It has been four months since Garmin has updated it MapSource Windows-based mapping software. MapSource is included with the purchase of a Garmin map on DVD or CD. Features include:
- Back up important trip data separately from your Garmin device.
- Plan routes from the convenience of your computer instead of on your device.
- Create, view, and edit waypoints, routes, and tracks.
- Plan extensive or complicated routes, in which you travel to several locations in an order you specify.
- Transfer waypoints, routes and tracks between your computer and your device.
- Transfer selected map from your computer to your device.
- Find items, addresses and points of interest included in the map data.
- View your maps in detail on your computer screen.
You can even download a MapSource tutorial at http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapsourceTutorial.html.
Changes made from version 6.15.7 to 6.15.11:
- Improved performance for custom draw elements.
- Made sure waypoints of type ‘Geotagged Photo’ don’t crash MapSource.
- Allowed the import and export of unlock codes.
- Made sure unlocking changes get propagated without needing to restart the application.
- Phone numbers that were imported from gpx files were not written back out again. This is now fixed.
- Added support for enhanced map security.
- Fixed unlocking issue.
- Implemented Asian 6-level address search.
- Improved trimming performance for some Asian map products.
Garmin MapSource 6.15.11 (7)
After a successful installation of SAS Enterprise BI Server on my Sun Servers, a certain amount of time is spent modifying configuration files and backup scripts, as well as browsing log files. I use the vi editor to accomplish the editing. I used used vi a lot back when all of my GIS work was performed in the UNIX environment, but once the Intel hardware matured and the GIS tools because available on Windows, I thought I would be able to forget all about the UNIX command line. Wrong. I’m back there again, but now I’m armed with a cheat sheet:
Working with files
| Vim command |
Action |
| vi filename |
Opens a file with the Vim editor. |
| :w filename |
Save changes to a file. If you don’t specify a file name, Vim saves as the file name you were editing. For saving the file under a different name, specify the file name.
|
| :q |
Quit Vim. If you have unsaved changes, Vim refuses to exit.
|
| :q! |
Exit Vim without saving changes.
|
| :wq |
Write the file and exit.
|
Moving around in the file
| Vim command |
Action |
| j or Up Arrow |
Move the cursor up one line.
|
| k or Down Arrow |
Down one line.
|
| h or Left Arrow |
Left one character.
|
| l or Right Arrow |
Right one character.
|
| 0 |
To the beginning of a line. |
| $ |
To the end of a line.
|
| :n |
Jump to line number n. |
Inserting and overwriting text
| Vim command |
Action |
| i |
Insert before cursor. |
| o |
Open a new line below and insert. |
| O |
Open a new line above and insert. |
| C |
Change the rest of the current line. |
| r |
Overwrite one character. After overwriting the single character, go back to command mode. |
| R |
Enter insert mode but replace characters rather than inserting. |
| The ESC key |
Exit insert/overwrite mode and go back to command mode. |
Deleting text
| Vim command |
Action |
| x |
Delete characters under the cursor. |
| X |
Delete characters before the cursor. |
| dd or :d |
Delete the current line. |
Undo and redo
| Vim command |
Action |
| u |
Undo the last action. |
| U |
Undo all the latest changes that were made to the current line. |
| Ctrl + r |
Redo. |
There are obviously many more Vim commands out there. Typically if I find myself in a situation where extensive modifications need to be made with a text editor, I will use Crimson Editor on Windows.
The list of commands above are a subset of The Vim commands cheat sheet – 1.2.
Garmin Communicator Plugin v2.9.1.0 – v.2.9.1.0 – 4.98 MB
Garmin updated its Communicator Plugin on November 10, 2009 to the 2.9.1.0 version, an upgrade from version 2.8.3. The Garmin Communicator Plugin is a free internet browser plugin that sends and retrieves data from Garmin GPS devices. The Garmin Communicator can send and retrieve data from any supported website.
The plugin works with IBM-compatible PCs running Windows® XP or Vista operating systems with Internet Explorer 6+ or Firefox 1.5+ Intel-based or PowerPC G3 or later Mac OS 10.4 or later with Firefox 2.0+ or Safari 2.0. It is not compatible with Windows 2000 computers and will not install and/or function properly.
Changes made from version 2.8.3 to 2.9.1:
- Added support for aviation devices like G3X/G300 and aera.
- Added support for AOPA aviation updates.
