Welcome to WSTIMS !!   Throughout this guide, the topics itemized in an Index or List, such as the one you see immediately below, also serve as links to more detailed material on each of those subject areas -- click on any of these links to take you directly to that material.  These index lists have been strategically structured as an overall outline, to help you find what you need in a hurry.

Important Note -- A very few areas of the User Guide are still incomplete.  Those sections include an (Under Construction) notation, immediately following the section heading.  Check the AWSAEAST download area periodically, to see when a revised WSTIMS release becomes available.  (This edition as of May 18, 2009)
 

• Using this Guide Effectively -- Finding Things
• Essentials -- Concepts and Fundamentals
• Getting Around in WSTIMS -- Menus and Tasks
• Preparing for a Tournament -- Registrar & Scorer
• Event Scoring Mechanics -- The Heart of WSTIMS
• Producing Results and Finalizing a Tournament
• Casebooks for Specific Tournament Scenarios
• Common Problems and Solutions
• Appendices -- Div Codes, Trick Codes, etc

 

• Important !!  What's New in Release 3.56a for 2009

This User's Guide covers all aspects of WSTIMS, from concepts and fundamentals, through specific "How to" instructions and casebooks covering a wide variety of specific tournament scenarios.

Usage Overview.   The guide has been designed for exploration on your computer, rather than being printed on paper.  The links and navigation aids embedded herein are essential elements to helping you quickly find the specific material you may need.  Also, there are a number of tables and checklists and examples that are accessible only from embedded links -- whose content pops up in a separate browser window -- and that material is not actually present in the main body of this document.  For both of these reasons, we strongly recommend that you do not print this entire document.

Some users may want to print selected Checklists or Tables or Examples from this guide, say to post near their scoring computer.  It is possible for you to print just those tables or lists that you want -- see the section immediately below for instructions.  However, please remember that you can find all of those resources, at any time, right on your computer, with only a couple of clicks of your mouse.  But either way, please do not try to print this entire guide -- instead let's save the trees and ink.

This user's guide is designed to serve as the primary reference tool for any WSTIMS user, from the Registrar to the occasional scoring helper to the Chief Scorer -- all of these players can find the information they need here.

Learning about WSTIMS.   For those entirely new to WSTIMS and to Water Ski Tournament scorekeeping, there are a few essential concepts and fundamentals that the user must first understand, before they can hope to make effective use of this system.  So newcomers should review the Concepts & Fundamentals section which immediately follows below.

Reference -- Finding what you need in a hurry.   This entire user's guide is designed for browsing on your computer, and includes extensive navigation aids and links and checklists.  So you should be able to find your way to the specific subject material you need, with only a couple of clicks.

What's New.   This latest release 3.56a incorporates a number of changes from previous versions.  For those scorers already experienced with WSTIMS, we have prepared a What's New summary section in this document that explains just those changes and new features.

Printing Selected Tables or Lists.   Since this guide displays in your web browser, you can selectively print any table or list or paragraph or section.  How you do that depends on exactly how that material is presented.  For those tables and checklists and examples which will appear in a separate browser window, you can simply print that entire window.  Selected sections of the main body of this document may also be printed, although this must be done with care, to avoid inadvertently printing 100's of pages.  To print selected material from the main body, proceed as follows:

1. Use your mouse to highlight the desired material you wish to put on paper, then
    
2. Choose File --> Print from the Menu line at the top of your browser window, then
    
3. Vital -- you must remember to check the Selection radio button.  This appears under the Page Range section in the Print Dialog window -- in place of the All choice that you will find is checked as the default -- then
    
4. Click the Print button at the bottom of the window, to print this selected material.

Scanning for Key words or Phrases.   Your web browser also provides a handy search function.  Choose Edit --> Find from the Menu on the top line, then type in the keyword or phrase that you think might appear with the material you're interested in, and then click on the Find button to scan the entire document for that request.

Navigating within this Guide.   This guide works like a web page, and is liberally sprinkled with links (indicated by underlined words or phrases) that you can click to take you directly to particular material.  These links fall into two major categories.  Hence a minute spent understanding how this puppy has been organized, will be most helpful to you down the road.

