Monster Media 1993 #2

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

/ Monster Media 1993 #2 / Image.iso / personal / megpup40.zip / PUPS.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1993-07-13 | 33KB | 907 lines

MEGA■PUPS Reference Guide Copyright (C) 1991 by FreeBooter(tm) Software All Rights Reserved FreeBooter(tm) Software P.O. Box 19624 Portland, OR 97280 (503) 244-4800 Toll Free Order Line: 1-800-366-4012 Compuserve: 70214,3352 LICENSE AGREEMENT MEGA■PUPS, a dog handicapping program, is protected by the United States Copyright Laws and International Treaty provisions. All rights are reserved. Non-registered users of MEGA■PUPS are licensed only to use the program on a trial basis for the sole purpose of determining whether or not it meets their requirements. All other use requires registration. Any other use of non-registered copies of MEGA■PUPS by any person, business, corporation, government organization, or any other entity is strictly forbidden and is a violation of this license agreement. Registration permits the user a license to use MEGA■PUPS on a single computer. All users are granted a limited license to copy the un-registered version of MEGA■PUPS for the trial use of others, with the following additional conditions: MEGA■PUPS must be distributed in unmodified, complete form, including this Reference Guide and License Agreement. MEGA■PUPS may not be distributed in conjunction with any other product, without written permission from Free- Booter(tm) Software. No fee, other than a bonafide disk duplicating fee (not to exceed $7.00), may be charged for MEGA■PUPS. (2) WARRANTY FreeBooter(tm) makes no warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation, any warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. FreeBooter(tm) will not be liable for any damages, whether direct, indirect, special or consequential arising from a failure of this program to operate in the manner desired by the user. FreeBooter(tm) will not be liable for any damage to data or property which may be caused directly or indirectly by use of the program. IN NO EVENT WILL FREEBOOTER(tm) BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUD- ING, BUT NOT LIMITED TOO, ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST SAVINGS OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY. The License Agreement and Warranty shall be construed, interpreted and governed by the laws of the state of Oregon. (3) TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction..............................5 Getting Started...........................5 Setting Up MEGA■PUPS......................6 Starting MEGA■PUPS........................7 Brief description of options..............7 Adding, deleting, modify history..........7 Configuring MEGA■PUPS....................11 Establishing a race......................11 Statistics bias module...................13 Kennel module (registered users).........13 Registration mode (unregistered users)...14 Utility file rebuild.....................15 Technical assistance.....................15 Data file conversion.....................15 (4) INTRODUCTION MEGA■PUPS is a fast, compiled, Foxbase source-code, dog handicapping program that offers a wealth of features designed to make the program powerful, yet extremely easy to learn and use. MEGA■PUPS offers users menus and quick keyboard commands for all of the major program functions. MEGA■PUPS has logical, easy to learn, easy to use commands. You need no experience with database type programs, and you'll be up and running with MEGA■PUPS in no time. If you're brand new to com- puters, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly you'll be able to learn all the advanced features of this program. We believe MEGA■PUPS to be the best handicapping program on the markets at any price. FreeBooter(tm) is also determined to be a leader, in Customer Support. We offer telephone support on (503) 244-4800 for registered users. We also listen to our users. Future updates always included suggestions made by our customers. That's the way our programs like Lotto Buster, Stock Trader, Winning Colors, etc. grow and become more useful. GETTING STARTED MEGA■PUPS requires an IBM PC or compatible system with 640K, a hard disk drive (although it can be run from a 720K 3 1/2" drive or a 1.2M 5 1/4" drive), a color/graphics or monochrome card and monitor, and a printer. A 286 or 386 computer is preferred due to the extensive programming involved in the RACE and DOG RECORD modes. Before you start using MEGA■PUPS, you should be familiar with your computer. You need to know how to load DOS, how to make a copy of a diskette, and how to load and run a program. Check your DOS manual for these procedures. NOTE: YOU MUST HAVE AT LEAST FILES=30 AND BUFFERS=30 IN YOUR CONFIG.SYS FILE FOR MEGA■PUPS TO RUN PROPERLY. LESS THAN THAT AMOUNT, MAY CAUSE MEMORY ALLOCATION PROBLEMS. IF YOU HAVE A CONFIG.SYS FILE IN YOUR ROOT DIRECTORY INSURE THAT IT IS SET FOR A LEAST THAT AMOUNT. