RBEmerson
Kein Nasebohrer
I agree that BC is an acquired taste. As software, it sux. It's complex in ways that inhibit its use. I wish I could remember who to credit for a break-through on understanding how BC handles waypoints internally. I'll take a stab at providing BC satori (Zen enlightenment): (hint: it's long and probably needs to be read a few times and tried on BC, but it will explain the machinery hidden inside BC, the stuff that does all the work. The UI with the draw-a-route, etc. tools isn't discussed here)
All (and this is the big point) data is common in a collection(the topmost part of the data organization). That is, if a particular route is laid out with waypoints, those waypoints can be accessed by all existing routes and any routes to come. If a route is laid out from Pittsburgh, PA to Indianapolis, IN with waypoint Sandusky in OH (major props for anyone who can explain why "sooner or later, everybody has to go through Sandusky" - it's bike related). Later, a route is laid out from Columbus, OH to Cincinnati, OH, via Sandusky. An attempt to create the waypoint Sandusky fails - "Invalid Input". Why? Waypoint Sandusky already exists in the collection's route PGH-Indy. Copy Sandusky and paste it in the list of waypoints in Col-Cin, and that route can use the waypoint. Again, if a waypoint exists in one route, any route can use that waypoint. And here's where the program turns to near trash...
The collection has a list of routes. Each route has its own unique waypoints - no name duplication (can't do that anyway), although common locations (the intersection of Market St and Broad St, for example) with different names are allowed. So far, so good.
A route is being laid out, using parts of a set of roads used in a couple of existing route. But the user doesn't know which route has which waypoints. "I know waypoint Sandusky exists in a route. How do I find out which one?" There is no 'show me the route with Sandusky' command - there is no "list all waypoints and where they're used" command or menu item. (It doesn't help to know that BC, to function, must know the answer to the question. It just gives you the stinkeye and won't do it)
There is one bit of hope. Click on the blue folder immediately under the word Library on the leftmost (route list) window. Every route in the collection is displayed on the map. With their waypoints. Move the map to the area where waypoint Sandusky is. Zoom in until the waypoint is easy to see. Put the cursor on the waypoint and right click. In the pop-up window, click Open. In the properties window (name of the waypoint in the upper left corner) is a tab marked References. Click on it and... OMG a list of which routes use Sandusky!
Yes, the process is that indirect and annoying. BTW "Invalid Input" is about as misleading a warning as any warning ever seen. What it means is "This name exists - copy and use it, or pick a unique name".
If you know about relational databases, BC should look familiar. For those who don't, BC will continue to be a PITA.
There are any number of other gripes, flaws, and stupidities in BC. But...
I'm going to spend a week in the Alps this summer. I was there last summer. I don't know all the secret roads, but I do know some passes I want to see. I've built a set of routes that tie them and some other places of interest together. For example, the trip from Munich, DEU to Mittenwald, DEU (Google and Maps are your friend here) is laid out with no slabbing and some stops along the way. Or Mittenwald to Andermatt, CH - that needs some slabbing (long trip, short day) and two passes (Sattelegg and Ibergeregg). Much as I'd like to do some "where's this road go?" riding, there just isn't space for that. BC lets me build a route by hand, adding waypoints to avoid autobahns, etc., and gives me a hint about time needed (pass speeds average about 30 MPH but BC is clueless about that) as well as the distance. And I can upload it to my Zumo 660.
Executive summary: BC, overall, has a miserable user interface that makes an even worse work flow. Once the user understands that the collection is really a relational database, and that's applied to routes and waypoints, there is some hope of getting clever with BC. Regardless of how routes are built, they can be uploaded to the 660 and used as needed. The advantage over Maps/Waze is if cell phone connectivity is lost (riding in the hinterlands) the GPS still knows the way.
- - - -
For the die-hard who's still here...
I created a list (I'm assuming you've figured out working with folders and lists) inside a folder called Alps Trip. The list is called Everything (really). All of the routes are built using this list. That means the list contains all of the waypoints used by all the routes.
