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Release Notes 11/04/09


OpinioNate

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I have a problem with the GPX tweak done on this site. You have third party software interfacing with your site now and the designers went through a lot of work to make sure the symbols came out correctly per your specs and licensing agreements.

 

I don't know about other software, but it affects Cache Register and DeLorme's Topo. I typically shake and bake my PQs through GSAK, but tonight I ran a test. I downloaded a PQ and imported it to T8 and all of the caches came up as traditional. None of the puzzles or multi's came out correctly. GSAK still handles them correctly which is nice.

 

If you're going to make these changes at least have the professional courtesy of advising your third party partners so they can make appropriate changes to their software without being caught blindsided. I've heard the claim is made the GPX format is compliant. Compliancy isn't the issue. Design change without appropriate notice is.

 

We made some assumptions about the changes we were making and did not foresee the problems that have cropped up. I apologize to everyone who has been inconvenienced by our failure to anticipate the consequences. While we work on a resolution we are also looking at improving our lines of communication, and in the future we will handle things very differently. Thank you for being patient with us.

 

We rolled back the change from Unknown to Puzzle/Mystery, which has solved some of our issues (but unfortunately returned this ambiguous terminology to the site temporarily). There is still the schema change issue to resolve, but we are investigating fixes and weighing our options. I will update everyone as soon as I have more information. Thanks.

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I have a problem with the GPX tweak done on this site. You have third party software interfacing with your site now and the designers went through a lot of work to make sure the symbols came out correctly per your specs and licensing agreements.

 

I don't know about other software, but it affects Cache Register and DeLorme's Topo. I typically shake and bake my PQs through GSAK, but tonight I ran a test. I downloaded a PQ and imported it to T8 and all of the caches came up as traditional. None of the puzzles or multi's came out correctly. GSAK still handles them correctly which is nice.

 

If you're going to make these changes at least have the professional courtesy of advising your third party partners so they can make appropriate changes to their software without being caught blindsided. I've heard the claim is made the GPX format is compliant. Compliancy isn't the issue. Design change without appropriate notice is.

 

We made some assumptions about the changes we were making and did not foresee the problems that have cropped up. I apologize to everyone who has been inconvenienced by our failure to anticipate the consequences. While we work on a resolution we are also looking at improving our lines of communication, and in the future we will handle things very differently. Thank you for being patient with us.

 

Thanks for posting this. Working on a resolution and improving the way things are handled in the future is all any of us can ask. It is much appreciated.

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We rolled back the change from Unknown to Puzzle/Mystery, which has solved some of our issues (but unfortunately returned this ambiguous terminology to the site temporarily).
??

 

The Geocaching API was keying off the actual text "UNKNOWN" instead of type ID. That will have to be fixed but in the meantime rolling back the change is necessary on the website as well.

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I have a problem with the GPX tweak done on this site. You have third party software interfacing with your site now and the designers went through a lot of work to make sure the symbols came out correctly per your specs and licensing agreements.

 

I don't know about other software, but it affects Cache Register and DeLorme's Topo. I typically shake and bake my PQs through GSAK, but tonight I ran a test. I downloaded a PQ and imported it to T8 and all of the caches came up as traditional. None of the puzzles or multi's came out correctly. GSAK still handles them correctly which is nice.

 

If you're going to make these changes at least have the professional courtesy of advising your third party partners so they can make appropriate changes to their software without being caught blindsided. I've heard the claim is made the GPX format is compliant. Compliancy isn't the issue. Design change without appropriate notice is.

 

We made some assumptions about the changes we were making and did not foresee the problems that have cropped up. I apologize to everyone who has been inconvenienced by our failure to anticipate the consequences. While we work on a resolution we are also looking at improving our lines of communication, and in the future we will handle things very differently. Thank you for being patient with us.

 

We rolled back the change from Unknown to Puzzle/Mystery, which has solved some of our issues (but unfortunately returned this ambiguous terminology to the site temporarily). There is still the schema change issue to resolve, but we are investigating fixes and weighing our options. I will update everyone as soon as I have more information. Thanks.

Thanks very much for the update.

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While we work on a resolution we are also looking at improving our lines of communication, and in the future we will handle things very differently. Thank you for being patient with us.

Not to beat on you unnecessarily, Nate, but this is not the first time this year that a change to the GPX files the site generates has caused havoc with third-party applications. In fact, last time I wrote a message entreating you (well, Moun10Bike actually) to improve communications about changes to the GPX format. And he promised, on September 17, that "When we do get to the point of updating the Groundspeak extensions, rest assured that the third party community will be well informed before and during the process."

 

I'm a third party developer. I have signed up on the thread pinned at the top of the page. I was not informed about the addition of attributes before it occurred. I was not informed about the change to the Mystery/Puzzle definition.

 

Please, please, please in the future notify us about before the fact any changes to the GPX files the site creates, no matter how minor they may seem.

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While we work on a resolution we are also looking at improving our lines of communication, and in the future we will handle things very differently. Thank you for being patient with us.

Not to beat on you unnecessarily, Nate, but this is not the first time this year that a change to the GPX files the site generates has caused havoc with third-party applications. In fact, last time I wrote a message entreating you (well, Moun10Bike actually) to improve communications about changes to the GPX format. And he promised, on September 17, that "When we do get to the point of updating the Groundspeak extensions, rest assured that the third party community will be well informed before and during the process."

 

I'm a third party developer. I have signed up on the thread pinned at the top of the page. I was not informed about the addition of attributes before it occurred. I was not informed about the change to the Mystery/Puzzle definition.

 

Please, please, please in the future notify us about before the fact any changes to the GPX files the site creates, no matter how minor they may seem.

 

Fair enough, fizzy.

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I have a problem with the GPX tweak done on this site. You have third party software interfacing with your site now and the designers went through a lot of work to make sure the symbols came out correctly per your specs and licensing agreements.

 

I don't know about other software, but it affects Cache Register and DeLorme's Topo. I typically shake and bake my PQs through GSAK, but tonight I ran a test. I downloaded a PQ and imported it to T8 and all of the caches came up as traditional. None of the puzzles or multi's came out correctly. GSAK still handles them correctly which is nice.

 

If you're going to make these changes at least have the professional courtesy of advising your third party partners so they can make appropriate changes to their software without being caught blindsided. I've heard the claim is made the GPX format is compliant. Compliancy isn't the issue. Design change without appropriate notice is.

 

We made some assumptions about the changes we were making and did not foresee the problems that have cropped up. I apologize to everyone who has been inconvenienced by our failure to anticipate the consequences. While we work on a resolution we are also looking at improving our lines of communication, and in the future we will handle things very differently. Thank you for being patient with us.

 

We rolled back the change from Unknown to Puzzle/Mystery, which has solved some of our issues (but unfortunately returned this ambiguous terminology to the site temporarily). There is still the schema change issue to resolve, but we are investigating fixes and weighing our options. I will update everyone as soon as I have more information. Thanks.

Thanks Nate! As always, you guys are awesome in the face of adversity!

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