Importing lab caches

Discussion about the Geocaching Australia web site
Post Reply
User avatar
Richary
8000 or more caches found
8000 or more caches found
Posts: 4189
Joined: 04 February 04 10:55 pm
Location: Waitara, Sydney

Importing lab caches

Post by Richary » 10 January 21 9:42 pm

With a new tool available to convert lab caches to GPX files, is there any benefit of adding these at least to my found caches, or importing them in general? Will the naming convention create any problems? It would be nice to have the find total and map plot complete when I look at what I have found, though it is no biggie as I can import them into GSAK it seems without any problems.

https://gcutils.de/lab2gpx/

It is a slow process to generate the "query" for a radius around a certain area before it downloads, so I will just use it at the moment to generate queries for a lab I have found and keep them locally.

User avatar
caughtatwork
Posts: 17015
Joined: 17 May 04 12:11 pm
Location: Melbourne
Contact:

Re: Importing lab caches

Post by caughtatwork » 11 January 21 9:31 am

Can you give us a link to a labcache GPX file (or paste one in here) so we can look at the content and format?

I'm a bit suspect if they are not coming from GC as they may contain information and waypoints that may facilitate someone finding the final without doing the work.

User avatar
Chwiliwr
10000 or more caches found
10000 or more caches found
Posts: 900
Joined: 10 April 05 10:39 pm
Location: Leeming Western Australia

Re: Importing lab caches

Post by Chwiliwr » 11 January 21 4:40 pm

I think the issue would be that they do not have a GCxxxx or GAxxxx type code so users decide on what to use and each process seems to prefer a different approach.

Some, GSAK, use LCxxxx and ALxxxx where xxxx represents the 4 character 'deeplink' code used by GC. eg 'aX4p'

The GPX system linked to seems to use some other 5 character 'xxxxx' value to add onto 'LC' and also the cache ID's are in the minus range which repeats over multiple extracts.

It also only gives the base adventure lab heading stuff not the stages so probably not going to be suitable to show actual number of finds.

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
                <gpx xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" version="1.0" creator="Groundspeak Pocket Query" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0 http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0/gpx.xsd http://www.groundspeak.com/cache/1/0/1 http://www.groundspeak.com/cache/1/0/1/cache.xsd" xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0">
                    <name>Adventure Labs</name>
                <wpt lat="-31.841183333333" lon="115.93416666667">
                    <time>2020-07-28T08:01:44.623</time>
                    <name>LC5C432</name>
                    <desc>Welcome</desc>
                    <url>https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/WPWA</url>
                    <urlname>S1 Whiteman Park</urlname>
                    <sym>Geocache</sym>
                    <type>Geocache|Lab Cache</type>
                    <groundspeak:cache id="-1" available="True" archived="False" xmlns:groundspeak="http://www.groundspeak.com/cache/1/0/1">
                        <groundspeak:name>S1 Whiteman Park</groundspeak:name>
                        <groundspeak:placed_by>sevabo</groundspeak:placed_by>
                        <groundspeak:owner>sevabo</groundspeak:owner>
                        <groundspeak:type>Lab Cache</groundspeak:type>
                        <groundspeak:container>Virtual</groundspeak:container>
                        <groundspeak:attributes />
                        <groundspeak:difficulty>1</groundspeak:difficulty>
                        <groundspeak:terrain>1</groundspeak:terrain>
                        <groundspeak:country />
                        <groundspeak:state />
                        <groundspeak:short_description html="True" />
                        <groundspeak:long_description html="True">&lt;h3&gt;Whiteman Park&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;h4&gt;Welcome&lt;/h4&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:#990000;color:#fff;border-radius:5px;padding:3px 5px;"&gt;linear&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/WPWA"&gt;https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/WPWA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Question:&lt;br /&gt;The park is home to two pairs of&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;h5&gt;Waypoint Description&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://gsmediadata.blob.core.windows.net/mediacontainer/0b738d2b-4d15-46bf-8d75-21208400931c" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Park is a biodiversity hotspot, providing habitat for a range of native fauna species and acting an important haven for migratory birds.It provides essential breeding and feeding habitats for these itinerant species as well as a natural area within the surrounding urban environment where mammals, birds and reptiles can thrive.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;h5&gt;Adventure Lab Descriptions&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://gsmediadata.blob.core.windows.net/mediacontainer/0823e411-d9ef-4ac9-901d-a0a757367e16" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Whiteman Park is a 4,000-hectare bushland area located 22 km north of Perth, WA. The park is in the suburb of Whiteman, in the Swan Valley in the upper reaches of the Swan River.
It encompasses the source of Bennett Brook - an important place of the Nyoongar people, and a source of mythology of the Wagyl and stories about Aboriginal occupancy of the area.
Whiteman Park is known for its biodiversity, including more than 450 endemic plants and more than 120 vertebrate animals (some of which are rare and endangered). More than 17% of Western Australian bird species occur in Whiteman Park, including migratory birds attracted to the habitat provided by Bennett Brook and associated wetlands including Grogan's Swamp, a Conservation Category Wetland.
The state government purchased the land from a number of private owners in 1978 to protect the underlying aquifer as a drinking water source for Perth. The major owner was Lew Whiteman (1903–1994), after whom the park is named.&lt;/p&gt;</groundspeak:long_description>
                        <groundspeak:encoded_hints />
                        <groundspeak:logs />
                        <groundspeak:travelbugs />
                    </groundspeak:cache>
                </wpt>
                </gpx>

