Copyright: Copyright (c) 1998 SoftParts


Introduction

Tournament is a Windows95 application for managing any kind of tournament involving point-scoring competitions between groups of players. Each tournament is partitioned into rounds comprising multiple games between groups of participants. Points are allocated to the players in each game when their finishing position is specified.

The number of participants, number of players per game, point allocation scheme and other variables are fully configurable. Allocation of players in successive rounds can be done automatically based on points accumulated in previous rounds, the results of the previous round etc, and various modes of grouping players in each game can be performed.

Formatted reports of game results, game allocations and player standings can be produced in either plain text or HTML table format.

All data pertaining to a tournaments are held in a single .tourn file which can be saved at any time. These files include the participant list with point totals, game allocations and results, and all other configuration data.

Each "round" in a tournament comprises all the applicable players competing in groups, or "games". Any one player appears only once in each round. These rounds are fully configurable, so there can be a single game with all participants, many mano-a-mano games, or anything inbetween. Multiple rounds may contain the same participants in the same or different groupings.

It is possible to specify impossible situations in the program (eg more players per game than total players), but the program will deal sensibly with these (eg leaving vacant slots in games). There are no restrictions on duplicate finishing positions (eg multiple first places indicating a tie). Game allocations and finishing positions can always be modified manually at any time. Warnings are issued whenever an operation would result in loss of previously set data.

Two types of report are available: player standings and per-round game output. The former can be used to generate a final report showing an ordered listing of players and point totals (optionally also showing all game results). The Game reports can be used to publish player allocations prior to race participation, and also to show the results of all the games in a round after completion. All types of report are tabulated and can be output in plain text or HTML format, to a file or to the clipboard - for example, you can paste multiple game result tables into an existing HTML document or write the complete, final tournament results into a ready-to-browse HTML file.


Walk-through

The following is a step-by-step procedure for creating a "typical" tournament. This example contains 4 rounds - the first two include all participants in games of 3, followed by a semi-final round of one-on-one games with the four players having the highest score totals from rounds 1 and 2, and then a final with the two winners from the semi-final round.

(i) Run the configure dialog (menu:File/Configure or the Wrench toolbar button).

Specify a name for the tournament (this is not the filename, but will be used in reports).

Specify the date of the tournament (actually any text, also used in reports).

Set "Rounds" to 4 (tabs will be added in the dialog as you do this).

Set the "Point Scheme" to "3,2,1" (3 for a win, 2 for second, 1 for third).

(ii) Select the "Rnd. 1" tab (part of the configure dialog which should still be up).

Type a name for the round (optional, but useful).

Set "Players per game" to 3.

Make sure "Random Assignment" is selected.

(iii) Select the "Rnd. 2" tab.

Type a name for the round.

Set "Players per game" to 3.

Make sure "All players included" and "Random Assignment" are selected.

(iv) Select the "Rnd. 3" tab.

Type a name for the round.

Set "Players per game" to 2.

Select the "Best [n] players" option.

Set 'n' (above) to 4 - ie so the options says "Best [4] players".

Select the "Best v Worst" option.

(v) Select the "Rnd. 4" tab.

Type a name for the round.

Set "Players per game" to 2.

Select the "Winners from prev. round" option.

[Note: doesn't matter what assignment option is selected since there's only 2 players.]

Click "OK".

(vi) Add players to the tournament.

For each player, click the "~ (add player)" entry in the player list (left half of window).

Type the name of the player in the edit box that appears and hit enter.

Each new player should appear with a point total of 0 (zero).

You should enter at least 4 players for this example to work cleanly.

(vii) Assign games for round 1.

The combo box in the middle of the toolbar should include the names of the four rounds.

Make sure the first round is selected and click the "Assign" button.

The game assignments should appear in the main display area.

If the number of players you entered was not divisible by 3 the last game will have empty

slots.

You can add more players and click "Assign" again at any time (if you do this after the

games have been completed the scores for the round will be lost, however).

(viii) Assign games for round 2.

Repeat the steps above for round 2.

Rounds 3 and 4 can't be assigned yet because they depend on point scores from the

first two rounds.

(ix) Simulate results for rounds 1 and 2.

You can switch between rounds using the toolbar combo box at any time.

In rounds 1 and 2 right-click on each of the players in the main display area and assign

first, second and third positions.

As you assign position, notice that the point totals in the player list are updated.

[Note: In the player list, click on the "Points" title box and the list will be sorted with best

scores at the top.]

(x) Allocate semi-final games.

Select round 3 and click "Assign".

Depending on how you assigned positions earlier, the game allocations may be fine.

However, there may be players with equal totals preventing selection of participants 	(since selection for round 3 is based on the best four point scores). If this is the

case, empty slots will be provided and a dialog will popup indicating which players

need to have a "play-off". After the play-off, you would assign the players manually.

To assign players manually to a game, right-click anywhere in the area of the game

(ontop of players, the title or a vacant slot) and select "Add Player".

(xi) Simulate semi-final results and allocate the final game.

As with rounds 1 and 2, simulate finishing positions for the two semi-final games.

Select round 4 and click "Assign". You should see the two winners you simulated in

the last round appear in the only game of this round.

After simulating the result of the final, our tournament is complete!

(xii) Create final report.

Select the Player Report option (menu:Players/Report or the paper sheet toolbar button).

Select the "Include Game Details" option.

