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Text File | 1990-04-15 | 45.8 KB | 991 lines

AMATEUR RADIO STATION LOGBOOK 'BBS VERSION' USER MANUAL Before running the program, you should verify that you have a CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT file with the proper commands contained in them to setup the system for running an application as large as ARS LOGBOOK. CONFIG.SYS ---------- In order for the program to open all the required DOS files it needs, you must have enough file handles available for it to use. DOS tracks what files are open and who 'owns' them while they are open by using a feature called a 'file handle'. These are allocated by the 'FILES' command in the CONFIG.SYS file that is read by DOS at bootup. If the 'FILES' command is not found or if a CONFIG.SYS file is not found at bootup time, DOS defaults to a value of 8 for the number of file handles. Sine DOS requires 5 file handle to start with, this default will leave us only 3 to give to any application that is to be executed. ARS LOGBOOK can have as many as 12 files open at once, which is quite more than 3. If you do not have a CONFIG.SYS file or FILES is not set to a number large enough to supply all the required DOS file handles, runtime errors will occur and the program will crash. Set CONFIG.SYS to contain the following commands as a minimum: FILES = 25 BUFFERS = 15 AUTOEXEC.BAT ------------ The runtime modules from the compiler used for creating the LOG- BOOK program configures system memory somewhat different than we ac- tually need it to be. We can get around this minor discrepancy by set- ting a DOS variable in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file or by using the SET com- mand at the DOS PROMPT to set the variable before the program is started. This variable will do several things. First, it will limit the amount of memory reserved for program variables. This will save about 25k of memory overhead for other uses. Secondly, it will tell the program the maximum number of file handles to allocate for use from the remaining available handles (up to the maximum for the system). Last of all, it will tell program whether or not you are using expanded memory. More on this in a moment. The command line to be placed in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file (or typed in at the DOS prompt prior to program starting) is shown below. SET CLIPPER=v016;f25;e0 Do not add a space before or after the '=' in the command line above. Do not change the numbers associated with the 'v' or 'f' parameters in the command line. These are what they should be set to. If you are using expanded memory and would like the program to use some of it for indexing buffers and data processing (up to 1 Meg maximum), remove or change the 'e0' portion of the above command line. The minimum amount that 'e' can be is 16K or 016. Unless you are sure of your memory specifications, I suggest you leave this as 'e0'. Removing the 'e0' portion causes the program to check for expanded memory and use as much as possible, if found (up to 1 Meg). STARTUP COMMAND LINE SYNTAX --------------------------- The command to start the LOGBOOK v5.2 is simply LOG followed by the version number (52) followed by any desired command line switches ending with a carriage return. LOG52 [-C/-M][-O][-S] where values in [] are optional parameters and the values in {} are REQUIRED arguments for those optional parameters, if used. The follow- ing is a list of the command line switches and what they do. The switch character can be UPPER or lower case. -C : If present in command line, forces COLOR video at program startup. There is NO argument. Cannot be used with the '-M' switch. -M : If present in command line, forces MONO video at program startup. There is NO argument. Cannot be used with the '-C' switch. -O : If present in command line, skips the opening advertisement / title screen. There is NO argument. Can be used with any switch. -S : If present in command line, forces 'slow video' for video systems that exhibit flicker or snow during screen updates. There is NO argument. Can be used with any other switch. If you want to start the program using color video and without viewing the opening screen, you would enter the command line as 'LOG52 -O -C', where the -O and -C are switches described above. 'USER_LOG.CFG' - THE CONFIGURATION FILE --------------------------------------- When LOGBOOK is first started, a file called 'USER_LOG.CFG' is requested. From this file, the program configures itself. If it doesn't find the file, the user is prompted that there is no con- figuration file and to answer some questions concerning the system and personal data. These include: 1) Enter your CALLSIGN (appears on reports and labels). 2) LATITUDE (N/S position on globe). 3) LONGITUDE (E/W position on globe). 