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Pools-Tools ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright 1992 by Paul Morley All rights reserved User's Notes 17-8-92 - Pools Tools DISTRIBUTION: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pools-Tools may be freely distributed. It is permissible to release Pools-Tools as part of a public domain collection, or on a telecommunication service. If you do distribute Pools-Tools please leave all files intact. Pools-Tools may not be distributed in any commercial product, shareware product, or commercial publication without permission. NOTE TO DISTRIBUTORS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pools-Tools Plus must be distributed on its own disk as originally supplied, with all files intact. This file must be included on the disk. A space has been left in the startup-sequence for you to include any advertisements you usually place on your disks e.g. iff picture files etc. DISCLAIMER ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- In no way can the author be held responsible for any damages, loss of anticipated profits, or any other perceived loss related to using this program. The user assumes the entire risk, and responsibility when using this program. ************************************ * * * PLEASE READ * * * ************************************ POOLS TOOLS & DIVIDEND MASTER ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whilst Pools-Tools is comprehensive, it does not have all the features of Dividend Master. For the sake of completeness - and to allow you to judge whether you wish to upgrade - these instructions cover both Pools-Tools and Dividend Master. If you wish to upgrade to Dividend Master then please read the section " Upgrade Offer ". User's Manual 17-8-92 - Pools Tools CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Section 1 ................ Introduction Section 2 ................ History Section 3 ................ Starting Pools-Tools Section 3.1 ................ System Requirements Section 4 ................ Perm-Check Module Section 4.1 ................ File Section 4.1.1 ................ Alert Section 4.2 ................ Check Section 4.2.1 ................ Results Menu Section 4.2.2 ................ Search Menu Section 4.2.3 ................ Lines Found Section 4.3 ................ Convert Section 4.4 ................ Quit Section 4.5 ................ Info Section 4.6 ................ Test Section 4.7 ................ Upgrade Section 4.8 ................ System Section 4.9 ................ Creating plan files Section 4.9.1 ................ Sample Session Section 4.10 ................ Quick Start Section 4.11 ................ Limits Section 5 ................ Predict Controls Section 5.1 ................ File Section 5.1.1 ................ Alert Section 5.2 ................ Predict Section 5.2.1 ................ Prediction Menu Section 5.2.2 ................ Recent Form Section 5.3 ................ Standing entry Section 5.3.1 ................ Standing entry control panel Section 5.4 ................ Editor Section 5.4.1 ................ Editor control panel Section 5.4.2 ................ Input Boxes Section 5.5 ................ Quit Section 5.6 ................ Info Section 5.7 ................ System Section 5.8 ................ Upgrade Section 5.9 ................ Using the Search Requester Section 5.10 ................ Using the Default Requester Section 5.11 ................ Full Requester Section 5.12 ................ The Database Section 5.13 ................ Specifications Section 5.14 ................ Quick Start Section 6 ................ Common Problems Section 7 ................ Upgrade details Section 7.1 ................ Upgrade form Section 8 ................ Future Developments Section 9 ................ Comments Section 1 INTRODUCTION ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pools-Tools is a comprehensive pools predictor and perm checker. Being mouse driven it is fast, easy to use, and does not require the laborious typing in of team names each week to make a prediction. When you think you have netted enough draws Pools-Tools will check your favourite perm, and in seconds inform you of any winning lines. To get the best from Pools-Tools please read the instructions carefully. Section 2 HISTORY ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7/11/91 Perm-Check V. 01 released. 7/4/92 Perm-Check V. 1.2 released. The HELP facility is no longer available. Menus redesigned. Improved reporting on lines found. 15/6/92 Perm-Check Plus released. Perm-Check is now shareware. New File format introduced. Prediction facility included. Menus improved. Improved reporting on lines found (again). 