Good day to all,
what about to add some more support for geocaching? Looks that a lot of users are GC fans so ...
I created yesterday new functionality "Draw circles" where you can define place and radius and it will draw circle on map. Some caches needs to be solved by drawing few circles or distances and intersection is place of some result. So what next? I'm not much experienced with geocache hunt so I need to hear, what other things should be useful. I also do not want to create some "solver" program. For this exist many much better programs. I just want to use map and help with solving cartridges that needs some "drawings" ...
EDIT: so I added also ability to draw lines from point to point. And because setting two places should be hard with actual system, I also created ability to pick point from map ...
Thanks for geocachers support ;)
If I can discuss improvements - I think more user friendly would be to draw lines and circles this option to include to "tools" for any waypoint. Ie. tapping the point be able to draw a circle from that waypoint, or select a waypoint as the start / end point of the line. Because solving GC problems mostly projects from existing waypoints, not from any new coordinates. Or, include option "existing waypoint" for picking up starting waypoint.
And I suggest the issue, which is used perhaps the most in GC - designing waypoint by azimuth and distance from any waypoint. Ie. in tools after you tap the waypoint to enable the "project new waypoint". I've noticed this option in menu for picking up point for draw circle or line, but there is not able to project new waypoint by azimuth/distance when creating new waypoint. Or am I wrong ?
designing waypoint by azimuth and distance from any waypoint - I vote for it :)
guys, this is already there for a relatively long time ... try to add new point and next to coordinates press "news->projection"
Very handy! But...
Can I ADD a waypoint? Now it seems that the projection moves the original goecache to the projected point.
Sometimes you are not sure about the projection data, so it would be nice to be able to plot several projection points around the actual cache.
wait for next release, I did some more useful improvement to GC Tools, so discuss about functionality is shifted after first public GC Tools release ;)
Just tried the circles, I was wondering, will there also be a way to take away a circle again, apart from exiting the whole application?
There was also a problem, after I exited the app, and started it again, drawing a circle would not show anything anymore. But then I had no satellite lock anymore, but I choose the centre of the map as a midpoint. But no circle was drawn.
-peter
I actually published version on market so try there. Anyway removing of circles is by "menu-> tools -> remove ..." ... as usually :)
Of course, I had forgotten about that menu option :oops:
I was wondering, would it be possible to have a line also when you project a point, like in the "draw line" option? So it would be a bit like a combination between line and projection, maybe with an extra option in the popup menu.
-peter
hmm will this be useful? It's no so hard to create on one side, but on another this should be more complicated then useful for me. I think, there is still easy way, to on few click create line between two point. And to be true ... how often you'll use this function? :)
Not so often :) I just thought it would be a logical addition :)
-peter
ok :) when I'll have nothing to do, I'll add this also :)
I'm also checking out the Geocaching features of Locus.
I really hope you also like Geocaching and will add/enhance these features because the combination of vector maps and maps rotation make it ideal for it :)
I hope I can find some time to test it this week and will surely give feedback and ideas (if I have some :) )
Yes I like Geocaching, that's why GC have so big support in Locus, enjoy testing and let me know. I expect that these function will be used by every cacher once per year, but should be useful :)
There is something that i miss.
Its not only a gc-feature. Searching/filter POI by name. (the only thing i saw is filter poi bei category)
And its sometimes very difficult to distinguish between waypoint of different cache. maybe different color? or a thin line between the Cache symbol an the relatet waypoint.
A text calculator function (a=1,b=2,...) with a sum of char which can reduce the word value to digit would come in handy.
Also a way of filling in the found numbers (A,B,C,D,...) into a coördinate would be nice to have in the app (WP calculator). I now always have to use another app to make these notes and then type in the end coördinate of the multi cache.
Hi Dibrial,
sorry but I'll really do not do this. I'm focused on things that use maps and similar ... as you wrote, for this exist few specialized programs and it will take really a lot of time to create this functionality and I rather invest this time into some more ... "map". Maybe later ...
After release 1.9 the draw circle seems to work more consistently.
I have a minor suggestion: When I want to draw a circle from "any point", I have to use the "Edit" button to make the changes to the coordinates. If I just edit (click on) the coordinate fields and change their contents, my changes do not stick on the resulting circle.