4) Enter the difference in hours between Local time and the Universal Time Coordinate (UTC or ZULU) time. This is sometimes referred to as 'Greenwich Mean Time'. 5) Select a PRINTER type from 7 common printers. 6) Select a DATE format from 5 date format types. 7) Select a QSL card label size and format (2 styles) 8) Select a default OPERATING MODE for QSO input data. 9) Assign a LABEL to a special data input field. Each of these will be touched on next. How much depends on the depth of the topic covered. CALLSIGN The callsign question is self explanatory. Enter you callsign (up to 16 characters) and press return. The data entered is saved and used by LOGBOOK to personalize printouts with the callsign in the header of the report and on QSL card labels. LATITUDE OF USER'S QTH The globe is divided into 18 slices horizontally. Each slice is equal to 10 degrees of the globe, with the equator being at 0. Going north (N) we increase by 10 degrees for each line of slice we cross. These lines of slicing are called latitudinal lines hence the word LATITUDE. The lines of latitude go from 0 degrees at the equator to 90 degrees at the north and south poles (physical poles, not magnetic poles - don't worry about it, its not important here). In LOGBOOK all latitudes ABOVE the equator to the NORTH are POSITIVE (+) numbers when entered. All latitudes BELOW the equator to the SOUTH are NEGATIVE (-) numbers when entered. THIS SIGNING OF NUMBERS IS IMPORTANT. If you live in KANSAS you should be at about 40 degrees NORTH (+) latitude, but if you enter a negative (-) 40 degrees that will place you about 1000 miles west of the coast of CHILE in the South Pacific Ocean. Maritime Mobile? Latitudes that are positive DO NOT need the (+) sign entered with them, all numbers are considered positive until signed(-) negative. Remember, if you live in the US, Canada, Alaska or Hawaii your LATITUDE will be (+) positive. LONGITUDE OF USER'S QTH The same slicing goes for north to south on the globe, except the shape is a wedge and the thickest part of the 'wedge' is at the equator. The globe is divided up into 36 wedges and each one is 10 de- grees wide. Each adjoining line between wedges is called a lon- gitudinal line. Again hence the name LONGITUDE. These are dividing lines of the globe and each line goes from the NORTH pole to SOUTH pole and back to the NORTH pole on the opposite side of the globe, with each line separated by 10 degrees of arc. The reference point to all this mess is at the 0 degree longitude, which runs thru Greenwich, England and is called the 'Prime Meridian'. The time at this spot on earth was considered the coordinate for all clocks, but it has moved to somewhere in France due to the slowing of the earth (who knows?). Anyway, all longitudes WEST of the Prime Meridian towards NORTH and SOUTH AMERICA, HAWAII, ALASKA and such all the way around to the in- ternational date line which is at 180 degrees longitude and located in the Pacific Ocean between Japan and Hawaii are considered POSITIVE (+) by LOGBOOK calculations. Going the other way from 0 degree longitude, we cross most of EUROPE and AFRICA, USSR, CHINA, JAPAN and out to sea to the international date line. These longitudes are considered NEGA- TIVE (-) by LOGBOOK. Again remember, if you live in the US, Canada, Alaska or Hawaii your LONGITUDE will be (+) positive. UTC TIME DIFFERENCE As stated before, the time at the 0 degree longitude is con- sidered the reference for all times of the world. This is called the Universal Time Coordinate (UTC) and sometimes referred to as ZULU time. Depending where upon the globe your local position is located, you are either later or earlier in time than the UTC time. Since the earth turns in a counterclockwise rotation, all areas to the east of the UTC zone have sunrise earlier (up to the international date line, at which zones are west of UTC). The opposite holds true for zones to the west. The sun rises later therefore the time is later. What this all boils down to is this. If you are located WEST of UTC (North and South America side) your time difference is NEGATIVE (-). If you are EAST of the UTC zone, your time difference is POSITIVE (+). The fol- lowing will help US amateurs calculate their time differences: UTC TIME DIFF (USA) EST CNT MNT PAC ALASKA HAWAII ------------------------------------- Standard Time (Winter) -5 -6 -7 -8 -8 to -11 -10 Daylight Savings (Summer) -4 -5 -6 -7 -7 to -10 -9 PRINTER TYPE SELECTION There are as many printers brands available today as there are car types. And some of the names even sound alike. Since I own a EPSON compatible (SIEKOSHA SP-1000A) at home and use the real thing, EPSON LQ2500 and LQ1500 and IBM Proprinter XL24 at work, I could test these printers out. And having owned a somewhat EPSON compatible before, I knew that issuing a SI or control-O (ASCII 15 decimal or 0F