There's a route containing waypoint PGH, PA-OH Border, OH-IN Border, and Indy. Time to add Sandusky. Double click on the route on the map. A pop-up window shows a list of the waypoints in the route. At the very right, at about the middle of the right margin, are four icons: grey up-arrow, green +, grey down-arrow, and a clock - ignore the clock. Click once on the line with IN-OH Border. Click once on the green +. A pop-up with a list with all of the waypoints in Everything shows up. Type something like "Sand" and waypoint Sandusky is marked. Double click it and the waypoint is added to the route. If you want to change order of waypoints, click on a waypoint, and use the up and down arrows to re-position it. Close the window with the route's waypoints, and BC will recompute the route, using the new waypoint(s). (Why Stateside routes got into my Alps Routes folder is a mystery)
Here's where Everything makes life easy. When I decide to create a new route, and find I'll go near Sattelegg, I ask for the waypoint for Sattelegg, and insert it in the route, just as I did with Sandusky. Here's where things get really interesting. I've got seven routes for the seven days I'll be riding. I've got a couple hundred waypoints (honest). I want to KISS and have only the route and its waypoints in list Day 1. Right click on Alps Routes folder (right now it only contains list Everything) and create a list called Day 1. Open up Everything and scroll down to the route Munich-Mittenwald. Click on it. Use CTL+C to put a copy in the clipboard. Go back to list Day 1 which, right now, is empty. Here comes the magic... Click in the empty list space and use CTL+V to paste Munich-Mittenwald into Day 1. Not only does route Munich-Mittenwald show up in list Day 1, but so do all of the waypoints it uses! Create Day 2, Day 3, etc. with each day's routing, and I have each route and all of its waypoints listed in one place. Better still, I look at waypoint Sattelegg and decide to call it Satteleggpass. I change the name seen in list Day 1. Not only does route Day 1 now use a waypoint called Satteleggpass, so does every other route in the collection. If there are three possible routes going over Sattelegg, the waypoint originally called Sattelegg is now called Satteleggpass in all three routes, even though it was changed in only one route, and it'll be changed in the list with all routes' waypoints: list Everything. Shazam!!
All (and this is the big point) data is common in a collection(the topmost part of the data organization). That is, if a particular route is laid out with waypoints, those waypoints can be accessed by all existing routes and any routes to come. If a route is laid out from Pittsburgh, PA to Indianapolis, IN with waypoint Sandusky in OH (major props for anyone who can explain why "sooner or later, everybody has to go through Sandusky" - it's bike related). Later, a route is laid out from Columbus, OH to Cincinnati, OH, via Sandusky. An attempt to create the waypoint Sandusky fails - "Invalid Input". Why? Waypoint Sandusky already exists in the collection's route PGH-Indy. Copy Sandusky and paste it in the list of waypoints in Col-Cin, and that route can use the waypoint. Again, if a waypoint exists in one route, any route can use that waypoint. And here's where the program turns to near trash...
The collection has a list of routes. Each route has its own unique waypoints - no name duplication (can't do that anyway), although common locations (the intersection of Market St and Broad St, for example) with different names are allowed. So far, so good.
A route is being laid out, using parts of a set of roads used in a couple of existing route. But the user doesn't know which route has which waypoints. "I know waypoint Sandusky exists in a route. How do I find out which one?" There is no 'show me the route with Sandusky' command - there is no "list all waypoints and where they're used" command or menu item. (It doesn't help to know that BC, to function, must know the answer to the question. It just gives you the stinkeye and won't do it)
There is one bit of hope. Click on the blue folder immediately under the word Library on the leftmost (route list) window. Every route in the collection is displayed on the map. With their waypoints. Move the map to the area where waypoint Sandusky is. Zoom in until the waypoint is easy to see. Put the cursor on the waypoint and right click. In the pop-up window, click Open. In the properties window (name of the waypoint in the upper left corner) is a tab marked References. Click on it and... OMG a list of which routes use Sandusky!
