John, I cannot reproduce any of what you say. Manually setting/unsetting the checkboxes in Award, Select, etc.. fields works exactly as it should by coloring or uncoloring the field. So, don't really know what else to say about it.
Jack ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Pelham" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 6:31 PM Subject: [Dxbase] Manual entry to the DXCC checkbox in the Award fielddoesn't work > Well it's been over a week and I'm surprised to have still no response > to my DXbase issue (see original e-mail below); not even a response from > Jack. Well maybe not so surprised - my problem is kinda complex and > weird. Unfortunately this e-mail is even longer and filled with even > more details. I don't know how to explain this complicated problem > without the details. > > ---- > But first, let me just say that I have found the answer to my question > about the colorization of the Award field. I don't believe it's > anywhere in the help file (it should be) but I finally found the "what's > new" lists (or, "Release Notes") for the recent annual versions of > DXbase. They're hard to find on the DXbase Web site but I persevered. >>From the release notes for DXbase 2005: > > "33. The VALID field in the QSO log is now color coded red if the field > is marked as not valid. The Award, Select, and Flags fields are color > coded green if a selection has been made in the field. This color coding > is also used in the Previous QSO dialog." > ---- > > Now, on to my real issue: The Award field, and its coloration, doesn't > work right for manual data entry. It works fine when the DXCC checkbox > in the Award field is checked by DXbase during the paper DXCC submission > process, but not when I, the user, tries to check the boxes by hand for, > in my case, an LOTW submission. In the past week since sending my > original mail, two things enabled me to test for this problem really > well: I have a second PC with DXbase on it, and I have a complete > DXbase directory backup, made on Jan. 13, the day before I started my > LOTW work that first exposed the problem to me. > > I have been able to copy my "virgin" Jan. 13 DXbase directory onto this > second computer any number of times, each time trying something new and > different to try to learn more about the problem or fix it. The problem > also exists on the second PC, and is fully repeatable there. > > I'll describe in detail my most recent set of tests, starting with a > fresh copy of my Jan. 13 DXbase directory on my second PC: > > First, I ran and printed the report dxcccredited.rpt, which lists all > the QSOs in my log that have the DXCC box checked in the Award field. > Then I chose a subset of nine random QSOs from my LOTW submission, and > manually checked these DXCC boxes in the Award field of my QSO log. As > usual, a random sampling (this time it was 6 out of the 9) of the QSOs > already had their DXCC box checked when I first found them with the > Previous QSOs dialog. Just to make sure it wasn't some kind of weird > display problem, I minimized everything and then restored the DXbase > app, forcing it to re-paint its pixels. Same thing - the DXCC box > appeared truly checked in all of the 6 cases. I checked my printout of > the dxcccredited report -- none of the QSOs were in it, so none should > have already had their DXCC box already checked. > > After manually checking the DXCC check box for all 9 QSOs in the sample, > I re-ran the dxcccredited report to check that all the manual DXCC box > checking I had just done had been successful. It wasn't. As usual, > some but not all of the QSOs now appeared in the report (this time > through, _only one_ of the nine QSOs "stuck"), indicating that, some of > the time, the database hadn't been updated when I checked the > checkboxes. > > So, now I decided to go through my sample of nine LOTW QSOs again, this > time manually checking and unchecking the DXCC box several times, just > to see what happened, possibly to increase my "stick" rate. A new run > of the dxcccredited report showed that now four additional QSOs had > "stuck." Added to the one that stuck the first time means that after > all this effort and checking, I managed to successfully change my QSO > database for only five out of the nine QSOs in my sample. > > This is bad - something's wrong with manual entry to the DXCC checkbox > in the Award field. It seems to be very broken. > > To recap: > - Manually checking the DXCC box in the Award field doesn't stick; that > is, it appears to get written to the database but it really isn't. If I > go through my list of LOTW submissions, manually checking DXCC > checkboxes, I can go back to ones I just did a few seconds or minutes > previously, and a few aren't checked anymore. Which QSOs exhibit this > behavior appears to be random. > - Only some, not all, of the records with the DXCC box checked in the > Award field are colored green. Which QSO records exhibit this behavior > appears to be random. > - Sometimes (but not all the time), if I click on a non-green Award > field, it immediately turns green and the DXCC box in it is suddenly > already checked. This happens without me actually checking the box with > my mouse. Just clicking on the field to get the drop-down list does it. > Which QSOs exhibit this behavior appears to be random. > - Once in a while I get the "CQWAZ..." (see my original message below) > error message when merely finding QSOs with the Previous QSOs database. > Which QSOs produce this error seems to be random. > - Using the DXB Utility's Repair function on my QSO database doesn't > change any of the above behavior. > - Using