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A CONFIG.SYS FILE ON YOUR COMPUTER, USE THE ONE SUPPLIED WITH THE DISK. COPY THAT FILE TO YOUR ROOT DIRECTORY AND REBOOT YOUR COMPUTER. (5) The MEGA■PUPS Program Disk 1. You should make a backup copy of your MEGA■PUPS program disk, and store the original in a safe place. Never use your original MEGA■PUPS program disk as your working copy. 2. Your MEGA■PUPS program disk includes the following files: BROWSE.COM A file utility to browse text files. INFO.BAT An information batch file. FILES.TXT A text file listing all files on the disk. READ.ME A help file NOTES.TXT Author information and ordering MEGAPUP.EXE The archived MEGA■PUPS files. RCONFIG.DBF Configuration data file DATA.EXE Archived data files for Mega■Pups PUPS.DOC Manual for Mega■Pups PRINTDOC.BAT Batch file to print manual README.SIF Shareware information file SETTING UP MEGA■PUPS 1. With your computer on drive A, insert your working copy of MEGA■PUPS Program Disk, and close the disk drive door. 2. Installation: Type: GO the floppy MUST be larger than 360K HARD DISK Type: GO on the C or D drive. You can install to a floppy only IF YOU HAVE A 3 1/2" DISK DRIVE OR A 1.2 MEG 5 1/4 FLOPPY DISK DRIVE. THE PROGRAM WILL NOT FIT, OR OPERATE, ON A 360K 5 1/4" FLOPPY DISK DRIVE. This procedure will establish a directory PUPS on the hard disk and transfer all the files. (6) STARTING MEGA■PUPS 1. After you have installed MEGA■PUPS start your computer, and type CD\MEGAPUPS, if using a floppy skip to step 2. 2. Type MEGAPUPS and then press Enter. 3. On a Hard Disk System, you can use the DOS Path command to start MEGA■PUPS from any DOS prompt. For more information on the DOS Path command, consult your DOS manual. The MEGA■PUPS opening screen will appear after the program is loaded. If you are a registered user, your registration number will appear at the bottom of this screen. If you are contacting us, please be sure that you have this number at hand. This first screen is followed by an author's information screen which is then followed by the main menu. A. Add, delete, modify dog history C. Configuring MEGA■PUPS E. Establish race K. Kennel maintenance module (enhancement with registration) S. Statistics bias module R. Registration program (on unregistered program only) U. Utility file rebuild mode Q. Quit Option A - Add, delete, modify dog history All the information and listing sequence on this screen is entered directly from the daily racing form. You can, in most cases, just follow the listing across the screen. Option C - Configuring MEGA■PUPS This option allows you to change to a colored screen, add or delete race distances (you can also add distances directly in option A), and change race classifications. Option E - Establish a race. This option allows you to take the historical data you have entered in option A and graphically plot one dog against the other. The dogs are entered in the order that they will run (taken from the racing form) and the plot is rendered at the bottom of the screen. All twelve user governed variables are analyzed by comparing one dog against the other. This screen will hold up to nine dogs. Occasionally, there maybe more than nine dogs running. In that event, delete the losing dog and put the next dog in. (7) Option K - Kennel maintenance module enhancement This option enters Kennel/Owner into the database. The kennel's winnings are automatically updated with each race update that is entered. (This option enhancement is available only on the regis- tered version of the program.) Option S - Statistics bias module This option allows you to set the effect of each of the variables for the outcome of the race. We have spent some time in getting the individual figures to arrive at reality for the actual race. If you choose to change these biases, do it one variable at a time, rather than a mass change. Then compare your results to the finish of several actual races. SUGGESTION: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CONSISTENTLY GET FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD. Attempting