[Dx4win] DX4WIN Data Updater re-write and feature request

[Alan Zack]

Many many moons ago there was a side instruction on how to save your current QSL Manager list and addresses so that the updater would not overwrite them (well, it does overwrite them but you had an option to save them in a separate file). I did save these in a separate folder in case I needed to go back to whom I first sent a QSL to. I am still doing that but am not sure if I am doing it the most efficient and quickest way.

Alan K7ACZ


-----Original Message-----
From: DX4WIN [mailto:dx4win-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Jim Reisert AD1C
Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2016 8:16 AM
To: DX4WIN Reflector
Subject: [Dx4win] DX4WIN Data Updater re-write and feature request

Hi Folks,

I'm considering re-writing the DX4WIN Data Updater (porting from Perl to C/C++).  The main reason is to reduce the program (file) size from approx 5MB to something under 300KB (about 6% of the original size), as well as making it easier to debug.  I'll be cleaning up a lot of the code, and removing some features that I never finished or that never worked right.  I'll change it so that a failed download (like
eQSL) won't stop the update process to wait for user input before it can continue.  Plus, I can use a free compiler to build the program.

Is anyone using any of the following features in the Updater?  If not, then I will not implement them in the new version.

    http://dx4win.ad1c.us/updater/index.html#options

    –prompt : ask before updating each file

    –auto : run Updater Program without graphical interface

    keep-alive functionality.  I have never thought this worked very well,
        the VE7CC user program does a much better job of this.

I'm considering adding the options described at the URL above as some sort of configuration menu  that you can access from within the program, but that's a low-priority item right now.  Getting the existing functionality working again is most important.

Here is a screenshot of what the new Updater may look like, subject to change, of course.

    http://dx4win.ad1c.us/new_updater.png

I may have trouble supporting Windows XP, but Windows Vista and later should be fine.  If this is a deal-breaker for you, let me know.

If there are new features you want, please let me know and I'll try to implement them.  One new feature I want to add is a "Reset" button that removes all the downloaded files from the UPDATE directory.  This will force the Updater to download all the latest files if things get out-of-sync.

Support for ARRL National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) will be left in for the time being, but be disabled.  The framework I created (i.e.
sub-menus for Calendar and Membership Lists) is useful for adding similar features.

Please do not ask me when it will be ready.

73 - Jim AD1C

--
Jim Reisert AD1C, <jjreisert at alum.mit.edu>, http://www.ad1c.us ______________________________________________________________