Messages

601

Feature Requests / Re: Option to intentionally fabricate timestamps at a user-defined speed

« on: February 23, 2011, 09:18:25 AM »

Interesting on the 2011 APC course.  I guess I did draw in the highway, so those points wouldn't have had time data associated with them.  However, if I was on the case I should have stripped all time data from the file before posting, then those gps units that need it would get fabricated time stamps.

I agree that a dialog with some control over the fake time stamps might be nice.  Are you thinking that you'd use it for virtual partner races?  Or just so that it shows up where you want it to on the Garmin?  Any other reasons?

Thanks.

602

TopoFusion Pro / Re: A couple questions from a newbie.....

« on: February 18, 2011, 02:52:17 PM »

You bring up some good points, and I should check out GSAK.  It seems they have some things really nailed.

I just had to copy/paste 8 waypoints for a SPOT event tracker, so your suggestion was timely.  It really doesn't make sense to have two fields for coordinate entry, and an easy way to copy a location to the clipboard would be great too.

Thanks for the thoughtful feedback.  I will see what I can do.

603

Feature Requests / Re: Command Line Options

« on: February 18, 2011, 09:22:29 AM »

Yep, Black Friday is pretty much the only promotion we run.  Just checking. 

604

Feature Requests / Re: Command Line Options

« on: February 17, 2011, 10:17:17 PM »

Glad to hear it works well with GSAK.  Good to know.

I don't think there was a promotion earlier this year.  Where did you see that?

605

Feature Requests / Re: Command Line Options

« on: February 17, 2011, 09:36:55 AM »

Hi,

Actually TF does have this capability.  If you pass it a pathname to a GPX file, with quotes surrounding it (this is how windows does it), it will load it up upon start up.

We have this functionality so you can drag and drop a GPX file onto the TopoFusion.exe and have it load it up.  I'd forgotten about it, but it's there.

So, if GSAK does things in the windows way with the quotes, it should work.  If not, please let me know and I'll change it to accept both with and w/o quotes in the next version. 

Thanks.

606

User Projects / Mega GPS Replay - 24 hour race

« on: February 16, 2011, 07:54:18 PM »

We cooked up a fun little project along with the good folks at Epic Rides, promoters of the biggest 24 hour race in the country -- the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo.

The Old Pueblo is Tucson, our home base, and TopoFusion author Scott Morris was out at the race last year, collecting GPS data and having a blast riding bikes in the desert.

We took all the lap times from the race, cloned copies of Scott's GPX files, and sent the dots out onto the course.  What results is the closest approximation to what actually happened in the race that you can come up with.

Click through to our 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo Mega Replay page for more info and several videos, including a category winners and solo men, among other categories.

607

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Tf4 - Waypoint list sort-by-date anomaly

« on: February 15, 2011, 02:26:41 PM »

Will put it on the list... thanks for pointing it out.

608

Beta Testing / Re: Setup seems to have started over

« on: February 03, 2011, 09:48:54 AM »

Thanks, but the logs probably won't help.  It's just a windows installer / directory mystery, I think.  Good to keep in mind, maybe I'll discover a pattern sometime down the road.  Glad you got everything back.

609

Feature Requests / Re: Multi-Playback for multiple laps within a single track

« on: February 02, 2011, 07:11:38 PM »

Hey Toby,

Best way to do this right now is to use the cut tool to cut the track right at the start/finish.  If there is a warmup or doodling before the first lap, right click on that track (in pan mode) and delete it.  Now save the new file out if you want.

When you do multitrack playback you'll get a dot for each lap.  Use "start all at the same time" and they should start at the start of the track.  You may want to assign different colors to each track by right clicking on each one (pan mode) and choosing "track properties."

I think you can also name each track there and it'll show instead of file name, but havent' checked.  You can definitely save out each lap to a gpx file and name it by filename that way.

Hope that helps.  An auto way to do this would be cool.  There's also "lap analysis" that will try to find the start/finish of laps and give you stats per lap.  Give that a try if you're curious.

610

Feature Requests / Re: More maps ... ?