The overall organization of this Users Guide follows a common Chapter / Section / Subsection structure.  Each level typically begins with an index that appears near the top of that section -- just like the Essentials section that you will find if you scroll a few lines down from where you are right now.  Each of the entries in each such index is a link that will take you directly to material on that specific topic.  And the place you land at from each of those links, will always have a corresponding (back to [topic] index) link, appearing at the right side by that section title, which you can click to take you back to the index list from which you came.

Using these Section Index links is the fastest way to "Drill Down" into this guide, to find material on a particular topic in a hurry.

In addition to this overall structure, you will also find a lot of "cross-reference" links here and there.  These typically appear within a sentence somewhere, and are provided as a convenience to refer you to collateral material located in other sections of the guide.  If you exercise one of those cross-reference links, and want to return to where you were before clicking that cross-reference link, then you should use your browser's Back button.  However, sometimes you may want to explore other topics within the section that the cross-reference takes you to.  When that is the case, then you should click the "Back to [topic] Index" link, instead.  The point of this discussion is to make you aware that those various "Back to [topic] Index" links are there, and when you would want to use them.

There are a few key concepts and fundamentals that every WSTIMS user must understand, before they can hope to make effective use of this system.  This section of the document presents information on the following essential areas:

• Introduction -- What is WSTIMS?
• Event Groups -- Administrative Units
• CODES!  Age Divisions, Teams, Event Groups
• Four Possible Event Group Structures
• Participant Lists -- Registration
• Entry List(s) -- Linking Skiers to Codes
• Officials Recording & Credit Features
• Scoring File Naming Conventions
• Multiple Simultaneous Activities
• The WSTIMS Hardware Setup Window
• The WSTIMS Tournament Setup Window

WSTIMS is a Personal-Computer-based software system designed to handle the information processing needs of a Water Ski Tournament, and to assist in the administration of the tournament in various ways.  It helps you manage registration, draws the running order of skiers either randomly or based on seeding information, prepares lists and officials forms, participates in the administration of each of the events, helps ensure compliance with some of the more complex rules, determines Overall scores and Ratings as performances are finalized, and records the results as it goes.  At the end of the tournament it produces a number of useful reports, including the official scorebook, team scoring and placement results as appropriate, and finally a data file of all the skier performance information for you to send to the seeding committee representative in your area.

The alternative (manual) approach to these tasks, involves a tremendous amount of meticulous detail work, and despite the best efforts of those registrars and scorers who try to do all this by hand, errors somehow manage to find their way into the final results all too often -- after all, we're all human.

Using WSTIMS, the idea is to put each item of information (names and addresses, ages, division codes, times, angles, buoy counts, trick codes, etc.) into the computer once, immediately at the point where that piece of information develops.  The computer will then perform all the drudgery involved in the looking up, adding together, sorting, and copying of information -- thereby leaving the registrars and scorers free to focus their attention on ensuring that all the information which is being gathered is correct and accurate in the first place.

The registrar and scorer can concentrate on managing the registration and scoring functions, rather than getting mired in the details of these various tedious activities.  Most Chief Scorers who have used WSTIMS found themselves enjoying the top scoring job more than they have in years.  We hope you find the WSTIMS experience to be as enjoyable as theirs.  Who knows, we might even get some new people started in scoring this way!

Throughout this Documentation, we use the terms Administrative Unit and Event Group (or sometimes just "Event") to mean the same thing.  An Event Group is a sub-grouping of skiers within the overall tournament schedule of events.  The event group can be in slalom, tricks, or jump.  Skiers within the Event Group are competing against one another for placement in that event, and will ski together in one uninterrupted string.

At the simplest level, you can think of an Event Group as the set of skiers between two officials crew changes.  Results are typically posted at the end of each Event Group.

The tournament format will dictate how event groups are structured, and how skier placements and awards are to be determined, within each event group.  During the tournament set-up process, the user will select one of the four distinct Event Group structures that WSTIMS supports.  More on that later.

At a large tournament like a Regional Championships, each division of each event is normally run by itself as a separate Administrative Unit or Event Group -- Men 2 Slalom is run all by itself, as is Boys 3 Jumping, as is Women 2 Tricks, and so on.