User avatar
Richary
8000 or more caches found
8000 or more caches found
Posts: 4189
Joined: 04 February 04 10:55 pm
Location: Waitara, Sydney

Re: Importing lab caches

Post by Richary » 11 January 21 8:22 pm

When I import them into GSAK I see all 5 stages of each lab, coming up with waypoints like LB8TUz-02 (the final number varies depending on the number of the lab stage it appears in). The name imports as "TDF: 02) A mover, a shaker, a wonder woman - oh my!" (without the quotes).

The TDF seems to represent the lab name as this is from a lab called The Dead Famous in Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney.

It does include the correct coordinates for each lab stage. But these aren't secret anyway as you play the lab and it doesn't give away the final mystery physical cache if there is one. Though there is an option to tick that says "Include Award Message in Cache description (may contain spoilers)" which may give it away. As it is in alpha development stage at this point there seem to be a few bugs getting it to reload.

It has the option to export the waypoints as Adventure Lab type or Virtual as apparently Garmin GPS devices do not support Adventure Labs. In GSAK it is supported as a cache type "Adventure Labs".

However I can understand also that including all the waypoints on a map when someone is browsing for caches to find in an area could make things very cluttered and it would probably be best to filter them out. That said there could be an advantage in showing the first stage so people know there is a lab in the area, especially if there is no final bonus cache.
Last edited by Richary on 11 January 21 9:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
Richary
8000 or more caches found
8000 or more caches found
Posts: 4189
Joined: 04 February 04 10:55 pm
Location: Waitara, Sydney

Re: Importing lab caches

Post by Richary » 11 January 21 8:35 pm

I did manage to select it for a single 5 stage lab where there are no other overlapping ones. I am not sure which bit of the code lets GSAK know I have found it, but it seems to work as it correctly highlights the caches I have found as opposed to the ones I haven't (if I do a big query including multiple labs)

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
                <gpx xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" version="1.0" creator="Groundspeak Pocket Query" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0 http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0/gpx.xsd http://www.groundspeak.com/cache/1/0/1 http://www.groundspeak.com/cache/1/0/1/cache.xsd" xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0">
                    <name>Adventure Labs</name>
                <wpt lat="-33.7558" lon="151.15435">
                    <time>2020-09-03T04:54:19.63</time>
                    <name>LCF46BC</name>
                    <desc>Gordon Station</desc>
                    <url>https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/SideTrackedGordon</url>
                    <urlname>S1 SideTracked around Gordon</urlname>
                    <sym>Geocache</sym>
                    <type>Geocache|Lab Cache</type>
                    <groundspeak:cache id="-1" available="True" archived="False" xmlns:groundspeak="http://www.groundspeak.com/cache/1/0/1">
                        <groundspeak:name>S1 SideTracked around Gordon</groundspeak:name>
                        <groundspeak:placed_by>fdsawq</groundspeak:placed_by>
                        <groundspeak:owner>fdsawq</groundspeak:owner>
                        <groundspeak:type>Lab Cache</groundspeak:type>
                        <groundspeak:container>Virtual</groundspeak:container>
                        <groundspeak:attributes />
                        <groundspeak:difficulty>1</groundspeak:difficulty>
                        <groundspeak:terrain>1</groundspeak:terrain>
                        <groundspeak:country />
                        <groundspeak:state />
                        <groundspeak:short_description html="True" />
                        <groundspeak:long_description html="True">&lt;h3&gt;SideTracked around Gordon&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;h4&gt;Gordon Station&lt;/h4&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:#990000;color:#fff;border-radius:5px;padding:3px 5px;"&gt;linear&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/SideTrackedGordon"&gt;https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/SideTrackedGordon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Question:&lt;br /&gt;There is a Roll of Honour to the Great War on the bridge over the tracks. What is the surname of the first person listed in the middle column?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;h5&gt;Waypoint Description&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://gsmediadata.blob.core.windows.net/mediacontainer/cf9f1b84-8264-445a-9070-710bb3730e30" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gordon railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the North Shore line, serving the Sydney suburb of Gordon. The station was designed and built by the New South Wales Department of Railways in 1909, and was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

