We've already seen in the previous chapter that results produced by RaceBase can actually be read directly off the screen of the PalmPilot, which for some applications may be sufficient. But there are a number of other options, as indicated in the Export menu:
The results can be transferred (as a table of numbers) to the standard Palm Memo Pad application, from where they can be HotSync'd back to your laptop or desktop application. If you have Stevens Creek Software's PalmPrint application, then you have two additional choices - Transmit (via a serial connector) the results directly to another computer, or Print (via serial or infrared) the results directly to a printer.
The output format will be determined by a number of things in the Settings window - the headings for the output, and the separator character used between columns. You might want to review that chapter to remind yourself about those features.
When you select any of the Export options in the menu, you'll see this screen appear:
The options are fairly self-explantory. Current category will print (or transmit or save to the Memo Pad) just the results of the category currently displayed on your screen; All categories will print (or transmit or save) all the categories in turn, automatically. All places will output all the racers in the category, or the From choice will let you specify which ones to output. One subtle feature - if you print All categories and All places, the software will only print the "real" categories and will skip the "overall", "overall male", and "overall female" listings. Those listings can only be printed by selecting that category and then printing the Current category. If you only print partial results (e.g., top 5 in each category), then overall, overall male, and overall female will be printed along with the other categories.
Some strategies: To print a results sheet for a road race, select All categories, and Places From 1 to 3 (or 1 to 4 or 1 to 5, as you prefer). To print results during a race, when time is of the essence, it's usually advisable to print just one page at a time, which might be 40-50 racers (depending on how full you want the page to be). If you do print selected racers (e.g., 1 to 40) for a given category, the numbers are automatically incremented, so that the next time you print the screen will read, e.g. 41 to 80. This makes it easy to print one page at a time.
When the results are being transferred to the Memo Pad, you needn't worry about the size of the results. Even though the size of a memo in the Memo Pad is limited (to 4000 characters), RaceBase will automatically create multiple memos if it needs to, numbering each one consecutively.
If you have a copy of our PalmPrint software which enables you to print directly from the PalmPilot, the use of that software is covered in the PalmPrint manual. As far as RaceBase goes, you will have already configured PalmPrint previously, so you won't ever really "see" PalmPrint from within RaceBase. Just select the Print (or Transmit) items from the menu and the material is sent off to PalmPrint to be printed.
Printing involves various considerations - size of the printer, the requirement for power or battery-powered, speed, and so on. There are four battery-powered printers we're familiar with - the Canon BJC-80 (battery is optional), the Canon BJC-50 (battery standard), the HP DeskJet 340, and the Citizen PN60i. All four have infrared (IrDA) capability, which means that if you have a Palm III, you'll be able to print wireless and without power directly in the field, which is certainly an advantage if not a necessity. Typical output for these printers is of the order of 100 pages on a battery charge, which should easily satisfy the need of most race results printing, even if you want to print multiple copies.
Don't forget to bring spare ink cartridges on race day! There's nothing worse than having all the results ready and running out of ink!! If you have a battery operated printer, of course you'll also want to make sure it's fully charged, and/or have a spare battery on hand. And finally, having a sufficient supply of paper is also a good idea. These things may seem obvious, but they are worth mentioning!
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