the DXB Utility's Compact Database function on my QSO database > doesn't change any of the above behavior. > - Restarting DXbase, and/or rebooting the PC, and/or initializing tables > doesn't change any of the above behavior. > - Using a copy of DXbase installed on a second computer doesn't change > any of the above behavior. > > > In the past, the DXCC checkbox in the Award field has gotten checked > automatically, by DXbase when preparing a paper award submission. I was > never aware of any errors or strange behavior with this field before. > My first LOTW submission has caused my to try to use this checkbox > manually for the first time. I think DXbase may have a bug in this > functionality. I'm hoping this is just a bug with manual data entry > into this field, not a data integrity problem with my QSO log. > > 73, > W1JA > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "John Pelham" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, January 14, 2007 5:24 PM > Subject: [Dxbase] Dazed and confused about green fields, and more > > >> Today I, for the first time, made a DXCC application (for >> endorsements) using LOTW QSLs. I'm having trouble getting DXbase to >> cooperate in this process. >> >> I submitted the application using the LOTW Web site. LOTW gave me a >> list of the 42 QSLs it chose for the award category endorsements I >> applied for (mixed, CW, phone, 160M, 80M, 40M, 10M). My idea was that >> then I would go to DXbase and check the DXCC box in the AWARD field >> for each of these QSLs. This is where my problems began. >> >> 1. Some of the AWARD fields are colored green. What does this mean? >> I vaguely recall reading that this is a feature, added maybe a year or >> two ago, that indicates at a glance if the QSO record has been used >> for a (DXCC?) award. But I'm not sure. I couldn't find any >> information on the coloration of this field. I checked in Help, under >> Logging | QSO Log Field Description | Award -- no mention of colors. >> I also searched Help for the word 'green' - no luck. >> >> I'm having a problem with this field. I noticed that sometimes when >> the DXCC checkbox is checked, the field is green, and sometimes it's >> not. If it's checked but not green, and I click the field to open the >> drop-down list, it turns green. But if I go back later to check >> again, it's usually not green anymore even though the box is still >> checked. >> >> Anyway, I dutifully checked the DXCC Award checkbox for all 42 Q's >> that I just used for my LOTW DXCC endorsement application. Later, I >> went back to DXbase to spot check it, and I find that eight of the >> boxes are still not checked. There's no way I missed checking eight. >> I was very careful. Somehow the checking didn't stick. Most (but not >> all) of the Award fields are also not green when I first look at them. >> They turn green as soon as I click on the field to show the drop-down >> list if the DXCC checkbox is still checked, or they turn green as soon >> as I check the box if it has become unchecked and I need to check it >> again. But they don't stay green, and as I said it appears some of >> the boxes don't stay checked. >> >> 2. Even more weird: When I was initially finding (using the Previous >> QSOs dialog) each of the 42 QSOs to check the DXCC box, I noticed that >> some of the DXCC Award boxes were already checked as soon as I clicked >> to get the drop-down list! I don't understand how this can be, as >> these QSOs were all confirmed only with LOTW and this was my first >> award application. None had been used for DXCC credit before, and the >> LOTW Web site confirmed such. (I started to think that maybe after I >> had been checking a few DXCC boxes, that some super-smart DXbase code >> was "knowing" that I wanted to check the box and was doing it for me >> as soon as I clicked the Award field? Somehow I don't believe this >> one.) >> >> 3. One some (about 10 out of the 42) QSO records, as soon as I found >> the record with the Previous QSO dialog, I'd get an error message that >> said "The record <> could not be found in the CQWAZ numeric Statistic >> Table. Updates to this table will now be aborted. Correct your >> database and Initialize Tables when repaired." I dismissed this error >> message and proceeded normally since I had no idea what it meant. A >> quick glance at each record didn't show any problems, like with its CQ >> zone for example. The second time through, when I had to go back to >> find the eight DXCC award checkboxes that didn't stay checked, I only >> got two of these error messages. >> >> So, to summarize my issues: >> 1. What does a green Award field mean? In any case, mine aren't green >> consistently. >> 2. Checking the DXCC Award check box doesn't seem to "stick" in many >> cases. >> 3. I get the CQWAZ Table error when finding some QSOs with the >> Previous QSOs dialog. >> >> I should add that I initialized tables, and restarted DXbase twice >> during the time I was checking the 42 award checkboxes. The problems >> persisted throughout the whole process. >> >> Yours dazed, frustrated and confused, >> John, W1JA >> >> >> John Pelham >> E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Web site: http://www.radiophile.com >> ______________________________________________________________ >> Dxbase mailing list >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/dxbase >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> Post: mailto:[email protected] > > ______________________________________________________________ > Dxbase mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/dxbase > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] >
