Copyright: NFL Calendar for Windows 95 Copyright © 1997 by George Tylutki


Overview

NFL Calendar is a desktop calendar program that includes and displays the NFL schedule.  All dates on which NFL games are scheduled are highlighted.  Double-clicking such dates causes the NFL schedule for that date to be displayed.  You can display the entire schedule and print it using three different formats.  Individual team schedules can also be displayed and printed.  A number of options allow you to customize NFL Calendar: use any font of any size for viewing the calendar; use team or city names when displaying/printing the schedule; and more.

The unregistered version of NFL Calendar for Windows 95 is complete except that the function to create a new schedule will not save the new schedule to disk.  You can create a new schedule (to see how the function works) but you cannot save it to disk.  It's only fair that you cannot use the unregistered version of the programs for more than one NFL season without registering it.

At the beginning of each season the schedule file (schedule.nfl) must be updated with the new schedule.  Although, you can purchase an annual update disk which contains a new schedule file, an updated on-line help file and the latest minor version update of NFL Calendar from 100% Cotton Software, you do not have to.  After you register NFL Calendar, you can use it year-after-year without additional cost.

NFL Calendar for Windows 95 is included with NFL Forecaster for Windows 95 at no additional charge. Over the past 13 seasons, Forecaster has correctly predicted winners 63% of the time and spreads 58% of the time.  (For the 1991-92 season Forecaster hit 70% for winners and 66% for spreads.)  For more information, see NFL Forecaster.

NFL Calendar was written using Borland Delphi 3.0.  Windows 95™ is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.  MS-DOS® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.  True Type® is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.


NFL Forecaster for Windows 95

NFL Forecaster predicts the winners and spreads of NFL games using only game scores.  It only takes ten minutes to enter the scores each week (no need to enter rushing yards, passing yards, etc.).  Forecaster guides you through the process of entering scores, obtaining forecasts, saving data and printing reports.  You can view and print: six reports; the scores, spreads and rankings from past games; and the entire NFL schedule (three formats) or an individual team's schedule.  There are eight categories of statistics; you can compare teams eight different ways.

NFL Forecaster uses the scores to rank each team's defense and offense and uses the rankings to make forecasts (winners and spreads).  The coefficient of correlation between the NFL teams' win-loss-tie percentage and the average of Forecaster's Total ranking is +0.971.

Over the past 13 seasons, Forecaster has correctly predicted winners 63% of the time and spreads 58% of the time.  (For the 1991-92 season Forecaster hit 70% for winners and 66% for spreads.)  Although these do not equal the percentages of some sports handicappers, it should be noted that Forecaster predicted winners and spreads for 90% of the games (only 305 of 2,930 games were too close to call), not just Monday night games or "5-star specials."  NFL Forecaster usually picks more winners than the handicappers and regularly predicts more spreads correctly than the Las Vegas odds-makers.


Quitting NFL Calendar

You quit NFL Calendar by choosing Exit from the File menu or by pressing Alt-X.  Any options changes you have made (font, team names, etc.) are automatically saved to the Windows Registry.


Annual Update Disk

The registered version of NFL Calendar provides a function for creating a new schedule (schedule.nfl) at the beginning of each season.  (The unregistered version allows you to create a schedule -- to see how the function works -- but you cannot save the new schedule to disk.)  Many users prefer to purchase an annual update disk instead of using this function.  The update disk contains a new schedule file, an updated on-line help file and the latest minor version update of NFL Calendar.  All registered owners of NFL Calendar are notified when the update disks become available (usually around July 1).  The cost is $5.00 (including shipping and handling).  When you register NFL Calendar, you receive a coupon worth 25% off the price of your first annual update disk.  Annual update disks must be ordered directly from 100% Cotton Software.


Why Register?
Why Register NFL Calendar?

You can register NFL Calendar by mail, phone, fax or email using a check, money order, credit card or CompuServe account.

NFL Calendar is a copyrighted shareware product; it is not freeware or public domain software.  You can try it before you buy it and you are encouraged to give copies to others.  If you use it after 30 days, you must register it.

When you register NFL Calendar for Windows 95, you will receive:

1. the latest version of the program:

  a. it does not have any request-for-registration dialog boxes;

  b. the create new schedule function will save the schedule to disk;

2. a 25% discount coupon: toward purchase of your first annual update disk;

3. a $2.00 coupon: toward registration of any other Cotton Software product such as NFL Forecaster for Windows 95 (see the file products.txt);

4. unlimited, life-time, free (not toll-free) telephone, email and mail support;

5. and, of course, the appreciation of programmers who strive to produce high-quality, inexpensive, useful and entertaining software.

6. Teachers are over-worked and under-appreciated.  Any teacher who registers directly to Cotton Software using his or her school letterhead will receive a $1.00 rebate.

ORDERING DIRECTLY FROM COTTON SOFTWARE:

Send a check or money order for $15.00 (US dollars) to:

     100% Cotton Software,

     RR 1 Box 1622

     Hop Bottom, PA 18824 USA

Orders from countries other than the United States, Canada and Mexico must add $3.00 for shipping and handling.  There is a registration form at the end of this help file.

CREDIT CARD ORDERS ONLY

You can order with MC, Visa, Amex, or Discover from Public (software) Library in the following ways:

     FAX: To 713-524-6398: ask for NFL Calendar for Windows 95, version 1.0, product #15328 and please type or block print very plainly.

