Hi All,
Clearly a lot more Vista / Win 7 machines are making it to Field Day than ever before.? Kim and I are already being inundated with questions from folks who aren't used to those operating systems and are having trouble finding their submission files.
Finding Log / ADIF Files in Vista and Win 7
First, users are reporting our software will run fine on Vista and Win 7, as long as you install and run it with Administrator privileges.? If you are running Vista or Win 7 and aren't running it with Administrator privileges, you might have trouble with some of the program functions and you will likely have trouble finding your submission and ADIF files.
If you are not running the software with Administrator privileges In Vista and Windows 7, after navigating to the program directory where you saved the file you created, you must click on Compatibility Files to see the file.? Vista and Windows 7 actually store the files in a “Virtual Store” under the AppData store in your user folder. Fortunately, you don’t need to hunt around for the files, just turn on “Compatibility Files” in Explorer. When you browse to a folder that has these hidden files, you’ll see a Compatibility Files toolbar button. Clicking it will show the virtual files for that folder. Keep in mind, though, that the files won’t show up in Open and Save dialogs.
Here is a YouTube video that another user created to show how to find the files and where the Compatibility tab is located:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wriLnpzqop4
If you ARE running with Administrator privileges, the above steps shouldn't be necessary.
If you
know others who aren't on these e-mail groups and you anticipate they
might have trouble finding their files, please forward this information
along to them.
Maybe a New Field Day Rewrite for Next Year!
I've had text up on the FAQ page for a few years now (included below), explaining the impact of Microsoft's decision to discontinue VB6, the magnitude of effort to entirely rewrite 50 programs from scratch in a brand new language and my personal time constraints, prohibiting that for now.? Lord willing, I'm still aiming for retirement from my "real" job in 2017 and I'm looking forward to diving in full force then, but my son is getting married this fall and I'm hoping afterwards, that will open up a little more coding time in the coming months.? With that in mind, I am going to try really hard to have a new Field Day program, coded from scratch, that should avoid these file location problems and other quirks with the new operating systems, for Field Day 2012.
If I can accomplish that, I will be able to use some of the same sections of new code as I repopulate my N3FJP Software Package with .NET versions, that will hopefully come a little more quickly from there.? This is still a HUGE effort, especially with the magnitude of support questions we answer daily that sap time and energy, which used to be directed towards coding.? I did something similar the first time around with VB6 and it took 7-8 years of very serious effort to write the 50 programs in the package, when support didn't require nearly as much of us as it does now.? But, as my dad liked to say, "a job begun is half done".
From the FAQ page:
For those interested, here is the text from the FAQ page, which is now a couple years old:
What follows is a summary of where we are regarding program changes, the addition of new programs and/or features, etc., from the FAQ page at www.n3fjp.com:
You've been at this a long time!? What are your future plans for N3FJP Software?
N3FJP Software has gone through some amazing changes since I first started back in 1997.? There are lots of great things that I never foresaw when I first began, such as how popular the software would become, how large the package would grow to be, all the features that I eventually added, etc.? I also never foresaw many of the challenges, such as how much time would be required in daily e-mail support (time I used to be able to devote to programming), the huge problem Microsoft would present in choosing to discontinue to support the VB6 development environment, interfacing with on line data storage such as Log Book of the World, QRZ, etc., and the constant rule changes that would accompany many of the smaller contests.? I naively thought I could answer an occasional question or two and then spend the majority of my time writing new programs and adding features.
Prior to the release of Vista and Windows 7, there was a lot of uncertainty about whether programs written in VB6 would run on these operating systems. Thankfully, Microsoft decided to support VB6 programs and so far we've received lots of good reports from users running Vista and Windows 7. There isn't any certainty, however, that VB6 programs will run on future operating systems. That sequence of events, along with many other life considerations, helped Kimberly and me to realize that we had reached a crossroads with our software.
We considered a lot of different factors, but in reality, our only two paths are either to stay with VB6 and hope that Microsoft continues to support VB6 programs (as mentioned above, they've already discontinued support for the VB6 development environment), or commit the time to rewrite approximately 50 programs in the new VB.NET language that Microsoft is promoting for the future. I've been learning VB.NET (it is quite a bit different than VB6), I like it, but the rewrite time would be very extensive.
It took approximately 8 years to write the 50 programs in the package. In addition, since the .NET programs will perform the same functions currently available now, and it still isn't confirmed that Microsoft will drop support of programs written in VB6 with the next operating system, a multi-year rewrite time commitment could wind up to be largely a wasted effort.? On the other hand, the fear that VB6 programs may be rendered obsolete with the next operating system can't be ignored.? There is no sense continuing to develop programs in VB6 if they may not run on future operating systems.
The decisions for the software come back to time. I did start a VB.NET rewrite, but it quickly became apparent that right now, with my "real" job, wife, two boys, all the support time that N3FJP software now takes along with other family and life commitments, there just isn't time to do the rewrite. Lord willing, I should be able to retire from my "real" job in 2017 - 2018. In the mean time, Chris and Bradley will have finished college and probably not be nearly as interested in hanging with their dad as they are now. When that time comes, if there is still interest in N3FJP Software and circumstances warrant the very large effort that a rewrite will require, I should have plenty of opportunity to devote to the software.? Hopefully Windows 7 will get us most of the way there.
?So, with that all being said, and again Lord willing, here is the current plan and thinking for N3FJP Software:
For the next few years:
- The overall package will probably stay pretty much as it is now, with programs written in VB6.
- Any additional programs will be rare. If any are added, they will be focused on contests that are well established and similar to an existing program.
- Enhancements to existing programs will be infrequent and determined largely by the coding and testing time required.
- Contests requiring significant coding changes as a result of rule changes will probably be dropped from the package.
-? State QSO parties have been particularly problematic with their frequent rule changes.? Even minor rule revisions often require significant time in coding, recompilation of the software, etc.? For that reason, by and large, there will no longer be any updates to the state QSO parties.? If the rules are changed they will be dropped from the package.
-? Current features that are "broken" through external causes such as new Telnet formats, changes in interfaces to on line connectivity, etc., may be dropped from the functionality of the software.
?Longer Term:
?- If / when it becomes clear that rewriting the programs in VB.NET will be necessary to run on a future operating system AND if life circumstances afford the time and point in that direction, I plan and look forward to doing the rewrite.?
?In Summary:
Kimberly and I have a big chunk of our lives wrapped up in N3FJP Software.? I've thoroughly enjoyed Amateur Radio, I love coding and the marriage of the two passions made this project a labor of love.? I have thoroughly enjoyed this journey.
Over time though, as much as we enjoy helping folks, answering the same e-mail questions over and over daily has become strictly labor.? Because support requires so much of us, I no longer have that time available to spend actually coding, which is the part I enjoy most.?? Microsoft thew us a HUGE curve with their lack of support for their own VB6 product - essentially forcing thousands of hours of additional labor from us to continue to be able to run our software on future operating systems.? Unfortunately, not foreseeing what was ahead, our pricing strategy of only charging $6 once for most programs and free upgrades forever doesn't support the effort this is requiring now, much less what the rewrite would require.
My hope is that once I am able to retire, Lord willing, in 2017 - 2018, having the responsibilities of my "real" job removed and the time demands of my family reduced, I'll be able to again dive in with the labor of love motivation and bring the software back to the state of the art at that time.? I still love coding and I'm really looking forward to being able to do more of that in the future!? In the mean time, I plan to continue to keep my software available on pretty much an "as is" basis.
Enjoy the rest of Field Day!
73, Scott
N3FJP
http://www.n3fjp.com/
Serving the Amateur Radio Community with contesting and general logging software since 1997.
