Use Basecamp? Beware of losing your data!
Posted: 14 Sep 2012 12:57
That title might be alarmist, but...I want those of you that, like me, are making the transition from Mapsource to Basecamp to realize the danger here. Here is a link to a post of mine and the Garmin support reply:
https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.ph ... post147089
In short, if you want to "copy" a track into a new "list" so you can slice and dice, modify, etc. DO NOT "COPY" the track and paste it into the new list. Instead, right-click the track and "Duplicate" it. This creates a new track with the same name and a "001" at the end (or whatever). Then you can safely Cut & Paste this new track into your working list to play with.
If instead, you use "copy", it's not really a copy of the track--only a copy of the reference to the track. If you are a software developer, that concept makes perfect sense. All you really need to know is that, it's not really a copy of the track, and if you mess with it, you are messing with the original track--and thus you risk losing your original track data.
I have lost several original tracks this way already....but, lucky for me, I still have the original gdb Mapsource files and backup copies.
I develop software. When developing features, you run into this problem all the time--"hmmmmm, many users will expect this feature to work this way, but some will expect this other functionality. Implementation idea #1 has these ABC downsides and benefits. Idea #2 has these XYZ downsides and benefits. What to do?" Well...you do what is SAFEST. That is, you choose the lesser evil. I think Garmin may have chosen the greater evil with some of the choices in Basecamp.
BUT...I like it better than Mapsource for overall functionality and speed.
https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.ph ... post147089
In short, if you want to "copy" a track into a new "list" so you can slice and dice, modify, etc. DO NOT "COPY" the track and paste it into the new list. Instead, right-click the track and "Duplicate" it. This creates a new track with the same name and a "001" at the end (or whatever). Then you can safely Cut & Paste this new track into your working list to play with.
If instead, you use "copy", it's not really a copy of the track--only a copy of the reference to the track. If you are a software developer, that concept makes perfect sense. All you really need to know is that, it's not really a copy of the track, and if you mess with it, you are messing with the original track--and thus you risk losing your original track data.
I have lost several original tracks this way already....but, lucky for me, I still have the original gdb Mapsource files and backup copies.
I develop software. When developing features, you run into this problem all the time--"hmmmmm, many users will expect this feature to work this way, but some will expect this other functionality. Implementation idea #1 has these ABC downsides and benefits. Idea #2 has these XYZ downsides and benefits. What to do?" Well...you do what is SAFEST. That is, you choose the lesser evil. I think Garmin may have chosen the greater evil with some of the choices in Basecamp.
BUT...I like it better than Mapsource for overall functionality and speed.
BTW, check the attachment..