Groundspeak Xml Tag Format?

[+Treasure Bandits]

I'm planning on updating my waypoint application to use some of the information contained in the <Groundspeak:xxxxxx> XML tags that are in GPX files, and I'm wondering if there's a reference somewhere for the Groundspeak tags.

 

Specifically, I want to know all the different values the text of <Groundspeak:type> and <Groundspeak:container> can contain. Even a sample .GPX file with all the variations would be helpful.

 

I've found the reference for the generic .GPX schema, but the Groundspeak tags are specific to this website, so I thought I'd ask here!

 

Thanks for any help you can give!

 

Craig

[robertlipe]

The most authoritative definitions I know of are teh XSD's http://www.Groundspeak.com/cache/1/0/cache.xsd but it doesn't spell out a lot of the enumerated types.

 

In the very early days of the PQ system, there was a sample file made available. You might be able to search the forum and find the original announcement and see if it's still available. Honestly, if you speak XML at all, you'll probably find it faster to just order up a big honking PQ and study it.

[+Hemlock]

The lists here are still valid.

[+Treasure Bandits]

thanks, Robert & hemlock! Those will both be very helpful.

 

I didn't realize that a "micro" was a size and not a type.

 

(and what the heck is a "Project APE Cache"?)

[robertlipe]

I didn't realize that a "micro" was a size and not a type.

Lots of folks don't get this (witness the eternal churn in the 'topics' group) and the rules were historically unclear on it, but have gotten crispier. Container is what you're hunting FOR. Type is how you're hunting. (Not "looking with a flashlight vs. a magnifying glass" but "is this something I HAVE to read the cache page to find becuase these coords won't take me there" vs. "hunting more than one THING based on more than one waypoint".

 

They get misused a lot; esp. in older caches. A traditional might get categorized as a letterbox becuase it had a rubber stamp in it like letterboxers use, for example. There's still some "fuzz" in the categories, but it's better than it used to be and approvers (and peer pressure) are helping to tighten things up.

 

Programs (like my own GPSBabel) probably confuse matters more by assigning icons based on a combination of cache type and container size. Yes, you can have a multi-micro or a letterbox virtual, but there's only one icon available and you've gotta pick something to base it on.

 

(and what the heck is a "Project APE Cache"?)

 

That can be found with the "search" button in the upper right corner but the tersest definition I've seen that makes sense is the first line of Jeremy's reply here: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...=0entry492575

 

[ appended ]

 

While searching for 'jeremy "project ape"'' to answer that question, I just realized that I got a hit in the very thread that I was too lazy to look up earlier. The genesis of the PQs can be seen at http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=29210 and that's where the sample files were posted and where a lot of the original details were hashed out over a 4-5 day period.

Edited August 31, 2004 by robertlipe

[+BuckToothMoose]

The Unknow Cache type has changed to 'Unknown (Mystery) Cache'

[robertlipe]

Spot checking a PQ from today and a few cache pages (which Jeremy said uses the same code) I'm unable to convirm that, BuckToothMoose. Can you be more specific.

 

If there was a cache type change, it would have surely been after the log type changes already announced at http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=77082 so as not to wreck software that's parsing the current ones.

[+Treasure Bandits]

Robert, I observed this change tonight. see GCJQ9K... the XML segment that shows this change is here (seventh line from the bottom):

 <wpt lat="40.301483" lon="-79.5727">
   <time>2004-06-16T00:00:00.0000000-07:00</time>
   <name>GCJQ9K</name>
   <desc>Ode to Odin by Quest Master, Unknown (Mystery) Cache (4/2)</desc>
   <url>http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=c31da81a-1aa8-4fb5-89e5-f22eb862804c</url>
   <urlname>Ode to Odin by Quest Master</urlname>
   <sym>Geocache</sym>
   <type>Geocache|Unknown (Mystery) Cache</type>
   <Groundspeak:cache id="147519" available="True" archived="False" xmlns:Groundspeak="http://www.Groundspeak.com/cache/1/0">
     <Groundspeak:name>Ode to Odin</Groundspeak:name>
     <Groundspeak:placed_by>Quest Master</Groundspeak:placed_by>
     <Groundspeak:owner id="6767">Quest Master</Groundspeak:owner>
     <Groundspeak:type>Unknown (Mystery) Cache</Groundspeak:type>
     <Groundspeak:container>Regular</Groundspeak:container>
     <Groundspeak:difficulty>4</Groundspeak:difficulty>
     <Groundspeak:terrain>2</Groundspeak:terrain>
     <Groundspeak:country>
     </Groundspeak:country>
     <Groundspeak:state>Pennsylvania</Groundspeak:state>

Not helpful when I'm just whipping the selection code into shape...

[robertlipe]

If you fetch the GPX for that very cache, the type is

<Groundspeak:type>Unknown Cache</Groundspeak:type>^M

I even posted and deleted a note to force it be regenerated in the hopes of observing this. I'm out of PQs for the day, but none of my PQs today contain this.

 

We've been told that the PQ generator and the "download this page as GPX" link use the exact same code. So I can't explain this at all, but it's kind of disturbing. If the site _is_ changing tags in this manner - esp. without announcing it to developers - it's a Bad Thing.

[Keystone]

I have this same cache in a Pocket Query as I plan my weekend's caching. In a file from 9/1 that hasn't been washed through any third party software, just opened in Notepad, the code reads just like what Robert grabbed off the cache page, as follows:

 

<name>GCJQ9K</name>
 <desc>Ode to Odin by Quest Master, Unknown Cache (4/2)</desc>
 <url>http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=c31da81a-1aa8-4fb5-89e5-f22eb862804c</url>
 <urlname>Ode to Odin by Quest Master</urlname>
 <sym>Geocache</sym>
 <type>Geocache|Unknown Cache</type>
 <Groundspeak:cache id="147519" available="True" archived="False" xmlns:Groundspeak="http://www.Groundspeak.com/cache/1/0">
 	<Groundspeak:name>Ode to Odin</Groundspeak:name>
 	<Groundspeak:placed_by>Quest Master</Groundspeak:placed_by>
 	<Groundspeak:owner id="6767">Quest Master</Groundspeak:owner>
 	<Groundspeak:type>Unknown Cache</Groundspeak:type>
 	<Groundspeak:container>Regular</Groundspeak:container>
 	<Groundspeak:difficulty>4</Groundspeak:difficulty>
 	<Groundspeak:terrain>2</Groundspeak:terrain>
 	<Groundspeak:country>United States</Groundspeak:country>
 	<Groundspeak:state>Pennsylvania</Groundspeak:state>

[Jeremy]

I switched tables and the type in the new table was labeled differently. I modified them and restarted the PQ Generator.

[+planetrobert]

ah ha, mystery solved, Jeremy was the culprit.

[+BuckToothMoose]

Ok, forgive me here, now I am a little confused

 

Which is the one we're gonna see from now on?

 

I made a quick change to my own app, and now would like to know which to use...

 

Thx Jeremy.

 

Edit: Never mind, I'll account for both in my app, as it sounds like you are making changes in the tables anyways....

Edited September 4, 2004 by BuckToothMoose