The station has 3 platforms, although only supports north / south travel. It is one of the main hub stations of the area, with numerous bus connections, and also has a reasonable amount of parking nearby.
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;h5&gt;Adventure Lab Descriptions&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://gsmediadata.blob.core.windows.net/mediacontainer/e7e428bf-8f09-4332-ac49-63b16b62f4ea" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This adventure provides a short overview of what the Gordon area has to offer, and is ideal for those longer waits between trains (I have spent a bit of quality time at Gordon Station :-| ). There is a companion cache (GC8Z865), the co-ordinates for which are revealed via the final location (view its Journal entry after completion).&lt;/p&gt;</groundspeak:long_description>
                        <groundspeak:encoded_hints />
                        <groundspeak:logs />
                        <groundspeak:travelbugs />
                    </groundspeak:cache>
                </wpt><wpt lat="-33.756433333333" lon="151.15426666667">
                    <time>2020-09-03T04:54:19.63</time>
                    <name>LC4321E</name>
                    <desc>Annie Forsyth Wyatt Garden</desc>
                    <url>https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/SideTrackedGordon</url>
                    <urlname>S2 SideTracked around Gordon</urlname>
                    <sym>Geocache</sym>
                    <type>Geocache|Lab Cache</type>
                    <groundspeak:cache id="-2" available="True" archived="False" xmlns:groundspeak="http://www.groundspeak.com/cache/1/0/1">
                        <groundspeak:name>S2 SideTracked around Gordon</groundspeak:name>
                        <groundspeak:placed_by>fdsawq</groundspeak:placed_by>
                        <groundspeak:owner>fdsawq</groundspeak:owner>
                        <groundspeak:type>Lab Cache</groundspeak:type>
                        <groundspeak:container>Virtual</groundspeak:container>
                        <groundspeak:attributes />
                        <groundspeak:difficulty>1</groundspeak:difficulty>
                        <groundspeak:terrain>1</groundspeak:terrain>
                        <groundspeak:country />
                        <groundspeak:state />
                        <groundspeak:short_description html="True" />
                        <groundspeak:long_description html="True">&lt;h3&gt;SideTracked around Gordon&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;h4&gt;Annie Forsyth Wyatt Garden&lt;/h4&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:#990000;color:#fff;border-radius:5px;padding:3px 5px;"&gt;linear&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/SideTrackedGordon"&gt;https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/SideTrackedGordon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Question:&lt;br /&gt;What was Annie's husband's name? (refer to the board)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;h5&gt;Waypoint Description&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://gsmediadata.blob.core.windows.net/mediacontainer/24a42e38-47a8-466b-8462-16e56addc3a9" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In 2018 the Council completed the upgrade of Annie Forsyth Wyatt Garden. The reserve and its significant tree plantings commemorate the founder of the National Trust of Australia and former resident of Gordon, Annie Forsyth Wyatt (1885-1961) OBE, an Australian community worker, conservationist and Red Cross worker. She is celebrated as the driving force behind the establishment of the National Trust movement in Australia, establishing the organisation in 1945 to protect Sydney's historic natural and built sites.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;h5&gt;Adventure Lab Descriptions&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://gsmediadata.blob.core.windows.net/mediacontainer/e7e428bf-8f09-4332-ac49-63b16b62f4ea" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This adventure provides a short overview of what the Gordon area has to offer, and is ideal for those longer waits between trains (I have spent a bit of quality time at Gordon Station :-| ). There is a companion cache (GC8Z865), the co-ordinates for which are revealed via the final location (view its Journal entry after completion).&lt;/p&gt;</groundspeak:long_description>
                        <groundspeak:encoded_hints />
                        <groundspeak:logs />
                        <groundspeak:travelbugs />
                    </groundspeak:cache>
                </wpt><wpt lat="-33.754033333333" lon="151.1521">
                    <time>2020-09-03T04:54:19.63</time>
                    <name>LC7C90D</name>
                    <desc>Gordon Library</desc>
                    <url>https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/SideTrackedGordon</url>
                    <urlname>S3 SideTracked around Gordon</urlname>
                    <sym>Geocache</sym>
                    <type>Geocache|Lab Cache</type>
                    <groundspeak:cache id="-3" available="True" archived="False" xmlns:groundspeak="http://www.groundspeak.com/cache/1/0/1">
                        <groundspeak:name>S3 SideTracked around Gordon</groundspeak:name>
                        <groundspeak:placed_by>fdsawq</groundspeak:placed_by>
                        <groundspeak:owner>fdsawq</groundspeak:owner>
                        <groundspeak:type>Lab Cache</groundspeak:type>
                        <groundspeak:container>Virtual</groundspeak:container>
                        <groundspeak:attributes />
                        <groundspeak:difficulty>1</groundspeak:difficulty>
                        <groundspeak:terrain>1</groundspeak:terrain>
                        <groundspeak:country />
                        <groundspeak:state />
                        <groundspeak:short_description html="True" />
                        <groundspeak:long_description html="True">&lt;h3&gt;SideTracked around Gordon&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;h4&gt;Gordon Library&lt;/h4&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:#990000;color:#fff;border-radius:5px;padding:3px 5px;"&gt;linear&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/SideTrackedGordon"&gt;https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/SideTrackedGordon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Question:&lt;br /&gt;What was the first name of the mayor who unveiled the Remembrance Clock (close to the road)?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;h5&gt;Waypoint Description&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://gsmediadata.blob.core.windows.net/mediacontainer/b3a9e76c-0286-467f-b7f0-79367eb374ad" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gordon Library is one of the branches of the Ku-ring-gai Library, and opened on 24 November 1945. It holds over 200,000 items from books, magazines, talking books, music CDs and DVDs.