hex) to the printer would turn on the compressed print. I have setup LOGBOOK to work with 7 different configurations of printers based on my resources. No matter what printer you select, please note the following: IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT PRINTING ALL REPORTS, WHETHER TO DISK OR PRINTER, WHICH USE THE DEFAULT FORMAT, CONTAIN 132 COLUMNS AND ANY PRINTER INITIALIZATION STRINGS FOR THE PRINTER CURRENTLY SELECTED AT TIME OF REPORT GENERATION. The user can setup LOGBOOK to print in one of SEVEN ways. Option 1 below should be selected first if unsure of printer capabilities. Most current printers are EPSON compatible to the extent of turning on 132 columns print. IBM is not EPSON compatible in this sense. 1) EPSON or compatible printer in compressed mode. This mode will be selected for all EPSON-type printer with a 10" carriage and is op- tional for 15" carriages using 10" wide paper. 2) EPSON or compatible printer in regular 10pt PICA print. This will only fit on 15" carriage with wide paper or to disk as ASCII text if that option is selected. 3) GENERIC printer using control-O (SI or ESC SI) to set compressed print mode so all 132 columns will fit on a 10" carriage. 4) IBM Proprinter XL series in compressed mode. This mode will print 132 columns on 8.5" wide paper. Tested and works on an IBM Proprinter XL24. 5) C.ITOH 8510 in compressed print mode. I have not personally tested this but have been informed it works ok from other users. 6) OKIDATA MICROLINE 92 in compressed print mode. Here too, I have not personally tested this but have been informed it works ok from other users. 7) NO INIT - This mode sends NO initialization string to printer and issues no form feeds during print. There are 8 blank lines sent after end of report to clear the buffer and advance the page slightly. PLEASE NOTE - For the default printer format which uses the compressed print mode for all printers to get the data on to one (1) sheet wide of printout, you must select a compressed printer type for 8.5" wide paper or use the number 7 option of NO INIT and print to a 15" WIDE carriage printer or to ASCII textfile. Also if using a daisy wheel printer or one with a fixed pitch, you must have a minimum of 16 characters per inch pitch to use the built-in print driver routine. Any less will cause the printer to wrap around and make the report unreadable. If you are unable to print any reports due to special printer requirements, call or write KI6LO and ask what can be done to make it work for you. DATE FORMAT SELECTION There were quite a few requests to be able to change the date format to match DX (European) date styles. Well, as it so happens the compiler used allows 5 different date style to be used. So these have been incorporated these into a selection menu. They are as follows: Choose from one of these five formats +------------+------------+------------+------------+-----------+ | MM/DD/YY | DD/MM/YY | DD-MM-YY | DD.MM.YY | YY.MM.DD | +------------+------------+------------+------------+-----------+ Selection of one will make that style current in the config file and each time LOGBOOK is restarted, that will be the assigned style. The 'MM/DD/YY' is called the American Standard. It is the initial default. The rest are referred to as International 1,2,3 and 4 respectively. One point to mention is that the selected style will also print to the QSL card labels when that option is selected, or the user will have the option to select a generic word string for the date, i.e. 21 FEB 89, to be printed in place of the date style selected. More on this in the Printing QSL card labels section. QSL LABEL SIZE AND DATE FORMAT This option is selected in two parts. First you are present with a page of information that basically asks if you want to have a 5-line basic QSL data label or a 8-line label with the basic 5-lines and upto 3 more lines (40 characters each line) of comments to the station you are QSLing. You will select 'A' for 5-line or 'B' for 8-line. Size 'A' is default. Secondly you are give the choice of having the QSO date on the label read as selected in the previous option (see DATE FORMAT SELECTION) or have it read as a text string, in a format of 'DD MMM YY' - where 'DD is number 01 to 31, MMM is text of JAN, FEB, JUN, JUL, DEC, etc. and YY is the last 2 digits of the year (1989 = 89). ASSIGN A DEFAULT OPERATING MODE When the ADD QSO option is invoked, an entry form is opened for data input. There +------------+ is some data that is set to default values. | SSB | The operating mode is one of these. You can | DSB | select from the list shown to assign a | AM | default mode. This list is a collection of | FM | almost all legal modes for US amateurs in | NBFM | the frequency range covered by the program | PM | (1.5 Mhz to 999.999 Mhz). | CW | | RTTY | +-------------------------------------+ | AMTOR | | You would scroll through this | | PACKET | | list and select your most common | | SSTV | | operating mode. This value can | | FSTV | | be overridden at the input prompt +---->| ATV | | by pressing F6 (more on this) | | FAX | | and selecting a new mode from a | | WEFAX | | similar selection menu. Press ESC | | OSCAR | | to leave the default value blank. | | AMSAT | +-------------------------------------+ | EME | +------------+ THE SPECIAL USER-DEFINED DATA FIELD You have the option of using the default label for this field, which is 'MISC' or renaming it to the type of data you will be putting in it. For instance, if you are a county hunters, you might call it 'COUNTY'. If you were into collecting 10-10 numbers, then it might be '10-10#'. Whatever the use of the field is, you are limited to six (6) characters for the new label and this label will apply to all log files opened using the same configuration file. The data in the log files might be different (COUNTIES in one, 10-10#'s in another) but unless you update the label each time, it will say whatever you last assigned to it. If you suspect that you will want to use this field for different data in several logs, I would suggest you leave it as 'MISC' and make a note as to what type of data goes in each log else you may find yourself putting the wrong data in the log for several QSO's and have to go back and edit each one. The data can be text or numbers so if you are going to collect numerical data only such as 10-10 numbers, Russian Oblasts or any kind of number-only data, there is an option to index on the values of the numbers instead of the ASCII text of the number which is different. For example, in ASCII the number ZERO (0) is represented by 30 in hexadecimal and 45 in decimal, but in counting it is a zero (0). If we had 5 numbers, say 1, 100, 2, 200, 3 and we indexed on the ASCII value of these, the order would come out as shown (1,100,2,200,3) since the text value of 100 comes before 2 and so on. But if we select to index in the numerical value of these numbers instead of the ASCII value, the order changes. Now it is correct as numbers go, 1,2,3,100,200 and we could use this to make a list of worked 10-10 numbers that is easy to read. So if you are using this field to collect and list number- only data (a letter has a number value of zero), when asked how to index, as CHARACTERS or NUMBERS, answer numbers. But if you have mixed data, answer CHARACTERS. CHANGING THE USER'S PARAMETERS ONCE SET All parameters can be changed from within the program. There is no need to exit out of LOGBOOK to update the clock or change printer types. Select the LOGBOOK MAINTENANCE option on the MAIN MENU, then select the UPDATE USER PARAMETERS option on the sub-menu. The prompts are identical to the initial data setup pages presented at the first startup of LOGBOOK, with the only exception being ESCape now keeps the original parameters and drops to the printer setup page. The currently selected printer is indicated by the 'NOW ->' label. Pressing ESCape retains this printer or you can select a new printer type. The date style select menu is next and the current selection is also labeled with 'NOW ->'. ESCape leaves the date style as is or use the up/dn ar- rows and carriage return to select new style. If any updates occurred to the user parameters, if a new printer type was selected or the date style changed, LOGBOOK writes the new parameters to the configuration file and returns to the LOGBOOK MAINTENANCE sub-menu. IMPORTANT NOTICE : If either the LATITUDE or LONGITUDE of the user parameters is changed, the DX option is set so that the current data is invalid and must be reinitialized before you are allowed to access it. 'HOTKEYS' OPTIONS - FUNCTION KEYS AND WHAT THEY DO -------------------------------------------------- There are several options that are only reachable by pressing a 'hot-key' at the appropriate prompt. These help you in selecting values as input or call up a HELP file for you to view. Others set modes OFF if they are ON or vice versa. The keys and their usage are listed in the next few pages. I would suggest you read this section carefully. SYSTEM WIDE HOTKEYS ------------------- The following hotkey options are available a most prompts throughout the entire program structure. Any place they are disabled or not available is noted in that particular option's description. F1:HELP - CONTEXT SENSITIVE ON-LINE HELP At any menu or selection prompt (except DX prefix search - see F5 below), pressing 'F1' will call up a user help window. This window will tell the user what are valid choices, how to get out of the option, etc. F2:TONE - TONES TOGGLE LOGBOOK is setup with three (3) distinctive sounds or TONES. These are intended to alert the user to certain action or messages. ATTENTION - A simulated warble