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Online map filters


ras_oscar

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On 1/22/2020 at 5:43 PM, 2Abendsegler said:

I don't know a way with the standard functionality from the geocaching websites. 

 

With the help of a script you can save different filter sets. You do that on the search side. After selecting the saved filter set, a list with the relevant caches is displayed. All you have to do is click on the map icon.

 

I have been using the website since 2011 and what has always been annoying is that you cannot save your filters. That is why I tend to use only the local country app for geocaching. However, that is not always possible. One should be able to at least save the found / not found filter so that all the thousands of found caches would not show on the map when opening it. That drives me (and I know many others) crazy.

 

I did not understand what kind of script 2Abendsegler is refering to. I could not find such a interface in my website which is shown in the picture above.

 

Edited by Forestress
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22 minutes ago, Forestress said:

I did not understand what kind of script 2Abendsegler is refering to.

 

 

I suspect that people don't like it, if I constantly refer to external sources in the official forum, that expand the functionality of the geocaching site. But i understand that it won't work without a reference. I will provide a suitable link in the future. Sorry for your unnecessary search.

Our profile contains a short description of the script in several languages.
 
Edited by 2Abendsegler
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10 hours ago, 2Abendsegler said:

 

I suspect that people don't like it, if I constantly refer to external sources in the official forum, that expand the functionality of the geocaching site. But i understand that it won't work without a reference. I will provide a suitable link in the future. Sorry for your unnecessary search.

Our profile contains a short description of the script in several languages.
 

 

You are right of course. External script should not be the solution to offer such a basic functionality for (paying) customers. So many of us are looking forward to UI improvements of geocaching.com. 

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24 minutes ago, Forestress said:

So many of us are looking forward to UI improvements of geocaching.com.

Just save a browser bookmark of the resulting filter web page is too challenging for you? Why should Groundspeak clutter their web page with core browser functionality?

 

Hans

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12 hours ago, HHL said:

Just save a browser bookmark of the resulting filter web page is too challenging for you? Why should Groundspeak clutter their web page with core browser functionality?

 

Hans

I wonder If you are asking why should Groundspeak offer a service which the users are demanding? The answer is quite obvious I think. Why should the users clutter their computers with scripts?

 

No, it is not too challenging, but what is the point of using a script related to tampermonkey, which has been labeled as "harmful"? What is the earning logic of this 3rd party script? What kind of data does this script have access to? I hope that the answer reflects GDPR. 

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On 1/5/2020 at 2:01 AM, ras_oscar said:

Each time I long onto the cache map I have to re enter my preferred filter set. Is there a way to have my profile hold them and load them each time I log on?

 

When you are zooming, filtering and sorting on the cache map, URL address in your browser is changing. 

Just bookmark your preferred view - or as many as you need and it's done!

 

I agree this is core browser functionality that does not need to be replicated by website.

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1 hour ago, Forestress said:

I wonder If you are asking why should Groundspeak offer a service which the users are demanding? The answer is quite obvious I think. Why should the users clutter their computers with scripts?

 

No, it is not too challenging, but what is the point of using a script related to tampermonkey, which has been labeled as "harmful"? What is the earning logic of this 3rd party script? What kind of data does this script have access to? I hope that the answer reflects GDPR. 

There is no need to use a third party script or have GS add it to the page, it's been built into your browser for at least the last 25 years. Bookmark the results page and every time you click that bookmark it opens the results page with your settings applied.

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3 hours ago, Rikitan said:

 

When you are zooming, filtering and sorting on the cache map, URL address in your browser is changing. 

Just bookmark your preferred view - or as many as you need and it's done!

 

I agree this is core browser functionality that does not need to be replicated by website.

Hey, that worked. Thanks!!!

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soooo,  now I have my preferred caching region and associated filters  bookmarked so it comes up when I click my link to the map page. I can pan and zoom and so long as I don't click "search this area"  caches are neither added to nor removed from the selection.

 

Is this view static, like a list, IE if a cache status changes ( goes offline, I find it, ETC) or dynamic, like when I open the map, select filters and click  search this area?

 

FYI, the filter setup I am working with matches the caches in my current GPX. Don't want to put a cache on my hit list and find out in the field its outside my GPX search range.

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1 hour ago, ras_oscar said:

Is this view static, like a list, IE if a cache status changes ( goes offline, I find it, ETC) or dynamic, like when I open the map, select filters and click  search this area?

 

This would be dynamic. Each time you go to your bookmark, it performs the search and shows you the current results.

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14 minutes ago, The A-Team said:
1 hour ago, ras_oscar said:

Is this view static, like a list, IE if a cache status changes ( goes offline, I find it, ETC) or dynamic, like when I open the map, select filters and click  search this area?

 

This would be dynamic. Each time you go to your bookmark, it performs the search and shows you the current results.

 

And it's only static insofar as the list of results mapped isn't updated if a search isn't performed (including if the map is moved - a search is not re-queried).  A refresh of the page will reload the cache properties  for the search result set as at the time the page was loaded (or the search performed, ie "Search this area" button clicked).