     Email: To PsL at "15328@pslweb.com"

     Mail credit card orders to PsL at P.O.Box 35705, Houston, TX 77235-5705.

     Phone: PsL's operators are available from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. CST, Monday-Friday at 800-242-4775 Ext. 15328 or at 713-524-6394 Ext.15328

The phone extension number above (15328) is PsL's order number for NFL Calendar; it uniquely identifies NFL Calendar.  Be sure to use it when ordering; the order will be processed more quickly and efficiently.  Be sure to tell the operator that you want the registered version of NFL Calendar for Windows 95.

The above PsL numbers are for orders only.  The author of this program cannot be reached at these numbers.  Therefore, any questions about the status of the order, refunds, registration options, product details, technical support, volume discounts, dealer pricing, site licenses, etc. must be directed to 100% Cotton Software (717-289-4019) or to George Tylutki at CompuServe 103051,603 (Internet: tylutki@compuserve.com).  To insure that you get the latest version, PsL will notify us the day of your order and we will ship the product directly to you (often the same day).

CompuServe Account: You can charge NFL Calendar's registration fee to your CompuServe account:

GO SWREG.

Select "Register Software."

Enter "15731"  (the registration number for NFL Calendar for Windows 95).

Select "Register."

Enter your name, address, etc.

Select "Send."

CompuServe will notify us and we will ship the product directly to you (often the same day).


Warranty, License, Support

User Groups, Computer Clubs, Disk Vendors and Distributors, Subscription Services, Disk-of-the-Month Clubs, BBS SYSOPS, and other distributors should refer to VENDINFO.DIZ for complete information relating to them.

Warranty  The author believes that NFL Calendar for Windows 95 is able to do what its documentation says it can do.  Every good-faith effort has been made to remove "bugs" from this program and to make the user aware of its limitations.  However, it is mathematically impossible to prove a computer program correct.  Therefore, users of NFL Calendar must accept this disclaimer of warranty: NFL CALENDAR FOR WINDOWS 95 IS SUPPLIED AS IS.  TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND OF FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.  NEITHER THE AUTHOR NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOSS OF PROFIT, DATA OR OTHER SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR SIMILAR CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS PROGRAM.

License Terms Applicable To All Use And Distribution  NFL Calendar for Windows 95 and all associated software and documentation (the package) are copyrighted products.  The NFL Calendar package is comprised of all files contained within the NFLCAL1.ZIP compressed archive file.  All rights not expressly granted here are reserved to the author.  The use or distribution of this package is expressly prohibited, except as authorized by the terms of this agreement.  The NFL Calendar package may not be copied, rented, leased, sold, modified, decompiled, disassembled, or otherwise reverse engineered except as provided in this agreement.

License Terms Applicable To Trial Use For Evaluation  Your are granted a limited license to use this program for evaluation purposes for a period of 30 days.  If you find NFL Calendar for Windows 95 useful and continue to use it after 30 days, you must make a registration payment to 100% Cotton Software.  See Why Register NFL Calendar? for registration fee, benefits, addresses and phone numbers.

License Terms Applicable To Use Of Registered Version  The registration fee will license one copy of NFL Calendar for Windows 95 for use on any one computer at any one time.  You must treat this software just like a book.  That is, this software may be used by any number of people and may be freely moved from one computer location to another, so long as there is no possibility of it being used at one location while it's being used at another (just as a book cannot be read by two persons at the same time at two different locations).  If more than one copy of NFL Calendar is used on more than one computer at the same time, each copy of NFL Calendar must be individually registered or a special license must be obtained.  Low-cost site, multiple-copy, and school licenses are available.  Write or call for more information.

Limited Distribution License  Permission is granted to individuals charging no fees, and to BBSs, User Groups, Mail-Order Disk Vendors, CD-ROM publishers, and BBS File-Distribution Networks regardless of fees, to distribute the NFL Calendar for Windows 95 package provided they distribute a complete copy of the NFL Calendar package and they make no claim of ownership of the package.

Distribution by other channels, and distribution of modified versions, are also allowed, but only under the terms of the VENDINFO data record incorporated in VENDINFO.DIZ.  Any distribution satisfying all the distribution requirements expressed in that data record is hereby authorized.  Permission to distribute the NFL Calendar for Windows 95 package may not be transferred, assigned, sold or franchised.  Each vendor wishing to distribute the NFL Calendar package must independently satisfy the terms of this limited distribution license.  The author may revoke any permissions granted here at any time by notifying you in writing.

Certain files of the NFL Calendar for Windows 95 package are updated every year to keep the package current with changes in the National Football League (for example, the schedule).  If you have a version that is over twelve (12) months old, contact the author to ensure that you have the latest version.  Version 1.0 of NFL Calendar for Windows 95 was released July 1997.

Support  Registered owners of NFL Calendar for Windows 95 will receive free support for the lifetime of the product.  You can call (not toll-free) 717-289-4019, send email to CompuServe 103051,603 (Internet: tylutki@compuserve.com) or send a letter to the above address.


What Is Shareware?

Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software.  Shareware distribution gives you a chance to try software before buying it.  If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register.  Individual programs differ on details: some request registration while others require it and some specify a maximum trial period.  The benefits of registration range from the basic right to continue using the software to an updated program with printed manual.

Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below.  Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors, and their programs are of comparable quality.  The main difference is in the method of distribution.  The shareware author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all or sundry or to a specific group.  For example, some authors require written permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their Shareware.

