Bowls League Manager - Users Guide Revision: 1.2 Date: 24-June -11 Page 1 of 15

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1 Date: 24-June -11 Page 1 of 15 1 Features 2 Overview Menu Driven Form Navigation Form Driven League Data and File Maintenance Teams list Creation and Maintenance Games List Creation and Maintenance Game Results Records Teams Results Records Prints Summary League Tables Copy Summary Table to the clipboard Creates Web Pages (.htm files) Round Robin Scheduler for new league creation This Application provides facilities to prepare, maintain and report data associated with Bowls League Teams, Games and Results. Leagues are set up and maintained using Forms which comprise: Results, Teams, Games and Scoring Rules. Data is entered through these purpose designed forms. Once Leagues have been setup, tools are provided to make 'new-season set up straight forward. There is also a simple 'round- robin' scheduler intended for creating new regular leagues. Reports are provided to extract, display and print data in meaningful ways. the League Table Report exists to show a league summary table and concise results. Whereas the Team Report shows only data associated with a selected Team. The above forms are accessed though the Main Start-up Form which also shows Basic League information. Three Data Files are created and maintained by the application. The files are independent of the application. They are all text files wherein the data is separated by commas. This provides a degree of compatibility other data related applications, e.g. word processors, spreadsheets and databases. The application is self contained and independent of other applications. The Data Files can be produced from scratch, although, once League data files (Fixtures and Teams), have been set up it is usual to start with these files. It is a simple matter to produce new file versions for subsequent seasons. Simply enter a new start date for the first fixture then a simple click to reverse home and away venues the 'Save As' the new league. Where new data is to be entered it is via text boxes and similar controls, data is then posted to the form by clicking on an appropriate control (usually a button). Data should then be saved to disk. The application is started be opening BLM.exe. Alternatively, by association, double clicking a League file (*.lge) launches the application, then other data files may be automatically or manually loaded. 3 Disk Installation The CD should 'auto' run when inserted into the computer CD/DVD player. If this does not happen then run Setup manually from the disk. This will install the 'Bowls League Manager' program (BLM.exe) into a folder called the 'Bowls League Manager' in the Program Files folder. For demonstration application data files for the Luton and District League 2009 will be loaded into another folder also called the 'Bowls League Manager' and is located in the user documents folder. There a three application files each with the following file extensions:.lge.tms.gms This file contains the information about the league, option data and details of the other files. This file contains the details of the Teams This file contains the Games and Results data

2 Date: 24-June -11 Page 2 of 15 The Luton and District League files names are: L&D 2009.lge, L&D 2009.gms and L&D 2009.tms These files are small, just a few Kbytes. They are Comma Separated Values (CSV) files which can be opened by many other applications e.g. notepad or Excel. Their format is vital and should not be modified outside of BLM. It is recommended that these be securely backed up. The games file (.gms) changes as the results change, this file should be regularly backed up. 4 Let's get going Initially it is probably useful to investigate the features by using the existing files for the 2009 season of the Luton and District League. The data used is the actual data from that season. On the desktop there will be an shortcut to launch 'BLM.exe', also there will be a folder called 'BLM' which will contain shortcuts to the Luton and District League files. Double clicking on the shortcut to the 'L&D 2009.lge' file should launch the application and load the league files. Alternatively the application will be started by double clicking on the desktop BLM icon. From the Files menu select "Open All Files" and open " L&D 2009A.lge" which will be found in the 'Bowls League Manager\L&D League\2009 which in the 'MyDocuments' folder.. The application is now ready for use. The opening Main Form is shown below: Main Form Hovering over the text reveals information about the text. Use should be self evident. If changes are made remember to save the league file to record the changes. Hover over text on the Main Form

3 Date: 24-June -11 Page 3 of 15 The League Name, Organiser and Contact can be changes by double clicking on the desires text. The File names are changed by opening appropriate files. Access to other features are through the (green) menus situated directly below the top banner. All Forms can be moved on the screen by clicking on and holding either the top or bottom banners. Forms can be closed by clicking on either the red button or the close menu item. the blue button minimizes the form. Once a league is underway and the files have been setup the most used forms are the Results and the League Report. the Results form is accessed directly under Management menu, whereas the League Report is directly under the Reports menu. From the 'Management' menu 'Setup' are forms to enable 'Teams', 'Games' and 'Scoring Rules' to be set up. These will be described later in this document. 5 Results Management Opening the Results form from the 'Management' menu reveals the following form: Results Management Form 1 The main body of the form shows a table containing the results of the games. On the right hand side is a set of controls (places) in which to enter the results, below which is place to enter a comment e.g. "Match Cancelled". Further below are two buttons, one to post the result to the table and the other will clear the result. Near the bottom right of the form is information about the scoring rules for this league. Clicking on a game row in the table makes this game the object for change. See the yellow highlight. Data from the table is transferred to the edit controls. The relevant changes can be made and the results put back to the table. Data is stored to disk via the 'File' menu. The user is warned if the form is to be closed before changes have been saved.

