My Finds Pocket Queries Question

[+acachebox]

I ran My Finds Pocket Query and it is not showing caches I logged last week. These caches show up on the map a smiles. What governs which one do show up? My Finds shows 678 and my home page shows 683 which is a good number. The difference is the 5 unlisted caches I found last week in Pa.

[+stone-cacher]

Hi... I got a similar problem. When I launch the "My Finds" PQ I get a notification, that it's ready for download. As it is to big to be attached to an email, I do not get the file with the notification. I assume, you get the GPX file with the notification email, isn't it? I can not find the GPX neither in the email (due) to the size nor in the list of available downloads at all. Do you see the PQ in the list of "Pocket Queries Ready For Download"?

[+acachebox]

Hi... I got a similar problem. When I launch the "My Finds" PQ I get a notification, that it's ready for download. As it is to big to be attached to an email, I do not get the file with the notification. I assume, you get the GPX file with the notification email, isn't it? I can not find the GPX neither in the email (due) to the size nor in the list of available downloads at all. Do you see the PQ in the list of "Pocket Queries Ready For Download"?

 

Yes the PQ is in the ready for download list and I did download and install it on my I Phone. The problem is it is just not including all the caches I have Found.

Groundspeak has the information because these caches show as found on the map ans in my cache history.

[+redwoodkestrel]

I ran My Finds Pocket Query and it is not showing caches I logged last week. These caches show up on the map a smiles. What governs which one do show up? My Finds shows 678 and my home page shows 683 which is a good number. The difference is the 5 unlisted caches I found last week in Pa.

 

When I look at your profile, it shows that you have found 684 caches (679 distinct). That means there are five caches that you have logged twice.

 

If the caches you found last week are showing up as smilies on the map, then they ARE being counted in your finds. You need to go back and find the 5 caches that you have logged twice (or it could be one cache that you logged 5 times... or any combination thereof).

[+acachebox]

I ran My Finds Pocket Query and it is not showing caches I logged last week. These caches show up on the map a smiles. What governs which one do show up? My Finds shows 678 and my home page shows 683 which is a good number. The difference is the 5 unlisted caches I found last week in Pa.

 

When I look at your profile, it shows that you have found 684 caches (679 distinct). That means there are five caches that you have logged twice.

 

If the caches you found last week are showing up as smilies on the map, then they ARE being counted in your finds. You need to go back and find the 5 caches that you have logged twice (or it could be one cache that you logged 5 times... or any combination thereof).

 

This is not the problem at hand. I found 5 caches last week and those 5 caches show up on my computer map with Smiles. However when I do a My Finds and load that to my Garmin those 5 caches at not noted has having been found when viewing the map on the Garmin. However 2 other caches that were found in the same area and on the same day do show up on the Garmin after running My Finds. It is the difference between the 2 maps that I question. I doubt that I could have coincidentally been missing 5 caches all along.

 

Yes I have double logged caches in the past but generally correct that the same day. Even so why are those 5 found last week not appearing in on my Garmin after loading My Finds?

[+redwoodkestrel]

Hmmm... I don't know why they don't show up as found in your Garmin - did you actually mark them as "found" in the Garmin when you found them? That might be the issue. I don't think the GPS unit uses the geocaching.com found list to know whether or not you found a cache - I'm pretty sure it is dependent on you actually marking the cache as "found" in the unit itself.

 

And, if you're interested, here are your 5 caches that you have logged twice:

GCPK3M

GC3V8KN

GC18ZHD

GC17FG4

GCZ10T

 

[+acachebox]

Hmmm... I don't know why they don't show up as found in your Garmin - did you actually mark them as "found" in the Garmin when you found them? That might be the issue. I don't think the GPS unit uses the geocaching.com found list to know whether or not you found a cache - I'm pretty sure it is dependent on you actually marking the cache as "found" in the unit itself.

 

And, if you're interested, here are your 5 caches that you have logged twice:

GCPK3M

GC3V8KN

GC18ZHD

GC17FG4

GCZ10T

 

 

Interesting point about the Garmin not recognizing the My Finds file. If that is the case what is the purpose of My Finds if it not to populate the GPS the same as other PQ do.

 

Yes the 2 caches that show on the GPS as found I did note directly on the GPS. My reasoning for doing a My Finds PQ was as a short cut to mark the other 5 and make sure all other finds were also noted on the GPS.

