I am a member of a SAR team working a K9. When our group goes out we all use GPS to log our tracks. My husband receives the tracks from team members via email. The attachments are in .gdb format and he can't figure out how to use them in Base camp. There are a mix of Garmin gps in use from Oregons to 60cs, 60csx and etreks. How should the tracks be sent to him and how does he get them to open in boot camp for records of the search?
I am a member of a SAR team working a K9. When our group goes out we all use GPS to log our tracks. My husband receives the tracks from team members via email. The attachments are in .gdb format and he can't figure out how to use them in Base camp. There are a mix of Garmin gps in use from Oregons to 60cs, 60csx and etreks. How should the tracks be sent to him and how does he get them to open in boot camp for records of the search?
BOOT CAMP!! I love it. How exquisitely that equates with all our frustrations with BaseCramp....:confused::mad:
The answer is that any track that you get in *.gdb format must be imported into MapSource first, then exported as a *.gpx file to a folder, then imported into BaseCamp. I believe there are freeware converters that will do this, but I have used the above technique many times and know it works.
GDB files are created by Gamin's (obsolete) program MapSource. You can download it from here. Since you have BaseCamp already installed just run the downloaded installer package to install it.
I assume the team members are using MapSource to read waypoints/tracks from their individual units and are then emailing those to your husband. BaseCamp has an import function (in the File menu) that can be used to read GDB files but you'll probably get name conflicts (i.e. tracks and waypoints with the same name) as BaseCamp has a "single database" model that won't allow items of the same name. What I'd do is open the individual GDB files, in MapSource, and rename items in them to ensure they're unique (e.g. prefix all names with the initials of the person that sent it). You can then import the revised GDB's into BaseCamp one at a time.
PS: There's no need to convert the files to GPX format as BaseCamp can read GDB's directly.
The type of GPS receiver does not matter. As stated in a previous post, Import can be found under the File menu.
There is no need to do anything in MapSource. Anytime BaseCamp finds an existing object (track, route, waypoint) with the same name and type as one being imported, it will automatically append a number to the name of the imported object. If you wish to change the name, you can do that in BaseCamp.
I would recommend that your husband create a list, select it and import the files into that list rather than into My Collection. Folders/lists are a means to organize data, but they also act as a filter in the Map window. Only items shown a selected list or daughter items on a selected folder will appear in the Map window. If he wishes to organize them further, he can create new folders/lists, send the items there and then delete them from the import list when he is done.
One last thing, there are two types of delete in BaseCamp. One removes an item from a list, but not the database. The other removes an item from the database and all lists. An individual item can exist on multiple lists but it will exist only once in the database. Lists are not the same as MapSource files.
I would recommend that your husband create a list, select it and import the files into that list rather than into My Collection.
Agreed. I'm not sure how the OP wants to keep that data organized but by utilizing folders/lists in BaseCamp it could be accessible in multiple ways. For example there could be a folder/list for each SAR mission (e.g. named by place and date). There could also be a list for each SAR team member. As BTLAAKE points out this doesn't duplicate the data (i.e. only one copy of each waypoint/track in the database) but it can be viewed in different ways.
My BaseCamp 4.1.2 shows .gdb as a file/import option. Is this new to 4.1.2? I'm new to BC (four long days trying to learn the interface) so don't know how this worked (or didn't) in earlier versions.
When I try to import a .GDB file, I get the following error message.
"/Users/XXXX/Downloads/RT 7, Mt. Mag.gdb could not be found."
I'm using BC 4.1.2 on a MacBook Pro running OSX 10.8.3 and the files were exported by a friend who is running Mapsource on a PC. Does anyone know if this problem with the fact that these files were created in Mapsource on a PC or is it a problem with BC?
No. BC has had "import GDB file" for a long time. It may've even been in the original release (v2.x)--I don't remember.
When I try to import a .GDB file, I get the following error message.
"/Users/XXXX/Downloads/RT 7, Mt. Mag.gdb could not be found."
I'm using BC 4.1.2 on a MacBook Pro running OSX 10.8.3 and the files were exported by a friend who is running Mapsource on a PC. Does anyone know if this problem with the fact that these files were created in Mapsource on a PC or is it a problem with BC?
This would be a question for the Mac portion of these forums. From the error message it doesn't sound like a gdb issue, but an issue with finding the actual file. But the Mac team should be able to answer that better.
