Made a serious attempt to use Base Camp today

Looks like another difference between the way that Mac and Win versions work.

The learning continues.......added a bunch of tool bars and one is the insert tool. That saves a step. Better but still seems to take longer getting the route off the interstates and on to the back roads. After comparing this in both Mapsource and BC, once you have BC set up route edits are click, click, and grunt versus click and grunt.:D Was able to connect my daughters Nuvi 2555 to BC without over writing the waypoints this time. Made a new list within the stuff I was doing for our trip without interference between the too. Made a new route for the 2555. Used it to go to a leap year geocaching event. All that worked out and removing the new list without messing up the summer trip list went well. Did find I could not have multiple windows of BC running like you can with Mapsource. With Mapsource I use copy and paste between windows and so far in BC all I can do is import.

Why would you want multiple windows in BC? You can have multiple folders/lists and swap between them. You can also drag/drop or do a send to from one list to other lists. Perhaps you could explain what you're needing to do that makes you want multiple windows?

As for route edits, do you mean rubber banding? For that it's simply Alt + grab (using hand tool)

Why would you want multiple windows in BC?...

Should be obvious... You get multiple views of the map and you can display things independently rather than having it all cluttered on a single map. I find it extremely handy at times.

@scrubjay76, you can copy/paste between Mapsource and Basecamp, both directions. I still use Mapsource as my preferred planning tool for a bunch of reasons, and use Basecamp for the few things Mapsource doesn't do. I just copy/paste back and forth.

...ken...

Should be obvious... You get multiple views of the map and you can display things independently rather than having it all cluttered on a single map. I find it extremely handy at times.

Guess not to me. Can't think why I'd want multiple views of the map? You can display things independently in BC, I have my data organised in appropriate lists, find that far easier than trying to run multiple windows.

When making the switch from MapSource to BaseCamp it helps to come to some sort of grasp of the design similarities and differences. I like to think of both applications and database applications. Both applications require that an object name can only be used only once for each object type (waypoint, route etc.).

Data is organized in MapSource using the Windows file system of folders and files, where each file is a separate “database”. BaseCamp has a single “database” open at any given time and an organizational system built within the application using folders and lists. But these folders and lists are not part of the Windows file system – you will not find a Windows file/folder for each list and folder created in BaseCamp.

Lists in BaseCamp are not the same as files in MapSource. A BaseCamp list only contains a reference to an object in its database. This allows the same object, say a Waypoint called Home. to be organized and crossed referenced in multiple folders/lists. Make a change to the Waypoint anywhere in BaseCamp and it is changed in all lists and objects (Routes) that contain that reference. In MapSource that Waypoint would exists in multiple files (“databases”), each containing all the information for the object and each would be considered a unique object in a separate “database”.

In BaseCamp, you will only see the objects within a selected folder or list. Moving objects to a temporary list is one way to further reduce clutter.

So let’s look at some simple tasks. Can you import data into a file in MapSource other than downloading from a device? No, you have to open another image of the application and copy/paste between Windows. What if there is a Waypoint with the same name in both Windows? MapSource will check to see if the objects are the same (note: not all fields are checked) and give you the option of replacing or not importing the Waypoint. If you want both Waypoints the name of one will have to be changed before the copy and paste. Data can be imported into BaseCamp from a file, but there is no checking other than the object name/type. If an object of the same type and name already exists, the name of the imported object will be changed and it is up to the User to deal with. It is best to always import or download data to an empty list.

Let’s say you want to create a new Route based on an existing Route in MapSource without altering the original. One way in MapSource would be to open another image of the application, copy the Route to the second Window and begin playing with it. One method in BaseCamp would be to create an empty list and copy/move the Route to this new list (what actually is moved or copied is a reference to an object), then duplicate it and remove (not delete) the original from the list if desired (remember in BaseCamp, you are copying/moving references between lists. The Duplicate command creates a new object in the database). If the route contains Waypoints, you will be given the option of duplicating them as well. If you plan to alter the Route by changing the location of Waypoints, they should be duplicated. If you are only going to add/move via points created by clicking on the map it is not necessary.

