Script to Pull My Finds?

[+cr4zybilly]

Is there a way to script getting the 'My Finds' PQ automagically? I'm working on a little shell script (in Ubuntu) using gpsbabel (which works great, btw) and would love to not have to deal with making sure I keep a local copy of my finds each time I get a new PQ.

 

Any ideas? Thanks!

[jholly]

Is there a way to script getting the 'My Finds' PQ automagically? I'm working on a little shell script (in Ubuntu) using gpsbabel (which works great, btw) and would love to not have to deal with making sure I keep a local copy of my finds each time I get a new PQ.

 

Any ideas? Thanks!

 

Just about anyway you come up with will violate the TOU.

[+cr4zybilly]

 

Just about anyway you come up with will violate the TOU.

 

Bummer. How's GSAK do it?

[jholly]

 

Just about anyway you come up with will violate the TOU.

 

Bummer. How's GSAK do it?

It does not automatically download. You can go to the download tab and if the file association is set correctly windows will open the downloaded .zip file with GSAK. Or if you have the PQ's emailed (less then 500) you can use GSAK to download the attachment and load the .zip file with the email dialog. But GSAK does not go to GC.com and automatically download. I know Clyde is talking to GC.com about this, they have indicated that they will need to make some changes and seem agreeable but nothing has happened yet.

[+user13371]

Umm... go to your pocket query page and run the "My Finds" query once a week? And make sure your OTHER queries specify only caches you HAVEN'T found? That's what I do, but I'm not sure what you're after.

 

As for GSAK -- for it to know which caches you've found, it looks for your user ID in the logs AFTER it's retrieved a PQ. No live scraping of data, no TOU violation.

Edited September 6, 2010 by lee_rimar

[+dfx]

you can probably hard-code the required HTTP request and so no scraping would be involved. you'd likely have to change that every time a site update is implemented though.

[+Red90]

Umm... go to your pocket query page and run the "My Finds" query once a week? And make sure your OTHER queries specify only caches you HAVEN'T found? That's what I do, but I'm not sure what you're after.

 

Yes, but you still need to go and download it manually. Scripting the DL is against the TOU.

[+cr4zybilly]

As for GSAK -- for it to know which caches you've found, it looks for your user ID in the logs AFTER it's retrieved a PQ. No live scraping of data, no TOU violation.

 

Ah..that's what I'm looking for. Tricky. Hm...I wonder if GPSBabel can do that? I'm guessing no.

[+TotemLake]

As for GSAK -- for it to know which caches you've found, it looks for your user ID in the logs AFTER it's retrieved a PQ. No live scraping of data, no TOU violation.

 

Ah..that's what I'm looking for. Tricky. Hm...I wonder if GPSBabel can do that? I'm guessing no.

GPSBabel is the engine behind the chasis.

[+cr4zybilly]

GPSBabel is the engine behind the chasis.

 

Ah, but is it the engine doing the log checking or the radiator?

 

And by 'radiator' I mean "something else besides GPSBabel itself."

 

Starts to get over my head pretty fast

[+TotemLake]

GPSBabel is the engine behind the chasis.

 

Ah, but is it the engine doing the log checking or the radiator?

 

And by 'radiator' I mean "something else besides GPSBabel itself."

 

Starts to get over my head pretty fast

For all intents and purposes it doesn't matter. You get the best of both worlds with GSAK and without violating the TOU.

[+cr4zybilly]

Well, actually it does mater--I don't want to/can't use GSAK, since I'm on Linux.

 

The intent behind the original question was to figure out the best way of running a pocket query against my finds. Looks like I'm stuck downloading it by hand.

[+ecanderson]

Well, actually it does mater--I don't want to/can't use GSAK, since I'm on Linux.

 

The intent behind the original question was to figure out the best way of running a pocket query against my finds. Looks like I'm stuck downloading it by hand.

The current version of GSAK seems to be working most happily with Sun VirtualBox (XP) -- one of whose benefits seems to be seamless USB support. More recent builds of WINE seem to be stable as well. Sometimes you just has to go along to get along in application land. If you're objecting on moral grounds, you'll have to hit up Clyde as requestor number ???

 

Here's a good thread on the GSAK board that describes a lot of x users' experiences with it http://gsak.net/board/index.php?showtopic=2293

 

The early stuff is really old (2006) so you might want to read from back to front a ways to see what's actually current.

[+dfx]

The current version of GSAK seems to be working most happily with Sun VirtualBox (XP) -- one of whose benefits seems to be seamless USB support. More recent builds of WINE seem to be stable as well.

that really equates to "can't run". starting up a whole instance of a huge operating system (which you'd really have to pay for too) in a resource-hogging VM, just for an operation that takes only 5 seconds? no thanks. and i won't even comment on WINE - it's a nice toy, but that's about it.