1/9/92 Pools-Tools & Dividend Master released. Pools-Tools and Dividend Master owe much of their design to the various versions of Perm-Check which have gone before. As well as improving upon existing functions, Pools-Tools and Dividend Master also add new features. Thanks to Dennis Leech of Oasis Software many improvements have been made to the user interface. Section 3 STARTING POOLS-TOOLS ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pools-Tools will auto-boot. Insert the disk into drive DF0: and switch on the machine. After a short while you will be presented with the master menu. Pressing F1 will load the Perm-check module whilst pressing F2 will load the Prediction module. Pressing F3, as you're probably aware, will load these instructions. Section 3.1 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pools-Tools requires 1Mb of memory to run. Section 4 PERM-CHECK MODULE ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On loading, the Perm-Check module will present you with the main menu. All menu items are accessed by clicking on the relevant buttons. The main menu has the following options: File ............See Section 4.1 Check ............See Section 4.2 Convert ............See Section 4.3 Quit ............See Section 4.4 Info ............See Section 4.5 Test ............See Section 4.6 Upgrade ............See Section 4.7 System ............See Section 4.8 Clicking on "QUIT" will produce a requester asking you to confirm your decision. If you click on the "YES" button Pools-Tools will exit and return you to the master menu. Section 4.1 FILE ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clicking on this button will access the File requester and allow you to load in a new plan. The default extender used by Pools-Tools is ".PLNF". To load a plan simply highlight the plan of your choice and double click the left mouse button, or press return. If you wish to change the directory press the right mouse button, highlight the directory required and press return. If you get a "Device not available error" ( probably because you have changed disks ) the file requester will list all the devices available. To choose a device or disk simply highlight it with the mouse pointer, and press the left mouse button Section 4.1.1 FILE-ALERT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you attempt to load a file which is incompatible with Pool-Tools a requestor will appear to warn you of the mistake. To cancel this requestor click on the "CANCEL" button. Pools-Tools is compatible with all Perm-Check files. Section 4.2 CHECK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clicking on this button will allow you to check the plan currently in memory. If there is no plan in the memory then a file requester will appear. For details on how to use this requester please read section 4.1. Once a plan file has been loaded the results menu will appear. ( See Section 4.2.1 ). Section 4.2.1 RESULTS MENU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here you must enter the results of the selections your plan covers. To do this simply click on the appropriate buttons. If you are unsure of the result of any particular selection then click on the button marked "???". This will award 0 points for that selection. When you have entered points for all of your selections the search menu will appear. ( See Section 4.2.2 ). Section 4.2.2 SEARCH MENU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The search menu allows you to set the search criteria and can be any of the following: Points, score Draws, all draws, homes or aways. For instance, if you are doing the away pools you will only be interested in those matches which resulted in away wins and should click on the button marked "AWAYS". Clicking on the button marked "EXIT" will take you back to the main menu. When you have selected the search criteria click on the "SEARCH" button and the program will begin to check the plan file. A progress bar will be displayed to show you how far Pools-Tools has searched through the plan. Even in the case of large plans this process usually only takes seconds to complete. Summary information on the lines found will now be displayed. ( See section 4.2.3 ) Section 4.2.3 LINES FOUND ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pools-Tools will now display how many lines contain x number of points, or whatever you selected as the search criteria. An example could be as below; 12 Lines = 21 points 3 Lines = 23 points 2 Lines = 24 points These lines appear in a scroll box. To move the lines up or down click on the small up/down arrows or move the slide bar. To examine these lines in greater detail double click on the line you wish to examine. A single click followed by pressing the "ACCEPT" button has the same effect. Clicking on the "CLEAR" button cancels your selection. Clicking on "EXIT" will take you back to the previous menu. Pools-Tools will now list the individual plan lines. Using the above example let us suppose you wish to examine those lines which contain 24 points. Click on the line " 2 Lines = 24 points ". Pools-Tools will now list those 2 lines and the numbers which make up the line. The display will look something like the following; LINE 8 1 3 4 8 12 16 17 18 = 24 points LINE 10 1 2 4 8 11 16 17 18 = 24 points If the search criteria was aways, homes or draws those selections which match the search criteria will be highlighted in blue. The best way to find out how to check a plan is to load one of the supplied plan files and experiment. At the bottom of the page the following buttons will appear. NEXT: This button will display the next page of lines. PRINT: ( Dividend Master Only ) This button prints out the current page of plan lines and requires a printer to be connected. On pressing this button a reminder will appear asking you to make sure the printer is on line. If you do not have a printer connected click on the button marked "CANCEL". IT IS IMPORTANT YOU DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PRINT WITHOUT A PRINTER BEING CONNECTED AS THE PROGRAM WILL "HANG" EXIT: This button exits and takes you back to the lines found menu. Section 4.3 CONVERT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This function converts your plan files into a format which Pools Tools can work with. Please read