Contents - Index

Version 6.5 extra notes


Complete overhaul of GSAK post codes.

1. Distribution of the post code database

Previously the post code database was distributed with the full install file. This was inefficient but made for an easy install and the post code file wasn't abnormally large. However, with the inclusion of more and more countries this file has grown considerably and is now really too big to include in the install file. So I had to come up with a way of updating the post code database independent of the install. 

To compound the inefficiency of the existing method of distribution, not all users use this feature, and if they do it is usually only for one country. GSAK will no longer distribute the post code database with the install. When you now select this option, you will be informed that the database is empty (new install) and be given the option to go to the web site address that has the various country post codes available for download. You will also get this message if you select a country for which you have not downloaded yet. 

Existing installations will have the old post code database file converted to the new format, so you only need to download the new Canada and France post code files if required.

2. Using the post code database.

This dialog also gets an overhaul. The actual search is now all on the one screen and you can now add/update the database directly. When updating/adding records directly make sure you also tick the user box (toggle it by double mouse clicking). By doing this, you inform GSAK this record is now a user modified post code and it won't be updated/deleted when you reload any of the corresponding country databases. In addition you also have the option to send these updates to the GSAK website ("user send" button) so that I can include your updates in the master database.

New version update check

The code for the automatic version check has changed (new component). The new component should be quicker, less prone to causing "freeze ups" when checking, and it should now also work through proxy servers and fire walls (that wouldn't work before). If you are behind a firewall or proxy server and this has not worked in the past for you, try turning it back on (Tools=>Options=>Advanced) or you can quickly check if it is working via "Tools=>Check for a newer version of GSAK"

New Load Summary dialog

The new summary dialog gives you more information about your GPX load. It also has a link to the new change log so you can see the before and after images of each waypoint updated. In addition it also lists the number of waypoints in each file loaded. Any file that has exactly 500 waypoints will be highlighted in red. This is significant because it can alert you to the fact that your PQ has reached the maximum size currently allowed by Groundspeak. This will often mean that your selection criteria for this PQ matches more than 500 caches and your are now missing out on some. It is advised you follow this up and perhaps split this query into two, making sure each returns less than 500 caches. 



CacheMate time out

The CachMate conversion program can often take quite a long time for large exports. GSAK had a timeout value of 5 minutes - this has now been removed. 

Macro editor now a separate program.

The macro editor has now been split into it's own program so you can run it stand alone just like notepad. No extra features have been added this release (eventually it will get updated), but the major gripe was that it was modal and you had to close it to continue working with GSAK. You can now leave the macro editor open and work with GSAK at the same time. GSAK uses windows messaging to communicate with the program so if there is an error in the macro you can still click on the "edit macro" button to bring up that file in the editor at the error line number. You can also run the macro editor independently from GSAK by calling it up from the GSAK programs menu.

GSAK second instance.

When starting GSAK and it is already active (double clicking a GPX file, dragging a GPX/zip file to the desktop icon, double clicking the desktop icon) A lot of the initialization code was not required because control would be returned to the first instance of GSAK anyway. This scenario should now be much quicker and you should no longer get the splash screen when starting the second instance. 

Changed date.

The new change log now enables us determine when cache data has actually changed so this new date reflects this. The new changed date has been added to the filter dialog so you can now filter on this date. To put this in perspective we should fully understand the other relevant dates:

Last update GPX - this date reflects the date of the last loaded a GPX/loc file and this cache had a corresponding entry in that file (providing it was available for update, not locked for example). Even if the data loaded is exactly the same as already in the database this date will be updated. This date is often used to track down archived caches as it lets you know when this cache was last sent to you in a PQ.

Change date - this new date reflects the date a cache was actually changed as the result of loading a GPX file. The date is only set if something in the cache actually changes - this can be verified by looking at the change log. As the update in build 31 could not be retrospective, on conversion this date was set to the Last update GPX date. 

Last update user - this date reflects the last time a user action (edit, global replace, etc - basically anything other than a GPX load) updated the file 

Full Text Search.

The full text search would previously search for your word or phrase through all the raw data in the GSAK database. The problem being that your word might also be inside HTML markup and you effectively get a "false positive". For example, you do a full text search for all descriptions containing the word "blue". The problem is that your search will also include caches that have HTML markup using a "blue" font. This would also be confusing, as not only do you get a match, but the split screen view would not show the "blue" match because the raw HTML markup is not displayed, but rather interpreted to show the correct page layout so you don't get to see where "blue" actually matched. Any data inside HTML markup tags is now stripped before the search is done.