PQs not including Favorite points in generated gpx

[+qbee37]

I ran an old PQ, and when I got the page that says You can preview your search here, the Favorite points show. 

 

 

But if I use Notepad to examine the generated gpx file, I can't find any XML tags for Favorites; there are no Favorites listed.  Same issue with a gpx generated from a single cache listing that has Favorites.  The only place Faves show up in the generated gpx file is in the text of an individual log.

 

And, as would be expected, if I load the generated gpx into GSAK or c:geo, there are no favorites.

 

If I do a Refresh once the PQ is in GSAK, the Favorites get pulled in.  If I then use GSAK to create a GPX, I can read it into a new GSAK database and the Favorites are there. 

 

I can also bring this new file into c:geo from Dropbox and the Favorites are there.

 

There would appear to be an error of some sort in the Groundspeak gpx generation process.  Other cachers I know are experiencing the same problem

[+HHL]

12 minutes ago, qbee37 said:

[...]

There would appear to be an error of some sort in the Groundspeak gpx generation process.  Other cachers I know are experiencing the same problem

No, that's by design. ;-) The FavPoints are just not part of Groundspeak's GPX and PQ files.

[+qbee37]

Gee, imagine my surprise

 

Useful functionality - NO

More meaningless souvenirs - Of Course!

[+thebruce0]

To expand a bit - when you refresh in GSAK, it uses the API to get data (depending on your options) so gets the favpoints. When you export with gsak, it includes the data as an additional field which gsak then recognizes when importing again.  The API manages all the new data; the GPX and PQs are "old" in that they're still missing newer data points. That hasn't changed for some time. If you want every bit of information you can get, and still want to use PQs, get used to importing the PQ  then refreshing with the API. (technically these two steps can be combined as one)

 

Some tools just use the PQ results and then request the data via API, rather than importing the PQ then re-refreshing the data via API. Anyway, those are backend optimization things.

 

It's frustrating to have features like GPX and PQs not kept up to date, but they are old, and the API is what HQ is focusing on now.

[+The A-Team]

A replacement for the PQ system - which would presumably include FPs - was promised several years ago, but we have yet to see any movement on this.

[+qbee37]

It's plain-text from database into xml. How difficult can it be?!

[+thebruce0]

It's always more difficult than you think ~programmer

[+qbee37]

No it isn't - retired missile defense integration and test engineer

[+thebruce0]

I was 100% serious with my previous post. That's why there was a tonguey .

[+NYPaddleCacher]

On 6/1/2018 at 6:29 PM, qbee37 said:

It's plain-text from database into xml. How difficult can it be?!

 

The contents of an XML file is defined by one or more xml schema files.  Note the second line in the file (wrapped for readability:

<gpx xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
     version="1.0" creator="Groundspeak, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.Groundspeak.com"
     xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0 
        http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0/gpx.xsd 
        http://www.Groundspeak.com/cache/1/0/1 
        http://www.Groundspeak.com/cache/1/0/1/cache.xsd" 
     xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0">

In this case, several schema files (those ending with xsd) are define.  There is a specification for the basic GPX as well as Groundspeak extensions.  Schema files define what elements may appear in the XML file, the order of elements,  types of data for each element (e.g. lat and long attributes are defined as decimal values), whether some elements are required of optional, etc.  The Groundspeak extensions (defined in http://www.Groundspeak.com/cache/1/0/1/cache.xsd)  does not include a definition for a favorites element or attribute).  Simply adding a number favorites points element (or attribute) without changing the schema file would make the GPX file invalid.  Software application developers which read XML files *should* validate the XML before trying to parse it and if it contains an element or attribute that is not defined in the schema it should be ignored.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

On 6/1/2018 at 3:35 PM, The A-Team said:

A replacement for the PQ system - which would presumably include FPs - was promised several years ago, but we have yet to see any movement on this.

 

Although there has been talk about replacing the PQ system (I can suggest a design for that) there still needs to be a way to encapsulate geocache data so that it can be transferred from the site, other applications such as waypoint managers (GSAK, EasyGPS, Basecamp), and the devices we use for finding and hiding caches (smartphones or handheld GPS devices) and for the most part, that's a GPX file.