Home Page Competition Software

The Knockout Manager.
An overview in the form of a user's guide.

The Entry / Exit Point, select a file or create a new one.


Creating a New File (called.....new).

Raw file created and saved in the 'KO\TABLEHTM' folder.
Unique identity numbers (IDs) were created then drawn using a sequence of random numbers,
like picking from a hat. First out of any pair is the challenger, followed by the opponent.
The method used here was 'draw each round', so to obtain the traditional draw
qualifiers are aligned with their next round tie, working back from the final.
The filename and the year determine a unique 'Random Seed', an offset into a list of random numbers.

Look in the folder KO\TABLEHTM for the filename with htm extension (ie New.htm).
Double click it to open it in your browser.
An Extract from the Raw File (top bit and footnotes).
Home Page  Local Link  Local Links:-  Link  Link  Full Tbl

New Holders:- Winners Finalists:- Runners Up
Preliminary A date	Round 1 A date	Round 2 A date	Round 3 A date	Rd 4 - Open A date	Qtr Final A date	Semi Final A date	Final A date
A5 A15	A28 A30	A2 A8	A3 A4	2 10	6
A20 A21
	A1 A7
	A18 A17	A3 A7
	A10 A27
A19 A11
	D30 D22	D16 D14	D8 D1
	D16 D23
	D27 D2	D8 D12
	D31 D3

footnote 1
footnote 2

This HTML table and accompanying csv file for spreadsheets were generated from Mark's Knockout Manager.

The last instruction was to finish setting up using the Edit Utilities.

From the main menu touch 'e'

and enter the edit menu:-

Enter the static wording for publishing in the table with the following utilities.				and for the user:-
{D}ates Change a round's name and/or its date.	{T}itle Change the Title and/or the Association	{H}olders A nice reminder of last year's best.	{F}ootnotes For issuing messages.	{S}creen Colours Select a colour code to reflect your mood.

Here are those utilities :-


Names can be attached to IDs manually or read from a file.
Back to the Editor to attach {N}ames of Entrants


Excel can write a database extract in csv format or one can be created manually in Notepad.


The file should reside in the 'KO\Entries' Folder.


Let's have a look at the top of the latest published table with names attached to IDs:-
Home Page  Local Link  Local Links:-  Link  Link  Full Tbl

A New Competition Holders:- Fred Finalists:- John
Preliminary A date	1st Round Mon 2nd July	Round 2 A date	Round 3 A date	Rd 4 - Open A date	Qtr Final A date	Semi Final A date	Final A date
A5 E. Armstrong A15 O. Armstrong	A28 A30	A2 A8	A3 A4	2 10	6
A20 T. Armstrong A21 U. Armstrong
	A1 A. Armstrong A7 G. Armstrong
	A18 R. Armstrong A17 Q. Armstrong	A3 A7
	A10 J. Armstrong A27
A19 S. Armstrong A11 K. Armstrong
	D30 D. Dimple D22 V. Doddle	D16 D14	D8 D1
	D16 P. Doddle D23 W. Doddle
	D27 A. Dimple D2 B. Doddle	D8 D12
	D31 E. Dimple D3 C. Doddle

!Winners! Pleeeese phone in your result immediately after the game.

This HTML table and accompanying csv file for spreadsheets were generated from Mark's Knockout Manager.

Developed quite nicely hasn't it?

Links and Packing Spaces.
Links ease browsers' navigation within a website. A master index contains links to other pages.
In our case we have competitions of a similar class that could form their own little group.
Here we will edit the preloaded links.
Type L from the Edit Menu and press Enter to Edit Links.

These are the changes made:-	(URI stands for Universal Resource Identifier.)
1) Changed description to 'Home Page' (note:- needed to retype 'index.html') 2) Made link 'Behind the Scenes' with URI 'asftw.htm' 3) Made separator 'Other Comps:-' by pressing enter at the URI prompt. 4) Made link 'Another Comp' with URI 'new2.htm' 5) Deleted the last link.

And this is what the new links look like:-
Home Page  Behind the Scenes  Other Comps:-  Another Comp  Full Tbl
'Full Tbl' is an added link to a page where the draw is broken down into printable sections.

Packing Spaces
Links on each of the pages of a similar catagory can be set up so they appear to scroll
horizontally when viewed in succession. A related competition's links look like this:-
Home Page  Behind the Scenes  Other Comps:-  1st Comp  Full Tbl
The start of '1st Comp' is out of line with 'Another Comp' above. As web surfers tend to select
the beginning of a word (well, I do) so mouse movement may be required to target the link.
Shift it into alignment by adding a number of packing spaces, in this case 7.

And these are the positions on their separate pages:- the first local links line up nicely.
Home Page  Behind the Scenes  Other Comps:-  Another Comp  Full Tbl
Home Page  Behind the Scenes  Other Comps:-  1st Comp  Full Tbl        
Test it, select 1st Comp, which is the full sticky headed table of the draw built in this guide.
From there select the start of "Another Comp' which is just links.
The start of '1st Comp' will be under the curser so the mouse does not have to be moved.
Click on the 'Full Tbl' link from either to return to this guide.

Now for Entering some results, from the main Menu select {I}nput Latest Results
Only unresolved ties with a challenger and opponent are offered for receiving a result.

The 'w' in w-0 or 0-w becomes {win}; 'W' in W-0 or 0-W becomes {w/o}.
Remaining character responses are not case sensitive.

Approximate fractions (75% for reduced team events) are shown as proper fractions.

Ties will be offered until the round exhausts naturally
or entering one of the redirects, 'R' to change the round, 'Z' the zone, 'F' to finish.

Winners move on and if they form ties (as line 9) they will be offered in the next round.
The file's saved and the next round or zone displayed.

