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Is there a way to pause the outing? Make it stop the timer and pedometer temporarily? I thought maybe going back to the main screen would do it. After all, there is that "Resume Outing" button. But no, it does not. I have found the timer is still ticking. So, that button does not really mean "resume outing". It means "go back to the outing screen". I have to manually deduct a certain amount of minutes in my desktop records.
I like that idea of pausing by returning to main screen. I will add this feature and update here when completed. Working on getting v5.2 of BD Desktop out the door, so it may be a week or two.
David,
I have spent some time ruminating on this idea.
I am trying to come up with proper Use Case scenarios that warrant this feature. I am not sure that I can come up with supportable situations.
For example, Why do we want this feature? Does it serve a valid use? Are there other ways of accomplishing the desired behavior?
Why are we pausing an Outing? Should we not just Finish the Outing and start a new one when birding resumes again? An Outing definition is general, but involves at a minimum a consistent birding effort over a defined time period.
How would the data differ between a paused Outing that is resumed and the situation where you finish the Outing and start another Outing when you would have resumed the previous Outing? I don't think there is any difference. Back in Birder's Diary Desktop, you manipulate the sightings any way you like, regardless of the two scenarios I describe above.
So, let's dig deeper into understanding a real-World need for this ability to Pause/Resume and see if it can be supported.
As far as I know, other in-field bird-sighting apps do not have this feature, but I did not do a check just now, I just don't remember seeing such a feature.
Let me know,
Jeff
p.s. Marking this as Resolved for now, but if we determine it needs attention, I can reverse that.
If I have to stop birding to make a "pit stop", or I get delayed because I run into neighbors and chat for a while, then I want to pause the outing. The other day, so much of that chatting happened, that I just closed it out and stopped recording the rest of my walk.
Otherwise, I just remember to manually deduct some time when I do the import.
As you know, there is no place in BD Desktop to record some of the data that the app records, like distance and time. I have been sticking that in the comments for the first sighting in "< >".
In my walk lately, I have been doing three laps around the neighborhood. Hence questions on whether to count say, 3 miles, or just 1 mile, for eBird purposes. (We have discussed this before.) If I do just one outing, then I have to make a judgement on whether I already counted that cardinal on the last go round, which I have been doing.
If I do as you say and record three separate outings, then each one would need to have a separate time in BD. There is no way to do that other than to manually change the times the app records to a blanket time for the start of THIS lap. That gets rather complex.
Either way, I get nailed with something.
As you know, there is no place in BD Desktop to record some of the data that the app records, like distance and time. I have been sticking that in the comments for the first sighting in "< >".
This is captured in the Trip that is auto-created if you choose that option in BD Mobile. See attached screenshot. Select this option. Trip is analogous to the eBird Checklist or Outing. Just choose that option, and a trip is auto-created with all the imported sightings attached to it, and this data added to the Trip Comments.
If I do as you say and record three separate outings, then each one would need to have a separate time in BD. There is no way to do that other than to manually change the times the app records to a blanket time for the start of THIS lap. That gets rather complex.
Whether you create a new outing on each lap or not, each sighting has its own timestamp and lat/lng. They are separated into separate Sightings for import into BD Desktop based on your Mobile settings of time and distance.
Jeff
Hmm, I had not thought of that. Wouldn't it be better to have all those things that are now in Trip Comments as fields? I'll bet you are way ahead of me on that. And a way for the eBird export to read that? And a way for the Outing dashboard to separate Outings by that information? Then, I wouldn't have to manually set the time for each outing.
I haven't used the Trip function much because I would end up with tons of trips and thought they would be hard to manage. Perhaps it would not be so bad.
Hmm, I had not thought of that. Wouldn't it be better to have all those things that are now in Trip Comments as fields?
It doesn't seem that way to me. As this data belongs to the set of sightings not to any individual sighting. Therefore, the Trip.
And a way for the eBird export to read that? And a way for the Outing dashboard to separate Outings by that information? Then, I wouldn't have to manually set the time for each outing.
