Recent Changes, Bug Fixes, and Improvements in ExpertGPS

Latest Version: ExpertGPS 8.52 - July 7, 2023

Recently added features: The drawing tools now snap to the other objects you've drawn on the map, allowing you to trace roads, trails, and the edges of shapes.

ExpertGPS customers with a current ExpertGPS Annual Support contract can download the latest free update to ExpertGPS by clicking Check for New Version Now on the Help menu in ExpertGPS.

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ExpertGPS Change List

ExpertGPS 8.52 - July 7, 2023 Fixed an error where an unnamed Pro Data column created an unreadable GPX file. ExpertGPS 8.51 - April 13, 2023 Fixed rare error while Tracking using the Windows Location API. Fixed recent error when clicking a photo in the Photo List when Drop Shadow was enabled on the map. Improved the error message when attempting to Receive Waypoints or Tracks from a GPS that doesn't have that capability. ExpertGPS 8.50 - April 7, 2023 Dropped support for Windows 7 and 32-bit processors. Improved MTP support for newer Garmin watches. Made internal changes to support rotated maps. When clicking on a route, track, or shape, the magenta selection or orange marker triangle should now be placed precisely at the Snap circle. Drawing straight line segments for a track or shape by clicking with the mouse or tapping the stylus has been improved so there's less chance of creating extraneous points if the cursor moves slightly. Removed Tracking page from Preferences dialog, as these settings have been moved to the dialog that appears each time you enable Real-Time Tracking. Fixed a recent error reading Z and M elevation data from point shapefiles. Fixed a recent error causing some Garmin MTP devices to not be recognized. Added support for Garmin eTrex SE and GPSMAP 67/67i. Added location info to fix the ambiguity when two of your selected coordinate formats have the same short name: NAD27 (Canada) and NAD27 (United States), e.g. Added support for Microsoft Surface Dial, and modified the mouse wheel behavior to make smaller changes in zoom level. Added Press and Hold gesture for context menu on the map - hold the mouse button, pen, or finger without moving for one second to trigger a context menu. Added Cancel Menu option to popup menus shown on the map, to prevent creating stray waypoints/tracks if you want to click out of the menu without making a selection. Fixed error when alt-clicking on a geocache in the list. Fixed recent change where Color Code by Elevation wasn't displaying in the Elevation Profile. The route being drawn now stays selected after the draw is finished or cancelled. ExpertGPS 8.42 - February 24, 2023 Fixed an Undo Error introduced in 8.41 when a dialog box comes up or the map refreshes in the middle of a command (Import DXF, Project Waypoint). ExpertGPS 8.41 - February 23, 2023 Fixed the Reduce Trackpoints/Simplify command, which was broken in 8.40. Fixed the Extend Route functionality, which was broken in 8.40. Added Antenna Height above Ground to the Tracking dialog, allowing you to subtract out the height of the surveying pole, tribrach, or vehicle that the receiver is mounted to when recording elevation data. Improved the Marker or Snap location when clicking off the end or near an abrupt change in direction of a track, route, or shape. Fixed some strange behaviors and errors which could occur when the middle mouse buttons were used while drawing or dragging with the left mouse button. Fixed some issues with the selection rectangle or zoom rectangle drawing twice or partially erasing itself when keys were pressed or the map was refreshed. Fixed some display issues while drawing routes, tracks, and shapes when keys were pressed or the map was refreshed. The cursor state now updates immediately (without having to move the mouse) when holding or releasing Alt, Ctrl, Shift with tools that use these modifiers. The Move Selected tool now starts with the Select Arrow cursor until you hover over something that can be moved. Fixed a rare error when slightly moving the Move Selected tool. ExpertGPS 8.40 - February 18, 2023 The drawing tools (Track tool, Waypoint, etc) now snap to existing data on the map. As you move close to a track, shape, or waypoint on the map, you'll see a circle jump to the exact intersecting spot where the new trackpoint or waypoint will be created. Added an Auto-Trace functionality to the Track and Shape drawing tools. If, while drawing, you click on a track or shape, and then click again on a different spot on the SAME track or shape, ExpertGPS will automatically trace the path between the points. You can use this feature to draw a hike along a series of trails and roads, for example, or to draw a polygon shape that shares an edge with another shape. Updated the appearance and behavior of the popup Hover info window that appears when the cursor is over data on the map. When dragging the Select and Zoom tool or drawing lines with the Route/Track/Shape tools, the