BaseCamp fixes requests

Former Member
Former Member
Hi,

Firstly, standard Windows cut n paste keys

cut Shift-Delete
copy CTRL-Insert
paste Shift-Insert

Can we have these operational please.

Secondly, live data from GPS device. MapSource did it and I wish BC did - or have I just not found it ?

Thirdly - file handling...

Open and save file options are missing. Import/Export easily leads to file cross-contamination and things have to be regularly deleted from BC as it appears to just keep on collecting 'clutter'.

Fourthly - a carry-over from MS - track handling... (or was it Google maps ??)

When working on a portion of a track, BC sometimes jumps back to the beginning of the track - meaning WORK to return to where you were:
Show track
Select zoom tool
Select track portion
Select not zoom tool (this step is really annoying)
R-click track to view trackpoint details.

I'll come back with more issues as I find them !

Mike.
  • How about support for the GGZ file format? It was introduced by Garmin almost two years ago and is still not supported by BaseCamp. Don't their engineers talk with each other?
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    Hi,

    Firstly, standard Windows cut n paste keys

    cut Shift-Delete
    copy CTRL-Insert
    paste Shift-Insert

    Can we have these operational please.



    These are rather old-school "standard" Windows and apply to a diminishing number of applications. According to Microsoft:-

    CTRL+C: Copy
    CTRL+X: Cut
    CTRL+V: Paste
    CTRL+Z: Undo
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    These are rather old-school "standard" Windows and apply to a diminishing number of applications. According to Microsoft:-

    CTRL+C: Copy
    CTRL+X: Cut
    CTRL+V: Paste
    CTRL+Z: Undo


    Decent applications accept both. No valid reason not to.

    This thing is running Win 8 but dir c:\ still works - I actually used it in 'anger' only last week (but with a considerably longer path on drive N: ).
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    Judging by the number of requests elsewhere to disable "confusing and unhelpful" shortcut keys your no valid reason not to might be an exception.

    Reading between the lines I suspect that you are something of a "forced" user of BaseCamp and you'd be a lot happier if Garmin just carried on with MapSource. I think that an unlikely eventuallity, MS was abandoned some while ago. You would get on with BaseCamp a lot better if you accepted that it isn't MapSource and spent some time becoming familiar with what BC is and how it works rather than trying to fight against it. (in my opinion at least)

    Your fix list above includes file open/save which is the way things used to be done with lots of individual files scattered over a hard disk but BC doesn't do things that way, it uses a modern database based approach instead. That means that some things do not work in the way you have become used to them, a bit like moving from DOS to Windows. For some while some of us insisted on doing things the old way because that's the way we'd grown up doing them but eventually we've all become part of the borg anyway.:)
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    I have opened an inquiry as to the short cut keys and if we should do that. I have seen some Windows apps move towards that standard, however the older standard should still exist as it is familiar to many users. I do think it is a fair question. I will keep everyone posted.

    I am not entirely sure what you mean by "Live Data" from the device. Can you explain further?

    BaseCamp is not a file based application. It is a database application and so open/save file type operations aren't totally appropriate. All or most actions auto-save to disk right away after they are under taken. We do now have the ability for BaseCamp to have multiple databases at one time. The options window has settings for this.

    As to your UI issues with tracks, I will also bring this up.

    Thanks for the feedback.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    By the way, what is the purpose for using the zoom tool in this case? The scroll-wheel will zoom for you as well.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    Judging by the number of requests elsewhere to disable "confusing and unhelpful" shortcut keys your no valid reason not to might be an exception.

    Reading between the lines I suspect that you are something of a "forced" user of BaseCamp and you'd be a lot happier if Garmin just carried on with MapSource. I think that an unlikely eventually, MS was abandoned some while ago. You would get on with BaseCamp a lot better if you accepted that it isn't MapSource and spent some time becoming familiar with what BC is and how it works rather than trying to fight against it. (in my opinion at least)

    Your fix list above includes file open/save which is the way things used to be done with lots of individual files scattered over a hard disk but BC doesn't do things that way, it uses a modern database based approach instead. That means that some things do not work in the way you have become used to them, a bit like moving from DOS to Windows. For some while some of us insisted on doing things the old way because that's the way we'd grown up doing them but eventually we've all become part of the borg anyway.:)

