Messages

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401

Beta Testing / Annoyances and suggestions

« on: February 03, 2007, 01:46:32 PM »

Quote (dumketu @ Jan. 30 2007,7:17)

- I have noticed that when you manually edit a waypoint's coordinates, you have to close the properties box and re-open it before the coordinates show the update. It might be helpful if the coordinates changed as soon as the edit box is closed. (I wasted some time initially thinking the program was not taking my changes since I did not see the update immediately). - When loading a new user map, the program does not automatically default to the map you are trying to load. It takes the first map in the list if the dialog was just opened or the last one you were working on if the dialog had not been cloed. This is workable, but I have probably had to fix the first map a dozen times as I was rushing through installing a bunch of maps. - Lastly, a fourth calibration point would be helpful in some instances. I have been using images of 1:250,000 maps downloaded from the University of Texas Library for parts of India, and I realized that the maps are not quite square. (at first I thought this was just due to the curvature of the earth and the fact that the longitude lines converge at the pole, but this seems to be exagerated by the way the maps were scanned). This problem also occurs when I try to photograph a map and don't quite get it centered. A fourth point would enable the map to be skewed to correct for this.

Hi Brian.

Thanks much for the suggestions.

1 - (waypoint updating).  Yep, we need to get it synching.  Unfortunately it's not as easy as it would seem.  One thing is you can hit the 'refesh' button on the dialog to get the current changes.  You don't have to open/reopen.

2 - Very good point.  This is very annoying and the same thing was happening to me.  I fixed it so that the bottom frame on the dialog is automatically selected on the user map just added.  Much better now.

I just put up a new v3.0 with this fix and a few other improvements in the user map area.  I was able to speed display up quite a bit when you have many maps opened.  As long as all your maps aren't on the screen at once, it should be much faster (with a subset of maps on the screen).  Also, in a future version I should be able to halve the loading time for jpegs.  It now goes to a hourglass while loading, at least!  

Finally, I'm curious about the crash(es) you got while loading maps and trying to do something else.  TF shouldn't respond at all while loading a user map -- it takes the focus away from the program.  Other programs should be fine.  I've tried but can't seem to reproduce this crash.

3 - 4th calibration point.  Yep, it would help.  Requires a different algorithm to solve the fit equations, but it shouldn't be too hard to add.  It would then work for 4+ points.  As many as you want... though it becomes more sensitive to errors (it's a least squares, overconstrained problem).

Thanks again for the feedback.

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402

Beta Testing / Crashes with User Maps

« on: February 03, 2007, 01:38:09 PM »

Quote (m38a1guy @ Feb. 03 2007,12:21)

It then shows in the tray/box I then exist it because it will NOT allow me to calibrate even BEFORE the crashes without doing this as the usermap will just disappear or uncheck if I try to calibrate without first exiting. I think this problem was mentioned by another. I then enter again and click calibrate Manually. I then touch any of the Green or Red points on the corners or Middle and try to drag it crashes.

Thanks for the further explanation.

I've never heard of this problem you describe.  There were a couple people that reported having the map disappear if they switched between topo/landsat (and were in different UTM zones), but that problem is fixed.

I think we need to look at this problem first, because it's probably causing the next crash.

What should happen is the following:

- Click on "Add User Map", choose a jpeg.
- The name of the jpeg as well as the filename appear in the listview.
- The jpeg is loaded and displayed on the screen, spanning most of the current view.

As long as you don't uncheck it, it should stay checked and visible.  You can then go to the map, switch to select points, and adjust the two calibration points.

When you say you are exiting, do you mean exiting the PROGRAM, or just the user maps dialog?

I just put up a new v3.0 that cleans up a few issues from other people in user maps.  Things are a little more cleaner now--including when you add a new map.  There's a slight chance it might help with your issues, but I'd be somewhat surprised.

Can you give a little more detail as to how the maps are disappearing or becoming unchecked?

BTW we are not messing with any windows files.  Reinstalling DX was a good idea though, too bad it didn't help.

Thanks.

403

Beta Testing / Crashes with User Maps

« on: February 02, 2007, 10:43:06 AM »

OK, some interesting info out there on this error.  There are a variety of causes, but many point to system problems, not a problem in the application itself.