At a local weekend tournament, however, one single Administrative Unit or Event Group might well include several different Age Divisions.  If the sponsor wishes to have placements determined separately for each Age Division, then WSTIMS will do that for you, by Age Division, across whatever collection of Age Divisions it finds within each Event Group that you construct.

However, keeping separate score by Age Division within a single event group is not the only choice.  You can also construct Event Groups across a "Proficiency-Based" spectrum, where you group your highest-rated skiers together into one Event Group, then the next lower level tier of skiers into a separate Event Group, and so on.  Within each such combined group, WSTIMS will determine placements across Age Divisions, based on either NOPS scores, or on actual raw Performance Score -- WSTIMS now offers both these two alternatives.

Switching to the opposite end of the spectrum, to the largest Tournaments like a National or World Championships, some of the events may be "Segmented", with the resulting segments actually run as separate administrative units -- perhaps simultaneously, on separate lakes -- or even across more than one single day.  Those separate segments will then later be combined so that one consolidated set of placements can be determined.  But you can see that each segment still represents a fundamental Administrative Unit, for the activities of a single set of skiers and officials, for a particular type of skiing competition.

For the moment, the important thing to remember is that WSTIMS supports several different ways to create Event Groups.  More detail on those alternatives is provided under Event Group Types later in this section.  But first, we need to talk about ...

WSTIMS deals with a number of important conceptual elements -- Skiers, Age Divisions, Administrative Units, and Teams.  These elements can be mixed together in different ways, depending on what any particular organizer may want to construct in the way of a competition.  From a "Real World" standpoint, Skiers and Administrative units are the true operational entities.  Except at Regional and National tournaments, Age Divisions and Teams are generally just conceptual entities, to which skiers may be associated.  WSTIMS keeps these various elements straight through the use of codes.  Each skier in WSTIMS may be associated with one Team code, generally with one single Age Division code, and with one to three Event Group codes -- a single competitor may belong to a separate Event Group code for each of the Slalom and Trick and Jump events, depending on the structure.  Here below is a more comprehensive explanation of these various codes and how they are used in WSTIMS to link things together --

• Age Division Code   -- is a two-character code, assigned according to a skier's age and gender.  Each of the standard Age Divisions has specified Performance Conditions -- maximum boat speeds in the Slalom and Jump events and a maximum Ramp height for Jumping.  All of the Division codes that are supported by WSTIMS, and their meanings, are presented in a table that you can pop up from the following link: Division Codes and Explanations.
   
  Please make note of the special Division Codes which are used for Collegiate, Novice, Open, and International rules.  Some of these special division codes may be used instead of (or in addition to) the standard age division codes at certain types of tournaments.  More information on the usage of these special Division codes can be found in the applicable areas of the Casebooks section of this guide.
   
  Since the conditions of performance are different across the various divisions, many AWSA competitions are organized such that each age division becomes a separate scorekeeping group.  As noted previously, however, scorekeeping groups may be defined in other ways, than just by Age Divisions.  More detail on that subject under Event Group Structures.
   
• Team Code   -- is a three-character (or less) code which is used to indicate a particular team entity, with which each skier may be associated.  There are formal team scoring rules involved in both NCWSA and IWSF Championship format tournaments.  Whenever Team scoring is involved, then each Skier may be associated with a particular team.
   
• Event Group Code   (or Administrative Unit code) -- is a three- or four-character code, which indicates a particular Administrative Unit of a tournament, and which consists of two or three distinct elements.
   
  • The first two positions of an Event Group code are any unique two-character combination that the Organizer and Scorer may choose for that particular Event Group.  Each group's code should indicate or suggest the content of that particular Event Group.
     
  • The second element of an Event Group code is a single character, in the third position of the overall Event Group code.  This will be S or T or J, indicating the type of skiing competition that will take place for that particular Event Group. 
     
  • The third element of an Event Group code would be a single character, in the fourth position of the overall Event Group Code.  This additional qualifying element will only be present in Multi-Round tournaments, or for specific events which have been segmented.  Each Round, or Segment, of a particular event will be represented by a separate Scoring File, and these round or segment qualifiers in the File names and descriptions are how you and WSTIMS will tell these sub-sets apart.
     
