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ADIF Lookup - Release Notes

Download

The download comes in 2 pieces, the base install which includes a non-functional version of the program's exe and all the dlls and controls, and the latest version of the executable.
Once you have downloaded and installed the base install (which is a pretty big file), you only need to download the new executable for upgrades (unless directed otherwise in the Version Info.) The executable is a much smaller file.

Download base install

Download current exe (see most recent version below)

Software License available here.

Installation

Unzip the ADIFLookup-base.zip file in a temporary directory and run the Setup.exe program.
Unless you change the default settings, the program will install in C:\Program Files\ADIFLookup and create an entry in the Start menu.
If you select another directory, make a note of it.
Then download the ADIFLookup.exe file directly into the program's installation directory.
It will overwrite the ADIFLookup.exe file created by the main install.

Operation

• You need to open a free account with HamQTH.com and make a note of your login and password. Then go to Preferences->Change HamQTH Account Information and enter your login and password.
• To check that it is working, just enter your callsign in the Callsign box and press Enter. If the program's window populates with your name and address, you are all set.
• To use the automated features of the program, you need to point the program to a valid ADIF file. Click File->Open and select the file you want to use.
  IMPORTANT NOTE: The file will not be overwritten.

  When you select a file, the program sets a name for the output file. If there is (are) one or more already, the program offers you to either overwrite the old file (it will overwrite "filename.out.adi"), or create a new file, then displays the name of the new file, which will be in the same directory as the input file.

• The program has 3 modes of operation:
  Manual: Click on Next, the program processes one line at a time, you have to click the Next button for each contact. You can edit any field before saving.
  If you change the content of a field, a "Save Changes?" box pops up. You have to click it to save changes then you click Next.

  Auto: Click on Auto, the program processes the entire file. You cannot edit anything. If the program has a problem, it will stop and ask you to make a choice before resuming.
  If you also click on Full Auto in Preferences before selecting Auto, the program will not stop when having to make decisions (such as Grid and County when the call is portable), and will create a log file where you can find the problems the program encountered during processing.
  To stop Auto mode, click the "Stop" button. From that point, you can edit records one at a time using Next, or resume Auto mode with the "Auto" button.

  Direct: Enter a callsign in the Callsign box and press Enter. The program will query HamQTH for that call sign's information. Not very useful outside of troubleshooting.

  I recommend you start the program as follows:

  1. Create a short (10 to 15 QSOs) ADIF file from your logging software. That will be sufficient to give you a good feel for the software.
  2. Start ADIFLookup
  3. Click File->Open then find the ADIF file you created in 1).
  4. Click Next. The first call sign in the ADIF file is loaded and queried from the database. When data comes back from the database web site, the fields are populated.
  5. Keep clicking Next until the Done window opens. Then click File->Exit and look for the output file with a text editor. Verify the information is as you would expect. Then try to import the file into you logging program.
• When in Manual mode, you can edit any of the NAME, ADDRESS, QSL_VIA, COUNTY or GRID fields before saving to the output file. Just edit the field(s) you want to change, click on Save Changes and then click Next.
  The QSL_VIA is not normally populated from the database, but you can do that manually if the QSL info is in the address field.
• In order to minimize the load on the database servers, I recommend that you use the software outside peak hours, which seems to correspond to evening hours in the US. I have noticed much faster response in the morning and past 10:00 PM US Central time.
• Logger32 does not import 6-digit grid information which the database occasionaly provides, but properly imports 4-digit grid information. ADIFLookup automatically strips the 6-digit grid info into a properly formatted 4-digit grid square information ready to import into Logger32.
• The program saves the ADIF path to the registry, so the next time you run the program, it should point to the same file and directory.
• When you select Debug in Preferences, the bottom window will display the HTML received from the database instead of QSO data. This is used for troubleshooting in Manual mode only (screen scrolls off immediately in Auto mode).
• Portable calls: The program first looks for the entire call sign. If it is not found in the database, it then tries the home call.
  If the home call is found in the database, the home call is appended to the name in the name field.
  If the call is portable, not found in the database, but the home call is found, and there was county and/or grid information in the database, the program will prompt you if you want to save or discard the county and grid data.
• Version 0.0.47 (and later) cache the result of previous queries, considerably speeding up the processing of logs that have multiple contacts with same stations. The cache data is saved to a file and reused the next time you run the program. The first time you run the program, you will have to tell the program where to put the cache file. I suggest somewhere in your My Documents folder if you use Windows 7.
• Version 0.1.2 introduces support for the GoList QSL Manager database. The database can be accessed automatically, when running the program normally, or it can be accessed directly (manually) through the "GoList" menu.

  The first time you use the GoList database, you will have to tell the program where the GOWIN32.DLL file is located. For the program to work, all the GoList provided files have to be in the same directory, which does not have to be the same as the ADIFLookup directory, even though this is recommended (this is the way I tested the program).

• Version 0.3.2 introduces the QRZ XML Account mode. If you subscribe to the QRZ XML service, enter your login and password information using the Change QRZ Account Info menu. The XML access considerably speeds up the time to process a log, which is particularly helpful if you have large logs. When XML account information is not entered (or if it is expired), you can use the Sponsored mode (selected automatically when XML is not selected). This opens up a browser window showing the QRZ.com page while data is being retrieved.
• Version 0.3.9 replaces QRZ.com with HamQTH as the online database. It also offers the option to use HamLookup, which is my own online database, but is under development and not yet fully functional.

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  Program Options

  The program offers a number of options through the Preference and Error Log menus.

