Pmncacher For Pocket Pc

[+as77]

PMN Cacher is a program I wrote to be able to import cache locations into PocketMap Navigator. First I wrote it for Windows (there is a topic about it somewhere here) and some of you have downloaded and used it.

 

Now I have created a version of PMN Cacher that runs on the Pocket PC. It is much more convenient to use than the Windows version and it has more features.

 

It can be downloaded from here: PMN Cacher home page.

 

For those of you who have not yet heard about this program, here's a summary of what it can do:

 

- It can import GPX and LOC files and merge the cache locations and descriptions into PocketMap Navigator's "My Favorites" file. All cache locations will appear on the map in PocketMap Navigator and you can easily navigate to them.

- It allows the user to manage the favorite points easily: the descriptions and the coordinates of the points can be modified, points can be deleted, added, etc.

- A useful feature of the program is the easy adding of parking coordinates for caches.

 

Here's a screenshot:

 

And this is PMN's map after adding the caches with PMNCacher (the icons are all cache locations):

 

PMNCacher is freeware. Comments and suggestions are welcome, just write here.

Edited May 3, 2004 by as77

[+as77]

I just uploaded a new version (the previous one didn't run under PPC 2002).

[+BotFee]

"Dude!"........,

 

This is pretty durn cool! Worked like a champ on an iPAQ 5555 w/ WM2003 and PMN 2004.

 

The only 'problem' I've run into thus far is not a PMN Cacher thing at all. It just seems PMN is not always able to calculate a route if the cache coordinates are not immediately near a street in it's database. Or so it would seem....it's telling me I may not have all the map info loaded on the ppc. I'm 90% sure I do, but will have to check to verify.

 

Do you have any plans for future 'updates'? I could see some cachers wanting more info displayed.....something more along the lines of GPXSonar. Is that feasible, or is PMN's 'Favorite' structure too limiting to do much more than you have already?

[+as77]

Hey,

 

glad to hear the program worked right for you.

 

Actually, if you look at the help file, I mentioned in it that it is not a good idea to use the cache location directly in PMN as destination. Once when I did that, PMN generated a route that ended more than 20 miles away from the cache. Maybe in your case it wanted to generate a route that ended off the map. PMN is obviously not prepared for off-road locations and it will get confused if you use an off-road location as destination. I would advise you to select a section of a nearby street and set it as destination, instead of the cache.

 

What other features would you like to see? E.g. sorting the caches by distance? (I thought that this would not really be necessary because a glance on the map will immediately tell you which caches are closest to you.) And actually if you need some sorting/filtering, you can just start GPXSonar and then switch back and forth between GPXSonar and PMN. What do you think?

 

PMN's favorite structure is limited, it only has a name and a description field. PMN 2004 is even more limited because if you have a description that is longer than about 250 characters, PMN 2004 will crash. (This is a bug in PMN 2004, I notified the developers about it.) Therefore, for PMN 2004, my program always truncates the cache descriptions to prevent the crash. PMN 2003 users are luckier because they can include descriptions of arbitrary length.

[+-=(GEO)=-]

as77...

 

If you're interested, I can integrate your PMN favorites export code to GpxSonar.

[+as77]

Hi GEO,

 

technically, that would certainly be possible but unfortunately, I don't think it would be practical. PMN's favorites files are not like Pocket Streets' pushpin files. All of PMN's favorites are stored in a single file that must have a certain name and it must be in a certain special directory for PMN to find it. This means that you cannot just export a file in the appropriate format; you would have to locate the existing favorites file, import it, then merge your waypoints into it then export it, overwriting the existing file. If you just exported a favorites file then 1. the user would have to locate his existing favorites file, rename it (to avoid losing it), then rename the exported file to the appropriate name and move it to the appropriate directory, 2. the user would not not be able to use his existing favorites within PMN unless he concatenated the two files, which is not a trivial task to do on the PPC. The name and the location of the favorites file are also different for different versions of PMN. Also, there are two different versions of PMN that use different formats for the favorites file. I don't think it would make sense to handle all these complexities within GPXSonar; and if you just exported a favorites file then using that file would be rather inconvenient for the user.