    In a multi-round tournament, round qualifier codes of 1 and 2 and 3 (if needed) are used to designate the individual rounds of an event.  So a code of JRS2 would indicate the 2nd round scoring file of the Juniors Slalom event.
     
    In related fashion, segment codes of A and B and so on are used to designate the individual segments of a large event which has been sub-divided for operational reasons.  So a code of M3SC would indicate the 3rd segment of the Men 3 Slalom event.  Please note that in a Multi-Round tournament, only the first round of an event may be segmented.  The only Multi-round competitions large enough to require segmented events are of the Elimination format, and so of course the later rounds are always smaller in numbers and would not require segmenting.  So in a multi-round tournament, a code of OMJB would be the second (B) segment of the first (preliminary) round of the Open Men Jump event.
     
  Given this Event Group File coding structure defined here, you can see that Event Group codes in Single Round tournaments will generally be only three characters long, excepting only large events which have been segmented.  Conversely, Event Group codes in a Multi-Round tournament will always be four characters in length.

The specific Event Group Structure, along with the overall list of Event Group Codes being used, are both specified by the user on the WSTIMS Tournament Setup screen.  Subsequently, one or more Participant List(s) are prepared.  For most local weekend tournaments, the appropriate Event Group codes are placed in the SLM & TRK & JMP columns for each competitor, which is how each skier is routed into the applicable Event Group(s).  You will see specific examples in the material which follows immediately below.  A more complete discussion about Entry List Preparation appears elsewhere in this guide.

WSTIMS supports four different event group structures.  Each tournament managed with WSTIMS must use one (and only one) of these structures, for all of the event groups that you will create for that tournament.  These four types are:

• Separate Event Groups for Each Division.   This approach is typically used only at the AWSA Regionals and Nationals, and at IWSF and NCWSA events where the only Events are simply Men and Women.  While simplest in concept, at the typical local weekend multi-round tournament this approach would result in way too many pieces to keep track of.  Consequently, those local weekend multi-round tournaments will typically use one of the three alternatives below, instead.  More details on the setup for Regionals/Nationals, or those NCWSA or IWSF situations, can be found in the Casebooks section of this User Guide.
   
• Mixed Divisions, Separate Order & Placements.   This approach combines the 30+ age divisions into something like 3-5 "Event Groups", in each of the Slalom, Tricks and Jumping disciplines.  Within each such Event Group, the initial running order, and the final resultant placements, are kept separately for each age division included within that group.  Commonly used at local weekend tournaments.  More details about this approach are provided in the Mixed / Separate material which appears below.
   
• Mixed Divisions, Combined Order/Plcmts: NOPS.   This approach entails grouping participants into 3-5 different proficiency bands, frequently based on ranking levels.  Then within each group, placements are determined based on the skiers resultant NOPS scores.  Hence this structure yields just one single placement set for each event/group, across all included age divisions.  More details about this approach are provided in the Mixed / Combined: NOPS material which appears below.
   
• Mixed Divisions, Comb Order/Plcmts: Performance.   This approach is similar to the one above, except that for this alternative, the placements are determined by the resultant raw Performance scores, instead of by NOPS.  Consequently, competitors should be grouped according to ranges of their past raw performance values, rather than by ranking levels.  The section below on Mixed / Combined: NOPS will give you an understanding of how the Mixed / Combined framework works -- just read raw performance level wherever you see the term ranking level.
   

While there are up to 30 separate age divisions (including Open and Novice), at the typical local weekend tournament you will not find each of these run as a separate administrative unit.  Instead, organizers will usually collect these divisions together into 3-5 groups for each event, with each of the resulting collective groups then run as a single administrative unit, each with one set of officials.  In this environment, groupings like "Women 1-9 Slalom" or "Boys & Girls 1-3 Tricks" would reflect such collective events.

This type of structural organization is used at many of the local weekend tournaments throughout the United States.  In this arrangement, while each of these various Event Groups is run as a unit, the running orders will be separated by age division within each event group, and WSTIMS will produce separate placements within each age division, based on the results.

