+Squealy Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 I am sure I will get markwelled real quick on this one - but what about an icon for themed caches - so people who look quickly know that they will need to bring something specific. If I get markwelled, feel free to lock or delete the entire post. So many caches, why am I on the forums? Link to comment
+leatherman Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 I've seen Jeremy's response to similar requests. Like a different icon for micros. A themed cache, like a micro, is still a regular cache. He has no intentions to make individual icons for the many variations of regular caches. Sorry Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 A theme cache is common enough it could be listed as a type of traditional. Similar to the Multicache and letterbox hybrid. Link to comment
+leatherman Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 I disagree. The themed cache maybe popular relative to specific regions. They are not that prevalent here. The micro is very popular. However that doesn't mean it deserves a special icon. I think there is a distinct difference between a cache with several locations/containers, and a cache with themed contents. Puzzle and math caches should have a dedicated icon before a theme cache. A puzzle, like a multi, has special steps that must be followed to complete the find. It's not just about contents. Link to comment
+Squealy Posted October 19, 2003 Author Share Posted October 19, 2003 I am not a computer geek - so I am not sure about how a lot of these things work. Do you think it is a question of taking up memory - it would be counted as another stat or something like that or is it just a question of it being a type of traditional cache? Can TPTB shine some light? So many caches, why am I on the forums? Link to comment
+ClayJar Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 If a new cache type was added for every style people came up with, we would rapidly evolve a tremendous number of cache types. This is a programming problem, since it would affect not just Geocaching.com, but also all the other programs that make use of the data (Watcher, for example). Watcher would have to be extended for every additional type added, and it would make selecting by type rather unmanageable. The issue lies with the fact that the number of cache types must be kept low in order for the cache types to be useful, but since the number of cache types *is* limited, it is impossible to put every possible variation into that set of cache types. The proposed solution is to add something called "cache attributes" to the fray. What these "cache attributes" would be are "flags" to stick on your cache to label it as a whatever. "Puzzle cache" could be an attribute; "themed cache" could be another; et cetera. One useful thing about these "cache attributes" would be that they are not mutually exclusive. You could have a multi-cache that has both the "puzzle cache" and "themed cache" markers set. Additionally, "cache attributes", being a very diverse set of values, would be handled significantly differently from a programming perspective. (I won't bore you with details, but "cache attributes" would logically be assumed to be a many-valued set possibly including unknowns. The approach to using them programmatically would be different than an assumed invariant set of options for a single type declaration, even though technically one *could* use similar methods.) Anyway, long story short: No, it wouldn't be wise to extend the cache type value enumeration for every possible cache style (and anyway, that would not be capable of handling multi-valued options). "Cache attributes" are a much better and complete solution to the problem, but we don't have those yet (they have been discussed at length previously, but there is still much to do implementation-wise before they can exist). [[[ ClayJar Networks ]]] Home of Watcher downloads, Official Geocaching Chat, and the Geocache Rating System Link to comment
+Squealy Posted October 20, 2003 Author Share Posted October 20, 2003 Just for the record - the computer geek comment is out of jealousy - I am a computer moron. I like the idea of the attribute flags - it would make things generally easier if you are breezing through and trying to decide on which caches to do based on time constraints. Thanks ClayJar! Hopefully we can see it soon. So many caches, why am I on the forums? Link to comment
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