 

However, if you could export a GPX file (after filtering the cache list) from GPXSonar then users could use that filtered file with PMNCacher and add those caches to their PMN favorites in a jiffy, without losing their existing favorites and without moving around and renaming various files. I think that would be a much better solution.

[+-=(GEO)=-]

as77...

 

As of v1.2.x, GpxSonar lets the user select the locations on a case by case basis where the various waypoints will be exported. The feature may have to be refined for PMN favorites, but I don't see that as being a huge hurdle.

 

As far as the loading/merging/exporting of the PMN favorites goes, that would not be a problem.

 

It's up to you. I am not interested in competing with your application but would rather provide the user with a consolidated way of doing things rather than juggling 2 apps.

Edited May 7, 2004 by -=(GEO)=-

[+as77]

GEO,

 

I'm still thinking about whether what you've suggested would work or how practical it would be. Certainly, PMNCacher has a few features that GPXSonar is missing and that I would not like to give up, such as the ability to edit the existing favorites and especially the convenient addition of parking coordinates to caches. That latter one is more important to me (especially when we are talking about exporting the waypoints to road navigation software) than the ability to filter the list.

 

Do you have plans to extend GPXSonar's features to be more like GSAK? I mean the ability to edit the cache data, add/delete points, and export modified/filtered gpx files.

Edited May 7, 2004 by as77

[+BotFee]

Actually, if you look at the help file,

 

Help file?!?! ohhhhh...., you mean that thing I never look at til I've already broken something!

 

I mentioned in it that it is not a good idea to use the cache location directly in PMN as destination......PMN is obviously not prepared for off-road locations and it will get confused if you use an off-road location as destination.  I would advise you to select a section of a nearby street and set it as destination, instead of the cache.

Yep, I suspect you're right on the money both with why it doesn't work all that well (probably would be ok in some), and the workaround.

 

What other features would you like to see? E.g. sorting the caches by distance? (I thought that this would not really be necessary because a glance on the map will immediately tell you which caches are closest to you.)

Sorting by distance might be desirable for some, but I tend to agree with your thoughts. I could see some value in being able to sort by cache rating, or maybe by who placed.....or *maybe* even by waypoint number.

 

PMN's favorite structure is limited, it only has a name and a description field.

Kinda suspected that might be the case.

 

Anyway..., thanks for the good work. Definitely a useful utility.

[+-=(GEO)=-]

as77...

 

PMNCacher has a few features that GPXSonar is missing and that I would not like to give up, such as the ability to edit the existing favorites and especially the convenient addition of parking coordinates to caches.

 

I understand. The latter function is a feature that I have thought about adding at some point. For the former, I'd have to think about it a bit more.

 

Do you have plans to extend GPXSonar's features to be more like GSAK? I mean the ability to edit the cache data, add/delete points, and export modified/filtered gpx files.

 

Yes, but within reason. One of my goals is to make GpxSonar compatible with as much PPC software used by geocachers as possible, hence my interest in exporting to PMN favorites for instance.

 

What I don't want to do is try to compete with desktop software like GSAK on the PPC because it would be detrimental to GpxSonar as a whole. I want to keep it simple and focused.

 

While GpxSonar already allows you to add/delete points using 'My Caches' (granted that there's room for improvement), I'm not sure that I see the point of emulating on the PPC the functions that GSAK already provides since most people will tend to use their desktops for the heavily lifting and then will export the output to their PPC before they hit the road.

 

I guess that I'd have to better understand the scenarios that you have in mind.

[+as77]

BottomFeeder,

 

there are some useful tips in the help file that I think are worth reading, e.g. how to add parking coordinates (although you could figure that out yourself).