This is not a user friendly way; next time I need the circles, I'll probably make the same mistake again:(
thanks! same problem was also in line draw. Fixed now
I missed the option to draw a line with only 1 coord, azimuth and length during a cache today. Could this be added?
you mean a line from one place? it same function as projection isn't it?
You are right. This would also work, but it is an extra thing to do. I only needed the line to visualize it crossing an other line. Not an extra point. I have done this via a projection and then draw the line as you suggested.
I think it's more easy to draw the line without the new WP, but this solution will be sufficient.
As a geocaching tool I would like to have a tool to create a new point as midpoint between two points. This is especially handy when visualizing a triangle midpoint using the draw line tool. Midpoint of a triangle is an often used feature with geocaching.
At the moment I have to use other tools to calculate, then write the coords on paper and afterwards enter them in Locus.
done ;)
Another great addition to the GC tools. I hope to use it soon. Thanks. :)
The tools you have added are quite nice, have a few suggestions. First, the circle tool is metric -only, if distance is set to feet the circle tool should match. :)
A few suggestions around finding caches. A shortcut to mark a cache found, change the icon to one indicating it is found, optionally adding a note, and moving it to another catalog would be great for us data junkies. I like to keep all the caches I find for future reference, often because I am placing a new cache on the fly or such, and would be nice to have a shortcut to do these things. :D
Another thing that would be nice is an option for showing a 161 meter/528 foot circle around waypoints so to see where one can place a cache in highly dense cache locations.
And for placing caches another nice feature would be the ability to average a new waypoints and see deviation etc, and stop the averaging when I am satisfied the coordinates are good.
Cheers!
Quote from: "dibrial"A text calculator function (a=1,b=2,...) with a sum of char which can reduce the word value to digit would come in handy.
Also a way of filling in the found numbers (A,B,C,D,...) into a coördinate would be nice to have in the app (WP calculator). I now always have to use another app to make these notes and then type in the end coördinate of the multi cache.
BTW, you might try GeoCache Calculator - http://www.appbrain.com/app/gcc-geocach ... isbehr.gcc (http://www.appbrain.com/app/gcc-geocache-calculator/eisbehr.gcc)
It has a zillion cache-related tools in it for such things.
Hi menion,
Firstly I'd like to say what a great app Locus is and I try to show my support where I can. I've purchased Pro and vector maps which again is a great adding.
I use locus alot for caching, both finding and placing and its with the placing part that has got me wondering.
I know it possible to draw a circle from within the cache addon function but would it be possible to add an additional function that allowed you to draw a 528 feet circle around multiple points in one go, like a batch operation.
Incase you are not aware, this is the limit set by groundspeak which you are unable to place another cache within.
This would help greatly when placing a series of caches.
Sent from my GT-I9100
also requested in Khaytsus post ... so added and will be in next release
Thanks Menion, and that is why Locus is such a great app because of the excellent dev support and speed of implementation.
Sent from my GT-I9100
Thanks for implementing the 528ft radius into the 1.13 update, works great.
Sent from my GT-I9100
you're welcome. Enjoy ;)
Quote from: "l0ck1e"Thanks for implementing the 528ft radius into the 1.13 update, works great.
Agreed, does work great, although I was confused how to remove them! The "clear temporary objects" doesn't do it, but a restart did. Is that intended menion?
I have one more feature request. :) You have field note support, but it's a manual process to upload it to geocaching.com. I found that Opera will properly upload it (stock browser will not), but it'd be awesome if Locus could do it. I'd think it could post the field notes file to the form in http://www.geocaching.com/my/uploadfieldnotes.aspx (http://www.geocaching.com/my/uploadfieldnotes.aspx) and then the user could do the normal work on the GC.com website to log them?
If you need any help here I could try, I've done a little of this in curl before, I could try to identify the fields etc to upload it in one go. But not sure about authentication into the site etc...
ah damn, it's only wrongly identified. Try to draw for example one line together with circles and "remove temp map items" will work
about uploading. In way you say, it's illegal. That's why this isn't in locus yet. I have promise from Arcao (author of G4L), that he will add support for upload into addon, so I hope he will do it ... soon :)
To remove the radius, I just went back through geo tools again, radius and selected the same database. Then they all turned off.
