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BaseCamp database and Track/Trip Log details

Former Member
Former Member over 11 years ago
I just discovered something that could affect many users.

BaseCamp, unlike MapSource, does not save track/trip log details (timestamps etc) in it's database GDB file (Alldata.gdb). Instead when you import (through whatever means) a track/trip log BC stores many of those details in a file or files in the TrackSegments folder.

So why is this relevant? Well if you copy a BC database to another location or machine and don't copy the files in TrackSegments you lose all the details in your track/trip logs! In short you must copy the whole Database folder.

PS: In my case I was able to restore, from a backup, the entire Database folder from a few days ago and get everything back :)
  • 0 over 11 years ago
    Thanks for the notice. I believe that the TrackSegments file is indeed carried over in a normal BC backup/restore operation. But the geotagged photos are not?
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 11 years ago
    That is done as a performance improvement so BaseCamp does not have to load all the track information on every start-up even if the user might not display track details. This can be very significant for users with lots of tracks in their database.

    Just backing up AllData.gdb and FolderData.gfi has never been the recommended way to back-up.

    Use the built-in backup function and all data (including all track data and Geotagged photos) will be backed up. Under the hood, all the backup function does is ZIP your entire %APPDATA%\Garmin\BaseCamp folder (not just the %APPDATA%\Garmin\BaseCamp\Database folder). Restore unZIPs the file back into the database location.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 11 years ago
    Yeah. I don't use the BC backup/restore mechanism because I have about 2.5GB of BirdsEye images (.jnx files in JnxFiles) and I don't need to transfer those. What I do do is copy databases between machines (update one box and propagate the database to another). My actual Database folder (and subfolders) is relatively small so I'll just copy the whole thing.

    PS: When I referred to "backup" I meant a disk backup. All my machines get backed up daily/weekly.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 11 years ago
    Under the hood, all the backup function does is ZIP your entire %APPDATA%\Garmin\BaseCamp folder (not just the %APPDATA%\Garmin\BaseCamp\Database folder).


    Those paths are for the default database location. I assume backup/restore works for user-defined database locations as well. In my case I keep my databases on another drive in a custom location.