[Trlog] SBDVP - Arrrrrrrrg

[Jim Smith]

Here's my understanding of how TR and SBDVP work together as far as 
deciding which .dvp file to play.

First of all, you can change the names of any or all .dvp files stored 
in the various messages associated with the TR function keys (provided 
the filename follows DOS filenaming conventions.  Presumably the 
extension has to be DVP but I don't know that for a fact.)  It took me a 
long time to realize that there is nothing magical about the default 
.dvp file names placed in the message memories by TR.

The sbdvpcfg.dat file is a list of files which SBDVP will attempt to 
load into memory when SBDVP is started.  It doesn't matter what they are 
called or how they are sorted in the list.  If SBDVP finds a file 
matching one in the list, it will be loaded into memory.  I sort mine 
alphabetically.

Now, when you press a function key in TR which has a dvp file name 
associated with it, if that file has been loaded into memory by SBDVP it 
will play.  If it hasn't, it won't.



Here's something I haven't played around with enough to figure out how 
to do.  Maybe someone on the list has done it and can tell me how.

I'm a great believer in not having the same data in several different 
places as it makes change control very difficult.  i.e. if you change 
something, you don't want to be worrying about where other copies of the 
same item are that will also have to be changed.  So, this is what I 
want to do.

1.  Create a whole bunch of DVPs, appropriately named, and put them all 
in one directory under TRLog.  e.g. TRLog|_DVPs.  (The underscore makes 
the directory float up to the top of the list of directories under TR.)  

Some example names: GenCQF1.dvp (sends CQ Contest and my call), 
GenCQF2.dvp (sends CQ Contest and my call, but with different 
phonetics), ExCQ59BC.dvp (sends "Fifty-Nine BC" exchange when in Run 
mode), ExSP59BC.dvp (sends "Fifty-Nine Bravo Charlie" exchange when in 
S&P mode) etc.

2.  For a particular contest, running in it's own contest directory, 
create an SBDVPCGG.dat file containing only the names of those .dvp 
files in the _DVPs directory which I want to use in this contest.

3.  Program TR to associate the dvp files with the appropriate message 
memories.

4.  Have the dvp file play when I press it's associated function key.

I can do 1, 2 and 3 just fine.  4 doesn't happen.

I have tried including the full path for each file in the SBDVPCFG.dat 
list, setting the path in TR via DVP PATH = statement, as well as other 
things I don't remember.  Putting all the dvp files and SBDVP.exe and 
SBDVPCFG.dat all in the contest directory works, and it's always what I 
end up doing, but it defeats my desire to have all dvp files in the same 
place.  I think I've also tried adding appropriate path statements to 
autoexec.bat but not certain.

I was going to wait until I had this all documented before posing the 
question but it all came pouring out when I started answering this post.

73 and hope someone has the answer de Jim Smith    VE7FO


Pete Smith wrote:

> At 05:19 PM 3/12/03 -0600, Doug Freestone wrote:
>
>> I can't find a reference that identifies how TR (SBDVP) relates a 
>> filename in the SBDVPCFG file to a particular Function Key.
>> It seems that it simply handles the list of file names in the order 
>> they appear in the SBDVPCFG file.
>> Thus F1 plays the first file, F2 plays the second and so on.  If the 
>> strings "F1" or "F10" have meaning when embedded in a filename, I 
>> have never worried about it or depended on that functionality.  I 
>> always just used filenames that made sense to ~me~ and ordered them 
>> appropriately in the CFG file.
>