Hi Sharon,

The Cache sort puts the currently selected cache at the top of the list
and then sorts the others in
ascending order of distance from that cache. The POS (position) sort,
sorts the caches in ascending order of distance from your current
POSITION as indicated by the GPS (so you need a GPS fix in the GPS
screen for that.) iPod users can use this but they have to enter their
current position into
the waypoint screen and hit the Sim GPS button to establish a current
position.

Ad Hoc allows you to write pure SQL queries against the database so you
can devise all manner of interesting sorts and filter combinations with
any of the data in the iGeocacher database table. The field names are
available by using the schema info button on that page. With the amount
of data available in a GPX file, there is just no way to anticipate all
of the possible ways one might want to look at the data so I gave you
the three most popular with the fourth button as a "roll your own"
option. For example, suppose I wanted to see all of the caches that had
hints and which were traditional caches. The SQL for that would be:

select * from geocaches where hint is not null
and type like '%Traditional%'

Now "%" is the wildcard in SQL so when the cache type is "Geocache |
Traditional" in the GPX file what I'm doing here is matching on anything
where the type CONTAINS the word "Traditional.

If you don't know SQL there are a number of good tutorials available on
line. If you post what you want to do here, then one of us can probably
tell you what to put in the ad hoc window.

Now you CAN do other things as this is a POWER tool for users. For
example, let's say you wanted to move all the caches in group 2 to group 3.

You could enter this:

update geocaches
set grp=3
where grp=2

Now for your TEN groups thing (g). You can already do that using this
technique. You can have ANY NUMBER OF GROUPS. It is just an integer
field in the table. So for example lets say you use group "5" as your
scratch pad. (I do) Load a bunch into group 5 next, move them to group 6
thus:

update geocaches
set grp=6
where grp=5

which will update the grp field to 6 for all caches whose grp field is
currently 5

Now, those caches will disappear from view but they are still in the DB.
But there are only 5 display buttons you say? How do I show the grp 6
caches?

select * from geocaches
where grp=6

or to show group 1 and 6

select * from geocaches
where grp=1 or grp=6

Are you starting to feel the power? Ad Hoc is truly a power user's tool.
It gives you unprecedented control of your cache inventory unlike any
other product out there. I designed the user interface for 5 groups but
by using the Ad Hoc facility you can have as many as you want. You can
them move them "en masse" into or out of one or more of the base 5
groups to use the other functions/buttons more conveniently. You have to
keep track of what you've done, of course.

At any time you can see the entire database (unless it is too big to
display) by using

select * from geocaches

I hope that helps. By all means come back and report how your adventure
went and if you need any assistance while out in the field, drop me a
line. I'm glad to help.