You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's commercial or Shareware.  The Shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy.  And because the overhead is low, prices are low also.  Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee: if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it.  But if you do use it, you must pay for it.


What Is ASP?

This program was produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP), an industry association founded in 1987 to which authors and vendors of Shareware programs belong.  As a user of Shareware, you benefit from ASP activities.  ASP promotes broad distribution of Shareware so that ASP Shareware programs can continue to be reasonably priced and easily obtained.  ASP sets and maintains programming, marketing and support standards that members must follow; thus, you can be sure that ASP Shareware programs are of high quality, marketing is honest and support meets minimum standards.  For example, the evaluation copy of an ASP Shareware program may not be limited (crippled) in any way; members must respond to every registration; members must provide technical support for their products for at least 90 days from the date of registration.  Should an ASP member move or obtain a new telephone number, you can locate him or her through the ASP Executive Director, 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 USA, CompuServe 72050,1433, FAX 616-788-2765, Voice 616-788-5131.

ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you.  If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help.  The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products.  Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 USA, FAX 616-788-2765 or send an email message to ombudsman@compuserve.com.


Playoff Games
Playoff Games and Super Bowl

Because the participants in the various playoff games and the Super Bowl are unknown when the NFL schedule is released, NFL Calendar's schedule display cannot include post-season games nor can the calendar highlight these games.


Distribution Package

The original distribution package is your original source of NFL Calendar.  It might be a set of disks sent from Cotton Software or a disk vendor or it might be a zip file you downloaded.  It contains all of the NFL Calendar files in their original state (see the topic Installing/Uninstalling Calendar and the files README.TXT and VENDINFO.DIZ) and can be used to replace files that have become corrupted -- the names or schedule file for example.


Error Messages
Error And Warning Messages

Most messages that NFL Calendar issues are self-explanatory -- for example, "A team can play in only one game per week" (while creating a new schedule) and "The font size must be reduced to fit the report on the page" (while printing).

Handling the full range of errors that can occur when running a sophisticated program like NFL Calendar under a complex operating system like Windows 95 requires substantial knowledge and experience.  However, many problems are easily solved (or at least the causes are not difficult to understand).  Each NFL Calendar warning and error message is accompanied by a message number.  The same number may be used for the same error at different places in the program.  Use the error numbers to look up an error in the following list.

-1, -3, -5, -6, -20

The most common problem is NFL Calendar not being able to find the names file (names.nfl) or the schedule file (schedule.nfl).  These two files must be in the NFL Calendar directory for NFL Calendar to find them.  If for some reason they are deleted or moved from the NFL Calendar directory, replace them by copying the files from your original distribution package.  NFL Calendar can display the NFL schedule without the names file, but default (shortened) names are used.  It cannot display the schedule if it cannot find the schedule file.

If the error indicates that there has been an error reading a file, the file is corrupt or your disk is damaged (a bad sector, for example).  You can often correct the problem by replacing the corrupt file.  For example, copy the good schedule file (schedule.nfl) from the distribution package to the NFL Calendar directory.  A file may become corrupt for a number of reasons: a power glitch while saving the schedule file, the proximity of an excessive number of bovine bodies; a physical imperfection of the disk itself; and many more.  If the cause of the error was not simply a missing file (you accidentally deleted it at some time), you might want to run Disk Scan to determine whether there is something wrong with your disk.

-4

If the message indicates that the file is the wrong version, then you are attempting to use a very old version of a file that NFL Calendar cannot handle.  This should not happen since the distribution package includes a complete set of files.  It can only happen if you attempt to use a file associated with an old version of NFL Forecaster.

2, 4, 9, 10, 12

Other errors can occur when the amount of free memory becomes low.  This happens less frequently with Windows 95 than with previous versions of Windows.  Generally, you fix this problem by freeing up some memory: shut down other programs that are using memory.  Each of these errors are the result of a severe memory shortage.  It is very unlikely you will ever see any of these messages.  The solution is to free up some memory by shutting down one or more other programs.

-12, -13

These messages indicate that NFL Calendar is unable to read from or write to the Windows Registry which is where it stores all of the options.  You should see these messages only if your Registry file has become corrupt (in most cases NFL Calendar will be able to continue by using built-in default settings).  You can and should occasionally backup the Registry.  A corrupt Registry is a serious problem; the on-line help for the Windows RegEdit program contains information about restoring the Registry.

Error 9; I/O Error 32: Can't open .... file  This is a system not an NFL Calendar message.  It almost always indicates that the file is already in use (open) by another program.  For example, you might be looking at the schedule using an editor or word processing program (which is holding the file open).  Close the file in the other program.


File

NFL Calendar automatically loads the schedule file (schedule.nfl) when you start the program.   It also automatically loads the options from the Windows Registry when you start the program and saves them when you exit.


Exit
File|Exit

See Quitting NFL Calendar.


Calendar

The calendar menu contains six items that enable you to view the calendar, switch to the previous or next month, switch to the previous and next year and jump to the current date.


View Calendar
Calendar|View

On the schedule toolbar press this button:

This menu item is enabled only when viewing the schedule.  Choosing this menu item will cause the calendar window to be displayed.  You can also switch from viewing the calendar to the schedule (and back again) by pressing Ctrl + F6 and Shift + Ctrl + F6.


