In BaseCamp, with the main panel on the right displaying waypoints, there is a column headed 'Categories'. It's the last on the right. This is a property of waypoints that can be used on certain GPSrs such as my 276Cx. Been there since MapSource days.
I don't believe there is any way to edit this. If you have waypoints containing categories they will show. Once you delete all waypoints in a specific category then it'll disappear.
I'm guessing you want to remove categories from waypoints and not delete the waypoints?
Try clicking on the Category header to sort the waypoints by category.. Select all the waypoints for the category you wish to remove. Right click and choose open to open a property box for all the selected waypoints. Click on the Category tab and then click on the "x" next to the category name to remove it from all the selected waypoints.
If I remember correctly, a waypoint could belong to more than one category. If you used multiple categories, you may have to check the remaining waypoints individually. But do the bulk deletions first as this may reveal some of the waypoints with multiple categories.
In any case, removal of categories is done through the waypoint property window/category tab.
BTLAAKE is correct and I have used this to tidy-up some of my waypoints. It would appear that my problem is possibly within the 276Cx. My last trip was to the Isle of White, off the south coast of England, UK. I placed a number of waypoints made within BC, with "IoW" as the Category. One had "IoW" and "i", which I've deleted within BC. The "i" was an error that was not immediately noticed until now, preparing for my next trip.
On the 276Cx using the 'Find' button and then 'Menu', selecting 'Select by Category' both of these Categories, appear in the drop-down list. But no waypoints are found. Also none of the IoW waypoints appear in the 178 waypoints reported to be on the 276Cx at the top of the screen. Using the map, these IoW waypoints can be seen on the map and when selected the waypoint properties including the Category is displayed - "IoW".
This suggests to me that the waypoint database on the 276Cx is corrupted, else a bug or more.
Now as BC is a 'manager' of data within it's own computer based database, it is also the method of managing one GPSr's database. But Categories is missing.
Extra text added:-
I've now connected my 276Cx to BC and selecting the 'Internal Storage' in the Library tree, I can see the IoW waypoints that are missing from the 276Cx list of waypoints.
I've no experience with the Garmin's driving devices, but I will try to give you some things to try. I suspect that you will need to remove the offending Waypoints from the device and then reload them.
First, I would see if you can edit category names on the device, do a shut down and restart.
BaseCamp and devices have at least a limited syncing capability. To prevent issues in the future it would probably be best to correct everything in BaseCamp, delete and verify deletion of all objects on your device (Waypoints/Routes/Tracks), then upload corrected data from BaseCamp to the device.
If I were to do this, I would download everything on the device to an empty list in BaseCamp. I would check for duplicate objects - they will have a number appended to the name. Since you have already made some changes in BaseCamp I'm not sure if the device download will create duplicates or possibly overwrite the category changes you've alredy made in BaseCamp. Replace duplicate objects with the ones already existing in BaseCamp and delete the duplicates (not remove from list). If you created any Routes with the "ioW" Waypoints you should inspect these as well. Once this was done, I would do the removal of all data from the device via the device (not through BaseCamp), upload the list to the device and then remove the list in BaseCamp.
There are likely easier ways, but to some extent it depends on your usage of folders and lists to organize data in BaseCamp. For example, you could do a global replacement in a gpx file with a text editor like Notepad. But you must be careful that you use unique text for the Find/Replace (replacing "ioW" with "IoW" would not be a good idea; Instead include all or part of the tag name - "Category>ioW"). The potential problem you face is any syncing issues that could crop up in the future.
I did notice that a few of my waypoints (all made in BC and not using the ''Mark" button on the 276Cx) were duplicated on the 276Cx, so I deleted them one-by-one on the 276Cx. I guess that they were transferred from BC on two separate occasions. Never had this type of problem before, but I'm now only starting to manage waypoints in BC. In the past I've used MapSource.
I can't find a way to edit category names. I can delete a category from a waypoint in BC, but the hidden list of categories (in BC and 276) is not accessible, or I've yet to find where.
Looking in BC at all of my 528 waypoints, I can see that many have had '1' appended to the name. i.e. LPG32 and LPG321, there are a few LPG?? and LPG??1. Also 0?? and 0??1 such as 033 and 0331. These last 3 digit names are 276Cx automatically incremented names.
I think that the problem is that BC displays waypoints in many of it's Library folders and so they get transferred twice. Never had these type of problems using MS, where I had two instances open and just copied between sets (.GDB). I used MS for waypoints and tracks for my data from 1996 to 2011, when I became ill and unable to use GPSrs for five years.
I start my next trip on Monday, so wont have time for a complete sort-out until I return. Then I'll take your advice and re-start a new BC database, probably exporting as .GPX and then importing. Thanks again.
I think that the problem is that BC displays waypoints in many of it's Library folders and so they get transferred twice. .
This is a common misunderstanding in the way that BaseCamp operates. Selecting My Collection shows all of the objects in the database. When you delete an item here, you are removing it from the database. Other lists and folder/lists do not contain copies of the objects in your database. A windows analogy would be that they contain a short-cut to the object. This cuts down on memory costs by not repeating all the information that is contained in an object. It also creates the requirement of being able to remove the "short-cut" from a list or delete the object from the database. The latter option removes the object from the database and all "short-cuts" to the object in all lists where they occur.
I was hoping that there would be a way to edit category names on your device. There is no list of categories in BaseCamp, that is why you can't find it.
Lets assume you have lots tracks/waypoints/routes and many folders/lists. One way to solve your "ioW/IoW" issue would be to do the following: 1 create and empty list 2 select My Collection and set the filter to show only Waypoints. Select a Waypoint in the lower left pane, type ctrl-a to select all objects and send them to your empty list. Reset the filter. 3 your new list now contains all of the Waypoints in your database. Swap the lower left pane with the map pane and select Waypoints to see the Category column. 4.click on the category header to sort the Waypoints by Category. If some of your Waypoints are in multiple categories you should see all categories listed for waypoint. 5 the next step is to remove all the Waypoints that don't have the offending "ioW". You should be able to do large junks at a time. Click on the first Waypoint that doesn't show "ioW" then shift-click on Waypoint above the firts "ioW". You can then use the Edit Menu > Remove from list or right click and choose Remove from list. 6 your list will now contain only the Waypoints with "ioW". Ctrl-a will select all of the waypoints.. 7 Edit Menu> Open selected items or right click > Open will open a single Waypoint Property Window. A data field common to all selected items will show contents of the field others will be blank or show some indication that the field contents vary amongst the selected objects. 8 choose the Category tab. Click on the "x" next to "ioW" to remove that category from all of the selected Waypoints (steps above ensure that "iOW" is common to all of the selected Waypoints) 9 Add the "IoW" category using the Add at the bottom. Now all of the Waypoints will have the "IoW category. Close the property window, select the list you created in the upper left pane, right click and choose Remove (NOT Remove and Delete Unique Content).
As I wrote, there is some degree of syncing between a device and BaseCamp. it was added at some point to reduce the creation of redundant objects. Success will vary from device to device. To whatever degree it will work on a device it is important that the device firmware is up to date and that all data on the device was uploaded after BaseCamp added the syncing. It is best to use only BaseCamp to send data to your device to avoid issues..
When you are cleaning out duplicate waypoints you will need to check any routes you've created that may contain those waypoints. You will have to add the version of the waypoint you want to keep and remove the duplicate from the route.
Once you get BaseCamp cleaned up, you will want to remove all waypoints/routes/tracks from your device, then upload the data from BaseCamp to your device.