« on: February 02, 2011, 11:21:01 AM »

Thanks for the pointer to that!  It was pretty easy to drop them both into TopoFusion.  For sure the mapquest version of the OSM tiles will be in the next release.  Open aerial, too.  Unfortunately it looks like the open aerial doesn't add anything (yet) that TF doesn't already have.  It's the same NASA data that TF's Landsat uses, and in the US it is very similar to the "Color" layer already in TF.

Hopefully they find some good sources of non-US aerial data over time.  The different view on the mapquest OSM tiles will be a nice add too.

Thanks.

611

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Openstreetmap tile cache expiration?

« on: February 02, 2011, 10:50:20 AM »

You are welcome, glad you saw the addition and thanks again for bringing it up.

612

Beta Testing / Re: Setup seems to have started over

« on: February 02, 2011, 10:49:04 AM »

Yeah, first try deleting the newer one and see if it finds the old one.

If not, copy the old one into program files\topofusion.  It should pick that one up there first, if it exists.

Not sure how you got one in those two places.  It should only be looking in one.  Unfortunately my understanding of how vista fools software into thinking files are where they aren't isn't perfect.  I'm not sure even the people who wrote windows understand it. 

613

Beta Testing / Re: Setup seems to have started over

« on: February 01, 2011, 12:43:31 PM »

Sounds like somehow you lost your TopoFusion.ini file, and it recreated a default one for you.  It's possible another installer wiped it out.

You could search your computer (including hidden areas) for TopoFusion.ini.  An older file with your user maps in it can be dropped into c:\program files\topofusion and it will override any other ones (the software will look there first, then it will look in the more buried system areas).

Let me know how it goes.

614

TopoFusion Anouncements / Pro v4.1 released!

« on: February 01, 2011, 12:04:43 PM »

new 2011 splash screen

TopoFusion Pro has a new release, version 4.1, out the first of February, 2011.  This version has a long list of changes (see revision history below).  Many were requested changes to the user interface, or small added features.  A lot of times our users know better what the software should do than we do -- we love getting feedback!

A few examples include - higher detail myTopo maps, functions to strip time stamps from files, correct elevation, expire Open Street Maps tiles, add recent files from a GPS's archive when downloading, and significant improvements in usability and efficiency in TopoFusion's unique GPS network function.





Head over to the Download Page to try TopoFusion out, free of charge.

Registered users refer to your registration email for the download link, or go here to request your code and the download URL.

Full list of changes

For a complete list of changes see the Revision History

615

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Distance and Heart Rate

« on: January 25, 2011, 08:36:46 PM »

Hi,

I also have been using a Dakota 20 with the HR strap. 

#1 - How much of an error are you seeing?  In general it is not going to match up completely, but should be close, especially if you are recording points every second.

#2 - Are you recording one point per second?  If not, the unit is most likely averaging the values, which would mute your actual max.  I've been paying attention on my rides lately and have so far registered the max I've seen.

Hope that helps.

616

User Projects / Re: Google Maps and Topofusion

« on: January 21, 2011, 09:25:28 PM »

Yes, I want to thank you for putting together this very handy tutorial.  I have sent a few people this way already.

Good work.

617

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Server for marine charts?

« on: January 14, 2011, 09:29:23 AM »

Larry,

I don't know of any servers, but I would sure like to find one!  Would love to add a marine layer or two to TopoFusion.

Let me know if you happen on one.

Thanks.

618

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Not Responding

« on: January 07, 2011, 04:27:49 PM »

Interesting, I can grab all topo tiles in that area just fine.  4m seems fine.

619

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Not Responding

« on: January 07, 2011, 09:12:45 AM »

Topo, right?  Must be a bum tile on the server.  Very strange.  Usually it'll eventually fill in, and almost always if you open/close the software.

620

Feature Requests / Re: Alternating Colors on Tracks to show Distance

« on: January 07, 2011, 08:59:23 AM »

This is a good idea.  Might be a little tricky to implement, but like you said it's for estimate purposes (or for cool looking mapping), so it doesn't have to be exact.  We do have dashed/dotted and thickness options already.  Alternating colors would be cool.

