NOTE: if you are upgrading to version 9.0x, check out the
notes
here.
As some have found, upgrading from one version of DX4WIN to another can seem
like a daunting task. Normally, you install each new version of DX4WIN in its
own directory. The upgrade process does not automatically copy your personalized
preferences, log file, and other data.
Here is the text from the DX4WIN help file:
"We recommend that you install a new version of DX4WIN in the suggested
directory. This avoids problems when file formats have changed etc. For example,
new versions may change the format of the log files. A new version will always
be able to read the old format, but old versions cannot read the new format of a
log file!
"After installing the program in the suggested directory, follow these steps:
- Copy your old log files from the old save sub-directory to the new save
sub-directory.
- (Optional) Copy the dx4win.rep (report formats) and dx4win.tcp (Internet
addresses) files from the old save sub-directory to the new save sub-directory.
Version 6 has a new and expanded dx4win.tcp file, inspect this file first using
NotePad before you decide to overwrite that file.
- Create an INI file in the old version: File | Preferences| Write INI file.
Remember the file name and directory where you saved the INI file. Exit the
program again, and start the new version. When you start the new version, merge
the INI file, and most parameters will be carried over: File | Preferences |
Merge INI file. Make sure to check with File | Save As, that your log will be
saved in the correct directory.
- Inspect the station preferences and the award band/mode selections. You will
have most modes and bands enabled; select the bands and modes you are interested
in. (This is only an upgrade issue due to adding more modes and bands, the old
format of the INI could not be used for this. The new format will handle this
correctly for the future)
- The country database: You can copy your old country database (dx4win.cty) to
the new directory, or do a merge of your old database with the new database.
File | Databases | Merge country database. When merging a country database, you
can decide which data sections you want to merge. You will have to set your user
level to advanced for this command to be available. Merging a database has the
advantage that some data, such as new counties or IOTAs is available.
- If you created a shortcut to your old version of DX4WIN, make sure the
shortcut points to the new version. You will be using the old version otherwise.
"The file format of the log changes often as new versions are released.
You can always read older versions of the log, but the log will be saved in the
current format. Older versions of DX4WIN are not able to read the new format. If
you want to go back to an older format, export the log using the appropriate
DX4WIN filter and import that file in your old version."
Here are my personal notes on upgrading. I will state one very important
thing up-front:
After merging your .INI file settings and copying your log file, the
FIRST TIME you start the new version of DX4WIN, make sure that it
opened the log file from the NEW SAVE directory and not the
OLD one! Until you are sure, do NOT save
your log. I can't stress this point enough! In fact, if the new
version of DX4WIN automatically opens a log file, go to File | Open, locate the
file you copied into the NEW SAVE directory, and open it. When
there is a new major release of DX4WIN, the log format can change, and this
change is not backwards-compatible with older versions. If you were to open the
log file from the old SAVE directory with the new version, DX4WIN would convert
it to the new format, and when you save it, you would no longer be able to open
your old log file with your old version of DX4WIN! Once the new version has
learned the location of the new log file, however, this will be a moot point.
- If you are using firewall software, you may need to configure it to
accept Telnet connections from the new version of DX4WIN. This is a
different executable than the previous version.
- If you are upgrading within a major version (i.e. 7.03 to 7.04, or 8.01 to
8.03), copy your license (key) file. The key file is found in the DX4WIN (not
SAVE) directory, and should be based on your callsign, i.e.
dx4w703\KK4HD.key
or dx4w802\ON4AOI_lic.dx4w8. Copy the file to your new directory,
i.e.
dx4w704\KK4HD.key or dx4w803\ON4AOI_lic.dx4w8. Make sure
DX4WIN is not running when you do this!
If you are upgrading to a new major version (i.e. 6.0x to 7.0x, or 7.0x
to 8.0x), you will have to pay to upgrade. DX4WIN will only run in DEMO mode
until you do (can't save log, can't export, can't print).
- Merge your preferences. See the bullet above starting with, "Create an
INI file in the old version...". Some things that don't migrate include:
- Spot color preferences
- ICOM baud rate
- Summary windows open
In addition, if bands/modes are changed/added, they may become enabled by
default. So check the bands/modes in your Station preferences to see that
they still make sense for your station.
