Custom Search

1.4k · January 4, 2003

#4 has been a wishlist item for me as well. I would love to be able to check a set of caches and save them only to a new GPX file.

#5 as well, eliminating any duplicates that may exist.

Outside of this, my only wish is that it would just upload the points to my GPS too Being able to save a selected set of caches to their own GPX file for upload via EasyGPS or whatever would be just about as good.

--------

trippy1976 - Team KKF2A

Saving geocaches - one golf ball at a time.

January 5, 2003

ClayJar,

I'll volunteer my services for helping with a PPC version. The only caveat is that I have moved all of my development to .NET and so I would be using the SDE tools for developing it.

I've been thinking about doing something similiar to a combination of Wathcher and Geocaching DB for the PPC platform. So far the only thing holding me back is that I've only been into geocaching for a week now and I figure that I need a little experience to determine what functionality I need to implement.

January 7, 2003

Okay, so I'm a bit slower with NFL playoffs and work, but I had to get something out, so here you are. You can't merge or export GPX files yet, but I added a few things to get something out.

New features of Watcher 0.1.16 include recognizing (and having icons for) "Archive (show)" and "Archive (no show)" log types, full-text searching (which can also find bugs), and a few little details.

(I've figured out how to do the merges and such, so I should be able to get 0.1.17 out soon, but in the meantime, I'm still alive, and have fun.)

January 8, 2003

Okay, the finishing (heh) touches have been added to the next release. Watcher 0.1.17 is out now and features the ability to merge additional GPX files into your displayed list. (And it automatically filters duplicates, too.)

Get it at the usual place.

January 8, 2003

Okay, so it's been a productive evening, thanks to Enterprise, Junkyard Wars, and the like. (You know what they say about a happy programmer being a productive programmer.) Anyway, another oft-requested feature is now available...

Watcher 0.1.18 can now export the list of caches from the main screen to a lovely fresh, filtered GPX file. So, combined with #17's new features, #18 will now let you merge all your GPX files, filter out the locationlesses, virts, webcams, and events, and save the resulting cache list as your very own filtered GPX file. Have fun!

Get it from the usual spot.

Incidentally... EasyGPS has a bug in it (up through the current 1.2.2 beta) that prevents it from displaying valid GPX files exported from Watcher. Until they release a fixed version, you can workaround this by opening the GPX in Wordpad and replacing all "/>" with " />" (note the space). Hopefully the TopoGrafix people will have that fixed shortly.

[This message was edited by ClayJar on January 08, 2003 at 08:17 PM.]

1.6k · January 9, 2003

Okay, what am I doing wrong. I downloadd the newer version, but when I go to open a file it just says "Loading." It doesn't apear to be hung up as I can click on other things, like the filters, and it opens. It just never displays the caches!

~confused~

CR

[EDIT: Never mind. I rebooted and made sure the GPX file I was using was fresh and unadulterated. Works now.]

January 9, 2003

CJ, everything is working just fine... no issues discovered yet. cant wait for it to get better and better. thanks for the hard work

SR and dboggny.

January 9, 2003

Well, you can now hide the logs if you're planning on printing a cache page from Watcher, but far more useful is the lovely new pair of filters...

Watcher-0.1.19 is out and includes the ability to hide all the caches your GPX says you found, or even to only display the caches your GPX says you've found. (Hehe, symmetry... Zathras would be proud.)

Oh, and if you think the usual site has the download, you're right.

January 15, 2003

Hi ClayJar,

Your Watcher looks great!

Is it possible that you add a commandline pasing function in in Watcher?

What I am looking for is a way to load a GPX file directly from another application using a commandline command (eg "Watcher.exe 4711.gpx").

Thanks for all your effort!

BigBird

-- there is no spoon --

January 18, 2003

Well, it's been an interesting week, but I've finally gotten around to slinging some more code. This time it's mostly a bug-fixing release, but with a few improvements, too. Watcher 0.1.20 has the following changes (among others I've forgotten):

Merges work correctly. (One missing "l" is all it takes to mess things up.)