this will have you going around in circles. See the associated statistics page for descrip- tion on setting these biases. Option U - Utility file rebuild mode This option will attempt to rebuild a corrupted datafile, if at all possible. It will copy the current structure to a new file and then copy as many records as possible to the new file. It will then delete the old file and rename the temporary file to the old name. This works with DOGREC, and KENNEL databases. (8) ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ FreeBooter(tm) Software Individual Greyhound History ║ ╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ DOG NAME: ALWAYS CLOSE BY DOG GRADE: C RECORD NO: 5 ║ ║ DATE OF BIRTH: 01/01/86 DOG WEIGHT: 59 KENNEL: THUNDERBAY KENNELS ║ ╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ PAST RACING RESULTS ║ ╠════════╤════╤═════╤══════╤════╤═════╤═════╤═════╤═══╤═════╤══════╤═════════╣ ║ DATE │DIST│TRACK│ RACE │POST│START│ 1ST │ 2ND │FIN│AHEAD│ DOG │ GRADE ║ ║ │ │COND.│ TIME │POS.│POS. │ CALL│ CALL│ │100'S│ TIME │ ║ ╠════════╪════╪═════╪══════╪════╪═════╪═════╪═════╪═══╪═════╪══════╪═════════╣ ║05/28/88│ 550│ F │ 31.81│ 1 │ 3 │ 6 │ 5 │ 5 │ -50│ 32.31│ C ║ ║05/21/88│ 550│ F │ 31.72│ 6 │ 7 │ 7 │ 6 │ 3 │ -48│ 32.20│ C ║ ║05/17/88│ 550│ F │ 31.74│ 5 │ 5 │ 6 │ 6 │ 7 │ -60│ 32.34│ C ║ ║05/12/89│ 550│ W │ 31.77│ 3 │ 2 │ 4 │ 5 │ 6 │ -68│ 32.45│ C ║ ╚════════╧════╧═════╧══════╧════╧═════╧═════╧═════╧═══╧═════╧══════╧═════════╝ Ret/Beg/End/Next/Prev/Stat Add/Modify/Add/Copy/Del/Tally/Help/Quit ? Option A - Adding, Deleting, or modifying dog history Option Database maintenance action ────── ─────────────────────────────── Add Add a record to the dog database Beg Go to the beginning of database Del Delete the current dog record End Go to end of database Modify Edit the current dog record Next Go to next dog record (alphabetical) Previous Go to previous dog record Quit Terminate current program and return to main menu Retrieve Retrieve a record by dog name or partial name Skip Move up or down by a specified number of records Stat Add Add a statistic at the top of the racing statistic file Tally Count dog records These twelve functions give the user complete control of the database. Keep in mind that the database will probably grow to well over 600 dogs. The most tedious part is to get through the initial data entry of the dogs. Once this has been done, all that is necessary is to use the Stat Add function to move all the history down one line and place the most recent history at the top. If the history has reached more than nine lines the oldest record will be lost when the new one is entered. To add a new dog to the current database press A. A blank screen will then appear and the cursor will be at the dog name field. Enter the new dog name. The database will verify that the dog is not currently in the database. Enter the birthdate of the dog. This uses the MM/DD/YY convention. Next enter the dog's weight. (9) If you are a registered user, the Kennel/Owner field will appear on the right hand side of the screen. You can select an existing kennel/owner or enter a new one. If you select from a existing kennel, you do not have to enter the entire last name. A partial entry will get you into the correct area of the database to properly select the appropriate kennel. You can use the (N)ext or (P)revious keys to go up and down in the database to search for the kennel if you desire. If you enter a new kennel, and it turns out to be a duplicate, you'll get a duplicate flag warning, and the program will place you at that kennel. Press enter to select a kennel, or enter the new kennels name in the space provided. You will not be entering any wins or losses for the kennel. This is done automatically by the program. If you are and unregistered user, the kennel's field is not present. Upon registering, the field becomes active and will automatically calculate past races, and the kennel's performance if a dog is selected for which that kennel has responsibility. Once these fields are completed, the program drops to the history entry. It starts at the race date. This is entered in the American convention of MM/DD/YY. The race distance is the next field. A pop-up menu will appear and you can select the appropriate distance number, or you can add a new race distance. There is a total of nine different distances available from the menu. If you wish to add a new distance, select the last number, add new distance, and the appropriate data entry fields