[CQ-Contest] Competing in the Daylight [was:UBN/Log disclosure...]

[David Robbins K1TTT]

You can schedule tasks in windows down to every minute if you want.  That is
what I used to use to copy the text score file that n1mmlogger can generate
to my web server... now I just use n1mm to put it on there directly, though
you could only do that if your web server is on your local network.  

With the new log journal file being added to n1mm you could process that
file directly to generate statistics.  but I would still advise against real
time publishing of actual logged contacts.


David Robbins K1TTT
e-mail: mailto:k1ttt at arrl.net
web: http://www.k1ttt.net
AR-Cluster node: 145.69MHz or telnet://dxc.k1ttt.net
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:cq-contest-
> bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Doug Smith W9WI
> Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 15:29
> To: cq-contest
> Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Competing in the Daylight [was:UBN/Log
> disclosure...]
> 
> On Sun, 2005-10-09 at 20:50, fhdez at vox-tel.com wrote:
> > IM in for CQWW, what do I have to do to have my score live?
> 
> Depending on your level of computer experience it may not be a trivial
> exercise<grin>.
> 
> I used the N1MM program for this contest.  N1MM Logger logs QSOs in a
> table of an Microsoft Access2000 database.
> 
> My hamshack computer is on a LAN with (among others) a Linux computer in
> the den.  The Linux machine is attached to the modem I use for Internet
> access.  (I'm too cheap to spend $50/mo. for a cable modem<grin>)
> 
> I installed the "mdb-tools" package on the Linux box.
> http://mdbtools.sourceforge.net/  Among other things, this package
> includes a program "mdb-export" which will export a table in an Access
> database to a text file.
> 
> I wrote a program (in Perl) that calls mdb-export on the N1MM log table,
> then parses the resulting text file, collects the desired statistics,
> and outputs them as a HTML (Web) file.
> 
> I then used the Linux "cron" utility to trigger my Perl program once a
> minute, and FTP the Web file to the Earthlink web server.
> 
> Don't forget to put a "<HTTP META REFRESH..." tag in your HTML file,
> otherwise the file on the webserver will keep updating but the users
> will never see the updates...
> ==========================================================
> If your setup is different...
> 
> - First, you need to be able to access your log on a computer that can
> run a conversion program during the contest.  If you're using a DOS
> contest program (CT, NA, TR) this may be a problem.  You may have to run
> your contest program under Windows 95 or 98.  (in a phone/RTTY contest
> newer versions of Windows will probably work)  Maybe you could use the
> RS-232 multiop networking function to get the log data into another
> computer for conversion?
> 
> If you're using a Windows contest program then Ethernet networking will
> do nicely.
> 
> - Next, you need to be able to convert the logfile to HTML.  mdb-tools
> only exists for Unix.  (maybe cygwin will allow it to run on Windows?)
> Probably the *easy* way to handle the conversion is with Microsoft
> Access2000 and a VBA program, or with Visual BASIC 6 or better.
> Unfortunately both options are rather expensive.  Once you figure out
> how to parse your log file the rest is pretty easy.
> 
> - Then, you need to send the logfile to a web server.  Windows comes
> with a command-line FTP program that's more-or-less similar to the one
> that comes with Linux distributions, and it'll do nicely.
> 
> - Finally, you need to have some way of triggering the whole process on
> a regular basis.  Linux comes with "cron".  Windows 2000 and XP (maybe
> older versions too?) includes a "Scheduled Tasks" function -- but it
> won't work.  Because you can't schedule a task any more often than
> *daily*.  Ports of "cron" for Windows are available.  Or, I suppose, you
> could run a timer within your conversion program.
> 
> --
> Doug Smith W9WI
> Pleasant View (Nashville), TN  EM66
> http://www.w9wi.com
> 
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