[MacLoggerContest] MacLoggerDX Contest panel

[Rich Seifert]

At 10:03 AM -0500 11/1/09, Don Agro wrote:

>We have had a few requests for changes to the 

>Contest Panel and would like to invite you to 

>share your experiences/frustrations with the 

>Contest Panel and Contest Helper in actual 

>contests.

>

>David Ferrington (M0XDF) has generously 

>volunteered to moderate this discussion and to 

>pass on the results so that they can be 

>implemented in the next release of MacLoggerDX 

>V5.

>

>David is an avid contester has been a Ham since 

>2003 and passed his Advanced in the U.K. in 2006.

>

>Any suggestions/complaints regarding the Contest 

>panel of the Contest Helper are welcome.

>


OK, here's what I think is probably my biggest 
"wish" with respect to MLDX contesting. If there 
was a way for users to create a contest template, 
the application would naturally grow to support a 
myriad of contests, large and small.

The "Template Editor" would have to be relatively 
simple to use, i.e., more like a scripting 
language than writing code. The user should be 
able to define at least three things:

-The fields in the contest exchange (syntax)

-The range of valid values (and defaults) for 
each of those fields (i.e., context checking), and

-How pressing certain keys (e.g., space, Return, 
Tab) cause the cursor to navigate around the 
fields.

There is no particular need to try to "force fit" 
the contest database into the standard database 
layout used for everyday logging. Export can be 
to Cabrillo, or if that is too 
limiting/cumbersome, at least to a tab or 
comma-delimited file. From that, one can 
manipulate the data into whatever format is 
needed for log submission.

The problem, of course, is support when things 
don't work. Since the contest templates would be 
user-generated, they would also be subject to the 
errors and flaws common to non-professional 
software. That said, over time the more 
widely-used templates would become more stable 
and reliable, and the oddballs would fall by the 
wayside (a Darwinian approach).


Once the template syntax and semantics are 
defined, one could then define various real-time 
"contest parameters" calculated from the 
database, e.g., multipliers, run-rates, etc.

At some point, though, you have to draw the line 
and say "this is not a full-blown contest logger; 
if you want all that stuff, then this isn't the 
program for you. This is why I regard the 
"templating" as a much higher value-item than the 
"real-time scores."

Still thinking Š

Rich, KE1B
-- 

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Rich Seifert                    Networks and Communications Consulting
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