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Text File | 1997-06-04 | 15.6 KB | 344 lines

DRAW SELECTOR 3.5 Fast and Easy to Use POOLS PREDICTOR ---------------------------------------------- List of Features AUTOMATIC FORECASTS DRAW MONITOR & FORECAST MONITOR POOLS NUMBER MONITOR SEASON CHANGE MARKER USER UPDATE PROGRAM AUTOMATIC UPDATE FUNCTION ERASER PROGRAM POOLS WINS RECORDER USER SELECTIONS ----------------------- EXTERNAL DISK DRIVES If you are like me and hate writing data to a boot disk,you can now use any external drive to save all data written by Drawselector and its associated programs. The only requirement is that you have a disk with at least 30 K of space free.I prefer to use a freshly formatted one myself,but to continue,this disk MUST be named DRAW-DATA exactly as written here. No other disk name will be recognised by Drawselector or the other programs. You can name your disk with the RENAME option on Workbench and when this is done you need do nothing more EXCEPT to keep your DRAW-DATA disk in the external drive all the time you are using the Drawselector disk.Failure to observe this rule will result in data being read from and written to the Drawselector disk by default. When you use your DRAW-DATA disk for the first time,all data will be loaded from the Drawselector disk,but when you come to save data it will automatically be saved to your DRAW-DATA disk.From now on any data saved on your DRAW-DATA disk will have priority over any data on the Drawselector disk.It would be wise to WRITE PROTECT your Drawselector disk just in case you forget to insert the DRAW-DATA disk. HARD DISK Draw Selector will run from hard disk. You just need to drag its directory to the chosen place on your Hard Disk. You also need the Amos library in your Libs directory. You can use a DRAW-DATA disk to save data to if you wish ( see above). READ FIRST SECTION You will find Drawselector easy to use and friendly,and the simple instructions are given on the Welcome Screen when you load the program. However,there are some files you should know about and these are :- 1. TOTALS file 2. AMOS.LIBRARY 1. The TOTALS file is created by Drawselector when you input the draws and is used for all the calculations from week to week. Obviously you should not tamper with this in any way. 2. The AMOS.LIBRARY must be present in the LIBS directory or Drawselector will CRASH !! immediately. SPECIAL NOTE ! This program is quite large together with AMOS.LIBRARY and no problems will be encountered as long as you dont crunch it with Powerpacker or some other cruncher.Doing so may generate an OUT OF MEMORY error on a 1 meg Amiga.If you have more than 1 meg then no such problem exists. A S U G G E S T I O N In common with other Pools Predictors you are advised to use a Pools Plan such as Sun Plan 40 rather than a straight 8 from 10 entry.This gives you many more chances to get a winning line at a cheaper cost per line. YOU ENTER DRAWS FOR SATURDAY MATCHES ONLY ( Or equivalent ) DRAWSELECTOR V3.5 Runs for 52 weeks then UPDATES the TOTALS file to include the past 26 weeks,so giving a reasonably up to date forecast. or you can use the USER-UPDATE program on Workbench ( see DOCS LIST ) and delete data to your own requirements,or the ERASER program to make a completely fresh start ( see DOCS LIST ). As Drawselector works in a different way to most Pools Predictors,I have found it unecessary to delete past data just because the Season changes from the English to Australian for example,but I have provided a facility to put down a Marker on the week the Season changes ( see SEASON CHANGE on DOCS LIST ).This can be referred back to at any future date that suits you,and data deleted up to this Marker. As this is only the READ FIRST section I should digress no longer,except to say you can use Drawselector quite easily without wading through these DOCS,but the UPDATE functions need a little study,as they should be used with caution. B. CAIN 1997 ------------------------------ DRAW and FORECAST MONITORS The Draw Monitor and Forecast Monitor are used together so you can instantly compare one to the other. To explain further,the DRAW MONITOR as it's name implies monitors draws for all the weeks that draws have been input.So when you choose to examine the draws for a particular week, you can instantly see Drawselector's Forecast for the same week at the touch of a key. This of course depends on sufficient data being available to make a Forecast,and some weeks may pass before this becomes possible but if no forecast is imminent you will be advised of this at once. No mode of