 

A second question. How did you find the 5 that were double logged? Yes I had found them, except for the one near Brussels, and want to go in and correct them.

[+stone-cacher]

A have an Etrex20 and it stores the "Founds" in a text file called "geocache_visits.txt" in the "GARMIN" folder.

 

Examples of entris in geocaches_visits.txt. Format: GC-Code, Date and time in UTC, Logtype, "Comment"

GC12345,2013-08-12T10:00Z,Didn't find it,"No time to search for a long time."

GCABCDE,2013-08-12T11:00Z,Found it,"Nice container"

GCXYZ00,2013-08-12T12:00Z,Found it,""

... the comment can be empty!

 

Only the caches listed in this file and having the logtype "Found it" are marked as "found" on the Garmin device.

This has nothing to do with the found status within the GPX file as far as I remember.

But to be honest: I've not made any tests to proof this theory of mine.

Sometimes I add caches to the "visits" file in order to get them shown as "found".

Normally I only upload cache I've not found to my GPSR.

By the way: This file can be uploaded to fill the "field notes" in your account if you are a premium member.

 

But why should I load GPX with founds onto my device? They just take an entry in the caches table which is limited to 2000 on the Etrex20

The "geocache_visits.txt" is a very small file. I've never removed entries from there since I've the Etrex20.

[+stone-cacher]

The "My finds" pocket query is good to be used in software systems like GSAK. It is not there to update the status on the GPSR. If you upload different GPX files to your device pay attention on the amount of cache entries you upload. Older Garmin devices only show the "first" 1000 they find. Newer ones have 2000 entries (or maybe more). But if you upload more than these limits the Garmin device will NOT load all of them.

I have no idea which ones he loads but he definitely does not load all of them. And the worst - from my point of view - is, that the Garmin device will not show any error message or warning. It just loads as many cache entries as it is supposed to load and then just ignores the rest. As I wrote: I have no idea which ones it loads and which ones it ignores

[+redwoodkestrel]

Hmmm... I don't know why they don't show up as found in your Garmin - did you actually mark them as "found" in the Garmin when you found them? That might be the issue. I don't think the GPS unit uses the geocaching.com found list to know whether or not you found a cache - I'm pretty sure it is dependent on you actually marking the cache as "found" in the unit itself.

 

And, if you're interested, here are your 5 caches that you have logged twice:

GCPK3M

GC3V8KN

GC18ZHD

GC17FG4

GCZ10T

 

 

Interesting point about the Garmin not recognizing the My Finds file. If that is the case what is the purpose of My Finds if it not to populate the GPS the same as other PQ do.

 

Yes the 2 caches that show on the GPS as found I did note directly on the GPS. My reasoning for doing a My Finds PQ was as a short cut to mark the other 5 and make sure all other finds were also noted on the GPS.

 

A second question. How did you find the 5 that were double logged? Yes I had found them, except for the one near Brussels, and want to go in and correct them.

 

As noted above, the GPS will keep a separate file of caches you have marked as "found." Unless you delete that "found" file, the ones you have marked as found will always be in the GPS unit - that way they don't get deleted when delete a GPX file out of the unit.

 

I usually use my "My Finds" PQ when I want to run stats in GSAK or search for something in particular in my found list (like if I'm trying to see if I qualify for a certain challenge). Or if I'm generating profile information in Mygeocachingprofile.com or a similar site.

 

You can find duplicate logs from any cacher using Project-GC.com's "find bad logs" feature: Find Bad Logs

[+acachebox]

 

But why should I load GPX with founds onto my device? They just take an entry in the caches table which is limited to 2000 on the Etrex20

The "geocache_visits.txt" is a very small file. I've never removed entries from there since I've the Etrex20.

 

My original reason to use My Finds on the Garmin was to hopefully remove them from the Search function and the map on the Garmin. To the contrary found caches, those I have noted directly on the Garmin, now show up on the map as twice a large as those that I have not found making the map a cluttered mess.

 

I guess my question still is What Is My Finds used for if it won't populate the Garmin with caches I have found.

[+stone-cacher]

 

But why should I load GPX with founds onto my device? They just take an entry in the caches table which is limited to 2000 on the Etrex20

The "geocache_visits.txt" is a very small file. I've never removed entries from there since I've the Etrex20.

 

My original reason to use My Finds on the Garmin was to hopefully remove them from the Search function and the map on the Garmin. To the contrary found caches, those I have noted directly on the Garmin, now show up on the map as twice a large as those that I have not found making the map a cluttered mess.

