty.

Trying to point to one of the older folders within BaseCamp to choose a new library did not seem to lead to the proper Database folder location; trying Preferences > Advanced > Choose New Library > Macintosh HD > Library > Application Support does not show an enclosed Garmin folder.

Again, it's not a crisis, it just seems to me that I had somehow been successful at something similar in the past.

0 SUSSAMB over 4 years ago

At some point an update to BaseCamp I seem to recall removed the ability to read older databases, so that may be the issue you're now running in to.

0 daknudsen over 4 years ago in reply to SUSSAMB

That may be. But then, why does there exist a menu option within BaseCamp Mac for choosing a new library?

I don't believe that there are too many Garmin application designers who are all that familiar with the Macintosh OS... sigh.

0 SUSSAMB over 4 years ago in reply to daknudsen

You can still choose different or previous libraries, or set up new ones, but a while back IIRC the format changed so older databases can't be read, that is those that were created before the change.

0 daknudsen over 4 years ago in reply to SUSSAMB

Thanks. But help me understand the reasons, going forward, that I would want to set up a new library, or switch between any number of existing libraries. And, are these libraries just another term for the databases referred to in my original post?

0 SUSSAMB over 4 years ago in reply to daknudsen

Yes, sorry, library, database, both the same thing …

Having different databases can be useful, if you have a lot of data. For example you might want different ones for each country, or different devices, or each year etc etc

0 daknudsen over 4 years ago in reply to SUSSAMB

Sure, but I guess for that type of organization, I just use new list folders and lists.

0 SUSSAMB over 4 years ago in reply to daknudsen

Yep, that's the way I do it but others do it differently