DriveR8Convert Utility User ManualDriveR8 Icon

A utilty program for use with the DriveR8 Control Program - © Nick Bailey 2017-2019

http://www.nick-bailey.co.uk/DriverR8Convert

You are requested to fully read this and any other documentation prior to installing and using the Program. 

In using the Program you are agreeing to accept all of the terms and conditions stated herein.

Manual Version 1.2.0.0 - 03 February 2019

Contents Index

Author and Copyright Information

Preface

Program Overview
Program Main Panel

Program Locale/Region Setting

Program Installation
Obtaining and Delivery
Driver Installation
Program Installation
Removal
Upgrade Process

Running / Program Startup

Controls and Functions
Title Bar
Menu Bar
About
Check for Program Update
Help
File Load

Using The Program

Program Suggestions, Recommendations and Bug Reports

Warranty, Liability and License Agreements

Recognised Trademarks, Proprietary Code and Copyrights

Author and Copyright Information

This program has been written by Nick Bailey and is his sole Copyright.

DriveR8Convert Utility Program © Nick Bailey 2017-2019

The Program is currently Freeware (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeware) and operates with no function limitations.  The author reserves the right to change the program status and limitations on any future release.  Existing releases will retain their status and your right to use them but support may not be available.

This document may mention DriveR8Convert, DriveR8Convert Program, DriveR8Convert Utility or DriveR8Convert Utility Program . They are the one and the same and are to be read, understood and respected as being so and thus covered by the Copyright, Warranty, Liability and License Agreements detailed here and in Section/Chapter 7.0 of this document.

The creator of this program asserts that the appearance of the user interface screens is a work art and therefore attracts Copyright protection under EU law.

My website can be found at http://www.nick-bailey.co.uk and for this program at http://www.nick-bailey.co.uk/DriveR8Convert

My contact Email address is:

DriveR8
@
nick-bailey
.
co
.
uk
 
I apologise for munging my Email address but as we all know SPAM is a major problem and keeping my DriveR8 email address free of spam will help us all. 

Preface

Welcome to the DriveR8Convert Utility is specifically designed as a general purpose program for converting CSV data files into DriveR8 Control Program format data files.
 
Please read this manual in conjunction with your scanner's Owner's User Manual. 

Program Overview

The program is a standalone portable application that only requires Microsoft Windows and the Microsoft .NET  V3.5 platform to be installed.
 
The User Interface design has been created to give maximum and easy control from a single Main Control Panel form.  Use of  other forms/panels has been limited to confirmation dialogs, error messages, options, file management and other items not frequently used. 

HELP - All control groups, keys, buttons and displays have "Mouse Over" help prompts.  The Menu Help function will display some simple help.  Please refer to the DriveR8Convert-Manual.html for more detailed information.
 
The main panel controls are grouped together into the following main logical function groups:
  1. Source CSV File
  2. DriveR8 Output File
  3. Alinco Model T/E Select
  4. Select CSV Field Separator character
  5. Select Decimal Point character
  6. Select CSV Profile
  7. CSV File Data Information Location
  8. DriveR8 Target Location
  9. Create DriveR8 Data Format File
The Menu Bar has the following functions:

Program Main Panel

 
DriveR8Convert Main Panel

Program Locale/Region Setting

This program is designed to run in en-GB locale mode.
 
You DO NOT need to change your system's Region and Language settings to use this program.  You will however have to use either the Full Stop/Dot/Period ( "." - ASCII decimal 46) or a Comma ("," - ASCII decimal 44) as the decimal mark/separator character in your CSV frequency data input file.
 
The program allows you to choose both your CSV field separation characters ("," or ";") and your decimal point character ("." or ",").
 
The output file created is in DriveR8Control Program's native format where the frequency decimal point will be the Full Stop/Dot/Period ( "." - ASCII decimal 46) character.

Program Installation

The program is written as a portable application requiring no installation program.   As long as you have Windows and the .NET  V3.5 framework installed then getting the program up and running is simple

Obtaining and Delivery

The program can be obtained from my web site http://www.nick-bailey.co.uk/DriveR8Convert.  Here you will find program information, download link and MD5 checksum information so you can validate the integrity of your download.
 
The download will usually consist of a single ZIP file for the program and associated files.

Program Installation

To install theDriveR8Convert Program is very straight forward.  You will have received DriveR8Convert in either a ZIP file or as separate files.  The program has no specific install program and does not make registry changes.