    Why of course, Garmin is forcing us to use BC but that is no reason not to keep some features from Mapsource. A good example is the way BC handles view in Google Earth. Mapsource opens the view in Google earth at about the zoom level your at in Mapource. BC gives you three choices but none of them are what I need. Selecting a route and then zooming in on it after Google Earth opens is the best choice but usually I'm wanting to see the intersection I was zoomed into.
    BC doesn't let you do that. At least BC now runs on my PC's
    Another thing that Mapsource is let you route a turn that BC won't even though the intersection shows up in BC. It's not the Borg that concern me it's MS. Talk about being forced:mad:
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    May we have Mapinstall integrated in Basecamp? Like it was in Mapsource? I miss the option to select map tiles in a bigger screen.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    I have opened an inquiry as to the short cut keys and if we should do that. I have seen some Windows apps move towards that standard, however the older standard should still exist as it is familiar to many users. I do think it is a fair question. I will keep everyone posted.



    Ok, thanks. I'll 'come clean' now - the 'old standard' suits use by the right hand - and as I'm left-handed, I'd have to let go of the mouse to easily access CTRL-X etc. So naturally, I became adept at the old keyboard shortcuts. (I don't use a mouse !) but the theory's the same - left hand on the touch-pad, right hand for fumbling with keys. It should be easy to implement in any case.

    I am not entirely sure what you mean by "Live Data" from the device. Can you explain further?



    Ooh - like a live broadcast - data not stored anywhere, fresh from the device now, updated every second, or whatever. Basically so BaseCamp can be used as the map display while mobile. On MS, in the left pane are several tabs including 'Maps', 'Tracks', 'Routes', 'Waypoints' and 'GPS' - in which one can click on "Start tracking" allowing MS to receive live data from the GPS (possibly aka 'streamed data'). I only used it once but felt it an excellent feature.

    BaseCamp is not a file based application. It is a database application and so open/save file type operations aren't totally appropriate. All or most actions auto-save to disk right away after they are under taken. We do now have the ability for BaseCamp to have multiple databases at one time. The options window has settings for this.



    If I drop a data file into BC (via the desktop icon) while BC is fullscreen, the BC window 'restores' to a variable-size window - so I have to put it back to fullscreen. The effect is the same if opening a gpx file by double-clicking it while BC is fullscreen. Clearly, you need at least 2 monitors to discover this 'bug'.

    Having opened the file, it is now listed as a subdir to 'My Collection'. It'd be nice to see in the r-click DD menu for that file options to 'save', 'save and close' or to 'abort edits'. Whether BC operates as a db or otherwise, the user doesn't need to know this. All the user needs is the facilities to manipulate data - whether that's keeping files discrete or dragging data items from one to another. I just tried dragging a track from the file I've just opened to 'Unlisted Data' subdir and BC refused to do this quite functional operation.

    As to your UI issues with tracks, I will also bring this up.

    Thanks for the feedback.


    Thanks. Here's another one:

    The 'playback' feature is very nice but it does not link in with 'other cursors' e.g. the one shown while scrolling down the list of trackpoints. The trackpoint list cursor should move with the 'playback' function. I note there is a good range of playback speeds but can we have some in the negative - to reverse the direction ! Can the playback speed be accessible via the scroll-wheel ?

    Once I've clicked on the graph (either elev. or speed) it drops a marker on the chart and on the map. When switching back to the trackpoint list, it'd be nice to have the cursor on the marked trackpoint - and it to be displayed at the mid-point (vertically) of the window rather than being the bottom trackpoint.

    I now have just discovered I can drop 2 markers on the charts. The result of this should be the trackpoint list have a range of selected points and the map also show a track segment rather than two distinct points.

    As I've been using the zoom tool to zoom in on a segment of the track, is there a possibility that the trackpoints within the zoom tool rectangle can become selected ?

    The current track data appears in one window with 4 tabs. Can we have an option to have these draggable into their own windows - so I can view trackpoint data and charts at the same time - with the map still in the main window ?

    While I'm still playing, I've now opened two tracks - but I'm unable to display trackpoint lists side-by-side in two independent windows.

    So there's some more ideas ! Thanks.

    Mike.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member
    Why not just use MapSource?

    Last time I checked MapSource and MapInstall produced exactly the same map (.img) file.