This program was written to help me with keeping check on the several football competitions I am responsible for. I have tried to make it as universal as possible - but further additions are needed (see my wish list at the end of the manual). As an extra it can be used as a simple label/address database or a universal calendar but this is rather underkill! The basic format is to input data about teams, dates and competitions, then get the program to form and display the fixtures, finally allow results to be input and tables/ next round of cup formed and displayed. In case of error (mine or the users!) there is a toolbox to manually alter the formed data. Naturally the data can be loaded and saved but also different forms of the data (fixtures/results/tables/labels) can be saved as text or CSV files or printed out.
Limitations:
WARNING this program has been extensively used by me and has not caused errors but I have never taken the parts to their theoretical limits ( my use includes cups up to 31 teams, leagues up to 8 teams and 4 divisions of 6 teams)
Teams maximum 200
Competitions maximum 15 each with Divisions maximum 15
Number of teams in a league maximum 16 (though larger numbers only requires the production of a base matrix which I could probably produce if asked)
Teams to pay each other once or twice only.
Length of season maximum 100 dates (nearly 1 year if played on Saturdays and Sundays, 8 months if played on Saturdays, Sundays and Midweek)
In the following clicking means Left Hand Button of the Mouse (select)
Note the program uses many different windows these can either be closed in the normal Acorn WIMP manner (i.e. click X in the top Left Corner of window heading) or by clicking the OK or CANCEL box. If closing the window causes the program a problem it should let you know by an error box.
Starting for the First Time
Double Click on the !FixtureS Icon to get an icon on the icon bar. Click on this new icon to produce the main banner header at the top of the screen. This should remain all the time you are using the program. (Later when you have data saved this should be dragged and dropped onto this banner)
You cannot use the program until the start date has been entered. To do this click on the green box below the words season start. A new window will appear. You need to enter the start date in the form day/month/year eg. 1/1/98 or 12/11/2000 (it will try to understand other date forms). You can now close the window by clicking on OK the program will look up the date you have given and then amend it to the nearest Saturday date. If you wish to name the data enter a title in Season Title before clicking
You must now enter at least four teams. To do this click on Teams. A menu will appear and you should choose Full Database and this will give you a new window.
For each team you must enter the team and symbol boxes. (the symbol is a maximum of 5 characters to identify the team and will be used frequently throughout the program) e.g Team name "Slade Second Team" symbol "SLA2". The remaining boxes can be entered with information if you wish.
To move to the next record use the Right arrow. To edit previous records use the left arrow
To jump to the last record use Left double arrow. To return to the first record use Right double arrow
When you have finished entering the teams close the window.
It is now time to consider the dates. At the far right of the banner heading you will see a box repeating the season start date. Under this there should be a blank box next to the words 'end display date'. Although the program will try to fill this box later it makes more sense to enter the date when you think the last game will have been played by. Don't worry about this - it can be changed at any time.
The last main written data is that of competitions and must be entered before going any further. Click on COMP This brings up another window in which competition data can be entered.
Similarly to the team symbol the Competition Code is a 3 character code to identify the competition in other parts of the program. The competition name is obvious. The Competition type brings up a menu to offer cup or league, click on the correct one. The final column - divisions - becomes important when forming the leagues or cup. Entering 1 is sufficient for now, but when you are ready to form a competition it is important to know exactly how many divisions you want (for cup competitions it should read rounds eg for 8 teams you need 3 rounds including the final)
By this stage the hard work has been down and it would be sensible to save the data. Click on the disc icon and a menu appears. Choose Save Data and a normal Save Box appears in the middle of the screen. For the first time this needs to be dragged and dropped into a directory (by default it will appear in $. directory). Check all is well by reloading - drag the saved icon back to the header bar. This will also tell the program were to save the data to in future.
Forming Fixtures
Before the fixtures can be formed the program needs to know which teams are playing in which competition and which dates the competitions are to be played on. The process is similar for both.
First the dates: Click on the calendar icon. If the end date had not been set a box will inform you that a computer guess will be made, and then you will need to click on the calendar again.
If all is well a large grid screen will appear. On the left are dates on the top are the Competition codes. To choose a date click on the grid box containing the date and competition :
Clicking again in a ticked box will cancel the choice (toggles between match/no match)
Be sure to allow sufficient dates for all the matches to be played - see table at the end.
To enter teams is very similar. Click on the teams icon again but choose Competitions from the menu. A similar grid to the last one will appear and a tick shows the team as entered.
