cGPSMapper Help Needed

[jmcbroom]

I've got 293 files that contain high-def hydro data for Texas. Out of those files I'm having problems with about 70 of them, cGPSMapper just sits there. On a 1K file I waited two days and there was no progress at all, it just sat there.

 

Is there anybody on here that can help me figure out why this is happening? I've got two files I can send a link too.

 

Thanks!

[SiliconFiend]

I've got 293 files that contain high-def hydro data for Texas. Out of those files I'm having problems with about 70 of them, cGPSMapper just sits there. On a 1K file I waited two days and there was no progress at all, it just sat there.

 

Is there anybody on here that can help me figure out why this is happening? I've got two files I can send a link too.

 

Thanks!

I'm guessing these are polish format (mp) files? You could send me the files (I'm not sure about the capabilities of this forum--I guess you can't attach files; don't know about private messages). I can take a look at them and see if there's anything weird. Also, there's a Yahoo support group: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/map_authors/

[tlhutch]

Check a couple of the file for "Level" problems (if you haven't already done so). Screwed up "Levels" will cause cGPSMapper to hang as you describe.

[jmcbroom]

Thanks.

 

After two weeks worth of work I found out that the basin files as downloaded from the NHD website contain a lot of overlap which throws cGPSMapper into fits trying to compile the mapset for use in Mapsource.

 

I'm going to take a different route now, I'm going to throw everything into ArcMap then split the shape file into grids and try everything again.

 

I'll holler back if I have any other problems. Texas is so BIG.

[SiliconFiend]

Thanks.

 

After two weeks worth of work I found out that the basin files as downloaded from the NHD website contain a lot of overlap which throws cGPSMapper into fits trying to compile the mapset for use in Mapsource.

 

I'm going to take a different route now, I'm going to throw everything into ArcMap then split the shape file into grids and try everything again.

 

I'll holler back if I have any other problems. Texas is so BIG.

I really wish the NHD dataset was downloadable in bulk, instead of being forced to use their web interface and then wait for an email. It's great data, and would make a good addition to OpenStreetMap (www.openstreetmap.org). Maybe it's available if they're contacted directly....

[+Hynr]

Regarding lots of duplication in data: GPSmatEdit has a feature to remove duplicates (Tools, Remove Duplicate Objects). I always do that regularly before I compile the map.

 

Regarding bulk download of NHD: I discovered by accident that if you are at the resolution you want and draw a rectangle that includes several basins, then you get all those. At first I was annoyed because it duplicated what I already had, but then I realized that by clever selection of the area, I could get five or six basins at a time. That's pretty bulk considering the surface area involved.

 

What I have not figured out is how to load the hydrological data from each basin without dozens of clicks per basin. One lapse in concentration and I have to start over.

[jmcbroom]

Regarding lots of duplication in data: GPSmatEdit has a feature to remove duplicates (Tools, Remove Duplicate Objects). I always do that regularly before I compile the map.

 

Regarding bulk download of NHD: I discovered by accident that if you are at the resolution you want and draw a rectangle that includes several basins, then you get all those. At first I was annoyed because it duplicated what I already had, but then I realized that by clever selection of the area, I could get five or six basins at a time. That's pretty bulk considering the surface area involved.

 

What I have not figured out is how to load the hydrological data from each basin without dozens of clicks per basin. One lapse in concentration and I have to start over.

 

I know you can remove the duplicates in Map Edit, but Map Edit has issues for an area as large as Texas too, it will not display all the data, nor will it save it. The duplication isn't in a single file, rather the NHD basins overlap - at least for Texas. I've got 219 basins, it would take a lot of work to figure out which basins overlapped.

 

As for the "dozens of clicks", I downloaded MacroExpress to help with that area. Really saves the day when working with large datasets.

 

So, for now, I created my separate layers in ArcMap, clipped everything down to just Texas (the NHD data also included data for Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, even though I specified just Texas), created a grid that covers Texas (25x35 rows) and split the coverages based on that grid.

 

Then I created a program in C# that would created the default .mp file and preload it with a "dummy" polygon and the default levels (Map Edit will not load an empty map). That allowed me to create all the .mp files for my tiles.

 

THEN I created another program that would take the "next" tile and move the SHP files over to a standard directory, that way Map Edit could always look in the same directory for it's files. This application would load up Map Edit with the current .mp file.

 

Then my macro would load the SHP files, specify the type, specify the layers, remove duplicates, remove the "dummy" polygon and save the .mp file. The last step would be to run the C# app I created above then start the macro over.

 

So, up to this point everything has pretty much been automated. Now I'm waiting for cGPSMapper to create the image files. The "automated" portion of this process has taken over 24 hours, I estimate the cGPSMapper portion to take another 48 or so hours.

 

I started out with 249 basins, I now have 419 tiles without duplicated data and about half the data as the basins contained since I'm only working with Texas data.. Hopefully it'll work without fits this time.

 

I also figured out the querystring for the NHD data and wrote ANOTHER C# app that downloaded all the data for Texas automatically. I'm a programmer by trade, so I try to find a better way to do all this repetitive stuff. If I can get the Texas data to work I'm planning on creating the data for the whole US and making it available.

 

IF this works I'm also planning on overlaying DEM data, but I'd also like to find reliable road, trail and rail data in SHP format. I'm trying to create a high def area and topo map for Texas that resembles the 24K topo as close as possible, the topos are a god send when hunting.

[jmcbroom]

Well, next problem.

 

I got all the maps to compile, but now when I run Mapsettoolkit I get an error E024 "Top layer detail level too high to cover entire map - decrease detail level of the less detail layer (use higher Level#)."

 

I've played with layer setting until I was blu ein the face and can't figure this out.

 

Anyone got any ideas?