The most interesting I found was from the google earth forums:

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb....7

Yes, I know, LOL, that GE works for you.  '>

But one of the things they suggest is disabling any image overlays (same thing as user maps for TF).  And apparently some system file usp10.dll that can be corrupted.  They even go so far as to suggest reinstalling windows as a fix for the problem!!

Another is that if there isn't enough virtual memory as the application tries to grab more memory.  This might be the case on your laptop, but I doubt it on the desktop!

Nothing conclusive, and there's still a good chance it is purely a TopoFusion problem.  But this is definitely interesting.

404

Beta Testing / Crashes with User Maps

« on: February 02, 2007, 10:14:14 AM »

I'm not denying that it's a software problem.  I agree 100% about the two systems pointing to that.

There is one more thing in common with the two systems, though, and that's you.  Meaning, people use the program in different ways, people understand the user interface in different ways.  You may be doing something different that exposes the bug in our code that other people and even I am not doing.  Any ideas on this?

That's why I'm asking questions about how you use the feature (3 or 2 points), what exactly do you do when you add a user map, are you doing it in 3D mode or something?  I don't know.  

The fact that it worked once and yet now you can't get it to work after deleting the .INI file points to this more.  I don't know how to account for that.  

Also, I still don't know what to think of the Microsoft error tracker coming up, rather than ours.  I'll have a look at what that means.

405

Beta Testing / 3.0

« on: February 02, 2007, 09:35:50 AM »

Yeah, sorry about the brightness/contrast thing.  I haven't been able to figure out a fast way to do contrast without it interfering with other programs as you noted.  It's definitely not good style.

So it's not really a bug, just an undesirable feature that I'll have to get rid of.

Glad 3.0 is working otherwise.  Have you tried PhotoFusion or User maps with it?

406

Archived - Feedback and Comments / eXplorist track file issue

« on: February 01, 2007, 09:22:19 PM »

Hi,

I forgot to mention that this was fixed in the beta version a while back.  You can get it here:

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

Or, it will soon be released as a full version (non-beta).

Thanks for sending the files so we could get it taken care of.

407

Beta Testing / Crashes with User Maps

« on: February 01, 2007, 09:19:07 PM »

It's looking like I might have to get a CF-28 in order to fix this.  I still have nowhere to start.  I did some testing on my two older laptops and didn't run into any problems, including using your images.

I did notice that I still have some work to do when there are MANY photos on the screen (using waypoints, not user maps).  But it wasn't crashing, it just could be handled better.

Unless you can think of any other insight as to what might be going on, I'll just have to release this version and let other people report any problems they find and hope that somebody else runs into it.

Oh, I had a couple other thoughts:

1 - are you using a third calibration point, or just 2 (the default--you have to add a third).

2 - uninstalling/reinstalling does NOT give you a clean slate as far as settings including user maps and GPX files loaded.  To really start over (and see if you can get photos working temporarily as they did before -- maybe you can figure out what went wrong), you need to manually DELETE TopoFusion.ini.  No need to reinstall, just delete or move that file and you'll have a clean slate.

Let me know if you come up with anything else.  Thanks.

408

Feature Requests / basic question

« on: February 01, 2007, 06:56:41 PM »

I should add that you can upload track files and waypoints to your GPS -- which some people consider maps.  For example you could make a trail network and upload it to your GPS.

But the Garmin GPS units simply cannot display the high quality maps that TopoFusion uses -- it's impossible.  They are so much more coarse on the GPS and fundamentally different.  That said, we get that question every now and again, so it should be a FAQ.  I've been working on a website update and I'll incorporate that question into it.

Sorry about the confusion.  If you feel like you were misled we can offer you a refund.

Thanks.

409

Beta Testing / Insert/Delete Bug with translated GPX files

« on: February 01, 2007, 02:16:09 PM »

OK, I had a look into both of these.

Mike -- I have not been able to reproduce the shifting that I see.  I can imagine it happening somewhere in the code, but it doesn't appear to be from inserting or deleting points.  Both of those functions just copy memory around -- they don't touch any data.  There must be something else that you did to the data that caused the small shifts.  Simplify?  Profile?  Climbing analysis + add elevation to DEM?  Can you think of anything?  I tried deleting and inserting many points, but couldn't get it to change any points at all.