The Ku-ring-gai Historical Society was formed in 1963 and is committed to the collection, preservation and dissemination of information relating to the history of Ku-ring-gai. It meets monthly in the Gordon Library Meeting Rooms, located in the Old Gordon Public School building that is next door to the library.

The Ku-ring-gai council chambers are on the opposite side of Pacific Highway.
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;h5&gt;Adventure Lab Descriptions&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://gsmediadata.blob.core.windows.net/mediacontainer/e7e428bf-8f09-4332-ac49-63b16b62f4ea" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This adventure provides a short overview of what the Gordon area has to offer, and is ideal for those longer waits between trains (I have spent a bit of quality time at Gordon Station :-| ). There is a companion cache (GC8Z865), the co-ordinates for which are revealed via the final location (view its Journal entry after completion).&lt;/p&gt;</groundspeak:long_description>
                        <groundspeak:encoded_hints />
                        <groundspeak:logs />
                        <groundspeak:travelbugs />
                    </groundspeak:cache>
                </wpt><wpt lat="-33.756733333333" lon="151.15596666667">
                    <time>2020-09-03T04:54:19.63</time>
                    <name>LC462FB</name>
                    <desc>Gordon Recreation Grounds</desc>
                    <url>https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/SideTrackedGordon</url>
                    <urlname>S4 SideTracked around Gordon</urlname>
                    <sym>Geocache</sym>
                    <type>Geocache|Lab Cache</type>
                    <groundspeak:cache id="-4" available="True" archived="False" xmlns:groundspeak="http://www.groundspeak.com/cache/1/0/1">
                        <groundspeak:name>S4 SideTracked around Gordon</groundspeak:name>
                        <groundspeak:placed_by>fdsawq</groundspeak:placed_by>
                        <groundspeak:owner>fdsawq</groundspeak:owner>
                        <groundspeak:type>Lab Cache</groundspeak:type>
                        <groundspeak:container>Virtual</groundspeak:container>
                        <groundspeak:attributes />
                        <groundspeak:difficulty>1</groundspeak:difficulty>
                        <groundspeak:terrain>1</groundspeak:terrain>
                        <groundspeak:country />
                        <groundspeak:state />
                        <groundspeak:short_description html="True" />
                        <groundspeak:long_description html="True">&lt;h3&gt;SideTracked around Gordon&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;h4&gt;Gordon Recreation Grounds&lt;/h4&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:#990000;color:#fff;border-radius:5px;padding:3px 5px;"&gt;linear&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/SideTrackedGordon"&gt;https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/SideTrackedGordon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Question:&lt;br /&gt;What are the last three digits on the light-pole near the entrance to the 'avenue' through the park (starting with PY00)?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;h5&gt;Waypoint Description&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://gsmediadata.blob.core.windows.net/mediacontainer/7abd3071-33a2-4b18-bdf8-061d1d8c4f25" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gordon has a number of parks, large and small. This specific park has a number of tennis courts plus a recently-upgraded playground for the kids.