will appear. Next enter the track condition. There is prompts at the bottom of the screen for proper entry. Enter the race time next. It's advisable to use a ruler in con- junction with data entry. Quite often it's easy to misalign the text on the paper and come up with the wrong entry. A wrong entry could throw your calculations off considerably. Consider the time difference between 670 yards and a 770 yards. Posting incorrect values will significantly effect the dogs overall speed and will result in erroneous speed calculations. Next comes the five dog positions of the race. The post, start, first call, second call, and the finish. The program will accept values of 1 to 9. You have to enter only a single digit to move to the next field. The margin ahead or behind is next. This is entered in 1/100ths of seconds when you enter the dog time or you'll post this figure when the dog is in first place. NOTE: IF YOUR TRACK USES LENGTHS, THEN USE 200 FOR 2 LENGTHS, 100 FOR 1 LENGTH, 50 FOR HALF LENGTH AND SO ON. The individual dog time is next. This will post the finished behind when the dog is not in first place or will automatically be posted when the dog is in first place. (10) The race class is next. Again like the race distance, a pop-up menu will appear. There is room for 6 classes in the database. These classes are entered in the configuration portion of Mega■Pups. I've listed these fields in the order that they are appear in the normal daily racing form. The initial data entry is the most difficult. Once you are through this, you can update the stats daily by pressing the S key for Stat Add. The entire lower screen will move down one line and allow you to place the latest stats at the top of the data entry section. Once the initial data entries are made, and if you go to the track regularly, an entire days racing can be predicated in about an hour using the computer. (10) CONFIGURING MEGA■PUPS This option allows you to change to a colored screen, add or delete race distances (you can also add distances directly in option A), add or delete race descriptions(you can also add descriptions directly in option A) and establish age performance biases. Selecting A, brings up a pop-up menu. Select either Mono or Color. Selecting B, transfers the screen to the race distance entry. You may add or delete the race distances from this screen. You can also add race distances in the dog History module of the program. You may select either to add or delete a racing distance. If you choose to add a distance the current available distances will be displayed on the right. A prompt is provided to input a three digit yards value. Once this is in the database it will be sorted by value. If you choose to delete as selected race distance either select the number, or place the highlighted bar over the distance and pressing enter. Selecting C, transfers the screen to the race description entry. You may add or delete the race descriptions from this screen. There is a possible 6 description slots available. Selecting M allows you to select American for weight, distance, and date or metric for the same functions Selecting Q returns you to the main menu. OPTION E - ESTABLISHING A RACE ╔══════════════════════════════════MEGAPUPS RACE FINISH RESULTS═════════════╗ ║ NAME FINISH BIAS ║ ║ Start Position #1: ALWAYS CLOSE BY 3.942 ║ ║ Start Position #2: ANGEL NANCY 6.064 ║ ║ Start Position #3: CROCKETT CREEK 4.993 ║ ║ Start Position #4: DR BK 6.566 ║ ║ Start Position #5: HOODY RIVER ROWDY 5.488 ║ ║ Start Position #6: POOL AND AWNING 3.065 ║ ║ Start Position #7: RD'S ZIP 6.786 ║ ║ Start Position #8: SAM BOWIE 3.735 ║ ║ Start Position #9: WD'S JUBILEE 3.275 ║ ╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ 1■■ ║ ║ 2■■ ║ ║ 3■■ ║ ║ 4■■ ║ ║ 5■■ ║ ║ 6■■ ║ ║ 7■■║ ║ 8■■ ║ ║ 9■■ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ (D)own /(U)p /(R)etrieve /(H)elp /(F)ix /(N)ext /(P)revious/(Q)uit? (11) Down - Moves the prompt line down to the next pole position Up - Moves the prompt line up to the previous position Retrieve - Retrieves a dog by it's full or partial name Help - Brings up the help screen Fix - Fixes the selected dog into the current pole position Next - Moves the database to the next dog in the file Previous - Moves the database to the previous dog in the file Quit - Returns the user to the main menu. Although this is the easiest screen to enter, it is by far the screen that does the most work, and the final screen around which all the rest of the program is built. There is room for nine dogs