DX4WIN

App. Note 14

Adding a New Entity

Updated: 07 January 2008

This is the procedure to add a new entity in DX4WIN. Of course, you could just wait until Jim AD1C releases the updated country file.

Making a Backup

Before making any changes to your country file, it is best to make a backup copy of both your country file and your logbook. This way, if there are any errors, you can restore the previous versions of these files and try again.

Both of the files you need to save can be found in your DX4W###\SAVE directory:

DX4WIN.CTY
<yourcall>.DXL

Exit DX4WIN, then copy both files to a safe place, preferably somewhere other than your hard drive (i.e. a floppy or USB device).

It is also useful to print out your DXCC status report (Reports -> DXCC -> Summary, then right-click and print) as a quick way to check your modified country file for errors.

Collecting the Data

You will need to obtain the following information for the new entity:

• Prefix
• Country name
• CQ Zone
• Start date (if applicable)
• End date (if applicable)
• UTC Offset from local time
• IOTA (if applicable, this should be the most common or likely IOTA group for the entity)
• ITU Zone
• Continent
• Latitude and Longitude (decimal degrees)

Often you can copy most of the information from a nearby entity that already exists, for example using the data from KH8, American Samoa as the basis for KH8/S, Swains Island. Two good sources for geographical information are:

• CIA World Factbook
• Wikipedia

Creating the New Entity

First, make sure you logbook is closed. DX4WIN will not allow you to edit the country database if the log is open.

Note that when filling in the form(s) below, you must use the same Date format that you have selected in your DX4WIN preferences:

mm/dd/yyyy
dd/mm/yyyy
yyyy-mm-dd

Now from the main DX4WIN window, go to File -> Databases -> Countries and you should see the following window appear:

In the Country Editor window, click on Country -> Add and a form for the new entity will appear:

Fill in the data that you collected above. You must fill in the "Prefix", "Country name" and "Continent" fields, which are prefilled as shown above. Note that "Zone" refers to the CQ Zone. Here is the result of creating the new entity FJ, Saint Barthelemy:

Once you have confirmed that the data you entered is correct, save the new entity using Country -> Update:

Mapping Prefixes and/or Callsigns

Next, you must "teach" DX4WIN how to map prefixes and callsigns to the new entity. This is done through the "Mappings" (prefix) or "Callsigns" (callsigns) tabs in the Country Editor.

To map a prefix to the entity, click on the "Mappings" tab, and the window will look like this:

To add a new mapping, click on Mappings -> Add and a form will appear:

Under the Mapping column, enter the prefix you want to map. In the Start date column, enter the starting date for the prefix mapping (usually matches the DXCC entity start date). When you are done it should look like this:

To save this mapping, click on Mappings -> Update:

It's possible that the prefix you just assigned was used by another entity in the past. The easiest way to determine this is to to find the new entity you just created. Using Country -> Find, type in the name of the entity until it appears highlighted in the list:

Then type Enter and the entry for FJ in the Country Editor will appear. Now click on the Mappings tab again. You might see something like this:

Note that there are now two mappings for FJ. The first one in light gray shows that FJ is mapped to the entity whose prefix is FS. The second mapping is the one you just added. Since the first (light gray) mapping does not have an end date, there will be a conflict. You can see this when checking for errors (see the next section below).The light gray entry means it's associated with a different DXCC entity than the one you are currently working on, so you will need to go to that DXCC entity to fix it.

Using Country -> Find, type in the name of the other entity (in this case, Saint Martin) until it appears highlighted in the list:

Then type Enter and the entry for FS in the Country Editor will appear. Now click on the Mappings tab again. You might see something like this:

Modify the FJ prefix mapping to add an end date. The end date is actually the first day that the prefix is NOT mapped, in this case, the start date for FJ, or 14 December 2007. Then Mappings -> Update to save the modified mappings:

Checking for Errors

When you think you have finished making the changes, and have saved all your work, you must check for errors using File -> Check for Errors. You may see a window that looks like this:

If there are no errors, then the window will look like this:

You must fix all errors until you see the window above.

Saving your Work

Once you are satisfied with the changes, and there are no errors, save the country file changes by using File -> Save Changes and Exit in the Country Editor:

This next step is critically important.  You must exit DX4WIN completely and restart the program. If you do not do this, there exists the possibility for logbook data corruption!

After restarting DX4WIN, you should be able to re-open your logbook. Create a DXCC Summary Report (Reports -> DXCC -> Summary) and compare it to the report you made/printed before making the country file changes. The number in the "Available" row under the "Totals" column should have increased by one, but the other numbers should be the same (highlighted below):

If they are not, then something went wrong, and you'll have to do a little investigating to find out what went wrong.