- Copy (don't move) the these files from old DX4W### directory to new
DX4W### directory:
- DX4WIN.MAS1 (master callsign database)
- DX4WIN.MAS2 (member list - only 8.0x and later)
- Copy (don't move) these files file from old SAVE directory to new SAVE
directory:
- <CALL>.DXL (your log)
- FULLLIST.XML (IOTA islands list)
- Other files to copy (not move) from old SAVE directory to new SAVE
directory (if you have custom versions):
- DX4WIN.AWD file (custom awards)
- DX4WIN.PRO file (CW prosigns)
- DX4WIN.PUT file (packet spots)
- DX4WIN.TCP file (telnet addresses for DX clusters)
- PORTMAP.INI file (serial port control)
- If you have created or customized any reports, copy/merge the .REP file
from the old SAVE directory into the new SAVE directory. Do NOT copy the
.REP file from an old version to a new (major) version, i.e. going from 7 to
8, as the format of the file often changes.
- If you have a custom radio (.RIG) file, copy it from the old RADIOS
directory the new one.
- If you had any QSO "Contest Mode" settings (i.e. Text to add to QSO
Note), these will not be merged, and must be re-entered by hand.
- Copy or merge the country file. The new version of DX4WIN may install a
newer country file than the one you are using, but it may not be the
latest. It's usually best
not to merge unless you really have to. It's better to send AD1C your
country file so he can merge your special exceptions into the master copy.
- Update the Award and
DX Cluster databases. The new version of
DX4WIN may install newer databases than the ones that you are using, but
they may not be the latest. You can use the
DX4WIN Data Updater to help you.
- If you are filtering packet spots by country, make sure the country
prefix(es) in the packet preferences match(es) the prefix(es) in the country
file. For example, some older country files used "W" as the prefix for
United States, but the current country file uses "K".
- If you use the F3 window to look up addresses, right-click in that
window and select "Automatic Update" if you used that setting in the
previous version.
DX4WIN 8.0x is a major update from earlier versions. You can see a list of
the changes here.
In addition to following the steps above, you should review the following
items to see if they affect you:
The following four items are ONE-TIME actions that will help populate the new
fields in your logbook:
- QSO | Multiple QSO Operations | Set Name and QTH
This will populate the Name and QTH fields in your logbook from the "Notes
for this call" field. The name and QTH is moved out of the "Notes for this
call" field and into the two new fields. Please read the on-line help for
this function to see exactly what DX4WIN will do.
Note that when adding QSOs with a station you have already worked, the Name
and QTH fields in the new QSO will be populated from the previous QSO. Like
the "Notes for this call" field, changing the Name or QTH in the new QSO
will affect all QSOs made with the same callsign, even those in the past.
- QSO | Multiple QSO Operations | Set Frequency
This will populate the Freq field in your logbook from the "Notes for this
QSO" field. The frequency is moved out of the "Notes for this QSO" field and
into the logbook Freq field. Please read the on-line help for this function
to see exactly what DX4WIN will do.
Note that if the QSO notes field shows a QSX frequency, i.e.:
7,002/7,010KHz
then the QSX frequency will be lost. I wrote a
utility to fix this. DX4WIN 8 does have the ability to automatically
record the QSX frequency in the "Notes for this QSO" field using the
"contest mode" settings in the QSO window.
- QSO | Multiple QSO Operations | Set Satellite Name/Mode
This will populate the Name and Mode fields for Satellite QSOs in your
logbook. This will only affect QSOs where the Band field is "Sat", and F8
filtering can help you here. For example, I can use an F8 filter to select
only the "Mode B" QSOs (70cm/2m) in my log and set the Satellite Name for
all those QSOs to "AO-7".
This is necessary if you want to export Satellite QSOs for ARRL's Logbook of
the World (LoTW).
- Set IOTA Island field for all IOTA QSOs.
You don't really need to do this until you submit credits for the IOTA
award. Once you have the submission list and have located all your QSLs, you
can update the IOTA Island field for those QSOs from the QSLs in hand. When
you generate the IOTA submission again, it will pick the
previously-submitted QSOs, and the Island names will be filled into the
form. You must have fulllist.xml in your SAVE directory to get the island
names. (see #6 below).
You should take care of these actions as well:
- Customize File | Preferences | Packet3 for the bands and modes
you operate. Note that if a band or mode is disabled in the preferences,
spots for that band or mode will still be displayed in the DX Spots window,
but they will be grayed-out.
- If you track the IOTA award, download the list of IOTA Islands from the
RSGB IOTA
web site and save it to your SAVE folder. This file is not distributed
with DX4WIN for legal reasons. See the program help (Windows and menus >
Main Window > Main Window: File > Main Window: File | Databases) for more
information.
- Create a Member List file. You can create this list yourself, or
download one
from the web. See the
on-line help or this
application note for more information.