Objects with same name

It is probable the Garmin POI Loader app that is appending the numbers. I would think the GPS is probable using the name to identify the record and therefore must be unique. What makes naming to waypoints the same a need feature? I would think the three mountains named "high" will already be on the map. If you click the add waypoint icon, BC will append need numbers. Would it not be more useful to name the mount high-nearest city?

That's actually what I do .... but I would prefer to call them the same way. A "water source" is a "water source", when I find one on the trail i press "mark" and i would like to call it "water source", not "water source on trail XX".

Would not POI support in baseCamp be a better Solution. As you can tell from my previous response on POI, I don't use them much because they are handled differently in my Garmin's GPS and not available in BC. What if we had in addition to waypoints, tracks, and routes, and addition geodata object labeled POI. POI in BC could be named the same and not be an issue with Garmin current device. Seems like POI on the GPS were grouped in files and the user used the files to find POI. If Garmin is to maintain their lead, the will have to continue to attract none power users which just want to drag and drop. It probable would be too complicated but if BC could load POI by dragging a folder containing POI and put them in a file. Currently I think POI loader overwrites all POIs. Most GPSs won't allow BC to delete, just forget the suggestion. Garmin needs to make new GPS that support BC.

I've never used POI and POI-Loader, but I think that could be a nice solution, stated that actually there are hardware problems for having waypoints with the same name. I vote for this feature request: POI in BC. Together with beeing able to create lists and folders with the same name.

+1 for POI support and POILoader integration with BaseCamp.

The current POILoader now supports the "naming" of POI compressed files so that the generic POI file is not over-written. Since most of the newer Garmin GPS's support that convention this would seem to be a natural addition to BaseCamp.

And, we know that BaseCamp can import LARGE numbers of objects with the same name :D ;)

Sorry, but I also posted this in a Windows BaseCamp thread before I realized I was over on the other side (google search landed me there)

BaseCamp's insistence on unique names is the reason I have not upgraded my 62st's firmware to v3.4. I'm told to export my data to BaseCamp then delete my gpx folder then perform the upgrade then import back from BaseCamp. But I have multiple waypoints with identical names and I like it that way ('W' for walleye hot spots, for example) I do not wish to wind up with W54, W92, W203, etc. Nor do I wish to spend the better part of future evenings changing them all back. I can see that they are all at different locations on the map; why do they need to be unique waypoint names?

Just when I thought I was just starting to understand BaseCamp enough to enjoy using it...

Object naming

I'm surprised this thread has not had activity since 2011. I feel it is still an important issue. I'm a Windows BaseCamp user, but this naming issue is apparently not OS specific.

I used MapSource (on Windows) for several years before updating to BaseCamp (on Windows) about a year ago. I'm actually a Linux user and wish I could use BaseCamp on Linux. I had hoped that since they have a Mac version we'd be close to having a Linux version...but no go...I digress.

BaseCamp's "single database" architecture is confusing the heck out of a lot of people. There is plenty of proof of that on the Internet. I'm a computer programmer and a bit of a DBA--so while I understand the architecture, I don't like this choice in the BaseCamp design.

The foundation of this issue is that people want to treat each "list" as an individual adventure, and as such, an individual namespace. My primary use of BaseCamp is to create tracks and routes and waypoints for motorcycle adventures on backroads that include abandoned logging roads, trails, etc. I lead group rides and need to create GPX files to share with the folks running GPS units on their motorcycles. People like to use naming conventions. E.g. the "main loop" track (or route) is always named "MAINLOOP" while the optional harder sections are named like "OPT1", "OPT2", etc. With BaseCamp, you can't re-use an object name. Again, I understand the technical reasons why, but this data model does not fit the user model, and when you design a program or a user interface, you HAVE to fit the user's model...or frustrate your user base.

It would be great to have BOTH models: Consider traditional programming where you can have a global variable named "foo" and/or a local variable named "foo". The user (programmer) gets to decide which scope "foo" has. This flexibility might be hard to make simple for the user, but I'd like the choice to re-use object names for consistency in managing my data.

Like others in this thread have stated, I very much want to be able to name several points, for example, "water crossing" or "gas station". These simply let my fellow riders know that a creek crossing (sans bridge) is coming up or that there is a gas station nearby. This naming restriction is an issue even within a single list--let alone when compounded across hundreds of lists. Now every gas station I want a point for needs a unique name. "GAS1", "GAS2", "GAS3"....sucks.

The person who gave the "Wendy's" example---yes--like that. There are thousands of "Wendy's". No need to name them uniquely. (Unique identifier behind the scenes of course.) I have to admit, I'm not clear on what makes a POI different from a "Waypoint" as I don't usually deal with POI data, but maybe you guys are onto something with POI support in BaseCamp?

I'm writing on behalf of a friend who organises month long vehicle tours through various counties. Previously he's been able to use multiple sessions of MapSource on a large screen monitor to create waypoints with the same name and would find the option in BaseCamp very useful. Even if the waypoint name could only appear once in each list that would be an improvement. After all, the waypoints are in different locations so why not allow the same waypoint name to be used for multiple locations?

I'm writing on behalf of a friend who organises month long vehicle tours through various counties. Previously he's been able to use multiple sessions of MapSource on a large screen monitor to create waypoints with the same name and would find the option in BaseCamp very useful. Even if the waypoint name could only appear once in each list that would be an improvement. After all, the waypoints are in different locations so why not allow the same waypoint name to be used for multiple locations?

You can accomplish this through the use of multiple libraries. Each library can have the same name for a different waypoint. Go to Preferences->Advanced to set up these libraries. Just be aware that most devices do not accept waypoints with the same name. The behavior will range from having two waypoints with the same name to renaming the incoming waypoint to overwriting the old waypoint with the new waypoint.

As stated before you can start BaseCamp with a different library by clicking the .bclibrary bundle file in Finder. Hope this helps.

:confused: Thanks but where is: "Go to Preferences->Advanced to set up these libraries" ? Under Edit I see Options but there's nothing about Libraries in there. I was using BaseCamp version 4.2.0 so checked for updates and have now installed version 4.2.2 but cannot see what you are referring to. A search in the Help for "Preferences" drew a blank. A search for Library gave many results but mostly just referring to "the Library and Devices area". Oops sorry , after trying to find ".bclibrary" I now realise I'm in the Mac area of the forum, not the Windows section.