RaceBase


Chapter 6: The RaceBase Main Window

Before we "put it all together" and discuss the step by step operation of scoring a race, we'll discuss the various elements which make up the main screen or window of RaceBase.

The RaceBase Menus

If you press the Menu button on the lower left of your PalmPilot screen, you'll see three menus: Options, Import, and Export. The Export menu will be discussed in Chapter 8, but here are the other two, and brief explanations of each option:

Score Race: Analyze all the data and score the results. In principal, the race is scored automatically whenever all the data (catagories, name, and times) are in place, or when any changes (e.g., changing from road race scoring to cross-country scoring) are made which affect the scoring, so that in principal this menu item will never be needed. It's there just in case - if there's a time at which you think maybe the scoring hasn't happened but it should have, select this menu item.

Settings: Adjust the settings, as discussed in Chapter 3.

Database Info: If you want to see how many elements are in each of the sets of data, select this menu item and you'll see a display like this:

This kind of information can be very helpful in alerting you to potential problems.

Clear All Data: This menu item operates in two steps. First, after giving you a chance to confirm your intentions, it will clear the names and times from the internal RaceBase databases (not from the databases where the "real" data resides, the Address Book and PocketTimer respectively). Then, separately, again after giving you a chance to confirm or cancel, it will clear the categories you have set up. The first step (clearing names and times) might be something you would do after doing a practice scoring of a "pretend" race, or perhaps after scoring the race part way through. The second step (clearing categories) would only be necessary if you were really "starting over" with a whole new race with new categories. Note that you can also clear the categories in the Category window, as discussed in Chapter 4.

About RaceBase: Display information about RaceBase - the version number and release date of the version you are using - and about Stevens Creek Software - web, email, and phone contact information.

Import Categories: Go to the Category window to allow viewing/reviewing/setup of categories. At some points in the process, the button at the bottom of the screen (as it does above) will read Setup Cats; if that's the case, the button will do exactly the same thing as this menu item. In addition to setting up the categories themselves, this menu item will also allow you to change the conditions by which the race is scored, a subject we'll return to below.

Import Names: Search through the Address Book, find all the entries with a Bib# which is greater than zero, and import them into the internal database of RaceBase. At some points in the process, the button at the bottom of the screen will read Get Names; if that's the case, the button will do exactly the same thing as this menu item. You'll need to re-import names any time you make a relevant change to the Address Book, either because you have added new names to the Address Book, or if you have corrected any information there (perhaps you had to change the sex or age of some racer whose information was entered erroneously).

Import Times: Read the PocketTimer database of stored times and bib #'s, matching them up (using the bib#) against the database of racers. When finished, the race is automatically scored (sorted by categories).At some points in the process, the button at the bottom of the screen will read Get Times; if that's the case, the button will do exactly the same thing as this menu item. You'll want to re-import times whenever there have been changes to the PocketTimer database, either because you have recorded new times, or if you have edited the bib#'s stored there using the tear tags as a reference.

Modify Address Book: This is just a label, not an actual menu item that does anything. The two menu items which appear below it, Purge Racers and Set Bib#'s to 0, were discussed in the previous chapter.

Other Screen Features

The picture above shows the main screen you'll be seeing in RaceBase. The features you see are explained here:

Info Button: When you tap on the information icon in the upper right, RaceBase will attempt to determine what stage of the process you have reached, and will give you advice on what to do next.

Column Labels: There are two sets of column labels - the ones shown here, and a different set for cross-country team scoring which displays Name, Score, and Pl(ace). When individual (not team) results are displayed on screen, the four column labels shown above act as buttons which you can use to sort the displayed results by different means. By default, the results are sorted by time (or place, which is basically identical to sorting by time). When you tap on Bib#, the results are sorted by Bib#, which makes a very nice way to see who has finished and who hasn't. Tap on Name and the results are sorted in alphabetical order by last name, which can be a nice way to print out results (discussed later). And tap on Time or Pl. and the results are sorted by time or place. An additional feature of the sorting is that if you tap twice in a row on the same label, the sort order is reversed. So if, for example, you tap on Bib#, the results are sorted by Bib#, with the lowest on top and the highest on bottom. Tap again on Bib# and the highest Bib#'s will be on top, the lowest on bottom. Tap again and the lowest will be on top again.

To PocketTimer: If you have a small event with finishers sparsely spaced, as happens for example in many ultrarunning events, you can actually do scoring and printout of results in between recording finishers. The Timer button is provided to take you immediately back to PocketTimer, rather than having to tap the Applications button on your PalmPilot, find the PocketTimer application, and tap that; as such it enables you to more quickly respond when you see a new racer approaching the finish line. If the PocketTimer application is not installed on this PalmPilot, this button will not appear.

Guide Button: The Guide Button is a button whose label (and corresponding action) will change, depending on what you have done. When there are no categories setup yet, the label will read Setup Cats, as it does in the example above, and tapping it will have the same effect as selecting the Import Categories menu. When there are categories, but no names have yet been read from the Address Book, the button will read Get Names, and tapping it will have the same effect as selecting the Import Names menu. And finally, where there are categories and names, the button will read Get Times, and tapping it will have the same effect as selecting the Import Times menu. After the times have been imported, the button will read Print, to allow you to print the results. Sometimes the Guide Button may not be appropriate to what you want to do; if that's the case, just use the menus to accomplish your desired task.

Finder: The finder consists of a button labelled Find and a field in which you enter your search criterion. If you enter a number, and tap the Find button, RaceBase will search through your recorded information and try to find the racer with that Bib#. If that bib# is found, the display on screen will be scrolled to show you that racer. If you enter one or more letters and tap the Find button, RaceBase will search for a racer whose last name begins with those letters, and will scroll to that point in your list.

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