multiple divers, computers, gear

[Bartek]

Hi thanks for a great programme really impressed so far, I'm a recent convert from Suunto Dive manager due to buying an iMac.

I have questions, not really problems! I use MacDive to log dives for my daughter and I, as we both dive. MacDive has recognised and downloaded dives from both computers, I now have both divers listed and am in the process of adding both sets of dive gear.

The questions: is there any way of having two windows to view both dive logs to compare dive data i.e. view data from my daughters dive computer and my dive computer next to each other to compare the profiles etc.

also if I check the 'automatically add to new dives' box will MacDive assign dive gear according to the 'owner' i.e. assign my daughters dive gear to her downloaded dives and my gear to my dives?

last one (for now!) can MacDive add accreditation to dives automatically according to the diver info? I suppose what I am also asking is can I assign each computer to a diver!

for info: I use a Suunto Cobra and my daughter uses a Suunto Vyper.

Thanks

[nick]

The questions: is there any way of having two windows to view both dive logs to compare dive data i.e. view data from my daughters dive computer and my dive computer next to each other to compare the profiles etc.

Unfortunately, not at the moment. But as part of some stuff I was looking at last night (being able to record one dive, but with multiple computer profiles) this would also be useful.

So, while you can't do it currently, it's definitely something I would like to add. The functionality I want to enhance requires a significant update and affects pretty much every part of MacDive, though, as a "Dive" is really the core piece of information that relates to everything. So in terms of when I will be able to get this in, I'm not sure. Possibly not for the next patch - I may look at trying to stabilise things out and not rock the boat too much and then push for a really big update which does do this, and provides other things like comparisons between profiles.

also if I check the 'automatically add to new dives' box will MacDive assign dive gear according to the 'owner' i.e. assign my daughters dive gear to her downloaded dives and my gear to my dives?

No, again! I hadn't thought of this, but it's a great idea (and seems like an obvious omission in hindsight).

As a workaround, the easiest way is probably for you to make a couple of Gear Groups (My Gear, Daughter's Gear) and then manually add those to each of your downloaded dives. You can select all of your new dives, go to the Dive Inspector, go to the Gear tab, and then drag the group. So you'd only have to do one "add" each, which at least makes it relatively quick.

This is definitely something I can look at, although I need to figure out how to make it obvious in the UI as it would be very obscure to just provide this functionality by default. I could perhaps add an option in the preferences that allows toggling this behaviour on. That might be a simple way to provide this and I can get that in easily and quickly.

last one (for now!) can MacDive add accreditation to dives automatically according to the diver info? I suppose what I am also asking is can I assign each computer to a diver!

There is really no concept of a "diver" at the moment - it's just a name that exists on a dive, and as an owner of a computer, etc. There is no actual "Diver" anywhere. This is something I plan to also change, so that more personal information can be recorded (physical characteristics, blood type, age, weight etc) and then be optionally uploaded to DAN and also synced with Dive Log.

Doing this will also allow me to make the interface more geared towards truly supporting multiple users, as that's a little basic right now. In the future, it would be nice to have the computer associated with a user, and then gear associated with a user. When you download from a computer, it could determine which Diver you are, and auto add gear and certifications etc based on that diver.

So, I hate to have to say "no, you can't" to all of your questions, but right now, I can't do much better. What I can do is keep all of this in mind when I'm doing my next major update and ensure stuff like this is all much more possible. You've given me some good ideas, though!

[Bartek]

Thanks for the feedback, I still love the programme. I will work around it for now and look forward to the updates, Thanks.