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;h5&gt;Adventure Lab Descriptions&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://gsmediadata.blob.core.windows.net/mediacontainer/e7e428bf-8f09-4332-ac49-63b16b62f4ea" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This adventure provides a short overview of what the Gordon area has to offer, and is ideal for those longer waits between trains (I have spent a bit of quality time at Gordon Station :-| ). There is a companion cache (GC8Z865), the co-ordinates for which are revealed via the final location (view its Journal entry after completion).&lt;/p&gt;</groundspeak:long_description>
                        <groundspeak:encoded_hints />
                        <groundspeak:logs />
                        <groundspeak:travelbugs />
                    </groundspeak:cache>
                </wpt><wpt lat="-33.757666666667" lon="151.1574">
                    <time>2020-09-03T04:54:19.63</time>
                    <name>LC769F5</name>
                    <desc>Eryldene Historic House and Garden</desc>
                    <url>https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/SideTrackedGordon</url>
                    <urlname>S5 SideTracked around Gordon</urlname>
                    <sym>Geocache</sym>
                    <type>Geocache|Lab Cache</type>
                    <groundspeak:cache id="-5" available="True" archived="False" xmlns:groundspeak="http://www.groundspeak.com/cache/1/0/1">
                        <groundspeak:name>S5 SideTracked around Gordon</groundspeak:name>
                        <groundspeak:placed_by>fdsawq</groundspeak:placed_by>
                        <groundspeak:owner>fdsawq</groundspeak:owner>
                        <groundspeak:type>Lab Cache</groundspeak:type>
                        <groundspeak:container>Virtual</groundspeak:container>
                        <groundspeak:attributes />
                        <groundspeak:difficulty>1</groundspeak:difficulty>
                        <groundspeak:terrain>1</groundspeak:terrain>
                        <groundspeak:country />
                        <groundspeak:state />
                        <groundspeak:short_description html="True" />
                        <groundspeak:long_description html="True">&lt;h3&gt;SideTracked around Gordon&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;h4&gt;Eryldene Historic House and Garden&lt;/h4&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:#990000;color:#fff;border-radius:5px;padding:3px 5px;"&gt;linear&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/SideTrackedGordon"&gt;https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/SideTrackedGordon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Question:&lt;br /&gt;On the large sign at the entrance to the property, what is the third word on the last line (below the updatable section of the sign)?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;h5&gt;Waypoint Description&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://gsmediadata.blob.core.windows.net/mediacontainer/d084e45a-d2f8-4d37-b284-bd10900f1c77" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Eryldene was the home of scholar and connoisseur Professor E G Waterhouse, and his wife, Janet. The house and garden layout were designed by colonial revivalist architect Hardy Wilson in 1913 and the place is the result of twenty years remarkable collaboration between client and architect. The whole place is an object of State heritage significance and comprises the house and garden, oriental teahouse, garden study, temple, pigeon house, walled fountain and toolshed.