621

Beta Testing / Re: 4.06b Options/Preferences/Tile Sets scroll bar vanishes when moved

« on: January 07, 2011, 08:58:02 AM »

Thanks.  Actually there are no more tilesets other than what is shown.  With the new combo mode a few versions back (which removed options for combo 1,4,16,64) they all fit.  But I can't seem to get the scroll bars to not appear randomly.  I'll have another look because it is confusing.

622

Beta Testing / Re: GPS Transfer is buggy with Garmin Geko 201 attached to Serial port

« on: January 07, 2011, 08:56:29 AM »

Thanks for the note.  I'll try uploading (as it is called in TF, download is GPS->computer) two tracks with one of my serial GPS's, next time I have one hooked up.

623

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Not Responding

« on: January 07, 2011, 08:54:43 AM »

Did you try closing and re-opening the software?

It isn't a limitation of the trial version -- all tiles should download just fine.  It is most likely just a server glitch or the like, that will sort itself out eventually.

624

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Not Responding

« on: January 06, 2011, 08:43:38 AM »

Hi hawk,

Sorry about the forum downtime.  Your post was made to the old server, during our transition to a new server.

Yes, you should try reinstalling the program, it may help.  What happens, exactly, when you open the software?

You may need to find/delete your TopoFusion.ini file, which should be here:

C:\Documents and Settings\*Your USER NAME*\Local Settings\Application Data\TopoFusion\TopoFusion.ini

Let me know how it goes.

625

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Line type and Color

« on: January 03, 2011, 09:18:54 AM »

OK, I must have misunderstood what you were asking about.  The batch download tool allows you to draw a box around an area and have TopoFusion download maps from internet servers to your computer.  It doesn't have anything to do with exporting maps to your GPS unit.  That is only done within the "Export View" function, and functions as you've seen -- by exporting the current map view.  It will download any missing tiles from internet servers to your computer as it goes.

Hope that helps!

626

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Line type and Color

« on: January 01, 2011, 04:27:59 PM »

Correct, when you do a batch download it will only download tiles inside the box.  If you tried to download every tile your internet connection would be busy for a century or so. 

Batch and the rectangle are the same tool.  If you open up Batch Download and start it, it will ask you to define the area you want.

Note that you can zoom WAAY out and define a larger area... but if you are downloading high res files, see above about centuries of internet time. 

627

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Line type and Color

« on: December 31, 2010, 07:09:48 PM »

Make sure that track shading is not on -- it will override all track colors.  There's a toggle on the tool bar, or find it in the "Map" menu.

628

Beta Testing / Re: Beta 4.06 Error Msg

« on: December 31, 2010, 08:48:52 AM »

Shoot.  Can you email me your TopoFusion.ini file?  It should be here:

C:\Documents and Settings\*Your USER NAME*\Local Settings\Application Data\TopoFusion\TopoFusion.ini

Slight possibility it is just in C:\Program Files\TopoFusion, since I know you have been a TF user for quite a while.

Thanks, I'll see if I can get to the bottom of it.

629

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Update USGS

« on: December 29, 2010, 09:18:29 AM »

Sure.  Right click on the track (when in the "hand" mode) and choose "track properties".  You'll get color, width and pattern options.

Did you check myTopo maps?  They are more current in many cases.

630

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Main Map

« on: December 28, 2010, 08:24:55 PM »

Yep, that is correct.  Go by what the dialog box says only.

631

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Main Map

« on: December 28, 2010, 07:47:38 PM »

In the Export View dialog, under the checkbox for "Tiled KMZ for specific map type" there is a bit of text telling you how many 1000x1000 tiles it takes to cover the current view in TopoFusion.  That will change as you zoom in and zoom out.  Try it.

The number of map tiles shown in the main TF window doesn't matter, it only matters what number the dialog is reporting, since you will be exporting the tiles at their native resolution, while TF will shown them at different resolutions (and also kick up to higher zoom levels).

Maybe that makes sense?

632

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Main Map

« on: December 28, 2010, 07:20:20 PM »

Right, you don't specify a zoom range using TopoFusion.  You simply zoom/pan the map to fit everything in the main map that you want to see on your GPS.  You can ignore what maps are being shown in the TF (that is, the zoom level) because you control what you upload in the Export View dialog.  For myTopo it always uploads the highest zoom level.

