Pocket query no more available for download

[+OpusTerra]

As usually, this morning I received some emails telling me that three of my PQs (over 500 wpts) where ready to download from the pocket query page. I am getting used to do this since a couple of weeks but this time it did not worked the normal way ...

 

Clicking on the first of the three did a strange page refresh and the PQ disappeared from the list by itself! I also had a message in red at the top of the page that said that the pocket query was no more available for download but yet it was written that there was still 6 days left before I clicked on it. I did try with the remaining twos and the same behavior happened. Too bad for me. No PQ to download this morning!

 

The only think I can see that could have caused this is that I edited the name of the three PQ in the meantime just before downloading them. If this is the cause well this is a bug because the system should normally work with the PQ GUID not its name. And once a PQ is ready for download it should not disappear if you just edit its name. The bad side effect is that I have lost my 3 PQ scheduled for today.

 

I would like to know if my hypothesis is right about the effect of editing the PQ name but I do not want to lost any more PQs to prove it ...

 

-------------------------------------

 

(Further reading in the thread, I saw this other topic that seems to be somewhat related to my problem ... http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=250031)

Edited May 20, 2010 by OpusTerra

[+beejay&esskay]

I would like to know if my hypothesis is right about the effect of editing the PQ name but I do not want to lost any more PQs to prove it ...

Yes, your hypothesis is correct.

 

I took a PQ that I ran yesterday ("H - Greenville") and verified that the output was available for download. I changed the name of the PQ to "H - Greenville x". I went to my downloads and saw the output was still in the list with the changed name. I tried to download it but got this message "Sorry, the requested Pocket Query download is no longer available." and then it disappeared from the list of possible downloads.

 

My suggestion is not to change the name or delete any PQ that you want to be able to download the output...at least until GS is done alpha testing this new feature.

[+Avernar]

I took a PQ that I ran yesterday ("H - Greenville") and verified that the output was available for download. I changed the name of the PQ to "H - Greenville x".

Slightly off topic: Did it preserve the spaces in the name or did you end up with "H-Greenvillex"?

[+beejay&esskay]

It did preserve the spaces. It is a PQ based on a bookmark list which may explain why it didn't collapse spaces like my other PQ edits do.

[+OpusTerra]

I took a PQ that I ran yesterday ("H - Greenville") and verified that the output was available for download. I changed the name of the PQ to "H - Greenville x".

Slightly off topic: Did it preserve the spaces in the name or did you end up with "H-Greenvillex"?

 

For me, I noticed that the PQ names I edited were removed any blank spaces within the name.

 

Ex: Quebec NF 01 was automatically re-edited as QuebecNF01.

 

So to get the spaces effect back, I added an underscore char _ in place of the blanks as in Quebec_NF_01

 

Btw: Seems that this only happen if PQ generates more than 500 wpts ...

Edited May 20, 2010 by OpusTerra

[+Avernar]

So to get the spaces effect back, I added an underscore char _ in place of the blanks as in Quebec_NF_01

I've done that too but other punctuation is also removed like colons and slashes. I use(d) the slashes for the date separator character in the name.

 

Btw: Seems that this only happen if PQ generates more than 500 wpts ...

The missing PQ thing or the name mangling? The name mangling happens for 500 or less as well.

[+OpusTerra]

The missing PQ thing or the name mangling? The name mangling happens for 500 or less as well.

 

I was then talking about the name mangling but you are true it happens as well ... Sorry for the mixup ...

[+OpusTerra]

Btw, it is not only just when editing the name that it will cause the PQ to disappear from the list of those ready for download. I just changed some dates in the Placed During section and the same bad behavior occured.

 

I really wonder how this new thing work internally! Maybe it also left some orphan files on the server when this happens ...

[+techiegrl64]

I was on a week-long road trip and set up several PQs for various areas and routes where I would be traveling. I generated the PQs and had the output ready for download. I had reached the max of 40 and needed a couple of ad hoc PQs to make a special caching run in that area so I deleted one that I'd already generated. I was surprised to discover it also deleted the file that was ready for download!

 

It is fine to delete the source PQ that generates a result set but it does not seem correct that the result set which was already prepared would be deleted as well.

[Great Birds]

I was on a week-long road trip and set up several PQs for various areas and routes where I would be traveling. I generated the PQs and had the output ready for download. I had reached the max of 40 and needed a couple of ad hoc PQs to make a special caching run in that area so I deleted one that I'd already generated. I was surprised to discover it also deleted the file that was ready for download!

 

It is fine to delete the source PQ that generates a result set but it does not seem correct that the result set which was already prepared would be deleted as well.

 

It makes that "Run this query once then delete it" setting worse than useless.

[+Avernar]

It makes that "Run this query once then delete it" setting worse than useless.

Work's just fine for emailed PQs.

[+larryc43230]

It makes that "Run this query once then delete it" setting worse than useless.

