Partial Call Matching

When you type into a call entry field, SkookumLogger looks in internal tables for known calls similar to the partial call you have typed, and lists up to eight known calls in the Partials box to the left of the QSO entry box in the logging window. Each of the listed calls is adorned with  font and color  indicating its needed status.

The internal tables are the Super Check Partial (SCP) database, your Exchange database, and a “good calls” list containing logged calls and your activity announcements. The source table for a known call is identified by characters surrounding the call:

• ( and ) for calls in the good calls list

• [ and ] for calls in your Exchange database

• Otherwise no adornment for calls in SCP

When there is a known call that exactly matches the partial call, the background color of the Call entry field is set to the  Entry field background highlight color  in Logging preferences.

SkookumLogger begins looking for similar known calls when you have typed at least 3 letters and/or numbers. You can type a question mark when you know there is a character at that location in the partial call but you have no idea what the character is. 

SkookumLogger has two approaches for judging similarity between a partial call and a known call.  Contains  similarity is the default.  Fuzzy  similarity is enabled instead with the  Use fuzzy similarity  option in Logging preferences.

Contains Similarity

When there are no question marks in the partial call, known calls that contain any characters before and after the partial call that you have typed are considered similar. The known calls are grouped by their source list, ordered as shown in the bullet list above.

If the partial call contains one or more question marks, Contains similarity finds known calls that match the other characters in the partial call along with any letter or number substituted for question marks.

Fuzzy Similarity

Fuzzy similarity applies a variation of the Levenshtein Distance algorithm created by JH5GHM to consider the types of changes to the partial call needed to convert it into a known call. For CW mode, the consideration includes similarity of morse code characters. The list of known calls has the closest match at the bottom right and proceeds by columns. The known calls are grouped by the similarity value determined by the algorithm, sorted by source group for known calls with the same similarity value and sorted alphabetically within source groups. 

Underlines in a known call identify characters that are not present in the partial call. The color for the underline is set to the  Partial match underline color  in Logging preferences.

Fuzzy similarity also processes partial calls with question marks.

SkookumLogger  3.13  © 2023 K1GQ