Re: GC6VXA2 checker request

I'm requesting a checker for my challenge cache. I'm assuming you have access to the unpublished cache page where you will find the challenge requirements. If you don't have access to the unpublished cache page, let me know, and I will list the requirements here.

Thanks in advance for your help in building a checker program for my challenge!

We do not have acccess to unpublished caches please supply us with the conditions of the challenge

The challenge is a bingo challenge with the following requirements:

1) Complete one straight line (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal) in the Bingo card.
2) All cache finds past and present will be allowed for this challenge, including archived caches.
3) A cache that meets the criteria for multiple spots may be used only once as a qualifier.
4) In your online found log, include a list of the numbers on the squares that complete the straight line bingo.

Here is the link to the Bingo card: Bingo card

Is this a normal matrix bingo and all types count?

I don't understand your question. Let me try to explain it further and you can let me know if you have additional questions.

It is a regular bingo game where the player needs to fill in five squares in a straight line by meeting the requirements in each of five squares either horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

For example, in order to claim a find and declare a bingo for the first row, the player needs to have met the following five requirements:

Square #1: Move or discover 10 trackables
Square #2: Find 10 caches with a difficulty/Terrain rating of 1-1
Square #3: Find 10 regular container caches
Square #4: 10 caches in one day
Square #5: Find 10 small container caches

I would guess the programming logic would go as follows:
1) Check eligibility for the 24 mini-challenges. Return the result of "yes" or "no" for each cell. Note cell #13 will always have a "yes" value.
2) Verify if there are five yes results in a row horizontally (cells 1-5 or 6-10 or 11-15 or 16-20 or 21-25)
3) Verify if there are five yes results in a row vertically (cells 1, 6, 11, 16, 21 for example)
4) Verify if there are five yes results in a row diagonally (cells 1, 7, 13, 19, 25 for example).
5) Display results for the player in the form of bingo rows achieved. Displaying cell numbers is okay but, if it isn't a problem, it would be nice if the cell number is displayed along with the text from within each cell.

I hope this helps. Feel free to reach out with any other questions.

We can not know what requirements their are for the 25 boxes when you do not tell but from your example we can see that you have not read the guidelines.
Square #1 and Square #4 are not acceptable under the current guidelines.

Please read http://support.groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=206

I did tell you the requirements for each square in the link to the picture of the bingo card I provided in my second response above. Do you need more information than what I provided in the picture?

In the meantime, I will fix square #1 and square #4 and get back to you.

Thanks for the feedback.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2017 10:07PM by yukionna. (view changes)

Sorry I overlooked the link to the picture.
Only #1 and #4 are not within the guidelines.

Remark for Sumbloke, can you have a look at this if all the squares can be handled by your multy script?

See #1, #20 and #22 of the new Bingo card below, the script might not handle these criteria



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2017 11:20PM by vogelbird. (view changes)

Here is the updated Bingo card.

Please use this version.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2017 10:31PM by yukionna. (view changes)

#20 looks like the only one my version of the multi script wouldn't be able to handle. It should be reasonably easy to add that, though. Give me an hour or two...

Souvenirs have been added. I'll work on the tag now.

Tag has been created: http://project-gc.com/Challenges/GC6VXA2/25239
I had to use letters rather than the numbers you used because of the way I wrote the bingo combiner (it only takes single characters as names).

You do not qualify for cell 8/H as you only have eight 4/4 caches. You'll need to find more or tweak the conditions of this challenge to get it published, because they are insisting that a CO meet all sub-parts of a multi-part challenge like this.

Also, for cell 22/V, I've done it as US states or DC. It would be possible to change it to only the US states, but more complex. Let me know if you'd like this adjusted.

Thanks for the quick turn-around and all your constructive feedback! It is helpful information.

I will modify cell 22 to reflect your suggestion of "US states or DC".

Additionally, I will find two more 4-4 caches as I prefer to leave all cells as 10's.

After I find and log the two 4-4 caches, what do I do next? Do I just add the checker to my cache page and submit to Groundspeak reviewer or do you need to be notified first?

Just link to the checker from your page and submit it. On the checker page, there's a button on the right "Link..." which provides three possible formats for displaying the link. The third option is recommended. Just copy the HTML next to the option you want into the cache details.

Thanks for the info about the checker. I will add that to my cache page.

