The Datafile PD-CD 5/DATAFILE_PDCD5.iso/utilities/p/psam/!PSAM/!Help

Text File | 1997-01-01 | 35KB | 732 lines

PSAM - a Program for Scoring Athletics Matches - Version 0.06
-------------------------------------------------------------

PSAM is designed for scoring track-and-field matches where the number of
scorers in each event is fixed, the number of scorers from each team is also
fixed, and competitors are declared in advance. It is very configurable and can
cope with a range of different kinds of match. However, there is no support for
non-scorers or guests. Handling these is just (in my opinion) a word-processing
problem, and a word-processor can be run alongside PSAM to deal with them.

PSAM is freely distributable, but the author retains the copyright. See the
file called LICENCE.

Philip Hazel
33 Metcalfe Road
Cambridge CB4 2DB
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]


Running PSAM
------------

The PSAM icon is supposed to be a field with a track running round it. The
program loads onto the icon bar in the usual way. When first loaded, the icon
is dark, indicating that no match is in progress. As soon as you enter some
data, either by loading a file, or via the menus, the icon changes to green and
yellow. You cannot then load a new file without unloading the old one, and you
can't unload without explicitly saving or discarding the current data.

It is suggested that you load PSAM at this point and have it available to look
at as you read through this document. Some sample scored matches are supplied
so that you can see all the facilities without having to invent data for
yourself.


Saving data in files
--------------------

PSAM saves its data in ordinary text files. It didn't seem worth inventing a
special file type for the small number of times that you actually load a file,
so the only loading method is by dragging such a file to the icon. The files
are human-readable, though not in a very useful format for human
interpretation. However, it would be straightforward, for example, to write a
program to process the results in some special way.

Every 2 minutes, PSAM checks to see if there have been any changes to the data
it has in RAM, and if there are, it dumps the data to a disc file. Thus if the
power fails or (heaven forfend) the program crashes, you don't lose very much
data. The first time it wants to save data, PSAM pops up a standard Save
dialogue box, to allow you to specify where the data is to be saved. Subsequent
saves are written to the same file without asking. You can also save manually
from the menu at any time. If you do this before the first automatic save, PSAM
will use the same file for subsequent automatic saves, without asking first.


Overview of operation
---------------------

Scoring a match normally happens in three stages:

(1) First, you define the structure of the match: which age/sex groups there
are, which events they are doing, how many scorers there are per event
(strictly, scorers per "string"), and the scoring rules. If you are going to
score several matches in the same league, this need be done just once, saved,
and then you can start from there for each match. You can also define a layout
for a cover sheet containing the final result of the match.

(2) At the start of a match, each team is defined and the team declarations are
entered into declaration windows. It is possible to have more teams than
scorers per string, assuming that not all teams are competing in all groups
(the East Anglian League final is like this). It is also possible to have fewer
teams than scorers per string if there is more than one scoring athlete from
each team. However, for many matches the number of teams is the same as the
number of scorers per string.

(3) As the results come in during the match, they are entered into on-screen
scoresheets, of which there is one for each age/sex group. All you enter are
the team letters and times or distances - the competitors' names are obtained
from the declarations. Scores are automatically allocated and totalled and a
match summary window shows the running totals for all groups and optionally a
running grand total. At the end of the match, scoresheets and a summary cover
sheet can be printed, and it is also possible to print out a page for each
team showing the times and distances achieved by all its competitors.

The description below assumes this sequence of events, but PSAM does not impose
any ordering other than what is logically necessary. For example, you can't
display a scoresheet until you have declared at least one team. However, you
can change things at any time. You can add or delete events in the middle of a
match, for example. Much more likely, you can change declarations at any time;
if a changed competitor already appears on a scoresheet, the name is changed in
both places.

If you change the scoring rules, PSAM will re-score the entire match. You can
use it to answer questions such as "what is the result if we change from
4-3-2-1 scoring to 7-5-2-1?" for example.


The Menu
--------

PSAM has just one menu, which can be pulled up from the icon and from any
scoresheet or declaration window and from the title window. Various menu items
are greyed out when not usable. As well as the usual Info and Quit items, the
menu contains the following:

Title...  brings up a title window which is also displayed if you click
          with Select on the icon, and whenever you load a file. The contents
          of the fields in this window (the name of the league and division,
          the date, venue and host club) are available for use in cover sheets,
          and the date, league, and venue are printed on the bottom of each
          scoresheet. If the date is empty when a file is loaded, it is
          automatically set to the current date. Thus you should save a
          "starter" file with an empty date field. The "Match ID" item is
          useful if you are scoring two matches simultaneously, by running two
          copies of PSAM. Any text you enter in this field is prefixed to the
          normal titles of the group and team windows, thus indicating to which
          match they belong. The text is not used for anything else. The "cover
          template" item at the bottom of the title window is described in the
          section on cover pages below.

Match...  brings up the summary window for the match, containing the totals and
          positions for each group and optionally grand totals and league points
          (see description of the scoring rules dialogue box below).

Group     When at least one event, one group, and one team are defined, this item
          leads to a submenu of group names. Selecting one of them causes the
          scoresheet window for that group to be displayed, or brought to the
          front if hidden behind other windows.

Team      When at least one team is defined, this item leads to a submenu of
          team names. For each team there is a further submenu of the groups it
          is connected to, and selecting in this submenu causes the declaration
          window for that group to be displayed. When the team is not connected
          to any groups, its name is greyed out.

Print     opens a printing dialogue box (see Printing below).

Structure leads to submenus for manipulating the structure of the match, as
          described below.

Save      is just as you would expect.

Unload    unloads the current match data so that a new match can be loaded. If
          the data are not saved, you are prompted as to whether you want to
          save or discard.


Scorers and Strings
-------------------

Many athletics matches are scored in "strings". Each string is scored as if it
were a separate event, even if the competitors actually compete together,
though which athelete is in which string is sometimes not determinable until
the results of a joint event are known. Different events may have different
numbers of strings, so the number of strings is an attribute of an event rather
than being an overall setting.

Most of the matches I deal with have two strings (known as A-string and
B-string) for each event, and in eac