section 4.9 for more details on creating plan files. Once you have clicked on the "CONVERT" button a file requester will appear. Details on how to use this requester appear in section 4.1. The default extender is ".PLN". Once you have selected a plan Pools-Tools will begin to convert the file and a progress bar will appear. When the plan has been converted a file requester will appear to allow you to save the plan. The default extender is ".PLNF" Section 4.4 QUIT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clicking on "QUIT" will produce a requester asking you to confirm your decision. Clicking on the "YES" button will exit Pools-Tools and return you to the master menu. Section 4.5 INFO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clicking on "INFO" will produce the info. screen. Select "CANCEL" to return to the main menu. Section 4.6 TEST ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ( Dividend Master Only ) This facility allows you to test the performance of a plan by producing a set of random draws and checking them against the plan file. NUMBER SELECTED: Clicking in this box allows you to enter the number of random draws produced. To edit the number use the delete or back-space key. When finished press return or escape. This number must be greater than 0. WEIGHTING: A plans performance is greatly affected by the distribution of the draws. The weighting function allows you to change this distribution to see how the plan performs under different conditions. TOP: The bias is set to low numbers. BOTTOM: The bias is set to high numbers. EVEN: No bias. TEST: This button starts the test process. While the plan is being tested a progress bar will be shown. When the test is complete a breakdown of the number of draws found will be shown. EXIT: Returns to the main menu Section 4.7 UPGRADE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clicking on "UPGRADE" will produce details of the upgrade policy. If you wish to take up this offer and have a printer connected then click on the button marked "PRINT". This will print out an order form. More detailed information on how to upgrade to Dividend Master can be found in section 7 Section 4.8 SYSTEM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clicking on "SYSTEM" will list the amount of chip and fast memory available. Select "CANCEL" to return to the main menu. Section 4.9 CREATING PLANS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At the moment plan files must be created on a wordprocessor and must adhere to the following format. All lines must begin with a comma, and all numbers in a line must be separated with a comma. The last line of any plan file must be a single comma. The first line of your plan file must include the following information. The number of lines in a plan, the number of selections in the plan and the number of matches covered. I hope the following example will make things a little clearer. This example is for Sunplan 40. The first line will be as follows: ,600,8,17 The 600 refers to the number of lines in the plan. In this case Sunplan 40 has 600 lines. The 8 refers to the number of selections, Sunplan 40 has 8 selections. The last number is the number of matches covered, in this case 17. The next 600 lines will be the lines which make up Sunplan 40. The next line in your plan file will therefore look like this: ,1,2,7,8,9,10,11,12 You will then have to type the other 599 lines. The last two lines in the plan file should look like this: ,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17 , Please note the single comma. All plans must end with this. If you are still unsure, load one of the plans included on this disk into your wordprocessor, and study it. Once you have created your plan file name it with the extender ".PLN" ( For example, Sunplan 40 should be saved with the filename Sunplan_40.PLN ). The final step is to load Pools-Tools and use the convert function. More details on the convert function can be found in section 4.3 Section 4.9.1 SAMPLE SESSION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Although entering a large number of plan lines may sound daunting there are a few shortcuts which can be used. I'll use the fictional Morley Plan 1 as an example. Morley Plan 1 is a 3 by 5 block perm arranged as follows. 1 X - - 2 X - - 3 - X - 4 - X - 5 - - X 6 - - X 7 X X - X X 8 X X X X X 9 X - X X X 10 X X X - X 11 X X X X - 12 X X X X X 13 - X X X X The first task is to carefully enter the five lines which comprise the lower half of the block. Start each line with a + character. Once you have typed these lines, enter a row of - characters. This serves to separate the blocks. Your plan file should look like figure 1. FIGURE 1 +7,8,9,10,11,12 +7,8,10,11,12,13 +8,9,10,11,12,13 +7,8,9,11,12,13 +7,8,9,10,12,13 ------------------ Using the edit functions of your word processor copy this block three times. Your plan will now look as figure 2. FIGURE 2 +7,8,9,10,11,12 +7,8,10,11,12,13 +8,9,10,11,12,13 +7,8,9,11,12,13 +7,8,9,10,12,13 ------------------ +7,8,9,10,11,12 +7,8,10,11,12,13 +8,9,10,11,12,13 +7,8,9,11,12,13 +7,8,9,10,12,13 ------------------ +7,8,9,10,11,12 +7,8,10,11,12,13 +8,9,10,11,12,13 +7,8,9,11,12,13 +7,8,9,10,12,13 ------------------ You must now use the search and replace function. Enter the search string as + and the replace string as the first line from the upper block. SEARCH STRING = + REPLACE STRING = ,1,2, Search and replace the first five lines. You plan file should look like figure 3. FIGURE 3 ,1,2,7,8,9,10,11,12 ,1,2,7,8,10,11,12,13 ,1,2,8,9,10,11,12,13 ,1,2,7,8,9,11,12,13 ,1,2,7,8,9,10,12,13 ------------------ +7,8,9,10,11,12 +7,8,10,11,12,13 +8,9,10,11,12,13 +7,8,9,11,12,13 +7,8,9,10,12,13 ------------------ +7,8,9,10,11,12 +7,8,10,11,12,13 +8,9,10,11,12,13 +7,8,9,11,12,13 +7,8,9,10,12,13 ------------------ Repeat this process for the next two lines from the upper block. Your plan file will then look as figure 4. FIGURE 4 ,1,2,7,8,9,10,11,12 ,1,2,7,8,10,11,12,13 ,1,2,8,9,10,11,12,13 ,1,2,7,8,9,11,12,13 ,1,2,7,8,9,10,12,13 ------------------ ,3,4,7,8,9,10,11,12 ,3,4,7,8,10,11,12,13 ,3,4,8,9,10,11,12,13 ,3,4,7,8,9,11,12,13 ,3,4,7,8,9,10,12,13 ------------------ ,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 ,5,6,7,8,10,11,12,13 ,5,6,8,9,10,11,12,13 ,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,13 ,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13 ------------------ The last step is to delete the characters which separate your blocks. Your finished plan file will then look as figure 5. FIGURE 5 ,15,8,13 ,1,2,7,8,9,10,11,12 ,1,2,7,8,10,11,12,13 ,1,2,8,9,10,11,12,13 ,1,2,7,8,9,11,12,13 ,1,2,7,8,9,10,12,13 ,3,4,7,8,9,10,11,12 ,3,4,7,8,10,11,12,13 ,3,4,8,9,10,11,12,13 ,3,4,7,8,9,11,12,13 ,3,4,7,8,9,10,12,13 ,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 ,5,6,7,8,10,11,12,13 ,5,6,8,9,10,11,12,13 ,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,13 ,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13 , Although this process may seem complex, it will save you much time with larger plans. For instance, the first 198 lines of Sunplan 40 are set out as a 3 by 66 block. Please note that Morley Plan 1 is fictional and not recognized by any Pools company. Section 4.10 QUICK START ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you use the same plan each week then checking can be made even quicker by changing the name of your plan to DEF.PLNF When Pools-Tools first loads it will search the disk for a file named DEF.PLNF. If found it will load this plan into memory and then go direct to the Results Menu. Section 4.11 LIMITS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pools-Tools will not work with plans which have more than 1000 lines. The maximum number of selections that a plan can cover is 32. Under certain conditions you may be able to go over these limits but it is not to be recommended. Section 5 PREDICT CONTROLS ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On loading, the Prediction module will present you with the main menu. All menu items are accessed by clicking on the relevant buttons. The main menu has the following options: File ............See Section 5.1 Predict ............See Section 5.2 Standing Entry ............See Section 5.3 Editor ............See Section 5.4 Quit ............See Section 5.5 Info ............See Section 5.6 System ............See Section 5.7 Upgrade ............See Section 5.8 Clicking on "QUIT" will produce a requester asking you to confirm your decision. If you click on the "YES" button the Predict module will exit and return you to the master menu. Section 5.1 FILE ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clicking on this button will access the File requester and allow you to load in the database you wish to use for your predictions. The default extender used by PREDICT is ".PRED". To load a database simply highlight the database of your choice and double click click the left mouse button, or press return. If you wish to change the directory press the right mouse button, highlight the directory required and press return. See Section 4.1 for more information concerning the file requester. Section 5.1.1 FILE-ALERT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you attempt to load a file which is incompatible with Pools-Tools a requestor will appear to warn you of the mistake. To cancel this requestor click on the "OK" button. Section 5.2 PREDICT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clicking on this button will give you access to the Prediction menu. A more detailed explanation follows in section 5.2.1. Section 5.2.1 PREDICTION MENU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Prediction Menu has the following options. To use any of these options click on the relevant button. RANDOM: Clicking on this button will produce a random set of numbers totally irrespective of the database. To use this function you do not need a database in memory. The amount of numbers supplied is set from the Default Requester. Please read section 5.10 for details on how to use this requester. ALL: This button will use the entire database to produce a forecast. If there is no database currently loaded then the file requester will appear to prompt you to load one. The amount of numbers supplied by this function is set from the Default Requester. Please read section 5.10 for details on how to use this requester. FIRST: Clicking on this button will tell the program to use only the beginning of the database for the prediction. The actual number of weeks used is set by the Default Requester. If there is no database currently loaded then the file requester will appear to prompt you to load one. LAST: This is as the above function except that it uses end of the database to make a prediction. It is useful when you wish to take into account the difference between the English and Australian Pools. For example, if for the last six weeks the pools had been Australian, and you wished to take this into account, you could just use the last