Archived Caches and Pocket Queries

[WildHog]

Does anyone know if it's possible to include archived caches in pocket queries?

 

A couple of times now I've gone into CacheMate or GSAK to look for caches only to find out that some have been archived and I was not aware of it.

 

Thanks

 

WildHog

[+Semper Questio]

No, it is not. The only time you get archived caches in a PQ is when you run the special "My Finds" query. Then you only get the caches you have found that have since been archived.

[+Butano]

If you look at the pocket query build page, the fourth section down is labeled "That (and)". There is an option for "Is not active". You can select that and it will give you the disabled and archived caches. But beware, you can't select that option and the "Is active" option together since a cache cannot be both not active and active. So you will need to create a separate query for that. I have one that I run that includes "is not active" and "Updated in the last 7 days" so I get the most recent updates and not a whole bunch of archived caches from 2000. Then I have that set up to run twice a week, just to be sure that I get everything that gets archived. You may want to run it without the last 7 days initially to get your database initialized. Pump that into GSAK and you will be ready to go!

[+ecanderson]

If you look at the pocket query build page, the fourth section down is labeled "That (and)". There is an option for "Is not active". You can select that and it will give you the disabled and archived caches.

??? "Is not active" will not produce any archived caches in the list, only disabled caches. As a previous poster notes, the ONLY way to get archived caches in a PQ is if they happen to occur in your My Finds PQ.

[jholly]

No, it is not. The only time you get archived caches in a PQ is when you run the special "My Finds" query. Then you only get the caches you have found that have since been archived.

Not fully correct. You will also get archived caches if the cache is included in a bookmarked based PQ.

[jholly]

Does anyone know if it's possible to include archived caches in pocket queries?

 

A couple of times now I've gone into CacheMate or GSAK to look for caches only to find out that some have been archived and I was not aware of it.

 

Thanks

 

WildHog

 

Groundspeak does not include archived caches in regular PQ's. I would not hold my breath waiting for this policy to change. The way to deal with archived caches with GSAK is after loading the PQ sort on Last GPX date and any that did not get updated are probably archived. A quick check with Waypoint status will indicate the status. Delete the archived caches and you will be good to go.

[+ecanderson]

Not fully correct. You will also get archived caches if the cache is included in a bookmarked based PQ.

Point - although I don't think I've ever bookmarked a cache that I hadn't found. Whichever way it's done, it'll never come across in a normal PQ, as we agree. Not sure how Butano claims to be finding them that way.

[+Borky00]

I loaded all Iowa caches in the summer via several PQs. Then weekly I run a PQ for new caches listed within the last few weeks and another one that "Is not Active". I am still seeing some that are archived in my GSAK database that my PQ did not pick up but I am also getting several hundred in it that are "Not active".

 

I am not sure why some are coming up in the PQ and others are not.

 

I guess I need to run the several original PQ's to refresh the caches to see which come up as not being updated in my GSAK database. Sound correct?

 

Does anyone know why "Archived" caches are not included in the "Is not Active" PQs?

[+ecanderson]

Does anyone know why "Archived" caches are not included in the "Is not Active" PQs?

Only Groundspeak knows for sure, but my guess is that they didn't want to waste space in a PQ. Having temporarily disabled caches loaded might make sense, but ordering up archived caches won't be for "finding", it'll be for some record keeping or similar purpose not directly aimed at furthering the game. Yeah, I'd like to see them, too. Would be better to be able to separate them into another group entirely, not lump them in with "Is not Active" if they ever do it.

 

In a way, it makes sense downrange. Think about it. Assuming this hobby continues apace, someday, archived caches will represent 99+% of any PQ if you allow for their inclusion in the PQ.

[+Walts Hunting]

Does anyone know why "Archived" caches are not included in the "Is not Active" PQs?

 

the real question is why should they? Those caches are permanently removed and will never be active again (except under the rarest of conditions) so why would anybody want to see them anyhow?

[+dfx]

the real question is why should they? Those caches are permanently removed and will never be active again (except under the rarest of conditions) so why would anybody want to see them anyhow?

if nobody wants to see them, why does the question keep popping up?

[+DanOCan]

the real question is why should they? Those caches are permanently removed and will never be active again (except under the rarest of conditions) so why would anybody want to see them anyhow?

There are several reasons. Personally I am very interested in the history of caching in our local area. I like having Archived cache information around so I can see where the old caches were. I keep them loaded in my unit as POIs so when I am in an area I can say "Oh, this is where such-and-such cache was -- I rememb reading about that one even though I never got a chance to find it."

 

I also like being able to see what caches have been in areas when I go to hide one. If I see a park with a lot of Archived caches I know they have a short life span and I should plan accordingly.

 

EDIT: Oh yeah, I also like searching for Archived caches when the owner has a history of claiming to have picked up the Archived cache but actually has left the container in place to become geo-litter.

 

I keep up with archived caches via Notifications. If anything within 100km of home gets archived I get the email so I know to manually update my GSAK database. I used to use the "It has an old Last GPX Date" method, but there are so many new caches published now they are often out of date only because they have been pushed beyond the distance my PQ can reach.

 

EDIT: More to the original topic, this is something that has been asked for for years and the answer has always been the same. My thought is Groundspeak counts on us coming to the website and getting the latest version of the data and making it too easy for people to keep offline databases updated isn't good business practice for them.

Edited October 17, 2010 by DanOCan

[+t4e]

this thread should be in Geocaching Topics, can a moderator move it?

[+dbrierley]

While archived caches are not searchable in Geocaching.com, some can be found through a bookmark search through Google. Just add this to the query:

 

site:www.geocaching.com/bookmarks

 

"Archived" might be a good keyword to include.