Yes, the process is that indirect and annoying. BTW "Invalid Input" is about as misleading a warning as any warning ever seen. What it means is "This name exists - copy and use it, or pick a unique name".
If you know about relational databases, BC should look familiar. For those who don't, BC will continue to be a PITA.
There are any number of other gripes, flaws, and stupidities in BC. But...
I'm going to spend a week in the Alps this summer. I was there last summer. I don't know all the secret roads, but I do know some passes I want to see. I've built a set of routes that tie them and some other places of interest together. For example, the trip from Munich, DEU to Mittenwald, DEU (Google and Maps are your friend here) is laid out with no slabbing and some stops along the way. Or Mittenwald to Andermatt, CH - that needs some slabbing (long trip, short day) and two passes (Sattelegg and Ibergeregg). Much as I'd like to do some "where's this road go?" riding, there just isn't space for that. BC lets me build a route by hand, adding waypoints to avoid autobahns, etc., and gives me a hint about time needed (pass speeds average about 30 MPH but BC is clueless about that) as well as the distance. And I can upload it to my Zumo 660.
Executive summary: BC, overall, has a miserable user interface that makes an even worse work flow. Once the user understands that the collection is really a relational database, and that's applied to routes and waypoints, there is some hope of getting clever with BC. Regardless of how routes are built, they can be uploaded to the 660 and used as needed. The advantage over Maps/Waze is if cell phone connectivity is lost (riding in the hinterlands) the GPS still knows the way.
- - - -
For the die-hard who's still here...
I created a list (I'm assuming you've figured out working with folders and lists) inside a folder called Alps Trip. The list is called Everything (really). All of the routes are built using this list. That means the list contains all of the waypoints used by all the routes.
There's a route containing waypoint PGH, PA-OH Border, OH-IN Border, and Indy. Time to add Sandusky. Double click on the route on the map. A pop-up window shows a list of the waypoints in the route. At the very right, at about the middle of the right margin, are four icons: grey up-arrow, green +, grey down-arrow, and a clock - ignore the clock. Click once on the line with IN-OH Border. Click once on the green +. A pop-up with a list with all of the waypoints in Everything shows up. Type something like "Sand" and waypoint Sandusky is marked. Double click it and the waypoint is added to the route. If you want to change order of waypoints, click on a waypoint, and use the up and down arrows to re-position it. Close the window with the route's waypoints, and BC will recompute the route, using the new waypoint(s). (Why Stateside routes got into my Alps Routes folder is a mystery)
Here's where Everything makes life easy. When I decide to create a new route, and find I'll go near Sattelegg, I ask for the waypoint for Sattelegg, and insert it in the route, just as I did with Sandusky. Here's where things get really interesting. I've got seven routes for the seven days I'll be riding. I've got a couple hundred waypoints (honest). I want to KISS and have only the route and its waypoints in list Day 1. Right click on Alps Routes folder (right now it only contains list Everything) and create a list called Day 1. Open up Everything and scroll down to the route Munich-Mittenwald. Click on it. Use CTL+C to put a copy in the clipboard. Go back to list Day 1 which, right now, is empty. Here comes the magic... Click in the empty list space and use CTL+V to paste Munich-Mittenwald into Day 1. Not only does route Munich-Mittenwald show up in list Day 1, but so do all of the waypoints it uses! Create Day 2, Day 3, etc. with each day's routing, and I have each route and all of its waypoints listed in one place. Better still, I look at waypoint Sattelegg and decide to call it Satteleggpass. I change the name seen in list Day 1. Not only does route Day 1 now use a waypoint called Satteleggpass, so does every other route in the collection. If there are three possible routes going over Sattelegg, the waypoint originally called Sattelegg is now called Satteleggpass in all three routes, even though it was changed in only one route, and it'll be changed in the list with all routes' waypoints: list Everything. Shazam!!
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