[DogParkList] Whirlwind (long)

B. Scott Andersen bsandersen at mac.com
Thu Jan 8 18:25:48 EST 2009


Wow. I stop paying attention to email for a day and look what happens!

At risk of making a fool of myself (I've not read everything as
carefully
as I should and the fever from this head-cold has not yet subsided
making me a little thick) here are a couple of observations.

1. Cab-converter is a compliment/add-on to MacLoggerDX. I've been
doing these Cabrillo conversions since I began contesting immediately
after becoming licensed in 2002. After several rewrites the lineage of
software we all now call Cab-converter is nearly 4 years in the field.
I've tried not to have any "overlap" with Don's product--MacLoggerDX
captures the data and Cab-converter packages it into a form suitable
for contest sponsors. I don't look for this relationship to change.

2. Don is giving MacLoggerDX a complete rewrite. I have made it clear
that I believe Cab-converter should also get the same treatment. I would
also like to see at least the possibility of end-user participation in
the
development of contest support. Don's exactly right: the contesting
group is _small_ within the MacLoggerDX community. A quick check
of the membership list for Cab-converter shows only 116 entries. Some
of these may not be active anymore (it is difficult to say who is
"actively"
contesting, who is still using the Mac, etc.). That's not very many
users
for a complex piece of software like MacLoggerDX or Cab-converter!

I don't know if many of you can imagine the many hundreds or thousands
of hours that goes into a significant software development project--
only to
have the results spread over such a tiny population. As a self-
sufficient
group, we've done very well so far mustering development resources
towards getting usable software competitive, at least to some extent,
with that used by our Windows-using counterparts whom number in the
many thousands.

So, during this time of rewrites I would urge all of us to remember that
programming resources are scarce (both Don and I are working alone
on our perspective ends of it) and programming itself is time-consuming
and tedious. Please be patient.

3. The current Cab-converter input is ADIF. I'm not sure if that will
be the
best choice after Don's rewrite. Instead, it might be better to simply
access
the relational database Don is using as a backing store for the log. I
suspect
the log will have columns similar to those identified as "fields" in
the ADIF
specification--but Don can also break out individual items if that makes
sense. In short--some of the goofy things we've had to do to capture
contest exchange data in the SRX and STX text fields may be better
handled with the New-and-Improved MLDX and its database. If so, this
will make Cab-converter that much better and contest submissions that
much more robust. This is something that Don and I should work out
at some point.

As a side-effect of this, MacLoggerDX may also be able to achieve
data interchange via ADIF with other contesting programs because
our data layout will more closely mimic that used by those other
programs. For example, the SRX_STRING is the only way we can
currently capture TEXT fields. Yet, the ADIF specification has the
following:

CHECK - Contest check for ARRL sweepstakes
CLASS - for Field Day
CNTY - The contacted station's secondary administrative division
COUNTRY - obvious
GRIDSQUARE - for VHF contests and Stew Perry, for example
IOTA - Islands on the Air identifier for the contacted station
ITUZ - ITU Zone of contacted station for CQ WW, etc.
PRECEDENCE - for ARRL SWEEPS
TEN_TEN - 10 10 number

Right now we cram all this stuff into the SRX field as each contest
demands.
The ARRL CHECK string is particularly urksome. It would be REALLY nice
to sort this stuff out so it went into individual columns and was
captured at
QSO time with some sensible and streamlined UI. Don is asking for our
help
on these things. Providing _meaningful_ help will be very hard work
indeed!
And, given the scarcity of resources on both Don's end and mine there
are
no guarantees that anything proposed will be implemented. Don takes a
chance every time he spends a few days or a few weeks working on a
particular thing or another that the effort will fall short, not gain
acceptance,
be ignored, or not help his bottom line. He's brave. We'll need to be
just
as brave working hard "on spec" (prior to any commitment) organizing our
thoughts if we wish for them to be considered and perhaps implemented.

4. I believe that there are two categories of feature requests
contesters might
push for:

(*) Data entry and management during the contest
(*) Data import, export, and processing post-contest

The first group consists of database column definitions, data entry
screen
designs, and contest-specific logic.

The second group consists of import/export to LoTW, eQSL, and other
services, possibly the export of logs or log segments to HTML so that
they
may be published to the web, and robust interchange between MLDX and
Windows-based programs through ADIF and its continually evolving
standard.
This second group of feature requests have a broad appeal outside of the
contesting community and would help all MLDX users, not just the
contesters.

Because the contesting part of the MLDX community is also some of the
more
heavy users, we should be expected to apply our extra expertise and
insight
into helping with the non-contesting-specific features as well.

LONG MESSAGE. SORRY.

I typed too long. Sorry. These are my thoughts except for one: Don has
done
an excellent job supporting the Macintosh community. There are other
logging
programs out there--even for the Macintosh--yet we don't flood these
other
vendors email boxes with ideas and demands. We continue to go back to
Don
because he continues to deliver. Thank you, Don, for your efforts.
They are
appreciated.

-- Scott (NE1RD and author of Cab-converter)




B. Scott Andersen | "Magic is real, unless declared integer."
bsandersen -atsign- mac.com | -- The collected sayings of Wiz Zumwalt
Acton, MA (NE1RD) | http://www.bsandersen.com



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