* On 2012 29 Feb 11:30 -0600, Paula Keezer wrote: > Nate, I thought I would share some thoughts with you on the logistics > of building a logging program, contest or or otherwise.
Hi Paula. > As the author of the very first windows based logging program back in > 1989 (logview, rigview, hamview and packview) I can tell you that > developing and keeping a logging program alive is a daunting task. I > was able to maintain it until 1997 when y2k became an issue and the > amount of effort for one individual to keep up with the changing > demands of the community was simply to much. It was written in C and > was one of the better offerings for both general logging and contest > logging for its time. Which is why I'm trying to guage the interest in collaboration before giving up on this idea completely. > Over the years I've looked at a number of contemporary programs that > are feature rich to see if I could contribute and provide some of my > expertise gained with 8 years of log program experience. > Unfortunately, they all use rather difficult or under powered > development environments. N1MM for instance, is a dedicated Win > platform and to work on that code one would have to make a heavy > investment in the latest win dev platform. IMO, sticking with GNU tools and wxWidgets means the financial barrier to entry is $0 and each is available for all popular platforms. Some may argue that there exists no IDE for Linux. Perhaps so (although there are several that make the claim), but I consider my entire desktop to be the IDE. ;-) > I've thought at length about how an open source solution might be > constructed that could attract a large number of Hamix developers. As > Martin, AA6E pointed out, it would be very important to split the > effort into two projects: A frontend project and a backend project. > Ideally, the frontend project would welcome anyone who wished to make > a logging/shackcontrol/cluster user interface to participate using the > language/development and perhaps even computing platform of their > choice. The backend for logging/dxcc/prefix/callpartial databases, > rigcontrol/rotatorcontrol/antennaswitch and cluster/telnet/packet/web > should be in the form of services, preferably communicated through > tcpip sockets or even better, a web api. Ideally this code should be > fast, but if a standard socket or web api were used, it could be built > in virtually any language and on top of any db platform and still be > compatible. Whew! Rig control is covered by Hamlib. But really, I didn't plan for this project to cover any more ground than CT which I'm most familiar with. To me that means maintaining a contest log and nothing more than Cabrillo and ADIF export (let the other apps deal with LoTW/eQSL uploads/tracking and the like). Things like cluster/bandmap support and multiop stuff is long term. My idea is to specify contests using a definition file for each event and from that the program configures the entry/display fields and scoring. As I see it, if done smartly the program doesn't need much rewriting as contest rules change. > I think an open source effort like this, where new comers can easily > participate and add value to a growing body of code, would be an long > term winner. > > I think the challenge is in defining the back end services so that all > the features and functions could be easily extended while preserving > backward compatibility and keeping it open so new developers can step > in and fill in gags as time moves forward. The front end becomes an > open field where anyone with a little programming knowledge and access > to open source tools can build a new look and feel for the community. Perhaps I see that as a bit too heavy of a solution? There have been a few false starts of something comprehensive on the various ham radio+Linux mailing lists over the years that have come to nothing. I'm looking more in the direction of "do one thing and do it well". BTW, I now have a mailing list at: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ctestlogger-developer Later I'll upload my personal Git repository where interested parties can take a look. The project page is at: https://sourceforge.net/projects/ctestlogger/ I chose SourceForge as I'm familiar with it and they offer a Media Wiki and PHP BB, both of which I've enabled. Thanks for writing. 73, de Nate >> -- "The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears this is true." Ham radio, Linux, bikes, and more: http://www.n0nb.us -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/20120229194402.gd8...@n0nb.us