Brian -- Yep, there shouldn't be that much round-off, and it's definitely reproducable.  It's actually due to converting LL->UTM->LL.  Unfortunately that's what is display for waypoints currently.  Obviously we can take out two steps there.  But the good news is that the program isn't using that value of LL in it's display and other computations.  If you're in landsat mode it's using the actual LL, and if UTM it's only been converted once.  So it's just a display issue.

I've flagged it to be fixed in the next version, after we get the Beta publicly released.

Thanks guys.

410

Beta Testing / Crashes with User Maps

« on: February 01, 2007, 09:47:31 AM »

No, pretty wide variety of machines.  Intel onboard video, ATI mobility, Nvidia GO, Nvidia Geforce, regular ATI, etc...

I'd say more machines that I know of are Nvidia.  The vast majority of our users are on XP SP2, also.

There must be something.  Still thinking...

411

Beta Testing / Problem with Photos now on my Home PC

« on: February 01, 2007, 09:44:45 AM »

Nope, working at first and then not makes no sense!

Seriously, send me an image or two that you are having problems with.  It doesn't seem likely, but it may tell me something useful.

412

Beta Testing / Annoyances and suggestions

« on: February 01, 2007, 08:40:23 AM »

Nevermind, I remembered you said you have a 7800 GS or another card on your desktop.

413

Beta Testing / Annoyances and suggestions

« on: February 01, 2007, 08:39:05 AM »

Wait, both your desktop and laptop use the same video card (intel onboard)?  Or do you just have two laptops CF-28 and CF-29?

414

Beta Testing / Problem with Photos now on my Home PC

« on: February 01, 2007, 08:36:29 AM »

Yep, the two issues are likely related -- both functions are loading images from your hard drive and displaying them using transparency on the screen.

The user maps code is less complicated than the photo code, but it's the same idea.

Still scratching my head on this one.  In 2.991 I changed the way jpegs were loading in photofusion (thumbnails on screen) which fixed problems on two computers I was dealing with.  I will have another look at the code that I changed.  Those computers where doing the same thing -- just photo icons and no thumbnails ever coming up.

415

Beta Testing / Crashes with User Maps

« on: February 01, 2007, 08:30:52 AM »

No progress, sorry.  I looked through the code and did some testing yesterday but didn't come up with anything.

I agree that the fact that both your systems have the program is indicative of a bug, not a problem on your end.  But I just have no idea where to start since you aren't getting a TopoFusion crash reporter and I can't duplicate the problem.

Anything special about your images?  Perhaps the next step is to email me one of the images that is causing the problem.

I know the feature is working on ~20 computers, so it's not like it's untested.

416

Beta Testing / Insert/Delete Bug with translated GPX files

« on: February 01, 2007, 08:23:35 AM »

That's very strange.  I had a look at the code and can't see anything that should change in surrounding points when you insert or delete.

But please send me the file so I can try it out myself.  smorris@topofusion.com

It sounds like a floating point issue -- so it'll be interesting to see what your CAD converted files look like.

Thanks.

417

Beta Testing / Problem with User Images on CF-28 Laptop

« on: January 30, 2007, 06:16:47 PM »

OK, thanks for the thorough report.

One thing is definitely cleared up -- that's not our crash reporter dialog -- that's the Microsoft one.  So we won't be getting any of those emails.  '>

I will see if I can find anything for both of the problems.

For the user map one, it gives that error message when you just grab one of the calibration points and move it around, correct?  (Not just by switching to calibration / select point mode)?

418

Beta Testing / Problem with User Images on CF-28 Laptop

« on: January 30, 2007, 05:44:18 PM »

OK, sorry for giving you the go 'round, just checking all the possibilities before I dig deeper into it.

I don't expect any error messages that you see, but I would expect something in the log from it trying to load pictures.  It's possible I missed something.

Thanks for the patience as always.

419

Beta Testing / Crashes with User Maps

« on: January 30, 2007, 05:38:30 PM »

Yeah, I don't know why the crash report didn't come through.  

You should probably remove the user map and then add it back again -- to start over.  Reinstalling won't get rid of the "bad" user map that's in there now.

There definitely could be a bug or two in the display vs. calibration points, so it'd be great to find the bug if possible.

