Clicking the GPS button did not populate the coordinates


Probable causes:
- The computer is in a building or near tall buildings
- The computer moved from a location where the GPS was not acquiring any satellites to another location but did not restart TraCS
- The COM normal port for the GPS unit has changed

Possible solutions:
Regardless of the form being used (citation, crash etc.) if you click on the GPS button and the coordinates do not populate as expected, please read below for ways to troubleshoot this issue.
  1. Is the computer in a building or near tall buildings. If so, it is very likely that the GPS unit will not acquire any satellites.

  2. If the computer is outside and not around any tall buildings please try the following:
    1. Log into TraCS if you are not already logged in. If you are logged in and have a form open, please close the form before proceeding.
    2. Please check the status bar, all the way on the bottom of the TraCS screen
    3. Are GPS coordinates listed? See images below:

      Status bar when the GPS unit cannot acquire any satellites:


      Status bar when the GPS unit is able to acquire 9 satellites:


    4. If the GPS coordinates are not displayed in the status bar then close out of TraCS and then reopen it
    5. Check again for coordinates on the status bar. If coordinates are now displayed, please open the form that you were working on and click on the GPS button again. It should now populate the Latitude and Longitude fields.

  3. If the previous instructions did not fix the issue, please do the following:
    1. Go to the Start button in Windows
    2. Click on All Programs
    3. Open the GPS Diag program
    4. This will open the following:


    5. Click on COM1 and wait a few seconds to see if anything displays in the Received Data section. If not, click on COM2. Continue clicking on the following COM ports until you see data in the Received Data section:


    6. Make a note of the COM port number that returned data (in the case shown in the image above: 3)
    7. Close out of the GPS Diag untility
    8. Go to the Start button in Windows
    9. Select Computer
    10. Open Local Disk (C:)
    11. Open ProgramData
    12. Open TraCS
    13. Open Settings
    14. Open DLL Settings
    15. Open the GPS.ini file
    16. Ensure that the value of the CommPort, on the third row, is set to the same value you've noted on step f above:
    17. If you have to change this value, make sure to click on File and then Save buttons.
    18. If you have not closed out of the GPS Diag utility on step g above, then go ahead and close it now. If the GPS Diag utility is running TraCS will not be able to use the GPS.
    19. Make sure you are not inside a building or near tall buildings and log into TraCS.
    20. Verify that you are now getting GPS coordinates and, once your are within a form, clicking the GPS button populates the Latitude and Longitude: