Messages

301

Archived Support / A cry from Europe

« on: April 10, 2007, 04:39:21 PM »

All negativity aside, it sounds like you should consider another product.

As described here:

http://www.topofusion.com/features.php

Only landsat (and 3D) are available outside the US.  Whether or not that's useful to you is up to you.  We have quite a few users from Europe who apparently find it useful enough to purchase.

But, everyone has different expectations.

Good luck and cheers.

302

Beta Testing / Version 3.05 Beta

« on: April 10, 2007, 07:36:46 AM »

I forgot to mention this bug fix, also:

Fixed PNG/BMP User map bug introduced in 3.02

Thanks.

303

Archived Support / track edits

« on: April 10, 2007, 07:32:20 AM »

That's strange, insert should work on an end point -- it just only interpolates one point instead of two.

I'll have to look at how arc adds points.  Thanks.

304

Beta Testing / Version 3.05 Beta

« on: April 09, 2007, 06:21:59 PM »

Any testing greatly appreciated!  We're hoping to do a full release this week.  Thanks!

More fixes and tweaks:

3.05 - [4/9/07]

Optimized getNewEasting w/o side-effects
Fixed delete/insert key not working at times
Fixed issues renaming files in active list
Fixed problems reading GPX files from GPSies.com
Fixed stats icon - no longer photo

http://www.topofusion.com/beta.php

305

Beta Testing / 3.04 missing track editing features?

« on: April 09, 2007, 06:20:28 PM »

Hey,

Just a note that I figured out the insert/delete thing.  v3.05 is up with a couple more fixes.  Give it a whirl if you've got a moment.

Thanks.

306

Archived Support / track edits

« on: April 09, 2007, 06:17:11 PM »

Hi,

There best way to delete a segment (track) within a file is to open up the properties dialog (right click on the file in the active list).  Hit the 'show points' button to fill the table.  Then identify the range of points by the track number field.  Shift click to grab them all and then delete.

I can't believe that we don't have an option to delete an entire segment after it's selected with the profile/merge tool.  That will be an easy addition to a future version.

You can add points to a track using the insert key.  Select any point on the line and hit insert.  You'll get a point on either side of it that can now be dragged around.

You are right that a selected point isn't highlighted in the track list.  This would be very useful.  Thanks for the suggestion.  If you double click on a track point in the properties it will be selected in the map (and the map centered on it).

Hope that helps.  You've given us some good ideas.

307

Beta Testing / V3.03 - Texture compression

« on: April 09, 2007, 08:16:58 AM »

Yeah, it's really not hard to turn the option off, and it'll stay off.  It needs to default "on" for new users.  

m38a1guy - unchecking one box isn't reason enough not to upgrade.  You may be OK with 3.0 for a while, but eventually new stuff and other fixes will be available and you'll want to use the newer versions.  The DXT option isn't going away.

Larry - I think a converter is likely, probably before we send out the update email to everyone.  But I am leaving on a trip this week, so it's not going be done until sometime in May.

308

Feature Requests / track Multiple GPS' - SAR application

« on: April 08, 2007, 01:49:31 PM »

The new version of the Rhino should be coming out soon.  

We still haven't found any info re: if the multiple tracking info is available from the wire.  If it is, I would like to add this support to TF.

309

Archived - Feedback and Comments / Non Topofusion related request

« on: April 08, 2007, 01:26:03 PM »

Sure.  Head on over to:

http://topofusion.com/race.php

For the latest data and maps.  There are two course changes, but they aren't real obvious until you load the data.

310

Archived - Feedback and Comments / HTTP persistent connection option

« on: April 08, 2007, 01:03:10 PM »

That's interesting, thanks for the pointer to the wikipedia article.

I suppose it's possible that the server is slowing down with too many persistent connections, but I'd think if they were really trying to enforce something, it would be more strict -- like not allowing it at all.

Sometimes (like right now for example) persistent connections keep on rocking, at a pretty incredible speed.  But I have seen what you describe -- a lag after some short bursts of tiles.  It may just been that Terraserver puts later requests on a persistent connection at lower priority than first requests.  So depending on server load (probably low right now) it may be faster or slower.

