One second after you enter a Target Callsign, Pathfinder consults a built-in prefix table to determine the associated DXCC country. If Pathfinder knows of a web-accessible callbook for this country, it presents a dynamic search button directly beneath the Target Callsign textbox.
As illustrated in the Screen Shot [68KB], Pathfinder labels the dynamic search button with the country's DXCC prefix and the letters "CB," an abbreviation for "callbook."
Clicking on the dynamic search button or striking the insert key invokes the the country-specific search. Note that some of these country-specific callbooks are databases, some are simple lists of callsigns that you must manually peruse, and some are hybrids. The Australian callbook, for example, is a database whose entries contain the operator's name, rendered as a hyperlink that navigates to the operator's address.
Dynamic Search is the automatic selection of a search based on the Target Callsign's DXCC country. This enables Pathfinder to query the 30+ country-specific callsign databases and callsign listings presently accessible via the web.
Searches Subfolder
The installation of Pathfinder 3.0 creates a subfolder named Searches within Pathfinder's application folder, and populates this subfolder with several QSL database searches as well as country-specific callbook searches.
You can replace Pathfinder's 12 built-in searches with any of these new searches by using the Load button on the Search Modification dialog box; click here for further instructions.
QSL Database Searches
Site URL DB0SDX http://www.asp-profi.de/projects/hamradio/qsl/default.asp Deja News http://www.deja.com/ eHam http://www.eham.net/callbook/ IK4LZH http://qsl.425dxn.org/ T77WI http://www.inthenet.sm/arrsm/query_manager.htm WM7D http://www.wm7d.net/ Country-specific Callbooks
Pathfinder's dynamic search mechanism automatically checks your Searches subfolder for the presence of a file whose name matches the Target Callsign's DXCC entity. If you've installed Pathfinder in the folder C:\Program Files\DXLab Suite Pathfinder, then entering VK9NS as the Target Callsign leads Pathfinder to check for the existence of
C:\Program Files\DXLab Suite\Pathfinder\Searches\VK.TXTIf this file exists, Pathfinder presents and labels the dynamic search button. Prefix to DXCC mapping is driven by contents of file
C:\Program Files\DXLab Suite\Pathfinder\Searches\Prefixes.TXTNew country-specific searches can be added by placing an appropriately named search file into the Pathfinder3 folder. For example, a copy of WM7D.TXT named K.TXT will cause Pathfinder to display the dynamic search button for American callsigns; clicking on the dynamic search button will search the the WM7D data base.
You may modify the prefixes.txt file, but should do so carefully; Pathfinder's parser is both intolerant and cryptic.
Kudos to Kurt OE1002419 for his contributions to both the general and country-specific search repository.
Note that some of the above URLs are unstable - they suddenly become inaccessible and then just as suddenly reappear; as of 10/3/99, both the 9A and OL callbooks are "down". If you notice that one of these has changed in what appears to be a permanent way, please send email to AA6YQ so that the search repository can be updated.
If you have questions or suggestions, please send them via email to the DXLab reflector.
![Screen Shot [68KB]](Pathfinder.jpg){kind=link}