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Configure Basecamp suggestions..

TXBobcat
I have used MS for a long time and have liked it because it works like the standard applications over the years.

MapSource will no longer be supported so I have been trying to learn and work with BC. So I will be asking for a number of ideas on how to setup BC to work using my logic. My problem with BC is everything you do is in one file and it is like taking a cardboard box and setting it on the floor and putting all your business and personal papers in the same box then trying to find them. Yes you can put documents in different folders in the box. So here goes with the questions. I plan to update this thread so I can keep everything togeather in one place.

A bit of history. I retire in 2007 and sold my property and travel fulltime in a 5th wheel. Saying this, I have a lot of waypoints and routes in seperate files sorted folders by year. In the folders I have each route saved in the folder by year/month/day with a name of the from and to locations. Example, 2012-05-11 Springhill COE, Barling AR To Branson Stagecoach RV Mo. I have a MS file with all the campgrounds I have stayed at listed by name and state (this is in a MS file). I don't expect to configure BC to meet the way I have used MS. This is just to give you an idea of how I have been managing my maps.

About BaseCamp. I have a pretty good feel of how BC works and am getting use to it so I am really looking for info on how to manage my waypoints, routes and such. So here we go.

What is the difference between a Folder and a list? I do know you can put lists in a folder but in a way you still see all the same thing.
Example: We are escapees and I want to keep a list of them. I create a folder called "Escapees". In the folder I create a list called "Campgrounds" If I click on "My Collection" I see all the waypoints. If I click on the "Escapees" folder I see all the waypoints. If I click on "Campgrounds" I see all the waypoints.
This is so redundant. In the "My Collection" I expect to see everything. OK.. But in the folder I should only see the name of the lists. Then I open the lists to see what is there.
The way this is working out is to just save everything in "My Collections". You need some way to section or seperate information into logical parts.

What is the folder "Unlisted Data" for. If you make a waypoint, route or such it is in "My Collection". Why have it in two places. I would like to remove "Unlisted Data". I would also like to remove Garmin Adventures . If I want to do Adventures then I could activate it.

I would like to have a list/folder or what ever that I can have all my waypoints and list them by state. It would help me to think about going to a state and I could go to the list/folder and select the state and see if I already have the campground available.

I know how to backup my BC Data file and I can export the data to a .GPX or GPB file. I also know how to export selected items to a file.

So, I can maintain a database, export data to different files, backup the entire database.

I actually hope the infomation collected here will help me and others that have similar ideas.

I ask that the thread stay on topic because there is nothing we can do to change the way BC is written and we will soon not be able to use MS. Just as well learn to use BC and learn to use it to the best as we can. I have no real problem with BC, I just need to learn how to use it in a way that fits my logic. With your help I believe I can do this.

BC
  • 0
    Thanks for the comment Don. However there has to be duplication of POI names in the database. Walmart is located everywhere. It would be a shame that only one Walmart, Walgreens or whatever was in the country. So Duplication of names is possible. As I mentioned Streets & Trips will allow it. I know, "Then go use S&T" .. Won't work with my Garmin. I tried to use my computer as my GPS router but is is to big to use in my truck...

    I am really trying to use BC and can do so with some problems but if I express some of the difficulties and things that I look for hopefully these can be incorperated later on.

    Thanks again.

    BC
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    However there has to be duplication of POI names in the database.

    As I explained in my post above BaseCamp is a database application. Every data item (folder/list/waypoint/track/route) must have a unique name. I doubt that is going to change.

    Your choice is to give every data item a unique name or use MapSource.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    POI places are in the mapping software and you are correct, many have the same names like Vons.
    The mapping software is handling the duplicate names somehow, not BaseCamp.
    You can only access those POI's with a search and they are not in the BaseCamp data base.
    Pick a different map and you get a whole nuther batch of POI's and the previous ones are gone.

    Search a big city and get a bunch of Vons results then make a waypoint of several and BaseCamp will add numbers to each name to prevent "duplicate names".
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    POI places are in the mapping software and you are correct, many have the same names like Vons.
    The mapping software is handling the duplicate names somehow, not BaseCamp.

    Well maps are data not software. My guess is that POI and other data stored in map IMG file(s) are indexed via position (coordinates) and not names. They're thus all unique or stored in a way where it doesn't matter.

    BaseCamp stores it's database in two files:

    AllData.gdb
    FolderData.gfi

    Neither MapSource or BaseCamp allow duplicate names in GDB files. The assumption of both, at this time, is that names are unique. Since MapSource is file based one can have duplicate names as long as they're in different files (I probably have 4-5 different "Home" waypoints in dozens of files). Since BaseCamp uses a single database (AllData.gdb) you can't do that.

    In theory Garmin could change the underlying database implementation of BaseCamp and allow duplicates. However that is not a trivial change and I suspect it won't happen.
  • 0
    The AllData.gdb has pretty much the same structure as the GDB files MapSource produces: it is a collection of points, routes and tracks. The tracks are independent of the other two, but the points collection contains both waypoints and via points in routes; the routes section contains references to the points based on the name of the points. Because of those references it is necessary to use unique names. FolderData.gfi contains the folder structure in BaseCamp; again with references by name to waypoints, routes and tracks.
    Actually it would be a trivial change to assign unique IDs to each item and use that ID for the references instead of the names...
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    The AllData.gdb has pretty much the same structure as the GDB files MapSource produces: it is a collection of points, routes and tracks.
    Yup. It's been awhile but I've written software to do various things with GDB files. I haven't bothered with AllData.gdb (it has a newer format).
    Actually it would be a trivial change to assign unique IDs to each item and use that ID for the references instead of the names...

    I disagree but no point arguing about it. I'm not sure why Garmin used a GDB file for the BaseCamp database. Since it was created from scratch (perhaps there was some MapSource code reuse) I'd have expected something different.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    This is all very interesting but it's getting a long ways from the original poster's original question. Does anybody know what the limit is to the number of characters Basecamp uses to determine uniqueness?

    "Rainbows End" and "Rainbows End Entrance" are clearly NOT duplicate strings. They are in fact unique, by definition.

    So the only way the software can be deciding they are duplicates is if there is a limit on the number of characters used to determine uniqueness.

    Or as DATEZZ suggests, there is already another waypoint named "Rainbows End" in the database. ... But that seems unlikely if it is the creation of "Rainbows End Entrance" that is causing the error.

    ...ken...
  • 0
    I did some tests in BaseCamp on the Mac, creating waypoints with the name of the previous one and extending it with 1 character; I stopped when the name was 25 characters in length (but BC still didn't complain).
    While BC limits the length of automatically created names, I don't think there is a limit to the length of a manually entered name.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    The real issue is how long can waypoints etc be in a device. The long since obsolete GPS V only allowed 8 (I think). My 76CSx can handle 14, while my 1490T does around 56 or so. Whatever the BaseCamp limit is, if there is one, they'll be truncated when transferred to a GPS.
  • 0
    I don't know whether names are truncated by BaseCamp when waypoints are transferred to older devices like the GPS V or 76Csx (because there is no possibility to check that), but I know for sure that BaseCamp doesn't truncate anything when transferring to a modern device that uses USB Mass Transfer mode. The complete name will be in the GPX file that BaseCamp puts on the device.
    The name will be truncated by the device when displaying the waypoint, but it doesn't matter there; it is even possible to create multiple waypoints on the device with the same name! (tested on an Oregon and a Montana).
    This means that duplicate names are only a problem in BaseCamp (and MapSource).
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