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Features You'd Like To See in GPX Apps


fizzymagic

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I thought I would start a thread about what features people would like to see in GPX applications. I'll start the ball rolling here with a few I am working on:

  • Ignore lists for caches you'll never do.

  • Coordinate replacement (or addition) for puzzle caches or multicaches. So if you've solved a puzzle cache, the coordinates show up as your solution, not what's shown on geocaching.com.

  • Find caches near a route.

Anybody else have any cool ideas?
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On the subject of GPX files and manipulation, does anyone know of the gpxExchange plugin for MS MapPoint?

 

Supposedly, it allows MapPoint to read GPX files directly. That would be really cool, no mods, conversions or imports. One file, allows access to maping software and formatted data on multiple platforms (PC and PPC).

 

/cw

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I'll give it a go:

  • A way to use templates so you can layout your own pages.
  • The ability to spit out an HTML list of your found caches or placed caches to be included into your home page in whatever format you desire.
  • Be able to maintain a list of your finds in the order your found them.
  • Output file for Street and Trips with pushpins for different types of caches
  • Multiple Search and Replace with pattern matching, either in certain feilds or globally.
  • Upload to directly to GPS, of course.
  • FREE and easy to use.

 

CR

 

72057_2000.gif

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quote:
Originally posted by Sissy-n-CR:

I'll give it a go:

+ Output file for Street and Trips with pushpins for different types of caches


GPSBabel can read/write GPX and S&T 2003. Looking at the description that someone posted for its file format, it doesn't support different pin types. If you can describe it (or even offer examples) to me privately or on the gpsbabel-misc list, I'll make GPSBabel do it.

 

After implementing "smart icons" on my Magellan, I've grown quite fond of it when caching.

quote:

+ Upload to directly to GPS, of course.


GPSBabel can read your GPX files and stuff them into your Garmin, Magellan, Holux, or a variety of PDA units.

 

So it doesn't offer everything you're looking for, but it's a key part of it.

 

And it's free. http://gpsbabel.sourceforge.net

 

[This message was edited by robertlipe on January 14, 2003 at 06:37 AM.]

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quote:
Originally posted by Sissy-n-CR:

How about a feature that will link you a map, like http://tiger.census.gov/cgi-bin/mapbrowse-tbl, to show the caches.

 

http://img.Groundspeak.com/user/72057_2000.gif


 

Armed with a little bit of wrapping logic, I already do this with GPSBabel. It goes something like this:

 

gpsbabel -i gpx -f /tmp/nash.gpx -o tiger -F /tmp/blah

 

Now push /tmp/blah to a web site somewhere and then suck down

 

http://tiger.census.gov/cgi-bin/mapgen?murl=${THATPLACE}${LOTSMOREOPTIONS}

 

Could something like GPX2HTML or Spinner do this for you? Yeah.

 

In fact, just yesterday I installed a tweak to GPSBabel to color waypoints less than 2 weeks old as green.

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quote:
Originally posted by Sissy-n-CR:

Success on the GPSbabel download and drawing a map. Exactly what I was looking for, except a little more automation.


 

It's probably a 2-5 line program in about any language you choose to use. But since one of those lines needs to contain the coords for the center of the map you want, and the URL to get the coords from and another needs to include instructions on how to put that tiger page on your web page somewhere, making it a general-purpose thing and providing a reasonable way to customize that would be a little icky.

 

But since those things are probably relatively invariant for your personal use, scripting it in Perl or shell or whatever is probably trivial. Tell us what OS you use and maybe we can help.

 

Maybe you could bribe the Spinner or GPX2HTML projects to include this. Since they already have the wpt teased apart, they could actually do this basic technique without actually using GPSBabel - tiger files are dog simple. It'd probably be a tad easier for Spinner to do since it's alread running commands on a known computer on your behalf.

 

P.S. Yes, sourceforge was coughing up its skull earlier in the day.

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Actually, that'd be pretty slick. Create a command to make a "tiger file" based on caches attributes, get the GIF from tiger and FTP it to a user's page. Create an anon FTP account to access only a certain directory (can that be done? Never tried it.) Call that GIF in your page and your done. Completely automated and updated whenever you want. The tiger site only has to be called when you update so the view speed would be good.

 

Okay, I need a chaulk board...

 

I spin my files, download the resuling GPX, Pluck the webpages, GPSbabel the file, add the "#tms-marker" to it (Did I mention tiger wouldn't take the file until I added the above line?), upload to a site, call the tiger page, grab the GIF, upload that to my page. Whew. And I haven't even gotten around to a basic layout of my homepage.

 

I got time now, though. Had to send the GPS back to get it worked on. Looks like I got a "tuit."

 

CR

 

72057_2000.gif

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quote:
Originally posted by Sissy-n-CR:

Actually, that'd be pretty slick. Create a command to make a "tiger file" based on caches attributes, get the GIF from tiger and FTP it to a user's page.


Yes, it is. I have code that does it. :-)

quote:

Create an anon FTP account to access only a certain directory (can that be done? Never tried it.) Call that GIF in your page and your done.


Various OSes have different facilities for such things. This could even be done as a CGI web thingy, allowing users to upload their GPX (or even loc) files, computing the center of the coords, using those as the tiger lat/lon anchors and just scaling from there. I don't have access to a server that allows CGI's, but it doesn't sound that hard.

 

quote:

I spin my files, download the resuling GPX, Pluck the webpages, GPSbabel the file,


 

In the absence of getting spinner to do this for you, yeah, you've got the basic recepie.

 

You could even get really cute and have your .procmailrc (or whatever you use to processing incoming mail on whatever OS you use) do the submission to spinner (maybe on the receipt of the data back from spinner if they are allowing direct email submission now) AND do that programmatically upon recepit of the "GEO: files for:" message.

