[LOGic] QSL Printing... Looking for ideas...

[Peter Wetzig]

OK.

I guess I balance the hand sort after the cards are printed, against all
this effort to get a fully automatic sort working, remembering that the
coding etc needs to be carried forward with each version of Logic.

So, now you need to create userfields for each of these items not already in
the log.  Then you need to index the data on these fields BEFORE you print,
assuming you use ONE QSO per card or label.

Will VIA do for QSL manager?  I'm not sure how you work out "call area"
programmatically, but could be entered manually.

The pfx_info_demo report shows how to lookup info from the prefix file
during the report, but after the sort order has been determined. I use it to
lookup info on VIA during a report.  We can use the same technique here.

For each LOG form you can COPY to other fields values based on items in the
QSO.  It's a little bit "chicken and egg" ... place the managers call in the
VIA field, and when one tabs out of the CALL field, the values are populated
into the QSO.  

One has to use a two step process, hence a small program is needed.  One can
use a program wherever an "expression" is needed.

Use the COMMAND window.

MODIFY FILE MGRDXCC.PRG
Enter the following two lines
GETPREFIXINFO(log.VIA,log.QSO_DATE)
RETURN MAKE_TAG("MDXCC:",PREFIX.DXCC_PFX)
Close the window and in the COMMANDS window enter
COMPILE MGRDXCC.PRG

Then in the log form under LOG, SETUP, COPY from Prefix table, add a new
entry for USERFIELDS, MGRDXCC().

Now when you make an entry in the Log, complete the call field and the VIA
field for the manager.  After the VIA field is complete, return to the CALL
field and press TAB, the rest of the log form is completed as per the COPY
from Prefix table.  Do this with the USERFIELDS log form open to see how it
all works.

When you have all that together, you can create a new custom index in a
report using the Index TAB and using an expression like 
QSL Method / TAG_VAL("MDXCC:",USERFIELDS) /Call area (of manager) / call /
band / mode.

To try out this stuff on a copy of your LOGIC installation.  To do that,
copy your whole LOGIC directory and sub directories to a new directory on
your hard drive.  Then, make a shortcut, or double click on the LOGIC.EXE in
that directory.   That way you won't break your "production" system mucking
about with things like this.  When it works, make the same mods to your
production system.

Hope it all helps.

Peter



-----Original Message-----
From: mel martin [mailto:ve2dc at videotron.ca] 
Sent: Tuesday, 5 December 2006 9:26 PM
To: 'Peter Wetzig'; dh at hosenose.com
Subject: RE: [LOGic] QSL Printing... Looking for ideas...

Thanks for taking the time to reply in detail Peter...

However, it's not that complicated...

Reply to a few points...

English collating sequence is sufficient for QSLing...
Other programs do a better job in this regard than Logic... i.e. DX4Win...

The sort required for routing of cards via bureau or QSL service is quite
simple: QSL Method / DXCC (of manager) / Call area (of manager) / call /
band / mode... It's not perfect, but it's almost correct and requires very
little manual collating. It's not really necessary to sort by manager for
direct cards but it doesn't hurt. In most cases it's not necessary to sort
by method as one would normally batch print cards by method.

The tricky part, and where I need Dennis' help, is to extract DXCC of the
manager...

I actually think this would be sufficlently useful that it should be part of
the program and shouldn't require "tricks" or user programming. Compared to
the work done to enable custom QSL cards and such, this would be an almost
trivial undertaking.

Using a computer to print the cards then collating them by hand just
doeesn't make sense ;-)




> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peter Wetzig [mailto:pwetzig at bigpond.com] 
> Sent: December 5, 2006 04:45
> To: ve2dc at videotron.ca
> Subject: RE: [LOGic] QSL Printing... Looking for ideas...
> 
> 
> Hi Mel,
> 
> You have several questions here.
> 
> Card order.
> 
> I am in the similar position as you ... back to amateur radio 
> after and extended absence and I need to process a few 
> thousand QSL cards.
> 
> The short answer is that there is no "sort order" in Logic, 
> or any other software, that will sort the QSL output for your 
> cards in the order you want.  The closest you can get is 
> "DXCC" order, or "prefix" order, or "call" order, and each of 
> those is a simple a standard "alphabetical" sequence.
> 
> The fundamental problem is that we want to print several 
> thousand cards at once, in two separate sort orders, by call 
> and band, and this "special" QSL bureau order
> 
> After some analysis, I decided collation by hand of cards in 
> call order was simpler. My solution has been to limit the 
> cards/labels printed to a subset of QSOs, say all the JAs or 
> all for DXCC=W etc, using the filter in the report definition 
> dialogue, ... enough cards to justify sending them away. That 
> way, re-sequencing the cards a little is not too difficult.  
> Doing one set a month fits between my family commitments quite nicely.
> 
> Codes for QSL_Sent/Received.
> 
> You need to define a "user field".  See my notes from some 
> years ago on George K3GV'a web site - 
> http://www.qsl.net/k3gv/logictipsandtricks.html on pages 34 
> and following.  User fields and the details of using then 
> have changed a bit since those days, so a read of the current 
> Help files would be a good idea as well.  George's effort in 
> collating material about Logic have given us all a good 
> single source of information.
> 
> Remember, "blank" is also a value.  For example, ff the value 
> is blank it must have gone via the bureau, else if D, then it 
> went direct.
> 
> 
> The long answer concerns the "collating sequence" used by 
> software.  We humans call it "alphabetical" order ... but 
> whose alphabet ... there are quite a few to choose from when 
> all the languages around the world are considered.  The 
> collating sequence defines the order of single characters in 
> the alphabet, and all software includes these standard 
> ordering capabilities.  What we need is an order based on 
> seta of three or so characters, determined by a QSL bureau 
> somewhere ... Canada wants one order, USA another, VK WIA 
> another.  I know of no software that will do such a thing 
> without specific prior design work to accomplish the order.  
> Certainly Logic, straight out of the box, is not configured 
> to accomplish the order we want.  I know of no other logging, 
> or QSL printing software, that does this.
> 
> The need to have a different order for each QSL bureau or 
> service makes the problem almost intractable.  It makes "hand 
> sorting" groups of cards printed in "call" order look like a 
> simpler task.
> 
> I considered, and rejected, an idea of creating a copy of the 
> prefix table in Logic, and adding "sort" codes to the 
> prefixes needing a special order, and using a program lookup 
> of this code and including it as a "user field" in each QSO.
> 
> I considered, and also rejected, the idea of using the CSV 
> export facility in each report ... at the bottom left of the 
> report dialogue. I put all my cards through a Canon iX4000 
> printer, and print multiple QSOs per card, and multiple cards 
> per sheet.  Hence I need one sequence for the QSOs, which is 
> hard coded into the Logic "multiple QSO", QSL card reports, 
> and another sequence to actually print the cards in the order 
> for delivery to the QSL bureau.  I found that the Logic CSV 
> report export produces a text file with a line for every QSO 
> that was about to be printed in the report in the correct 
> order for multiple QSOs.  That really doesn't help much as 
> one would still need to process that file with a program that 
> included the special orders for each QSL bureau.  Again, hand 
> collation of groups of cards is a simpler option.
> 
> I added to the standard report design, and print on the backs 
> of all my cards.  I include some data for me, DXCC, PFX, 
> sequence number etc, in small pint on the back of the card.  
> That helps me in collating the cards by hand.
> 
> Peter VK4IU
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: logic-bounces at mailman.qth.net 
> [mailto:logic-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
> On Behalf Of mel martin
> Sent: Sunday, 3 December 2006 10:58 PM
> To: dh at hosenose.com; 'LOGic Reflector'
> Subject: [LOGic] QSL Printing... Looking for ideas...
> 
> Finally decided to catch up on my bureau printing... (4 years 
> overdue so cards will in the thousands) And Logic seems to be 
> missing some things one would need to do it efficiently...
> 
> 1. There has to be a way to indicate the QSL method. X,R,F 
> isn't sufficient. One would need at least the following... B 
> - Bureau, D - Direct, S - QSL service. Perhaps a separate 
> field that defaults as indicated in item 3.
> 
> 2. There needs to be a way to sort cards such that QSL 
> manager cards are in the correct sequence for managers... The 
> card should be sorted depending on the Bureau of the manager. 
> I'm not sure how to do this.
> 
> 3. If I accomplish item 1, I need a way to default to B if 
> there is an ARRL bureau and D if not.. I'm not sure how this 
> can be done...
> 
> What I want to do is print Bureau cards sorted correctly for 
> the QSL bureau... Which is an issue for the USA because the 
> call areas need to be together... Same in Canada... 
> VE2,VA2,CF2 before VA3,VE3,CF3 and only print Bureau cards. 
> Then print Direct cards by DXCC. And if one were using a QSL 
> service, they also should be sorted appropriately.
> 
> Does any of this make sense? Can it be done with a user field 
> or does the program need changes? Ors is there a method I 
> haven't discovered yet?
> 
> Thanks
> Mel...
> 
> VE2DC
> 
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