There's nothing on the TF end that would cause the slowdown, it's all based on the server's response.

Looks like we may want to disable persistent connections if we leave the higher thread option on there.

Let us know if you experiment further with it.

311

Archived - Feedback and Comments / TopoFusion Pro 3.0 User Maps are AWESOME!

« on: April 07, 2007, 07:37:14 AM »

Yep, PNGs are no longer loading.  Thanks for finding that.

It's an easy fix.

312

Archived - Feedback and Comments / TopoFusion Pro 3.0 User Maps are AWESOME!

« on: April 06, 2007, 06:37:51 PM »

Thanks, glad you like the new version!

I did think a bit about having a set directory for user maps, but it seemed a little to restrictive for someone that just wants to get a map up quickly.

Some way of handing missing/moved files needs to be worked out.  Probably not on startup, but maybe when you go to the user map (to find out why it's not there), there could be a message when you click on the actual map you're looking for.  That way ones you don't care about that are missing don't bother you.

What do you think?

313

Beta Testing / 3.04 missing track editing features?

« on: April 06, 2007, 06:34:34 PM »

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback.  Moved this over to the beta forum, since it is 3.04.  Not that we really care much.

You know, I have noticed that occasionally delete and insert won't work for me either.  But I have never been able to duplicate it or figure out a cause.

I'll try hibernate/sleep to see if it's that.  It's been puzzling me.

Re: moving track points.  It would be nice, but how would it work?  Would the dropped tracks go into a new track in the target file?  If you want them in a specific track, what order do they go in?

My only point is it's more complicated than waypoints that are single entities.

Eventually I want a better system of looking at individual tracks in a file.  Tracking, dropping and merging them would be GREAT.

Re: Fonts after save as... never seen this.  Are you using XP?  Anything strange/different with your desktop setup (fonts, etc).  I do quite a bit of cutting and merging tracks, but haven't seen the "active file list" (that's what I call it) mess up.

Thanks.

314

Beta Testing / V3.03 - Texture compression

« on: April 06, 2007, 06:26:53 PM »

Steve,

Good question.  DXT1 is indeed lossy, just like jpeg.  In theory you are losing more info since it's an additional compression stage.

Here are two screen grabs.  One is DXT1, the other is JPEG.  I'll give you a nickel if you can tell me which is which.







This may or may not be a hint, but when I showed those images to Alan, he was sure, after study, which one was DXT1.

But he was wrong.  '>

315

Archived Support / Exporting track statistics

« on: April 04, 2007, 10:26:14 AM »

Take a look at your TFlog.csv file -- it's in your default tracks directory.  It will have those stats for any file you have loaded into the logbook.

Two caveats:

1 - things are in metric units, so you'd probably need to convert
2 - do not save the TFlog.csv file back out using excel.  you will lose the quotes around the text strings, and TF will no longer be able to load it in.  The data will still be there, but TF will just treat it like an empty log, that can be appended to.

It's a little cumbersome, I know.

Two thoughts for adding it as a feature:

Right click on the file in the active list and choose "Export Stats".  This would just go to a text file of your choice.

When you add/edit a waypoint, you can do "add stats".  Right now this just sets the description to the distance and climbing for that track.  But it could be more.  Then it would be in a waypoint that could be extracted from the gpx file, or, copied to the clipboard from the waypoint dialog.

What do you think?

316

Beta Testing / Maybe a small new feature on the new beta?

« on: April 04, 2007, 08:59:06 AM »

Makes perfect sense.  Thanks for requesting it.

317

Beta Testing / V3.03 - Texture compression

« on: April 04, 2007, 08:58:16 AM »

Right, the new version would be slower, unless you disable the DXT1 compression.  Then it will preform just as before with your existing map data.

Yep, a converter would turn your .dat files into the new format.

318

Archived Support / Problems with Windows Vista Ultimate

« on: April 03, 2007, 01:33:32 PM »

Hi,

So far we have only had positive reports from TF users who installed on Vista.  There are a couple of bugs that may be vista-related, but installing has gone smoothly for everyone, as far as we know.

One more thing to try is newer/different video drivers.  Some manufacturers may be working the bugs out on DX9+Vista support.  I'd check there next.