Just follow these simple steps.
  1. Create a directory of your own choice on your PC.  It is suggested to give this directory a name like 'DriveR8Control Program' for easy recognition
  2. Un-ZIP / copy the program files to the directory you have just created
  3. Read the DriveR8Convert-ReadMe.txt and DriveR8Convert-History.txt files.  They have important information 
  4. It is suggested to create a short cut to the DriveR8Convert.exe file on your desktop or elsewhere
  5. Optional/Suggested - backup the original distribution file(s) to a safe location
  6. Read the DriveR8Convert-Manual.html file to familiarise yourself with the program
NOTE! It is suggested that you do not place the program in a system directory like Program Files (x86) or Program Files etc, as these directories require Administrator privileges and you will encounter file write errors unless you force the program to Run As Administrator which is not recommended for security reasons.

Removal 

The DriverR8Convert Program can be simply and fully un-installed at any time.

CAUTION!  The following steps will completely remove DriveR8Convert Program and all your associated data.   If you want to keep any data files you have created then you should move/copy these files to another directory first.
  1. Delete the folder you created and all the files therein   
  2. Delete the short cut you created (if any)

Upgrade Process

Upgrading to a later version of DriveR8Convert is simple and straight forward.  Upgrading will retain your important configuration files.  Following all the steps of this procedure will also give you a backup version(s) of the program to revert to should you wish or need to.

Warning!  The program will either create or use any existing configuration files it needs.  These files are:
Other files that contain your personal saved data / settings not be overwritten by the installation process as they are not shipped with the DriveR8 Control Program.  You are however strongly advised to back these files up for your own protection, together with any of your own user files you have created.

To upgrade follow these simple steps:
  1. Locate your current installation folder
  2. Create a new sub folder named Vn.n.n.n corresponding to the version number of your currently installed version, e.g. V1.0.0.9
  3. Copy ALL the contents of the current installation folder into the new backup Vn.n.n.n sub folder you just created
  4. Un-ZIP / copy the new program release files to the current installation folder and OVERWRITE/REPLACE the existing files
  5. Read the DriveR8Convert-ReadMe.txt and DriveR8Convert-History.txt files.  They contain important information
  6. Read the DriveR8Convert-Manual.html for help or details on any new functions that may have been added
If there are any release specific files or instructions then you will be notified of these on the web site prior to downloading the program.

Running / Program Startup

Running the program is a simple matter of invoking the DriveR8Convert.exe file.  This can be done via a Windows shortcut link or by using the Windows 'run' command.

Controls and Functions

As already mentioned the Main Control Panel contains all the essential controls and functions in one easy to understand and navigate layout.  Controls and Functions are grouped in containing titled and outlined defined areas.

Title Bar

The program title bar displays the following information:

Menu Bar

The menu bar is similar to any Windows menu bar.  Here you will find:

About

About provides the following:
About will display program Name, Version, Copyright and Author information together with Warranty, Liability and License Terms and Conditions and other information.

Check for Program Update

If you press this button then the program will check your version against the latest official full version on the DriveR8Convert website.  The response will look as follows:

Depending on the version you have you will see one of the following messages:
  1. "You have the latest version so no update is required."
  2. "Your version is NOT up to date.  V1.n.n.n is now AVAILABLE!"
  3. "Your version is later than the official version.  No update available."
The above image shows that we have a version later then the official version.  If you see/have this condition then it means that you are running a "special" patch or test version of the program.
 
Please Note!  For both the manual and automatic program update checks no data (other than the update information) is download or installed to your PC.  If you want the updated version of the program then you must go and fetch it yourself.

Help

This will display some brief help information.  Besides this help you will also find that all control groups, keys, buttons and displays have "Mouse Over" help prompts.  For more detailed information please refere to open the  DriveR8Convert User Manual.

Using the Program

This is a simple utility program that can read CSV files and create DriveR8 Control Program data files.
 
The program has mouse over hover help information for all controls and input fields.
 
This is a simple and sequential process and the controls/fields will be enabled in sequence guiding you through the process.
 
The process has the following steps:
 
1) Select your Alinco model version.  This will default to "T" or the model version you last used.  This will set the valid frequency range allowed for the selected model verion.
 
2) Select your CSV file field separator character.  This will default to a COMMA or the last character you used.
 
3) Select your decimal point character.  This will default to a POINTor the last character you used.
 
4) Use the 'File' Menu Item to open a chosen CSV file.  The 'Source CSV File' field will display the full file specification.  In addition the 'DriveR8 Output File' field will display the path and name of the output file to be created.  You can change this.  Note!  If you have not already selected a 'CSV Profile' then the source file will be opened/displayed in your computer's default program for CSV files so you can see on which line/row the first proper CSV data entry starts and in which columns the various data fields are located.
 
5) Select a 'CSV Profile' (if you have one stored) or use the 'Row' and 'Column' drop-down selections to select the appropriate values for the CSV file format you have.  If your input file has a missing tag name, frequency or modulation data then select column 00. In addition you must select the correct 'Frequency Format Form.
 