 

I guess my question still is What Is My Finds used for if it won't populate the Garmin with caches I have found.

 

You should not upload found caches to your Garmin. In that case the Geocaches_visits.txt will not mark any cache as found.

If a cache is marked as found it's shown as an open box which takes more place on the screen than the closed box of unfound caches.

So the best is to upload only GPX files with unfound caches regularly. Those you mark as found on the device will be shown as open boxen until you upload another GPX. If a cache is NOT in the GPX but in the geocaches_visits.txt it is NOT shown on the map! Only caches in the GPX are shown. Depending of an entry given in the visits file the symbol might be different for found and not found caches.

 

The My Finds query is NOT for the use in the GARMIN device as it obviously ignores the found status of the GPX file at all.

 

By the way: Found Caches are not shown in the choose box anymore if they are in the visits.txt file BUT they are shown on the device's map. As a rule: Caches in the GPX are shown on the map regardles of the found status. At least that's what I experience

[+redwoodkestrel]

 

But why should I load GPX with founds onto my device? They just take an entry in the caches table which is limited to 2000 on the Etrex20

The "geocache_visits.txt" is a very small file. I've never removed entries from there since I've the Etrex20.

 

My original reason to use My Finds on the Garmin was to hopefully remove them from the Search function and the map on the Garmin. To the contrary found caches, those I have noted directly on the Garmin, now show up on the map as twice a large as those that I have not found making the map a cluttered mess.

 

I guess my question still is What Is My Finds used for if it won't populate the Garmin with caches I have found.

 

If you want to remove the caches you've found, then I suppose you could delete the file that stone-cacher mentioned, then just make sure when you run subsequent pocket queries you ALWAYS select "I haven't found" - if you don't do that then they're going to show up as unfound caches in your GPS unit again.

 

Both stone-cacher and I above mentioned where we use the "My Finds" pocket query. GSAK is probably the most common reason.

[+acachebox]

 

You can find duplicate logs from any cacher using Project-GC.com's "find bad logs" feature: Find Bad Logs

 

I opened Project-GC.com but don't see any tab for "find bad logs"

[+redwoodkestrel]

 

You can find duplicate logs from any cacher using Project-GC.com's "find bad logs" feature: Find Bad Logs

 

I opened Project-GC.com but don't see any tab for "find bad logs"

 

Look at the "Profile" drop down menu at the top of the page. You also first need to authenticate Project-GC with geocaching.com - it should be a big blue box at the top of the page.

[+acachebox]

 

You can find duplicate logs from any cacher using Project-GC.com's "find bad logs" feature: Find Bad Logs

 

I opened Project-GC.com but don't see any tab for "find bad logs"

 

Look at the "Profile" drop down menu at the top of the page. You also first need to authenticate Project-GC with geocaching.com - it should be a big blue box at the top of the page.

 

Interesting. I found the Authorizations drop down and it is asking me to ALLOW OTHERS to access my records. What good is that since you clearly have already accessed my records? So much for security.

 

But I will click on allow so I can access my own records.

[+acachebox]

OK Let me see if I got this right. I have loaded My Finds on the Garmin to log all caches I found before I bought the Garmin. Doing this is this is using additional memory but does keep those caches from coming up when I do a search. I have to log all future finds directly to the Garmin thus making a smaller use on memory.

 

I think I have to accept the fact that I will never know what happened to the 5 caches I found last week with respect to My Finds.

Edited August 13, 2013 by acachebox

[+stone-cacher]

OK Let me see if I got this right. I have loaded My Finds on the Garmin to log all caches I found before I bought the Garmin. Doing this is this is using additional memory but does keep those caches from coming up when I do a search.

 

NO, uploading the "My Finds" GPX will show all those caches as "none found" as long as they are not present in the visits.txt file. They will be in the search and they will behave as all other "non found" caches in any GPX file you have on your Garmin.

 

I have to log all future finds directly to the Garmin thus making a smaller use on memory.

 

NO, the logging on the Garmin just creates an entry in the visits.txt file. With this the cache will be shown as "found" on your device and it will not appear in the search anymore. The use in memory is the same as before plus the entry in the visits.txt. So, if you really count bytes, it is more than before you marked it "found" on the device because of the entry in the visits file.

 

I think I have to accept the fact that I will never know what happened to the 5 caches I found last week with respect to My Finds.