 

In contrast, an executed pocket query is an exported set of data as of the time of execution, which is why viewing the downloaded PQ is a static list and not a live/current look at the data.

 

Some apps, however, confuse it a little, by allowing downloading a pocket query - but instead of importing the executed PQ data, it actually uses the list of results and then queries the database via the API to retrieve all the most recent cache data. So that can make things a little confusing about the purpose and function of PQs vs a live map Search.

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2 hours ago, ras_oscar said:
18 hours ago, thebruce0 said:

In contrast, an executed pocket query is an exported set of data as of the time of execution, which is why viewing the downloaded PQ is a static list and not a live/current look at the data.

I assume a list has the same properties?

 

Technically no, a List is merely a list of GC listings, not a collection of their data as at a certain time. If you download a list, you have to query the database (likely via API) for the cache data.  A PQ package is a compressed collection of all the related caches and their data (like a little package you can carry with you in your pocket). A List is literally just that - a reference list with no additional data (eg, viewing a List on the web shows the current basic data for each related listing)

Edited by thebruce0
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2 hours ago, thebruce0 said:

 

Technically no, a List is merely a list of GC listings, not a collection of their data as at a certain time. If you download a list, you have to query the database (likely via API) for the cache data.  A PQ package is a compressed collection of all the related caches and their data (like a little package you can carry with you in your pocket). A List is literally just that - a reference list with no additional data (eg, viewing a List on the web shows the current basic data for each related listing)

Let me see if I have this right:

 

I have a list of 1000 caches within the area I most commonly play. When I pull it up on the website and map the contents, I'm queiring the database for the current info for that list of caches. The information that was used to determine what is on that list is not queried. Therefore, for instance, if I found a cache on the list that status is updated. However, the cache is still on the list even though the selection criteria filtered out finds, because the actual list of caches was not changed. If I want to get a fresh set of 1000 unfound caches I would need to map the list ( to set up the search area and the filter) and press " search this area" to update the hit list. and save as a fresh list, then generate a fresh GPX. 

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I believe that is correct, yes. When you initially added those caches to the list, you said "Add A,B,C,D to List X". Now every time you view list X, you will see the status of A, B, C, and D. You didn't store the search parameters that produced that list of ABCD. If another day you come back and check the map to find E is now shown in the search result, it won't be automatically added to the List, you'll need to add it yourself.

 

The PQ is different in that the PQ stores the search parameters, and when the PQ is executed, it then stores all of the results - basically another kind of list but with all of the cache data as at the time of execution.  So, if you edit the PQ, you edit its search parameters. If you execute the PQ, then you'll get caches A,B,C,D and all of their data packaged into a downloadable file - that file itself is never updated. It's an export.  If you find that E should now be in the result set, you'll need to re-run the PQ to create a new export of the relevant data.

 

If you preview the PQ results, it doesn't create an export package, so it shows you the current set of data that would be exported once you run the PQ.

 

With the advent of the API, many apps that use it may now retrieve a list of executed PQs (the list of packages that are available to download) and instead of importing the 'old' data in the already-executed PQ, it may instead choose to query the list of caches that are included in the package and retrieve the latest data for those.

 

So it can get confusing... :P  On day 1, you execute the PQ and download all the data for caches ABCD. On day 4, you see that cache E is now available to be found and should be in that result set. So you download the PQ again (without re-running it). But the package doesn't include E (you may even preview the PQ to find out what should be available and it does include E - because that's a live search result preview, not the contents of the 'old' export download). So you re-run the PQ, and now the download includes E.

 

To make things even more confusing... if cache B was archived on day 2, the PQ on day 4 will not include it, only caches ACDE - because Pocket Queries do not return archived caches. But your own database after day 4 now includes ABCDE where ACDE were updated with the new PQ but B still shows as active. The only way to know that B was archived in your own database is to download that cache data specifically -- the GPX from the cache page or ... from a BOOKMARK LIST. :)

 

Since the Bookmark List isn't based on a search parameter and only references a list of specific caches, caches when archived will remain linked on the List.  So if you download the cache B GPX directly from its listing, or update your own database by querying current cache data per a Bookmark List it's been added to, then B will be updated to Archived in your own database.

 

Does that all make sense? hehe

 

tl;dr:

 

Pocket Query: A stored search parameter that when executed creates a snapshot export of available cache data downloadable in a ZIP package (of GPX data) that expires in 6 days (because the data would be 6 days old).

 

Bookmark List: Reference list of specific GC identifiers managed manually, no snapshot data is stored, and the list never expires.

 

The online map filters are live search parameters. You could bookmark the URL for the search you just ran in order to view the current results any time you visit it.  You could also choose specific caches from the result set to add to a Bookmark List for perpetuity. As above, that doesn't store the search parameter, only the static reference to the cache you chose (or multiple if you selected more than one to add to a list)

 

Edited by thebruce0
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