Host: Club Cruceros, La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico
Base: DJM Questor Software
In the MarinePlotter Help, the topic on the Tile Cache describes a single tile cache that contains all tiles. This is fine for when you stay in one area but for cruisers sailing around the world, the method makes it difficult to remove tiles that are no longer needed. It also makes it difficult to simply browse other areas because you end up cluttering your main tile cache with useless tiles.
Instead of putting all tiles into one difficult to manage folder, it is possible to create a Tile Cache folder for each area you want to visit. Later, you can delete the folder to free up disk space. The method to do this is very simple.
I discovered the method by necessity: I was debugging the Tracer method but did not want to clutter my Mexico Tile Cache with tiles of the Panama Canal. I created a Panama Tile Cache folder on the Windows Desktop with a Satellite sub-folder. To use the Panama folder, I set the MarinePlotter's Tiles menu Folder root command to point to the Panama folder. The MarinePlotter then downloaded the tiles to the Panama -> Satellite folder and displayed the tiles.
The lesson is that you can create an area specific tile cache for an area you will visit and later (when it is no longer needed) you can delete the area specific tile cache. Easy, clean, quick.
For long range planning, a procedure for creating several area tile folders follows as:
To make this easy and convenient, create a folder on the Windows Desktop. Later, you can move the folder or selected content to another location. To create a folder on the Windows Desktop, click the mouse right-button at any blank spot on the Desktop. A menu will open. Select the New -> Folder command. A folder icon will appear. Typically, the icon name New Folder is highlighted and you are expect to immediately type in a new name. Rename the icon to Tile Cache. You can drag the folder icon to any convenient spot on the Desktop. To drag the folder, move the mouse cursor to the icon, click the mouse left-button and, while the you hold the left-button down, move the mouse. When the folder is at the desire location, release the left button.
To create the sub-folders, open the new Desktop Tile Cache folder. To open the folder, just double click the mouse left-button on the folder icon. The Windows Explorer will open and display the folder's contents in the right panel. At this time, the panel will be empty. To create a new sub-folder, click the mouse right-button in the right-panel to open the panel menu. As above, select the New -> Folder command. A new folder entry will appear in the panel. Rename the folder entry (for example Chile .)
You now need to add the Satellite sub-folder to the new folder (example Chile.) To open the folder, double click the folder (example Chile.) Windows Explorer will open and display the folder (as above.) In the right panel create the sub-folders Satellite. To create the sub-folders, click the mouse right-button in the right panel. The panel menu will open. Select the New -> Folder command. Do this for each sub-folder. Rename the new folder entries to the Satellite.
Now, go back to the panel that contains the area coverage folder (example Chile.) To go back, click the back arrow at the top left corner of the Window's Explorer. At this point you can use the first folder (Chile) as a template and you can create other area folders with just a copy, paste, and rename sequence. To copy the folder (Chile), click the mouse right button on the folder icon. The folder menu will open. Select the Copy command. Next, click the mouse right-button on a blank spot of the right panel. The panel menu will open. Select the Paste command. You will now have two folders (example Chile, and Chile - copy.) To rename the copy, click the mouse right-button on the new icon and select the Rename command from the folder menu. To create another area folder, click the mouse right-button on a blank spot of the right panel and select the Paste command, Rename again (Argentina.) Paste again, Rename again (Bazil.) Paste again, Rename again (South Africa.) Etc.
You will have a Tile Cache structure as follows:
To use the tiles of an area, select the MarinePlotter Tiles menu Folder root command. The Browse for folders dialog box will open. For this example, in the browser, select the Desktop entry. Scan the Desktop entries for the Tile Cache folder. Select the Tile Cache folder, open the entry and scan the list for the area of interest (example South Africa.) Click the OK button. The MarinePlotter is now set to receive and display the tiles of this area.
Download and view tiles as you normally would. The new tiles will go into the selected folder. When you are done with the tiles and no longer need them. Just delete the folder (example, delete the South Africa folder.)
Basically, you can name the folders anything you want, put them on any disk drive which the MarinePlotter can access, and arrange the folders any way you want. However, the MarinePlotter expects a folder with the Satellite sub-folder. You might find the MarinePlotter easier to use if you move the Desktop Tile Cache folder as a sub-folder of the folder where you keep all your charts. For example:
MarinePlotter version 5.5+ supports source to tile cache associations. These associations enable you to rapidly switch tile cache views. For additional information, refer the Tile Cache Manager form help topics on source-attribution to tile cache associations.
In summary, you do not need to put all tiles into one folder as described in the original MarinePlotter Help. Doing so makes it difficult to delete the ones you no longer need. Also, when using this new approach, remember to set the MarinePlotter to the correct Tile Cache or you will end up downloading tiles to the wrong folder.
I hope this tip is understandable and helpful. The process of creating the folders is really very easy, only takes a couple minutes, and in the long run can save you time and disk space.
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