[+cr4zybilly]

The current version of GSAK seems to be working most happily with Sun VirtualBox (XP) -- one of whose benefits seems to be seamless USB support. More recent builds of WINE seem to be stable as well.

that really equates to "can't run". starting up a whole instance of a huge operating system (which you'd really have to pay for too) in a resource-hogging VM, just for an operation that takes only 5 seconds? no thanks. and i won't even comment on WINE - it's a nice toy, but that's about it.

 

Not to mention you've got to bend your ethical standards to run non-open source software. If there's a way to do it using only open source software, I will, even if it means sacrificing some functionality. I don't expect everybody to act that way--but it's what I believe and I'll do my best to follow that.

 

Gotta say, I appreciate GPSBabel being open source--that's a great project with some serious hackers behind it.

[robertlipe]

Gotta say, I appreciate GPSBabel being open source--that's a great project with some serious hackers behind it.

 

Serious? No, I can cut up and be quite silly. :-)

 

Thanx.

[+ecanderson]

Not to mention you've got to bend your ethical standards to run non-open source software. If there's a way to do it using only open source software, I will, even if it means sacrificing some functionality. I don't expect everybody to act that way--but it's what I believe and I'll do my best to follow that.

Do all of those embedded systems count, or just your desktop?

 

Some devices even run proprietary code on top of Linux (e.g., TomTom) .

 

I keep telling Hyundai that I'd feel better if they'd give up the source to their ECM, but so far, no luck. No Santa Fe tweaking allowed. Nothing doing with my Garmin, either.

 

I can't even begin to afford my ethical standards. I'd be living in the 1800's.

[+user13371]

EC, you beat me to it. I was just going to ask what open-source GPS he was using.

[+cr4zybilly]

EC, you beat me to it. I was just going to ask what open-source GPS he was using.

Gasp! I'm doing the best I can where it's within my power to make the choice to use Free software.

 

Thanks for the snarky replies. I think I'm done asking for technical help in this forum.

[+dfx]

Thanks for the snarky replies. I think I'm done asking for technical help in this forum.

welcome to the internets. a common attitude around here is: if you don't do things their way, you're doing it wrong!

[+fizzymagic]

I don't understand why nobody has answered your question.

 

Here's the deal: the only way to get a query with all your find logs in it is to run the special "My Finds" query on the PQ page. That returns all caches you have found and all your logs on those caches. You can run it once every seven days.

 

You could set up a bookmark list of your finds and run a PQ on that, and it would give you the same caches, but with only the last 5 logs.

 

Any other method of doing a PQ will not give you archived caches you have found.

 

Any other method of automatically retrieving the information about caches that you have found violates the site TOU.

[John E Cache]

Is there a way to script getting the 'My Finds' PQ automagically? I'm working on a little shell script (in Ubuntu) using gpsbabel (which works great, btw) and would love to not have to deal with making sure I keep a local copy of my finds each time I get a new PQ.

 

Any ideas? Thanks!

Are you trying to remove finds from a PQ? Does GPSBabel have a tag filter? The PQ <wpt> tags contains a tag called <sym>. If <sym> has the word "found", you can filter it out because you found it.

[robertlipe]

No, it doesn't filter on tags, but it has a 'duplicate' filter that can be used to accomplish the same goal.

 

So if your AFPQ is up to date and you don't want to re-run your PQ, but you want only the unfound (yeah, I realize that's contrived...)

 

gpsbabel -i gpx -f pq.gpx -f afpq.gpx -x duplicate,shortname,all -o gpx -F unfound.gpx

 

will fill unfound with the caches that are in the PQ but not in the all-find.

 

That's almost the last tip at http://www.gpsbabel.org/tips/geocaching.html

[+ecanderson]

I don't understand why nobody has answered your question.

It was answered -- in the 2nd post. Just as you say. Run the PQ or violate the TOU or use something like GSAK to filter it out of a full database. I added that last one. At that point, it was game over.

[+user13371]

It was answered -- in the 2nd post.

and again in #5 and a few other places.

 

Sorry if anyone took my side remark as snarky. It just seemed a bit odd to insist on "open source" for his linux machine -- to include not buying the one piece of software he actually needs, for $25 -- when almost every other byte involved is commercial and proprietary.

[+dfx]

It just seemed a bit odd to insist on "open source" for his linux machine -- to include not buying the one piece of software he actually needs, for $25 -- when almost every other byte involved is commercial and proprietary.

actually $25 isn't enough, as i pointed out earlier. not sure how cheap you can get a windows license, but a quick search gives me $200.

 

other than that, you forget the ease of use, also as i pointed out earlier. for me that's the biggest problem.

Edited September 9, 2010 by dfx

[+user13371]

...actually $25 isn't enough, as i pointed out earlier. not sure how cheap you can get a windows license, but a quick search gives me $200.

Guess I'll have to take your word that WINE isn't ready for primetime on Linux. I've had no problem running GSAK on the Mac under WINE (Crossover, actually -- the commercially packaged WINE for Mac OSX). No Windows license required.