screen animation has been improved to reduce flicker. Made it easier to click exactly on the start, end, and intermediate points of tracks and shapes. Fixed error when using Move Selected to highlight a track before using the Simplify Track command. Added support for track color and waypoint group names when loading Raymarine GPX files. ExpertGPS Pro now stores the order of Pro Data Columns when saving a GPX file. (Requires files to be saved in 8.38 or later, and opened in 8.38 or later) Fixed error when importing certain GeoJSON files. GeoJSON import now supports files with coordinate reference systems specified like urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::28355. Using the Alt key to erase track or shape points while drawing no longer activates the menu when released. ExpertGPS 8.37 - January 26, 2023 Added Garmin 18x USB as a preset option for Real-Time Tracking, with custom instructions. Added new error messages when the wrong GPS receiver is connected to ExpertGPS and a GPS command is unable to be performed. Improved File Geodatabase import: better error message when importing unsupported ESRI 9.3 GDB, retry when selecting the wrong GDB folder, remember last File GDB location. Replaced the Measure Track command with two new, more-descriptive commands - Color Code Track (visualize ranges of speed, grade, elevation) and Add Mile Markers. Added a waypoint naming prefix option to the Grid Builder command. Fixed a rare issue where double-clicking in a dialog to make a selection could cause a command to occur (like marking an unintended waypoint) on the underlying map. ExpertGPS 8.36 - January 9, 2023 Fixed a recent issue where notes could not be selected/moved on the map. Waypoints, notes, geocaches, and photos can now be selected on the map by clicking on either the label text or the symbol/marker. Improved error messages when connected to an Android or Apple phone. Rewrote many of the menu prompts shown in the lower left corner. Enabled all popup menu commands when viewing the geocache HTML view. ExpertGPS 8.35 - December 28, 2022 Fixed error messages introduced in 8.32 when opening certain GPX files or receiving data from GPS. ExpertGPS 8.32 - December 23, 2022 Better error messages and online help for Garmin MTP-based devices. Better handling and reporting of out of memory errors. Improved speed of polygon/polyline shapefile import. Added option to import shapefile Attribute Table data as Pro Data or not. Fixed issue where Import Polyline/Polygon dialog settings weren't being remembered correctly. ExpertGPS 8.31 - December 14, 2022 Fixed an error when opening GPX files from Humminbird fishfinders. ExpertGPS will now read depth and temperature data from Humminbird GPX files. When saving, depth and temperature will be stored in the Garmin GPX format. Fixed an error when connecting to some Garmin devices (zumo XT) which use MTP, but don't report Garmin as their manufacturer. Improved responsiveness when displaying an elevation profile with the Waypoints box checked when there are thousands of waypoints in the file. Improved responsiveness of the map redraw when dragging a selection across an elevation profile when there are thousands of waypoints in the file. The Geocaching Settings dialog now uses the simplified EasyGPS interface for waypoint names (Geocache Name or GCxxxx ID). The older version was optimized for the early days when most GPS receivers only allowed 6-10 characters for waypoint names. Improved the handling of custom geocache names and comments when switching GPS receivers and when saving/opening GPX files. Fixed the "too many trackpoints" message when sending data back to a GPX-based Garmin marine GPS. ExpertGPS 8.30 - December 8, 2022 Fixed discrepancy between Label and Name on GPS when using Name Sequentially option in the Waypoint Grid Builder. When using Send to GPS with GPX-based GPS receivers, ExpertGPS wasn't sending Garmin track color information. Fixed a slowdown when importing shapefiles with many thousands of waypoints. Using the Simplify command on a single track or shape with a magenta track selection will only reduce the trackpoints within that selection. ExpertGPS 8.29 - November 16, 2022 Fixed main program icon. ExpertGPS 8.28 - November 3, 2022 Better support for pasting coordinates with no comma separating the latitude and longitude components, like geocaching.com's N 42° 25.842 W 071° 30.947 Added Display on GPS column (Symbol Only, Symbol + Name, Symbol + Column) to the Waypoint List. Improved map drawing speed when viewing thousands of polygons with labels. Exported GeoJSON files now contain all of the column data in the Waypoint and Shape Lists as JSON properties. Imported GeoJSON files that have properties will be mapped to matching columns in ExpertGPS or imported as Pro Data columns ExpertGPS 8.27 - September 9, 2022 The Go to Address command is now only available in the United States and Canada, due to an API provider shutting down. The Get Elevation command is now using a