What video card do you have?

Also, it might be helpful if you can post/email your TopoFusion.log file -- it will show us where it's failing and possibly give us some clues.

Thanks.

319

Beta Testing / V3.03 - Texture compression

« on: April 02, 2007, 11:35:30 AM »

Interesting, thanks for the Vista report.  Looks like I'm going to have to get a machine (virtual or othwerwise) with Vista on it for testing.

I've now tested hibernation on several (XP) computers and it seems fine.

320

Beta Testing / V3.04

« on: April 02, 2007, 11:33:40 AM »

Most of these are user requested, or initiated.  Overall, the program keeps getting better, small steps at a time.


3.04 - [4/2/07]

Fixed problems with TileSet dropdown synchronization
--disabled tilesets no longer show up
--now only 5 options in 3D mode: topo/aerial/urban/landsat/combo
Added PNG and JPEG export for profiles (from profile dialog)
Photofusion HTML now works both with thumbnail view and
  with camera icons (as before), depending on photo toggle state
Added "view Photo/URL" to right click menu for waypoints
Added better lat/lon text reading -- AZ trail passage data
Fixed problem reading KML files introduced in 3.03
Fixed problem with UTM grids in datum other than WGS 84
Fixed 3D coordinate display in datum other than WGS 84

321

Archived - Feedback and Comments / photofusion in 3.0

« on: April 02, 2007, 11:09:47 AM »

FYI, the latest beta has cleaned this issue up.

Right click option, as well as the HTML image map.  Give it a whirl.

http://www.topofusion.com/beta.php

Thanks.

322

Archived Support / glitches at map boundaries

« on: April 01, 2007, 02:28:46 PM »

That's strange.  TF is able to pull photos when I place them on topofusion.com.

Here is the response it's getting from your server:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<TITLE>403 Forbidden</TITLE>
</HEAD><BODY>
<H1>Forbidden</H1>
You don't have permission to access /hiking/PeavineWest20070325/track/PeavineWest_20070325_145116.jpg
on this server.<P>
<P>Additionally, a 403 Forbidden
error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
<HR>
<ADDRESS>Apache/1.3.33 Server at AppStuff Port 80</ADDRESS>
</BODY></HTML>

It doesn't report an error, just silently fails to load the jpegs right now.

I've been taking a look but I still don't understand what that error message is about.  If I take the url and use it in any web browser it loads the jpeg just find.

Any thoughts?

323

Archived Support / Question with Elevation Gain - Yes I read HelpFile

« on: April 01, 2007, 01:30:15 PM »

I don't think the boulder hopping had much to do with it, but it's possible.

My guess is there's a problem with that latest firmware.  I see several places where the elevation drops 30 feet only to go right back up on the next (very close) point.  Especially when you weren't moving this was happening.  That's why the "TopoFusion" algorithm was showing lower numbers -- it throws out times when you weren't moving.

We don't know what the garmin internals are doing, but I highly suspect they are doing something like "min gain 10m" on the computation for total gain in the Trip Computer.  On my 60CS (non-X) the numbers there are actually conservative, in my opinion.  And they ALWAYS differ from what the actual straight-up sum of the GPS track elevation is.

Hope that helps.

Not taken as critical of TF at all -- TF is only as good as the data handed to it, in this case.

324

Archived Support / Question with Elevation Gain - Yes I read HelpFile

« on: March 31, 2007, 10:19:44 PM »

Wow.  Those numbers look like they are from a forerunner 205/305.  Definitely whacked.

The problem is just too much variability from point to point.  The profile looks fine from far out, but the climbing accumulates rapidly.  Try using the custom algorithm with a minimum gain of 10m.  That reduces it to normal, and is likely what the GPS should be doing itself.  I'd check your firmware and see if a more recent version doesn't give you a better profile.

325

Archived - Feedback and Comments / photofusion in 3.0

« on: March 29, 2007, 09:17:20 AM »

Yep, good points.  We intend to make it so you can do both -- depending on whether photo display is on or not.  There will be an "open/goto" option in the right click on the photo icon, and the HTML generation will behave before.