Window positions save correctly. (I.e. not while the window is minimized or maximized.)

Cancel in filters window works now. (It no longer wipes out your filters.)

Filters are persistent. (If you don't ever want to see locationless again, you only need to say that once.)

New "clear all filters" button. (So if you decide you actually *do* love locationless, virts, and webcams, you can get it all back in one fell swoop.)

Simple command line parsing. (You can specify one filename on the command line; it's not a complete feature or anything, but it works well enough for the time being.)

And of course, you can get Watcher 0.1.20 (or the latest version) at the usual place.

January 20, 2003

Hi ClayJar,

Thanks for the parserfunction!

One question: why is Watcher trying to access the internet at startup? (to IP 127.0.0.1 Port: 33xx, where xx is changing).

Is this an intended- or a viral-function?

BigBird

-- there is no spoon --

January 20, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by BigBirdNL:
One question: why is Watcher trying to access the internet at startup? (to IP 127.0.0.1 Port: 33xx, where xx is changing).

Is this an intended- or a viral-function?

Watcher is built with various Internet Explorer components, and so, anything that the IE web browser would do (or the MSXML library does) will show up in Watcher.

January 20, 2003

Well, there. Nothing like a good day off's work to finish up a nice spot of coding. Thanks to a bit of grunt work, I can now proudly announce Watcher 0.1.21 is ready (or not, but here it comes).

The feature list is short, but at least it's a nice list. Watcher now features found and ignore lists, and they apparently even work. (The lists are stored in a simple XML file in the directory from which you run Watcher.) Anyway, it should be working, so try it out and post comments here or in the geocaching chat.

Download it from the usual site.

January 20, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by BigBirdNL:
One question: why is Watcher trying to access the internet at startup? (to IP 127.0.0.1 Port: 33xx, where xx is changing).

I just thought I'd add that whatever the components are doing, they're not reaching out to the Internet. The 127.0.0.1 address is a reserved address that points to your own machine and nowhere else. So while this behavior is odd, there's no security/privacy issue to worry about.

-Elias

January 21, 2003

Well, for once I'm proud to announce that, thanks to a full afternoon and evening of coding, Watcher can now do even *less* than before!

The one new feature in Watcher-0.1.22 is (finally) the ability to select which columns to display. So, if you don't give a hoot when a cache was last found or last not found, you can turn those off to save space. Every column is hideable, but of course, you have to have at least *one* there, or it'd be hard to list the caches. (This feature was a prerequisite of several requested features, so chances are I'll have to work some more this week... and I was planning on sleeping and stuff!)

Oh, you can go download the latest version from the usual area.

January 22, 2003

Well, if you thought that last night's update was neat because you can turn off columns, you'll *love* tonight's. Now you can turn off a BOATLOAD of columns!

New features in Watcher 0.1.23 are... well... there are columns for hider (the placed_by nickname and the hider's geocaching.com name), coordinates, cache size, hidden date,... you get the point. (Oh, and you can sort by hider(s), sizes, hidden dates, and so on.)

Get it at the usual spot.

January 23, 2003

Got to run it for the first time last night. Really nice! Normally I don't read the descriptions or logs but I will be able to now that I can carry em with. Thanks Clay!

When GPSr's are outlawed, only Outlaws will have GPSr's.

January 23, 2003

Well, one last update before I rip Watcher's internals out and do a major retrofit, so why not make it a good one. (I hope I can finish the rewrite in short order, but it is quite extensive.)

Watcher 0.1.24 features the ability to filter by cache container (i.e. "size"). If you want to find all those urban micros, you now can. (If you don't, well, you can turn them *off* now.) Several small bugs (both important and unimportant) were also fixed.

Get it at the usual site.

January 24, 2003

Well, Watcher 0.1.25 is out now. It's got a good number of changes in the core code, but more importantly, it's got a nice new addition to the dates...

If you hover over any date, you'll now see a tooltip with the years, days, and months since that date. (So, if the cache was last found a year, nine months, and two days ago, and you mouseover the date, it'll say "1 year, 9 months, and 2 days ago.")