While the example below is not the ONLY way that divisions can be grouped, of course, this arrangement is reasonably representative of the way many tournaments might be run:

    ----SLALOM----       ----TRICKS----        ----JUMPING---
    CODE DIVISIONS       CODE DIVISIONS        CODE DIVISIONS
    JR   B1,B2,G1,G2     JR   B1-B3, G1-G3     JW   B2,G2,G3,W3-W9
    MA   B3,M1,M2,OM     MA   OW,OM, M1,M2     MA   M1, M2, OM
    MB   OW, M3          MW   M3-M9, W1-W9     MB   B3, OW, M3
    MC   M4-M9                                 MW   M4-M9, W1,W2
    WA   G3, W1-W9

The purpose of these groupings is to take these 30+ divisions, of highly varying sizes, and reduce these down to between three and five groups for each event.  The intent is to produce groups of similar sizes, with each having similar skiing / judging / driving characteristics (ramp heights, boat speeds, judging level, or whatever).  While the above example is derived from a lot of local tournament experience, it's reproduction here is intended merely for illustration, or as a point of departure.  Where your tournaments are organized in a fashion like this, of course you'll need to customize the grouping scheme based on the age distribution of skiers in your particular area, or based on any other unique needs that you may have.

The two-character codes -- shown to the left of each division list in the table listed above -- serve as an important link between your registration entry list(s) and the event group files that are created therefrom.  While these event group codes can be made up arbitrarily, it's a big help if they have some implicit meaning to the people who will be working with them.  In this specific instance, the code values were devised based on the specific list of divisions included in each such group, based on the following ideas:

    JR -- Juniors Age Divisions
    MA -- Men's Divisions (group A, youngest)
    MB -- Men's Divisions (group B, older)
    MC -- Men's Divisions (group C, oldest)
    WA -- Women's Divisions (all)
    JW -- Juniors and some Women (jump only)
    MW -- Men (3+) and Women's Divisions

You have probably already noticed that the groupings in this example are not the same for Slalom, as they are for Tricks and Jumping.  This is perfectly OK in most cases, with the sole exception being single round tournaments where there are overall awards by age divisions (as some states may do for their State Championships).  In that specific situation, you will need to create a group structure which is the same across Slalom, Tricks and Jumping, in order for the system to match up the three events properly for each group of divisions.  There's more discussion on this specific topic in the Casebooks section of this User Guide -- be sure to study that material if you are faced with this particular structure.

Given the structures described in the preceding discussion, the following is an abbreviated extract of a WSTIMS Participant List, for a tournament which has been organized along those lines:

    93M022C - Divisionally Grouped Registration  ---EVENTS----  OFCL
    Member Num.  Last Name  First Nm  Div  Age   SLM  TRK  JMP  DJCS
    ---+--+----  ---------  --------   --  ---   ---  ---  ---  ----
    100-10-8642  Armstrong  Jeffry     W4   --   WA   MW   JW   -PR-
    800-00-0850  Clark      Dave       M4   48   MC   MW        ASS-
    500-04-7351  Cox        Larry      M3   39   MB             SS-S
    200-00-5937  Lee        Nikki      OF   --                  -PSN
    000-11-2222  Peterson   Kyle       B3   16   MA   JR   MB   RA-S
    600-00-4826  Morgan     Mike       M2   29   MA             RR-N

A careful review of the event group indicator codes -- appearing under the SLM & TRK & JMP column headings in this list -- will show how these have been assigned -- they reflect the structure laid out in the tables above.  Recognize that in this type of collective event group structure, each skier is always competing ONLY against others in their same age division.  The Event Group codes are used to create groups of divisions which will ski together, but keep in mind that for this particular Event Group type, that the running orders and placements within each group will be kept separate, for each of the included age divisions.

Having given the illustration above, one essential point to distill from this is that the WSTIMS Event Group concept permits the Registrar and Chief Scorer to build and work with the same type of administrative units that the Chief Judge organizes the tournament around.  Good advance planning and communications between the Registrar and Chief Judge are essential, though -- otherwise they may each come up with a different structural scheme.  If that happens, then the Chief Scorer will wind up spending their weekend trying to hammer square pegs into round holes, and visa versa.  Technical issues aside, there need to be good lines of communication between those three key individuals in order for this arrangement to work well:

                       CHIEF JUDGE
                    /               \
                   |                 |
                   V                 V
               REGISTRAR  <--->  CHIEF SCORER

An alternative type of competitive tournament structure can be created by separating competitors into 3-5 groups based on ranking list levels (or some other proficiency-based method).  In this schema, age divisions are mixed together and scored together, based on NOPS, within each of these proficiency level groups.  AWSA Rule 3.02 permits organizers a great deal of latitude in how competitions may be structured at the local level, and this is one method of segmenting the competition to allow more balanced competitiveness.