six weeks of the database for a prediction. WORST: Click on this button to find the worst performing coupon numbers. DEFAULT: Clicking on this button will produce the default requester. From here you can set the amount of numbers supplied and the number of weeks used by the FIRST and LAST functions. Please read section 5.10 for more details on how to use this requester. TUNE: ( Dividend Master Only ) Although the "All" function is useful for showing long term trends it becomes of less help when your database contains many weeks of results. If you wish to base your forecasts on recent trends it then becomes necessary to use the "Last" function. If you are unsure of which method to use for optimum performance then click on the "TUNE" button. The program will then suggest the best method to use and the correct number of weeks for the first/last function. RECENT FORM: ( Dividend Master Only ) Please refer to section 5.2.2 for more details on this function PRINT: ( Dividend Master Only ) This button prints out the current prediction and requires a printer to be connected. On pressing this button a reminder will appear asking you to make sure the printer is on line. If you do not have a printer connected click on the button marked "CANCEL". IT IS IMPORTANT YOU DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PRINT WITHOUT A PRINTER BEING CONNECTED AS THE PROGRAM WILL "HANG" EXIT: This will return you to the main menu. Section 5.2.2 RECENT FORM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ( Dividend Master Only ) In addition to the sequence prediction method Pools-Tools allows you to make a forecast based on the recent form of individual teams. This method is more involved and requires a copy of your usual sunday newspaper to operate. The controls are as follows: MATCH No: This information appears at the top of the screen and is the match number currently being processed. HOME/AWAY: The next box down contains the home or away buttons. If the away team of the current match number played their last match at home then click on the "Home" button, otherwise click on the "away" button. Please refer to the end of this section for an example. RESULTS: The next box contains two rows of buttons which range from 0-6. These buttons allow you to enter the result of the last match the away team played in. An example is given at the end of this section. NEXT: When you have finished entering all the necessary data click on the "NEXT" button to advance to the next match number. PREDICT: The program will make a prediction using the information you have entered. It is important you only click on this when you have entered all the data you wish. EXIT: Clicking on this button will return you to the prediction menu without making a prediction. ( EXAMPLE ) The first four matches on the coupon for the 8/8/92 are as follows; 1 Altonia C Ringwd C 2 Richmnd Bell Park 3 Bentleigh Essndn 4 Brdmdws S Caulfield I will use these matches as an example. In all matches it is the away team which is of importance and we must therefore find out whether Ringwd C played their last match at home or away. If you can not find this information ( my paper did not give give the last result for Ringwd C ) then all you need do is set the "HOME TEAM RESULT" to 6 and click on "NEXT" to advance to the next match number. Match Number 2, Richmnd v Bell Park. Looking in the newspaper we find that Bell Park last played at home to Altona City and the result was Bell Park 0 Altona City 0. In this case there is no need to do anything since home is the default home/away setting, and 0 is the default Home team result/Away team result score. Click on "NEXT" to advance to the next match. Match Number 3, Bentleigh v Essndn. Unfortunatly I could not find the last result for Essndn so it is necessary to set the "HOME TEAM RESULT" to 6 and advance to the next match. Match Number 4, Brdmdws v S Caulfield. S Caulfield last played at home to Sandringham and the result was S Caulfield 2 Sandringham 1. There is no need to alter the home/away setting since home is the default. Click on the number 2 for the home team result and 1 for the away team result. I hope the above example has made things a little clearer. Once you are familiar with the controls entering a whole coupon should take about 15-20 minutes. Section 5.3 STANDING ENTRY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This function allows you to check the performance of any standing entry that you may have, or to see how well any new standing entry would have performed in weeks gone by. It is accessed by clicking on the button marked "STANDING ENTRY". A more detailed explanation follows in section 5.3.1. Please note that if there is no database currently loaded then the file requester will appear to prompt you to load one. Section 5.3.1 STANDING ENTRY MENU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arranged across the top of the screen is the following information: Current Record Number Shows current record number. Number of entries Shows how many score draws occurred that week. Number Correct Shows the number of score draws that your standing entry correctly forecast that week. Week Displays date information. In the centre of the screen are the numbers one to fifty eight. These numbers correspond to coupon numbers. Score draws are shown as a vertical red bars above these numbers, so you can tell at a glance which numbers resulted in score draws. The numbers which make up your standing entry are shown as shorter yellow