Okay -- here's the thing -- to be useful, computers and software should always make things easier for us humans, not the other way around. I've been doing this for a long time with various programming applications (such as RT Systems or FTBasicMMO and others) to program radios and I have ALWAYS been able to use Excel CSV files and NEVER had as much trouble with any software as I've had with Chirp--the CSV files just import and apparently the programming software ignores what it doesn't like.
Now I am experimenting with Chirp because I did not want to put out another $45 bucks to RT Systems, that's it -- I'm a cheapskate. Granted, Chirp is WAY more friendly and useful than the standard Wouxun programming software.
I already have numerous CSV files with all the repeater data that I need for various applications, some local, some in cities where I travel and I wanted to use this, not start from scratch entering data one line at a time into another programming tool. It's just easier to keep everything in one format -- essentially a database -- that I can carve up and use any way I want.
So, it's been a steep learning curve for me, and I did not mean to ruffle so many feathers, but I think I'm up to speed now and Chirp is now another tool in the toolbox...so to speak.
Regards, Chris W7CFN
On 2/27/2016 9:32 PM, Tom Hayward wrote:
On Sat, Feb 27, 2016 at 7:52 PM, Chris Nordstrom cfnordstrom@gmail.com wrote:
Right, well as I've said, when you create generic CSV file from Chirp and go look at it, it still contains all the empty fields and the extra commas at the end of the row. So....
The "extra" commas are a critical, required part of the Chirp CSV format.
I'm having a hard time understanding why you need Excel in the first place. It sounds like you are a relatively new user of Chirp, yet using third party software to edit Chirp files is arguably one of the most advanced things you can do with Chirp. As you've found, it requires understanding the specific details of the file formats and any errors that might be introduced by specific third party editors. A lot of effort has been put into the built-in Chirp editor. It supports copy, paste, inserting rows, removing rows, populating safe default values, automatic repeater offsets for various band plans around the world, bulk row editing (i.e., setting power level to high on 20 channels at once). What is missing from Chirp that drove you to an external editor? I'm not implying there are no valid uses of external editors--indeed, this is one of the benefits of using CSV encoding--but most of the time it just makes things more difficult.
Tom KD7LXL _______________________________________________ chirp_users mailing list chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/chirp_users This message was sent to Chris at cfnordstrom@gmail.com To unsubscribe, send an email to chirp_users-unsubscribe@intrepid.danplanet.com