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Pocket Query Generator


mikemtn

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There seems to be a general sentiment of palm users not really being thrilled with Mobipocket -- and I must admit that I had installed it in the past, and found it cumbersome - and removed it in favour of PalmReader or CSpotRun or ... ... .. (or Avantgo but let's not go there).

 

But on the other hand, it didn't take a heartbeat to decide that now was the time to a) sign-up for charter membership; and :smile: reinstall mobibook on my palm.

 

As several people have indicated, you don't need to keep all the extra 'stuff' that Mobibook installs on your pc - you only need to keep the reader on your palm and just use the Palm HotSync manager to install the xxx.prc files. (And you can send these to your SD memory card -- Mobibook will find them there fine)

 

Another "feature" that some *may* find interesting is that there is a MobiPocket Reader for PC which allows one to use the same (albeit somewhat clunky) reader on your windows pc to view the same ebook (.prc) files directly on your pc -- including all the extra stuff that isn't included in the .loc files.

 

So am I likely to remove Mobi from my Palm anytime soon -- not very likely...

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through this thread, but didn't see an answer to my question (lots of software/web guys/engineer types arguing their way is best icon_wink.gif , but I really know nothing about that stuff).

 

Anyway, I've set up a query to grab caches from a latitude and longitude, but since I live near the border of Washington & Oregon, I'm only getting caches back from Washington - nothing from Oregon. Is there a way I can use my home coordinates and get caches on both sides of the river (state line)?

 

I guess I can just create two separate queries, but that seems lame. Anyway - love this a lot Jeremy. Thanks! But then I couldn't tell you the difference between Mobipocket and Moby Dick.

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through this thread, but didn't see an answer to my question (lots of software/web guys/engineer types arguing their way is best icon_wink.gif , but I really know nothing about that stuff).

 

Anyway, I've set up a query to grab caches from a latitude and longitude, but since I live near the border of Washington & Oregon, I'm only getting caches back from Washington - nothing from Oregon. Is there a way I can use my home coordinates and get caches on both sides of the river (state line)?

 

I guess I can just create two separate queries, but that seems lame. Anyway - love this a lot Jeremy. Thanks! But then I couldn't tell you the difference between Mobipocket and Moby Dick.

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quote:
Originally posted by Norm DePlume:

quote:
Originally posted by DenaliNW:...I couldn't tell you the difference between Mobipocket and Moby Dick.

 

It's easy. One's a huge, bloated, ugly, beast that sucks up and destroys everything that it can attack. The other is a novel by Herman Melville.


 

Nicely said and sadly very very true. Not only is Mobi a source of tech headaches, they are also becoming the proprietary gobbler of doc formats on the palm. Witht he blessing of publishers and users we might just see lots of the docs available for the palm become usable ONLY with mobi products and in thier format...Great...

 

Open Choices.

 

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

TeamWSMF@wsmf.org

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i had another issue today with this... i use quick word on my palm a lot. while at work i do school stuff on it and sometimes i download things to read from various places.. no i have a conflict between quick word and mobi. i have to now jettison mobi becuase the two cant get along. i guess its back to geoclipping unless the kind jeremy would like to give us this stuff in text

 

SR and dboggny. Oh man, my mother in law is here9372_700.gif

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Suggestion: Name the files that of the query. So instead of what I'm getting: 181.loc and 181.prc I could get Name_of_my_query.prc and .loc. Thanks keep up the kick butt work.

 

As for the MobiReader, while it is another app to install, it works fine on my PocketPC. My only gripe is the copy issue (less than 100 chars).

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quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy (Admin):

GPX will most likely be the next format available for the Pocket Query. We will extend GPX to provide additional Geocaching details (decoded hints and such).


Do you have any idea how far away the GPX option will be? (Not that there are any unvisited caches close to home, but I am keen on writing a OSX->Palm Memo software for when some are placed icon_wink.gif)

Cheers

Nick.

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quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy (Admin):

GPX will most likely be the next format available for the Pocket Query. We will extend GPX to provide additional Geocaching details (decoded hints and such).


Do you have any idea how far away the GPX option will be? (Not that there are any unvisited caches close to home, but I am keen on writing a OSX->Palm Memo software for when some are placed icon_wink.gif)

Cheers

Nick.

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I've tried this Mobi-program, and it has crashed my PDA at least once. It also causes trouble for Documents to Go, which I use for Word files.

 

I'd like a more open *prc format that my Docs to Go can read. Also, I do NOT want all the logs on there, they just take up a lot of space and memory.

 

I've been using Plucker, which works great.... and Geoclipper, which is good for grabbing specific caches....

 

Thanks for working on this (and working, and working, ....)

 

icon_smile.gif

 

LindaLu

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I've tried this Mobi-program, and it has crashed my PDA at least once. It also causes trouble for Documents to Go, which I use for Word files.

 

I'd like a more open *prc format that my Docs to Go can read. Also, I do NOT want all the logs on there, they just take up a lot of space and memory.