bars. Across the bottom of the screen is the control panel. To access any of its functions click on the relevant button. The controls are as follows: << Clicking on this button will take you to record number 1. < Clicking on this button will take you to the previous record. > Clicking on this button will take you to the next record. >> Clicking on this button will take you to the last record. EXIT This button will quit the standing entry section and go to the main menu. GOTO Clicking on this button will access the search requester. Further details on this can be found in section 5.9. CHECK This button allows you to check the performance of a standing entry. When clicked on 28 input boxes will appear for you to enter the numbers which make up your standing entry. To enter a number type the number and press return. When you have entered all the numbers which make up your standing entry press the escape key or click on the "OK" button. The program will now search the database and after a short while display the highest number of draws that the standing entry produced. Click on "OK" to exit the check function. If you wish to clear the numbers you have entered click on the "CLEAR" button. For further details on the use of input boxes please refer to section 5.4.2. PERM CALC ( Dividend Master Only ) The perm calculator will tell you the number of lines which make up any full cover perm. This can work anywhere in the range of any 2 from 3 to any 10 from 30 and can calculate both consecutive and non-consecutive perms. To use the calculator enter the number of selections in the input first box, and in the second input box, the number covered. For example, if you wished to perm any 4 from 6 you would enter 4 in the first input box and 6 in the second input box, then press return. The program will now tell you the number of lines required to make up this perm. If you enter numbers which are out of range then the program will respond with an "input not valid message". Beneath the input boxes are two buttons which allow you to choose between consecutive and non-consecutive perms. When you have finished with the calculator press the "CANCEL" button to exit. For further details on how to use input boxes please refer to section 5.4.2 Section 5.4 EDITOR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The editor allows you to maintain the database. To access the editor click on the "EDIT" button. More details appear in section 5.4.1. Section 5.4.1 EDITOR MENU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To use any of the editor functions click on the relevant button. The buttons and their functions are listed below. WEEK The input box next to the word "week" contains the title you have given to that record. In practice this is usually the date, though you can enter any information you wish into this box. The maximum number of characters allowed is 19. Clicking anywhere in this box will allow you to enter new information. Press return or escape to finish. For more details on the use of input boxes please refer to section 5.4.2 RECORD No. Displays the current record number. DRAWS Next to the word "draws" are 23 input boxes which allow you to enter the score draws for that week. Numbers are entered by typing the number and pressing return. When you have entered all your numbers press the escape key or click on any of the other control buttons. Although you can enter numbers above 58, or enter the same number twice, these numbers will be ignored by the program. For more details on the use of input boxes please refer to section 5.4.2 << Clicking on this button will take you to record number 1. < Clicking on this button will take you to the previous record. > Clicking on this button will take you to the next record. >> Clicking on this button will take you to the last record. GOTO Clicking on this button will access the search requester. Further details on this can be found in section 5.9. ADD Clicking on this button, or holding down Right Amiga + A, allows you to add another week to the database. The record number will advance and the input cursor appear in the "week" box ready for input. When you have entered the date etc. the cursor will jump to the "Draws" box. You must now enter the draws for that week. This button will not work if you have not entered any draws for the current record. If the current record is 208 then the full requester will appear. More details on this can be found in section 5.11. LOAD This will load a new database into memory ready for editing. For details on how to use the file requester please see section 5.1. SAVE This will save the current database to disk. Please note that the default extender used by the PREDICT module is ".PRED". For reasons given in section 5.12 it is best to save your database with the name "DEF.PRED" CLEAR Clicking on the clear button will erase the current database from memory. Before proceeding a requester will appear to confirm your decision and give you the option to change your mind. EXIT This button will take you back to the main menu. Any database you were working on will remain in memory. Section 5.4.2 INPUT BOXES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These boxes appear on a number of occasions and allow you to input numbers or text. To use these boxes enter the number or text you require and press return, the cursor will now jump to the next input box. You can move between input boxes by using the up and down cursor keys. Pressing the escape key or clicking on a button