Magnum One

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Magnum One / Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso / d4 / doodah43.arc / DOODAH43.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1989-03-28 | 17KB | 529 lines

DOODAH Professional Handicapper Version 4.3 March 11, 1989 DOODAH Professional Horse Racing Handicapper Copyright 1984, 1989 by Michael F. Bigler This program is distributed as User Supported Software. DOODAH is free for your use, as is, and its copying and distribution for others to use is encouraged. There are a number of handicapping clubs and individuals that use this program, and their suggestions have guided its development. If you like DOODAH and want to directly contribute to its support and enhancement by the author, send some of your winnings and your suggestions to: Michael F. Bigler 8616 SE 40th St. Mercer Island, WA 98040 Although you can handicap races with only this program and the Operating Instructions (.DOC), I encourage you to buy Winning at the Races and read chapter 25. More than 80,000 races were analyzed by computer to identify the most important factors for winning at the races. Ask your book store to order: Winning at the Races William L. Quirin, Ph.D. Morrow and Co. New York, 1979 DOODAH was developed using IBM BASICA during 1984 and converted to Microsoft QuickBasic 4.5 in 1989. It runs on all PC-DOS compatible computers with at least: 256K of memory, 1 disk drive, CGA Graphics, and DOS 2.1 or higher. DOODAH Operating Instructions page 1 DOODAH Professional Handicapper Version 4.3 March 11, 1989 Operating the Program The program flow is controlled by PF keys, function numbers entered on the command line followed by <return>, or both. The <tab> key performs the same function as <return>. The bottom line on the screen shows the PF key and function number assignments. Pressing a PF key while anywhere on the screen will set the function number to the corresponding PF key number and jump to the command line. You may then press <return> or the PF key again to execute the selected function. The <escape> key acts the same as a function key but leaves the next function number at its previous value. Besides displaying the next function to be executed, the command line is also used to display error messages when edit errors occur. If a data value is entered incorrectly, the program will beep and display the allowable value range for the field on the command line. Enter the correct field value, or escape to the command line by pressing a PF key or <escape>. Note that the field edits are designed to correct normal errors- extreme stress testing can overflow some fields, messing up the screen display. When entering a horse, it is important that valid values are entered. Space out the name to scratch a horse and avoid using a function key or <escape> to partially enter a horse--the race calculations may overflow when displayed. The <return> or <tab> key is required after entering a data field, and to tab to the next field if the displayed value is acceptable. On the command line, <return> or <tab> will execute the displayed function number as the default action. Function 7: Display Main Menu This function displays the main menu screen. The function numbers correspond to the PF key assignments and function numbers on the command line. You do not need to come back to the main menu to perform a new function, and PF7-Menu is used only to allow you to respecify if you want color or music. Replying Y to the query for music at start-up or this function will play Parade to the Post and the beginning and end. DOODAH Operating Instructions page 2 DOODAH Professional Handicapper Version 4.3 March 11, 1989 Normal Program Flow Start NEW RACE DAY---------> 1 Once at the beginning. Enter NEXT RACE------------> 2 Once for each race to be handicapped. Enter NEXT HORSE-----------> 3 Until all horses are entered for a race, then back to Enter NEXT RACE. Save or Reload DATA FILE---> 8 After every 2 or 3 complete races have been entered. Calculate POINT TOTALS-----> 4 After a race has been entered, and before Display/Print POINT TOTALS. Display/Print POINT TOTALS-> 6 After Calculate POINT TOTALS for a race. Use <shift> + <PrtSc> to print. Quit Program---------------> 9 When you are done. Be sure to Save DATA FILE first. Continuing a Previous Session If you are continuing a previous session, execute function 8, Save or Reload DATA FILE first, then go to the appropriate function to continue where you left off, or to make any changes to whatever has already been entered. Most changes will come from late scratches the day of the race, where the scratched horse should be removed from the race by blanking its name by the Enter NEXT HORSE function, and the point totals recalculated and reprinted for the affected race. Function 1: Start New Race Day This is usually the first function to be performed. There are no required fields on this screen, but the date and top 5 jockeys appear on all the headings, and the jockey names can be used as a quick reference when determining jockey points while entering a horse. Only a single day can be entered at a time. DOODAH Operating Instructions page 3 DOODAH Professional Handicapper Version 4.3 March 11, 1989 Function 2: Start New Race This function is performed at the beginning of each new race. The RACE NUMBER is required and must be from 1 to 10. Races can be entered in any order. The RACE DISTANCE is required, and the first character must be S for a sprint, or R for a route distance race. Sprint races are under 1 mile, and route races are 1 mile or more. RACE DISTANCE, RACE CATEGORY, RACE SEX, and RACE AMOUNT can be entered here to appear on the Display/Print screen. Function 3: Enter Next Horse This function is performed for each horse in a race. Horses can be entered in any order. RACE NUMBER can be changed on this screen to enter a horse for a race other than the one displayed. POST position is required and must be from 1 to 15. It should be the same as the post position shown on the racing form. If there are more than 15 horses in a race, you must drop the obvious dogs and reassign post positions. Post position is most important in route races. HORSE NAME is required and the first two characters must not be blank. To scratch a horse from a race, blank out the horse name. HORSE SEX and JOCKEY are not required except when printing. The proper entry screen for the RACE DISTANCE (S or R) will appear for the RACE NUMBER specified in the heading. Function 3: Enter Next Horse--Sprints The following fields are entered for a sprint distance race. See the next section for route distance fields. Enter DAYS AWAY------------------> Number