Forum software has been updated!
  • If you subscribed to Digests, click your name on the top right, then User Control Panel, then Digests tab and resubscribe.

Querying for unsolved puzzles that aren't Field Puzzles

Discuss GPS Hardware, Technical Issues, etc. here.
Post Reply
zumbido
MGS Member
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2014 11:38 am
9

Querying for unsolved puzzles that aren't Field Puzzles

Post by zumbido »

Hello everyone,

So I've embarked on the self-imposed challenge of attempting to solve all the active puzzle caches in Maryland. I can only get so far using Geocaching.com, as it will allow me to filter on MD caches that don't have corrected coordinates, but it doesn't allow me to select certain attributes, like the absence of the Field Puzzle attribute. When I attempt to set up a Pocket Query on GC.com, I can select the absence of the Field Puzzle attribute, but I can't select on caches that don't have corrected coordinates. I've been tinkering around on Project-GC.com, but I can't seem to find a way to filter out those caches with corrected coordinates either. In all these cases, I'm lacking one field or another. Here's what I really want:

Search area: Maryland
Cache Type: Unknown Caches
Active
Not found by me
Not owned by be
Does Not Have Corrected Coordinates
Attributes: Excludes Field Puzzle

Anybody know of a way to do all of this via a Pocket Query or Project-GC filter? Is this something I have to drop down into GSAK to do? If I ever get this working, then I'll take the next step of excluding caches with the word Challenge in the title, but I'm hoping that will be a little easier to add.

Any assistance or guidance would be greatly appreicated!
littleblkdog
Former MGS Officer
Posts: 450
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 8:47 pm
12

Re: Querying for unsolved puzzles that aren't Field Puzzles

Post by littleblkdog »

From what I know, you will have to go to GSAK to get that level of detail. You might be able to ask PGC to update their filters for the live map or solved mysteries tool. GSAK shouldn't be to hard once you get all the puzzles in a DB. And not hard to update. You (not me) could probably right a macro to re-do the selection criteria once you import a new PQ to keep it up-to-date.

Another issue is how to keep it up-to-date with GC or PGC. It is pretty easy to have a new caches PQ but you will still need to filter out challenges and field puzzles. All the current tools will give you everything not just new each time you query.

I think people will be interested in how you solve this. Please let us know....
User avatar
lpaulriddle
MGS Director
Posts: 258
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 8:29 am
10
Location: Elkridge, MD

Re: Querying for unsolved puzzles that aren't Field Puzzles

Post by lpaulriddle »

Yes, this would be pretty easy to do in GSAK, assuming you can build a PQ that includes a superset of the caches you're interested in (e.g. every mystery cache in MD that is missing the field puzzle attribute). After running the PQ, you can load it directly into a fresh database in GSAK, and filter out the caches you don't want (e.g. caches with corrected coordinates, or caches that have the word "challenge" in the title, etc). Once you have it down to just the caches you want, you can use GSAK to generate a custom GPX file, map the caches out using the Google Maps macro, automatically add the caches to a list on geocaching.com, etc.

Good luck with GC5ZMCJ. :lol:
Dradicus
MGS Member
Posts: 75
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2015 9:46 pm
8
Location: Martinsburg, WV

Re: Querying for unsolved puzzles that aren't Field Puzzles

Post by Dradicus »

You should be able to do it in project GC too but it might take a paid subscription. When I was looking for particular attributes for a challenge cache, I was able tos set up custom filters to build a PQ for the area. If you did that and set it up for just MD and puzzle caches, I’m pretty sure there’s an option for only caches that don’t have corrected coords. I’d have to sit down with my laptop and check it out a little more as it’s tough to do on a mobile platform. I have a paid subscription so I might be able to save you some money and see if I can get it to work. I have gsak too but I haven’t figured that out yet.
Dradicus
MGS Member
Posts: 75
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2015 9:46 pm
8
Location: Martinsburg, WV

Re: Querying for unsolved puzzles that aren't Field Puzzles

Post by Dradicus »

So I got a chance to look at this. I was able to create custom filters on PGC to map out all the unfound puzzle caches according to your profile. However, I was not able to filter out the caches that did not have corrected coords....at least I wasn’t able to figure that out. There might be a way but if there is, I don’t know how to do it. Looks like GSAK will be your best option.
Post Reply