will terminate the input routine. Should you wish to edit anything you have entered click in the relevant input box and use the delete and back-space keys. Section 5.5 QUIT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clicking on quit will produce a requester asking you to confirm your decision. If you click on the "YES" button the Predict module will exit and return you to the master menu. Section 5.6 INFO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clicking on "INFO" will produce the info. screen. Select "CANCEL" to return to the main menu. Section 5.7 SYSTEM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clicking on "SYSTEM" will list the amount of chip and fast memory available. Select "CANCEL" to return to the main menu. Section 5.8 UPGRADE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clicking on "UPGRADE" will produce details of the upgrade policy. If you wish to take up this offer and have a printer connected then click on the button marked "PRINT". This will print out an order form. More detailed information on how to upgrade to Dividend Master can be found in section 7 Section 5.9 USING THE SEARCH REQUESTER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The search requester allows you to jump to a specific record and works in one of two ways; 1] Search to Record ( Default ). If not already selected click on the button marked "RECORD". Click in the input box at the top of the requester and a cursor will appear. Type in the number of the record you wish to jump to and press return. Providing that the record exists the program will now jump to that record number. 2] Search to Week. Click on the button marked "WEEK". Click in the input box at the top of the requester and a cursor will appear. Type in the string you wish to search for and press return. The program will search the database for a match, and if found, jump to that record. For example, if when creating your database you entered "4/5/92" in the week box of record number ten, and you now wish to jump to that record using the search requester, then you would do the following. Call up the search requester and press on the "WEEK" button, then click in the input box at the top of the requester. Type "4/5" and press return. The program will now jump to record number ten. Note that the above example shows that you do not always need to enter the full string you are searching for. When in the "Search to Week" mode it is important to note that the program will search forward from the current position. Therefore attempting to search when you are already at the last record will not have much effect. It is always best to go to record number one before using the "Search to Week" function. If the search was unsuccessful then a "Not Found" message will be displayed. Section 5.10 USING THE DEFAULT REQUESTER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The default requester allows you to alter the amount of numbers predicted, and the number of weeks used by the First and Last functions. These settings can be saved to disk and are automatically recalled when the program loads. The requester is used in the following manner. NUMBER REQUIRED Click in the input box next to the words "Number required" and the input cursor will appear. You must now type the amount of numbers you require the predict function to return. Type the number and press return. The maximum amount of numbers returned by the predict function is thirty, the program will not allow a number greater than this. FIRST/LAST Click in the input box next to the words "First/Last" and the input cursor will appear. You must now type the number of weeks you wish the first/last function to use. Type the number and press return. You cannot enter a figure greater than the number of weeks in the database. OK When you are satisfied with the current settings click on the "OK" button to exit. SAVE ( Dividend Master Only ) Clicking on the "SAVE" button will save the current settings to disk in a file called "DEFSET". These settings will then be used when ever the program loads. If the program cannot find a file called "DEFSET" then it will revert to its own internal default setting. This is 17 for the number required and 25 for the First/Last function. Section 5.11 FULL REQUESTER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The full requester appears when you attempt to add a record above the number of 208. This figure represents four years of results. When this requester appears the database will be reconfigured and you must take the following action. Click on the "OK" button to clear the requester. A file requester will now appear to give you the chance to save the current database. It is advisable to save the database with a different file name to its previous one. The program will now take the last 53 weeks of data and make this data the first 53 weeks of data in the new database. The database will now only be 53 weeks long and you can continue to add data to it. You can now save this database as your default database. The program works in this way so that when you have to start a new database there will always be enough information in it to make predictions. As an example let us suppose you have a database named "DEF.PRED" which is 208 weeks long. You click on the "ADD" button to add another record and the Full Requester appears. Click on the "OK" button to cancel this requester and a save requester appears. Save your database with a different file name, for example, "1990/94.PRED". The