"DX Atlas"

LST file structure

All .LST files in DX Atlas have the same structure. Currently these include PREFIX.LST, CITY.LST, ISLAND.LST, CQZONE.LST, and ITUZONE.LST. More files may be added in the future versions.

The first 3 lines start with a '#' symbol. Lines 1 and 3 form a frame around line 2 which contains field names separated with '|'. These names are used as column headers in DX Atlas. The first 3 fields are used internally and are never displayed in the tree. Field 4 is used as a hint text on the map, the field with a plus sign '+' is displayed on the map as label. The fields with a minus sign '-' are not displayed in the tree.

Field 1 (InternalUse) consists of 3 parts, all 3 may be omitted.

Part 1:1 character. Defines when the entry will be shown on the map:
L  - show at low zoom
M - show at medium zoom
H  - reserved
–  - do not show on the map.
If this part is omitted, the entry is always shown on the map.

Part 2: 2-digit hex value. Defines entry type and icon:
1 - active DXCC entry
2 - province
3 - station
4 - deleted DXCC entry
5 - old prefix or old name of an active DXCC entry
6 - does not count for DXCC
7 - invalid prefix
8 - deleted province
9 - city
If omitted, no icon is displayed. In this case Part 3 is also omitted.

Part 3: 2-digit hex value. Defines node level.
If omitted, the node is a top level node.

Fields 2 and 3 (Longitude and Latitude)

Coordinates are in decimal degrees multiplied by 180 and rounded to the nearest integral value. In other words, one unit = 20 arc seconds. Due to this multiplier any value in the range of +/- 180 degrees can be represented with a 16 bit integer.

The rest of the fields are just text fields that are displayed in the Show Details window.

INHERITANCE

Part 2 of Field 1 defines hierarcichal relations between the entries.

If a field is empty in a child item, its value is ssumed to be the same as in the parent item. The following fields are NOT inheritable in PREFIX.LST:

Territory
Prefix
StartDate
EndDate
Mask

MASK SYNTAX

The 'Mask' field in PREFIX.LST is used for callsign resolution. The following meta symbols are used in the mask:

'@' - any letter;
'#' - any digit;
'?' - any character (letter or digit);
[AC] - A or C;
[A-C] - A, B, or C;
[AC-E] - A, C, D, or E;
'.' - no characters are allowed after this simbol.

Example: '??#@@.' matches all calls with 2-letter suffixes.

Masks are hierarchical

As a first step of callsign resolution the masks of the entries of types 1 and 6 (Field1, part 2) are tried on the callsign. This is preformed using a 2 character prefix index. Then all children of the matching entries are tried. This may return more than one valid entry. All returned entries are displayed and, if any of them have childern, these children are tried too.

Example:

Callsign: AX3SAA
The first step returns: Australia
The second step returns: 1) Victoria; 2) Special event; 3) Scout Association.

2001, EU6TV
Nikolay Sukhorukov
Vitebsk, Rep. of Belarus