Delete images of Geocaches

Guest shared this idea 4 years ago
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If people have point databases with lots of geocaches, many of them also including images - either downloaded by "GC offlinizer" or just by opening the cache in Locus - could result in quite a lot of needed storage on the phone.

If storage of phone is running short, it would be a good idea to delete all these images. Right now it's just possible to delete the Caches as well from the database and afterward run Settings > Miscellaneous > Clear temporary data > Unneeded geocaching data

My idea: please provide an additional option within this menu: "Delete geocaching images", so we can delete them with one click but keeping the geocaches in the database.

Replies (4)

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Hello sonny,

does this mean, that you want to keep a caches in the database, but also want to remove loaded offline data for them. Does it make sense to remove all geocaching data? As I think about it, isn't better to just select a folder and "Clear geocache data" only for the selected folder? Because otherwise you may simply from time to time, delete the whole Locus/data/geocaching folder manually, which is maybe faster than deleting over the app.

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Hi Menion!

First of all: very strange, if I open the thread of Locus' helpdesk in the Browser I'm not able to see your comment.

Or is this a direct questions to me only? ;-)

Anyway, here my answer:

I've got 2 databases of Caches withing a certain radius of my home. Unfound caches and one for found caches. Each of these databases consists of thousands of caches.

Because of using Geocaching offlinizer for several caches of these databases, or just by online viewing its listing in Locus, more and more images are permanentely saved for these Geocaches. I've seen friends of mine having even more databases (e.g seperate ones for Mysties, seperates ones for different regions) and they used GC offlinzier to even load more images of more caches.

So you can imagine, that several 100 MB, I've also seen 1 or 2 GB of images are collected over time. Especially on older or cheaper phones this could cause the internal memory get filled up.

To get rid of the memory-intensive images, but keep the Cache databases:

Right now people have to 1.) delete all caches of the databases and 2.) Miscellaneuous > Clear temporary data > Unneeded geocaching data and 3.) create and download new PQ (or using GSAK to export the caches) and 4.) import them into Locus again.

I already did this several times, so I know: even for me as a "technical expert" it's quite some work.

This would be much easier if Locus would provide an addional check-box to delete saved Geocaching images. Only images - not the cachedata (Listing, attributes, waypoints, Logs) itself. People would not have to delete whole databases, clear temporary data and reimport whole datasbases again anymore.

P.s. I'm not quite sure what you meant in your comment with "As I think about it, isn't better to just select a folder and "Clear geocache data" only for the selected folder".

But the method you suggested: "simply from time to time, delete the whole Locus/data/geocaching folder manually, which is maybe faster than deleting over the app." has 2 drawbacks:

1) wouldn't delete this method other Cacheinfo too or somehow screw up Locus cause this folders of a cache suddenly gone?

2) Probably the average - non technical expert - Locus user doesn't know about file managers, or where Locus is saving its GC-images and hence delete this folder. Such a method should be implemented within Locus, no need fo people to use exernal file managers. Maybe as an alternative Locus could automatically open a file manager and open the Locus/data/geocaching folder and tell people they should delete this folder.

Yours, Sonny.

Am 12.09.2020 um 20:45 schrieb Locus Map:

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2

Thanks for explanation Sonny.

I'm thinking about it and here is probably the best offer that makes me sense: the main purpose of this "Clear data" screen is to remove data that may (usually) are not needed anymore or just to save some space. In the case of geocaching we talk about, it is mainly about removing files for not-anymore existing caches. But also for caches that are not usable anymore. So for already found caches.

So what about adding additional options to remove also data for "found it" caches? Does it solve this problem? Clearing geocaching data per point folder is doable, but it looks to me like an over-complicated solution for quite a simple problem.

Menion

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Hi Menion!

I think removing

1.) Cache text+database data (of already deleted Caches) and as you suggest also from found caches

2.) Cache listing images+log images (NOT images I added on my own as an attachement of e.g. the location where I found the cache, as freischneider is writing below)

are 2 different things.

Deleting 1.) already could be done by deleting individual caches or whole point databases and afterwards run Miscellaneuous > Clear temporary data > Unneeded geocaching data

Maybe a small improvment would be if Locus would clear these GC rests already automatically in the moment of deleting a waypoint or a point datasbase. But I don't know if this would induce extra waiting time after each deleting operation. In this case it would be better to leave it like it is now.


Just as freischneider, I also don't want to delete found caches, as sometimes I want to look at them. For example if I'm walking with a GC-friend to a found cache which he hasn't found. I'm able to look at this cache too, and read my former log of this cache. So I think there's no need to delete found caches with a new Locus option.

Concerning 2.) the situation is different: We don't want to delete the whole cache. We still want to keep the cache's text-data in the database, we just want to get rid of the potentially enourmous data of cache images, to free up memory of phones running short of memory.


Yes, this also can be done via an external file manager. But I'm sure most Locus users don't know the details what and where to do with a file manager to get rid of the images. Much more convient would be to remove somewhere them within Locus. And since there's already a menu for Clear temporary data, it would be ideal to ut it there.

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Here seems to be some missunderstanding. I never wrote about option 1. about deleting caches or cache texts from the database. As you wrote, this is not needed to discuss as it's solved on the folders level.

(suggestion about automatic deleting > agree, it should be done).

So let's talk only about existing "Clear data" screen, so about option 2, so about deleting additional cache content stored in Locus/data/geocaching folder please.

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I see, thanks for clearificaton.


Clear data for found caches only (text data and images) in my opinion makes no sense. Text data usually doesn't use that much memory compared to images. At least not in the cases I noticed, where images only took several 100 MB.


And clear images of found caches only just "partly" solves the problem. I noticed that many images are of unfound caches where Locus users just opened its listing (and in the same moment images have been automatically downloaded + saved). Or they use Offlinizer to download cache images of a whole region of their holidays (just to be prepared if they visit any of these caches), and finally they just visit+find a bunch out of the whole pool of caches in their holidays. But the downloaded images of all regions' caches stay in the phones' memory.

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I just want to delete pictures from nonexistent ones. I don't want to delete caches that I found. I add pictures where I found it. Now and then ask friends if they don't know what to do next. But if it was 1 year ago I can't remember exactly. Then I look at the pictures.

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2

Firstly, it should be optional checkbox.

And mainly, we do not talk here about own photos attached to point (cache) or added to your logs. This is mainly about photos that app cache automatically (images in the cache listing) or created by GC offlinizer. You may check content of Locus/data/geocaching directory. It is a directory we talk about.

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