Contacts & Waypoints

[Egmont]

Has anyone found an easy way to attach waypoints to contact entries?

I just re-read what Bokkie wrote a while ago, there has to be an easier way.

Third party software maybe?

[Mapper]

That's not too difficult: be sure the Que application is running, go to contacts, tap on the one you want to save as waypoint and select 'Locate in Garmin Que'. With the address opened in Garmin Que tap the Menu at the bottom and select 'Save as Waypoint'.

Can't be done much easier. :)

[Bokkie]

1. Only if the address exists in the database. If it does not, well...

2. You still cannot route via the address a-la iQue and M5. The GPS 10 and cfQue share the same 2.6 version of software.

3. The waypoints do not sync to the desktop like the addresses do. Do a hard reset, or lose them, or delete them, and that's the end of them.

Garmin need to get off their butts and fix this pronto. It's too useful and too serious an oversight not to include it, especially as they did it for the M5 and that's the same PPC platform as we use for the GPS 10.

[Egmont]

Mapper,
Could not get back earlier, took my unit on a 1800 mile trip in the last 4 days. Worked flawlessly.:D

Thanks, works OK.

1. Only if the address exists in the database. If it does not, well...

Bokkie, How else would you do it? I mean the address has to be there to somewhere.

Could you please elaborate.

[Bokkie]

When you 'glue' the contact to the address you have to perform a manual address search. Recall on the iQue that the address is 'wired' into the contact address using one of the custom fields?

That does not work on the Que software we use on the GPS 10 and cfQue. If you can't find the address in the database then you have to select an address that is close to it. With the iQue you can digitise a point on the map, but I don't think the Que software does that. No matter what it does, it creates an entry in the Garmin waypoint file and that has absolutely no connection with the address. If you want to route to that location you have to open the Garmin waypoint icon and select it before routing to it.

You can see the problem perhaps. What happens if you want to change the address? You can do that and select another address in the Garmin database but then you have two different waypoints relating to the same address but with no logical connection between any of them and the address. You could in theory have 1000's of waypoints for the same address. On the iQue you only ever have 1 as the lat/long position is in the address record. Hence the iQue can Hotsync the address file and that's all you need to do. On the PPC, ActiveSync has no knowledge of Garmin's waypoint file so you'll get the address contacts synced ok, but you are guaranteed to lose the waypoints. I'm really suprised that Garmin have not rushed a patch through for this as it really cannot be that difficult to retro-fit the M5 method onto the Que software, for they are, after all, both PPC platforms. And by definition, that should be much easier to do than it would be on the Palm OS perhaps? Although Joseph will probably take umbrage at such a comment!:D

Edit: If you want to save the Garmin waypoint file you need to move it into the iPaq File Store where it can at least survive a hard reset and be backed up. But that's a manual process everytime you want to save the waypoints, and that is also a manual pain in the a$$!

[Mapper]

Bokkie, I can't follow you and I don't exactly understand what you mean.

If you want to route to an address that exists in your Contacts you don't have to deal with waypoints at all. Just tap the address, choose 'Locate in Garmin Que'. The Que application will show you the address and after selecting the button 'Route to it' you are on your way.

[Bokkie]

But the location is not written into the contact address record. That's something only the iQue and the M5 do. In other words, there is a separation between the address and the location.

[Mapper]

OK, now I get it, address and location are not stored together.

But I don't think we have to be afraid to loose everything with a hard reset as the addresses will be restored from a backup (we all keep backups don't we? ;) ) and the location is generated 'on the fly' by Garmin Que!

[Bokkie]

An ActiveSync is all we need to backup the address book, but you'd have to manually shunt the Garmin waypoint file into the File Store. If you do this often enough you will not lose anything but it suggests Garmin rushed this out of the door to make a deadline. On the M5 where they do this correctly they apparently have patents established to protect it.

Imagine if they had laid claim to the old DOS editor edlin. We'd be well and truly buggered!:rolleyes:

[Mapper]

I don't understand why you keep on mentioning the Garmin waypointfile, we don't need waypoints at all to view the location of, or route to a contact in Garmin Que.

As I wrote in my previous post: the location is generated 'on the fly' by Garmin Que!