of 2 alternating tones is used whenever a message is displayed the user should be made aware of. This may be when printing a large log listing to the printer which may take awhile, this tone will sound at the end of LOGBOOK's portion of the print job, even though the printer's buffer may still be full or partially full. INPUT - A single 1000hz tone is used to signal the user LOGBOOK is awaiting user input. ERROR - A high-low 'moan' tone is used to draw the user attention to an error that has occurred or something was aborted prematurely. The 'F2' function key will toggle these tones OFF or ON, depend- ing on the last state. If ON, they are disabled. If OFF, they are enabled. Whenever F2 is pressed the NEW tone state is displayed in the upper left corner of the screen, as TONES ON or TONES OFF, for 2 seconds. This key may be used at any prompt, whether it's label is displayed or not. F3:KEYS - NAVIGATION/EDIT KEY USAGE Whenever the user is presented a menu to select from, pressing the 'F3' key will present a window of valid keystrokes for use in a menu. Whenever in an EDIT mode (other than menu), pressing 'F3' will list a page of navigation and edit keystrokes to use. The following list represents a summary of valid keystrokes for use in editing LOG- BOOK input data. ***** Navigation Keys Summary List ***** LEFTARROW - move cursor left one (1) character. Will NOT advance to previous field (if any). RIGHTARROW - move cursor right one (1) character. Advances to next field (if any) else perform selection. CONTROL-LEFTARROW - move cursor left one (1) word. CONTROL-RIGHTARROW - moves cursor right one (1) word. UPARROW - moves cursor to beginning of previous field. DOWNARROW or RETURN - selects data in field, moves to next. HOME / END - moves to start / end of current field. CONTROL-HOME - moves to beginning of first field of section. CONTROL-END - moves to beginning of last field of section. ***** Edit Keys Summary List ***** DEL - Delete character at cursor position. BACKSPACE - move cursor back on position and delete current character presently there. CONTROL-T - delete word right of cursor position. CONTROL-Y - delete from current cursor position to end of field. CONTROL-U - restore current field data to original value. INS - toggle INSERT mode on/off CONTROL-W or PGDN - finish current section input accepting data as is (note: you can use these interchangeable). RETURN - accept data in field and move cursor to beginning of next field. ESC - abort entering data and return any edited data to original value. (note: When entering NEW data, ESC causes all previous field(s) data to be deleted and NEW record is NOT entered into database. F4:TIME - DISPLAY TIME AND DATE +---------------------------------------------------------+ | SINCE THE UTC DATE/TIME ARE CALCULATED FROM THE LOCAL | | DATE/TIME, IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT THE LOCAL SYSTEM CLOCK | | BE SET CORRECTLY FOR UTC DATE/TIME TO BE CORRECT | +---------------------------------------------------------+ During initializing LOGBOOK, the user enters a UTC time difference, somewhere between 0 and +/-12 hours, in whole and closest 1/10 of the hour. LOGBOOK uses this offset to calculate the UTC time and date from the local time and date whenever the 'F4' key is pressed while at a input prompt or menu. Note that this is NOT a real time clock but a pseudo real time clock based on the hardware system clock. It is updated so fast that while it is in the loop running the 'clock' function you cannot see it run, only the screen updates as if it were a real clock, and it keeps time accurately too. The clock display will remain on-screen for 15 seconds when activated unless a key is pressed prior to 15 seconds. This key can also be used to update the QSO DATE and TIME field of the ADD function. When the ADD screen in first opened, LOGBOOK gets the current UTC time and date and stuffs them into the correct fields. If the user is delayed in entering data (tuning or waiting in the pileup), the time changes but not on the screen. Once data entry has started and the TIME field is reached, simply pressing F4 will up- date the time and date (if needed) to the current time and date. F5:PRFX - DX INFORMATION RETRIEVAL DX DATABASE MUST BE INITIALIZED FOR THIS TO WORK This key performs two functions of DX information retrieval. First, while at any prompt, field or menu (except COUNTRY field in ADD/EDIT entry form), pressing 'F5' will bring up a prompt at the bot- tom of the page asking you to enter a PREFIX for it to use as a search parameter. Pressing a RETURN alone aborts search and returns you to where you left off. Entering a prefix followed by RETURN will cause a window to open and a search for the prefix to begin. The HELP [F1] key is turned off during the F5 option prefix input because it interferes with the operation. If