of days since this horse has last raced. This value has a low weight in the point scoring and is used mainly as a tie breaker. Enter GOOD RACES IN LAST 10 TRIES> Finished 1, 2, or 3, or within 2 lengths of the winner. DOODAH Operating Instructions page 4 DOODAH Professional Handicapper Version 4.3 March 11, 1989 Enter FAILURES IN LAST 10 TRIES--> Since the horse's last good race, number of times the horse did not run a good race against horses of the same class it is being asked to run against today, and at the same distance (sprint or route). Some valid excuses for failures are: just before or after a layoff of a month or more, bad racing luck (blocked, bumped, forced wide, etc), fillies or mares against males, or dirt vs turf. This whole subject is covered in great detail in Winning at the Races. Enter STARTS (TYR and/or LYR)----> If less than 10 starts this year, add last year's to this year's. Used to calculate average earnings rank. Enter EARNINGS (TYR and/or LYR)--> Enter the money won in the STARTS above. Used to calculate average earnings per race. Enter SPEED RATING LATEST RACE---> Use the speed rating plus track variance as shown on the racing form for the last race at this distance. Enter SPEED RATING PRIOR RACE----> Same as above for previous race at this distance. If not entered, will be set to LATEST race value. Enter JOCKEY RATING (1,2,3)------> Enter a 1 if the jockey riding this horse is one of the top 5 at the track, enter a 2 if the horse has been ridden by this jockey in one of its GOOD RACES, enter a 3 for all others. The jockey standings for a track can be found in the racing form. Enter # SPEED SHOWN IN L5 SPRINTS> Count 1 point for position 1, 2, or 3 at the first call, AND/OR count 1 point for each time the horse was within 2 lengths of the leader at the first call, for a maximum of 3 sprint races out of the last 5 sprints. The maximum point total is 6. The 1 point each horse starts out with is built into the program. Enter BONUS/PENALTY POINT (+/-)--> If the horse showed speed in all 3 of the last 5 sprints (got 6 points), enter 1. If the horse showed no speed in the last 3 of 5 sprints (got 0 points), enter -1. DOODAH Operating Instructions page 5 DOODAH Professional Handicapper Version 4.3 March 11, 1989 Function 3: Enter Next Horse--Routes All the parameters are the same as for sprints, although fewer are used. POST position is especially important for routes. Enter STARTS (TYR and/or LYR)----> Enter WINS IN LAST 10 TRIES------> Enter EARNINGS (TYR and/or LYR)--> Enter SPEED RATING LATEST RACE---> Enter SPEED RATING PRIOR RACE----> Enter JOCKEY RATING (1,2,3)------> Function 4: Calculate Point Totals This function is used after all the horses in a race have been entered, or after a horse has been scratched from a race by blanking its name. Point totals can be calculated for races in any order. The calculation algorithm is explained in Winning at the Races. It involves numerous sorts and rankings of the horses against one another. Extremely large or small values or small numbers of horses entered in the race can make some of internal values under- or overflow and mess up the display. Function 6: Display/Print Race This function is used after the point totals have been calculated with function 4, or during entry of a race to see what horses have been entered already. Enter N to display the horses in post position order or Y to show them by total points. The RACE NUMBER on this screen can be changed to display a race other than the one currently displayed. Races can be displayed in any order. Use the <shift> + <PrtSc> print screen function to print the screen. DOODAH Operating Instructions page 6 DOODAH Professional Handicapper Version 4.3 March 11, 1989 Function 8: Save/Load Data File This function is used to save or reload a data file of race day information. Note that any existing file of the same name will be overwritten. Attempting to LOAD a file that does not exist, and disk errors will be trapped and an error message displayed. Data files are written and read with an extension of .DAT. The format is specific to this program only and cannot be changed. Do not enter the .DAT extension when specifying a file name--it will be added automatically. If the data to be loaded or saved is not in current directory, specify the full path name of the file: \DOODAH\DATA\LGA23 for example, to use a file called LGA23.DAT in the \DOODAH\DATA directory. Point totals must be recalculated after a file is loaded, but not when saved since they are not changed during a save. The supplied data file, DOODAH.DAT, contains the examples used in Winning at the Races, with the exception of any copyrighted material such as the horse or jockey names. Note that the calculated values for the Sprint race vary just slightly from the book due to the fact that QBasic rounds instead of truncates when doing some speed point percentage calculations. Function 5: Change Weighting Factors This screen is used to change the factor weights used in the point total calculations. The supplied values are from Winning at the Races, and should be modified with caution. The defaults are used when starting the program. Any changed factor weights will be written to the disk or read when doing a save/load file function. Each saved file will have its own values. Enter S to change the factors for sprint races, or R to change the factors for route races. Function 10: Show Boss Screen This screen shows a C:> DOS prompt in case the boss stops by when you are entering race data. Press the <return> key to go back to the main menu. DOODAH Operating Instructions page 7 DOODAH Professional Handicapper Version 4.3 March 11, 1989 Modification Log Version 4.3 3/11/89 Converted the source to use QuickBasic line labels, CASE routines, block IF...THEN...END IF, UCASE$ function and structured coding. Future enhancements may include conversion of GOSUB to SUB and FUNCTION, reordering of subroutines, use of named array elements, improved file I/O, LOAD of factor weights, DECLARE of all variables, etc. Fixed bug in Route entry that set SPEED (2) = SPEED (1) when only one start. Enhanced field entry to erase to end-of-field when entering data over the top of existing data. Fixed positioning of cursor on backspace. Added <tab> = <return> and <escape> = <function key>. Added option of playing Parade to the Post music. Updated operating instructions and created data file to contain the race examples shown in Winning at the Races. Created DOODAH43.ZIP containing this document, the program and sample data file. All files should be dated 3/11/89. GOOD LUCK AND GOOD RACING! Mike Bigler DOODAH Operating Instructions page 8