Work's just fine for emailed PQs.

Not if you never get the e-mail message.

 

--Larry

[+Avernar]

Not if you never get the e-mail message.

The .001% time that happens, yes. But that doesn't make the option "worse than useless". The times I've used the delete option I've never lost an email.

 

If someone is loosing emails that often they should either get a better email provider or they should be using the uncheck option instead and manually downloading the PQ if the email is lost.

[+larryc43230]

Not if you never get the e-mail message.

The .001% time that happens, yes. But that doesn't make the option "worse than useless". The times I've used the delete option I've never lost an email.

Simply based on the number and frequency of complaints registered in this forum from people who never received the e-mail message with their pocket query attached, I'm going to claim that the percentage was a whole lot higher than that. And some of these same people simply don't want to get a different e-mail provider or ISP simply to receive e-mail from this particular Web site.

 

One of the biggest gripes I had about the previous (e-mail delivery) method was that, if someone didn't receive the e-mail they expected, they had no way to know at which point the process failed.

• Was there something wrong at the Web site that was preventing the pocket query from being generated?
  
• Was the Groundspeak e-mail server hung again and not delivering pocket queries that had been generated?
  
• Was their ISP labeling messages, especially messages with attachments, as spam and blocking them at their server?
  
• Was the user's e-mail program marking messages from Groundspeak as spam and either summarily deleting them or hiding them in a spam folder the user wasn't savvy enough to check?
  

All the user generally knew was that, after what seemed like a reasonable amount of time, the pocket query never arrived. No error message, no feedback, just nothing. And that led to major frustration and angst for anyone caught in that trap.

 

The new, download, method of delivering pocket queries doesn't resolve all of these issues, but I do think it's a step in the right direction.

 

Not all geocachers who receive and use pocket queries are created equal when it comes to technical savvy; a lot of cachers I know don't particularly want to learn any more about the technology than they have to to get by. Anything that makes the process more straightforward for those cachers, I'm all for it.

 

--Larry

[+Avernar]

Not all geocachers who receive and use pocket queries are created equal when it comes to technical savvy; a lot of cachers I know don't particularly want to learn any more about the technology than they have to to get by. Anything that makes the process more straightforward for those cachers, I'm all for it.

I agree with you completely that we should make it as easy as possible for the vast majority of less tech savvy users. I just hate it when advanced features are removed to accomplish this.

 

That's why I'm still using a StreetPilot GPS for my car navigation instead of a Nuvi. Garmin is the worst offender in ripping out advanced features to dumb down their devices for the masses.

[+Bosn Ski]

I have two problems and out of the 56 PAGES returned from a search this thread seems to fit.

 

Problem One: 1 of 5 PQ's hasn't been delivered twice in a row. Nothing was changed in the PQ. I haven't opened it since I created it. More info below. The 5th PQ showed up as I was typing this. HOWEVER, this is the PQ that didn't show up on Friday.

 

All my PQ's are designed to return less than 500 caches. I have one for My Hides and four to show the unfound caches in my area. I have not changed the names to the PQ's recently (maybe a day or two after they were created more than three months ago.)

 

Problem Two:

...Clicking on the first of the three did a strange page refresh and the PQ disappeared from the list by itself! I also had a message in red at the top of the page that said that the pocket query was no more available for download but yet it was written that there was still 6 days left before I clicked on it. I did try with the remaining two and the same behavior happened....

 

On Friday one PQ didn't show up in my dedicated GMail box. I was under the assumtion that I could go to the download page and grap the missing PQ from there. But what happened to OpusTerra happend to me. I clicked on all my PQ's with 6 days remaining and nothing. Even though all my PQ's were delivered today...I still have the question concerning downloading PQ's that were mailed previous.

 

--Can PQ's that were delivered via email or missing from email, be downloaded before the next time the PQ is scheduled to be ran?

 

Quoted from LarryC

•Was there something wrong at the Web site that was preventing the pocket query from being generated?

I don't think so, 4 of 5 were delievered within 5 minutes.

 

•Was the Groundspeak e-mail server hung again and not delivering pocket queries that had been generated?

Again, I don't think so (see above)

•Was their ISP labeling messages, especially messages with attachments, as spam and blocking them at their server?

GMail has never (for at least 3 months now) marked my PQ's as Spam and 4 of 5 PQ's came through (there's a pattern here...)

 

•Was the user's e-mail program marking messages from Groundspeak as spam and either summarily deleting them or hiding them in a spam folder the user wasn't savvy enough to check

I use GSAK to download my PQ's from GMail...GSAK grabbed the 4 PQ's from my inbox...

 

I have a feeling I missed something on how exactly the new PQ system works. I waited around all day for my "My Finds" PQ to be emailed and finally went to the forums, where I was promptly told to look under the download tab. Yeah, I missed THAT memo... LOL

 

Thanks,

Bos'n Ski

Virginia Beach