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Emojis in Cache Names


TriciaG

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I recently had a new cache notification for this cache: http://coord.info/GC6ATVE

 

It's got a maple leaf in the cache name! Two questions - or maybe three:

 

(1) How do these display on GPSr devices? They work fine on my smartphone, of course.

 

(2) Is there any good reason NOT to use them?

 

(3) For those of us emoji-ignorant, how does one put them in their cache listing (or use them at all!) in a regular browser?

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Mileage may vary. On my desktop Linux PC, I see a Unicode box (a rectangle with four six tiny digits inside). Not sure what you'll see here:

Highschool High ��

Yet I have a cache listing of my own with a wonky character (a splat) that displays fine. Go figure. Guess it depends on where you are in the Unicode alphabet.

PS, the splat shows up in some places, doesn't show up at all in others. Harmless. I'm guessing emojis will be more troublesome, because they're newer and therefore less systems would support them.

Edited by Viajero Perdido
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Mileage may vary. On my desktop Linux PC, I see a Unicode box (a rectangle with four six tiny digits inside). Not sure what you'll see here:

Highschool High ��

Yet I have a cache listing of my own with a wonky character (a splat) that displays fine. Go figure. Guess it depends on where you are in the Unicode alphabet.

PS, the splat shows up in some places, doesn't show up at all in others. Harmless. I'm guessing emojis will be more troublesome, because they're newer and therefore less systems would support them.

 

How does someone that includes an emoji in their user name sign a logsheet.

 

If you meet someone at an event do you say?

 

"I am U+2603 cacher. How many finds do you have?"

 

U+2603 is the unicode sequence for a snowman emoji and would look like this.

 

☃ geocacher

 

 

 

 

Edited by NYPaddleCacher
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On my desktop, looked at the link you provided. I see the text Highschool High followed by a rectangle. I was going to say that it seems silly to use these things but had to stop and realize that i'm now in the minority when it comes to devices used for geocaching. Because i prefer using my desktop, i'll probably never see emojis when used. Thing is, i don't care! :lol:

Edited by Mudfrog
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On my desktop, looked at the link you provided. I see the text Highschool High followed by a rectangle. I was going to say that it seems silly to use these things but had to stop and realize that i'm now in the minority when it comes to devices used for geocaching. Because i prefer using my desktop, i'll probably never see emojis when used. Thing is, i don't care! :lol:

 

I clicked on the link and am only seeing Highschool High without an emoji or a rectangle. That's when viewing the page using Chrome.

 

If I bring up the page in Safari or Firefox I see the emoji.

 

I also downloaded the GPX file and when I looked at it in a text editor (vim) I can see the emoji.

 

All of that was done on a Macbook so even sticking with a desktop environment won't let you hide from emoji's.

 

 

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On my desktop, looked at the link you provided. I see the text Highschool High followed by a rectangle. I was going to say that it seems silly to use these things but had to stop and realize that i'm now in the minority when it comes to devices used for geocaching. Because i prefer using my desktop, i'll probably never see emojis when used. Thing is, i don't care! :lol:

 

I clicked on the link and am only seeing Highschool High without an emoji or a rectangle. That's when viewing the page using Chrome.

 

If I bring up the page in Safari or Firefox I see the emoji.

 

I also downloaded the GPX file and when I looked at it in a text editor (vim) I can see the emoji.

 

All of that was done on a Macbook so even sticking with a desktop environment won't let you hide from emoji's.

Not trying to hide from them of course, it's just that i don't care if they show or not. By the way, i just tried viewing the page with Firefox and it shows a bit differently than with Explorer. This time, i see a rectangle with the numbers 01F342 inside it.

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On my desktop, looked at the link you provided. I see the text Highschool High followed by a rectangle. I was going to say that it seems silly to use these things but had to stop and realize that i'm now in the minority when it comes to devices used for geocaching. Because i prefer using my desktop, i'll probably never see emojis when used. Thing is, i don't care! :lol:

 

I clicked on the link and am only seeing Highschool High without an emoji or a rectangle. That's when viewing the page using Chrome.

 

If I bring up the page in Safari or Firefox I see the emoji.

 

I also downloaded the GPX file and when I looked at it in a text editor (vim) I can see the emoji.

 

All of that was done on a Macbook so even sticking with a desktop environment won't let you hide from emoji's.

Not trying to hide from them of course, it's just that i don't care if they show or not. By the way, i just tried viewing the page with Firefox and it shows a bit differently than with Explorer. This time, i see a rectangle with the numbers 01F342 inside it.

 

I noticed that in Chrome that the the cache page doesn't show the emoji but on my profile page which has a list of recently visited caches it renders the maple leaf.

 

 

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Hi!

Searched for any topics on GPX and Emoji, and found this old tread.

I will try to post in other treads I've found, to collect information about issues on GPX files and Emojis.

Sorry for the multi-tread posting.

 

I have recently noticed that a single Emoji within the GPX file, whether in the geocache name or in the log, when imported into Google Earth Mac desktop app would corrupt the saved myplaces.kml file. Actually, this may be a n issue with Google Earth Mac desktop app, as adding just an Emoji to the Google Earth Mac desktop app will corrupt the saved myplaces.kml file even without a GPX file import, as I've posted here on Google Earth forum.

"Warning! Emojis corrupt my places KML file in desktop Google Earth Pro?"