Get it at the usual spot.

January 25, 2003

Well, here we go again. One more version before the Superbowl. This one covers one of the vintage suggestion box items for Watcher. See, I didn't forget after all.

New in Watcher 0.1.26 is a "marked" or "watch" list. You can now flag the caches that you want to hunt in the future, or you can keep a list of the caches you want to keep in your PDA and just load, filter, and export your new GPX files with the same list. Also, you can now mark caches as found/ignored/marked on the main cache list page.

Anyway, go get it at the usual place.

January 25, 2003

Well, by the time I got to Watcher 0.1.26, it was overdue for a bit of tweaking. Well, I did a bit of tweaking (and a few bugfixes (and a little updating)) and a new, faster version is here now.

Get Watcher 0.1.27 at the usual spot.

(Incidentally, it's up to .27b right now. I *think* that takes care of that "(showing 0 of ___ caches)" bug... sorry about that.)

[This message was edited by ClayJar on January 26, 2003 at 06:48 AM.]

January 27, 2003

I road tested this weekend and really liked having the info at hand. Only thing I'd like to see added is another column for sorting on direction. Like being able to see all the caches North or NW of the center coords.

Keep up the good work!

When GPSr's are outlawed, only Outlaws will have GPSr's.

January 27, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Ozarktroutbum:
I road tested this weekend and really liked having the info at hand. Only thing I'd like to see added is another column for sorting on direction. Like being able to see all the caches North or NW of the center coords.

Actually, brdad (the official Watcher tester, bug lister, and feature requester) has had compass directions on the wish list for quite some time. So long, in fact, that a "filter by direction" feature is next on the list of features to be added.

(As for *sorting* by direction, I can't think of an algorithm for a direction/distance sort that would give logical sort results, which is why I'm implementing a direction *filter* instead of a direction *sort*. I've got a few ideas floating around in my head, though, and if any of them actually yield a logical direction sort, I may add it yet.)

8.9k · January 27, 2003

There are calculations out there that incorporate finding an initial bearing based on two sets of coordinates. I've got one built into my Access Database. They are lengthy, but can be done. They can be found here.

Once you get an initial bearing, you can either sort by that (0 - 359) or group them with a logical statement:

North: between 345° and 360° or between 0° and 15°

North-Northeast: between 15° and 30°

Northeast: between 30° and 60°

East-Northeast: between 60° and 75°

East: between 75° and 105°

East-Southeast: between 105° and 120°

Southeast: between 120° and 150°

South-Southeast: between 150° and 165°

South: between 165° and 195°

South-Southwest: between 195° and 210°

Southwest: between 210° and 240°

West-Southwest: between 240° and 255°

West: between 255° and 285°

West-Northwest: between 285° and 300°

Northwest: between 300° and 330°

North-Northwest: between 330° and 345°

Since EasyGPS can do it with no problems, I would think the coding-god ClayJar shouldn't have any problem.

Now that I've given you this help, will you work on the export feature?

Markwell

Chicago Geocaching

January 27, 2003

Actually, I already have the initial bearing calculation (it's how I find the direction for the distance-and-direction column). What I *don't* have is a good way of sorting by direction/distance.

Good is defined, in my mind at least, as an algorithm that sorts based on direction first and distance as a secondary characteristic in such a way as to keep caches that are near each other in the physical world near each other in the sorted list. Anyway, I'll have the filter by directions in there soon.

IN OTHER NEWS: Watcher 0.1.27d ('D' is for 'Dummy') is now up. Seems in all the optimisations, I forgot to initialize one variable. Um, sorry?

January 27, 2003

Well, while I was finishing the fight against the giant oopsbug, I got Nocturnal to try out the real fix once it occurred to me. Well, it worked, and a couple more suggestions came up before the conversation was over. A bit of coding later and it's time for the next release.

New features in Watcher 0.1.28 include a state and/or country column (so you can sort by states and countries), the ability to change from miles to kilometers (and back, if you'd like), and just to have some place to choose your units, Watcher now has a real-life menu bar.

