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Need help/ideas organizing data in Basecamp


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Hey folks...I'll apologize in advance for what will be a wordy post, but hard to sum up in one line.

 

I've been using Mapsource for years and am making the move to Basecamp. What I'm having a hard time sorting out is how to use Basecamp to access my data the way I used to. I understand that Basecamp works more like a database and Mapsource works more like a file/folder structure, so.....

 

I mainly use Mapsource (now Basecamp) for ATVing data. (hundreds of waypoints and hundreds of tracks) I was used to saving separate files (of waypoints and tracks) by date, area, event, etc. Also, after every ride, I'd open Mapsource and dump everything on the GPS into it and save it in a folder named with the date and the area the ride took place. That way, if I was looking for a particular section of trail that we took that hot day in August of 2010, and wanted to go back there, I could easily find it.

 

Now, it would seem that in order to do the same thing, I'd have to have a million tracks and such, all living in 'My Collection'. I also have a large amount of gdb files that I've collected and traded with other riders, so if I have one of their 'master' gdb's, chances are that 80% of the data in it is tracks/waypoints that I already have in My Collection but with different names/icons/etc, so to import it into Basecamp and duplicate all that data would just be a nightmare.

 

Is there a way to isolate data with Basecamp?

Ex: This weekend we're going to that same area as we went that hot day in August 2010. How can I open that saved gpx/gdb file now that I'm using Basecamp, grab the track(s) I want to put in the GPS, and not have to import it in with all my other data, resulting in a big mess....?

 

I guess I could run a Basecamp backup, then delete everything in Basecamp, import the saved 'dump' file, do whatever I wanted with it, then delete everything again and restore from the backup...but that's just dumb. :-p

 

The nice thing about Mapsource was how you could work with as many individual files of data as you wanted and they never had to get tangled up with each other....how are you all handling similar tasks in Basecamp?

 

Thanks!!!!!!

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BaseCamp is not all that different on the surface, just different how it runs under the hood.

 

Each piece of data exists singularly within BaseCamp, but you can reference every data item as often as you like, and sort these reference into groups called lists. The lists can be further organized into groups stored in Folders.

 

So, create a List named 'August 2012' and import your data for that trip into that List.

 

Create a new Folder named '2012', and drag the 'August 2012' List to it.

 

It is really quite easy to organize data any way you wish within BaseCamp, very similar to the way it was stored in MapSource. You just have to remember, each data item only exists once, in My Collection. The Folders and Lists are all just different groupings of that data.

 

More info here.

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Each piece of data exists singularly within BaseCamp

 

And this is the problem...

 

 

I get that Basecamp stores all data in one area and the folders and lists are just references to it. I have years worth of saved tracks and trails in GDB files from Mapsource. In order to grab one waypoint or track out of one of those GDB files (which may contain 100 waypoints and 50 tracks), I need to import it....resulting in 100 waypoints and 50 tracks being added to My Collection, 99% of which I had no interest in, and now it's gobbed in with my own data.

 

With Mapsource, I would just open a 2nd instance of Mapsource, open that GDB with it, edit the waypoint/track I wanted, then copy it and paste it into the 1st instance of Mapcource.

 

Say there's 10 ATV clubs in my area...they're close-by so the members of each club all ride each others trails. Meaning, when someone sends you a file of 'their' trails (tracks), the vast majority of the data in their file will be duplicates of data I already have....they will all be named differently, and the track points will not be the same, but it will be the same track. Their file will have all the same bridges, warming huts, fuel stops as mine, but with different names and everything.

 

After importing a couple people's files to grab tracks/points that I might not have, I can only imagine the mess of overlaying tracks and waypoints I'll end up with.

 

Imagine you're a hiker, and you hike a 500 square mile area. You have the tracks of the hikes you've done but get track files from 10 other hikers so you can add their hikes to your data and follow their tracks someday. You import their files and now you have 10 tracks for the same section of trail...yours, that was called "Aug 14 - Day Hike", plus another one from hiker A called "Active Log 7014267" and a 3rd called "Trail Where Bob Pooped Behind A Rock", etc etc...

You already have a nice track for that trail, saved by you, cleaned up, named the way you want it.....you don't want theirs, but you've got it. <--- The problem.

 

 

Having different databases would possibly work....have your main database, then have one called 'Editing' that you could open, import a bunch of junk, pick out the pieces you want, export them for use in your 'good' database, then delete everything in the 'Editing' database.

 

 

Here's what I'm whining about:

 

I have a bucket of Smarties. I want 2 blue Smarties from a friend.

 

Mapsource:

Walk over to his bucket, pick out the two blue smarties I want, walk over to my bucket, drop them in.

 

Basecamp:

Dump my friend's entire bucket of Smarties in with my bucket of Smarties, stir them up, then try to find two blue ones that came from his bucket, then pick out and throw away the other 10,000 smarties that came from his bucket, because I didn't want those in the first place.

Even though I have my smarties itemized on paper (one list for my red ones, one list for my brown ones, etc) that doesn't change the fact that the smarties I already had, the smarties I wanted, and the smarties I don't want are now all mixed together in one big bucket. I can use that last folder in my lists (Unauthorized Smarties)and delete everything in it, but only if I carefully categorized my smarties the last time I added some of my own....if I happened to spend an hour editing a couple smarties a week ago and forgot to add them to a list, they will get lost in the jumble and deleted too.

 

 

Is that analogy pretty close to reality, or am I missing the boat completely?

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So I can import into a specific folder? Ohhhh... I was under the impression that you had to just had a generic "Import" function, that would import it into My Collection and then you had to sort it from there. If I can import into a specific folder, that will work.. ....It still goes into My Collection, but it's also all referenced in the 'Import' folder, then it can also be deleted right from that folder, right? (Deleted completely, rather than just 'removed' from the list....) Correct?

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So I can import into a specific folder? Ohhhh... I was under the impression that you had to just had a generic "Import" function, that would import it into My Collection and then you had to sort it from there. If I can import into a specific folder, that will work.. ....It still goes into My Collection, but it's also all referenced in the 'Import' folder, then it can also be deleted right from that folder, right? (Deleted completely, rather than just 'removed' from the list....) Correct?

 

Yes, create the list/Folder group First, then import the appropriate data into that list/folder group.

 

And, Yes, delete from, not remove from, to permanently clear data from BaseCamp..

 

Also, you CAN still open your GDB in MapSource, export only the tracks and waypoints you want as GPX, then import those GPX into BaseCamp :)

Edited by BMW JEDI
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Thanks guys. I guess my roadblock was thinking that items had to be imported into the My Collections bin, THEN sorted.

 

I'd like to get completely away from Mapsource, since it's only working now because of a work-around I was able to find online (Download the mapsource update, extract the files, install, update, then install TopoCanada V4, allowing you to use Mapsource or Basecamp since it's no longer included with map products)...I'm assuming that it will likely be impossible to use it at all soon, so I don't want to get caught flat-footed, so to speak.

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