different API provider, and will have slightly different performance and results. Added several non-standard UTM zones used in Germany. When using Find by EPSG to find a geographic projection (lat/lon format), the EPSG number and sample in the lower left corner wasn't updating correctly. Most of the Canada grid formats are now organized into three sub-locations by datum: NAD27, NAD83, NAD83 CSRS. Added two custom Albers projections for South Africa. ExpertGPS 8.26 - August 19, 2022 Changed the name of the Track/Shape/Route columns in the Trackpoint/Shapepoint/Route Waypoint Lists to Track Name/Shape Name/Route Name. This is because when importing track data from CSV, ExpertGPS automatically matches data columns with columns that have identical names in ExpertGPS. "Track" is a little too generic for a column name and occasionally gets matched to a CSV column when it shouldn't. Added about 80 additional coordinate formats. Re-implemented all Gauss Kruger coordinate formats - you will need to add any of these formats you use back using Change Coordinate Format on the Options menu. Added two new options to the Grid Builder command, to allow you to create zig-zag routes of waypoints, useful for directing a drone for photography, or for walking the shortest distance when cruising timber. Altered the Add Waypoints to Route command to get rid of the "shortest distance" default behavior, and instead add the waypoints to the route in the order they were selected. Added 38400 baud rate and two others for generic NMEA tracking input devices. ExpertGPS 8.25 - August 2, 2022 Added back UTM in US Survey Feet for the United States. Fixed implementation of recent change where pressing D key created a new waypoint, sometimes in the middle of typing a word containing D in the List view. Changed the Send to GPS, Receive from GPS, and Real-Time Tracking dialogs to add specific configuration instructions for the selected GPS receiver. Please let me know if your GPS uses different settings than those in the configuration instructions in these dialogs. ExpertGPS 8.24 - July 22, 2022 Removed obsolete Recenter Map tool from a popup menu. Added back several datums that weren't in recent versions of ExpertGPS. DXF Import: Better handling of Embedded Objects DXF Import: Closed polylines are no longer being drawn as filled polygons. ExpertGPS will now recognize 900+ obsolete ESRI and EPSG codes, and automatically select the current code instead. Added additional Mercator projections for Indonesia, Brazil, World. Improved the Select a Folder dialog used by the Add Photos and Import File Geodatabase commands. ExpertGPS now ignores the Garmin USA, Garmin Europe, Garmin Asia pre-loaded waypoints when receiving data from a GPX-based GPS. Fixed error when importing GeoJSON data. Shapes with Override Color were not being saved correctly. ExpertGPS 8.23 - June 27, 2022 More changes to coordinate formats and datums to increase compatibility with ESRI-style WKTs and ESPG/ESRI authority values. Some datums have been removed - please get in touch if a datum you use is no longer available. Fixed a rare UI hang when using Web Mercator grids. Removed an error message when initializing serial COM ports for Real-Time Tracking. ExpertGPS 8.22 - June 22, 2022 ExpertGPS has reverted back to ESRI-style WKTs when exporting shapefile .prj files, for better compatibility. Made a slight change when initializing serial COM ports for Real-Time Tracking. ExpertGPS 8.21 - June 10, 2022 Added Alaska zone 1 and other Oblique Mercator projections that were missing in 8.20 NOAA's raster nautical charts (RNC), based on their traditional paper charts, have been discontinued by NOAA and have been removed from their Internet tile servers. The Nautical Chart basemap in ExpertGPS now displays the NOAA ENC (Electronic Nautical Chart) format. :( Fixed broken tiles when zooming in on Alaska topo maps. ExpertGPS 8.20 - June 9, 2022 Replaced the hundreds of datums and coordinate formats in ExpertGPS with a new list of datums and formats, based on EPSG. This is a major change to the underlying parameters that ExpertGPS uses to convert your data to and from WGS84, and to reproject it into different coordinate formats. This change allows ExpertGPS to support a larger set of datums and formats, and also standardizes those parameters with an established dataset. Unfortunately, many of the coordinate format and datum names have changed from their prior values in ExpertGPS. You will need to add the formats you work with back into ExpertGPS using Change Coordinate Format on the Options menu. Other changes in this release: Fixed recent issue which caused multi-line descriptions saved to GPX to no longer display correctly when re-opened. Fixed issue with the foot-based versions of Oblique Mercator projections (Alaska Zone 1, Oregon Coast, Michigan GeoREF). ExpertGPS 8.10 - April 20, 2022 Added support for automatically reading calibration and projection information from GeoTIFF images. Updated the Automatically Add