operation is given here because you are prompted as what to do in the program,which you will find quite straight forward and understandable.I think this is the best approach,for it saves you having to remember what was said in these Docs. POOLS NUMBER MONITOR Although allied to the DRAW and FORECAST Monitors this acts like a manual Sequence Predictor in that it shows ALL THE WEEKS in which a Pools Number had a Draw and sorts them into their respective Points Categories. This program runs separately from the other Monitors but I have tied it in so that when you exit the DRAW & FORECAST Monitors,you will be asked if you wish to use POOLS NUMBER MONITOR next.This works the the other way around too.When you exit POOLS NUMBER MONITOR you will be asked if want DRAW & FORECAST Monitors. You will be able to decline either option and return to the Main Menu. We don't want to get stuck in a loop do we ?,but the reason I have done it this way is so you can rapidly switch between Monitors if you need to use both functions. Operation of these Monitors is very simple and fast and you will be prompted what to do in the Monitor programs. SEASON CHANGE MARKER When the Football Season changes from the Aussie to English or vice versa,this program will put down a Marker in the TOTALS file,and this means you can delete data up to this Marker at any time that suits you. You can change this Marker if you have made a mistake,but only ONE MARKER is allowed at any one time,so if you put down a new Marker the old Marker will be erased. This action does no harm to the data file and you can change the Marker as many times as you wish (within reason).The new Marker will be saved to disk or cancelled as you prefer. To delete data up to this Marker you will have to use the USER UPDATE program which will be found separately on Workbench.USER-UPDATE will search for this Marker and if found will ask if you want to delete the previous season's data. PLEASE NOTE ! If you choose to delete the previous season,only the weeks prior to the Marker will be deleted.The week that holds the Marker will not be deleted for this will be the start of the current season. USER UPDATE PROGRAM This program is provided to allow more flexibility in the deletion of data.You can delete the CURRENT WEEKS DATA if you have made any mistakes,but read on...... There are two restrictions to using this program and both make good sense. For example you can only delete data from WEEK 1 upwards,in other words you can't delete say WEEK 5 to WEEK 10,because it wouldn't be logical or sensible to do this.The other restriction is,you can't delete ALL DATA in the file.This is the role for the ERASER program q.v.I thought it best to separate these two functions to avoid catastrophe. The first thing USER-UPDATE does is search for a SEASON CHANGE Marker and if found, asks if you wish to delete data to this Marker.If this is not your wish you will be asked to UPDATE to your OWN REQUIREMENTS.You can answer in the affirmative or Quit. PLEASE NOTE ! Any SEASON CHANGE Marker you have put down could be lost if data is deleted with this program,but not if you specifically delete up to this Marker. AUTOMATIC UPDATE FUNCTION You wont come across this one unless you run Drawselector for the full 52 weeks. If you try to input draws after 52 weeks,then this function will immediately spring into action.You will have no opportunity to stop this process,so it is well to bear in mind if you intend to UPDATE with USER-UPDATE program. What actually happens is this,the TOTALS file is UPDATED to include the last 26 weeks of Draws,and we then start at week 27 and go up to week 52 again. This process will repeat itself ad infinitum ,unless you interrupt it by the USER-UPDATE program.The choice is yours to make and especially if you have put down a SEASON CHANGE Marker,you will most likely want to UPDATE to this Marker rather than have the AUTOMATIC UPDATE make the choice for you. As mentioned elsewhere in these DOCS,any SEASON CHANGE Marker could be erased by the AUTOMATIC or USER-UPDATE functions,but not if you specifically UPDATE to the Marker.