Just pay attention to the "number of tiles" number to see if you are going over the 100 time Garmin limit.

Hope that helps.

633

Feature Requests / Re: Elevation in Toolbar

« on: December 28, 2010, 09:24:43 AM »

Yeah, we could move it to the top bar, but real estate is a little limited up there.  I made it bold and more obvious in the latest version...

634

Beta Testing / Re: Beta 4.06 - many changes

« on: December 27, 2010, 09:49:58 PM »

Interesting on the resize problem.  It must not be getting the client size rectangle reported correctly.  That might be a tough one to diagnose, but I'll think about it a bit.  The maximizing issue does sound like a bit of a pain.

Thanks for the feedback -- glad to have the (mostly) positive reports on WINE and VirtualBox!

635

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Merge Track

« on: December 27, 2010, 09:43:31 PM »

Yeah, the merge tool is perhaps more appropriately called the "join" tool.  In fact, we just renamed it to that in the next version of the software.  It only joins tracks end to end.

If you want to combine tracks you might try the "Make Network" command in the Analysis menu.  It is really not designed to work on a single track with one one and back, but there's some chance it might do exactly what you want.  Give it a shot, you might find it useful for other stuff down the road.

636

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Quirks

« on: December 24, 2010, 01:20:57 PM »

Took care of 2 and 3 in the latest beta.  Thanks guys.

Still haven't been able to track down #1.  Would love any info that reproduces it!  I'm sure it's something easy to fix, just have to figure out what causes it.

637

Feature Requests / Re: A (Christmas?) Wish List

« on: December 24, 2010, 01:15:45 PM »

I was able to get a few of your suggestions into the latest beta.  Check it out (or wait for full release if you want).

On your last note, the keyboard shortcuts for T/C/S should work even when viewing user maps.  Maybe not when you are *placing* a user map.  But otherwise...

638

Beta Testing / Beta 4.06 - many changes

« on: December 24, 2010, 12:52:06 PM »

Version 4.06 Beta is out now, and features a number of tweaks and enhancements, many due to user requests right here on this forum.  I wasn't able to cover everything this time around, but will keep working to make the software better, as always.

Please let us know, by posting here, or direct email, if you notice any problems with the software or have any other comments.

There is also a hidden feature, that a little bird may have told you about.  Email me for details.  Thanks.

-----

Full list of changes:

4.06 - [12/24/10]  (Beta)

Added "Strip time stamps" function to file properties dialog
Added "Correct elevation" function to file properties dialog
  (uses same method as Climbing Analysis->Add Elevation to track)
Added checkbox to enable myTopo zoom 16 (highest detail) tiles
  (find in Options->Preferences->Tilesets)
Added function to expire all OpenStreetMap tiles from cache
  (find in Options->Preferences->Tilesets)
State of active file list (size, minimized, file picker minimized) now saved
Added "switch to Elevation" option to Map menu
Fixed issues with box-selected track points not highlighting sometimes
Zoom tool no longer shows aspect ratio zoom box
All analysis dialogs now default to whichever file is selected in the active
  list, if a file is selected
Live tracking track now shows arrows if toggle is enabled
Changed track arrows to show first arrow closer to start of track
Fixed WMS downloads so that servers can now be an IP address
Disabled non-working file renaming in file picker (main window)
Fixed problem where the wrong tile was selected when using the reload map tool
  in Open Street Maps, myTopo and OpenCycle maps
Fixed problem importing TCX files with Cadence from TF into Training Center
Merge Tracks tool now called "Join Tracks" Tool, for consistency
Lat/Lon and Elevation displays now bold
GPS network improvements:
* Last filename for network output now saved between runs of the software
* Significant speed up in intersection test phase of the algorithm
* Fixed problems with loops being cut out in GPS network formation
* Fixed GPS network statistics (# of reductions, etc) to reset between runs
* Long GPS segments (likely errors in start/stop on GPS) now automatically split
  When added to a network
* Added minor controls on the number of points/meter in averaged tracks, to
  keep size down and create smoother output

639

TopoFusion Pro / Re: TF 4.05 wants to download MyTopo tiles that I already downloaded

« on: December 24, 2010, 12:47:37 PM »

No need for that!  Check out the latest beta version -- I have added a checkbox to Options->prefs->tilesets to turn on/off zoom 16.  So you can choose which is your most detailed tileset. 