  Preference Menu

  • Use HamQTH: Use the HamQTH.com database. Note:Selecting this automatically turns off HamLookup
  • Use HamLookup: Use my own HamLookup Ham database (in development). Note: Selecting this automatically turns off HamQTH.
  • Use GoList: If you have a GoList subscription, the program can use the GoList database to create/update the QSL_VIA field from the result of a GoList query. Note: GoList can be selected independently of other options.
  • Use RDA Database (RU Hams): When this option is selected, the program will automatically attempt to collect RDA information from the dxsoft.com web site database. Note: this option can be selected independantly of other options.
  • Change HamQTH Account Info: Enter your login/password for HamQTH here.
  • Change HamLookup Info: In case the URL for HamLookup changes, enter the new URL here.
  • Automatically skip portable prefix for query: When selected, this option strips portable prefix or suffix from call signs before sending the query. The call sign is not changed in the ADIF file. Example: if a QSO is for KO4BB/6, or KO4BB/P, or FR/KO4BB, the callsign sent to the online database will be KO4BB.
  • Show Details: This option displays the Zone and Awards frame in the program window.
  • Load County: when selected, the program will add (or replace) county information in the output file.
  • Load Grid: when selected, this option will add (or replace) grid information in the output file.
  • Keep Name found in ADIF file: when selected, this option will keep the NAME field in the input file, if present.
  • Keep Address found in ADIF file: when selected, this option will keep the ADDRESS field in the input file, if present.
  • Ignore Case for Name and Address: when selected, this option will disregard case when checking for name and address matching.
  • Full Auto (silent): when selected, this option will turn off all warnings when you click on Auto. It has no effect in Manual mode.
  • Load County+Grid even when /P: when selected, this option will let the program use county and/or grid information for the HOME call from the database. By default, this is turned off, since when portable, county and grid of the home call are probably wrong. It is only enabled when you select Full Auto.
  • Leave County+State+Grid blank when /P: self explanatory.
  • Add Custom Field: This allows creating a new ADIF Field (select from "COMMENT", "CONTEST_ID", "SIG", "SIG_INFO", or "QSLMSG" which are the only ADIF fields I believe can be used for this purpose) and pre-fill it with contest information for instance for all the records processed by the program.
  • Do not import GU, PR or VI: this option (selected by default), when selected, prevents these states from being inserted in the output file. They do not count as States for the purpose of WAS, and therefore Logger32 generates an error when importing that information.
  • Create Master.dta Import: When checked (checked by default), this option causes the program to create a master.txt file in the program directory with the list of worked callsigns. This file is ready to import in your master.dta file using a program such as MEdit.
  • Location of Cache File: this menu lets you select the location of the cache file.
  • Turn off Caching: when selected, this option forces the program to go to the online database for each QSO, without looking in the cache first (for test purposes). Please note that the cache is always updated, even if it is not used to update the output file.
  • Clear Cache File: This clears the cache file, in case you want to start fresh. Please note that if you believe the cache may have wrong data in it, you can always temporarily turn caching off.
  • Keep Output Window Small: When processing large number of QSOs, the output window gets very large and that slows the program. It can even cause the program to crash if you are running Windows 95/98/Me. Use this flag to prevent crashing and make the program run faster.
  • Debug Mode: this selection causes the program to open more message boxes when an abnormal situation occurs.
    It is intended for troubleshooting and is more useful to me (KO4BB) than to the users.
  • Log "Not Found" Callsigns: When selected, the program creates a file with the callsigns that were not found in the online database. \ You may use that file to try and get information from other sources.

  Other notes

• Since this program was designed as an interface with Logger32, for the time being, support is via e-mail, and information about new releases and bugs is posted on the Logger32 group at http://groups.yahoo.com/hamlogger.
• I wrote this program for me and made it available because I saw postings telling me I was not the only who wanted that functionality. However, you the users are the beta team, so make sure you understand this is a work in progress. I always welcome constructive criticism.
• I strongly suggest you advertise HamQTH.com to your friends. This is a wonderful service that we all depend on and it is up to us to make sure it stays up.

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  Version information

  Version 0.3.12 (March 25, 2012)
  * Now works with output from N3FJP's VA State QSO Party Logging Program and others that use camel case for ADIF field names
  The program now outputs IOTA, CQZ, ITUZ and TEN_TEN fields
  The on-screen status indicates the operation in progress, not just "Receiving Data"

  Version 0.3.11 (March 23, 2012)
  * Error 5 with some ADIF files corrected, many small bugs fixed

  Version 0.3.10 (March 20, 2012)
  * City name not always pasted (HamQTH has two fields with city name potentially)

  Version 0.3.9 (March 20, 2012)
  * This version now supports the free HamQTH database. QRZ.com XML subscription mode no longer supported. If you use it, keep the old version.

  Version: 0.3.4 (November 11, 2009)
  * Attempt at fixing an error at program startup that I do not see here... Let me know if it fixes the problem, at a minimum, the program should no longer crash.

  Version: 0.3.3 (October 18, 2009)
  * Bug Fixes, you need this update!!!

  Version: 0.3.2 (September 27, 2009)
  * Added Sponsored mode and XML Subscription mode

  Version: 0.2.7 (August 30, 2009)
  * Changed QRZ Query to http://www.qrz.com/db/callsign

  Version 0.2.6 (July 7, 2009)
  * More bug fixes

  Version 0.2.4 (April 5, 2009)
  * Bug fixes

  Version 0.2.3 (April 2, 2009)
  * New parsing routine to accomodate QRZ.com new html format. There is a new Base install also, following a change by Microsoft to Internet Explorer that broke the browser functions. However, if the program works and you just want to upgrade, it should be sufficient to download just the exe.

  Version 0.2.2 (Nov 11, 2007)
  * Improved feedback when QRZ.com inaccessible, small improvements to menus and error handling.

  Version 0.2.0 (Oct 2, 2007)
  * New parsing routine to accomodate QRZ.com new html format