420

Beta Testing / Crashes with User Maps

« on: January 30, 2007, 01:00:31 PM »

Hum.  I didn't get any crash reports from you -- did you fill out the email and send it?  I did get one from another user this morning, so I think 3.0 and our email is working.

Re: rotate - yeah, we'll eventually add a way to rotate it manually.  Right now the maps can be rotated, you just need to add a third calibration point.

Failing a crash report, can you give a bit more info -- which button precisely are you using when it gives an error?

Thanks, I'll try to get to the bottom of this.

421

Beta Testing / Problem with User Images on CF-28 Laptop

« on: January 30, 2007, 12:58:10 PM »

Yeah -- good point, adding a photo by waypoint isn't really PhotoFusion even though I think about it that way.

And you are sure the photo toggle is on?  I looked through the code and every spot it can fail has an output to the debug log as to what went wrong.

Since I don't see any error message in the log I'm kind of at a loss as to what could be going on.

I just double checked this feature (user maps as well) on two older laptops (one an older Intel video chipset) and it seemed fine.

Maybe try again with the log file -- making sure photo toggle is on, and close the program so everything gets written out to the log?

422

Beta Testing / Problem with User Images on CF-28 Laptop

« on: January 29, 2007, 10:37:17 PM »

Hi,

OK, first, just to be clear, are you using PhotoFusion, or User Calibrated Maps?  I'm guessing you are trying to add photos via PhotoFusion, but sometimes it sounds like maps!?

You should try adding one of your jpegs as a user calibrated map -- to see if it comes up at all.  That will give some clues as to what's going on.

I think we've already been through this, but driver support is really critical for TopoFusion Pro.  I've seen two laptops of that era that needed specific drivers in order to work.

Sounds like the program is working OK, just not certain features like Photofusion.

If you could, please post a log file that resulted from trying to load photos. Make sure the photo toggle is on -- since the photo icons show in either case (they turn off if you turn waypoint display off).  Let it stew for a minute, trying to load photos, and then close it and post the log.

Does your computer slow down while it's trying to load the photos -- and if so, how many photos are you trying to view?

423

Beta Testing / Need the Latest Beta to test

« on: January 29, 2007, 09:37:32 AM »

Check your email.

Latest beta is more stable.  Any testing you could do would be appreciated.

It's easy to go back to 2.97 -- just run that installer.

424

Feature Requests / User supplied "maps"

« on: January 27, 2007, 12:30:14 PM »

Sure.

Check out the top thread in the anouncements forum for a look at what the new beta version can do.

To get it, use your name/code here:

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

It will soon be released as TopoFusion "PRO".  But for now you can get it as a beta.  There's a "User Map Library" dialog where you can add and calibrate your images.

425

Archived Support / GPS Units

« on: January 26, 2007, 06:09:43 PM »

Yes, the 76csx is fully supported.  It's a great unit for hikers.

60csx is another great one.  You should also look at the VistaCx.  You can't go wrong with any of those, really.

426

Archived Support / GPX files for international borders

« on: January 23, 2007, 01:19:46 PM »

Best bet would be to try to find boundaries in shapefile format, then convert to GPX.

More geographical data can be found in shapefiles.

427

Feature Requests / basic question

« on: January 22, 2007, 02:55:00 PM »

Right, there's no way to upload the type of map TF uses (Raster/Image) to your GPS.  The GPS uses Vector maps, of which Garmin's Mapsource is the only source.

It is possible to make your own vector maps and upload them, and there is some limited 3rd party software on how to do this, but it's not easy and datasets are very sparse.  

Pretty much if you want maps on the unit, you use mapsource.

428

Archived Support / Logbook Problems

« on: January 21, 2007, 06:02:15 PM »

There must be an errant track in there that has the incorrect distance.  This happens to me quite often.

The problem is that the .GPX file gets stored in the logbook when you download it.  So if there are stray points, or an erroneous connection to the location of your previous hike, the distance/stats get stored before you have a chance to edit it.  In this case you should remove the file from the logbook, and then add it back in.

Also make sure there aren't multiple tracks hiding on a certain day.  Sometimes I get two copies of the same track on a day (because I downloaded them twice or whatever).  One needs to be removed.

Hope that helps.  If not, let me know.

429

Beta Testing / 3D buttons

« on: January 19, 2007, 04:15:07 PM »

Right!  Hope the elevation server stays up all the time too!

