Any way to run pocket queries on demand?

[+mainsheet]

Quick question. From time to time, I decide to do something very spur of the moment, like I wake up and say I feel like going to this State Park or heading up to do a hike somewhere and figure it'd be nice to try and do some geocaching so I go to set up a pocket query based on that activity. Sometimes I get the results emailed ASAP other times it can take longer (like after I've left).

 

It'd be nice if I could run the query right away, anyone else agree? I could understand if GC had an "allowance" of instant queries (like maybe 5 per month or something) otherwise everyone would probably instantly run their query, but does anyone else think this is a good idea?

[+ngrrfan]

So you want your query to jump to the head of the line?

 

I'd bet that queries are cued up and run as quickly as possible. Any delay is probably because another query is running, or some other computer related thing is going on, like a backup.

[+Team MacKenzie]

Any time I've checked the day to be run as being the same day as I'm requesting the PQ, ie, it's Friday so I check Friday, I've gotten the PQ email back within a few minutes.

 

I set up the PQ, pack my bag and my water and by the time I'm finished, it's waiting in my email...load and head out the door. I didn't know that it wasn't that fast for everyone!

[+rawkhopper]

Normally only takes a minute or so for me too. I do things last minute as well. If your email is the bottleneck you can always download it directly for the PQ page.

[+Team Taran]

New Queries do jump to head of the line. If I have never run a query before I almost always get it within five or ten minutes at the most. If you want a fresh copy of a query you normally run often, it may help to copy it so it is new. The only times I find this doesn't work (maybe 3 or 4 times in 5 years) is when there is a problem with the site or the server.

Team Taran

[+MontyFam]

Oh that's awesome. I assumed there was a delay for all PQs Woohoo

[ertyu]

I'd rather have my PQs issued on demand. Thats the only way I use them, I don't schedule regular generation.

[knowschad]

I'd rather have my PQs issued on demand. Thats the only way I use them, I don't schedule regular generation.

That's also the only way that I have ever used them. As others have pointed out, if you create a new, 1 time pocket query, you should generally get it within minutes. If not, you can download it yourself immediatly.

[+Markwell]

Yep - the newly created PQs jump to the head of the line. It's based on an inverse of how old the query is and an inverse of how long ago it ran.

 

If you have seven identical queries set up, each to run on a different day of the week, they will run earlier in the day than one query that runs every day. The system will examine the last run and determine "This particular query hasn't run in 7 days. Move it to the front of the line."

 

Likewise the age of the query itself is taken into consideration. Brand new queries run before recurring queries that have been used for 3 years.

 

So if you have not used your quota of 5 queries for the day, the best bet to get a query "on demand" will be to create a brand new one (or copy an old one as a new one) and set it for "today". Refresh the page with CTRL-F5 and wait for the line item to be bold. Then go to the Download tab and grab it directly from the site.

 

That will usually take place in less than 5 minutes.