PocketTimer


Chapter 4: Reviewing and Editing the Recorded Information


The Recorded Times Window

In the bottom left of the timer window is the Show button. Tapping on the Show button produces this screen:

If you need to return to the Timer screen (to record an approaching racer, for example), tap on the Timer button in the lower left. If there are more than ten recorded results, you'll see a "torn tape" either at the bottom or the top of the window, or both. Tap on the scroll arrows in the lower right to scroll the tape up or down to see more results. The pop-up menu in the upper right which reads "All Times" will be explained in the next chapter. Tapping on the information icon in the extreme upper right will bring up a window of "Tips" reminding you of how this window operates.

Sorting

The results are by default displayed in place order. The words Place, Bib#, and Time at the top of the first three columns are actually buttons which you can tap on to change the display order. Tapping on Place sorts by place; tapping on Bib# sorts by Bib#, and tapping on Time sorts by time. Place and time are obviously very similar; they only differ if two finishers have been recorded with exactly the same time but successive places. Sorting by Bib# is of value if you want to post a list of finishers by Bib# (which makes it easier for people to search for themselves), or if you want to get a good view of which racers have finished and which have not. To search for a particular racer, you can use the QuickSearch feature described next.

QuickSearch - Finding a Particular Entry

In the lower right of the window is the QuickSearch (tm) field. If you enter a number (using Graffiti) on that line, and then tap on the Find button (or use the Graffiti "return" or "newline" stroke), if that bib# has been recorded, the "tape" will automatically scroll so that that racer is on top of the screen. You can also enter a "t" (lower-case or upper-case) into the QuickSearch field; pressing the Find button in that case will scroll to the top of the recorded times (first finisher). A "b" will scroll to the bottom (if you display the Recorded Times window while the timer is running, it starts out by automatically scrolling to the bottom, since experience shows that the most recently recorded times will usually be the ones you're interested in).

Editing the Recorded Information

After the race is finished, or even while it is going on, you may review the torn-off bib tags and want to edit the results for any number of reasons:

To edit the results, you must be in All times mode (see next chapter), and also the displayed information must be sorted by place (if it isn't, tap on Place to sort them that way). Now tap on the entry to be modified with the stylus, and you'll see this screen:

The software displays the recorded bib# and the recorded time. Since it is assumed that if you are editing the entry that you probably know the correct information, the "Uncertain" box is unchecked even if the entry in your list was actually marked as uncertain (if you want to leave it as uncertain, you'll need to check that box).

To modify the entry, use the number buttons (or Graffiti if you prefer), in conjunction (if necessary) with the Backspace and Clr (Clear) buttons, to enter the new number onto the screen. Notice that when the screen first appears, the contents of the Bib# field are highlighted. Because of this, if you enter a new number (by tapping a button or using Graffiti), the new number will replace the old number, rather than simply modifying it. Note that the "." and ":" buttons will be inactive when you are modifying the Bib# field (also note that if you have your Palm set for number preferences which use the comma as a decimal separator, this button will be labelled with a comma and not a period as shown above).

If you need to modify the time, you can also do so. The use of the color (":") key (or Graffiti) is optional. Thus if you need to enter "1:04:23" you can enter exactly that, or you can enter "10423" and let the software fill in the colons for you. The software will allow one or two decimal places (e.g., 36:23.3 or 36:23.32 but not 36:23.321) but the decimal places are optional, thus, if the time you want to enter is 36:23.0, entering "36:23" (or "3623") is sufficient; you don't need to waste time entering the ".0" at the end.

When you are finished correcting the entry, you have three choices. If you tap on the Update button, the entry is updated, and you are returned to the Recorded Times window. If you tap on the Cancel button, you are also returned to the Recorded Times window, but without modifying the entry. And finally, if you tap on the Update, Next button, the entry is updated, and the next entry down the list is brought up on the Editor screen for modifying. This last option allows you to edit a whole series of entries without having to return to the Recorded Times window each time.

To delete the entry, tap on the Delete button.

To insert a new entry, enter a new bib# and time, then tap on the Insert button. The entry will be automatically sorted by time into your list of recorded times. This allows you to enter racers you missed; a common situation is that you may have recorded the last few "stragglers" by hand while you used the Palm for scoring the race, and need to add them in later to complete the record.

Offsetting the Time (Synchronization)

Under some circumstances, the time on the PocketTimer won't be correct. Perhaps the start and finish of the race were at different places, for example, and you weren't able to start the timer correctly. Or perhaps you started the timer in FastMode but inadvertently turned the power off during timing. In any case, if you have an independent measurement of just one of the times that you have recorded with PocketTimer (for example, measured with a sports watch or stopwatch), you can adjust all the recorded times (and the current elapsed time, if the timer is still running) by tapping on the Menu button and selecting Offset from the menu:

You'll see the following screen:

Enter the hours, minutes, and seconds that you want to adjust the times into the appropriate fields, and indicate whether you want to add or subtract that amount of time from all the recorded times. When you tap on OK, all the recorded times are adjusted, and, if the timer is still running, the current elapsed time (and, therefore, all times which are recorded subsequently) as well.

There is only one subtle feature of time synchronization. Even if you are running the timer in Slow Mode, you can enter a time offset in fractions (down to hundredths) of a second. These fractions will not show up (at first) in the Recorded Times window. After the timer is stopped, however, if you return to the Settings screen and select Fast mode, now when you return to the Recorded Times window the times will display in hundredths (although the times will still only be precise to the nearest second, so the value of doing this is questionable).

Merging

There may be times in which you wish to merge times recorded with different copies of PocketTimer running on different PalmPilots onto a single PalmPilot. One software product that allows you to do this is called DirectSync, from Teal Point Software (not supplied by Stevens Creek Software). If you do use DirectSync or a similar product to merge values from one set of data into another, it is possible that they will no longer be "in order" (since the times may overlap), and also, the recorded places may not be correct (unless you were careful in using the "starting place" feature, both PalmPilots may have recorded a first-place finisher, second-place, etc. If either of these situations occurs, select Renumber in the Recorded Times menu; this will sort the recorded times by time, and then number them consecutively.

Even if you are not merging results, you can use Renumber if you want to change the Starting Place (i.e., number of the first finisher) after you have recorded some (or all) of the results. Let's say, for example, that you are using two PalmPilots, one to record the first bunch of finishers and a second to record the rest. When unit #2 is put into place, you won't have time to note how many finishers have been recorded on unit #1 and to use the Settings window to set the Starting Place appropriately. Later, when the pressure is off, you can look at unit #1, see how many times were recorded, then use Settings on unit #2 to set the Starting Place to that number plus one. Now go to the Recorded Times window and select Renumber and the displayed places will be correct.

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