4 Date: 24-June -11 Page 4 of 15 Where the games are 'single rink' only or the rink results do not count in the score then rink data can be hidden via the 'Hide Rinks' menu. The results form can be previewed or printed from the 'Printing' menu. 6 League Table Report Opening the League Table Report from the 'Report' menu reveals the following form: League Table Form This form shows the principal league data, only the Web Links are not shown. From the menu The rink data can be shown or hidden for leagues requiring rink data or not. Points can be shown as decimal or fractional values. The Table can be sorted by clicking on the individual column headings. E.g. click on Points to sort by Points. The 'Options' menu item is described below. These should be selected before using the 'File' and 'Print Summary' facilities. From the 'File' menu data can be exported in the following ways:

5 Date: 24-June -11 Page 5 of 15 Export to default Web Page: This creates a web page similar to the ones shown on the Bedfordshire County Bowling Association website: Export to Custom Web Page: This requires an external web Page Template with prescribed insertion points for the league data. A sample web template ' HTMLTemplate' is provided in the program folder. Export Table as CSV: This create a Comma Separates Values (CSV) file containing the Summary Table data. This file can then be used by other applications to produce different format reports. Note: the games (.gms) file is already a CSV file. so there is no need for an export facility for results. From the 'Print Summary' menu the Summary Table can be previewed or printed to A4 paper in accordance with the selected options. The Table can copied to the clipboard. From where the Table can be pasted to other applications e.g. an for distribution. The summary print or clipboard image can look thus: Typical Summary Sheet

6 Date: 24-June -11 Page 6 of 15 7 Summary and Web Page Options Opening the Options reveals the following form: Web Page & Summary Options The top section of this form controls the what data is shown on a web page. The main table contains web link data which is put at the top of the default web page. The Link Name appears on the web page and is linked to the URL (Web Address). The user is free to make up to eight such associations. Be mindful of the width of the web page. Each of the areas shown on the League Table Report can be presented on the web page by selection using appropriate check box. A similar set of check boxes is provided for the summary data. Once these options have been set they will be recorded when the league file is saved.

7 Date: 24-June -11 Page 7 of 15 This is a sample of the Summary only web page.

8 Date: 24-June -11 Page 8 of 15 Here is an example of an exported Web Page:

9 Date: 24-June -11 Page 9 of 15 8 Creating a New League Starting with the main form select 'Blank Start' from the 'File' menu. This creates a league comprising three teams and three games. The main for will appear thus: A Blank Start Enter the league Name, Organiser and Contact by double clicking on each area and filling in the text. From the file menu save the League file using 'Save As'. The file name will appear on the form. New leagues can be set up using the Team and Games Manager Forms. 8.1 Teams Manager Via the Management/Setup/Teams menu: The Team Manger Form looks Thus: Teams Manager - Blank Start Select a Team by clicking on a row in the table. Here the first row is selected as shown by the yellow highlight. The data in that row is echoed in the text boxes beneath the table.

10 Date: 24-June -11 Page 10 of 15 Enter/change the data by replacing the text in the edit boxes. The ID and Team Name must be unique. Using the buttons the current selection can be Replaced, Inserted or Deleted. Insert Teams as required. Once all the teams in the league have been entered the table can be sorted by clicking on a column header in the table. For instance the teams could be sorted by Team Name. Using the 'AutoNumber ID' button the teams will be renumbered. When all teams have been satisfactorily entered use 'SaveAs' via the 'File' menu to save the team data to file. The Team File Name will now appear on the Main form. Contact names and numbers are not essential. These fields are provided for convenience only. Most leagues use teams names, however where names are not ordinarily used The Contact name or ID could be used as a team name. The only criteria is that the team name be unique, because it is used as an identifier within the application. Close the Team Manager to return to the Main Form. 8.2 Games Manager Via the Management/Setup/Games menu: The Games Manger Form appears Thus: Games Manager - Blank Start There are three data areas on this form. The Games Table, Teams Table and edit boxes and buttons. Select a game to edit by clicking on a row in the Games Table. The first row is selected above as shown by the yellow highlight. The game data is echoed in the edit boxes. Enter a date in a valid date format. The format will be changed to that shown in the table above. To select the teams drag and drop Teams from the Teams List to the Edit Games text boxes. Alternatively a Team can be selected double left click for the Home Team and double right click for the Away Team.