 

As to the sorting by various properties... I tend to think that would be an overkill for this program. It does not want to be a full-featured gpx viewer, and since PMN always sorts alphabetically just by the name of the point, it wouldn't make much sense anyway. But frankly, I find that I don't really need sorting, actually I noticed that I don't use the sorting options in GPXSonar either, except the sorting by distance. I sort by distance (in GPXSonar or I just by eye looking at the map) and then I check the descriptions of the closest caches to see the other properties, e.g. is it multi, etc. All in all, currently I don't see a compelling reason to add these capabilities to my program. I'm quite satisfied with the current state of things

[+as77]

GEO,

 

I think that if you want to export waypoints to road navigation software then the ability to add parking coordinates is high priority. My solution to that is that the user can view the cache description (containing the parking coordinates) and enter the parking coordinates manually on the same screen.

 

I have been thinking about how you could add the PMN export capability to your program so that it would be easy to use and practical for the user. I think it would work if you are willing to do the following in your program (this would be the complete export procedure):

 

1. locate the PMN favorites file and identify the installed version of PMN (locations, file name and output formats depend on this); issue warning and abort if PMN is not installed.

2. load the favorites file into an internal list in your program,

3. remove the caches that are currently in the list due to the previous export (caches are distinguished from other points by the string "Cache: " at the beginning of the point name).

4. add to the list the caches from the current gpx file: in the point description field, combine the various fields from the gpx file.

5. (add the parking coordinates, too, if any, e.g. using cachename+" parking" as point name).

6. trim the description to 240 characters if the user has PMN 2004 (otherwise PMN will crash). (My program also offers optional trimming for PMN 2003, to keep the filesize small.)

7. check if there are more than 300 points in total; if yes, refuse exporting the file or warn the user (PMN does not handle more than 300 points).

8. export the list, overwriting the current favorites file (location and format depends on the version of PMN, there are two different versions). For PMN 2003 export, you also need to convert to UTM coordinates.

 

So as you see, there are many PMN-specific idiosyncrasies that you would have to handle here, and I wouldn't have thought that you would want to bother with complexities of this kind in a general-purpose GPX viewer. Also, testing would be difficult unless you have PMN installed on your PPC yourself. However, if you are still willing to include the above procedure in your program, I can help by providing my source code and the specific details you need (adapting the source code would need some work: different programming languages).

 

You may simplify things somewhat by only supporting PMN 2004 (I myself still use PMN 2003 and I don't plan to upgrade, but probably the number of PMN 2003 users is decreasing), and then you only have to handle one format.

 

Also, my impression is that PMN is not that popular among geocachers, so you may want to start with supporting the more popular programs first. (Probably Mapopolis is by far the most popular, although IMHO PMN is definitely better.)

[joeface]

Hey AS77;

Newbie here so forgive me if I misspeak.

I am new to the Geocaching community but have used PMN for a while now. I found your program over at Aximsite. After loading and signing up at Goecaching dot com I have downloaded some local LOC files and I keep getting the script error when trying to import any of them.

Access Denied.

 

Line: 520

 

Is there something I am doing wrong or a problem with the LOC files? I looked through all the help files and around on this board and have not seen anyone else having this same problem. Maybe it's just me

[+as77]

Hi joeface,

 

"Access denied" means that the file is not readable. Maybe another program is using the file? Are you using another program at the same time? Is your Pocket PC still connected to your desktop when you are getting this message It could also be a memory problem. e.g. if the file is on a memory card, the memory card could be corrupted.

 

It is certainly not a program error. Something is wrong about the file, it's not readable.

[joeface]

All I am doing is downloading the LOC file and moving it to my axim via the "my documents" folder from activesync. I also tried moving it directly to the SD card to see if it reads it from there and got the same results.

[+-=(GEO)=-]

joeface...

 

Chances are that your .LOC file has the read-only attribute set. Before you copy the file over to your PPC, make sure you change it to read/write in Explorer.