It is open on the second weekend of every month between April and September, when the camellias are at their best, and is available for booked tours at all other times.

(https://mgnsw.org.au/organisations/eryldene-historic-house-garden/)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;h5&gt;Adventure Lab Descriptions&lt;/h5&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://gsmediadata.blob.core.windows.net/mediacontainer/e7e428bf-8f09-4332-ac49-63b16b62f4ea" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This adventure provides a short overview of what the Gordon area has to offer, and is ideal for those longer waits between trains (I have spent a bit of quality time at Gordon Station :-| ). There is a companion cache (GC8Z865), the co-ordinates for which are revealed via the final location (view its Journal entry after completion).&lt;/p&gt;</groundspeak:long_description>
                        <groundspeak:encoded_hints />
                        <groundspeak:logs />
                        <groundspeak:travelbugs />
                    </groundspeak:cache>
                </wpt></gpx>

User avatar
caughtatwork
Posts: 17015
Joined: 17 May 04 12:11 pm
Location: Melbourne
Contact:

Re: Importing lab caches

Post by caughtatwork » 12 January 21 9:29 am

Hmmm. This all looks very hacked together.

Unfortunately GC baked metadata into their data which has been used quite inappropriately across the developer communities and is now somewhat difficult to make amendments to.

i.e. The "GC" code indicates to a lot of developers that this is a Geocache from Groundspeak, vs. say a SH which is a shutterspot or a GA which is Geocaching Australia or OX which is OpenCaching or OU which is OpenCaching US or OK which is OpenCaching UK, etc.

Having "something else" which may not be a consistent value AL or LC is a challenge. Not impossible, but needs careful handing to make sure none of the other special rules get out of alignment.

<url>https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/WPWA</url> That doesn't seem unique enough. No idea how this is generated or obtained.

<type>Geocache|Lab Cache</type> isn't going to show up a map icon on a GPS unit. We don't use that though, we use the type from the the groundspeak extension.

<groundspeak:type>Lab Cache</groundspeak:type> is OK and we could handle that by adding it into our GPX importers along with icons and whatnot. As the GPX xsd does not enumerate types any other developer who creates a lab cache GPX could use a different name. If this was all coming from GC it would be consistent, but from other sources, could be lab cache or LAB cache or Laboratory Cache or any combination of data.

<groundspeak:cache id="-1" is not a problem as we don't use it, but that's a shitty hack. The ID is supposed to IDENTIFY something. It's not "just a number".

<groundspeak:country />
<groundspeak:state />
Hmmm. Not nice. If we don't get a country and state we recognise then we'll use a Geocoding service to get it, so it's not an issue, just a bit of a shitty hack not to provide it.

From the xsd:
<xs:element name="country" msdata:Prefix="groundspeak" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0" msdata:Ordinal="7"/>
<xs:element name="state" msdata:Prefix="groundspeak" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0" msdata:Ordinal="8"/>

So given it is a minOccurs of 0, it doesn't have to be included if it has no value. The fact that it's included should mean that the reading process takes country and state to be BLANK rather than MISSING. No drama, just a bit rubbish.

As there are no logs in the exported file, they are never going to show up as being found by you at GCA. We use the log and the name to determine your finds. So without logs, this will create a list of geocaches that have no useful log data.

As far as how "you" are seeing your logs in GSAK, you may have an additional macro running that gets the logs from the GC site as the tool certainly contains no information that tells me that you or anyone has found or not yet found it.

A different problem, as has been pointed out, is that a lab cache with 10 points will show 10 markers. I can't tell from the file which is the "main" or starting point so each one is seen as a separate lab cache with no connection between them.

To be honest I would like to incorporate lab caches. This GPX file is however, a mess, somewhat hacked, a bit rubbish and possibly not stable. I don't want to pollute our DB with garbage that is hacked from outside the GX site.

If GC ever produce a GPX file for a lab cache we can revisit it, but for now, this doesn't look like it's good enough to use.

User avatar
whitewebbs
6500 or more caches found
6500 or more caches found
Posts: 358
Joined: 05 February 11 6:39 pm
Location: Sandford

Re: Importing lab caches

Post by whitewebbs » 12 January 21 12:12 pm

https://geocaching.com.au/cache/tp5111.gmap

When doing caches in Stanley recently, the lab stages for the lab cache were on the GCA map and still are even though I have found them. I have also noticed them on the daily email as new geocaches but in fact wps to a lab cache. It doesn't happen for all lab caches though.