Let’s say you did not duplicate Waypoints when you duplicated the Route. If you move a Waypoint, its location will also change in the original Route and also the Waypoint itself. Again, lists only contain a reference to an object in the "database", they do not contain objects themselves. You can reorder points within a Route without altering the original.

I hope this will help move you further up the learning curve.

Guess not to me. Can't think why I'd want multiple views of the map?

I understand. Not everyone needs every feature of any device or software app. But for every feature that has no value to you there might be dozens of others for whom it is quite useful.

As BTLAAKE has already pointed out, it's useful to me to be able to pull up a route or track from a previous scenic motorcycle trip in one Mapsource instance to use as a viewing baseline then open it again in another instance of Mapsource and play around with modifications to create a new trip. This lets me flip between the two different views; one as the reference and the other as the possible new trip.

This has two advantages to me, versus Basecamp. Number 1, you simply can't do this in Basecamp because you are locked to a single view of the map. Anything you want to view MUST be viewed in that single instance. This creates all sorts of hassles. You end up with a cluttered map. You have to do workarounds to be able to visually distinguish the original route from the new one you're playing with. Etc.

Number 2, as BTLAAKE took pains to describe above, you have to constantly be aware of a whole bunch of unwritten rules about copying/duplicating/moving things between lists so as not to mess up everything in that single database. In this example, the only "database rule" you need to remember with Mapsource is: if you want to save both the unchanged original route and the newly developed route you need to remember to change the name on one of them when you save. That's it.

One of the things BTLAAKE didn't mention above is that if you do something like this you will also have a mess to clean up in Basecamp when you're done, especially if you decide you don't want to keep the new route. In Mapsource you simply close the instance with the new route without saving and - Poof!! - it's all gone.

There are other examples where I find it quite convenient to have two or three or more instances of Mapsource open. I have occasionally had as many as five open at once when planning some complex multi-day offroad motorcycle trips. This involved map views with different versions of previous trips, the new trip being planned, and the same view on different map products, eg. the new trip on a plain road map like City Navigator or Metroguide Canada for a clean uncluttered view, two or three older tracks in the same area displayed in separate instances of Mapsource on Topo Canada, and a view of a near-final version of the new trip displayed on a different topo product (Backroad Mapbooks) to allow for verification of campground locations, etc.

I wouldn't even try something like that in Basecamp. In Mapsource it's trivial.

You can display things independently in BC, I have my data organised in appropriate lists, find that far easier than trying to run multiple windows.

It doesn't matter how you organize things in Basecamp. You cannot display things independently and simultaneously side by side.

If it's impossible to do, or a real pain in the butt to do, you likely won't even consider doing it. After using a product for awhile and learning its strengths and weaknesses we not only do things without thinking about it, we also do NOT do things without thinking about it. So, how much of what you don't/can't imagine doing in Basecamp is because you don't need to and how much is because you know, without even thinking about it, it's not worth the hassle?

...ken...

I used MapSource for years and am glad I'm away from it. How you manage with five windows open at once I don't know, would take me most if the evening to arrange them on my screen so I could see them lol

Far prefer it all on one screen, with separate routes differentiated by different colours. I also don't have an issue with copying/deleting etc or end up with a 'mess' afterwards. I accept you need to be organised but just guess I am.

Clearly the way it works suits you and I guess you'll never change, I've moved on and certainly wouldn't go back to MapSource.

GE Zoom

Nope, that doesn't happen for me. The route shows up in GoogleEarth if it is selected in BaseCamp and I zoom in and then I select the "View Current Map Area in Google Earth..."

The first URL below is to a screengrab of BaseCamp, the second is to the view that opens in GoogleEarth (I tried putting actual links but for some reason the forum software wouldn't let me do that!)

https://augustfalcon.smugmug.com/MiscPublic/i-KqXtSWX/0/M/BC1mbc-M.jpg
https://augustfalcon.smugmug.com/MiscPublic/i-jGHb7mq/0/M/GE1mbc-M.jpg

Windows version does not do that. If you highlight a route and view in GE, it zooms out to show the entire route. You can select view Center of Screen, but then it does not transfer your route or waypoints to GE.