[+as77]

OK. It looks like this could be operating system dependent. What Pocket PC and what OS are you using?

[+as77]

GEO,

 

on my device I can load a LOC file even if it is read-only. Something wierd is going on. It seems to be related to some security setting in some versions of the Microsoft XMLDOM control, which I'm using. I'm trying to figure it out.

[joeface]

I am using 2002 on an Axim. Haven't had the need to upgrade to 2003 especially with all the bugs I keep reading about

And thanks for all the help ya'll are providing

Edited June 12, 2004 by joeface

[+as77]

Thanks. I identified the source of the error. It is a bug in the Microsoft MSXML component which is included with the Pocket PC 2002 OS. Windows Mobile 2003 has a fixed version, that's why I didn't see the problem.

 

I will implement some workaround for this bug. Stay tuned.

[+as77]

Well... looks like I was wrong, the problem is not related to the OS. I remember that I was able to load xml files (loc and gpx are xml files) before I upgraded my Axim to WM2003. Also, I have e-mails from users with PPC2002 Axims who report that PMNCacher works fine for them.

 

joeface, did you update your Axim to the latest ROM version of PPC2002? (I think A05 is the latest). Also, do you happen to have a proxy server configured for network access? (Not sure if that could cause a problem but it might.)

 

I found a possible workaround but it causes problems with the encoding (Unicode hell again!), so I don't wan't to do this.

[joeface]

I am using A03 right now. That was the latest as of about 3 months ago when I downloaded it. I believe the A05 was for the X5 advanced and I have the basic 300 mhz

I guess this gives me a reason to go to 2003

Edited June 14, 2004 by joeface

[+as77]

Well... I'm afraid I don't have any better advice now... but as I remember I also had some older ROM version, maybe A02, when I still had the 2002, although it's an X5 Advance. But I still think this is probably a bug with that particular version of the OS, however, since I cannot reproduce the problem and no one else reported it yet, this is still a guess.

 

You could still use the Windows desktop version, even though it's not as comfortable to use.

[+cawinters]

I also am getting the script error, saved 10 closest caches as .loc and when i open it in PMN Cacher I get the same error

 

Axim X5 2002 with latest ROM update

[+as77]

Thanks for the report. I will try something that might fix this error but I'm not sure I can do it. I don't have a PPC2002 device so testing is a bit difficult. I could create an experimental version that may or may not have the same problem. Would you be willing to test it?

[+as77]

Good News, guys!

 

I flashed back my Axim's ROM to PPC2002 and reproduced the "Access Denied" error. What's more, I found the solution! I'm going to upload a fixed version soon. I will post here again when it's up.

 

BTW the bug is a Microsoft bug, but luckily it can be worked around by just changing one line in my code.

[+as77]

OK, it's done! Version 1.2 is up. Please report back if it works now correctly.

[+cawinters]

drool...

[+cawinters]

works great now, THANKS!!

 

I'm somewhat new to this. I plan on using PMN and PMN cacher to geocache. is that all you need or do you need something for when you're in the vicinity of the cache? Does pmn zoom close enough?

 

I'm using a CF reciever, and it doesn't seem that there is a program to tell you that your waypoint is so many feet that way...

[+as77]

Glad it works now.

 

PMN is probably not enough for when you are in the vicinity of the cache. I'm not saying it's impossible to find caches with it but it's certainly far from being ideal for that purpose. There is no free software that would do this but there are a few shareware programs: Vito Navigator ($16), Vito Navigator II ($19.95, this is what I'm currently using) and GPS Tuner ($35). I am also writing some software for this and it will be free but it could be a few months before I release it.

[+as77]

Also, PMN has a snap-to-road feature which means that if you are close to a road then it will snap your position to the road, i.e. it won't show your actual position. So you'd have serious problems with caches that are close to a road.

[joeface]

Thanks; AS77

I'll be downloading it tonight.