 

Those five caches should be in your "My Finds" GPX file if they are a smilie on the GS map. Check it!

 

Those five caches will be shown as "found" on your Garmin device if there is an entry in the Geocaches_visits.txt file which you created if you logged the cache as found on the Garmin device. If there is no entry in the Geocaches_visits.txt file the caches will be shown as "not found".

 

If you upload your "My Finds" GPX to the Garmin and if you have not marked them as "found" on the Garmin, they will be shown on it as any other cache of any other GPX file as a "Non found" cache. They will be shown in the search list and that's it, because for the Garmin they have "not been found" as long as there is no entry in the visits.txt file.

 

The only way to be marked as "found" on the Garmin device is the entry in the visits.txt file. You can try to enter a new line in your visits.txt file on the Garmin with the type "Found" (see my examples earlier in the thread). After saving it, the caches should be shown as found and they will not be shown in the search list anymore after you restart the device.

ATTENTION: Do not forget to save the modified file and do not forget to remove the device with the related options of your operationg systems. Do not just plug out the Garmin because this can lead to corrupted data!

 

If you want to reduce memory usage on your device you have to upload GPX files WITHOUT caches you alread found. You do not have to remove the entries in the visits.txt file as they are just skipped if they do not belong to a cache in the GPX file.

 

I hope it's clearer now.

[+Kacher82]

I don't agree with those that say the only way for a cache to show as "found" on a Garmin Etrex is to mark it as "found" on the unit. I just got an Etrex, and uploaded a GPX of my local GSAK database, which has all caches in the area, found and unfound. If I go to the "show found" menu option, it shows all the caches that I have found in the past, that were marked as "found" in GSAK. My "visits.txt" file is erased every time I import into GSAK.

[+acachebox]

OK Let me see if I got this right. I have loaded My Finds on the Garmin to log all caches I found before I bought the Garmin. Doing this is this is using additional memory but does keep those caches from coming up when I do a search.

 

NO, uploading the "My Finds" GPX will show all those caches as "none found" as long as they are not present in the visits.txt file. They will be in the search and they will behave as all other "non found" caches in any GPX file you have on your Garmin.

 

I have to log all future finds directly to the Garmin thus making a smaller use on memory.

 

NO, the logging on the Garmin just creates an entry in the visits.txt file. With this the cache will be shown as "found" on your device and it will not appear in the search anymore. The use in memory is the same as before plus the entry in the visits.txt. So, if you really count bytes, it is more than before you marked it "found" on the device because of the entry in the visits file.

 

I think I have to accept the fact that I will never know what happened to the 5 caches I found last week with respect to My Finds.

 

Those five caches should be in your "My Finds" GPX file if they are a smilie on the GS map. Check it!

 

Those five caches will be shown as "found" on your Garmin device if there is an entry in the Geocaches_visits.txt file which you created if you logged the cache as found on the Garmin device. If there is no entry in the Geocaches_visits.txt file the caches will be shown as "not found".

 

If you upload your "My Finds" GPX to the Garmin and if you have not marked them as "found" on the Garmin, they will be shown on it as any other cache of any other GPX file as a "Non found" cache. They will be shown in the search list and that's it, because for the Garmin they have "not been found" as long as there is no entry in the visits.txt file.

 

The only way to be marked as "found" on the Garmin device is the entry in the visits.txt file. You can try to enter a new line in your visits.txt file on the Garmin with the type "Found" (see my examples earlier in the thread). After saving it, the caches should be shown as found and they will not be shown in the search list anymore after you restart the device.

ATTENTION: Do not forget to save the modified file and do not forget to remove the device with the related options of your operationg systems. Do not just plug out the Garmin because this can lead to corrupted data!

 

If you want to reduce memory usage on your device you have to upload GPX files WITHOUT caches you alread found. You do not have to remove the entries in the visits.txt file as they are just skipped if they do not belong to a cache in the GPX file.

 

I hope it's clearer now.

 

I am sorry. This is getting worse rather than better. I can't determine what "none and non" means and the introduction of a new "visits.txt file is just too much. What and where is that file?

 

All I wanted to know was why some 500 caches that I found before I bought the Garmin now show as found on the Garmin and why the 5 caches I found last week do not.

 

That information, the 500, came from somewhere. Where I don't know. Where ever it came from it is not bringing those last 5 to the Garmin.