 

I've been using Plucker, which works great.... and Geoclipper, which is good for grabbing specific caches....

 

Thanks for working on this (and working, and working, ....)

 

icon_smile.gif

 

LindaLu

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Are there any plans to be able to include benchmarks in the pocket query? I see that there has been some discussion on using a separate tool (plucker?) to get them. It would be nice to get everything integrated into a single tool.

 

I never get lost!

I simply investigate alternate destinations!

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Okay, I tried. Pocket Queries are a bust. The main problems are:

 

a) MobiReader is a lousy program (bad interface, display bugs galore, and the darn thing keeps launching stuff in my toolbar (yes even if you take it out of start up, it does it on every hotsync!) Oh, and did I mention that its big!

 

:smile: The data formatted as a MobiReader eBook isn't that easy to deal with. There have been many other posts to this effect, so I won't elaborate.

 

I've now gone over to using http://pathetique.com/geocaching/ with iSilo. iSilo is a nice reader, (and cheap), and the data is well filtered to be just right for PalmOS reading. Kudos to the folks behind pathetique.

 

I think Geocaching.com should just put the data out as XML. Just serve the individual cache info as XML (by waypoint), and an XML index (waypoint and lat/lon). Then let all the hackers in this sport (myself included) do the heavy lifting: We'll create scripts to convert to all sorts of formats (free eBook, minimal HTML, etc...) and we'll do every conceivable query type folks want. And better - after initial XML serving, Jeremy won't have to do any of it.

 

In fact - don't even bother wuth serving the XML out of the live database! Just once a night generate the entire DB as XML and make it available as a single gzip tar file! (100Meg max). Us programmer types will snag it and run queries off our own local copies for folks. I'd bet the total load on the geocaching servers will go DOWN!

 

I say: Let a thousand flowers bloom rather than try to cultivate one perfect specimen. I'd say Geocaching should let go of the worries about letting other people serve mirrors of the data in other formats: Loosen the iron glove - the users will sort out the bad from the good (like sites that still list archived caches, etc...). I'm happy to let GeoCaching be the only collector of info (log entries and new caches), but let the world at the info!

 

- Mark

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quote:
Originally posted by John, Mark & Kyle:

I think Geocaching.com should just put the data out as XML.


As mentioned in other posts, we're currently working on supporting the GPX format which is just XML. This should provide you with the functionality and access to the data you and others have been asking for. Keep your eye out for the announcement of GPX support coming within a few weeks.

 

-Elias

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I became a Charter Member to get Pocket Q's. The program has exceeded my expectations. I commend everyone's efforts. I like to run a different query for each city I geocache in. Based on some forum posts, I expected bad things from Mobipocket but I have had no problems. It runs smooth and looks great on my Palm M515. The only thing I found missing is a "travel bug has been seen in this cache" symbol in the contents page. Thanks!

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I had been using AvantGo to do geocaching on my Palm IIIxe, but I ditched that when PocketQuery went on-line (To keep the AvantGo people off Jeremy's back). Getting used to the different interface has been a bit of a challenge, but it hasn't been bad, so I'm a happy cacher. icon_biggrin.gif

 

The only thing is - Like Plank just mentioned, Travel bugs don't show up in the ebooks. icon_confused.gif I specifically have one query to just show caches in my area that currently have travel bugs, but the ebook doesn't have any mention of even which bug is in which cache.

 

I think it would be useful if you could add another appendix to the ebook (like the decrypted hints section) that contains the information pages about the travel bugs in the caches that the search returned.

 

Would that be too dificult to do?

 

[This message was edited by Team VE on July 30, 2002 at 08:28 AM.]

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I had been using AvantGo to do geocaching on my Palm IIIxe, but I ditched that when PocketQuery went on-line (To keep the AvantGo people off Jeremy's back). Getting used to the different interface has been a bit of a challenge, but it hasn't been bad, so I'm a happy cacher. icon_biggrin.gif

 

The only thing is - Like Plank just mentioned, Travel bugs don't show up in the ebooks. icon_confused.gif I specifically have one query to just show caches in my area that currently have travel bugs, but the ebook doesn't have any mention of even which bug is in which cache.

 

I think it would be useful if you could add another appendix to the ebook (like the decrypted hints section) that contains the information pages about the travel bugs in the caches that the search returned.

 

Would that be too dificult to do?

 

[This message was edited by Team VE on July 30, 2002 at 08:28 AM.]

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quote:
Originally posted by Team VE:

The only thing is - Like Plank just mentioned, Travel bugs don't show up in the ebooks. icon_confused.gif I specifically have one query to just show caches in my area that currently have travel bugs, but the ebook doesn't have any mention of even which bug is in which cache.


We're still ironing out the kinks in the Pocket Query Generator. One of the things on our list is to address this Travel Bug issue. I don't have a good estimate as to when it will be added, but we are working on it.

