Missing maps for gps functions

[Bob M]

I'm not sure whether this is a rant or a plea for assistance.  (But I don't realistic expect much sympathy).

I originally purchased PM a little over six years ago, with the naive hope that the catalog function would soon be forthcoming.  Regardless of the delay in the availability of the catalog, I have found it a most useful piece of software.  Of particular importance to me is the ability to geotag images from a gpx track and the ability to see a photo's location while browsing.

I have not upgraded to version 5 of the software, because I have not seen any new or improved features that justified it to me;  however, I would upgrade immediately if the catalog were available.

So I have PM v4.6.9, running on Windows 7, 64 bit, installed on two separate machines.  This has fully met my needs until now.  However, at the present time, on both of my machines, none of the gps options (File/Import gps coordinate ... ; Image/Set gps coordinates ... ; or Show Map) work.  The map is not displayed on any of these screens.  I can still "import gps coordinates" if I am willing to work blind without a map.  "Import gps coordinates" is pretty useless without a map and "Show Map" just doesn't work.  But these features worked until relatively recently.  I am not sure how recently, but I am pretty sure that "Show Map", at least, was working in mid March.  Since the problem occurs on both my machines, the common link is either the Camera Bits map server or my network connection.  As a test, I downloaded and installed a trial version of the most recent version of PM and it works just fine.  This tells me that there is nothing in my network connections that is precluding communication with your map server and that your map server is working just fine with respect to version 5, but not with respect to version 4.6.9.

This leads me to conclude that in the not too distant past, you have made some change to your map server that has effectively broken it for older versions of PM.  I find this very aggravating.  Yes, upgrading will fix my problem.  Yes, I can afford to upgrade.  But forcing me to upgrade by remotely breaking my useful, older version of PM that was fully meeting my needs leaves a real bad taste in my mouth.  It is akin to Microsoft's ham-fisted attempts to force people onto Windows 10.

I apologize if my analysis is off base.  If so, please tell me.

[Kirk Baker]

Bob,

I'm not sure whether this is a rant or a plea for assistance.  (But I don't realistic expect much sympathy).

I originally purchased PM a little over six years ago, with the naive hope that the catalog function would soon be forthcoming.  Regardless of the delay in the availability of the catalog, I have found it a most useful piece of software.  Of particular importance to me is the ability to geotag images from a gpx track and the ability to see a photo's location while browsing.

I have not upgraded to version 5 of the software, because I have not seen any new or improved features that justified it to me;  however, I would upgrade immediately if the catalog were available.

So I have PM v4.6.9, running on Windows 7, 64 bit, installed on two separate machines.  This has fully met my needs until now.  However, at the present time, on both of my machines, none of the gps options (File/Import gps coordinate ... ; Image/Set gps coordinates ... ; or Show Map) work.  The map is not displayed on any of these screens.  I can still "import gps coordinates" if I am willing to work blind without a map.  "Import gps coordinates" is pretty useless without a map and "Show Map" just doesn't work.  But these features worked until relatively recently.  I am not sure how recently, but I am pretty sure that "Show Map", at least, was working in mid March.  Since the problem occurs on both my machines, the common link is either the Camera Bits map server or my network connection.  As a test, I downloaded and installed a trial version of the most recent version of PM and it works just fine.  This tells me that there is nothing in my network connections that is precluding communication with your map server and that your map server is working just fine with respect to version 5, but not with respect to version 4.6.9.

This leads me to conclude that in the not too distant past, you have made some change to your map server that has effectively broken it for older versions of PM.  I find this very aggravating.  Yes, upgrading will fix my problem.  Yes, I can afford to upgrade.  But forcing me to upgrade by remotely breaking my useful, older version of PM that was fully meeting my needs leaves a real bad taste in my mouth.  It is akin to Microsoft's ham-fisted attempts to force people onto Windows 10.

I apologize if my analysis is off base.  If so, please tell me.

It was Google that changed their APIs such that our maps no longer worked.  We have updated them for PM5 and they work fine now, but they were broken in PM5 for a short while.  We never plan obsolescence into our products. However, we do stop maintaining older products once a newer version is available.

It may be possible for us to fix the maps that PM 4.6.x uses, but we do prioritize our time to fixing problems in the current version of PM (PM5 at this time) and to develop new features for the next major release.

I'll schedule someone to take a look into the problem.

-Kirk

[Bob M]

Thank you for your patience and consideration.

My post was intemperate and I regret that.