Topic: Editing .dat files before sharing

[Conrad_Turbo]

With Autochart we get two licenses to install on two PC's.  I also plan on sharing a lot of my data with another friend of mine, and vice versa.  However before I share anything I would like to clean up my files.  So I'll go through and edit and save everything, which is great as it cleans up the map that I am working on my current PC.  However if I copy that .dat file to my laptop those files still have bad data...when it is saving the edits, where is it actually saving it to?

This is also what is holding me up from sharing files with a friend as it'd be a huge waste of time for me to edit the files for myself and then have him edit the same files for himself...likewise if I do mapping on my laptop (out at certain lakes) or on my PC when I am fishing lakes near home.  Can anyone explain?

[bigdaddyguns]

The .dat files don't contain any sonar information used by AutoChart. The B001.son file for the 200 kHz transducer recording is where AutoChart collects most of it data. When you edit or modify the information in that particular file AutoChart saves it as .acd file. I suspect if you wanted to share data you may be able to share the .acd files. I have not tried this but would start there experimenting with shared files with other users. Give it a try and report back. 

[mako9man2]

Sharing data can be tricky depending on what you are trying to accomplish.  The .DAT files are where everything starts as you have figured out.  The easiest way I have found to edit .DAT files is with Humviewer.  For some reason (technical) I can not open these newly edited .DAT files with Humviewer but I can import them into AutoChart Pro where they appear as perfectly good 2D scans and SI Mosaics.  I then turn those .DAT files into AutoChart Pro maps on my computer then transfer these maps to my Zero Line card for use in my HB unit.

In order to share the data with you friends you could send them your edited .DAT files and let them turn these into AutoChart maps or you could send them the actual AutoChart map you create for them to download to their Zero Line card(s). 

[Conrad_Turbo]

Ahhhh makes sense that the files are edited and saved as the .acd format as I see them alongside the original .dat files.  However instead of importing the files they have to be opened, but I cannot open more than one at a time and layer them together.  My buddy provides me files in .acu (Autochart Live files) and they can be imported the same as the .dat files, however once imported they create .acd files to which the editing saves with them...  Still the same problem that you cannot import .acd files, only open one at a time.  Any idea?

My buddy also has Autochart, so we just want to share the raw cleaned up data with each other and then each of us can be responsible for creating our own maps, waypoints etc...

[bigdaddyguns]

Ahhhh makes sense that the files are edited and saved as the .acd format as I see them alongside the original .dat files.  However instead of importing the files they have to be opened, but I cannot open more than one at a time and layer them together. My buddy provides me files in .acu (Autochart Live files) and they can be imported the same as the .dat files, however once imported they create .acd files to which the editing saves with them...  Still the same problem that you cannot import .acd files, only open one at a time.  Any idea?

Once the files are in .acd format, they can be used within AC to start the map making process. The first step is adding .acd files either one at a time or a whole set via the Chart File Index. One subtley is using the ADD file and not open. Once the file set is loaded into AC you can see all the datapoints but as far as i can tell no editing is possible. You can then proceed on to the steps to gen up a map.

 

[Conrad_Turbo]

Once the files are in .acd format, they can be used within AC to start the map making process. The first step is adding .acd files either one at a time or a whole set via the Chart File Index. One subtley is using the ADD file and not open. Once the file set is loaded into AC you can see all the datapoints but as far as i can tell no editing is possible. You can then proceed on to the steps to gen up a map.

Yep huge thanks!  I added them on my 2nd license on the laptop and it worked perfectly.  Also still have the ability to edit just as before.    Thank you so much!