Grab the latest version at the usual spot.

February 3, 2003

Well, since I'm still waiting for a reply (*any* reply) to the GPX thread (and so, I can't add the critically important merge code), I did a quick update in the meantime. (Admin people, are you there?.)

Watcher 0.1.29 features a new "waypoint name" column for all you who mangle your GPX files' waypoint name. Also, you can now select multiple files to merge in the open/merge dialogs. Finally, the distance filter now uses kilometers if you're using kilometers as your distance units.

Get it at the usual waiting area.

February 3, 2003

Well, another little addition while I wait (and a couple little bugs fixed). You can now filter by the eight compass directions (no, there's no ENE, you'll have to settle for E and NE separately). A bug in the name sort and a bug in the directory remembering were also fixed.

Get it at the usual site.

February 4, 2003

Now thats COOL. Its great being able to sort on the direction that I'll be heading.

Thanks Clay!

When GPSr's are outlawed, only Outlaws will have GPSr's.

February 13, 2003

Well, if anyone's watching (er, sorry) this thread, I just figured I'd let you know that I'm still waiting on "exported" in the Groundspeak cache namespace so the smart merge code can be released. I've continued coding at about the standard pace, but it just hasn't been releasable because that change is still tied up somewhere. As soon as I can legitimately release 0.1.31, I will, and it should have enough new things to make it worth the wait.

February 26, 2003

Well, thanks to unanimous consent among GPX developers, the logjam was declared cleared and Watcher 0.1.31 can finally be released. New features in Watcher 0.1.31 include (but are in no way limited to) the following:

Smart merging: Always use the most recent cache details.
Coordinate limits: You can set N/S/E/W boundaries to filter on.
Special filters: Filter by hiders, states, or even countries.
Advanced sorting: You can sort by whatever in whatever order.
WYSIWYG saving: The order you see on the list is the order it saves.

Well, you get the point... I could go on, or you can just go get it at the usual site.

March 3, 2003

Is there a way to download coords & waypoints to GPSr via Watcher?

kc

row, row, row your boat

March 3, 2003

For now you can use GPSBabel to convert your GPX files (from PQs or Watcher) into a format that you can load into other software (and GPSBabel will even upload directly, with the right settings). You can also use EasyGPS to open the GPX files and upload the coordinates to your GPS receiver. (There is work in progress to make a user friendly interface from Watcher directly through GPSBabel to whatever output, but it won't be done too soon.)

Watcher Downloads - Official Geocaching Chat

1.7k · March 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by ClayJar:
For now you can use http://gpsbabel.sourceforge.net/ to convert your GPX files (from PQs or Watcher) into a format that you can load into other software.

Including, for those of you who are sick of search-and-replace, converting the (legal) XML exported from Watcher into something that EasyGPS can read.

March 4, 2003

Thanks for making this program. I just finished putting togeter a list of 130 caches near the interstate using your program. I'm going to see my parents next month in SC while I'm in VA.

Suggested by The Leprechauns (http://opentopic.Groundspeak.com/0/OpenTopic?q=Y&s=1750973553&a=tpc&m=4730943455&f=3000917383):I just set up some pocket queries around four towns on the way. Then used the coord limits filter to just get the ones around the interstate. It took a little work but it wasn't nearly as hard as going through each one. I have downloaded the list to my GPS and will always have a list of caches along the way.

Thanks a heap!!

kc

row, row, row your boat

March 6, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by ClayJar:
For now you can use http://gpsbabel.sourceforge.net/ to convert your GPX files (from PQs or Watcher) into a format that you can load into other software (and GPSBabel will even upload directly, with the right settings). You can also use EasyGPS to open the GPX files and upload the coordinates to your GPS receiver. (There is work in progress to make a user friendly interface from Watcher directly through GPSBabel to whatever output, but it won't be done too soon.)

I made CacheMaps to give easy access to any application and map you need for geocaching.