A frequently-seen arrangement of this type would consist of the following four groups:

    "R8"  --  All skiers at Ranking Level 8 or higher
    "R7"  --  All skiers with Ranking Level 7
    "R6"  --  All skiers with Ranking Level 6
    "R5"  --  All skiers with Ranking Level 5 or below

This combines all the skiers at any equivalent ranking level into a single group for each of the Slalom, Tricks and Jumping events.  Each such group then has that collection of skiers competing amongst one another on the basis of NOPS scores, which are derived from their performances in that event.

Here's a short sample of a registration list which reflects this alternative type of tournament organization:

    93M022C - Proficiency Grouped Registration   ---EVENTS----  OFCL
    Member Num.  Last Name  First Nm  Div  Age   SLM  TRK  JMP  DJCS
    ---+--+----  ---------  --------   --  ---   ---  ---  ---  ----
    800-00-0850  Clark      Dave       M4   48   R6   R5        -PR-
    100-10-8642  Armstrong  Jeffry     W4   --   R8             ASS-
    500-04-7351  Cox        Larry      M3   39   R8        R5   SS-S
    200-00-5937  Lee        Nikki           --                  -PSN
    300-12-1537  Newcomer   Eager      M1   20   R7   R5        AAA- 
    600-00-4826  Morgan     Mike       M2   29   R8             RR-N

As you can see from the above sample listing, in this type of structure a particular skier might well be in separate proficiency groups for different events.  In each event, he/she will be grouped with others at the same ranking level in that event, which creates a more balanced competition.  In fact, the greatest competitiveness is frequently seen in the Rank Level 6 and Rank Level 5 groups -- and in any group, it's fun to see upcoming junior skiers battle it out with their own Moms and Dads, where they fall into similar ranking levels.

Backing away from the details for a moment, this represents just another way to reduce the local tournament structure to a smaller number of "administrative units", which generally turn out to be of similar sizes, and with some added twists which can create a more competitive opportunity for beginning skiers.  The Pre-Registration Export (or Registration Template) which the Registrar will download from the USA Waterski Admin website, will contain the latest ranking scores and ranking level codes, will help you appropriate slot each of your competitors.

The most important step in preparing to use WSTIMS for a tournament, is to create one or more Participant Lists.  For most local weekend competitions, you would prepare just one single participant list.  But for Collegiate (NCWSA) or International (IWSF) events, or for an AWSA Regionals or Nationals, you would prepare two or more participant lists -- one list for each Division or Division Group that will be participating.

The preferred framework for such participant lists is the Microsoft Excel workbook.  Where that Excel workbook comes from, depends on what kind of competition you are going to run, and how registration is being handled for that competition.

For local weekend competitions, an increasing number of sponsors are taking advantage of the web-based Online Registration system.  With this system, interested skiers and officials will register themselves on the website, which will handle their payments and waivers directly in that online system.  The night before the tournament -- or earlier if entries have closed before that time -- the registrar goes to the Admin website and runs the Pre-Registration Export process for their event.  This will produce an Excel spreadsheet containing all of the pre-registered participants, both skiers and officials, along with all of their particulars, just about ready for importing into WSTIMS.  For those not already familar with OLR, please visit the USA Water Ski website for all the details.

For those organizers who do not make use of Online Registration, there is a facility on the USA Waterski Admin website whereby the registrar can download an Excel Registration Template.  This is a pre-populated Excel workbook containing all USA Waterski Members in a selected geographic area, including their names and Membership Numbers and Hometowns and Age and AWSA-defined Age Division codes, including their latest Ranking Scores and Ranking Level codes and even Officials ratings.  To this assemblage, the Registrar adds "Who's Going to Do What" information, along with dates and payment and/or any additional information that they may need to help them manage their registration duties most effectively.  When the dust settles, the Registrar or Scorer would finally export one or more WSTIMS Entry Lists from that workbook, which serve as the primary input to WSTIMS.  You will find more detail on this subject in the Entry List Preparation section of this guide.

