"Transmit Data" Needs To Be Changed

[Caelib]

Prior to 1.0, the "Transmit Data" function on antennae would transmit any pending data. In 1.0, it seems that this will now do a complete purge of all stored science data and transmit it. While this might seem like a good idea on paper, I lost about 3 hours of hard work because all of my surface samples were removed and transmit when I did not intend for that to happen.

[DMagic]

Do you mean the "Transmit Data" on the antenna itself?

As far as I know it has always functioned this way, it searches the vessel for any science data and transmits it.

There are some broken aspects of data transmission, sometimes it seems to lose data (or at least require sending something else to force it through) when you try to transmit while the antenna is retracting. But I'm pretty sure that button has always worked the same way.

[Caelib]

I don't remember it ever working that way, but I could be wrong.

[Keith_Bones]

It seems like it would have to work this way, because when you click on the antenna and ask it to transmit then it really has no way of knowing what specific data you are asking for, so it just does all of it.

I guess the workaround is to manually go through your stored data and ask it to transmit from the sample itself : /

[Murph]

I don't remember it ever behaving any differently, all the way back to the very introduction of science in 0.22 or 0.23, whenever it was. My memory says that it always transmitted and removed 100% of the experiments stored on the craft, even those with 0 transmission value. Admittedly, I rarely used it after discovering that behaviour in the earliest days of science, so it's possible that it did something different at some point between 0.23 and 1.0.

It does need to change, and we actually need some serious polishing of the stored science UI. With the new lab mechanic, I've ended up with 50+ experiments stored in a lab, and it's an extremely tedious click-fest to wade through them. It's also extremely difficult to actually see what you have stored, as it is an exercise in remembering stuff as you tediously click through a stream of highly similar screens. We need a much better UI with a scrollable list of stored experiments, and the ability to transfer subsets of them to docked pods, and the like. The improved UI for craft-stored science could then be triggered by "Transmit Data" on antennas, and should include a "Transmit All" button on that UI which behaves as the antenna does now, but also buttons to transmit only things with transmission value, or individual experiments.

Another bug that I've recently discovered, but I think may have been around for a good while, is that data is lost if you run low on power during transmission. It claims that it's sending the remainder as power becomes available, but it seems that most or all data is lost after the first point where it stops due to no battery power.

[Keith_Bones]

The improved UI is a good idea, and I think most of the functionality is already in place in the tracking station.

[nholzric]

Prior to 1.0, the "Transmit Data" function on antennae would transmit any pending data. In 1.0, it seems that this will now do a complete purge of all stored science data and transmit it. While this might seem like a good idea on paper, I lost about 3 hours of hard work because all of my surface samples were removed and transmit when I did not intend for that to happen.

Yeah, I had this happen to me too. I think we could use a (more comprehensive) science gui. One that lists (and scrolls) all the experiments on the ship (maybe with the blue/green return/transmit bars in small format next to the name) and maybe a checkbox or something so you can, at a glance, see all the experiments and select which ones to transmit. Side benefit is you could deploy this in other situations such as remove/store experiments on EVA.

[Tex]

I guess the workaround is to manually go through your stored data and ask it to transmit from the sample itself : /

This. Especially if you're looking to transmit only one specific piece of data, such as a crew report or something. Just right-click on the part that contains the data you're looking for, and review it so you can get the transmit button. When you press it, the antenna should (to my knowledge) transmit that data and that data only. If you transmit straight from the antenna, then yes, I believe it's normal to transmit all transmittable data.

[Caelib]

The root cause of this frustration was due to the fact that Science Part A's data was transmitted, the antennae was in the process of retracting when I attempted to transmit Science Part B's data ... so the data had been REMOVED from the part and was stuck in some nether region between the part and the act of sending it. In the past, I was able to "fix" this by just using "Transmit Data" or just attempt to transmit another chunk of science.