It is still in beta, but already very helpfull in connecting waypoints to apps and online maps.

It uses GPSBabel for conversions. It connects to Watcher for it's great additional functionality. It connects to a bunch of possible other applications. It can show about 15 online maps for your waypoints.

BigBird

-- there is no spoon --

March 27, 2003

Well, after some of the busiest, least pleasant, and most downright exhausting weeks in recent memory, I managed to get some work done tonight (after eating, watching some anime, and falling asleep in place for a few hours).

Watcher 0.1.32 is mainly bugfixes to a few things that you may or may not have encountered in 0.1.31. (And "Set as center" has been added to the cache context menu, so you can set a center cache from the main page now.) Oh, and by the way, it shouldn't be this long between releases; life merely conspired against me this time.

Get it at the usual place.

[Watcher Downloads] - [Official Geocaching Chat]

April 5, 2003

Watcher 0.1.33 (Crashin' Trashouts, Batman!)

Watcher 0.1.33 fixed several bugs of the small to medium variety and had one rather important feature addition: CITO caches! (They won't show up in 0.1.32 or earlier.)

Get it at the usual place.

[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]

Home of Watcher downloads, Official Geocaching Chat, and the Geocache Rating System

April 5, 2003

I grabbed Watcher 0.1.33 this evening and in about 30 seconds said WOW! What a great feature set, and very, very easy to use. I especially like the fact that it's released as freeware. Great tool.

I also took a look at CacheMaps and simply found it simply indecipherable, it took me 15 minutes to figure out where to even begin. It doesn't behave well without a bunch of helper apps, pretty much everything I clicked on gave me cryptic errors rather than anything like 'real' help saying "hey, you need to download this helper app" or (better yet) greying out the selection if there's no associated helper app. Biggest problem I have with CacheMaps is that it has a 50-cache limit unless you pay $$$ for it. I'm fine with paying money for a nice product when it makes sense to me, but I wouldn't call its current state anything close to paying money for (although it's a pretty creative application of Excel to say the least).

April 24, 2003

Watcher 0.1.34 (And you were there, and you were *there*...)

Watcher 0.1.34 includes a few long-awaited features. First, you can now save as many different center coordinates as you'd like (so if you spend the weekends at your summer home, it's no problem). Of course, that's not all that's new: profiles are now also supported. You can save all the sort orders, column settings, and filters as a profile, and then load that to go back to those settings. (So, if you like hunting micros at work and high-terrain caches at your hunting lodge, you can save those as profiles now.)

A few bugs were also fixed. (There's nothing like an evening of calm between vacation and business trip, eh?) Enjoy.

Get it at the usual site.

[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]

Home of Watcher downloads, Official Geocaching Chat, and the Geocache Rating System

9.1k · April 24, 2003

Summer homes? Hunting Lodges? I wonder how full ClayJar's tip jar is getting. (If so, it's well deserved!) Me, I had to sell my summer home and my hunting lodge so I could buy more ammo cans.

I am already having fun saving my home, my office and a distant event cache as "centerpoints", and I've created separate profiles for caches I'd like to hunt on my own, and those that my daughter would enjoy with me (within 75 miles of home, limit 3/3 difficulty, etc.) I also plan on using the "rectangle" feature to find caches along the route I'll be taking to get to the event cache on the other side of the state.

Thanks as always, CJ, for adding new features to Watcher and for responding to users' requests.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Some mornings, it just doesn't pay to chew through the leather straps. - Emo Phillips

April 25, 2003

Brilliant software - certianly makes caching more enjoyable!

Thank you ClayJar!

There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home. - Ken Olsen, President, Digital Equipment, 1977

April 26, 2003

Watcher 0.1.35 (Now easier for multiple personalities!)

One little bug involving saving GPX files after saving profiles was fixed, and now you can import caches from .loc files into your found lists (added by request so that families with multiple accounts can download .loc files of each of their finds from geocaching.com and import them into one found list in Watcher).

Get it at the usual site.