Garmin’s Communicator Plugin page is located at http://www8.garmin.com/products/communicator/
Garmin Communicator Plugin v2.8.3.0 – v.2.8.3.0 – 6.93 MB
Garmin updated its Communicator Plugin on October 16, 2009 to the 2.8.3.0 version, an upgrade from version 2.8.2. The Garmin Communicator Plugin is a free internet browser plugin that sends and retrieves data from Garmin GPS devices. The Garmin Communicator can send and retrieve data from any supported website.
The plugin works with IBM-compatible PCs running Windows® XP or Vista operating systems with Internet Explorer 6+ or Firefox 1.5+ Intel-based or PowerPC G3 or later Mac OS 10.4 or later with Firefox 2.0+ or Safari 2.0. It is not compatible with Windows 2000 computers and will not install and/or function properly.
Changes made from version 2.8.2 to 2.8.3:
- Fixed a myDashboard-related issue.
Garmin’s Communicator Plugin page is located at http://www8.garmin.com/products/communicator/
from support.sas.com…
The following considerations apply to SAS Enterprise Guide 4.2 customers who have used SAS Enterprise Guide 4.1 or earlier releases.
- Support for SAS Enterprise Guide repositories has been discontinued; all metadata must be stored in a SAS Metadata Repository.
- Servers are no longer administered through SAS Enterprise Guide Explorer, and must now be administered using SAS Management Console. For information about administering servers, see the online Help for SAS Management Console.
- Users and user groups are no longer administered through SAS Enterprise Guide Explorer, and must now be administered using SAS Management Console. For information about administering users, see the online Help for SAS Management Console.
- The project format has changed from earlier releases. To change the format, you must either open each project in SAS Enterprise Guide 4.2 or use the Migration Wizard for SAS Enterprise Guide and the SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office. You must also use the migration wizard to import the metadata changes that occurred during the BI migration from SAS 9.1.3 to SAS 9.2. For more information, see "Using the Migration Wizard" in Administering SAS Enterprise Guide.
- Tasks are no longer enabled or disabled for user groups, so any task assignments for SAS Enterprise Guide users are not maintained. Any restrictions on SAS Enterprise Guide tasks must be made through roles, and administered through SAS Management Console. For information about using roles in SAS Enterprise Guide, see "Administering Role-Based Settings" in Administering SAS Enterprise Guide and the online Help for SAS Management Console.
You probably have many SAS data sets that you regularly work with where numbers are stored as text for formatting purposes. A great example is the social security number, and many other customer, product, or invoice numbers are formatted similarly. They frequently utilize leading zeros in their storage and display. You probably also frequently receive data from colleagues where the same variable is formatted as a numeric value missing the leading zeros. The join that you were going to do with your data and the data received from the colleague just won’t work. Here is a little SAS code that can turn your colleague’s data into a match for yours, and I’ll use social security number (SSN) in this example:
| data DatasetName ; |
|
| set InputDataset ; |
|
| length ssn_char $9. |
/* New Character var for SSN */ |
| ssn_char = put(ssn,z9.) ; |
/* Put the Numeric SSN with the Z9. format */ |
| drop ssn ; |
/* Housecleaning to drop the numeric SSN */ |
| rename ssn_char = ssn ; |
/* Renamed Char SSN to make our Join easier */ |
| run ; |
|
By creating a new Character variable of SSN, I can simply put the Numeric SSN with Z9. format into the variable.
The format Z9. states the variable should be 9-bytes, and for each byte less than 9, put a leading zero in front of the var.
No strip or trim is necessary either.
I used this in the past with a transaction number I was creating (numeric) and later wanted to display it in a title with leading zeros [Example: had 123 as the value, put it with a Z10. and the display in the title was 0000000123].
Thanks to Paula for showing me this trick!
SAS OLAP Server names for cubes, dimensions, hierarchies, measures, and member properties follow these general rules:
- can be up to 32 characters in length
- can contain embedded blanks
If the name has embedded blanks or characters other than letters of the Latin alphabet, numbers, or underscores, then PROC OLAP formats the name as a name literal, which means that it is enclosed within quotation marks followed by the letter n. (Name literals enable you to use special characters or blanks that are not otherwise allowed in SAS names.) Here are some examples:
CUBE=’Financials@HQ’n
DIMENSION ‘Product@Work Dimension’n hierarchies=(Product@Work Hierarchy’n)
HIERARCHY ‘Product@Work Hierarchy’n levels=(prodtype product)
- can contain mixed-case letters
SAS stores and writes the variable name in the same case that is used in the first reference to the variable. However, when SAS processes a variable name, SAS internally converts it to uppercase. You cannot, therefore, use the same variable name with a different combination of uppercase and lowercase letters to represent different variables. For example, cat, Cat, and CAT all represent the same variable.
