Changes in Scorer 18
Overview
Scorer 18 continues to develop and more information is directly in the database.
The major changes are in performance, the availability of more movements, and the ease of generating and importing custom movements with the “new custom movements” tools.
We have listened to users and instead of automatically offering the player update on every login, this option has been removed and the player update is offered as a button on the front ribbon bar.
Specific Changes
User choice to update players
There is an icon on the front “Scoring and Calendar” tab of the Ribbon Bar to update NZB Players
Users will no longer be prompted on every login to update the player list.
NOTE: As a consequence of this it is now the user’s responsibility to ensure the player names are updated on a regular basis.
New Custom Movements
On the Advanced tab of the Ribbon Bar, there is an icon for “New Custom Movements”
This allows the user to generate web and Bowman movements easily, manually enter a movement or load a movement created as a csv file (usually created using Excel then saved as a csv file). These new custom movements no longer have the original restrictions of not allowing the same boardset to be played at the same table by different players (a design flaw in Scorer)
Excel templates are provided to assist in generating some movements, and training is available on request.
When movements have been generated or created, they are stored in the SQL Server database and are available for use. The movements are checked to ensure that no pair plays any board more than once.
Creating csv files for the movements is best as this allows users to share their movements easily with others.
When a pairs session is created, there is an additional option “New Custom Movement” available along with the “Mitchell”/”Howell/Barometer” and “Custom Movement” options. The old “Custom Movement” option still works currently, but this is more difficult to use and has less flexibility than the New Custom Movement option.
Movement overview and guide cards
With the New Custom Movements, when a movement is added, there is a button on screen to print an overview of the movement and guide cards direct from the database – no need to make your own!
The overview is a table showing, for each table and for each round, which NS Pair, EW Pair and boardset are at the table for that round.
The guide cards are printed for each table.
Improved Performance
The process for uploading results from electronic scoring has been slightly modified to improve performance. This should be especially noticeable in larger sessions.
Long Event names
There have been some instances where long event names have corrupted the Master-Points files. This has been corrected in this version.
More information in the SQL Database
With V18 the power of the database has moved another step forward, removing the use of system files for Pairs as well as teams events. This means no more file locking when it comes to those important changes that happen from time to time at the start of a session!
Having the data in the SQL Server database makes the reporting for your club and for your players so much better, and control is in YOUR hands.