not found, an error message is shown and you are returned to the program. If found, the data from the prefix is displayed in the window. This is country name, CQ/ITU zones, continent, great circle bearing (GCBEAR) and longpath bearing (LPATH). You may use the UP/DOWN arrows to scroll from the found prefix or pressing ESCAPE key will return you to the program. If at the COUNTRY field in ADD / EDIT entry form, pressing 'F5' causes DXCC to search like above, except this time it uses the call entered in the first field as input. If a match is found, pressing RETURN when the data is in the window will cause the DX data (country name, CQ/ITU zones) to be transferred to the correct entry form fields. Pressing ESCAPE instead of RETURN will return you to the form without a data transfer. You may scroll the data as before to select another prefix before pressing RETURN or ESCAPE. With version 5.2, the DX INFORMATION database file has been ex- panded to hold more US call area prefixes for DX operators. The fol- lowing explanation of how to find a precise beam heading to a specific callarea prefix for a US state is of more importance to DX operators than it would be to stateside operators, but everyone should read the next few paragraphs. Since there are over 2500 possible prefix combinations for all US stateside callarea prefixes (AAA-ALZ, KAA-KZZ, NAA-NZZ, WAA-WZZ), I have decided to subset the major notation for these prefixes to less than 100. If someone types in all 2500+ prefixes, I would appreciate a copy of the database file to include for all future upgrades. The sub- set is included in the range of K0 through K9, with seperate entries for each state in the callarea. For US amateur callsigns, which start with 'A','K','N' and 'W', there is only one (1) set of data for all four letters and their combinations. Since all call areas can have each letter designator (A,K,N,W), I have included these under one letter. The letter 'K' was selected to be the US calls since it was close to middle of the alphabet. If the call you are looking for starts with a 'A', 'N' or 'W', you will be shown a generic fill record for that letter and ad- vised to look the prefix up under the 'K' set of records. To facilitate this need to jump from the 'A', 'N' or 'W' generic record to the 'K' set of records, a shortcut has been provided. If you find yourself being advised to look at the 'K' records, press the letter 'U' key on the keyboard. This will cause the record being displayed in the window to jump to the first record of the 'K' set, which is 'K0'. Since there can be many states per call area, each call area number has been broken down into states or areas of states if they are large (like Texas, California, Florida, Alaska). You may then find the desired prefix and state to find the most precise beam heading. Besides this change to the US call prefixes, the workings of this section is the same as before in previous versions. F6:MODE - MODE SELECTION OPTION When the cursor is at the MODE field of ADD or EDIT screens, pressing 'F6' will open a selection window allowing the user to scroll thru different operating modes. Use the UP/DOWN arrows to move the highlighted box to the correct mode and press return. Pressing ESCAPE returns without selecting mode. You may then type the mode in the field manually if desired. The reason for this is to present a stand- ardized spelling for all modes to enable the QUERY to find ALL the matching entries. Otherwise you might spell teletype "RTTY" or "RTY" and the query function would only find records with one of them. F8:DBF - DISPLAY CURRENT DATABASE FILE INFORMATION While the F8:DBF label is shown at the top of the screen, press- ing F8 will open a small window and show you the status of the cur- rently selected log file. The location of the file and the number of QSO's currently saved to it are shown as well as the name of the file and its index files. F10:DOS - BRANCH TO DOS Starting in LOGBOOK v5.0, if the target system has 640k RAM total and with a minimum of 70k RAM free after LOGBOOK is loaded, the user may branch to DOS temporarily to format a floppy, setup printer or some other small task, so long as no memory resident programs are not loaded or any memory altering programs run while in DOS. LOGBOOK will try and locate the DOS variable called COMSPEC (see your DOS manual), and if not located, will try and load C:\COMMAND.COM. If this file cannot be found, an error message is displayed. If LOGBOOK finds there is not enough memory to branch with, an error message is displayed and the user is returned to the Main Menu. Entering EXIT at the DOS prompt returns the user to LOGBOOK Main Menu from the DOS branch. SPECIAL HOTKEYS - CHANGES TO SYSTEM HOTKEYS FOR A GIVEN AREA ------------------------------------------------------------ The following hotkey options are