+Blue Power Ranger Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 When I create a puzzle cache with a checksum, do I tally all of the numbers in the final coordinates or just the mystery numbers? Example: My puzzle gives... N 47° AB.CDE W 122° FG.HIJ. Should my checksum number just be A+B+C+D+E+F+G+H+I+J or should I also add in the 47 and the 122? I have never been certain. My puzzle caches are already pretty hard. I don't want to make it worse by giving a bad checksum. Nobody has complained so far but I don't want to give anyone cause either. Thanks! Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 I don't think it matters either way. Quote Link to comment
+Blue Power Ranger Posted May 18, 2006 Author Share Posted May 18, 2006 Right, but when I say "Checksum=43" is the assumption that I mean A+B+C...? Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 Since people do checksums differently I'd just mention what it is a checksum of on your page. Quote Link to comment
+fizzymagic Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 Right, but when I say "Checksum=43" is the assumption that I mean A+B+C...? The standard assumption is that all the digits are used, not just the ones unknown from the puzzle. I stuck a checksum calculator into my GeoCalc program that uses the entire coordinate string. Quote Link to comment
+Blue Power Ranger Posted May 18, 2006 Author Share Posted May 18, 2006 just mention what it is a checksum of on your page. Cool - since there is no "standard", I will clarify on my puzzles! Quote Link to comment
+Prime Suspect Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 (edited) When I create a puzzle cache with a checksum, do I tally all of the numbers in the final coordinates or just the mystery numbers? Example: My puzzle gives... N 47° AB.CDE W 122° FG.HIJ. Should my checksum number just be A+B+C+D+E+F+G+H+I+J or should I also add in the 47 and the 122? I have never been certain. My puzzle caches are already pretty hard. I don't want to make it worse by giving a bad checksum. Nobody has complained so far but I don't want to give anyone cause either. Thanks! Why bother with checksums? They're so 20th century. Just add an evince link to your puzzle page. People can confirm they've solved it, without the additional confusion of whether or not they're using the "right" checksum algorithm. Edited May 18, 2006 by Prime Suspect Quote Link to comment
+fizzymagic Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 Why bother with checksums? They're so 20th century. Just add an evince link to your puzzle page. You mean they've solved that problem where you have to paste 4 numbers into the page in order to check the coordinates, instead of just one coordinate string? Oh, wait, sorry. They haven't. Still haven't figured out that whole "use the computer to parse the coordinate string" thing yet, huh? Apparently that's too 21st century. Quote Link to comment
+Blue Power Ranger Posted May 18, 2006 Author Share Posted May 18, 2006 Good point. I like this and used it on my puzzles now. Much better I think. Puzzle with evince verification Quote Link to comment
+Prime Suspect Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 (edited) Why bother with checksums? They're so 20th century. Just add an evince link to your puzzle page. You mean they've solved that problem where you have to paste 4 numbers into the page in order to check the coordinates, instead of just one coordinate string? Oh, wait, sorry. They haven't. Still haven't figured out that whole "use the computer to parse the coordinate string" thing yet, huh? Apparently that's too 21st century. I guess you haven't seen as many different ways that coordinate strings can be mangled as I have. Such as: N49.53.336 W97.19.826 N49*53.336 W97*19.826 49-53.336n 97-19.826w N49Deg 53.336Min W97Deg 19.826Min FYI, I've written other software that will correctly parse all of these. But evince is written such that anyone can use it to add a verification link to their puzzle cache page, and does so by using an entry format that users of geocaching.com are already familiar with. Edited May 18, 2006 by Prime Suspect Quote Link to comment
+fizzymagic Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 I guess you haven't seen as many different ways that coordinate strings can be mangled as I have. Sorry about being so sarcastic in my last post. Yes, I have seen many of the variants you gave; I generally respond to those with a "cannot parse coords" error message. FYI, I've written other software that will correctly parse all of these. But evince is written such that anyone can use it to add a verification link to their puzzle cache page, and does so by using an entry format that users of geocaching.com are already familiar with. In my opinion, and it's only my opinion, I find using evince quite unpleasant because of the necessity of entering data into 6 input fields instead of one. I also find entering coordinates into the various inputs on geocaching.com annoying for the same reason, but I have managed to automate the process for myself sufficiently that I don't notice it as much. It seems to me that people can mess up coordinate entry into the 6 fields just as easily as they can into a single one with a template provided. And that single-field coordinate entry could be provided as an optional input method. But that's just my opinion. Quote Link to comment
+BeadyStu Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Verification websites are perfectly good for verifying puzzles at home in front of a PC. In the filed they are completly useless for someone using a non smartphone GPS device. Even if using a smartphone it is a major pain to copy the co-ordinates across and there is no guarantee of of a 3G signal. Checksums are very useful and have their place but please specify how they are applied in the clue. Quote Link to comment
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