Things that I cannot accomplish in Mac BaseCamp

1. Subfolders to better organize Waypoints, Tracks, & Routes
2. Smart folders that allow you to filter (query) by entering any part of the name or comment.
3. A third column in the object list of Type - Name. I would like to see the state or province for waypoints and total distance of routes and tracks. A filter to find all waypoints in a state or province.

These are not really request for task that I can't currently accomplish but the would make it easier to organize your geo-data, compare different routes and find waypoints, routes, and tracks.

Things I like most:
View in google earth
Geocaching support (GPX eXchange files)
Drag and drop route change.
Mounting of My Devices
Folders to organize geodata

Make minor roads more easily seen.
i.e. minor roads are sometimes obscured by the overstated visual properties of major roads.


When composing routes I use the drag and drop editing feature to move my route onto the roads I want to use.

Here's a screen shot from Mapsource 6.13.7 The little road with the red arrow pointing to it is the one I want to use.



Here's a screen shot from BaseCamp 2.1.1 beta. It is nearly impossible to choose these little roads when they are covered by the Interstate.



These are created with CNNTNA 2009 maps. Even at higher zoom levels it is still too difficult to make these choices in BaseCamp or RoadTrip.

Retain all information contained in a POI when transferred to the Zumo as a Favorite.

That statement is hard to explain.
It's one of those things that should just work.
So here are the steps to illustrate the comment.

First use find in BaseCamp. Select any POI that is built in to the map data. Click the "Create Waypoint" button at the bottom left of the find results pane. You'll get a waypoint in the current folder in the user data pane of BaseCamp.
Look at it's properties You'll see something like this.



Transfer that waypoint to your Zumo550. ( I specify that because this might work with other Garmin Models, I have no way to test others)

Import that into your Favorites. And take a look.



No Address information. So you might think that's not a problem.

We all have found out that geocoded addresses are not always accurate.
As I am looking for a place I sometimes need to be able to know the street number in order to pinpoint it, especially if the place were in a more rural location. I find the location of addresses are more likely to be inaccurate in rural areas. And rural areas I am more likely to have no cell phone signal, so the phone number is of little use in that instance.

Seems to me since that information is contained in the Map Data that is already in my Zumo I should be able to view all the information in the Favorite.

At least BaseCamp does give me the phone number and if my phone is paired I can dial it from the gps screen. RoadTrip gave me nothing but the name of the Favorite.

I've not tested this in MapSource, but as a user of the application I would expect it work there also.

I know it can be done properly. I have POI files of Motorcycle dealers that came to me as GPX files, and they work correctly. Seems it is just a matter of making BaseCamp produce the proper xml syntax to make it right.

That seems like a Function that any average user would expect.

In the order of importance to me:

-Custom avoidances. In a perfect world they would be transferable to my 478. ;)

-The ability to categorize waypoints and customize the categories.The ability to filter on category as well as designate a default symbol.......

-The ability to use custom waypoint symbols.

-Stop the creation in the collection of every via or shaping point. If I want it included I'll make it a waypoint. This also extends to the beginning and end points that are created by the routing tool. Having 40 or 50 numbered points in my collection that just point to the point on a route that forces the routing I want is just clutter. Multiply this by 30 or 40 routes and it's madness. Include them in the route property window only. This also solves the problem of having to go into the collection and delete all of the now useless points if you delete the route they refer to. In the course of a collaborative planning session I may have to deal with the creation and deletion of many hundreds of via points per route.

-Denny's point about minor roads above is a valid one. The Adventure MC group has always wanted a way to make the major roads disappear at a pre-set zoom level or by the use of a toggle. Going back to the old look of pre 16.5 MapSource version would also be an improvement. It's easily done in the PC versions. I've converted all of my current maps and run them in 6.13.7. It's just so much easier to find the secondary or unpaved roads on the old graphics. Anything that speeds up the graphic performance is welcome. I use the hand tool extensively and smooth fast accurate scrolling at all zoom levels and in all directions including diagonally is a must.

-As above, nested sub-folders.

-Track log filtration, both speed and distance criteria.

-I've learned from the other discussions that there are ways to have different collections but the reality is that the method is cumbersome at best. I need a way to easily manage my extensive .gdb archives without importing the whole lot into BaseCamp.

-Another vote for a third column in the object pane. Total distance for routes would be good, cumulative distance as you plotted a route that became total when finished would be great. It would also be nice to have a toggle to hide/view the panes.

The following are more of a "It would be nice if"

-Extend the functionality of the geo-tagging to include a method of tagging a simple web link. For example, it would be nice to have the ability to link a restaurant waypoint or POI to an online review.