available where indicated. These keys may be one of the system wide keys that has been reassigned for a given area or option. Others only work in certain areas of the program structure. Please note where each key is active to avoid confusion later. F2 - OPEN SELECTION WINDOW IN QUERY MODE This key also doubles as a option key when in the BUILD option for the QUERY menu. Whenever BUILD is selected, you are prompted to enter a field to search on. Pressing F2 here will open up a window showing all allowable fields for the type of query you are building. Once the field is selected you are asked to select the way in which the field will be examined for a match. Here again pressing F2 will open a selection window of possible choices. Once the build cycle is finished, the F2 key reverts to its job of TONE toggling. F3:FIND - FIND IN QUERY MODE VIEW WINDOW During the time the query viewing/browsing window is opened, if you press F3 you will be prompted 'What type of match do you want to find?'. You will select from the choices given and then an entry win- dow is opened for your find selection to be typed in. Once the query mode is exited or if an EDIT (see F6) is called, the F3 key returns to the KEYS page display mode when pressed. F6:EDIT - EDIT SELECTION DURING QUERY VIEW/BROWSE WINDOW When in the query view/browse window, pressing F6 will open the EDIT entry form and the current data from the record at the high- lighted box in the query window is shown in the edit form. This works the same for both LOG files and the DX INFO file. F7:DEL - DELETE IN THE QUERY VIEW/BROWSE WINDOW By moving the highlighted box to a record and pressing F7, the record can be 'tagged' for deletion. When a record has been tagged, a red warning label is shown at the top-center of the screen while the highlighted box is on that record. Pressing F7 again untags the record and removes the red warning label. If any records remain tagged when you attempt to close the view/browse window, you are prompted to remove them from the file or save them and untag, leaving as is in the file. Answer accordingly. Remember, once a record is removed from the file, the only way to put it back is to restore the entire database file or type it back in if you know the information. F8:CONF - CONFIRMING A QSO While in the query view/browse window, find a desired entry and place the highlighted box in a field in that record. Press F8 and that record will be marked as CONFIRMED and the 'Confirmed' field will be changed to 'Y'. If the record is marked confirmed by mistake, you can press F8 again and it will be marked 'UNCONFIRMED'. This eliminates the need to edit the record to fix a mistake caused by a wild finger. F9:LBL - PRINTING A SINGLE QSL LABEL While in the query view/browse window, find a desired entry and place the highlighted box in a field in that record. Press F9 and a label will be printed for that record. A test label option is supplied first so you can setup the printer, if needed. Once the label is printed, the 'QSLED_TO' field is update to show a 'Y' for having QSLed. You must send the card with the label attached. F10:VIEW - FULLY VIEW A SINGLE RECORD While in the query view/browse window, find a desired entry and place the highlighted box in a field in that record. Press F10 and a small quarter-size screen window is opened with all the data for that record displayed in it. This allows a quick full view of the entire record without having to scroll around in the view window. Press any key to return to the view window when finished with the full view. ALT-T key - TOGGLE THE AUTO DATE/TIME STAMPING DURING ADD QSO'S When the UPDATE LOG DATA menu is on-screen or whenever the data entry form is opened for ADD only (not active in EDIT mode), pressing the Alt-T key will toggle the state of the AUTO DATE/TIME stamping for QSO entries. The default state is ON, which means whenever the entry form is opened (or cycled after each SAVE DATA option answered with 'S'), the QSO DATE and TIME are set to the current UTC date and time. If you want to disable this feature for inputing old paper logs or such, press Alt-T. The DATE and TIME will be blank when the form is entered (if Alt-T pressed at UPDATE LOG menu) or on the next cycle of data entry (after current form is saved and new form is opened for next entry, if Alt-T pressed while in current entry form). Whenever the AUTO DATE and TIME stamping is toggled OFF, a warn- ing label ('AUTOTIME OFF') will appear at the right of the UPDATE LOG menu. Also, a warning label ('OFF') will appear between the DATE entry box and the TIME label on the entry form. The state of the toggle is system wide and will remain current till reset or program exit. ALT-U - TOGGLE CALLSIGN DUPING OPTION This option works in the same UPDATE LOG menu area as Alt-T does. The default state is ON, which allows