Viewing the Calendar

The name of the month being displayed is shown at the left above the calendar page and the year being displayed is shown at the right above the calendar page.  All regularly-scheduled NFL game days are indicated by "NFL" beneath the day's number.  Double-clicking these days causes the NFL schedule for that game day to be displayed.  You can also do this with the keyboard by using the direction keys to highlight a game date and then pressing Enter.

The calendar window has a toolbar which you can choose to show or not show via Options|Show Toolbars menu.  On the toolbar are buttons for displaying the previous and next month, the previous and next year, the current date and for switching to viewing the NFL schedule.

If you press the right mouse button while the mouse cursor is located within the boundaries of the calendar window, a pop-up menu will appear which contains all of the menu items from the main menu that are relevant to the calendar.


Changing Calendar Months
Calendar|Previous Month

Calendar|Next Month

The Previous Month menu item displays the page of the calendar of the month previous to the currently displayed month (May to April, for example).  Previous month rolls back from December to January (and changes to the previous year -- Jan 1997 to Dec 1996, for example).

The Next Month menu item displays the page of the calendar of the month following the currently displayed month (April to May, for example). Next month rolls over from December to January (and changes to the following year -- Dec 1997 to Jan 1998, for example).


Changing Calendar Years
Calendar|Previous Year

Calendar|Next Year

The Previous Year menu item displays the calendar of the year previous to the currently displayed year (1997 to 1996, for example).  The currently selected month is displayed.

The Next Year menu item displays the calendar of the year following the currently displayed year (1997 to 1998, for example).  The currently selected month is displayed.


Showing Today's Date
Calendar|Today

The Today menu item changes the calendar to the current year's calendar, the page to the current month's page and highlights the current date.


Schedule

The schedule menu contains four items that enable you to view the schedule, print the schedule, copy the currently displayed schedule to the clipboard and create a new schedule for a new season.


View Schedule
Schedule|View

On the calendar toolbar press this button:

This menu item is enabled only when viewing the calendar.  Choosing this menu item will cause the schedule window to be displayed.  You can also switch from viewing the calendar to the schedule (and back again) by pressing Ctrl + F5 and Shift + Ctrl + F6.


Viewing the Schedule

The schedule window has a toolbar which you can choose to show or not show via Options|Show Toolbars menu.  On the toolbar is a button that switches the display to the calendar window. The toolbar also contains a drop-down list box that is used to select whether the entire NFL schedule or an individual team's schedule is displayed.  The choice you make here determines which type of schedule is printed.

If you press the right mouse button while the mouse cursor is located within the boundaries of the schedule window, a pop-up menu will appear.  It contains all of the menu items from the main menu that are relevant to the schedule.

The names used for each team depend upon whether you have checked City Names or Team Names on the Options menu.

If you choose not to show the schedule toolbar, additional rows of the schedule can be displayed in the grid (depending upon the font and its size).  However, the toolbar must be visible in order to select a schedule to display; there are no corresponding menu items.

The columns of the schedule grid can be resized by placing the mouse cursor over the vertical lines that separate the columns in the top header row.  The cursor will change shape.  Press the left mouse button and while holding it down move the mouse right or left to change the size of the column.  Release the left button when the column is as wide as you desire. Changing the column widths does not affect the printed schedule.

The schedule window doesn't automatically resize itself to shorter (or taller) when you switch between displaying the entire schedule and an individual team's schedule. Therefore, if you switch from displaying the entire schedule to displaying an individual team's schedule, there may be blank space between the bottom of the grid and the bottom of the window.


Printing the Schedule
Schedule|Print

The schedule that is printed is the one that is currently displayed in the schedule window.

You can print the entire current schedule (the one contained in the file schedule.nfl) using three different layouts: 15 weeks per page, 6 weeks per page and continuous.  You can also print an individual team's schedule by first displaying its schedule.

 When the schedule is printed 15 weeks per page, 8-point Small Fonts is used.  The entire NFL schedule will fit on two sheets of paper.  If you can set your printer to do duplex printing (odd numbered pages on one side of a sheet of paper and even numbered pages on the other side), you can print the entire schedule on a single sheet of paper using the 15-week per page format.  If not, print it as 15-weeks per page; then turn the pages over and print it again; you'll have two copies of the complete schedule each on a single sheet of paper.

 When the schedule is printed 6 weeks per page, 10-point Arial is used.  The entire schedule will fit on 3 sheets of paper.

 The continuous format prints each game on a single line down the page for as many pages are necessary to print the complete schedule.  This is also the method used for individual team's schedules.  You can use any font of any size.  Thus, the number of pages required to print the schedule depends upon the font being used.  Use the continuous format to print the schedule in a large font.

When printing an individual team's schedule and the entire schedule using the continuous format, NFL Calendar determines whether the schedule will fit horizontally on the page using the current font.  If not, it will compute the largest font size less than the current font size to use to print the schedule. It will warn you that it needs to reduce the font size and ask if you want to continue. If you answer yes, it will print the schedule using the smaller font.  If you answer no, it will print the schedule using the current font which will almost always means that part of the schedule will not appear on the page.  Thus, you can use a large font to view the schedule or calendar and let NFL Calendar take care of computing the font size for printing.

If you want a continuous printout of the entire schedule in a large font, and want to determine if the font is too large for the lines to fit the width of the paper, choose an individual team's schedule and print it (it's much shorter than the entire schedule and should fit on a single page).  If it's too large, reduce the font size and print it again.  One or two test prints should be enough.  Then print the entire NFL schedule.  You can get one week on a page using Arial 24 point (larger than this will cause parts of the schedule to run of the sides of the page).  In general, you can use font sizes as large as 20 to 28 points.