[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]

Home of Watcher downloads, Official Geocaching Chat, and the Geocache Rating System

May 8, 2003

Watcher 0.1.36 (LaPaglia's Challenge)

Well, I got back from the Chicago area and was catching up on feature requests before the official chat Monday, and LaPaglia mentioned his favorite feature request again... as I had no coding planned for pre-chat Monday, I figured I'd just experiment a little. Well, now there is a stationary header at the top of the window, so even when you scroll, you know what you're looking at (and you can sort). Another addition in 0.1.36 is automatic upgrade notification. If you'd like, Watcher can tell you when a new version is available. You can also tell it to check manually (in either case, the only thing sent is the current Watcher version you're running; feel free to check if you wish). In the list edit window, you can now import multiple files at a time. Also, several bugs in profiles and center positions were fixed, and you can now change the center without changing the sort order (so you can see how far a cache is from home and work while you have the list sorted by difficulty, for example).

Get it at the usual site.

[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]

Home of Watcher downloads, Official Geocaching Chat, and the Geocache Rating System

August 2, 2003

Watcher 0.1.37 (The BruceS Signature Edition)

Over 20,000 miles from the last update, and almost three months later, Watcher finally has come back to public life! Watcher 0.1.37 adds in a few oft-requested features for your geocaching pleasure.

First: You can now keep notes about caches inside Watcher. If you want to keep the first half of that partially completely multi-cache hunt you started, you can tag it onto the cache right in Watcher. Whenever you load a GPX with that cache in it, your notes are automatically loaded and ready, and when you save a GPX, Watcher adds a log from itself ("WatcherGPX") with tomorrow's date and your notes. (Perfect for those of you using PDAs with your GPXes, Plucker, gpx2html, or whatever.)

Feature number two: "Offline Mode" for those of you who use Watcher on laptops while not connected to the Internet. It makes an attempt to cut off all externally-loading graphics, and it disables the Watcher links to Geocaching.com. Perfect for the cacher on the go.

And finally, the final feature: Yes, you may now filter by the little smiley faces.

Get Watcher 0.1.37 at the (somewhat dusty but no longer stagnant) usual place.

[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]

Home of Watcher downloads, Official Geocaching Chat, and the Geocache Rating System

August 3, 2003

Watcher 0.1.38 (brdad *finally* gets his feature)

Okay, so there was a little bug in the cache notes. That should be fixed... and... um... sorry? Anyway, there's also a little cache stats window for you, just in case you want to know about the breakdown of the cache list you're looking at.

Get it at the usual site.

[[[ ClayJar Networks ]]]

Home of Watcher downloads, Official Geocaching Chat, and the Geocache Rating System

August 3, 2003

Love the new features, but along with them we got a new bug - at least I am experiencing it.

When you click on the waypoint, it used to take you to the GC site for that cache - now it just sits there - does not open a new browser window and does not use an existing window if one if open. The link does change color as though you clicked-through and went to the site though.

/cw

aka : Chris Williams

Caching in the North Bay and beyond...

sonomarin.net

1k · August 3, 2003

Quetzalteco, make sure "Work Offline" is not checked under the Options menu, since that is just what offline mode is supposed to do.

Love them stats!

There are a lot of judgemental people in the world, and I think all those people are worthless dirtballs.

August 3, 2003

Yes, I thought of this before I sent the first message. The link does not work for me with the "Work Offline" option checked or unchecked.

/cw

aka : Chris Williams

Caching in the North Bay and beyond...

sonomarin.net

August 3, 2003

Clay Jar--

Wonderful software! I'm relatively new to the whole game of geocaching, but even this rank amateur can see the limitless value of this tool! Good stuff. I'm already busy massaging a list for the locations around my home, planning trips and efficient outings...

One question about filtering on compass direction. When I activate a filter for a particular direction the resulting list has records in it that show directions in the distance field that weren't included in the filter. Example: Suppose I request a filter for only Southward caches. Some of the records in the filtered list show locations that are North and Northwest of my center.

What am I missing here?

Q!

Custom Search

Recommended Posts

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment