Populate the meta in location history API through nRFCloud

[Torje]

Hey everyone!

We're making use of nRFCloud on our nRF9160-based system.
I'm trying to populate the meta in the location history API.

The response is always empty, like this:

{

    "deviceId": "nrf-352656101081837",

    "serviceType": "GPS",

    "insertedAt": "2022-12-06T13:35:20.785Z",

    "uncertainty": "24.000000",

    "lat": "68.000000",

    "lon": "17.000000",

    "meta": {}

}

I'm sending the data like this, as shown by the list messages API

{

    "topic": "prod/XX/XX",

    "deviceId": "nrf-XX",

    "receivedAt": "2022-12-06T09:27:13.804Z",

    "message": {

        "messageType": "DATA",

        "data": {

            "acc": 24.000000,

            "lng": 17.000000,

            "lat": 68.000000,

            "meta": {

                "bat": 4167

            }

        }

        "appId": "GNSS"

    },

    "tenantId": "XX"

}

As you see, I'm trying to pack the battery level in the same message, and I want to retrieve this data along with the location when using the location history API. 

The actual message I encode and send is as such:

{"appId": "GNSS","messageType": "DATA", "data": {"lng": 17.000000.,"lat": 68.000000,"acc": 24.000000, "meta":{"bat":4363}}}

My question is: How can I pack this battery data in the location history meta?

Thank you all for all and any suggestions!

Kind regards,

Torje

[Amanda Hsieh]

Hi, 

The issue is with the formatting of the message data. Put the "bat" property inline like this:

{
    "topic": "prod/XX/XX",
    "deviceId": "nrf-XX",
    "receivedAt": "2022-12-06T09:27:13.804Z",
    "message": {
        "messageType": "DATA",
        "data": {
            "acc": 24.000000,
            "lng": 17.000000,
            "lat": 68.000000,
            "bat": 4167
        }
        "appId": "GNSS"
    },
    "tenantId": "XX"
}

Regards,
Amanda H.

[Cole Hafner]

Hi Torje,

I have some good news and some bad news. Good news is that you can store extra data in the meta field by including it in the main payload like so:

"message": {
   "messageType": "DATA",
   "data": {
      "acc": 24.000000,
      "lng": 17.000000,
      "lat": 68.000000,
      "bat": 4167 // this will be stored in the meta field
   }
   "appId": "GNSS"
}

Please try this format again. It works for me. 

Now for the bad news: there is a bug in our API that prevents you from getting the meta for a specific device. The meta will always be set to {} when querying for a device. However, you can get around this by not specifying a device id and setting 'latest=true' ( ie https://api.nrfcloud.com/v1/location/history?latest=true ). This will bypass the bug and return the true meta field. You will get all devices returned and have to filter for the device you're interested in. 

I am filing a ticket for the bug now. Thank you for bringing this to our atttention.

Cole

[Torje]

Hey again Cole,

My results were from polling one device only. I can confirm that it works as you've specified.
I would also like to mention that the meta-field appears empty when querying with no params. It works with 'latest=true', but seemingly not for anything else (of the ones I've tested at least)

Thank you for looking into this and clarifying how I can use it for now.

Kind regards,

Torje