- do not contain periods (.)
These guidelines assume that the SAS Workspace Server is running with the VALIDVARNAME= system option set to ANY. If the SAS Workspace Server is not running with VALIDVARNAME=ANY, then you can either add code on the Submit SAS Code tab in the Advanced Options dialog box to set the option, or you can modify your names to meet the naming requirements that the server is running with. For more information about the VALIDVARNAME= option, see "VALIDVARNAME= System Option" in SAS Language Reference: Dictionary.
Garmin Communicator Plugin v2.8.2.0 – v.2.8.2 – 6.91 MB
Garmin updated its Communicator Plugin on September 28, 2009 to the 2.8.2.0 version, an upgrade from version 2.8.1. The Garmin Communicator Plugin is a free internet browser plugin that sends and retrieves data from Garmin GPS devices. The Garmin Communicator can send and retrieve data from any supported website.
The plugin works with IBM-compatible PCs running Windows® XP or Vista operating systems with Internet Explorer 6+ or Firefox 1.5+ Intel-based or PowerPC G3 or later Mac OS 10.4 or later with Firefox 2.0+ or Safari 2.0. It is not compatible with Windows 2000 computers and will not install and/or function properly.
Changes made from version 2.8.1 to 2.8.2:
- Change in version number to remain consistent with 2.8.2 Mac release.
Garmin’s Communicator Plugin page is located at http://www8.garmin.com/products/communicator/
Garmin Communicator Plugin v2.8.1.0 – v.2.8.1.0 – 6.88 MB
Garmin updated its Communicator Plugin on August 13, 2009 to the 2.8.1.0 version, an upgrade from version 2.7.3.0. The Garmin Communicator Plugin is a free internet browser plugin that sends and retrieves data from Garmin GPS devices. The Garmin Communicator can send and retrieve data from any supported website.
The plugin works with IBM-compatible PCs running Windows® XP or Vista operating systems with Internet Explorer 6+ or Firefox 1.5+ Intel-based or PowerPC G3 or later Mac OS 10.4 or later with Firefox 2.0+ or Safari 2.0. It is not compatible with Windows 2000 computers and will not install and/or function properly.
Changes made from version 2.7.3 to 2.8.1:
- Added support to send unlock codes to legacy USB devices.
- Added support to send New Leaf fitness data to FR 60.
- Fixed an issue that caused a dialog to show up when New Leaf fitness data was sent to a fitness device.
- Fixed a folder creation issue with newer devices like nuvi 12xx, 13xx and 14xx.
Garmin’s Communicator Plugin page is located at http://www8.garmin.com/products/communicator/
When I’m working in Windows Explorer managing my pictures and music, Windows 7 by 
default generates a file called thumbs.db in the folder that I am working in. The thumbs.db file is a thumbnail cache. Wikipedia states that a thumbnail cache is a file used to store thumbnail images for Windows Explorer’s thumbnail view. This speeds up the display of images as the smaller images do not need to be recalculated every time the user views the folder. I don’t like extra files that I don’t use cluttering up my file system, and I get annoyed when I can’t delete them since they are system files and potentially in use and locked by Windows. I have a fast machine and don’t pay much attention to the thumbnails anyway, so I decided to turn this feature off.
There are a couple of ways to turn off caching of thumbnails, one includes editing the registry and the other includes using the Local Group Policy Editor. I have edited the registry a million times and don’t mind doing that, but it doesn’t get any easier than using the Local Group Policy Editor. The first step is to log on to Windows 7 as an administrator. To start the Local Group Policy Editor, click the Windows 7 start icon and type gpedit.msc in the search text box and hit Enter. The Editor will open to the top-level Local Computer Policy, so you will have to expand the User Configuration item in the left-side pane of the Editor window. Drill down through Administrative Templates, then Windows Components, and click on the Windows Explorer item. Near the top of the list in the right-hand pane of the Editor window you will find the setting “Turn off the caching of thumbnails in hidden thumbs.db files” (see below).
To edit this policy setting, either double-click on the title of the policy or click the link titled “Edit Policy Setting” to the left of the setting list after you select the policy. It is interesting to note that below the Edit Policy Setting link it indicates that the requirement is Windows Vista Service Pack 1. To change the policy, merely check the “Enabled” radio button and click OK (see below).
Close the Local Group Policy Editor and you will notice that all of those thumbs.db files have disappeared.