The names used for each team depends upon whether you have checked City Names or Team Names on the Options menu.

Multiple copies of a schedule will be printed (if you set the number of copies greater than one in the printer dialog) only if your printer is smart enough to print multiple reports.  That is, NFL Calendar doesn't handle multiple copies; Windows and your printer do.  If you have an older printer that can't be instructed to print multiple copies, you'll have to do it yourself.  This is also true for collating; this is handled by Windows and your printer, not NFL Calendar.


Copy to Clipboard
Schedule|Copy

This function copies the currently displayed schedule (single team's or entire) to the Windows clipboard.  You can then switch to another application and use the Windows Paste function to insert the schedule into another application. NFL Calendar always copies the title of the schedule to the clipboard as well.

Schedule|Copy copies the contents of the schedule's grid's cells to the clipboard; how the data is displayed at the time of copying is irrelevant.  That is, it doesn't matter what font you are using or whether the columns are wide or narrow.  Nothing special has to be done with the display to copy the schedule to the clipboard.

Tabs are used to separate the data into columns.  When you paste it into another application (such as a word-processing program or editor), the columns may not line up correctly because: of different tab sizes; tabs may expand to a different number of spaces in different programs.  Also, the proportional fonts you can use in NFL Calendar may disrupt alignment.  Usually, all you need do is insert additional tabs to align the columns.  When the schedule is pasted into a spreadsheet (such as Microsoft's Excel), the data automatically aligns correctly.


Create a New Schedule
Schedule|Create New

If you purchase an annual update disk, you do not have to create a new schedule.

When you choose Schedule|Create New, a dialog box opens with a list box from which you choose the number of weeks in the new season.  It seems that the NFL has settled on a season of 17 weeks, but it could be lengthened or shortened so the values in the list box range from 14 to 20.  The value NFL Calendar is requesting is the number of weeks in the regular season (do not include playoff weeks).

You also need to tell NFL Calendar which season the new schedule will be for.  You have three choices: last year, the current year and next year (each year the dates change; NFL Calendar isn't locked into only 3 years).  If it is 1998 when you are creating the schedule, the correct season would be 1998-99; you can't create a schedule for the following year because the NFL doesn't release the schedule until April or May of the schedule year (May 1998 for 1998-99 schedule, for example).  And it doesn't make much sense to create a schedule for the previous year.  But who knows what will happen?  What if the NFL season is moved from Sept-Dec to Nov-Feb?  Then you might want to create a schedule in January 1999 (in the middle of the season) for 1998-99 season.  If for some reason you want to create a schedule for a season other than the three offered by NFL Calendar, use Settings|Control Panel to change your computer's date (see your Windows manual) and then run NFL Calendar and create the schedule.  Don't forget to reset the date.

Next, the Create New Schedule dialog box is opened.  At the top the teams are listed by division in six columns.  Below that are three drop-down edit boxes you use to set the date of each game.  Most games are played on Sunday but you should remember to change the date for Monday-night games (and special games like Thanksgiving and end-of-the-season Saturday games).  Also, be sure to set the date at the beginning of each new week.  NFL Calendar uses the Settings|Control Panel|Regional Settings for month and day names (short names); see your Windows manual.

Choose two teams and press the "Game OK" button. NFL Calendar will list the game in the grid on the right side of the dialog.  If you make a mistake, press the "Edit" button and correct the error.  Then press the "Edit Done" button (or "Cancel Edit" button).  Each time you press the "Edit Done" button, NFL Calendar performs numerous checks on the information in the grid (see below) and will pop up a warning if something is not correct.  Fix the error and press "Edit Done" again, or press "Edit Cancel" and fix the error later.  The titles on the buttons change depending upon whether you are entering games or editing.

While editing, you can press your mouse's right button to pop up a menu that enables you to delete, clear, and insert games.  Clear deletes the information in a game row (so you can enter new information); delete deletes the information in a game row and deletes the row; insert moves all games down a row and clears the current row so you can enter game information between two other games (if you omit a Sunday game between the Saturday and Monday games, for example).  NFL Calendar can "see" spaces even if you can't.  Use delete or clear to remove a game from the schedule; do NOT use the space bar to blank out a game.  You can leave empty rows between game rows in the grid if there are less than 15 games.  There is no reason to do this; NFL Calendar will simply redisplay the schedule without the empty rows after verifying it is correct.

Continue entering games until all the games for the week have been entered.  Then press the "Week Done" button. NFL Calendar will give you another chance to edit the games listed in the grid.  Press the "Edit" button to make any corrections.  If you realize that you have omitted a game, press the "Not Done" button to resume entering games.  NFL Calendar verifies the information you have entered a second time when you press the "Done" button indicating that the week has been edited and verified.

You can press the "Cancel" button at any time.  If you do, NFL Calendar will ask you to confirm that you want to stop.  You cannot save a partial schedule and resume work on it at a later time.  Either you create an entire new schedule or no schedule.  Creating a new schedule doesn't take long and the ability to edit the schedule as you go along makes it relatively easy to quickly enter an accurate, new schedule.  Be sure you will have 30 to 45 uninterrupted minutes before you start; you only have to create a new schedule once a year.