Sent from my GT-I9100
ah yes, I forgot on this .. this also works :)
One more thing that would be nice if Waypoints on Geocaches stayed selected and were not considered Temporary items which are unselected after closing Locus. If I solve a puzzle, I want to see the waypoints shown all of the time. And I want them as waypoints within the cache, so that they stay together, don't want to create a separate waypoint in my Favorites or something for it.
It would also be nice if a waypoint could have waypoints. If I'm placing a multicache for example, it would be nice to create the "master" waypoint, say the (to be) published cache location, and within that I have added the other waypoints associated with that. That way they're all in one place.
Hello Guys,
I don't want to start new topic for some geocaching features so I'll continue here (I also renamed this topic)
Firstly, are you satisfied with current geocaching tools? As I wrote before, I don't wont to program some solvers etc. but graphics computations, that's in what Locus can excellent
Second part, more interesting. I wrote to groundspeak a long time ago with request to their ability to use their API. They respond positively. Meanwhile Arcao started to work on Geocaching4Locus addon, so I don't even start to work on some online features into Locus. When I look on Arcao code, last update is more then month old, so I decided to start some work on my own. I firstly warn that I really do not want do some full support for geocaching (online) because I think current system in G4L (geocaching4Locus) is good, fast, working and should remain as is. Anyway I would like to create some features that aren't in G4L and that should be useful.
So I would like to introduce first implemented and working feature. Screenshot below tell you secret what is done :).
[attachment=0:1lg6si6d]device-2011-10-02-204231.png[/attachment:1lg6si6d]
Current system works only on groundspeak.com testing server. They have to confirm my work and after that, it will go to public server. Till then I would like to implement some more (one at least) feature that should be more then useful so I'm asking what you guys miss most ... online logging? tell me ...
Awesome!! That'll help a lot with 1000 waypoint PQ's that won't get emailed out, I have stuck with 500's so far so they can get emailed, and honestly probably will continue to do it (I combine some 20 PQ's into one master then split out into areas around my state with no dups) but I can see this being really useful to download PQ's I don't currently have.
Here's a list of what I'd really like to have, not available in G4L..
Refresh of current geocache (latest coordinates, logs, etc are usually what I'm after, but update the whole record)
Logging of geocaches (F, DNF, Note, Needs Maintenance, _AND_ Owner Maintenance if possible)
Logging of pickup/dropoff/visit/discover of Travel Bugs (not sure if this is in the API or not)
That reminds me.. I don't do a LOT with Travel Bugs, but does Locus support them at all? It'd be nice if there some Travel Bug inventory for waypoints (per cache record in PQ) and for the user (assuming user would have to input them, then Locus could mark them as in inventory or not). It'd also be nice to be able to log picking up a travel bug while logging a cache. Or an associated request I saw in another thread; the ability to take a picture and add it to a geocache or waypoint, I tend to take pictures of travel bugs and their tags.
BTW, to expand on the logging requests above, I'd love to be able to do Owner Maintenance on the fly on the phone, in fact for some reason this seems to be the on-the-fly logging I do most often in order to get the cache back online.
These are really good news from menion!!
- I agree with Khaytsus with his first point - "refresh" feature will be great.
- Online logging will be great as well.
- I really miss one thing - images in listing! Will be great to do that automaticly with cache downloading.
Sounds good so far.
My top priority would be the display of N closest geocaches (= active POIs). A list or a method to access them on a custom screen.
I do not do PQs, I have my closest caches in .GPX file, that I can upload to my web page. So a configurable "PQ server" (=web url/xyz.zip) would be nice.
yay!
This is great news!
The feature I would like most is online logging, turn a Field Note in Locus to a log on GC.com website in a few clicks.
If this would exist I would no longer need the seperate Field Note upload I mentioned in the other thread.
- Turn Field Note into online log in a few clicks
- refresh a selected cache (redowload all info but keep existing Field Notes en normal notes)
- show near caches on map and select 1 to import to Locus (instead of import 20 at once)
I mostly cache on the go, I arrive somewhere, check for caches, import 1, write a Field Note and log it
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Wonderful news...IMHO your app is really the best of all and the support is the cherry on a pie, Menion. :-)
In addition to the other suggestions I'd like more to have the ability to upload the field notes with a click. Currently I'm uploading the file to my dropbox and import it on my computer, but these steps are long. Switching to dropbox, click on "upload", select selecting-app, search the folder, search the file, select it, upload and then downloading it on the computer to import.