The eBird export requires manually setting start/end times and distance traveled for many reasons, so this data is not read. But I see your point, an extra step for data that is already present if you use BD Mobile and you use the Trip option. Future enhancement...
Jeff
I meant fields in the Trip, not fields sighting.
I have tried the Create Trip on Import, and found it useful!The Trip ID has Date and Time. I manually move it to a year Parent trip (e.g. 2020).
But I would like to see the Outings dashboard separate outings by trip, as well as location/date. That would be even more useful.
I have also found that I can pull up the Trip screen, so I can read the data as I enter it into the eBird export screen. That is a saving grace at least.
Great. Thanks for the feedback David.
I have defined the Checklists grid (on the left) to be Unique Sightings by Day, Location, Observer. This omitted the Trip as a delineating item.
You probably know, but you can double-click on a Checklist/Outing row in the left Grid and view all sightings for that Day/Location/Observer in the View&Edit Sightings window. Then you can sort on the Trip column to group the sightings by Trip. If you have multiple Trips for that Day/Location/Observer they will now be grouped together and you can work with the Trip you desire.
In addition, when you double-click on a row in the Checklist/Outing Grid on the left of the main window, as you know, it first brings up the View Sightings Setup window with the criteria already filled in for selecting those sightings by Day/Location/Observer. If you want to see just one-of-multiple Trips for that same day, all you need to do is to now select that Trip from the dropdown on the View Sightings Setup window before clicking Continue. See attached screenshot.
fyi
Jeff
The difficulty I see in calling up a trip is knowing what to search for--what to type. I might not know what I called a particular app outing. With practice, I could know to type, say "2020-08", and I could find the date I want. I don't know how that would work yet with the small drop-down and a lot of trips.
Understood. By default, as you have probably already deduced, BD Mobile names the Trips with the Location you specify and append the Start Date/Time to that.
Jeff
On pausing an outing, I can see now that pausing it by returning to the main screen is a bad idea. I have tried putting the phone in my pocket, and that caused too much accidental touches on species. So, I tried going back to the main screen before I put it in my pocket. That worked better. So, unless you have a better idea for a "pocket mode", I would leave the thing ticking when it is on the main screen.
On pausing an outing, I can see now that pausing it by returning to the main screen is a bad idea. I have tried putting the phone in my pocket, and that caused too much accidental touches on species. So, I tried going back to the main screen before I put it in my pocket. That worked better. So, unless you have a better idea for a "pocket mode", I would leave the thing ticking when it is on the main screen.
Hi David,
Agreed.
But, you actually put your phone in your pocket without locking the screen? I always lock my screen before putting my phone in my pocket. All kinds of crazy things result otherwise.
I have a Galaxy S9 and have enabled fingerprint unlock. So, I pull my phone out of my pocket and at the same time touch the sensor on the back so that the phone is unlocked and ready to go as soon as I see it. This works extremely well. If you have this ability you should try it. There is also face-recognition on some Android models, voice unlock, and other options to explore.
Jeff
This is the first time I have tried putting it in the pocket. I don't have fingerprint unlock. I do swipe unlock, and I judge that too much trouble each time.
So interesting to hear how everyone uses their mobile devices. You think everyone must do it just like you do, but I am learning differently.
I wonder if I can detect when your phone goes into and out of your pocket. I will look into it.
Jeff
Selecting a Trip from the drop-down is hard if you have a lot of trips (which I will have). They are not sorted in any logical order. I must type in the field to bring up the trip I want.
Selecting a Trip from the drop-down is hard if you have a lot of trips (which I will have). They are not sorted in any logical order. I must type in the field to bring up the trip I want.
Yes David, of course. That is the intention. You should type. It is a SmartSearch dropdown, so you can type any part or parts of it and zero in on the trip you want and select it from the dropdown. Spaces act as wildcards. So typing "location 2020/08" will quickly bring up all Trips created by BD Mobile with that location and that month.
See here for more information on using SmartSearch fields.
Jeff
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