When the new schedule is saved to disk, schedule.nfl is renamed to schedule.old.  If schedule.old exists, it is renamed schedule.bk1.  If schedule.bk1 exists, it is renamed schedule.bk2, and so on.  It's best to rename schedule.nfl before you choose Tasks|Seasonal|Create New Schedule (for example, to schedule.97) to make it easier to find at some later time.

When you have completed creating the new schedule and it has been saved to disk, NFL Calendar automatically rereads schedule.nfl (whether you cancel or complete the new schedule).

NFL Calendar can't catch every error you can make, but it catches many.

It checks that each cell (except the "at" cell) has valid contents.

It checks that the dates range from 1 to 31.

It checks the date and month (Nov 31 isn't allowed, for example).

It doesn't check Feb 28/29 against leap years; since there are no games in February this is not a problem, but keep it in mind.  Who knows how the NFL may change the schedule?

It verifies that the day matches the date (that August 31 is a Sunday for example).  It assumes that months June, July, August, September, October, November and December are for the current year and that months January, February, March, April and May are for the following year.  Thus, the NFL could move the beginning of the season back to June 1 and extend the season to May 31 without affecting your ability to enter a new schedule or NFL Calendar's ability to verify the schedule.

It checks that a team doesn't play itself.

It checks that a team doesn't play in two games in one week.

It checks whether a game is in Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec (it's allowed but you'll be warned).

Although it doesn't care about capitalization ("ny Giants" and "Ny giAnts" are the same to NFL Calendar), it does insist that teams names, days, and months be spelled correctly (Buccaneers not Bucs and Sun not Sunday).  You may find this insistence on a single correct spelling annoying, but this is a concern only when you are editing, since you can create an entire new schedule without typing a single date or name.

It doesn't care if you put the games in the right order; if you want to put Monday night games first in each week's schedule, you can.

It doesn't verify that the months are consecutive; some weeks can span the start of a new month (Sunday game in October and Monday-night game in November); if you say that some games for a given week are in October and others are in June, NFL Calendar will not complain.

It can't check team order; however, for the schedule to make sense the "away" team should be first (team x at team y).

You can use this function to create new schedules until the NFL expands the league, lengthens the schedule beyond 20 weeks or shortens it to less than 14 weeks.

NFL Calendar and NFL Forecaster and are installed in the same directory.  Both programs share two files -- schedule.nfl and names.nfl -- and both expect these files to be in the directory in which they are installed.  You can create a new schedule using either program and after you create a new schedule both will have access to it.  If you have moved one of these programs to a different directory (there is no reason to do this), then after you create a new schedule with one of them, you should copy the new schedule to the other's directory so it can use it also.

In the unregistered version of NFL Calendar for Windows 95, this function does not allow you to save the new data to disk.


Options

The Options menu enables you to choose a font for displaying and printing and to set a number of preferences to make the program more convenient to use.  You can change any of the settings while NFL Calendar is running.  The settings are automatically saved in the Windows Registry when you exit NFL Calendar and they are automatically loaded when it is run.

As all good Windows 95 programs should, NFL Calendar signals errors, warnings and requests for information with the appropriate sound (according to the choices you have made via Settings|Control Panel|Sounds).  If you find the sounds annoying, you can turn off/down your speakers or assign "none" to the various settings (asterisk, exclamation, etc.).

See also:

Names

Show Fly-by Hints

Show Main Menu

Show Toolbars

Font

Stay On Top


Names Option
Options|City Names

Options|Team Names

You can have NFL Calendar use either the teams' names or their geographical names -- for example, Denver or Broncos, Rams or St. Louis -- for displaying and printing.  The names are contained in the file names.nfl.


Fly-by Hints Option
Options|Show Fly-by Hints

If you choose to show fly-by hints, when the mouse cursor is allowed to rest over a toolbar button for about 1 second, a little box that explains the button's function pops up.


Show Menu Option
Options|Show Main Menu

Each function represented by an item on the main menu is also available via NFL Calendar's right-click pop-up menu, so NFL Calendar is fully-functional even if the main menu is not visible.  Further, all of the items relating to the calendar window on the main menu are also available via the calendar toolbar.

You might choose not to show the main menu, in order to make the calendar window smaller.


Show Toolbars Option
Options|Show Toolbars

When this menu item is checked, both the calendar window and the schedule window toolbars are displayed.

The calendar's toolbar gives quick access to (left to right): Previous and Next Month, Today's Date, Previous and Next Year and Show Schedule.  Each button on the toolbar represents a menu item, so if you choose not to display the calendar toolbar you can still access the functions by using the menu.  Each function represented by a button on the toolbar is also available via NFL Calendar's right-click pop-up menu.  Not showing the toolbar enables you to make the calendar window smaller.

The schedule window toolbar contains a drop-down list box you can use to choose to display the complete NFL schedule or an individual team's schedule.  The choice you make here determines which type of schedule is displayed and printed.  If the entire NFL schedule is being displayed, then when you choose to print the schedule you will have the option of printing it 15 weeks per page, 6 weeks per page or continuous.  If you are displaying an individual team's schedule, then only that team's schedule will be printed.

If you choose not to show the schedule toolbar, additional rows of the schedule can be displayed in the grid (depending upon the font and its size).  However, the toolbar must be visible in order to select a schedule to display; there are no corresponding menu items.

The schedule window toolbar also contains a button that switches the display to the calendar window.  This can also be accomplished via the main menu and the right-click pop-up menu.