Select the "Text to Clipboard" option.

Click "OK".

Open Notepad (or any text editor - eg this one!) and use that program's Paste option.

Thats it. We're all done. This example has covered the bulk of the functional capablities of Tournament, but not all the various options. Try going back and reassigning/adding players, changing the configuration etc for the tournament we just created to familiarise yourself with the program's behavior.


Main Display

If no games have been assigned in the current round, the main display area will be blank. When games are assigned, the display shows a list of all the games and participating players.

An icon to the left of player names indicates the status of the player in the game. If theres a vacant slot (ie no player assigned) there will be a red "X"; if the game results have not been entered yet the icon shows "..."; if a player is flagged as "Did Not Finish" the icon will show "DNF". Otherwise, a colored icon showing the player's finishing position is displayed.

A context menu is displayed when you right-click on a player (on the name or the icon) in the main display which allows you to specify the finishing position of the player in that game. Quick commands are provided in the menu for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and DNF, and for other positions you need to select the Specify Position... command.

This menu also includes Add Player and Delete Player commands so that you can manually change the allocations of players to games. These do not add or remove players from the tournament - they just apply to the game on which you are clicking.

If you add a player to a game who is already in another game (in the same round) he will be removed from that other game. ie the player will be moved. Players can only be in one game in a round.

The Abort Game... command allows you to assign a specific result to all players in that game. Normally this might be used to mark all players in an aborted game to "DNF" - in which case they would be allocated no points for the round.

When you right-click on the game title (by default, "Rm. #") an abbreviated version of the menu is displayed containing just the Add Player and Abort Game... commands.

Each game has a title which can be edited by clicking on the title with the left mouse button. When you do this, an edit box will appear where you can type the new name. When you're finished typing, hit <Enter>, or click outside the edit box (or hit <ESC>) to cancel the changes you made.

These titles are shown in game reports.

If you re-size the window, the displayed layout of races may change - this is done by columns, so if the width changes to fit more or fewer columns the layout will be altered. A vertical scroll bar will be added if there are too many games to fit in the display at one time.


Menu Commands

4.1 File menu.

New creates a new tournament. The Tournament Setup box is displayed so you can configure the tournament (which can be changed later, if you wish).

A new tournament has one round (there is always at least one round) and no participants (players).

Open, Save and Save As... manage Tournament files (.tourn). These files contain all the information in the Tournament (player list, rounds, scores etc).

You can save Tournaments as you go (for example, after each round is complete).

Configuration displays the Tournament Setup box so that you can view or modify settings for the Tournament.

Note that changing the point allocation scheme will alter the point totals for any games already completed. Also, it is possible to delete rounds that have been completed - in which case any points obtained in those rounds will be eliminated.

If you change the player allocation method for a round, you will need to re-apply the Assign operation for it to take effect.

4.2 Players menu.

Add Player shows a box allowing you to type the name of a player to add to the tournament. This can also be done (perhaps more easily) by clicking on the "~ (add player)" entry in the player list and typing the new name in-place.

New players have 0 (zero) points and are not associated with any games.

Delete Player deletes the currently selected player (in the list) from the game, after first showing a confirmation dialog. This can also be done by right-clicking on the player name in the list.

Report activates the Player Report box to allow exporting of player lists and point standings to text or HTML files (or to the clipboard for pasting into other programs). This can also be done via the Player Report button on the toolbar.

4.3 Games menu.

Clear Games deletes all the game assignments for the currently active round. A confirmation dialog is shown before this happens. Doing this will eliminate any scores that may have been added for this round (if the finishing positions had been specified). This is the same as the Clear button on the toolbar.

Assign Games uses the settings defined in the Tournament configuration to allocate players and games for the current round. If games already exist, they will be cleared first (after confirmation, of course) as above. This is the same as the Assign button on the toolbar.

Games can be assigned at any time. It is not necessary to have all the players included prior to doing this, or to have completed previous rounds - in such situations, some (or all) of the games will be created with vacant slots (and players can be assigned to games manually).

The most efficient way to assign games is probably to do it as-you-go (ie assign games when the previous round has just been completed).

Report activates the Games Report box to allow exporting of the game allocations (and optionally the finishing positions) for the current round. This can also be done via the Games Report button on the toolbar.


Player List

The left half of the display is the player list, showing all players entered into the tournament. Point scores are displayed here, and will be updated automatically as the tournament proceeds.

A context menu (right button click) is provided which includes an option to delete a player (also available in the main Players menu).

Players can be added to the list (ie to the tournament) in two ways: either use the Players/AddPlayer menu command (see above) or edit the "~ (add player)" entry in the list directly. This is done by clicking on the item to select it, then clicking again - an in-place edit box will appear where you can type the new name. This is also how you rename existing players (eg to correct a mis-spelling).

The list can be sorted either by player name (alphabetical) or by point scores (highest score at top). Changing between these modes is done by clicking on the "Player" or "Points" column title at the top of the list.


Toolbar Commands

The New, Open and Save buttons are shortcuts for the File Menu commands.

The Wrench button is a shortcut to the Configure command.

The Player Report and Game Report buttons are shortcuts to the respective menu commands.

The combo box shows a list of all the rounds in the game and allows you to select the current round to work with. When you make a selection here, the main display window will change to reflect the selected round.

The Clear and Assign buttons are shortcuts to the commands in the Games menu.