database will be saved. The database will now be reconfigured and you can now continue to add data. When you save the database save it with your original file name i.e. "DEF.PRED". Section 5.12 THE DATABASE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The database is the most important element of the Predict module and it is vital to ensure that you don't corrupt it. In practice this means you must always enter the correct results each week and every week. Any gaps between weeks in the database will seriously impair the efficiency of the program. There are only two rare occasions when you may miss a week - when no score draws occur, or when there are more than twenty three score draws. It only takes a few minutes each week to maintain the database. You need at least seven weeks of results in the database before the program can start to make a valid prediction. To counter the problem of having to start a database from scratch, and to allow you to start making predictions straight away, anybody who upgrades to Dividend Master will also receive an up to date database. For further details on upgrading please read section 7. Section 5.13 SPECIFICATIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Database ....... Maximum = 208 Weeks Number of Draws per week ....... Maximum = 23 Draws Amount of numbers returned by predict function ....... Maximum = 30 Standing entry check ( Check Function ) ....... Maximum = 28 Section 5.14 QUICK START ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the Predict module first loads it searches the disk for a database named "DEF.PRED", and if found, loads it into memory. For speed of use it is advisable to name your current database "DEF.PRED". Section 6 COMMON PROBLEMS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In previous versions of Perm-Check some people commented that they were having problems with plan files. If you find that you cannot get a plan file to work check that there are no blank lines or special control characters in your file, as this was always nearly the problem. If the predict function does not return the amount of numbers you requested it is because there are not enough weeks in the database. If the search to week function fails to find the string you are after then you are probably already past that record. Remember that the program searches forward from its current position. Goto record 1 and try again. Occasionally the program will boot up with a smaller than usual 200 line screen. This sometimes happens when you do a warm reset. To cure this problem make sure you switch the machine off before booting Pools Tools. Section 7 UPGRADE OFFER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dividend Master is a more powerful version of Pools-Tools and contains the following features not implemented in Pools-Tools; Printing Functions Test Facility Tune Facility Predict by Recent Form Perm Calculator Save default settings If Pools-Tools is of some use to you and you would like to take advantage of the extra features offered by Dividend Master ( and also to receive an up to date prediction database ) then you can upgrade as follows. 1) Make a copy of your Pools-Tools disk. This is important since you will be required to send your original disk which will then be updated. 2) Send your original disk plus the sum of £4.50 to the address below. Paul Morley, 103 Micklefield Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. HP13 7EX * Payment should be by Cheque or Postal Order made payable to Paul Morley. * Please write your name in block capitals. * Please allow ten working days for delivery. ************************************************************************* * * * If you wish you can print out and use the upgrade form from * * section 7.1. This contains more specific information on upgrading * * * ************************************************************************* Section 7.1 UPGRADE FORM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I wish to upgrade to Dividend-Master and enclose my original disk plus the sum of £4.50 NAME: __________________________________ ( BLOCK CAPITALS PLEASE) ADDRESS: __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ I enclose a cheque/P.O. made payable to Paul Morley. Please do not send cash. Please allow 10 working days for delivery. Thankyou. All orders should be sent to: Paul Morley, 103 Micklefield Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. HP13 7EX SECTION 8 FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At some point in the future I hope to produce a plan disk and other accessory disks. These will only be made available to people who have upgraded or expressed an interest. If you would like to be kept informed of developments, but do not wish to upgrade, then please send your name and address. SECTION 9 COMMENTS ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you have any views about Pools-Tools ( good or bad ), or you find any bugs you wish to inform me of, then please write to me at the above address. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Many thanks to the following people for making life a little easier; The designers of AMOS for creating such a versatile and forgiving language. Dennis Leech and Oasis Software for allowing the use of the brilliant NCommand routines in this program. Caroline, for her help in testing the program and also to David, for keeping me sane during the development of this program. Good luck with your coupons! Paul Morley, August 17th, 1992