I was looking at my results and noticed that the results returned for cell "N" (Attend 10 regular events) aren't correct. This list should only include regular events. The results listed for me incorrectly included a CITO event. Is there a way to look at just regular events for cell "N"?

My results:
gccode cache_name
GCPNTT Mother of All Caches
GC1F695 The Pirate's Lost Treasure
GC1PPD1 Geo-Scouts Meeting (May '09)
GC1NFBR 'Twixt Spring 'n Summer - 2009
GCBA17 Returned Gifts Cache 15
GC1YJC9 A time to reflect
GC22APX Returned Gifts ~ The EVENT!
GCBA17 Returned Gifts Cache 15
GC1169 Mission 9: Tunnel of Light
GC270X2 C.I.T.O. @ GW VIII

That looks like the results for cell G (Large caches). Cell N (events) gives:

gccode cache_name
GC190ZP 2nd Annual Western Mass. Geocachers Picnic
GC1DNCW Sandown Town Forest Expansion Event
GC1FEQJ Meet and Greet the Lackeys!
GC1DYAM WELCOME FALL&TRAVEL BUG SWAP # 5
GC1GQP4 Halloween 2008 Night Event
GC1M5TA 5000 Milestones (More or Less)
GC1NW2Y Pizza and a Movie
GC1MGW5 WWFM V - Peirce Island - Portsmouth NH
GC1PPD1 Geo-Scouts Meeting (May '09)
GC1NFBR 'Twixt Spring 'n Summer - 2009

Why events are listed as Large containers is another question...

I had a chance to go through the output file created when I ran the checker for myself and have some feedback for you. Knowing that you are a volunteer and your workload is probably quite high, let me know if my feedback is asking for too much work. :)

1. I noticed that for some cells, a title of sorts was provided in the output file (i.e., cells A, I, R, and V). I’m assuming the titles are showing up for those cells because you are reusing code from other challenge checkers that output that information. Is it possible to add the same type of title to the output of the other cell sections? By adding the titles, it will make it easier for the end users to scroll through the output to find the sections they want to look at in more detail.
2. B – Find 10 caches with a difficulty/terrain rating of 1-1 The list of caches in the output is missing for this section.
3. F – Find 10 micro container caches One of the challenge requirements I’d like to enforce (if possible) is that a cache can’t be used as a qualifying cache in more than one cell. I noticed with cells A and F that the same cache is being used as a qualifying cache (i.e., GC10W20 -Alliance Park) which would break this requirement if the user was planning on claiming BINGO for the first column (i.e., cells A, F, K, P, and U). Is it possible to omit a cache from being used in a future cell evaluation if it was already being used in another cell?
4. G – Find 10 large container caches I figured out why the “GC270X2 - C.I.T.O. @ GW VIII” is showing up as a “Large” container. It is because the cache owner chose a container size of “Large” for the event. This is the same situation we are seeing in cell “K - Find 10 other container caches” where events are showing up as “Other” container. Is there a way to filter out all event types from any cells that are looking at container size? If so, the filter would be needed on cells: D, E, F, G, K, and Y.
5. K – Find 10 other container caches I noticed that any events with a cache type of other are included. Is there a way to filter out events from the cells that are looking at container size? If so, the filter would be needed on cells: D, E, F, G, K, and Y.
6. R – Find at least one cache in 10 different states The output for this check just indicates that the user has met the requirements. Is it possible to add to the output file the list of 10 states that qualify along with the GC number and cache name of the qualifying cache?
7. V – Find 10 caches within one US state or DC
   The output for this check just indicates that the user has met the requirements. Is it possible to add to the output file the list of 10 caches that qualify along with the GC number and cache name of the qualifying cache?

Quick answers first:

1. I'll look into it
2. It looks like those caches are listed. You may have been thinking they were for cell A, but the country/state cells only show a single line about how many you've met the conditions of.
3. The script would need a complete rewrite to be able to do this. Additionally, you could end up with false negatives (for example if one of the first 10 1/1s was one of the only 10 Smalls they'd found if the first row was the only one they met)
4/5. Done
6/7. I'll look into it

1, 6 and 7 should be covered now.

WOW! Awesome job! I like the addition of the letters in the output along with the listing of all caches and even links to caches! Thank-you so much!!!