How can you copy and paste a route without it being connected to the original.

Copy/paste creates a new link to the same route, not a new instance of the route. What you need is the option "Duplicate".
Some aspects of BaseCamp aren't that intuitive (especially when you are used to MapSource), but once you learn to use it, you will find out that it isn't that bad at all...

Copy/paste creates a new link to the same route, not a new instance of the route. What you need is the option "Duplicate".
Some aspects of BaseCamp aren't that intuitive (especially when you are used to MapSource), but once you learn to use it, you will find out that it isn't that bad at all...

Actually that's the dumbest thing in the world and it proves my point this software sucks. It should be a new instance and if you need to link them then you should have to select a different option.

The statement should be "ALL aspects of basecamp aren't that intuitive"

I use this software constantly and have created well over 200 routes and I'm always finding things wrong with it that make it difficult to use and time consuming.

Well if you simply understand the concept of a database, and that Basecamp uses a database, it works as it should. All you're doing when copying is copying the pointer to the data. If you want new data to work on you need to create a duplicate.

Well if you simply understand the concept of a database, and that Basecamp uses a database, it works as it should. All you're doing when copying is copying the pointer to the data. If you want new data to work on you need to create a duplicate.

Actually, according to Falagar's reply to one of my comments a few months ago (regarding Basecamp's GDB files) they never did get around to implementing the database underneath Basecamp as they originally intended. They're still using an extended version of GDB files. That's why they are having so many difficulties implementing some things that should be dead simple if they actually had a real database under it.

So the concept you have to get your head around is the single "Collection" and all its associated kludges.

Because of the potential for self-destruction, when you try to copy a route or list or whatever it should ask you if you want to create a duplicate of the original, or simply create links to it.

I understand the various conveniences resulting from just creating links to the originals. But I still forget that that's what's going on by default and, like the original poster, have managed to not just shoot myself in the foot but blow my whole leg off because I forgot that I have to explicitly "duplicate" if I'm about to do something that could screw up the original.

I may not appreciate the rude tone but, having been burnt myself, I tend to sympathize with the original poster's suggestion that "duplicate" should be the default copy action, as it is with virtually all other aspects of computing. (For anyone who doesn't agree with that last observation, please offer even one example where the copy function does NOT cause a duplicate to be created.)

...ken...

Copy in MapSource

Doesn't count....:(

Ken was talking about REAL software, not the freebie kludges Garmin offers....:mad:

Actually you can create a duplicate in BaseCamp with copy & paste...

The trick is to copy an item, then change something like the color of it, and use the paste command. Now you will get a duplicate. The same applies to MapSource.
What happens is this: the copy command puts the item on the clipboard; when you use the paste command BaseCamp compares the item on the clipboard to the items that are present in the BC database. When it finds an identical item BC creates a reference when you selected another list in the mean time, or does nothing. Now, when there are no completely identical items, a new one will be created. When the new item has the same name as an already existing one, BC appends "1" or "001" to the name.

This doesn't work in the Mac version of BaseCamp, because that one doesn't copy the complete item to the clipboard; only the name (and what type of item it is).

Copy in MapSource

You can't actually copy anything within a single instance of Mapsource. But if you open a second instance of Mapsource and do a copy in one and paste in the other you get a duplicate, not a link.

...ken...

Well, the "Duplicate" command in BaseCamp doesn't create an exact duplicate either, because the name will be different...