On 17/10/2018 20:51, David Fisher wrote:
I’m going to ask the unasked question:
Why are we doing this at all? LOTW and EQSL status are provided by
JTAlertX, and a simple, easy to use update mechanism is available for
that. It seems to me that having LOTW status in WSJT-X is an
unnecessary duplication of features, and one that is now causing
problems for the developers and users. None of the options listed
below are likely to work well for the average WSJT-X user. Ordinary
users messing about with DLLs is just asking for trouble.
Or,
Simply provide instructions on how to download and install a LOTW CSV
file if the user wants to use the feature. If the user doesn’t want
the feature, then simply don’t do it. It is very simple to download
the file using a browser. The user downloads the file, then runs
WSJT-X and points a dialog box to the file. The program copies the
file to the place it wants it and we’re done.
Note that JTAlertX has this working, and note that the program does
not do the updating. JTAlertX users get a notification that the LOTW
user list is out of date and are pointed to small installer, provided
by the developer, that has the updated file inside it. Also note that
DXLABS does essentially the same thing. When their copy of the LOTW
database is out of date, they provide an updated version as part of
their already well-oiled update mechanism. In all of these cases, the
program itself does not do the updating. There is probably a reason
for that.
Dave / NX6D
Hi Dave,
all reasonable points.
JTAlert is a currently a Windows only application which is of little
help to our many users on other platforms.
Nobody is being asked to "mess about with DLLs", I have already posted a
solution that simply requires another package installer to be downloaded
and run. Likewise it can be uninstalled if there are problems. This will
be added to the install instructions before the GA release of WSJT-X
v2.0.0, similarly to our recommendations to install an NTP Internet time
synchronization client for better time synchronization that that
provided by Windows itself.
Users can of course fetch the file from the ARRL web site themselves,
there is no compulsion to use the mechanism built into WSJT-X. If the
file is in the WSJT-X log file directory the application will not try to
download it.
Beta testers must expect a bit of headwind, things will be far smoother
for the late adopters.
Far better would be for the US to stop insisting that strong
cryptography was controllable by distribution restrictions. Then we
could freely include the necessary package within the WSJT-X installer.
73
Bill
G4WJS.
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