-dB




-dB
http://www.ayefon.com



twenty pearls wrote:
>
>
> Is there a manual or a definition of the sort features of Name, (Which
> I'm assuming is an alphabetical listing of the Cache Name), Cache, and
> Pos? Maybe I should ask my question this way.... I want the list to
> be in order from closest to me to furthest away. I have it on "Cache"
> and it seems to do what I want it to. How would I explore the Ad Hoc
> button?
>
> I'm asking because I'm going on a 800 mile road trip and I have loaded
> the caches closest to my route and I'm going with iGeocacher and my
> GPS. My first adventure without Cachemate and I want to make sure I'm
> doing it right.
>
> I love Groups. My super organized brain just loves them. This is
> how I'm the feature but I'm interested in hearing what others think of
> the plan. I might even be inclined to ask for an expansion of the
> groups to 10, but let me get comfortable using the App first. Back to
> how I use them. Group 1 is my standard 500 cache's closest to
> me-which I keep up to date with a pocket query run every other day.
> (I used to go caching that often but life gets in the way some time).
> Group 2 is my standard pocket query which has caches closest to my
> sister's house, and other areas of the metro area I frequent during
> the course of a month. I go and pick up my niece and nephew quite
> freqently and we always get in a cache or two. This group is combined
> of my pocket query and other caches which pop up in my search radius
> that I add by hand to GSAK and create my own GPX file. I reserved
> Group 3 for those caches I want to do, because of
> interest. They don't routinely appear on my search radius yet...
> but for example the friend that I go caching with quite frequently
> lives 50 miles from me and she has caches 50 miles north of her which
> interest us both and they might be puzzles etc, so we're "working on
> these". But Group 3 had to be deleted/changed for my road trip...
> The PQ from Geocaching.com couldn't run the entire route, so I had to
> break it into sections. I broke the route into 3 logical travel
> sections for me so my remaining 3 groups are comprised of Road Trip
> Data. If my trip was any longer, I can see more uses for groups
> beyond 5. Or, can I combine .gpx files in one group in iGeocacher?
> The limitation isn't with iGeocacher, it is with the Route function of
> Geocaching.com.
>
> Sharon H.
> http://akaivyleaf-musings.blogspot.com/
> <http://akaivyleaf-musings.blogspot.com/>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Don Babcock <don@... <mailto:don%40babcock.org>>
> To: iGeoCacher@yahoogroups.com <mailto:iGeoCacher%40yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 1, 2009 8:27:56 PM
> Subject: Re: [iGeoCacher] Re: iGeocacher
>
> Thanks Dave, for that excellent "how to" or "how I do it" tutorial. That
> helps me understand how folks are using the product and is great for
> giving others ideas on how they might use it. I hope more folks will
> chime in with their favorite methods.
>
> -dB
> http://www.ayefon. com
>
> dwreigel@sbcglobal. net wrote:
> >
> >
> > Hi Boatrs, and other potential iPod Touch users
> >
> > A little feedback from an iPod Touch with iGeocacher and an external
> > GPS cacher. In short, we love it and recommend it without reservation.
> > We have been using an iPod Touch with 32G memory for caching for a
> > couple of months. Prior to that, we used a Palm (actually a couple
> > generations) with Cachemate. Those worked ok, but display visibility
> > was always an issue and we didn't use it for anything else. However,
> > we did learn a little about our caching "style" including how many
> > caches we usually wanted to track and what we wanted to be able to
> > record in the field. I'll pass along some thoughts from our experience
> > in case they are of any help. BTW, we got iGeocacher based on the
> > recommendation of another iPod Touch cacher. Besides what it could do,
> > one of the strong positives was Don's demonstrated interest and
> > willingness to both listen to ideas and incorporate them when feasible.
> >
> > For memory, we have a bit more than 16G of the 32G used, but about
> > 98+% of that is for the music library. The memory use for iGeocacher
> > is trivial. Your real memory decision, I think, should be driven by
> > what else you might want on the iPod.
> >
> > One thing to keep in mind for "number of caches" is that cache page
> > info definitely "ages", sometimes relatively quickly, as new caches
> > are added, caches changed to inactive, or new log info that can be
> > helpful. As a result, I tend to update info at least once per month,
> > and usually more often.
> >
> > Another point is that if you cache in one general area, the number of
> > caches you choose from is most likely driven by either distance from
> > home AND the number of waypoints your GPS will hold (unlike the iPhone
> > or iPod, that is probably 500-1000 waypoints). As a practical matter,
> > we tend to keep info on about 500-600 caches in our local area on the
> > iPod.
> >
> > The only time we have found it useful to have more loaded is when we
> > are planning a trip and want to load caches along the way where we may
> > not have any connectivity. Then the number might approach 2000-3000,
> > but that will depend in part on how you plan your travels. In any
> > case, you shouldn't have any problem with capacity in the iPod.
> >
> > You will find that several of the features that iGeocacher has are not
> > useful on the iPod. For example, the compass views are of no value
> > and, except if you are currently connected with wi-fi (so that the
> > hardware knows approximately where you are), the "Pos" sort of the
> > cache list is of no value. However, what does work on the iPod does a
> > great job and certainly fully supports paper-less caching.
> >
> > A key element of paperless caching is the ability to easily get to the
> > cache info. With our Palm PDAs we typically organized the list by
> > cache ID and simply scrolled. We started out that way with iGeocacher
> > using the Ad hoc query to make the list. However, we now find it
> > easier to use the "search" option, which works great, and we love the