on this screen. Occasionally there are races with more than nine. If this occurs, delete the trailing dog, move all other dogs up one notch, and add the next dog on the bottom. Do this until all the leading dogs are in the race. This program module, as we said, does all the work. The program will reduce all the individual dog history to tweleve variables. As each dog is added to the program it will compare each of the twelve variables on each dog and then give a final dog rating. This rating is then posted graphically on the bottom of the screen. With one dog there is no variables to compare and the dog is in first place. With two dogs you compare 24 variables. You either have a choice of dog 1 or dog 2. As you continue to add dogs the story changes markedly. With three dogs you have a pos- sibility of six possible combinations for each variable resulting in 72 possible variations. By the time you add in the nineth dog you have a 36864 variable combinations to deal with. Assuming you choose to do this manually and could accomplish one variable com- parisons a second, it would take you 10 hours to evaluate one race. Since the daily racing form is only published the day before the race, the race would be over by the time you finished the manual calculations! The dog history must be in the database before the dog can be retrieved with the R key. You can also move up and down the database by using the (N)ext key or the (P)revious. You need not enter the entire name to retrieve the dog. Partial name entries will be processed. If no matching entry is found, the program will inform you of the error. Once the dog is located, press the (F)ix key to lock it into place. The program will then drop to the next line. You can go up and down the lines by using the (U)p and (D)own keys. Once entered, the dog position at the finish will be plotted on the lower part of the screen and a numerical value will be placed beside the name. Continue entering dogs until all have been entered. Quite often you will see two dogs running neck and neck. You can determine which will be running ahead by looking at the numeric figures next to the name. (12) Remember, how the dogs finish is determined by HOW YOU HAVE SET THE BIASES. The biases were roughly calculated, by the author, using past racing performance at Multnomah Kennel Club during the 1989 season. OPTION K - KENNEL MAINTENANCE MODULE This module becomes active on registration. The program automatically calculates the grading each time a dog is added to the database or when you perform a stat add on a dog. OPTION S - STATISTICS BIAS MODULE ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ FreeBooter(tm) Software MEGAPUPS STATISTICS SCREEN ║ ╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ TOP VALUE 100 ║ ║ GREYHOUND'S AGE 1-2: 85.00 2-3:100.00 3-4: 95.00 4-5: 90.00 6&UP: 85.00║ ║ ║ ║ RACE GRADE WEIGHTING - A:100.00 B: 98.00 C: 96.00 ║ ║ DD: 94.00 D: 92.00 MAIDEN: 90.00 ║ ╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ ESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE IN % FOR EACH OF THE FACTORS BELOW ║ ║ RACE WEIGHTING FACTORS - COMBINED VALUES MUST EQUAL 100 ║ ║ ║ ║ Pole position: -5.00 Break Position :-10.00 1st call position: 22.00 ║ ║ ║ ║2nd call position: 10.00 Finish position: 19.00 Running time: 20.00 ║ ║ ║ ║ Dog's weight: 19.00 Time ahead/behind: 15.00 Kennel/Owner: 10.00 ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ COMBINED %:100.00 ║ ║ ║ ║ ENTRIES MAY BE NEGATIVE VALUES ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ This module allows you to change the biases for each one of the fourteen individual settings. As you change each setting, notice that the totals are recalculated with each change. Although not necessary, try to finish at 99 to 101%. Although it doesn't make any difference to the program, it will assist you in determining how much actual percentage points are going into a variable. For example: if the totals are at 124% and you have given 10% to the post position. The post position is then actually 8.06%. The program will still work just fine, but understand that the in- dividual positions will vary by how much you are over or under 100% DON'T TRY TO OPTIMIZE FOR 1, 2nd and 3rd PLACES. You will spend countless hours running many races and be very disappointed. Instead optimize the biases settings for reality. Do this as shown below: (13) Post Position Program Forecast Actual Result Forecast to Act. 1 4 5 1 2 9 3 6 3 2 4 2 4 5 7 2 5 1 1 0 6 3 2 1 7 6 8 2 8 7 6 2 9 8 9 1 TOTAL 19 