+quakemap Posted May 12, 2003 Share Posted May 12, 2003 Is there any program that shows you the nearest geocaches without loading .loc files? What I mean, is just clicking on the map - and the program goes online and fetches geocaches by coordinates of the click point. Thanks for your advice, http://www.quakemap.com - redefining Easy... Quote Link to comment
+SpongeRob Posted May 13, 2003 Share Posted May 13, 2003 If you are online already why not use the Geocaching.com maps that allow you to click and see which ones are in the area? -- SpongeRob rwmech@keenpeople.com www.keenpeople.com WPWU826 Cache'n Retrievers Quote Link to comment
+quakemap Posted May 13, 2003 Author Share Posted May 13, 2003 If you meant state maps like http://www.geocaching.com/map/CA.asp - those are quite slow and do not allow me to export geocaches into GPS. I was hoping for a software-based solution, eliminating search on the web site. Thanks, http://www.quakemap.com - redefining Easy... Quote Link to comment
+jtice Posted May 13, 2003 Share Posted May 13, 2003 Im betting someone is gonna say the word "pocket queries". Hey SpongeRob !!!! ....... ----Copy and Paste to URL bar ---- http://www.geocities.com/johntrotto/images/spongebob.jpg Sorry, I couldn't resist. Quote Link to comment
+SpongeRob Posted May 13, 2003 Share Posted May 13, 2003 quote: Im betting someone is gonna say the word "pocket queries". Hey SpongeRob !!!! ....... ----Copy and Paste to URL bar ---- http://www.geocities.com/johntrotto/images/spongebob.jpg Sorry, I couldn't resist. If I was anything other than a sponge that might have hurt too! -- SpongeRob rwmech@keenpeople.com www.keenpeople.com WPWU826 Cache'n Retrievers Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted May 13, 2003 Share Posted May 13, 2003 You can load up the LOC file into your GPS and see the closest that way. You can upload the waypoints into Streets and trips or your topo software and see the closest waypoints that way. But the way you are thinking...Nope. Not that I know of anyway. ===================== Wherever you go there you are. Quote Link to comment
+gnbrotz Posted May 13, 2003 Share Posted May 13, 2003 quote:Originally posted by quakemap.com:What I mean, is just clicking on the map - and the program goes online and fetches geocaches by coordinates of the click point. ExpertGPS does this. Pick any spot on the map. Mark a waypoint and then choose "View waypoint online". From there you can get the nearest caches, benchmarks, and a variety of other useful information. Greg N 39 54.705' W 77 33.137' Quote Link to comment
+quakemap Posted May 13, 2003 Author Share Posted May 13, 2003 Greg, thanks for the hint. A little convoluded (20 clicks, one download, one import into ExpertGPS), and I still need to make ExpertGPS display these waypoints on the map - but it seems working. On the tech level, all ends up with http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest_cache.asp?origin_lat=36.36092&origin_long=-117.28814 -- if that type of search could return a list of caches and their coordinates, I could build a one-click function into QuakeMap. Any ideas? http://www.quakemap.com - redefining Easy... Quote Link to comment
+quakemap Posted May 13, 2003 Author Share Posted May 13, 2003 BTW, Pocket Query is cool, having .loc files emailed to you is worth 30 bucks a year. But still if I am looking at the map and want interactive action, this is not an answer. http://www.quakemap.com - redefining Easy... Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted May 13, 2003 Share Posted May 13, 2003 quote:Originally posted by quakemap.com:BTW, Pocket Query is cool, having .loc files emailed to you is worth 30 bucks a year. But still if I am looking at the map and want interactive action, this is not an answer. http://www.quakemap.com - redefining Easy... Maybe you want to program GPSbable to make the tpg file for you and then you can load the map in Topo and see what'g going on. Write a batch file to move the file around. Clayjar's Watcher does a good job looking at GPX files. ===================== Wherever you go there you are. Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted May 13, 2003 Share Posted May 13, 2003 quote:Originally posted by quakemap.com: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest_cache.asp?origin_lat=36.36092&origin_long=-117.28814 -- if that type of search could return a list of caches and their coordinates, I I guess I don't understand the question. The very style of URL you cite is driven from the hideseek page and will return a list of caches. If you click "check all" and "download to Easy" you get the list of caches and their coordinates as a geocaching .loc file, ready to be handed to GPSBabel, EasyGPS, GeoBuddy, or anything else that can read those. If you're looking for a programmatic interface to do it, there isn't one and if re-reading the above paragraph doesn't offer any clues, there really really isn't one. However, by my reading of earthquake map pages, you'll probably do well to encourage people to suck in a GPX file of their entire area and let the searches happen locally instead of smacking around the geocaching.com servers just to do the great circle math. Quote Link to comment
+quakemap Posted May 14, 2003 Author Share Posted May 14, 2003 Robert, the list of caches the page returns is just a list of names and links to actual cache pages. To display the caches on the map, a program will need to follow each link - and that will put really unacceptable load on your servers. If a similar page could be created, returning just names and lon/lat pairs for every cache, such page could be parsed by a program, and the cahes displayed right away. I guess, geocaching.com webmasters could either offer such service for free, or for premium members - in which case some authentication should take place between the program and the server. This is typical Web Service scenario, I am sure you guys are considering things like this on a daily basis. As for smacking the servers, I think everybody should avoid it. Not everything that could be done should be done :-) As for my initial question - in the header of this topic - I think, you just answered it. There is no programmatic interface to your database, and no program in existence can do what I asked for. As scientists say, a NO answer is as good as a YES answer. [This message was edited by quakemap.com on May 14, 2003 at 01:11 AM.] [This message was edited by quakemap.com on May 14, 2003 at 01:23 AM.] Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 quote:Originally posted by quakemap.com:Robert, the list of caches the page returns is just a list of names and links to actual cache pages. To display the caches on the map, a program will need to follow each link - and that will put really unacceptable load on your servers. If a similar page could be created, returning just names and lon/lat pairs for every cache, such page could be parsed by a program, and the cahes displayed right away. You mean other than the data returned by "check all" (or some subset thereof) and "download to easy" which does contain the names and lon/lat pairs for every cache immediately, right? The data you want is there, you just have to work a little to get it. You don't have to pull every page to get it. An ambitious googler might even be able to find prior art. Quote Link to comment
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