All those 16's previously downloaded should show up.

640

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Publishing maps on website

« on: December 24, 2010, 10:17:15 AM »

Try the PhotoFusion function.  You can export HTML for a given view, even if you don't have any photos that are georeferenced.

However, it does not give you a google map or anything interactive.  TopoFusion doesn't export anything in that format, at present...

641

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Problem: Auto-pauses disregarded - unwanted pause time included in TCX

« on: December 16, 2010, 09:24:58 AM »

Alex,

I didn't think that any information about "auto-pausing" was actually in the TCX file.  Can you send me the original file?  It's pretty easy for software to tell when you are moving or not and simply not include that.  But it appears, from your bottom track, that there must be something in the TCX file that TF is not saving out.

The fix is ready on the cadence, I just need to push out a new version.  The code has been tied up a bit with a side project I am working on, but it looks like there is a lull now and I should be able to push out a new version relatively soon.  Thanks for your patience with that.

642

Feature Requests / Re: Log Book - Summary by Activity Type + Equipment Logging

« on: December 14, 2010, 06:56:32 PM »

Nope.  Actually haven't hardly touched the logbook in the last year.  It does need some work though.

643

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Clearing entire tileset cache

« on: December 13, 2010, 08:04:43 AM »

If you uninstalled and reinstalled you might have picked up the new default location for maps when it was changed several versions back.  That would explain maps in one other location, but not two!  Anyway, deleting them all was the right thing to do.

644

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Clearing entire tileset cache

« on: December 12, 2010, 10:51:47 AM »

Thanks Mike.  Yep, just delete those files and you'll start a new cache fresh.

645

Feature Requests / Re: Slope tile sets/ Color Codes on Maps

« on: December 06, 2010, 04:46:22 PM »

Interesting idea.  I'd be game to try it on our end and see if the results are interesting.  DEM data may not be robust enough for this, as you said, but it might look really cool even if it isn't super useful.

I'll put a note about it, for the next time I'm looking at the elevation tiles code.

Thanks.

646

TopoFusion Pro / Re: img files

« on: December 05, 2010, 02:31:45 PM »

Yep, that sounds about right.  Have fun with it and don't hesitate to ask further questions!

647

TopoFusion Pro / Re: img files

« on: December 05, 2010, 01:24:29 PM »

.img is one format TopoFusion cannot read.  It's the format that Garmin's basemaps are in.  You should be able to use Mapsource (free) to upload the files.  There are only one or two programs that allow you to edit them, and not many that will even view/upload them since Mapsource is available.

648

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Error 76 in frmMain in Procedure Load

« on: December 02, 2010, 02:07:05 PM »

Wow, how strange.  I can't think of how an extra slash would get in there.  Were you editing the .ini file manually?  If you let windows choose the various paths it should be OK.

It's propagating to other software, or just within TF?  Just make sure all paths in the .ini file only have one slash and that should stop it.

No worries on the trouble - I like spinning wheels, remember?  (on a bike, that is)

649

TopoFusion Pro / Re: Error 76 in frmMain in Procedure Load

« on: December 01, 2010, 02:06:10 PM »

I'm still stumped on this one.  We could try to find the line number it's failing on. 

So every time you restart it, it still asks for your code?

This is so strange since it's a new install.  It almost seems like two different TF installs conflicting with each other...

650

TopoFusion Pro / Re: A question of maps

« on: December 01, 2010, 01:45:40 PM »

Yep, google imagery is sometimes better (sometimes worse, esp. in remote areas!).  In urban areas it is tough to beat, but they pay for the imagery and protect it as well.

One thing you can do is grab a screenshot of google earth or maps, then import it into TF using the "User Maps" feature.  However, at the scale you're looking at it'll be hard to calibrate it finely enough to do the corrects you want to do.

A little bird told me that there's an easier way to get google tiles into TF.  Drop me an email about it.