-Include a menu/sub menu/ keyboard shortcut for a duplicate and move command. Most times I just want to pluck out a few routes or waypoints from a folder and drop them into a new folder for editing without changing the originals. Duplicating and then copying or dragging the resulting dupe is an unnecessary second step IMO.

-Don't launch the ^@*&%* route property window until I want to see it. I'm constantly closing the thing to get it out of my way.

-Allow the export of a folder to .gdb format. I understand the programming nightmare your question has unleashed. :) I don't expect to see very many changes very soon so MapSource (6.13.7) will remain my planning tool for the next while I'm guessing. This would just simplify the process a bit.

Here's a screen shot from Mapsource 6.13.7 The little road with the red arrow pointing to it is the one I want to use.

I'd like to expand a bit on this. There's a real reason many of us prefer the old look. Here's my example taken from CNNTNA 2010.4





Which one gives you the most information at a glance?

My biggest wish is for better looking maps like KILLTIMER showed above.
Full screen view toggle - Command-F rather than find.
Invisible Via Points
Higher detail without having to zoom in.
Screenshot ability
Route color selection
Route highlight transparency option.
Map Printing "scale to fit" option.

After looking at some other examples between MapSource 6.13.7 and BaseCamp I've noticed the scale of the maps is totally different. Is this the same issue that's being discussed at length in the MapSource forum? There's a large difference between 6.13.7 and 6.15.X. Which scale is correct?

Since we were going off on a bit of a tangent with regards to map drawing, I've moved that bit of the discussion off to this thread.

Also, while I understand that our more advanced users will have more specific feedback, I'd like to encourage more general, task-based feedback where possible.

For example:
"I'm having a hard time organizing my data. Folders are giving me these problems..."
instead of
"I'd like to be able to use a document-based model."

Examples are fine, but we'd like this to be a discussion focused on what you're trying to do rather than how you used to do it. We want to provide a flexible, capable app for our users, and we also want to make this an easier, more intuitive experience than past releases.

Also, while I understand that our more advanced users will have more specific feedback, I'd like to encourage more general, task-based feedback where possible.

For example:
"I'm having a hard time organizing my data. Folders are giving me these problems..."
instead of
"I'd like to be able to use a document-based model."

Examples are fine, but we'd like this to be a discussion focused on what you're trying to do rather than how you used to do it. We want to provide a flexible, capable app for our users, and we also want to make this an easier, more intuitive experience than past releases.

Fair enough, but some feedback on what is possible would be nice. As it stands, I've moved my two major planning projects to MapSource for the reasons I've listed above. In fairness, the current version of MapSource is not an improvement and had it not been for the ReverseMap app that allows me to go back to 6.13.7 with my current maps, It would be a toss up. Maybe future releases of BaseCamp or RoadTrip will meet my needs.

Can't use Shaping points like in MapSource

Edit 3/5/2010

Well of all things, I just discovered through experimentation this function is supported.
Just hold down the option key when dragging the route and the viapoints become invisible when transferred to the Zumo 550.


I wish this kind of thing was documented so we didn't have to expiriment to find out about it.



Shaping Points are a feature of the Zumo series and some other more advanced units. This function is supported pretty well in MapSource, but minimally in BaseCamp and RoadTrip.

Since most Garmin users do not have units that support Routes, and even fewer have units that support Shaping Points, I have prepared some detailed screen shots and explanation of those functions here:

http://homepage.mac.com/dennyhenderson/Zumo/ShapingPoints/

I am trying very hard to use the Mac Applications to do my trip planning for the upcoming year. The lack of full support for these Shaping Points is making it very difficult.

There is some workaround here:
http://www.javawa.nl/macgpx_en.html
It is a helpful tool, but not as elegant or as easy as using MapSource to produce similar results. And that's the problem the result is not as elegant as the same task in MapSource.

In order to have a full featured application that supports the Zumo series the implementation of this function is necessary.

Old school GPS users used Tracks for navigating in many areas where the trails and roads were not routable. There are thousands of .gpx files available on the internet. Importing these into RoadTrip or BaseCamp result in Many more waypoints than are desirable if those are converted to Routes. Some have mentioned that bulk editing of waypoints would be a desirable feature. Along with that a way to change a waypoint into a shaping point would also be very desirable. Importing some of the Track files found on the Internet could be much simpler and very useful to Zumo users if we could have the ability to change the point type in the viapoints properties pane.

I'll try to investigate the .xml code produced by MapSource, RoadTrip and BaseCamp. I am not sure I can ferret out the differences there, so I have attached all of the related gpx files to the webpage linked above.

I prepared a web page in my own webspace because my image quota on this forum is full. I do not communicate as effectively without graphic illustration.