OpinioNate Posted November 11, 2009 Author Share Posted November 11, 2009 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. Link to comment
Rhialto Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 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).?? Link to comment
+WuffPack Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 Don't know if this is related to the recent udpate, but a problem with the MyFinds PQ: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...t&p=4122679 Link to comment
+deercreekth Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 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. Link to comment
OpinioNate Posted November 11, 2009 Author Share Posted November 11, 2009 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. Link to comment
OpinioNate Posted November 11, 2009 Author Share Posted November 11, 2009 We are in the processing of rolling back the GPX schema change so the site will be down for a few minutes. This should happen before the end of the business day today. Link to comment
+GeoJunkie Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 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. Link to comment
+fizzymagic Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 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. Link to comment
OpinioNate Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 I have opened a new thread announcing our plan for the .GPX schema change. Please post there if you have more to say on this subject. Thanks! http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=235742 Link to comment
OpinioNate Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 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. Link to comment
+TotemLake Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 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! Link to comment
+fizzymagic Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I have opened a new thread announcing our plan for the .GPX schema change. Please post there if you have more to say on this subject. Thanks! http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=235742 Thank you thank you thank you! I am now a happy camper! Link to comment
Rhialto Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 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. OIC, that make sense... thanks. Link to comment
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