I could also imagine to have an opt-in auto-upload feature. Maybe after each log or once per hour the field notes could be updated to the server. This could save some clicks.
Nonetheless your app is also great without these features. :)
Quote from: "stebu"Sounds good so far.
My top priority would be the display of N closest geocaches (= active POIs). A list or a method to access them on a custom screen.
I do not do PQs, I have my closest caches in .GPX file, that I can upload to my web page. So a configurable "PQ server" (=web url/xyz.zip) would be nice.
Okay, I'm confused ;) You don't do PQ's, but you have your caches in a GPX. You create the GPX manually, or from loc files, or?
BTW, is anyone here using bcaching? I have my caches copied there, but I really never use it either. But what tools I've had which can use bcaching can also directly access GC.com so I've never had to either I guess.
fine guys, so
already done are Pocket Query downloading (and importing) from web and Field notes uploading
I'll try to pass some testing from groundspeak and release app with these features. How long it may takes .. don't know.
About other features ... I know that updating is improtant, but I still hope that this will be done in addon. Many features that work directly with geocaches is already there so I don't want to do same functionality ...
and thanks for nice words. Just don't create from me some proud monster ;)
That was fast :)
Thanks for beïng so responsive, it's really a pleasure to use a program with such an active dev!
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Hi Menion - do I understand correctly that you can download pocket query directly from Locus and import it? Where? I didn't find it. I have Locus Pro 1.14.0. Thanks!
this is function in prepare ... but I have some possitive feedbacks from groundspeak so maybe it will be very soon :)
Hi Menion,
I just read about the progress in this field and I am very much looking forward for it. Direct upload of the fieldnotes to gc.com and the download of pocket querries will be extremely useful und quite cute :)
Regards
:) ... this is already working. Currently I'm still waiting for some confirmation from gc.com guys .. ugh .. they're fast. I'm currently waiting around a month, have to write them ...
... yes thei're very fast indeed. They add some stuff to their system now and then but there's no real improvement on the existing features. Look at the limits in pocket queries, why the 500 limit on emails? I've seen 500 item querries producing larger files than 1000 item querries. And even if they're not who cares about one or two megabyte :) And the time it took them to come up with a smartphone app (not to mention the high pricetag compared to everything else out there). So I'll stick with Locus Pro, that's for sure :) With the OSM vector maps I like it even more than my old garmin.
The direct download to Locus will be very cool. I am also looking forward on your solution and how to automate the new pocket querries to existing poi categories ;)
When I import new GPX files, all of the logs get replaced with the new logs.
Could you make the logs append instead of replace? Perhaps add a setting for max number of logs?
hmm keeping logs, I already forgot on this ... now sure if I'll remember tomorrow :))
anyway, good news everyone (futurama?) ... I currently received email from groundspeak
I am pleased to certify your final version for release
nice ... finally after cca three months!
Is there a way to post your notes to geocaching.com fieldnotes import routine from within Locus?
Quote from: "menion"I am pleased to certify your final version for release
this is great news!
If you add features to GC.com live in the future, and do they also have to be approved by GC.com?
Sent from my SGSII using Tapatalk
yes, every change have to be confirmed, but I think it will take much less time ... anyway I'm not sure if I'll add too much new stuff, almost everything needed is already there I think ;)
:)
Looking forward to the next update.
I really like the upload fieldnote option in the latest market version. Only thing is that the upload question also shows up when in airplane mode and WiFi disabled.
This makes clicking 'Store offline' a bit annoying, because its the only possible option.
Is it possible to store the fieldnotes offline automatically when no dataconnection is available?
hmm interesting idea, take it as done ;)
Is it possible to show addition waypoints (on the map) of a POI? Such as Parking waypoints of geocaches?
tap on cache, first button and you're on geocache main screen. Here, second button at bottom panel
or shortcut > tap on cache, first button but long-click here
or waypoints of all visible caches > menu > functions > geocaching tools
Wow, thank you.