Font Option
Options|Font

Via the Options|Font menu (which opens a dialog box) you can choose a font (depending upon which fonts you have installed), a font size, a font style (regular, italic and bold), a font color and effects (strikeout and underline).  Some fonts are simply not usable; they do not contain numbers (dingbats, for example, does not contain letters or numbers).  You can change the font settings at any time (even if a view window is not open).

Some fonts can't be mapped to an appropriate size by the Windows font mapper (not NFL Calendar), so it may not be possible to print using a given font.  Also, a font may be mapped to a different font to fit the size.  Use True Type fonts whenever possible.

The current Font settings are used for displaying the calendar and the schedule (and for printing the schedule, but see below).  Since you can scroll the schedule window horizontally and vertically, any size font can be used.  You may want to use a large point size if your screen is small or your vision is impaired.

When you make a change to the current font (different name, size, etc.), the cells within the schedule display are redrawn; the columns are widened or narrowed to accommodate the changed font.  However, the view window itself is not resized. This means that when you make changes to the font (bold to regular, 12- point to 8-point, etc.) that result in less space being needed to display the information, there may be empty space on the right side between the grid's right side and the window's right side.

The current Font settings are also used to print the schedule.  If you are printing an individual team's schedule or the entire schedule using the continuous format, NFL Calendar determines whether the schedule will fit on the page horizontally if the current font size is used.  If not, it will notify you that it will need to reduce the font size (for example, from 24 point to 12 point) and ask if you still want to print the report.  If you answer yes, it will calculate an appropriate smaller font size and print the schedule.  If you answer no, it will print the schedule using the current font, which almost always means that part of the schedule will be clipped -- that is, the parts of the schedule that will not fit on the page will simply not be printed.  After the report has been printed the original font size is restored (because that is the size you are using for the screen display).  So, if you print again, NFL Calendar will again advise you that the font size must be reduced.  This also means that you can use whatever size font you like for displaying and NFL Calendar will take care of reducing the font size if the report will not fit on the page.

The font dialog lists both screen and printer fonts.  You may choose a font that displays well but looks ugly when used to print.  Rarely is this a problem, but it may be why your report doesn't look good.  Generally, TrueType fonts work well with both.


Stay On Top Option
Options|Stay On Top

Checking this option causes NFL Calendar to remain on top of all other windows.  This allows you to keep NFL Calendar visible while working with other programs.  If the Stay On Top option is not checked then NFL Calendar will be hidden behind other windows whenever you switch to another program.


Help

Pressing F1 at almost any time when NFL Calendar is running will invoke context-sensitive help.  That is, the help file will be opened to a topic appropriate to the given situation.

Whenever a dialog box with a help button is opened, pressing the help button will open the help file to a topic relevant to the purpose of the dialog box.

Fly-by hints are displayed whenever the mouse cursor is allowed to rest over a toolbar button for about 1 second if Options|Show Fly-by Hints is checked.

In order to obtain on-line help while running NFL Calendar, the file NFL Calendar.hlp must be in the same directory as NFL Calendar.exe.


Un\Installing NFL Calendar
Installing/Uninstalling NFL Calendar for Windows 95

The following information pertains ONLY to installing and uninstalling NFL Calendar as a separate program.  If you received NFL Calendar as part of the NFL Forecaster package, see the topic "Installing/Uninstalling NFL Forecaster for Windows" in the NFL Forecaster on-line help.

NFL Calendar's setup program installs files only in the NFL Calendar directory (the default directory is Program Files\Cotton\NFL), except for a single file, UNINST.EXE, which is placed in the Windows directory.  UNINST.EXE is used to uninstall NFL Calendar (see below) and other companies' programs and should not be deleted from your disk.  The setup program does not make any changes to your config.sys or autoexec.bat files.

A minimum of three files must always be in the NFL Calendar directory:

NFL Calendar.exe -- The executable NFL Calendar program file.

schedule.nfl -- If NFL Calendar can't find schedule.nfl, then you will not be able to view or print the schedule.

names.nfl -- If NFL Calendar can't find names.nfl, it will use some default (shortened) names.

Several other files are placed in the NFL Calendar directory:

NFL Calendar.hlp -- The NFL Calendar on-line help file.  Required for on-line help.

NFL Calendar.cnt -- The NFL Calendar on-line help table of contents.

DEISLx.ISU  -- A log file used when uninstalling NFL Calendar.

ReadMe.txt -- Information file.

file_id.diz -- Identification file.

vendinfo.diz -- Information file.

Products.txt-- Information file.

Uninstalling NFL Calendar

NFL Calendar's uninstall program removes NFL Calendar.  It removes all files and Registry entries that were installed by the installation program (except for the uninstallation program itself; see above).   It does not (cannot) remove files that were placed in the NFL Calendar directory after installation.  For example, it will not remove backup schedule files; you must remove them yourself.

From the Windows 95 task bar choose "Settings."

Then choose "Control Panel."

In Control Panel choose "Add/Remove Programs."

Highlight NFL Calendar in the list.

Press the Add/Remove button.