 

quote:

add the "#tms-marker" to it (Did I mention tiger wouldn't take the file until I added the above line?),


I just checked about two dozen files that I've tigerized. None have that marker and all gave me back a .gif. Tell me more.

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quote:
Originally posted by robertlipe:

 

quote:

add the "#tms-marker" to it (Did I mention tiger wouldn't take the file until I added the above line?),


I just checked about two dozen files that I've tigerized. None have that marker and all gave me back a .gif. Tell me more.


 

Well, I tried with the file that came directly out of GPSbabel and all it would do was give me the map without the points. So I went to the instructions page and saw the thing with the #tms-marker, added it, uploaded and the only thing I did then was hit refresh on the browser. It chruned a little and popped up with the map with the waypoints.

 

That's the only thing I did. It didn't work before and did work afterward.

 

~shrug~ That's all I know.

 

CR

 

72057_2000.gif

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quote:
Originally posted by Quetzalteco:

On the subject of GPX files and manipulation, does anyone know of the gpxExchange plugin for MS MapPoint?

 

Supposedly, it allows MapPoint to read GPX files directly. That would be really cool, no mods, conversions or imports. One file, allows access to maping software and formatted data on multiple platforms (PC and PPC).

 

/cw


 

I've made a script that converts one or more GPX-files into Mappoint/Autoroute/Streets & Trips cvs-files.

 

It's available at my homepage

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quote:

You know, I've come to the conclusion that SourceForge SUCKS!


 

That is correct. icon_smile.gif For the past few days, the public CVS access (including access to the README you're trying to get to) has been shut off. icon_frown.gif

 

Personally, I think their explanation sucks a bit too:

 

quote:

(2003-01-14 14:04:19) As of 2003-01-14, pserver-based CVS repository access and ViewCVS (web-based) CVS repository access have been taken offline as to stabilize CVS server performance for developers. These services will be re-enabled as soon as the underlying scalability issues have been analyzed and resolved (as soon as 2003-01-15, if possible). Additional updates will be posted to the Site Status page as they become available. Your patience is appreciated.


 

Which basically translates into English to read "We ran out of resources! Unless you're a registered sourceforge project developer, you're screwed." icon_smile.gif

 

Oh well.. maybe by tomorrow.. ?

 

...

alex

 

P.S. I believe a recent README is also in the downloadable tar-ball.

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quote:

You know, I've come to the conclusion that SourceForge SUCKS!


 

I don't want to derail this into either a GPSBabel thread or a discussion on SourceForge (and the sock puppets are all too busy derailing every other thread on this board to whine about cache types they don't like) but I've just thrown some time at this problem for you guys.

 

While I haven't gone through the complete release cycle, I think that GPSBabel tree is in good shape on all platforms. I've spun source tarballs, windows binaries, moved the README link right onto the web (thus eliminating the dependency on the SF CVS server) and spun a **beta** version of GPSBabel.

 

Get it from http://gpsbabel.sourceforge.net . Follow-ups to the mailing lists on that page and not here, please.

 

(Volunteers to help with web pages, doc, etc. as well as code are always welcome.)

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quote:
Originally posted by robertlipe:

After implementing "smart icons" on my Magellan, I've grown quite fond of it when caching.


 

Robert, that term caught my attention; what do you mean by that? My meridian's icons seem kinda dumb with Spinner...

 

Don't get even - get odd

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quote:
Originally posted by embra:

quote:
Originally posted by robertlipe:

After implementing "smart icons" on my Magellan, I've grown quite fond of it when caching.


 

Robert, that term caught my attention; what do you mean by that? My meridian's icons seem kinda dumb with Spinner...


 

If you start with a file that has the Groundspeak geocaching extensions and use GPSBabel to shoot the waypoints to your receiver, it'll make multis into a bunch of grapes (bunch of waypoints) and virtuals into binoculars (because you have to look at something).

 

There's more that can be done with such things. I've been meaning to add an entry in the icon table for micros.

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Robert; tried it out and I think I'm missing something. I am assuming that the GPX file sent in pocket queries has the geocaching type extensions, as Spinner seems to provide different icons based on type. So I trust the input is kosher. I'm using the GUI frontend.

 

I am making a magellan protocol output file with the waypoints and copying it to my SD card, but when I load the file on my Meriplat, I'm only seeing default icons for everything. What am I doing wrong?

 

Max

Often wrong but seldom in doubt

 

[This message was edited by embra on January 24, 2003 at 08:36 PM.]

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quote:
Originally posted by embra:

 

I am making a magellan protocol output file with the waypoints and copying it to my SD card, but when I load the file on my Meriplat, I'm only seeing default icons for everything. What am I doing wrong?


 

Are you using 1.1.0 or the beta I put up last week? On what OS? I just checked a sample GPX input I had here and spun it to a Magellan file; it definitely had the icon information. If you look in the generated file, do you see "ah" for virtuals and "an" for multis in the last field, right before the asterisk?

 

Since I personally geocache with a Magellan (albeit not a Meridian) and rely on the icon mappings while hunting, I have a great interest in understanding your problem. :-)

 

Follow-up to me privately or better yet, the gpsbabel-misc list, please, so as not to hijack this thread into a GPSBabel support discussion.

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All fixed now...I was using an incorrect input file and Robert spotted something in the code to tweak. So now I can run a pocket query GPX file through GPSBabel and get distinct icons for virtuals and multis.

 

If anyone with Garmin-geocache-icon envy would like a distinctive geocache icon for Magellans, I think he'll respond to some modest beseeching to add that capability to GPSBabel.

 

Thanks, Robert.

 

Max

Often wrong but seldom in doubt

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