The first 2 options work fine, but - Menu > Functions > Geocaching tools > Load all waypoint (which is what I want) causes a force close of Locus and removes all of the Points on the screen on one of my Categories of geocaches that are from GSAK export with extra fields box checked.
I can't wait for the manual to come out so I can learn more cool features.
hmm how much geocache have you visible on map when you run third feature? try it please with less points if will work
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Menion,
You are correct. It seems limited to some number... I have a catagory of 4300 that crashes. Not sure how many extra waypoints are in those geocaches?
I can select a subset of 3600 tradition caches and option 3 runs fine and shows 633 additional waypoints, but I think that is close to Locus's limit now because it becomes very unstable.
When I remove the parent geocaches, the temporary waypoints still show, but with the red line still showing that now connects to nothing.
The temp waypoints are not stored in any catagory and I can't see a way to turn them off and on again without deleting and building them again.
hmm I'm playing with it a little and seems that this function needs quite a lot memory. More then I expect to take. Anyway I cannot find source of issue for now so I really suggest (not just for this function but also to whole speed of app) to use just waypoints you need.
Best is to center map on place where you want to some "hunt" then go to points manager screen of category with your caches and on bottom select fourth button and sort points by distance. And now, second button and enable just first X points! Then using of "Show all waypoints" function will be much faster ;)
about deleting (hiding) you're correct. When hide, waypoints remain, when delete, they're removed correctly. Sorry, fixed now ...
Exellent work around until you can fix the problem. Perhaps you can write the extra waypoints to a new group and not to temp memory. Or generate them when you load a GPX file and use a new button in Points to show them or not.
Quote from: "menion"about deleting (hiding) you're correct. When hide, waypoints remain, when delete, they're removed correctly. Sorry, fixed now ...
Great, i was just going to ask about this :)
Hi all
At first I have to say that I really like Locus Pro!
What I'm missing relating to Geocaching ist the Azimuth of a line and the distance. Today I had a Cache where I had to "draw" a triangle. (I think it's not a rare task)
I had two points given. The line between these two was the first site of the triangle. Then I had the value of the angle to the next side. To draw this line I needed to know the azimuth of the first line so I'm able to draw the second line by projection and the value for the azimuth for the projection is the azimuth of the first line plus the angle at the corner.
Its difficult to explain, I hope you understand what I mean?
Would this be possible to implement? Just display the length and the azimuth of a line.
A issue I encontered was that the App crashes if i loaded a Cache into Locus (by c:geo) and tried to add a waypoint to this cache. After editing the coordinates of the new Waypoint and clicking "ok" the App crashes.
Again, thank you for this excellent App!
I have encountered some interesting geocaches where you have to find a location that is x meters from XX, y meters from YY, z meters from ZZ, etc
Or the point that is in the middle of n other points (same distance to all others).
I used to solve these by drawing circles on the map, but there seems to be an easier solution. The POI-alert will display the distance to any neighbouring waypoint as you move, so you can walk in the terrain and watch several distances at once (the distances are shown in the waypoint labels).
So this is great! But there is one thing that I cannot figure out. How can I simulate this without actally walking in the terrain? If I turn GPS off, the distance indicators in the waypoint labels disappear :( Sometimes it would be nice to use the phone to determine the location and then to walk straight to it instead of wandering in the woods and trying to match up distances.
So what about it? Anyone else needs this feature? Or do I just need to get my lazy legs moving?
Better yet, has someone found an existing solution for this "problem"?
Don't know if there is something in Locus to solve this.
If I were a geocacher I would try to solve it by faking/spoofing the gps location. There are several such tools in the market. However only few of them (Pro versions?) allow more than just set the location to a faked fixed point.
Would be interesting what your solution will be. Good luck!
I have played arround with the GC tools and find it very useful.
I detected some points that could make it even better for me:
When creating temporary circles or lines, it would be great to see the parametets later. Lenght of a line and radius of a circle could be displayed with the element.
An other useful thing for me would be to load the special GC query of founds with the api (if supported by the api).
Are this features which could be implemented (or should I put it in getsatisfaction)?
Greetings,
Druki
Hello Druki,
getSatisfacition is best choice. I'll for sure forget here on your request ...
See http://gsfn.us/t/2wad8 (http://gsfn.us/t/2wad8)
I hope to get some votes for it.