NOTE:  Two files -- schedule.nfl and names.nfl -- are used by NFL Calendar and NFL Forecaster (which is located in the same directory as NFL Calendar if you have it installed on your computer).  Both programs share these two files.  If (1) you obtained NFL Calendar as a separate program and installed it and later obtained NFL Forecaster and installed it (it also installs NFL Calendar) or (2) you obtained and installed NFL Forecaster (which also installs NFL Calendar) and later obtained and installed NFL Calendar as a separate program, then the Control Panel will list both NFL Calendar and NFL Forecaster as uninstallable programs.  The uninstall program for NFL Calendar will remove only NFL Calendar.  The uninstall program for NFL Forecaster will remove Forecaster and NFL Calendar.  If you want to uninstall NFL Calendar but not NFL Forecaster and your situation is either (1) or (2) above (it's highly unlikely that you would have obtained and installed each program separately,  but it is possible), then you should rename schedule.nfl and names.nfl (to something like schedule.tmp and names.tmp) before you uninstall NFL Calendar.  After NFL Calendar has been uninstalled, you should rename the schedule file and names file back to scheule.nfl and names.nfl.  You must do this because NFL Calendar's uninstall program will remove schedule.nfl and names.nfl; without these two files NFL Forecaster will not function properly.


File Formats

The files schedule.nfl and names.nfl are necessary for NFL Calendar to display and print the NFL schedule.  The two files are also used by NFL Forecaster (if you have it installed on your computer).  See Installing/Uninstalling NFL Calendar for information about installing and removing these files and Schedule|Create New about creating a new schedule at the beginning of each new season.

schedule.nfl

This file contains the version number (currently 4.0), the number of teams in the file, and the number of games in the schedule.  The following lines contain numbers representing the participants and dates of each game of the season.  The last line indicates the NFL season of the file -- for example, ".97-98".  A new schedule.nfl file must be created each season.  Never make changes to this file.

names.nfl

This file contains the team and city names for the old 28-team league and for the current 30-team league.  Using any editor or word-processing program that can load and save a plain ASCII text file, you can modify the names in this file.  You would want to do this when a team moves from one city to another as have the Rams and Cleveland recently.  However, the names must remain in the same order and no lines may be added or deleted from this file.

Because NFL Calendar and NFL Forecaster are installed in the same directory, when you modify names.nfl the changes will affect both programs.  If you have both programs installed on your computer but they are not located in the same directory and you modify names.nfl,  you should makes sure a copy of the modified names file is placed in both directories.

If NFL Calendar cannot find this file, it will use a set of default names for both city and team names (based on the team names).  Although they are shortened, they are still usable.  If you get a message that names.nfl cannot be found or used, NFL Calendar will continue to run, but you should find out what is causing the problem.  At least, put a good copy of names.nfl into the NFL Calendar directory (copy it from the original distribution package).

If you use the default names to make a new schedule, the information will display correctly after you restore the names file; the names are stored in the schedule file as numbers.


Pop-up Menus

Pressing the right mouse button while the cursor is within the boundaries of calendar or schedule windows will cause a pop-up menu to appear.  It is context-sensitive; that is, it contains all of the menu items from the main menu that are relevant to the current situation (for example, "Print schedule" will appear on this menu only if you are viewing the NFL schedule).

When you are creating a new schedule (Schedule|Create New) and you are editing the games that you have entered, you can right-click the mouse to pop up a menu that enables you to delete, clear and insert a game.


Registration form
To print this form, choose File|Print Topic from the menu above.

NFL CALENDAR REGISTRATION FORM 1.0

For credit card, phone, fax, and CompuServe email orders (and the benefits of registering), see the section "Why Register NFL Calendar?".

Date:_________________

Register NFL Calendar for Windows 95 ($15.00 per copy)   $________

Register NFL Forecaster for Windows 95 ($25.00 per copy) $________

   (includes NFL Calendar at no additional cost)

Orders from countries other than United States,

Canada and Mexico (add $3.00)                            $________

                                                 TOTAL   $________

Total includes shipping, handling and taxes where applicable.

International orders US Dollars please.

     __ Check     __ Money order

Disk Size: __ 5 1/4" (1.2MB)       __ 3 1/2" (1.44MB)

Name _____________________________________________________________

Street ___________________________________________________________

City __________________________State/Province ____________________

Country _____________________________ Postal/Zip Code ____________

Please provide the following information.  I obtained my copy of NFL Calendar from (shareware distributor, BBS, Internet, users' group, friend, colleague, relative, etc.): __________________________________________________________________

Suggestions/comments: ____________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Send to: 100% Cotton Software,  RR 1 Box 1622, Hop Bottom, PA 18824, USA


Contents
NFL Calendar for Windows 95 Contents

Introduction

   Overview

   Quitting NFL Calendar

   Installing/Uninstalling NFL Calendar

   Help

   Why Register NFL Calendar?

Selected Topics

   Viewing the Calendar

   Viewing the Schedule

   Printing the Schedule

   Options

   Pop-up Menus

   Playoff Games and Super Bowl

   Annual Update Disk

   File Formats

   NFL Forecaster

Registration, Warranty, License

   Warranty, License, Support

   What Is Shareware?

   What Is ASP?

   Why Register NFL Calendar?

   Registration Form

Problems and Errors

   Error and Warning Messages

Command Reference


Command Reference
NFL Calendar Command Reference

File

   Exit

Calendar

   View

   Previous Month

   Next Month

   Previous Year

   Next Year

   Today

Schedule

   View

   Print

   Copy

   Create New

Options

   City Names

   Team Names

   Fly-by Hints

   Show Main Menu

   Show Toolbars

   Font

   Stay On Top

Help