NEW ADIF version and troubles
Posted: 29 Jul 2013, 15:49
I usually don't complain against standards, but the new ADIF 3.0.4 will create a lot of troubles, due some not retro-compatible changes adopted in the format.
The removal of the "V" status from QSL, that was a BIG error in the first appearance (it's a nonsense having an award specific field in the QSL RECEIVED status that is not related to any award, but it's an objective fact), will now create more troubles because a lot of logic has been made on that field for award management and statistics.
The new "MODE/SUBMODE" fields will change logics in one of the 5 KEY FIELDS of every QSO (the unique identifiers of every QSO are: CALL, DATE, TIME, MODE, BAND) adding troubles in managing duplicates and opening doors to database logical corruptions.
Old software will be cutted away by those changes. Log4OM will try to respect his nature and will (probably, if technically possible) provide an export in older ADIF format.
At the end of all, converting existing Log4OM informations to new data structure will probably force Log4OM users to trash their logs and re-import from ADIF for a full database fix. I will work to avoid this solution, but it's probably the best way to act.
It's my opinion that ADIF format evolution is at a dead end. The format is old, hard to extend, difficult to parse and the only occasion the ADIF group had to move to something better was to move the ADIF text structure in a plain, not hierarchical, not structured XML file...
The removal of the "V" status from QSL, that was a BIG error in the first appearance (it's a nonsense having an award specific field in the QSL RECEIVED status that is not related to any award, but it's an objective fact), will now create more troubles because a lot of logic has been made on that field for award management and statistics.
The new "MODE/SUBMODE" fields will change logics in one of the 5 KEY FIELDS of every QSO (the unique identifiers of every QSO are: CALL, DATE, TIME, MODE, BAND) adding troubles in managing duplicates and opening doors to database logical corruptions.
Old software will be cutted away by those changes. Log4OM will try to respect his nature and will (probably, if technically possible) provide an export in older ADIF format.
At the end of all, converting existing Log4OM informations to new data structure will probably force Log4OM users to trash their logs and re-import from ADIF for a full database fix. I will work to avoid this solution, but it's probably the best way to act.
It's my opinion that ADIF format evolution is at a dead end. The format is old, hard to extend, difficult to parse and the only occasion the ADIF group had to move to something better was to move the ADIF text structure in a plain, not hierarchical, not structured XML file...