Geocaching

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== Overview ==
 
== Overview ==
Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little value. (from http://www.wikipedia.org)
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''Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little value.''[http://www.wikipedia.org]
  
 
An application for geocaching guides you to a cache with direction and distance, of course. But it should also be possible to download additional information like description, logs and hints for a cache.
 
An application for geocaching guides you to a cache with direction and distance, of course. But it should also be possible to download additional information like description, logs and hints for a cache.

Revision as of 14:04, 21 August 2008

Contents

Overview

Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little value.[1]

An application for geocaching guides you to a cache with direction and distance, of course. But it should also be possible to download additional information like description, logs and hints for a cache.

Use Cases

  • Download caches nearby current position
  • Download additional information of a cache
  • Alert me, if I'm (unintentional) nearby a cache
  • Log caches offline
  • Distance and direction to a cache
  • Support for Wherigo cartridges (However, it seems that the file format isn't open.)

Layout Components

(TBD)

Architectural Details

Spider

Since www.geocaching.com doesn't have a documented API, a spider has to retrieve indormation from the website. Maybe the spider of CacheWolf might be a good starting point. However, it is written in Java.

DBUS

I don't know much about D-Bus. It would be nice to have a D-Bus interface so send the details (e.g. coordinates) to other applications. This way,

  • TangoGPS could display the cache on a map,
  • Navit could route to a cache,
  • a compass application could point to the cache,
  • a location based ToDo list could make an alert.

So the Geocaching application don't have to provide all these functionalities.

Questions and Answers

(TBD)

External Information

  • CacheWolf: Java software for paperless Caching. It uses a spider to retrieve the information from www.geocaching.com. Only in German.
  • GeoToad: Ruby implementation for paperless caching. Not maintained.
  • Rick Richardson's Linux tools for geocaching: Various tools for geocaching. Some are designed to turn the clickly-clicky-scroll-clicky-clicky messes that are geocaching.com and navicache.com into a set of tools which you can use in a batch or cron mode to establish your normal caching routine, backup your caches and cache logs, etc. Others are used to enter new waypoints, a free geocoder, create custom maps of waypoints, etc
  • tangoGPS Import of gpx Files, support for OpenstreetMap Files
Personal tools

Overview

Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little value.[1]

An application for geocaching guides you to a cache with direction and distance, of course. But it should also be possible to download additional information like description, logs and hints for a cache.

Use Cases

  • Download caches nearby current position
  • Download additional information of a cache
  • Alert me, if I'm (unintentional) nearby a cache
  • Log caches offline
  • Distance and direction to a cache
  • Support for Wherigo cartridges (However, it seems that the file format isn't open.)

Layout Components

(TBD)

Architectural Details

Spider

Since www.geocaching.com doesn't have a documented API, a spider has to retrieve indormation from the website. Maybe the spider of CacheWolf might be a good starting point. However, it is written in Java.

DBUS

I don't know much about D-Bus. It would be nice to have a D-Bus interface so send the details (e.g. coordinates) to other applications. This way,

  • TangoGPS could display the cache on a map,
  • Navit could route to a cache,
  • a compass application could point to the cache,
  • a location based ToDo list could make an alert.

So the Geocaching application don't have to provide all these functionalities.

Questions and Answers

(TBD)

External Information

  • CacheWolf: Java software for paperless Caching. It uses a spider to retrieve the information from www.geocaching.com. Only in German.
  • GeoToad: Ruby implementation for paperless caching. Not maintained.
  • Rick Richardson's Linux tools for geocaching: Various tools for geocaching. Some are designed to turn the clickly-clicky-scroll-clicky-clicky messes that are geocaching.com and navicache.com into a set of tools which you can use in a batch or cron mode to establish your normal caching routine, backup your caches and cache logs, etc. Others are used to enter new waypoints, a free geocoder, create custom maps of waypoints, etc
  • tangoGPS Import of gpx Files, support for OpenstreetMap Files