Head on over to the diary for some pics and a few words about the trip:

http://www.topofusion.com/diary/2007/01/16/stg/

430

Beta Testing / v2.991 - 3D not working

« on: January 18, 2007, 07:11:58 PM »

DOH!!

I tested the 3D toggle fix and at the last minute added another check... without testing again.

Anyway, thanks.  "new" 2.991 with that fix is up now.

Sorry!

431

Beta Testing / 3D buttons

« on: January 18, 2007, 10:02:55 AM »

Yep, on a failed connection the 3d button was stuck down.  Fixed in 2.991.

Thanks!

432

Beta Testing / User maps - vanish in arial/topo

« on: January 18, 2007, 10:02:04 AM »

Howdy,

Thanks again for the detailed bug report.  It would have been hard to figure out otherwise.

Try 2.991 (out now) when you get a chance.  I'm pretty sure it's fixed now.

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433

Beta Testing / Export Bug in 2.984

« on: January 17, 2007, 06:37:50 PM »

Quote (red-haze @ Jan. 17 2007,11:43)

but wait, there's more! I've been using a secondary monitor (19" LCD) with my Dell Notebook and using the "Extend my desktop here" to have two screens and have noticed some interesting things when Topofusion is in the secondary screen. The gpx tracks fade out when it zooms out. At 1:1.49 the gpx tracks appear, at 1:1.90 they disappear. Occurs in both the release version and beta version. I've been planning on using the secondary screen (actually S-video out to 56" bigscreen TV) this Friday to present the Sedona area at a party of those who might wanna come along. Was hoping to show the sedona gpx files I've picked up from motionbased. may have to look for updated video drivers, tho its an older video card and checked for updates a couple of months ago. anyways, thought the secondary screen behavior might be interesting to ya. thanks, bob

Definitely sounds like a driver issue, esp. if it's doing it in both versions.  TF (from our side) does nothing different when stretched across multiple monitors.  To the programmers it just a really wide monitor.  So everything's on the driver side.

Seems like you could just do video out without 'extending' the desktop, right?

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434

Beta Testing / Export Bug in 2.984

« on: January 17, 2007, 06:34:52 PM »

Quote (red-haze @ Jan. 17 2007,11:01)

installed 2.99beta, export works better on all presets except for 4000x3000. doesn't hang anymore but makes an interesting picture, 3D generation seems faster now, nice! thanks bob ps, planning a mtb trip to Sedona this april, any recommendations?

Thanks for the report back on this.  Your card's max texture size (from your log above) is 2048x2048.  I'm somewhat surprised it can go larger than that, but obviously not all the way to 4000.

In a future beta we will take care of this issue by doing multiple exports and stitching them together.  This should allow everyone to go larger even than 10k by 10k, which was previously the limit.

But for the time being we're stuck with how it works now.  I'm going to hold off on any major feature changes like this until this beta goes "public."

Re: Sedona.  I've cycled thousands of unique miles of singletrack in AZ, but never have I laid tire to dirt (rock) in Sedona.  So much to do, so little time.  I'm sure I'll get there soon enough.

435

Beta Testing / Installation problem beta 2.99

« on: January 17, 2007, 06:28:52 PM »

I think you probably have the TopoFusion-2.99-Beta.exe on your desktop and are running that.  Default XP will cut it off to "TopoFusion..." and it has the same icon as the shortcut to TopoFusion.

436

Archived Support / Eratic 3D

« on: January 16, 2007, 10:16:35 AM »

Interesting.  Haven't heard of this problem before, so I don't have any easy fixes.  First thing to try is to get the latest drivers for your new card.  Even though it's a new card, there may be some necessary updates to the driver.

If you've registered you could try the new beta version (I can email you the download link), which uses a different 3D engine.  It may behave differently.

437

Beta Testing / 3D Blacks Out

« on: January 16, 2007, 10:13:27 AM »

Go to Image Processing and hit 'default' to return the brightness/contrast back to normal.  The current way is experimental -- not sure if I want to keep it that way.  It does effect all of windows until the program is closed, which might be considered poor program behaviour.

438

Archived Support / Wanting to merge tracks

« on: January 16, 2007, 10:11:00 AM »

Yep, tracks get broken up any time you turn the unit on/off, or when you lose signal.  It's unfortunate that the GPX files saved on the MicroSD card are not already merged, although if they were it would constitute a loss of data.  Sometimes it's very useful to see breaks in the track.