11 Date: 24-June -11 Page 11 of 15 Using the buttons the current selection can be Replaced, Inserted or deleted. Create all games thus. When all games have been satisfactorily entered use 'SaveAs' via the 'File' menu to save the games data to file. The Games File Name will now appear on the Main form. Close the Games Manager for to return to the Main Form. Save the League file. This will record the Teams and Games file names. The League is now setup and ready to go. 8.3 Alternative Games setup Open the Games Manager. For existing leagues a new season can be quickly setup by selection 'New Season Setup' from the menu. The games Manager form will be presented thus: Games Manager - New Season Setup Here the Teams list is replaced by other edit tools. Usually a new season is based upon the previous season, all that changes is the season start date and venue reversal. The edit tools reflect this. To change the dates enter a new start date and click the 'Derive New Games Dates' button. All of the original dates will be replaced by new dates referenced to the new start date. make minor changes in the games setup. Click the 'Swap Home & Away Teams' button to reverse the venues. Click the 'Clear All Results' to do just that. Use 'Save Games As' from the 'File' menu to save the new league. Save the new League file from the Main form when convenient.

12 Date: 24-June -11 Page 12 of Another Alternative Using the 'New Season Setup' form Game dates can be allocated using the 'Quick Games setup' tools Here a schedule of game dates can be quickly generated. Enter the total number of games to be played, the number of games to be played on a particular day/round and number of days between rounds. Click the 'Populate' button to create a blank games list with only dates showing. Return to 'Games Setup' to allocate teams. 8.5 The Scheduler - the Forth way Invoke the scheduler form from the menu. The scheduler was designed to stand alone as an ID schedule. It can incorporate the League Manager teams list in the place if IDs. A final schedule can be used to create the League Manager games list. The following figures show the various stages of schedule creation. Create ID Schedule Create Teams Schedule

13 Date: 24-June -11 Page 13 of 15 Enter Round Dates Write Round Dates To Schedule Each stage is invoked from the 'Setup' menu. At each stage the schedule can be copied to the clipboard or to a text file via the 'File' menu. This enables the schedule to be pasted into other applications such as notepad, Word, Excel etc.. When allocating games dates each date can be entered separately by unticking the 'Serial Date' box. To edit a date select a Round in the table, enter a valid date format then click the button to enter the date into the table. Do so for each Round. Where the rounds a equispaced tick the 'Serial Date' box select round,1 enter the start date, enter the number of 'Days Between Rounds' then press the 'Enter' button. The Rounds will be populated with regular dates. If a date is to be excluded click on the round for that date and enter a new Date, click the button. This will allocate new dates to the remaining rounds. E.g. in the above form Round 6 has been re-allocated to start on 13-Jul-11 missing out the 06-Jul-11 date. Via the 'Setup' menu a new games list can be created. This will overwrite the existing list so be sure to save any important data. Note: teams can only be allocated if the number of teams in the schedule matches the number of teams in the teams list. By default the number of teams is counted when the scheduler is opened.

14 Date: 24-June -11 Page 14 of 15 For small leagues the number of times teams play one another can be set. In such cases home and away allocation is swapped for odd and even times played. To create a games list from a finished schedule back up the existing league if necessary, then click on 'Create Games List' from the 'Setup' menu. Save the Games list as normal. The basic schedule is home/away balanced such that a team should not play more than two consecutive Home or Away games. 9 Scoring Rules From the Main Form Setup menu the following 'Scoring Rules' form is located: Enter the scoring rules in the appropriate boxes. Scoring Rules Form The results can be recalculated on the basis of changes rules. BEWARE! back up files before recalculation. Remember to save game and league data.

15 Date: 24-June -11 Page 15 of 15 Teams Report From the Main for a 'Teams Report can be generate from the 'Reports' menu'. The Report Form looks thus Team Report Form Because of the width of this form the associated teams list is brought up as separate form. Click on a Team in the teams list to fill the Report with the results associated with that team. The report can be preview, printed or copied to the clipboard via the 'Printing' menu. Associated Teams List Clicking on the check boxes in the teams list provides for printing all checked team reports using 'Print Selected' from the 'Printing' menu. The state of the check boxes can be reversed by clicking on the text "Sel'" in the checkbox column. Finally: The application is relatively new so there might be bugs. If any are found please report them to me. on O or ray@albone.org.uk This document is also new, it too may be bugged. Ray Albone Author