Queries! Carl Schmertmann (Urubu) With a heavy debt to Richard Thompson (Glonch’sPride) of New Hampshire, whose presentation I borrowed and adapted

Types of Queries ALL MEMBERS Finds by…, Hides by…, Caches near..., Unfound caches near…, My Friends… PREMIUM MEMBERS Standard Pocket Queries (PQs) ‘Along a Route’ PQs ‘All Finds’ PQs

ALL MEMBERS From your account page Query Links

ALL MEMBERS From any cache page… Query Links

ALL MEMBERS Geocaching Quick Links Store links as Browser Bookmarks finds by Flipsican hides by Ubertracker etc

PREMIUM MEMBERS: Pocket Queries PQ = search GC database for caches matching user’s specifications PQ results arrive as either GPX file attachment  Google Earth (Open file, or drag & drop)  GSAK ‘Preview page’ in web browser  Save as a bookmark for reuse

Pocket Queries Limits (as of Feb 2008): Max 500 Caches per PQ Max 5 PQs ed per day Max 40 PQs per user (GSAK gets around these limits)

Standard Pocket Queries: Structure User chooses Name of query Which days to run & send GPX via # of caches to return in query Type & Size Active/Inactive Difficulty & Terrain State Center Point & Radius

EXAMPLE Standard PQs All active caches within 100 miles of that I haven’t found All Puzzle caches in Florida that have never been found. All traditional, non-micro caches within 10 miles of my hotel in Orlando All Tallahassee caches that are marked ‘no snowmobiles’ Etc.

Standard Pocket Queries: Starting Out Get to your account screen On the right hand side, half way down, click Build Pocket Queries

Standard Pocket Queries: Starting Out Select [Create a new query]

Standard Pocket Queries: Part 1 Query Name Pick something useful Days… Can leave blank until needed Choose… Leave on “Uncheck..” until needed Show me ### caches (max=500)

Standard Pocket Queries: Part 2 Select Type(s) Select container size(s)

Standard Pocket Queries: Part 3 Status I check: I haven’t found I don’t own Is Active Terrain/Difficulty

Standard Pocket Queries: Part 4 Within This will depend on the application

Standard Pocket Queries: Part 5 Origin= Center Point Radius

Standard Pocket Queries: Part 6 Placed during… This can be VERY valuable in an area with >500 caches (like Tallahassee!), because you can break up the search into 2 perfectly non-overlapping parts (before 2008, after 2008)

Standard Pocket Queries: Part 7 Attributes to Include Attributes to Exclude

Standard Pocket Queries: Part 8 Output to Usually leave this as default, change if needed in your situation In the format Always - GPS Exchange Format (*.gpx) Always check – Compress files into *.zip format

Caches Along A Route 2nd Major Type of PQ: ALONG A ROUTE Create a route in Google EARTH Save it as a KML file on your computer Start Building a PQ Select [Find Caches Along a Route] option Upload KML file to the GC.com site and name it Choose other PQ criteria (type, size, active, …) normally

Creating a Route in Google Earth Says…

Creating a Route in Google Earth Open Google Earth and click the [Directions] tab Enter start and end points of route

Creating a Route in Google Earth Find the top of the route RIGHT click and SAVE PLACE AS…

Creating a Route in Google Earth Name the file Save as Type KML

Caches Along A Route: Starting Out Build a New PQ Select [Find Caches Along a Route]

Caches Along A Route Select [Upload GPX/KML] tab

Caches Along A Route Select [Browse], pick file, then [Upload]

Caches Along A Route Click [Preview], then [Select], then [Save Selected Routes] 1 2 3

Caches Along A Route Find the new route on the list of “Your Existing Routes”, and start a PQ …the rest is normal PQ stuff

Let’s Try Some! Thanks…