 

Also, the Emojis will not show up at all in older Garmin devices like my trusty Oregon 450. Yes, I know it's time to upgrade my GPSr, but not even sure if Emojis in GPX files will properly show up on-screen with the latest Garmin GPSr devices. Can anyone confirm that GPX files with Emojis are properly displayed on newer GPSr devices?

 

Any input would be welcome!

 

Thanks!

 

~ Dr.MORO

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An eTrex 20 displays a completely blank title if the cache name is an emoji. Worse, weird stuff happens... for instance, if you are able to figure out which cache it really is, once logged as found on the eTrex, you can't see any evidence of it ever having been there. There's no open treasure chest and the cache isn't in the found list even as a blank title. That's the newest device I have... until later today! We have many caches with emojis for titles.

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23 minutes ago, RecipeForDisaster said:

An eTrex 20 displays a completely blank title if the cache name is an emoji. Worse, weird stuff happens... for instance, if you are able to figure out which cache it really is, once logged as found on the eTrex, you can't see any evidence of it ever having been there. There's no open treasure chest and the cache isn't in the found list even as a blank title. That's the newest device I have... until later today! We have many caches with emojis for titles.

 

Thanks local New England geocacher RecipeForDisaster!

 

Now I wonder if there are ANY handheld GPSr out there that shows Emojis properly on-screen, other than smartphones.

Anyone?

 

List so far:

Shows proper Emojis:

  • ?

 

Ignore Emojis:

  • Garmin eTrex 20
  • Garmin Oregon 450
  • Garmin Oregon 700
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I found a series that had emojis and though they loaded okay, they showed a blank title, which meant I couldn't search for a cache name. Garmin etrex 30. Those emojis were a pain.

Bit vague here, but I think once I logged as found, the cache didn't appear (as non-emoji caches do) in the found list.

I think emojis should be banned, but I suspect geocaching is more concerned these days about phone users, than the traditional GPS uses, so that won't happen.

 

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22 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

I found a series that had emojis and though they loaded okay, they showed a blank title, which meant I couldn't search for a cache name. Garmin etrex 30. Those emojis were a pain.

Bit vague here, but I think once I logged as found, the cache didn't appear (as non-emoji caches do) in the found list.

I think emojis should be banned, but I suspect geocaching is more concerned these days about phone users, than the traditional GPS uses, so that won't happen.

 

 

The main problem is not the use of emojis but the system used to transfer cache data to the a GPS device. It should convert incompatible data some other format which is not fatal to the device. You can "ban" emojis from your own GPX files by using a suitable conversion program before you transfer them into your device.

 

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1 hour ago, RecipeForDisaster said:

An eTrex 20 displays a completely blank title if the cache name is an emoji. Worse, weird stuff happens... for instance, if you are able to figure out which cache it really is, once logged as found on the eTrex, you can't see any evidence of it ever having been there. There's no open treasure chest and the cache isn't in the found list even as a blank title. That's the newest device I have... until later today! We have many caches with emojis for titles.

Exactly the same is true for my eTrex 30x, whenever the cache name starts with an emoji. Also, when find the cache and log it on the GPS, the corresponding line in the field notes .txt file is corrupted, which in turn means that the find is not imported when I upload my drafts later.

When there is an emoji in the middle (or end) of the cache title, everything up to that emoji is displayed correctly.

Needless to say, I don't like emojis is cache titles ;) .

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1 minute ago, arisoft said:

 

The main problem is not the use of emojis but the system used to transfer cache data to the a GPS device. It should convert incompatible data some other format which is not fatal to the device. You can "ban" emojis from your own GPX files by using a suitable conversion program before you transfer them into your device.

 

Such things are not known to the average user I would speculate.

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10 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

Such things are not known to the average user I would speculate.

 

The average user is not using GPX files at all but if you can learn how to transfer GPX files into your device you may also learn how to postprocess them correctly. The question is, is such a tool already available?  Like this one https://gist.github.com/admackin/0b677738a4b5648d307c

Edited by arisoft
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Thanks everyone for your input.

 

Looks like Emoji IS a major unsolved widespread issue with GPX file format, and the devices and softwares that use them.

Of course, also an unpleasant problem for us Geocachers as well.

Needs some kind of fundamental fix to deal with them, as they will not go away, rather the number of Emoji characters are growing every once in a while.

 

I have just tried an Emoji character containing GPX file with Garmin BaseCamp for Mac software, and results were interesting.

On the map display, Emojis are just bank characters (NOT displayed at all), while if I double-click the geocache on the maps, within the window the Emojis are all properly showing as intended. Weird...

 

I wonder what GCHQ developers, and other GPSr manufacturers are doing to deal with Emojis?

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Hi all,

 

I just received a reply from Garmin International Product Support - Outdoor Team, after asking whether GPX files with Emojis are supported with my Garmin Oregon 450 GPS device.

Official Answer: "The device does not support the use of emoji characters."

 

Oh dear...

GPX file are NOT meant to contain Emojis in the first place, I guess.

Yet, GCHQ and geocaching GPX files started to include Emojis anyways, and now facing the unwelcome consequences from this.

 

I will reply to their message and ask whether newer Garmin handheld GPS devices support Emojis or not.

And if not, are they going to support Emojis in the near future, or not.

 

More to follow...

 

 

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