6) If you are not using a saved CSV profile then you can choose to save the data you have justed entered as a new profile.  Up to 50 profiles can be saved.
 
7) Select a 'Target Location' for the data to be stored in the scanner.  You can do by 'Bank' and 'Bank Channel' or by absolute 'Channel' number.
 
8) Press the 'Create DriveR8 Data Format File' button.  During the create process the data is validated and any errors encountered will be displayed along with the action taken by the program.
 
9) The created file can now be loaded into the DriveR8 Control Program via that program's 'Load Scanner Settings' menu item.
 
As mentioned above the program will check for data errors during the conversion process.  Those errors found will be indicated along with the action taken by the program.  Some examples are:  Any Tag/Alpha name this is too long will be truncated, an incorrect frequency will be changed to 1.0000MHz, an invalid modulation will be changed to USB, etc.  Please carefully check all errors and correct as appropriate.

NOTE! Blank / empty lines in the source CSV file will be treated as a channel delete.  If you DO NOT WANT any channel to be deleted then please ensure there are no blank / empty lines in your CSV file ESPECIALLY at the end of the file. 

Program Suggestions, Recommendations and Bug Reports

I welcome any suggestions, recommendations or bug reports.  These should be sent to:

DriveR8
@
nick-bailey
.
co
.
uk

I apologise for munging my Email address but as we all know SPAM is a major problem and keeping my DriveR8 email address free of spam will help us all.

I can not guarantee to fix or implement what you report/suggest but what I can say is that this DriveR8Convert and DriveR8 Control programs would not be what they are today without the feedback, suggestions and bug reports that I have received.

Warranty, Liability and License Agreements

The DriveR8Convert Program is hereunto referred to as the 'Program'.

In using the Program you are agreeing to accept all of the terms and conditions stated herein.

The Program is currently Freeware (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeware) and operates with some time limited functions.  The author reserves the right to change the program status and limitations on any future release.  Existing releases will retain their status and your right to use them but support may not be available.

The Program is supplied 'ASIS' and the author neither accepts, implies nor offers any warranty, liability or any other responsibility for any damages, loss or other claim of any type in respect of this Program, its usage or consequence of its usage.

**You use it at your own risk**.

The Program has no guarantee of support or implied right to support.

The Program is the sole Copyright of the author and all rights are reserved.   The author's Copyright is restricted to those files containing 'DriveR8Convert' in their name and any other file clearly written by the author.  The Copyright includes the intended operation, design and function of the Program.   The Program may require other runtime files to function and the Copyright of these files belongs to their respective owners/authors.

The creator of this Program asserts that the appearance of the user interface screens is/are a work of art and therefore attracts Copyright protection under EU law.

You may not disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise interfere with any of the Program executable files.

You may not use this Program for any illegal or unlawful purpose.

You may not sell, rent or otherwise charge for this Program.
 
The preferred availability and distribution of the Program is from the authors website to which you and others should refer to. 

You may however freely distribute the Program but must do so entirely free of charge, save for any reasonable charge in respect of any physical media used in its distribution.  All electronic or other non physical media distribution must be free of all charges.  You may not alter, modify, remove, or in any way change any of the files that comprise the DriveR8Convert Program Package as released by the author.  You may add your own text or other information files but these must be clearly identifiable as yours, added by you and in such a manner that they do not in any way form part of the DriveR8Convert Program or could easily be considered to be part of the DriveR8Convert Program.  Neither must they infringe the Copyrights of any author, person or organisation and must not contain offensive, illegal or other illicit material.

Should you believe that your version of the Program package has been subject to any infringement of the above conditions then please contact the author immediately providing as much information as possible.

Prior to release, the author has to his satisfaction checked that the Program is free of any Virus or other potentially destructive software/code, but this is not guaranteed. 

Before using the Program you are advised to Virus check the version of the Program you have prior to using it.  The author's Website may also carry MD5 checksums for the critical files.  You are advised to verify these as well.

You are requested to fully read this and any other documentation prior to installing and using the Program.  In using the Program you are agreeing to accept all of the terms and conditions stated herein.

The author hopes that you find DriveR8Convert Program both easy to use, reliable and of assistance to you and your Uniden Scanner.  He may be contacted at his Email address and would certainly like to hear of any bugs, criticism, suggestions etc. that you may have.

Please remember.  The Program is supplied 'ASIS' and you use it at your own risk.

Recognised Trademarks, Proprietary Code and Copyrights

Visual Basic, Windows, Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1,10, .NET are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.

Other Trademarks may be mentioned in this document and the author acknowledges them.