BEWARE This operation seems to eat computer memory if you have limited memory available (less than 4 meg free memory) Save the data after each operation and if necessary quit the program from the icon bar and restart.
THE FIXTURE MAKER
To automatically create fixtures click on the Fixture Forming Icon
A window opens and a smiley face on the left guides you through the choices. Click on the menu icon next to Choose the competition and then choose the competition from the menu. The next box will change from Type to either League or Cup. The smiley face will be by Divisions if its a league competition or Number of Winners if its a cup competition. Clicking next to the Divisions Icon brings up a window in which you can name each division and tell the computer how many teams there are in each division. This number must add up to the number of teams entered (Shown by the heading Names of Divisions) When you are satisfied click on OK If your maths are wrong nothing happens otherwise the smiley face moves down to Play each other. Again click on the menu icon and you have a choice of once or twice choose the one you want and again the smiley face moves down to Selection Method. If it was a cup competition instead of Play each other you have a choice of playing to one winner (normal) or 3 winners (used when 3 go on to other competitions)
Selection Method
Clicking on the menu icon brings up a choice of
a) Computer Random draw- you leave it all to the computer and the draw will be made.
b) Size. If you have entered a number in the teams database next to Size the teams will be sorted in order of size and entered into the competition by the computer
c) Manual. The hard working bit is now yours!.
Click on OK again. If you selected a) or b) nothing seems to happen but if you chose Manual then:-
A window will appear with the teams on the left and the competition on the right
Clicking on a team will enter it into the next position in the competition. It fills the divisions in order i.e. Div 1 entries are entered first then Div 2 etc. Similarly with Cups. You need to try it to understand what happens. Note: once you have chosen a team it will be removed from the left choice. Unfortunately you cannot correct a mistake here but closing the window aborts the forming operation or you can alter things later in the toolbox.
Displaying Fixtures
Now the easy bit!. Click on the Fixture Display Icon
The fixture will now be displayed. BUT!! You will need to move through the dates using the arrows either side of the Week Number display top left of the window. You probably will not like the way the fixtures are displayed - this can soon be altered. You will notice at the top an option to add the score. To use this you have to click on the option Add Scores and then on the match you want to input the score to. A simple window opens type in the score and click on (Note if you slip the pointer off the scores window it automatically closes and you need to restart.
You may also wish to change the pitch chosen for a match (this is done by the computer by referring to pitch numbers that you may have entered in the Teams Database) To do this click on Swap Pitches Icon and choose the pitch or match you want to move, then click on the place were you want it moved to. If this involves using a scroll an extra box will appear to confirm the move.
The display is not what you want! Our first use of the toolbox. Click on the toolbox icon
and chose Pitch display from the menu. You can now choose how many columns and
rows you want (remember it is important there are enough pitches - columns x rows = number of pitches)
Clicking on OK brings up another window in which you can enter the names or codes of pitches. Clicking on OK should now provide you with a display you like but you will have to click on the Fixtures icon again to see the effect.
Team Score
There are two ways of entering scores - in the fixture display previously described or by clicking on the Team Score Icon. This bring up a list of teams on the left and a blank window on the right. Click on the team you want to look at. All their matches will be displayed with the results if known. To enter or change a score click on the match shown (on the teams NOT the date) the enter score box will appear. When the score is correct click on OK and the new score will be shown.
An additional feature of this screen is that you can alter the date of a match (put in here as I found it useful when matches were postponed). To change the date click on the date part of the match and a box will appear similar to the scores box, but allowing you to make the date earlier or later. The chosen date will appear at the top of the box.
Tables
As the season progresses hopefully you will have been able to enter the results of matches. Clicking on the Tables Icon Brings up a list of competitions on the left and a blank screen on the right. Click on the competition you want to see and the table should be displayed (or cup draw)
Note: entering scores in cup matches the computer will automatically enter the winning team into the next round.
Team Database
It is time for a few notes about the team database: The top line is used by the program then follows 6 lines for the address (used in Labels). Line 8 is for their Telephone (not shown on labels). Line 9 is essential team Symbol mentioned previously. Line 10 is for putting in a code (I use "y") for use in label production - see later. Line 11 is an optional Pitch number. If you enter a number it will try to put that teams home matches on that pitch (if not already in use) Line 12 is useful for any data/notes you want to keep.