 

Of course, that's only a bargain if I don't factor in the cost of my Mac, the operating system, and the router, and my monthly broadband bill, and the whole "it ain't all open-source" thing. But I get what I pay for, mostly the stuff I use just works.

[+ecanderson]

actually $25 isn't enough, as i pointed out earlier. not sure how cheap you can get a windows license, but a quick search gives me $200.

If you're paying more than half that for XP, it's highway robbery.

 

Look - there's a heavy price to be paid in application support for running a system with a small (% of population) demographic. Not everyone can afford to give away their life's work for free, and as a result, they target the largest markets first, and sometimes exclusively. Clyde works in a Windows world. The fact that he's produced one of the finest tools for the job in that world may or may not have been a function of his familiarity with the Windows environment or practical financial concern. But he's FAR from alone. I just don't want the "can't" suggestion raised as it was when it's such a very rare thing indeed. It's almost always "won't".

 

I don't expect diesel for my vehicle at every streetcorner gas station, either. That's why I also have a 2nd non-diesel vehicle. My "ethics" are tempered by realities.

[+dfx]

Look - there's a heavy price to be paid in application support for running a system with a small (% of population) demographic. Not everyone can afford to give away their life's work for free, and as a result, they target the largest markets first, and sometimes exclusively. Clyde works in a Windows world. The fact that he's produced one of the finest tools for the job in that world may or may not have been a function of his familiarity with the Windows environment or practical financial concern. But he's FAR from alone. I just don't want the "can't" suggestion raised as it was when it's such a very rare thing indeed. It's almost always "won't".

yes, which is why you're totally missing the point. nobody asked for GSAK to be ported to linux, or GSAK to be given away for free. the OP asked a question, and some of the answers were that GSAK would be a solution. the OP stated that he doesn't want to use GSAK, yet people still kept telling him to use GSAK. seriously, what's the point?

[+user13371]

Actually dfx, several non-GSAK suggestions have been made also. GSAK keeps coming up though because many people find it to useful.

[jholly]

Actually dfx, several non-GSAK suggestions have been made also. GSAK keeps coming up though because many people find it to useful.

 

Actually it was brought up in post #3 by the OP. He wanted to know how GSAK downloaded the PQ. As I pointed out it doesn't, it just processes the downloaded .zip file. I might add that my view is the OP asked a question and got an answer. Things started heading down the sewer pipe when comments were made about the use of open source software.

Edited September 9, 2010 by jholly

[+fizzymagic]

the OP asked a question, and some of the answers were that GSAK would be a solution.

Only problem here is that GSAK is not a solution to the problem he posted. Many other problems, perhaps, but not that one. GSAK does not and cannot automate triggering and retrieval of the My Finds PQ. Which is what he was actually asking about. (yes, I know that my answer was not to the original question, either).

 

I know how [iI[/i] would do it (using open-source software, BTW) but I don't know whether or not it would violate the TOU. Is programmatically clicking the "My Finds" query button on the PQ page a TOU violation or not? Is automatically following the link that comes in the email OK or not? Seems to me that it ought to be, but I am not a lawyer so I don't know.

 

As a result, I am not going to tell him how I would do it.

[+dfx]

I know how [iI[/i] would do it (using open-source software, BTW) but I don't know whether or not it would violate the TOU. Is programmatically clicking the "My Finds" query button on the PQ page a TOU violation or not? Is automatically following the link that comes in the email OK or not? Seems to me that it ought to be, but I am not a lawyer so I don't know.

i was thinking exactly the same thing. the TOU are (intentionally) very vague and talk about "other automated means to access the Site", which could mean pretty much anything. to me, a web browser loading the images referenced from the HTML page it requested would be much automated as a simple HTTP POST from a script. but that's just my interpretation and i'm sure plenty of people would disagree.

[+ecanderson]

If you look at the individual case here, this particular OP is actually still within a sweet spot in his caching career where he could have his finds auto-delivered for a while. Won't last forever, but he doesn't seem to have been in a hurry to make his finds anyway.

 

There's an assumption in several of these comments that a regular PQ excludes caches that you have found. Now I'll grant you, MOST of us are running PQs with the "That (And) I haven't found" box checked.

 

At least for the time being, gc.com is delivering PQs with counts of 500 or less. Crazy Billy is still well under that number with his finds. He could click the "That (And) I have found" box instead and create a PQ just for his finds. They're certainly within a fairly small geographic range.

 

Eventually he'll likely blow through the 500 limit for emailed PQ files or start caching further away from home, but for the time being, asking for his finds within the maximum allowed 500 mile radius of home would capture every one of his finds. Only burns one PQ request. Just a thought.

Edited September 9, 2010 by ecanderson

[+Team Taran]

This solution won't include archived caches. This may or may not be a problem.

Team Taran

[+ecanderson]

This solution won't include archived caches. This may or may not be a problem.

Team Taran

True enough. The OP never did say what he was going to do with his "finds" info in the first place.