Changing Zone

Before progressing to the next round or zone however, major choices are offered;
Press Enter to accept the default shown fully enclosed in chevrons.
Press 'F' to finish results input, file is saved, table is published.
Press 'E' to correct an error.
Press 'A' to abort, this causes an immediate restart without saving the current round

At this point 'z' was entered three times to get to zone D and the prelims popped out the way.

At any time during input responding 'e' calls up an error correcting routine:-

'e' entered at a result prompt, the line number requested.

Input the correct result.

Ties are offered from where they were before the interruption.

The D section shown for clarity, the error prompts are overwritten.


Missed a result?

End of round had been reached so the input continues again from there.

Clear a result by entering 'c' at the prompt.


Input continues with Round 2. (D27 vs D3 was created in the first round).

' f ' entered.

Input finishes after all ties have been offered or ' f ' entered at the result prompt.
The table is published and the main menu displayed.

An option bar was displayed at the bottom of the screen all the way through input.


Lets have a look at the top of the updated table:-
Home Page  Local Link  Local Links:-  Link  Link  Full Tbl

A New Competition Holders:- Fred Finalists:- John
Preliminary A date	1st Round Mon 2nd July	Round 2 A date	Round 3 A date	Rd4-Open A date	Qtr Final A date	Semi Final A date	Final A date
A5 E. Armstrong 20¼ A15 O. Armstrong 12¾	{A28} A5 E. Armstrong 16 A21 U. Armstrong 23 {A30}	{A2} A21 U. Armstrong A8	A3 A4	2 10	6
A20 T. Armstrong 16 A21 U. Armstrong 19
	A1 A. Armstrong A7 G. Armstrong
	A18 R. Armstrong A17 Q. Armstrong	A3 A7
	A10 J. Armstrong A11 K. Armstrong {A27}
A19 S. Armstrong A11 K. Armstrong {w/o}
	D30 D. Dimple D22 V. Doddle	D16 D14	D8 D1
	D16 P. Doddle D23 W. Doddle
	D27 A. Dimple 30 D2 B. Doddle 24	{D8} D27 A. Dimple D3 C. Doddle {D12}
	D31 E. Dimple 13 D3 C. Doddle 31

!Winners! Pleeeese phone in your result immediately after the game.

This HTML table and accompanying csv file for spreadsheets were generated from Mark's Knockout Manager.

Correcting a result after finishing input: From the Edit Menu select {R}esult.

Draws can be huge so a search will pass only those ties where one of the names
contains the unique text fragment and will only offer it if it has a result to correct.
Pressing Enter continues the search (the top 1st round game result was entered to demonstrate this).
Entering a result finishes the routine and the table is reconstructed, saved and published.

A look at the top of the table with the result corrected.
(E. Armstrong instead of U. Armstrong has gone through to the 2nd round.)

A New Competition Holders:- Fred Finalists:- John
Preliminary A date	1st Round Mon 2nd July	Round 2 A date	Round 3 A date	Rd4-Open A date	Qtr Final A date	Semi Final A date	Final A date
A5 E. Armstrong 20¼ A15 O. Armstrong 12¾	{A28} A5 E. Armstrong 23 A21 U. Armstrong 16 {A30}	{A2} A5 E. Armstrong A8	A3 A4	2
A20 T. Armstrong 16 A21 U. Armstrong 19
	A1 A. Armstrong A7 G. Armstrong
	A18 R. Armstrong A17 Q. Armstrong	A3 A7
	A10 J. Armstrong A11 K. Armstrong {A27}
A19 S. Armstrong A11 K. Armstrong {w/o}

Providing the final stage ID's are pure numbers, these can be changed to their character equivalent.
Select {A}lter Final Stage IDs to characters from the Edit Menu.

The result can be seen in the full table of this example.
Press the 'Back' navigation icon to return to this point.
1st Comp

The last Edit function is to remove the IDs from names. Select {C}lear All Identity numbers.
This will remove all IDs providing names have been assigned, making it an 'open draw'.

A New Competition Holders:- Fred Finalists:- John
Preliminary A date	1st Round Mon 2nd July	Round 2 A date	Round 3 A date	Rd4-Open A date	Qtr Final A date	Semi Final A date	Final A date
E. Armstrong 20¼ O. Armstrong 12¾	E. Armstrong 23 U. Armstrong 16	E. Armstrong
T. Armstrong 16 U. Armstrong 19
	A. Armstrong G. Armstrong
	R. Armstrong Q. Armstrong
	J. Armstrong K. Armstrong
S. Armstrong K. Armstrong {w/o}

Competition Secretaries may use scoresheets. From the publishing menu select {S}coresheets.
A confirmation is displayed stating where the file has been written to.


And the file that was written? (the middle has been missed out to save space).

This can be tidied up with borders either in excel (as the open rounds have)
or copied into word (as below).


A Handbook may be published containing the raw draws, select {H}andbook Draw.
Again a confirmation is displayed stating where the file has been written to.


And the file that was written? (just the lower part is shown).

and of course this can be copied and pasted into electronic handbook templates:-


Another output not mentioned yet as I haven't really used it is the tabulated draw in csv format.
One of these is written every time the HTML draw is written. This is the same draw as above.
(I only built it as an exercise in correct placement of the next round game slots.)

Finally to Quit the programme, return to the Welcome Screen and enter 'q'.

And that's it. You may Download a Demo Here.
Click the link, your zip utility will ask where to extract KOMANAGER.EXE to.
Create a shortcut to it.
Double click the shortcut. Sub folders are created on first run, outputs will be in the folders.
Pictorial guide to installing
This demo version is the full working programme but..........
the competitors are randomly shifted for publishing then restored after.
Any files created may be read by a specific trial version available below.

For further information

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