 

-Elias

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quote:
Originally posted by Team VE:

The only thing is - Like Plank just mentioned, Travel bugs don't show up in the ebooks. icon_confused.gif I specifically have one query to just show caches in my area that currently have travel bugs, but the ebook doesn't have any mention of even which bug is in which cache.


We're still ironing out the kinks in the Pocket Query Generator. One of the things on our list is to address this Travel Bug issue. I don't have a good estimate as to when it will be added, but we are working on it.

 

-Elias

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quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy (Admin):

quote:
Originally posted by Marty Fouts:

 

Do you have an idea when you'll be starting the discussion in the GPX mailing list on how to extend the format?


 

I don't plan to discuss it in the mailing list.

 

Jeremy

 

Jeremy Irish

Groundspeak - The Language of Location


 

I don't understand. You said you were going to use GPX as your open non-proprietary format. If you don't propose your changes through the channel for updating GPX, all you're going to do is create a private proprietary variation of GPX.

 

Why use GPX at all if you're not going to keep your format part of the open version?

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quote:
Originally posted by Elias:

quote:
Originally posted by John, Mark & Kyle:

I think Geocaching.com should just put the data out as XML.


As mentioned in other posts, we're currently working on supporting the http://www.topografix.com/gpx.asp format which is just XML. This should provide you with the functionality and access to the data you and others have been asking for. Keep your eye out for the announcement of GPX support coming within a few weeks.

 

-Elias


 

If I understand correctly you're not going to use GPX, but rather start with GPX and change it into something proprietary to Groundspeak.

 

My understanding comes from Jeremy's comment that you're not going to discuss your changes to GPX in the GPX developer's forum.

 

This seems terribly short sighted to me. Is there any way at all to convince you to participate in the open standard process rather than developing a private format?

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quote:
Originally posted by Marty Fouts:

If I understand correctly you're not going to use GPX, but rather start with GPX and change it into something proprietary to Groundspeak.

 

My understanding comes from Jeremy's comment that you're not going to discuss your changes to GPX in the GPX developer's forum.

 

This seems terribly short sighted to me. Is there any way at all to convince you to participate in the open standard process rather than developing a private format?


We're definitely going to use GPX and we're going to adhere to all the GPX guidelines and specifications. Check out this post which was a reply to you in another thread. Let me know if this doesn't adequately answer your questions and I'll try to make sure I address all your concerns.

 

-Elias

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In playing around with new pocket queries, I set one up to email the files to my work email as well as to my home, because the files were getting corrupted thru the webmail gateway I had to use to get my home email at work (that was before the Zip file feature which works just fine icon_smile.gif )

 

Now I tried editing that search, which was based on my home coordinates, to give me the caches centered around the zip code of my work. When I look at the query, everything shows up just like I set it up, ZIP code & all, but it is still returning the information based on the Lat/Lon search that I originally created the query based on. (My H.C. and work are 40 miles apart so the difference is pretty clear)

 

Anybody else try to edit a quey and have something like this happen? I'm thinking it might be related to changing the search criteria type from a Lat/Lon to a ZIP based search..

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In playing around with new pocket queries, I set one up to email the files to my work email as well as to my home, because the files were getting corrupted thru the webmail gateway I had to use to get my home email at work (that was before the Zip file feature which works just fine icon_smile.gif )

 

Now I tried editing that search, which was based on my home coordinates, to give me the caches centered around the zip code of my work. When I look at the query, everything shows up just like I set it up, ZIP code & all, but it is still returning the information based on the Lat/Lon search that I originally created the query based on. (My H.C. and work are 40 miles apart so the difference is pretty clear)

 

Anybody else try to edit a quey and have something like this happen? I'm thinking it might be related to changing the search criteria type from a Lat/Lon to a ZIP based search..

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quote:
Originally posted by Elias:

quote:
Originally posted by Marty Fouts:

If I understand correctly you're not going to use GPX, but rather start with GPX and change it into something proprietary to Groundspeak.

 

My understanding comes from Jeremy's comment that you're not going to discuss your changes to GPX in the GPX developer's forum.

 

This seems terribly short sighted to me. Is there any way at all to convince you to participate in the open standard process rather than developing a private format?


We're definitely going to use GPX and we're going to adhere to all the GPX guidelines and specifications. Check out http://opentopic.Groundspeak.com/0/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=1750973553&f=6770936793&m=3390993905&r=8190957025#8190957025 which was a reply to you in another thread. Let me know if this doesn't adequately answer your questions and I'll try to make sure I address all your concerns.

 

-Elias


 

It doesn't. See my response there.

 

The best way to adequately address my (and other users) concern is to use an open forum to develop an open standard for geocaching record data exchange.

 

It's in the user's interest because it encourages tool development, allowing more choice and the possibility of better fit for the odd-ball cases.

 

It's in geocaching.com's interest because widely available tools makes the hobby more attractive and creates a larger user base.

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