the callsign to be duped in- stantly whenever it is entered and a return is pressed. Pressing Alt-U will toggle it OFF if it was ON and vice versa. Whenever it is OFF, a warning label ('DUPING OFF') is shown to the right of the UPDATE LOG menu below the AUTOTIME OFF label, if present. Also, the DUPING OFF warning label is shown to the right of the callsign entry box on the form when duping is off. When the DUPING is ON, the window shown below is opened in the lower right of the screen and you are shown the data from the dupe found. Note, this sample data is bogus. +-------------------------------------------+ | DUPE INFO FOR VK7/WB5UZU | |-------------------------------------------| | Date: 02/20/87 as (M/D/Y) Time: 0110 UTC | | Freq: 14.200 Mhz using Mode: SSB | | You sent a QSL: Y Report you SENT: 59 | | You recv a QSL: Y Report you RECV: 59 | | Name: JOHN City: HOBART | | State: NC Country: AUSTRALIA | | CQ: 30 ITU: 59 County: ---- | |---------------| Comments |----------------| | FIRST QSO WITH JOHN IN ALMOST 5 YRS | | QSL VIA W3ABC | | | | | +---- COPY THIS DATA TO NEW ENTRY (Y/N) ----+ ALT-F10 - COMMENTS DURING ADD / EDIT QSO ENTRY FORM The format of the window is shown here, and will appear centered on the screen when called by Alt-F10 during ADD or EDIT record operations. Comments window format +----------------------------------------------+ | COMMENTS - Enter up to 4 lines (160 CHARS) | | of text - Press F1 for EDIT KEY HELP | | +------------------------------------------+ | |1| You would input your comments in this |1| |2| window. Word wrapping is automatic and |2| |3| remember to limit comments to these four |3| |4| lines shown by the 1,2,3,4 on the sides. |4| | +------------------------------------------+ | +----------------------------------------------+ Anytime the entry form is opened for ADD or EDIT, pressing ALT- F10 will open a COMMENT window and allow up to 160 characters (4 lines at 40 characters each line) which can be whatever you desire. The only rule is that the text CANNOT contain any semicolons (;), or it will not format up correctly. Use a comma, dash or colon if needed. If more than 160 characters are entered and you try to exit the window, an er- ror message is displayed and you must press ESC to abort the COMMENTS entry or re-edit the text to limit it to 160 characters. If the text is less than 160 characters, the window is closed and you are returned to the field you were at when you pressed the ALT-F10 key. If more comments are needed, press the ALT-F10 key again and the window is reopened with the previous text shown. Press CONTROL-PGDN to move the cursor to the end of the current text, if needed, and enter more notes. The same rules apply as in the first time the window was opened. When the current entry form is saved, the notes in the COM- MENTS window memory location are saved as well. If the entry is aborted or canceled, the notes are discarded as well as the rest of the data. THE MAIN MENU SELECTIONS ------------------------ The MAIN MENU has 5 sub-level menus that can be called from it. These menus, in turn, either call other menus or call functions directly to allow you access to all aspects of the program. The fol- lowing is a simple block diagram to show how the main components of the menuing system are connected. +--------------+ | MAIN MENU | +------+-------+ | +-----------+------------+-----------+------------+ | | | | | +-----V-----+ | +------V-----+ | +-------V-----+ | QSO DATA | | | LOG REPORT | | | FILE | | UPDATE | | | PRINT | | | MAINTENANCE | | MENU 6| | | MENU 4| | | MENU 6| +-----------+ | +------------+ | +-------+-----+ | | | +---V-------+ +------V----+ | | RETRIEVE | | PREFIX 6| | | DATA FROM <---------+ UTILITIES | | | LOG MENU 7| | MAIN MENU | | +-----------+ +-----+-----+ | | | +-------V---+ +-----V-----+ | UPDATE 5| | UPDATE | | PREFIX | | USER DATA | | DATA MENU | | MENU 7| +-----------+ +-----------+ This menu layout does NOT show all options that can be called from the menus, only where other menus can be called. For instance, the PREFIX UTILITIES menu has 6 options but only 2 of them are sub- menus. The number of menu options is shown on the right side of the box for each menu. The program main menu screen is shown below: +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | KI6LO | | AMATEUR RADIO STATION LOGBOOK | | MAIN MENU | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | | | option ------> QSO DATA UPDATE MENU | | message RETRIEVE DATA FROM LOG | | for current LOG REPORT PRINT MENU | | option bar PREFIX UTILITIES MENU | | selection FILE MAINTENANCE MENU | | | EXIT LOGBOOK | | \____ | | \ | | ADD, EDIT, DELETE, CONFIRM AND SORT LOG ENTRIES | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ Remember, pressing F1 anywhere in the program will get HELP for you. END OF FILE --- BBS VERSION USER MANUAL