Anyway, to merge just use the profile(slash merge) tool.  Click the first segment, hold down shift and click each successive segment.  When you are all done right click on the map and choose "save as..".

439

Feature Requests / Photo Placement by Coord?

« on: January 16, 2007, 10:06:55 AM »

Right, I use a camera in the same way.  That's what the new photofusion does -- creates a waypoint at the place where you took the photo.

But I still don't see why the waypoint needs to have the timestamp saved in it.  I suppose the data is available (we know the time) so we should be saving it.  I'll add to the 'todo' list.

Thanks.

440

Beta Testing / delete and insert

« on: January 14, 2007, 08:00:51 PM »

Hmm.  Were you in landsat mode or topo/aerial when you tried to delete points?  I'll see if I can duplicate that.

I've got another fix coming down the pipe for the photo placement.  I had it fail (just sit there trying to load the jpegs) on two older nvidia computers that I tried it on this weekend.

441

Feature Requests / Photo Placement by Coord?

« on: January 14, 2007, 07:57:42 PM »

New photofusion is available in beta, yep.  Give it a shot!

Right now it doesn't add a timestamp to the waypoint, but that could be added.  Curious, why do you want it?  (what's the application)

Thanks.

442

Archived Support / Installation issue

« on: January 14, 2007, 07:55:54 PM »

Hi,

Hmm.  Never heard of anyone having this problem before.  I have no idea what the Microsoft Platform SDK message is all about.  We don't use any such thing.

Seems like a google search is in order.  First thing to try is uninstalling and reinstalling again.  But my guess is that some other program or installation is interfering with it.

443

Beta Testing / User maps - vanish in arial/topo

« on: January 11, 2007, 08:22:46 PM »

Perfect, thanks for the follow up on it.  That should be enough to figure it out.  I'm still traveling (mountain biking in southern utah), but I should have a fix for it early next week.

444

Beta Testing / 3D buttons

« on: January 11, 2007, 12:56:34 PM »

Thanks for the report on this one.  I'll check that something is messed up with the 3D button being reset.  Sounds likely.

Looks like the OnEarth server is up, as of right now, so it was probably a connection problem as you said.

445

Beta Testing / 3d view crashed

« on: January 11, 2007, 12:54:16 PM »

Yeah, we don't always send out emails for each beta, esp. if it's just testing or fixing something for someone that's having a problem.

So you're still on the list.

As for the crash... make sure video drivers are the most current.  One of my laptops has a ATI Mobility and I ended up needing to use "Omega Drivers" to get 3d to work at all.  We'll be posting some info about the Omega drivers soon.

If there's some repeatable set of circumstances to the crash it might help us, but likely it's a driver problem, given what I know about that video card.

446

Archived Support / track point dates wrong in TF

« on: January 11, 2007, 12:50:21 PM »

This is definitely a bug.  Someone else has sent me their tracks so I can get it debugged.  Beta version should have a fix by next week.  I'm still on the road, traveling and riding bikes.

447

Feature Requests / User supplied "maps"

« on: January 10, 2007, 08:10:28 AM »

The latest beta version supports user calibrated maps.  It's available now for registered users, and soon in demo form.

There's no limit to the number of maps you can display at a time, and transparency is also supported.

448

Beta Testing / Export Bug in 2.984

« on: January 05, 2007, 12:56:26 PM »

OK, thanks for confirming what I was beginning to suspect.

I have to rethink how to do exports.  It might have to be limited to the maximum texture size (4096x4096 on most newer video cards) for now.

Hopefully I'll have a new version soon.

449

Beta Testing / 3D Blacks Out

« on: January 04, 2007, 11:09:57 PM »

Strange.

The 3D now does a little animation where the terrain 'grows' out.  Do the landsat maps show up during the animation, and then go black when you go to move it?

Any idea if landsat+3d worked in previous betas?

Thanks!

450

Archived - Feedback and Comments / eXplorist track file issue

« on: January 01, 2007, 01:09:26 PM »

Hi there,

Can you send the file that's giving the wrong dates to:

smorris@topofusion.com ?

I'd like to correct this problem for the next version.

Thanks!