User avatar
caughtatwork
Posts: 17015
Joined: 17 May 04 12:11 pm
Location: Melbourne
Contact:

Re: Importing lab caches

Post by caughtatwork » 12 January 21 12:58 pm

The problem here is that 2y'stassies have imported a file, presumable from GSAK, that looks like a GC GPX file with the codes substituted and possibly hand coded data. i.e. Shatnie's Tribe

We can't catch that as it look real, but of course is not. I'll try to put in a catch to exclude any type that is Lab Cache, but I prefer that that were not even tried.

I'll send them a note to ask them to exclude any lab caches from their GSAK exports.

User avatar
Chwiliwr
10000 or more caches found
10000 or more caches found
Posts: 900
Joined: 10 April 05 10:39 pm
Location: Leeming Western Australia

Re: Importing lab caches

Post by Chwiliwr » 12 January 21 7:21 pm

The other thing that I didn't point out before is that all this extraction,either in GSAK or via this GPX generator site, is done by an unofficial hack of the GC Lab Caches API which is not open to the public at present and different to the official GC cache API.

Somebody found the Lab Cache API doco and worked out that 2 or 3 'GET's in this Lab API do not require authentication of the user. One of these is the Lab Cache search function which is basically where the base lab information comes from. The individual stages can then be obtained from the Lab UID returned by the search.

There is nothing in the API that can be used to obtain finds by any user so this is being done by the individual user copying the source of their found logs information displayed from the URL "https://labs.geocaching.com/logs" and then interrogating it.

There are various issues around older Lab Caches, like the now not visible Mega ones and the experimental individual ones that existed at one time, which do not return various bits of information and in some instances anything.

The UID of a Lab Cache eg "c2751974-2ba1-4fae-92be-64ff5ed4e8cd" is how the unofficial Lab Cache API references them which is why, originally, there were numerous ways to create a cache code with either 'AL' or 'LC' as a prefix.

There is one URL link given out by the Lab Cache API that is a "Deeplink" created one which uses an unique Base62 code as a pointer to the individual Lab cache. However any system using this would have to be case sensitive to ensure uniqueness.

Whatever means the various systems have of creating a 'code' they then add on various formats of sequence numbers to account for the individual states that form the complete Adventure Lab.

GC appears to be in the process of investigating opening up this unofficial API to various systems like GSAK so I would suggest that until this happens, if it ever does, that GCA wait so that a consistent approach is done.

At the moment the two main macro programs in GSAK and this GPX generator are all doing their own thing. Each could, and probably do at the moment, produce a different format for a GPX from the same actual Adventure Lab information.

Also something that is also causing some issues is that an Adventure Lab base location can be completely different from the individual states so the one Adventure Lab with 5 stages can have 6 different Lat/Lon coordinates.

One last observation is that including the 'questions' and 'responses' can be used to find a bonus cache in some instances without ever doing the Adventure Lab itself unless the owner of the Lab is aware of this and has made some effort to not have this information available in these two fields.

User avatar
Richary
8000 or more caches found
8000 or more caches found
Posts: 4189
Joined: 04 February 04 10:55 pm
Location: Waitara, Sydney

Re: Importing lab caches

Post by Richary » 12 January 21 10:02 pm

Given the comments I am happy to leave it. Though for this:
As there are no logs in the exported file, they are never going to show up as being found by you at GCA. We use the log and the name to determine your finds. So without logs, this will create a list of geocaches that have no useful log data.
As we don't type anything in at each stage of a lab, just answer questions to verify it and then move on, there wouldn't be a log to show. At least not until the final when we can give feedback.

As the website states, it is in an Alpha stage at the moment.
There is nothing in the API that can be used to obtain finds by any user so this is being done by the individual user copying the source of their found logs information displayed from the URL "https://labs.geocaching.com/logs" and then interrogating it.
I have certainly never done that, and if I go to that site and click on a random log it just takes me to the "home page" for the Lab, with the QR code displayed to scan it. But somehow GSAk knows which I have completed. And I don't do any syncing between the iPhone and Windows laptop.

Post Reply