USGS Topo Map command to work with the latest data format change from USGS. ExpertGPS 8.09 - April 14, 2022 Added progress indicator and Press ESC to Cancel when importing large File Geodatabases. Reduced the memory usage of imported File Geodatabases by approximately 50 percent. Made minor improvements to the test Custom Map Servers feature. Made some low-level improvements to datums and ellipses for a slight increase speed of all coordinate format reprojections. Fixed an error when importing a second CSV file that contains a large number of columns. Removed legacy support for MS Streets and Trips. Added several hundred more projections and new datums, including Ukraine 2000 and Australia's GDA2020 grids. Changed the DBF field names when exporting shapefiles for better compatibility with other software. ExpertGPS 8.08 - March 21, 2022 Made significant internal changes and performance improvements to the Import Shapefile command. Please report any issues observed. The Export Shapefile command now creates a DBF attribute file with the same column arrangement as the Waypoint List (for points) or Shape List (for polylines and polygons). Improved map drawing performance when zoomed in on a section of a really large track or shape that uses a patterned (dot, dash, anything but solid) line style. ExpertGPS will detect this situation and switch to a solid line style. Made improvements to DXF Import to properly scale MTEXT in inserted blocks. Fixed a visual error in the Track Profile when a magenta selection was drawn for a profile with Time as the X-axis. ExpertGPS 8.07 - March 1, 2022 GDA2020 projections now apply a 1-2 meter shift from GDA94/WGS84, as per Geocentric Datum of Australia 2020 Technical Manual. Added support for importing File Geodatabases in Web Mercator/World Mercator projections. Fixed error message caused by entering invalid UTM zone in several dialog boxes. Fixed a jumping cursor issue with the Select tool at screen magnifications around 150%. ExpertGPS 8.06 - February 22, 2022 Added a number of new projections, mostly for historic and older datums. Fixed recent errors involving an infrequent error in sort.cpp Fixed recent error when attempting to send data on map to GPS receivers that have no ability to receive data from the computer. The Select tool no longer uses the Windows standard Select cursor, to avoid a weird transition to the yellow "hovering over selectable data" cursor. Fixed a recent error that caused the Automatically Add USGS Topo Map command to fail. ExpertGPS 8.05 - February 9, 2022 Fixed a rare GPX open error when using Pro Data from KML files or waypoints with custom map markers. ExpertGPS 8.04 - February 4, 2022 Removed the Favorites sub-menu and the Organize Favorites command on the Go menu, and replaced both with a new Go to Favorite Location command and dialog box. Fixed a rare error when undoing the deletion of routes AND waypoints from the map. Fixed a recent error when importing Lowrance .usr files. ExpertGPS 8.03 - January 31, 2022 Fixed error introduced in 8.02 when using NMEA tracking. ExpertGPS 8.02 - January 27, 2022 Made some changes to the Add Photo from URL functionality to make it clearer that these are read-only photos and the metadata can't be edited. Fixed an error when saving photos added from URL. Fixed an issue where tracks or shapes became unclickable on the map after using right-click to finish drawing. Fixed a related issue where holding Alt to erase while drawing tracks and shapes didn't always work. Removed support for COM connections to GPS receivers which supported both serial and USB or file-based access. Removed support for Magellan SporTrak and eXplorist models. Removed support for importing and exporting Magellan .upt, .wpt, .trk files. Removed support for older Lowrance GPS handheld receivers and chartplotters. Improved the speed of the AutoFit columns command. Fixed an error when zooming way out from certain scanned maps. Turned off grid lines in situations where they would be distorted - zoomed way out, too far from grid center, wrong grid for location, etc. When zooming or panning too far from a scanned map, ExpertGPS no longer presents a dialog box, but puts a warning in the lower left status bar. Added Myanmar Datum 2000. Moved Minna Belt projections from Niger to Nigeria. Fixed an issue with NAD27 MGRS coordinates that was causing coordinate values to change by 1 when round-tripped. ExpertGPS 8.01 - January 17, 2022 Fixed a recent problem which prevented ExpertGPS Home users from importing Google Earth KML. ExpertGPS 8.00 - January 13, 2022 ExpertGPS Pro now includes up to 26 additional data columns (custom data fields) for waypoints and shapes. These new Pro Data columns allow you to import CSV, shapefile, or KML files and work directly with all of the data attributes in those original files. You can also edit any of these data fields directly in the Waypoint and Shape Lists, using F2 editing. ExpertGPS 7.41 - January 7, 2022 Fixed error when saving a GPX file