We'll try to get it into the next beta and thus, full release.

Thanks for the extra "prod" on this.

326

Archived Support / glitches at map boundaries

« on: March 29, 2007, 09:10:44 AM »

Hi,

Thanks for posting the link to your GPX file.  I had optimized the calculation of UTM coordinates across zones for v3.0, but obviously  it isn't giving the same results.  I checked all of my files that cross zones and things seemed fine.  This is the first problem I've seen.

If you want the fix, check out the beta version at

http://www.topofusion.com/beta.php

I reverted back to the original computation until I can sort it out.

As for viewing topos/aerials across zones, unfortunately it is not as easy as you might think it would be.  The tiles are on grids based on the UTM zone they live in, so they overlap depending on the width of the zone -- basically the same calculation we do for tracks.  It's certainly possible, but it wouldn't help much in your case.  You might see some maps in the other zone, but you's still have the map collars in the way, since there's no way to detect when those are around.

Terraserver does have some lat/lon (geographic) projected topo tiles that do cross zones.  I have been thinking about adding support for them.  They would function just like the landsat tiles.  Only problem is the maps are stretched the further you get from the equator, since they use a lat/lon projection rather than UTM.  Still kinda cool, especially for the "bigger" picture views.

I tried loading the http pictures in your GPX and was puzzled when they wouldn't load.  I'm getting a "forbidden" response from your server.  Which is strange, because firefox seems to be able to download and view them.  Any ideas why this might be so?  I assume your copy of TF is able to load them?

Thanks for the feedback on this.

[The Good:]

327

Beta Testing / V3.03 - Texture compression

« on: March 28, 2007, 08:19:54 PM »

There's a new option in version v3.03 (out now on the usual beta page).  It's under Options->Preferences->General->Use texture (DXT1) compression.

The Good:

 * TopoFusion displays maps the way I've wanted it to since first writing it -- FAST.  The difference in loading map tiles from disk is quite large.  I'm getting load times that are about twice as fast.

* Memory usage.  TF is a bit of a memory hog if you have the tile cache set high.  Not anymore.  For the same size of cache (in terms of number of tiles cached) the memory usage is greatly reduced -- cut at least in half.

The Bad:

* Disk usage is a bit higher.  Tiles are stored in MapsX.dat files in DXT1 format, not JPEG.  The result is about 20% more disk usage.  This personally doesn't bother me, because disk space is cheap these days.  If I can find a better DXT1 encoder I should be able to reduce this to roughly the same space requirements in a future version.

* Loading previously downloaded JPEG tiles into a compressed (DXT1) graphics system is slower.  Basically this means your existing downloaded tiles will load about twice as slow as before.  Any newly downloaded tiles will be ripping fast, but old ones will be slower than before.

Texture compression defaults to "ON" (checked).  So, some of you may want to disable it if you have a large map files.

Edit - For users upgrading to v3.05 or later (the full release), the DXT1 option will default to "OFF".  Only brand new, fresh installs will default to "ON."  Regardless, you can always toggle it on / off later.

If there is enough interest, I will write a routine to convert map files downloaded before texture compression.  I'm OK with starting from scratch in order to get the speed/memory benefits, but others may have large map collections worth hanging on to.

Map files can be intermixed with DXT1 and JPEG tiles.  If the DXT1 option is checked when you download a map tile it will be saved in DXT1.  Otherwise it is saved as a JPEG, just as before.

v3.03 and up is able to handle both image types in the same map file.  There's just the difference in speed when converting JPEG to DXT1.  It will work perfectly fine, as before, if you turn texture compression off and stick with your existing map file.

I'm curious to hear any opinions on this.  Try it with a fresh map file (just change your map directory to an empty dir), and let me know what you think.  Clearly, for any new users, using DXT1 is the best choice.

Other changes in v3.03:

3.03 - [3/26/07-3/28/07]

Contrast/Brightness are back, not affecting entire display
Fixed crash when coming back from suspend/hibernate
Fixed memory leak on Topo 2/8/32 meter tilesets
Added "Use compressed DXT1 maps" to Options->Preferences
---> See forum for details
Fixed problems with animated sprites
Increased maximum download threads to 50
Fixed crash loading 2/8/32 tilesets in DXT1 mode
GIS layers now has "..." button for choosing files

328

Beta Testing / Maybe a small new feature on the new beta?