> > "Cache" sort. With the Cache sort, once you look at details of one
> > cache, that one pops to the top of the list with the next closest
> > caches in order below. We have found this to work great, wether we are
> > hiking and caching or doing drive-up caching in an area.
> >
> > Another thing you will have to think about is how to use the "groups"
> > to best advantage. With our older PDA, we initially used several
> > groups, but soon found that was no real benefit, particularly if it is
> > easy to get to any cache in a list. We now really use only one or two
> > groups for caches we haven't found.
> >
> > A key part, in our view, of paperless caching is the ability to easily
> > log cache info when one is found (or DNFd). iGeocacher allows the
> > option to log on line, but this is not really very useful for
> > non-iPhone folks. However, the "edit" capability included in
> > iGeocacher works just fine on an iPod. With that, a "found" flag can
> > be set, notes (e.g., T/L or other notes) can be added, and, if
> > desired, the cache can be moved to a different group. The choice to
> > display all, unfound, or found caches in combination with this feature
> > allows you either to easily recognize the found ones (shaded
> > background) or have them not shown. By marking the "finds" as you go
> > and using the "show found caches" option" for display, it is easy to
> > get a list and count of caches found.
> >
> > Back to groups. iGeocacher has 5 groups. I'm sure every one does this
> > a little differently, but we have settled on the following use: One
> > group used for still-to-be- found caches. New caches loaded are
> > "merged" (NOT merged as finds, we learned) into this group. A second
> > group is assigned to "found" caches. We move a found cache to this
> > group after we log it on geocaching.com (this allows us, if we care,
> > to check to see if we have found a particular cache). We assign a
> > third group to "DNFs" -- i.e., we looked but didn't find it. We
> > usually try to log DNFs, so to be able to do so at the end of the day,
> > we move a DNF'd cache to this group when we log it in the field. Then
> > we can call it up "back at the ranch", log the DNF, and normally move
> > it back to the main group. We don't currently use any more groups, but
> > if you load caches for different areas, it might be convenient to put
> > them in different groups.
> >
> > Hope these thoughts are of some value.
> >
> > Dave
> >
> > --- In iGeoCacher@yahoogro ups.com
> > <mailto:iGeoCacher% 40yahoogroups. com>, Don Babcock <don@...> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi Boatrs,
> > >
> > > Sounds perfect for the iPod Touch. I designed iGeoCacher to be used
> > with
> > > an External GPS. You can enter the coordinates from your GPS and it
> > will
> > > give you the directional info as though you had the built in GPS. Of
> > > course, you have to update it periodically as you move. Or you can
> just
> > > navigate using your GPS but use iGeocacher for just the paperless
> info.
> > >
> > > iGeoCacher uses the built in SQLite DB so there is no theoretical
> limit
> > > to the number of caches you can load. I've loaded well over 3000 and
> > > that won't even use a GB of your storage. The practical limit is
> > > displaying them. The display can sort at around 300 caches per
> > second so
> > > at 3000 caches it takes around 10 seconds for the list to update
> if you
> > > change the sort order. So really it depends on you. Now
> practically you
> > > can store more than you'd get to in a lifetime of caching. But there
> > are
> > > no design limits other than storage and I just haven't tried beyond
> > 3000
> > > caches. Let me know if you set a new record (g).
> > >
> > > The GPX files are loaded from any web URL so that is up to you. If you
> > > have an ISP that will let you upload and serve files and if your
> server
> > > will serve GPX files (some IIS servers have to be configured to
> > > recognize the GPX extension as servable, most linux servers work
> fine.)
> > > then use it. You can easily set up your PC to be a web server on a
> > local
> > > wi-fi network (or even use an ad hoc connection, though those are
> a bit
> > > more tricky to set up) and then you can serve files form your laptop
> > > without a local wi-fi network. Finally you can certainly use my
> server.
> > > I set it up for those that might not want to bother with the others.
> > But
> > > once set up, they all do the same thing. They get the GPX data
> into the
> > > iPod using HTTP (the same network protocol used by Safari.)
> > >
> > > With any of them it is simply a matter of getting your GPX (pocket
> > > query) file unzipped (if zipped) and uploaded to the server. From
> there
> > > you simply establish a connection to that server with your iPod and
> > > download it. It is loaded into the Database.
> > >
> > > Now there is one other thing to be aware of. The amount of memory you
> > > have available for application programs limits the size of GPX file
> > that
> > > you can load at one time. So really LARGE files need to be broken up
> > > into a few hundred and loaded sequentially. But the on board DB has no
> > > practical limit other than storage and you've got PLENTY of that
> > (unless
> > > your iPod is filled with music/videos) . Geocache data is MUCH smaller
> > > than music or video files.
> > >
> > > I hope than answers your questions. By all means write if you have
> > more.
> > > Support is one of the key benefits of this product.
> > >
> > > -dB
> > > http://www.ayefon. com <http://www.ayefon. com>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > boatrs2000 wrote:
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I have been a paper cacher for some time now and want to go
> > paperless.
> > > > I want to use my GPS to find the cache but want the ipod touch for
> > the
> > > > info, almost all places I cache will not have wi-fi access.
> > > >
> > > > 1) Is there a limit on how many caches I can load on the Touch
> > (16G ipod)?
> > > > 2) Which server is best to use, ayefone, my isp, or my PC?
> > > >
> > > > I haven't read all 1100+ posts but i'm working on it.
> > > >
> > > > TIA
> > > > Boatrs
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>