I see over on the Windows BaseCamp forum that the list based category feature is being dropped and a MapSource type of waypoint specific category function developed. Any chance we'll see it in the Mac version. Please.
Could someone explain what this is other than "just like MapSource"? I am blissfully ignorant of that application and would like to remain so.
The original "category" concept for waypoints provided a way of toggling one or more (or all) of 16 default waypoint tags on or off. The names of these could be defined by the user and this information was saved with the waypoint itself, independent of the desktop software. When waypoints were loaded to the GPS this information was loaded as well. Regrettably the process was one way, device created waypoints with categories were not transferred to the computer, even though AFAICT, the information was there.
The category information stayed with the waypoint and remained constant until user edited. It wasn't dependent on a desktop software location for it's definition and could be saved and then imported without any of the category information changing due to where they were placed in the file or collection structure. On older GPS units sorting or finding by category was allowed which made management of waypoints much easier. For example, a waypoint or many points that were temporary, needed only for a single trip, could be categorized "Temp", easily found and deleted when no longer needed. Another example would be a collection of waypoints categorizes as follows. "Accommodation", further defined with the category "Food" and then "$$" (as opposed to $$$), and then "Keep". At a glance I now know that this waypoint is a mid priced Hotel I've previously stayed in (or I trust some other rating) with a restaurant, the whole package being one that was impressive enough to return to ("Keep). I could further categorize this waypoint with a regional category, fuel proximity etc. You could even have an "Avoid" category, useful for fuel stations that didn't have premium fuel if that was an important issue. The important thing is, these categories were independent of the list they were in and didn't acquire more category names when included in more than one list. It was also possible to have a waypoint that had no category. Groups of waypoints with a specific use could then be created with totally different categories and saved with the knowledge that the underlaying categories would remain when they were imported, or the file specifically opened. Before anyone jumps on this, yes, it was not quite that straight forward but it could be done. This and two way category support was one of the things MapSource users were hoping for before development was halted.
In short, the user was able to define the category structure for their needs. All in all, a much more useful system IMO.
I see over on the Windows BaseCamp forum that the list based category feature is being dropped and a MapSource type of waypoint specific category function developed. Any chance we'll see it in the Mac version. Please.
Well there's always a chance :) We are doing our best to keep the Mac and Windows version in sync, so they should come out on both platforms during the same release.