[+acachebox]

I don't agree with those that say the only way for a cache to show as "found" on a Garmin Etrex is to mark it as "found" on the unit. I just got an Etrex, and uploaded a GPX of my local GSAK database, which has all caches in the area, found and unfound. If I go to the "show found" menu option, it shows all the caches that I have found in the past, that were marked as "found" in GSAK. My "visits.txt" file is erased every time I import into GSAK.

 

I accept you are trying to help but please don't bring GSAK into this discussion. I do not have that software and it has never been used on my unit.

I am only interested in why some caches I found before I bought my Garmin 450 got listed on that unit as found and why those I just found have not.

[+TomToad]

I don't have a Garmin 450, but if it is working like some others I know, I think I know what might be happening. When you turn on the Garmin, it begins to load the .GPX files into the unit from oldest to newest. If a newer .GPX file has a cache already loaded from an older .GPX file, then only the listing from the older .GPX will be seen. So it goes like this:

 

Do some caching

Buy Garmin GPSr

Do pocket query and save as TownPQ.GPX

transfer TownPQ.GPX to Garmin

Do some caching

Do MyFinds Pocket Query

Transfer MyFinds.GPX to Garmin

 

^^^ Here we have a problem. Not all the caches will be seen from the MyFinds.GPX because the caches still exist in the TownPQ.GPX. Some from the MyFinds will show up since the TownPQ probably doesn't contain all the caches you found (some are archived, some are outside the radius defined in the PQ, etc...). Also, any caches that you found before doing the TownPQ.GPX pocket query will show up since they are marked as found in TownPQ.

 

The proper way to do this would be to regenerate the TownPQ pocket query so you get a new one with all the new caches marked as found (or simply click the "have not found" check box to remove found caches from the pocket query completely). Then delete the PQ from the Garmin and transfer the new, updated one. Not only do you get the correct ones showing up as found, but you also get the other caches updated properly (some may be disabled, archived, moved, etc... since you first ran the pocket query)

[+acachebox]

I don't have a Garmin 450, but if it is working like some others I know, I think I know what might be happening. When you turn on the Garmin, it begins to load the .GPX files into the unit from oldest to newest. If a newer .GPX file has a cache already loaded from an older .GPX file, then only the listing from the older .GPX will be seen. So it goes like this:

 

Do some caching

Buy Garmin GPSr

Do pocket query and save as TownPQ.GPX

transfer TownPQ.GPX to Garmin

Do some caching

Do MyFinds Pocket Query

Transfer MyFinds.GPX to Garmin

 

^^^ Here we have a problem. Not all the caches will be seen from the MyFinds.GPX because the caches still exist in the TownPQ.GPX. Some from the MyFinds will show up since the TownPQ probably doesn't contain all the caches you found (some are archived, some are outside the radius defined in the PQ, etc...). Also, any caches that you found before doing the TownPQ.GPX pocket query will show up since they are marked as found in TownPQ.

 

The proper way to do this would be to regenerate the TownPQ pocket query so you get a new one with all the new caches marked as found (or simply click the "have not found" check box to remove found caches from the pocket query completely). Then delete the PQ from the Garmin and transfer the new, updated one. Not only do you get the correct ones showing up as found, but you also get the other caches updated properly (some may be disabled, archived, moved, etc... since you first ran the pocket query)

 

OK THAT WORKS

 

I removed a PQ and the My Finds files from my Garmin and checked that it was in fact removed. I them loaded a new version of the PQ covering that area. The Finds are gone and the map much clearer in that those that I had found no longer clutter the map. It would be great if Geospeak would explain that PQ are cumulative and suggest removing the old file before loading a newer version to clear archived and other things that clutter this up.

 

I think I now have a handle on it. Remove old first then load newer and never load My Finds to a hand held unit.

 

Thank You

[+stone-cacher]

When you turn on the Garmin, it begins to load the .GPX files into the unit from oldest to newest. If a newer .GPX file has a cache already loaded from an older .GPX file, then only the listing from the older .GPX will be seen.

 

That's good to know. I was not aware of the sequence of loading the GPX files. This explains the "strange" behaviour. I did not face this problem so far, as I always overwrite the GPX on the Garmin and I usually only have one stored on it.

 

But is it only the age or also the place where the GPX is stored? I can store my files on the internal memory or on the memory card in my Etrex20. I know that GPX from both locations are loaded, but does the Garmin device check both places and then load them in timely order or does it first load from one place (ordered by time) and then load from the other?