The object is to get a close to zero as possible using several races. Try this same thing on several races and then go back and CHANGE ONLY ONE OF THE TWELVE BIAS SETTING - REPEAT, CHANGE ONLY ONE BIAS SETTING. Then rerun the same races to determine if the results are better. If yes, stay with the new setting, if not, return to the old setting and change that same bias setting in the other direc- tion. For example: If you increased the bias setting by 5 points try lowering the setting by 5 points. Don't get impatient and change everything at once, and above all, do a print screen to save your bias settings so you can always go back to the same settings. This is the most important part of the racing package, since these settings determine exactly how MEGA■PUPS will perform. If your races aren't working out, you have the wrong bias settings. Don't fudge by making the settings for speed and finish 50 and all the other twelve attributes zero. It just won't work. Often times, you will find tips in the various racing forms on how to bet by evaluating just a couple of past performance attributes. This is nonsense and a great way to make the track money! Trying to evaluate dog racing by limited attribute characteristics is as crazy as trying to determine a president's value on his preference for broccoli! OPTION R - REGISTRATION MODE This option deactivates upon registration. When you enter this module a six digit number will appear in the middle of the screen. This is your registration number. The program will prompt you to enter a matching verification number that is obtained from Free- Booter(tm), when you register. If you wish to register, have your VISA or Mastercard ready and call 1-800-366-4012 (orders only please). Be at the registration screen when you call. You have to be actually at your computer when you call because the number on the screen will change every time you enter this program. It will take about a minute to verify your charge card through our electronic system. We will then give you back a verification number and that will register your copy of MEGA■PUPS and bring up the kennel and jockey enhancements. We will also send you the latest version of the program. The cost for registering is $49.95 + $1.75 for shipping in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. All other shipments to foreign addresses is $5.00. We also have a FAX on 800-488-0268. For foreign customers the phone is (503) 244-4800 and the FAX is (503) 244-0268. (14) Once registered, the registration number will lock into the program and will always appear on the opening screen of MEGA■PUPS. Please refer to this number if you should ever have a need to call us. OPTION U - UTILITY FILE REBUILD Should damage occur to your data files, this will assist you in restoring all the necessary files. Keep in mind, that this is no substitute for backing up your data files. Once entered, this program will give you the option to abort. This is also the default. If you press enter, you will be back to the main menu. Answering the question, DO YOU WISH TO ABORT, with N will start the rebuilding procedure. The program will first copy the file struc- ture to a temporary file, and copy the contents of the file to the new file. Once this is done it will build a new index and then copy the files back to their original files name. This will occur with PUPSREC, and KENNEL. Occasionally, this may not work if the original files are badly damaged. MAKE BACKUPS OF ALL .DBF AND ALL .IDX FILES to be sure. IMPORTANT NOTE - PLEASE READ: If you have been using versions 1.0 through 3.0 it will be necessary for you to run a data file con- version program. To do this transfer to the Megapups directory by entering CD\MEGAPUPS. Once in the directory enter CONVERT fol- lowed by pressing the entry key. This will automatically update your data files to work with the new Megapups 4.0. FAILURE TO RUN THE CONVERT PROGRAM WILL ABNORMALLY END (ABEND) THE PROGRAM. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE We are open from 9AM to 5PM Pacific Time Monday through Friday. We are happy to answer any technical questions on MEGA■PUPS to registered users. If you are a non-registered user, please under- stand that our company operates and grows through your registra- tions. We are happy to answer any questions about getting started but we have to limit complete technical advice to registered users only. You can use either the FAX on (503) 244-0268 or telephone on (503) 244-4800. Good luck at the races. Darrell Fichtl (15)