« on: March 28, 2007, 07:57:02 PM »

Your wish is my command.

v3.03 now has little "..." buttons next to the layers so you can set the paths manually.  I just put it up on the beta page.

Still curious as to why your downloads are failing.  You can't ever get them to succeed?  Do you just get partial files, or?

Thanks.

329

Archived Support / Downloading Garmin 205 files

« on: March 28, 2007, 03:35:48 PM »

Hi,

Not a limitation of the demo version, no.  TopoFusion is downloading all the data that is currently stored in your forerunner.  It's just that the unit stores "history" information for more runs than it actually stores tracklogs for.  There's no track to go with the history logs.

You may want to look in to converting your Garmin logbook into GPX for loading into TopoFusion.

Good luck.

330

Feature Requests / New unit of measure

« on: March 27, 2007, 07:22:25 PM »

You mean as the X axis in the profile window, right?

It's on the list...

331

Archived Support / Compatibility with Holux GPSlim236 BT

« on: March 26, 2007, 04:30:38 PM »

Holux devices are not directly supported.  But if they support the NMEA protocol, you should be able to use live tracking with TF -- and a record a track that way.

Otherwise, what format is the data in?  TF can handle very large files with many points.  If you can get an output file from your other software (GPX maybe?) you should be able to load it up in TF.

332

TopoFusion Anouncements / Nasa Server Back Up

« on: March 26, 2007, 12:30:54 PM »

Back up as of this morning, 3/26/07.  Hopefully for good this time.

333

Archived Support / Run-time Error '383'

« on: March 25, 2007, 09:43:59 PM »

OK, I believe this issue has been fixed in the latest beta, which will hopefully be released in the next week or so.  The current release version does have problems when windows is set to a different time/date format.

Thanks for getting back to us on this.  Check back in a week or so and we can check if it's fixed or not.

334

Archived Support / Run-time Error '383'

« on: March 25, 2007, 03:37:22 PM »

I can't seem to duplicate this problem.  Is it still re-creatable in with your demo 3.0 install?

If that directory/install is still around, can you send me your TFlog.csv file?  I should be able to see what the problem is with that.

Starting a new log and adding a download or two to it doesn't error out for me.

smorris@topofusion.com

Thanks

335

TopoFusion Anouncements / Nasa Server Back Up

« on: March 23, 2007, 05:49:09 PM »

It looks like the server is still having some problems.  It is not responding today.  I imagine it will be back up soon.

336

Beta Testing / Strange Behavior with TopoFusion and AutoCAD 2007

« on: March 23, 2007, 09:27:43 AM »

That's interesting, thanks for posting the fix.

337

TopoFusion Anouncements / Nasa Server Back Up

« on: March 21, 2007, 12:54:36 PM »

Looks like the server is back up as of this morning (3/21/07).

Thanks for the patience.

338

TopoFusion Anouncements / Nasa Server Back Up

« on: March 20, 2007, 11:13:28 AM »

It looks like the OnEarth server, hosted by Nasa, is currently experiencing some problems.  We'll stay on top of the situation and post any updates here.

In the meantime, TopoFusion will not be able to download 3D elevations and Landsat imagery.

Existing (cached) Landsat tiles will work, of course.

339

Beta Testing / Strange Behavior with TopoFusion and AutoCAD 2007

« on: March 19, 2007, 08:17:26 AM »

How strange.  There shouldn't be any conflicts using the new installer.

How long have you been a TF user?  I'm guessing you had versions prior to 2.95 (on the old installer). That installer might be the cause of the problem.

I'd look in add/remove programs to see if there are two TF entries.  If there are, backup everything and remove the older one (should be a computer icon, rather than the TF bolt icon).

Let us know if you figure anything out.

340

Archived Support / Changing Waypoint Symbol??

« on: March 19, 2007, 08:14:15 AM »

You're not missing anything, TopoFusion is.  We still don't have support for graphical waypoint symbols.  Symbol data is stored, transfered and not lost, but there are no graphics for the symbols.