Saving
Clicking on the Disc Icon will give a menu of things to Save. Save Data is essential at the end of each session. Labels, fixtures, results and tables all have a second menu either CSV or Text. CSV should be used if you have a spreadsheet or table program otherwise Text will save in the normal !Edit Form. Hint if you want only the displayed table/results to be saved leave it displayed when clicking the disc icon. if you want them all saved be sure to close the display window. For fixtures the saving will depend on the start display date and end display date set up at the top right hand side of the banner screen. The save icon will appear and clicking OK will save it to the directory in which the program resides. If you want it elsewhere drag and drop the save icon in the normal Acorn manner.
Printing
Clicking on the printer icon will bring up a similar menu to the Save Icon. Fixtures will be printed depending on the start display date and end display date and in a similar style to that shown on the screen. As with saving leaving the result/ table window open on the screen will only print that screen - closing the windows will print all the teams etc.
Labels
Although part of Saving and printing this deserves a section of its own. You can print all the database labels by leaving A in the choice box. If you only want some, type a simple code in the TEAM DATABASE Print Code box for each team you want to save/print and also type it into the box containing 'A' - First delete the A. 6 lines from the database are printed/saved (lines 2-7) To position the label correctly alter the number of lines in the save mode or the size settings in the print mode. I have set it for 7x2 label size and it works on my printer but you may have to fine tune the figures. Your choices will be remembered provided you save the data after you have printed.
The TOOLBOX
Clicking on the toolbox icon brings up a menu. The first two - match days and pitch display we have already seen and used. Examine Matrix is the dangerous one - leave alone if possible and I will describe it later. Total teams allows you to change the number of teams - of limited use but if you have a lot of blank entries at the end of the teams data it could be used. Fix save edits the fixture saving/printing by ignoring blank rows if you wish to. Points gives you the choice of the number of points to award for a win etc.
Examine Matrix
BEWARE WHAT YOU DO HERE MAY BE FATAL!
Clicking on this item in the toolbox menu brings up a complicated screen. At the top of the screen is a choice window. Competition and Division allows you to bring up the relevant data by using the arrows. In the lower window there is a display of the data for the chosen competition and division. Top line of this data is a list of the teams in that competition/division. Below that is a matrix of numbers that is the data. At the start the data refers to dates of matches and shows the week numbers or 254/255 (No match) By using the arrow next to 'dates' on the choice window the data can be changed to pitches/ score for/ score against.
Finally on the choice window is the icon EDIT with a menu. Clicking on the menu gives 3 options
Edit header: This can be useful if a team has been put in inaccurately: Follow the instructions on the screen. Fist click CONTINUE then click on a team in the top line. This is now displayed in the change box. Chose the replacement by clicking on a team displayed from the menu. Clicking on OK will swap the two teams.
Edit Matrix Do not use - but if you do follow the instructions given. Note: if nothing seems to be happening try clicking on CONTINUE . It may be necessary to change dates shown as 255 if you want that match actually to be played- if so enter the number of the week you want it played on. If a pitch number is too high replace it with a lower number. There should never be any need to alter the scores data.
Extend Matrix. If you are unlucky enough to have a late entry this is the only way to cope. You will also have to edit the pitch and dates matrices. Follow the on screen instructions.
As is often said be safe - SAVE your data under a different name before you attempt any major alteration in Examine Matrix. At least then if it goes wrong you still have your original data.
MEMORY
To run a minimum of 2500K memory is needed. I calculate that 3000K would be needed if every competition was full to maximum. Unfortunately when using the dates database and the teams competitions more memory is required app 4000K although frequent saving and restarting might reduce this. As I have not been able to test the program on a small memory machine I cannot accurately predict what will happen.
For the Technical
If interested dropping a data file into !Edit will give an insight to the storage method used:- Reading form the top you get.
Start date$, End Date$, Competition details$, Team Database$, Title$
<dates information in binary>
label size information$, Division Names$
<teams competitions information in binary>
competitions$ - Number of teams in division, Type, Number of divisions, play 1 or 2, teams entered in number form
<Pitch matrix info binary>
Pitch headings$
<Data Matrices in binary>
FUTURE
A wish list includes producing one day competitions (mini-leagues) and changing the results to cope with winning draws, losing draws, and bonus points (and cricket scores!). The means to print more information from the Team Database might also be useful. Also a basic Matrix designer could be useful.
If you have any comments or need help you can contact me by E-Mail at Bob@Wal-12.demon.co.uk