that had a map legend with blank text. Added Garmin Enduro watch, 2021 Garmin Chartplotters Added support for importing DXF Leaders (text callout arrows). Increased speed when drawing or selecting complex data, like imported DXF documents. When pasting UTM coordinates into a coordinate entry dialog, the hemisphere was not updating. Fixed an error and crash when using custom map tiles from a server that doesn't provide the Content Length header. (Map Warper.net, e.g.) Improved map redraw times when zoomed way in on a dashed or dotted line. ExpertGPS will switch to a solid line pattern at extreme zooms. Fixed error message when double-clicking outside of the list in several selection dialogs. Added ESRI's World Mercator projection to ExpertGPS Pro. Made changes to Web Mercator and Pacific Disaster Center Mercator to allow Find by EPSG function to find them. You will need to re-add these projections to your coordinate format list if you use them. KML Import now handles some poorly-constructed KML files that don't properly use XML namespaces. Added Rwanda ITRF 2005 Transverse Mercator ExpertGPS can now parse CSV timestamps that contain fractional seconds (30-MAR-2013 14:53:59.123). Added Timestamp Precision settings to the Trackpoint list - right-click on the Date Created column to switch between seconds and milliseconds. ExpertGPS 7.40 - July 13, 2021 Fixed issue wih USR files exported to Lowrance HDS units not showing certain tracks on the display. Fixed stack overflow error when importing very large NMEA log files. Improved the display of Max Speed and trackpoint speed for tracks with multiple trackpoints with the same timestamp. Reduced the maximum number of map tiles loaded at once as it was using excessive memory. Fixed jumping selection behavior when clicking in the Trackpoint List when the list was sorted by distance or another column. The Shapepoint List was not sorting when a column header was clicked. When double-clicking a point in the Shapepoint List, the shape is now selected on the map and the marker location is shown. Fixed memory leak when saving GPX files. ExpertGPS 7.39 - March 30, 2021 Fixed recent error in GPS Settings dialog when no baud rates available for selected serial port. Fixed recent error in Geotag Photos dialog with certain time zones. ExpertGPS 7.38 - March 19, 2021 Fixed recent error with the Tracking / Select GPS Receiver to Track dialog. ExpertGPS 7.37 - March 16, 2021 Increased capabilities for Garmin Overlander and latest Zumo models. ExpertGPS Pro users can now choose between the ExpertGPS logo, no logo, or your company logo by clicking Logo on the Print Map dialog. The Grid Builder command now has options to number waypoints sequentially across the grid rows, down the grid columns, or to name waypoints by their row and column in the grid. Fixed undo error when editing multiple route waypoints from the list. Fixed error in various selection dialog boxes when beyond the list of available selections. ExpertGPS 7.36 - March 2, 2021 Fixed recent error when moving trackpoints. ExpertGPS 7.35 - February 28, 2021 Fixed recent segment error when hovering over a point on the screen that contained a track and a shape. Fixed recent error when moving shapepoints on the map when the Shapepoint List was open. ExpertGPS 7.34 - February 25, 2021 Fixed recent error when editing a batch of notes. Improved behavior when Move Selected moves data across International Date Line or above/below the poles. Increased the speed of the Import Polyline Shapefiles command. Improved error messages when an out of memory or disk error occurs when saving or exporting. ExpertGPS 7.33 - February 16, 2021 Fixed recent error when deleting last point of a track. When no Active Point is set, points and lines are rotated around the center of the screen when Move Selected is used with the Alt key down. Fixed an issue where separate track or shape segments were being joined after moving or rotating. ExpertGPS 7.32 - February 15, 2021 Fixed recent error when moving last point of a track. ExpertGPS 7.31 - February 12, 2021 Improvements to DXF Import: Fixed feet/meters elevation scaling issue for inserted blocks. Spline control points are no longer drawn on polylines. More extended characters and MTEXT control codes (%%176, etc) are now mapped to reasonable characters. Better alignment and positioning of MTEXT and TEXT elements. Added support for CAD-style text notes which have a fixed height in meters, rather than a fixed font size. Fixed inconsistent behavior when double-clicking a GPX file to start ExpertGPS. Added additional context-sensitive help topics (Learn more about x...) to the Help menu. DXF Export now correctly applies limitations on length and restricted characters in layer names for compatibility with old versions of AutoCAD. Improved the selection and display of selected overlapping waypoints, geocaches, notes, and photos on the map when Hide Overlapping Text is turned off.

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