Hopefully soon.

341

Archived Support / Run-time Error '383'

« on: March 13, 2007, 10:04:41 PM »

Great, thanks for the report.  I'll try to duplicate the bug and get it fixed for the next release.

There were some adjustments made to the logbook to deal with some international issues, so they may have introduced some other problems.

Take your time registering, and thanks for the interest.

342

Archived Support / Making Networks

« on: March 13, 2007, 09:58:58 PM »

The number shown above the slider is the actual number in meters.  So, yep, it's an absolute scale.

343

Feature Requests / Display speed on playback

« on: March 10, 2007, 04:01:05 PM »

That's a good idea -- make a user selectable field with various stats.

You do know, of course, that the info is in the profile window as the playback proceeds.  But it can be hard to follow the map and keep track of the stat you are most interested in.

I'll add it to the "possible" idea list.  Thanks.

344

Feature Requests / Runtime version

« on: March 10, 2007, 03:59:48 PM »

Do you mean an executable that would load up, display maps, and playback the track?

One thought would be to add a "export to movie" feature.  That might make more sense, because passing executables around by email isn't such a good idea and often doesn't work.

Or would it be a stripped version of TF that can only play back tracks?

345

Feature Requests / User supplied "maps"

« on: March 09, 2007, 09:08:02 PM »

At first examination it appears the format is fairly proprietary, and a license to the library (geoexpress) to read/write MrSid files is over $1000.

Unless there is a free/open source alternative for reading MrSid images, it's probably not going to happen in TopoFusion.

Anyone have any further info?

346

Feature Requests / Merge files feature request

« on: February 25, 2007, 09:38:47 PM »

It's not at all obvious that you can do this, but open the "file properties" dialog for both files and go to the waypoints tab.

Make sure they are both visible, then shift-click the waypoints and drag 'n drop them over to the file with the tracks in it.

Simple as that.  I think we need a "send to" option in the right click menu to make it more obvious.

347

Archived Support / Downloading Tilesets Stalls and Starts Over

« on: February 23, 2007, 09:59:52 PM »

Correct, the zone where you are centered.

When you get a chance head over to:

http://www.topofusion.com/beta.php

And try out the latest.  You now should see it going faster when you restart the download.

Also, try your larger user maps.  I did a rough test and they seem to be loading twice as fast.  I'd still like to get them faster, and I think I can, but this is a big step in the right direction.

Also, as long as you have a relatively (last 5 years) new video card I turned on texture compression for the user maps.  In theory this should speed up frame rates if you've got many maps loaded AND displayed at the same time.

Let me know if you think things are better/worse/same.

Thanks.

348

Archived Support / Downloading Tilesets Stalls and Starts Over

« on: February 23, 2007, 07:24:23 PM »

OK, it seems to be working OK except for one thing -- the running total.  It wasn't being incremented for tiles that are already downloaded just as you noticed.

I've got that fixed but am working on a speed up for user maps that I want to get going before I put out another beta.  Stay tuned.

Re: the zone thing.  You do need to make sure that you are in the zone that you want to download the tiles for.  That needs to be in the documentation, or perhaps the dialog.  As long as you are, it should be fine.

349

Archived - Feedback and Comments / National Geographic TOPO Conversion

« on: February 23, 2007, 10:32:06 AM »

I had some success using GPSBabel to convert .TPO files to .GPX.  I don't know which version of Topo! these .TPO files came from, but it worked fairly well.

Did the .TPO format change in recent versions?  I know the .tpo capability was only recently added.

350

Archived Support / Downloading Tilesets Stalls and Starts Over

« on: February 22, 2007, 10:51:30 PM »

Hmm..  sounds fishy alright.

I was building trail today, but tomorrow I'll have a look at the box download stuff.  I need to give it some proper testing in the Pro version -- it's possible something is messed up.

It might be a problem with UTM zones.  One thing to do is check the size(s) of your mapsX.dat files.  If they are growing then tiles are being downloaded.  Only thing I can think of right now is if the zone is messed up you'd be downloading (but not saving) the white fuzzy tiles that are outside your zone.

I'll know more tomorrow.  Thanks.