(see SEASON CHANGE). REMEMBER !! --- 52 WEEKS is the LIMIT for inputting DRAWS ERASER PROGRAM This should be used with EXTREME caution,it DELETES ALL DATA and you have to start again with a completely new data file. Even so there may be reasons you want to start afresh,like you haven't bothered entering Draws for nine weeks and you suddenly decide to start again.A fresh start might do no harm though you would have to wait a while for any automatic selections to show up. Another reason might be that you have input some naff data on some unknown weeks ( I don't know how this could be ),well then you DEFINITELY should start from the beginning and concentrate this time around PLEASE !! The reasons are few I admit,but you never know when you may need ERASER.My advice is to steer well clear,for after all you only need to spend about TEN MINUTES every Saturday to input the Draws and even the most impatient among us couldn't quibble at that,could we ? but on the other hand ..................! POOLS WINS RECORDER If you wish to keep a record of your wins this will hold the week number,date,amount won,Pools Firm and Pools Plan used. Please note,this is not a database but rather a kind of jotter or memo,which I think is sufficient for the purposes outlined above. This program is quite simple to use but may seem a little eccentric at the first try,but it works fine I assure you,please bear with me and I will explain. When the POOLS WINS screen appears,the text cursor ALWAYS appears at the top of the left column under WEEK NUMBER,this happens no matter how many entries you have previously made,but all you have to do is press RETURN a few times to place the cursor at the chosen position.You will realise that by doing it this way,gives you the opportunity to edit any previous entries along the way. You can enter 24 WINS in total ( dream on...) and then we start with a different pen colour and you write over the first entry at the top with your latest entry.The pen colours now show the difference between the old and new entries. To save to disk just hold the RETURN key down till the cursor reaches the bottom right hand corner of the screen.A message will appear asking you to save your entries,if you decline you will have the choice to continue or QUIT. USER SELECTIONS This will keep a record of your weekly selections and compare them to actual draws for the same week.You can enter up to six lines of selections per week on your Pools Coupon. You should know firstly that this program is tied exclusively to the TOTALS file,in other words,when you enter draws (in Drawselector) or do an UPDATE (See AUTOMATIC UPDATE and USER UPDATE these Docs) then when you come to use this program it will take account of all these actions and adjust itself accordingly.Also the SELECTIONS file will be UPDATED automatically when you UPDATE the TOTALS file. All this makes the program easier for you to use,but obviously it imposes some limitations on its use also.The list below summarises these:- 1.---- You cannot enter selections for previous weeks. 2.---- You can only enter selections for NEXT WEEK.This means when you have entered Draws in Drawselector for the current week,you can enter Selections for the following week only.If you try to enter selections for any week after this you will not be allowed to do so. 3.---- You must enter ALL your selections for one week in ONE SESSION. You cannot add further lines later. If you use this program regularly you are advised to follow these TWO SIMPLE RULES:- FIRST RULE -- ALWAYS enter the current weeks draws into Drawselector FIRST. SECOND RULE -- Enter your selections as soon as possible after entering the current weeks draws,and certainly BEFORE entering draws again. This will ensure you have a record of your selections for every week that draws are input.REMEMBER,you cannot enter selections for previous weeks. EPILOGUE I thought you might like to know I was getting FIVE DRAWS regularly when using Sun Plan 40 which gives you 17 selections to choose from.I am currently trying Sun Plan 55 which gives 24 selections and I am now getting 6 or 7 Draws regularly but you will have already guessed these are not all 3 point draws and it's a shame the Pools Firms found it necessary to divide draws into different categories,which makes it harder for programs like this to give a forecast. This imposition is a false one,and there used to be a time when A DRAW WAS A DRAW WAS A DRAW and you got 3 points for it regardless,after all if two teams are evenly matched on the day the game is played,it is likely there will be a draw but to forecast how many goals would be scored by each team is impossible to determine. With the advent of the National Lottery the points system has improved and the pools numbers have been reduced from 58 to 49. Amazing what a bit of competition can do, nevertheless this should further improve Draw Selectors forecasts, at least in theory anyway. If Drawselector doesn't come up to your expectations though, please consider the aforementioned facts before placing any blame. THANK YOU. END of DRAW SELECTOR DOCS