For Collegiate (NCWSA) events, the sponsor would visit the USA Waterski Admin website, and download a special NCWSA Team Registration Template.  The registrar would use this template to identify the expected teams and skiers, and then fold in the rotations and other particulars for the Men and Women rosters, "B" team skiers, from the information submitted by each team captain.  Once those details have been completed, the registrar would then merely export the necessary Men and Women Entry Lists that WSTIMS needs to have out of the completed Excel workbook.  This topic is discussed in more detail in the NCWSA Collegiate Casebook section of this Guide.

Regardless of which of the above paths is followed to assemble your participant data, when the dust settles your Entry List(s) will exist in an Excel workbook.  After that has been finalized, then that data will need to be exported from Excel, into the ASCII text format that WSTIMS expects.  This is done using the Excel "Save As" facility, specifying the "Formatted Text (Space Delimited)" format.  The resultant Entry List data, in that .prn file format, becomes the input to the WSTIMS Create Events From Entry List(s) task.

But what exactly are these "Events", that we are going to create in WSTIMS?  Great question -- and if you don't already know the answer, then you need to review the material about Four Possible Event Group Structures.

All the data regarding each of the event groups in a tournament will be kept in a separate scoring data file.  All of these event group scoring files for the tournament will be created on the Master Computer, from the information you (or the registrar) supply in one or more participant entry lists.  The key factor in whether any particular tournament will require preparation of more than one registration list, is the Structure.

Tournaments whose event groups follow the Separate Event Groups for Each Division structure -- such as Regionals, Nationals, Collegiate, International, or certain other special types -- will require that a separate seeded participant list be prepared for each Division (or Division Group).  On the other hand, the more typical local weekend competition will usually follow one of the other three Mixed Divisions structures, and those can usually be handled using one single participant list for the entire affair.

For all except NCWSA collegiate tournaments, the three columns under the EVENTS heading -- subheaded SL TR JP -- are where you will place the appropriate Event Group code for the Administrative Unit in which each participant will ski in that respective event.  These codes are the links which WSTIMS uses to parcel out the skiers into the various event group scoring files, from that master participant list.  Seeding Values and Ranking Level codes, if used, will appear in additional columns to the right of those Event Group code columns.  Examples of such entry lists can be found in the Multi-Round Pick -n- Choose or Multi-Round Slalom Only casebook sections elsewhere in this User's Guide.

Where a separate participant list is prepared for each Division -- as is done for Regionals, Nationals, Collegiate, International and special events -- each Division (or division group) will have it's own entry list.

• For NCWSA Collegiate tournaments, there will be separate Men and Women (and possibly also B Men and B Women) entry lists prepared.  In each of those sections, the SL TR JP columns are where you will place the rotation numbers supplied by the team captains.  WSTIMS uses those numbers to construct the rotationally-seeded skier list for each event.  See the sample in the Collegiate Casebook material.
   
• For AWSA Regionals and Nationals, as well as International and special events, each Age Division (or Division Group) will have a separate entry list.  In each such entry list, the values in the SL TR JP columns are used merely as entry indicators -- if the column has anything other than a blank, then the skier will be included in that event, otherwise they will be considered as not entered and will not be included.  See the sample in the AWSA Regionals and Nationals Casebook section elsewhere in this user's guide.

In addition to keeping score on the competitor's performances, WSTIMS also records the activities of Officials and produces various summary reports.  And at the end of the tournament, WSTIMS will produce an electronically-importable file of Credits information for all officials participating in a tournament.  That file will be submitted along with the other tournament data files, when the WSTIMS archive (.ZIP) file is produced and submitted.

This section provides information on the following topics:

• Overview of Officials Management Features
• Officials Management with Multiple Computers
• Official's Codes in Participant List(s)
• Recording Officials in Individual Events
• Officials Reporting and Credit Import File

Central to the Officials record-keeping functions, is a special file called the Master List of Officials.  This MLO file is designed to identify all of the officials working in any fashion during a tournament.  This file contains Names and Membership Identifiers, along with a special Officials Code field (more on that below).

This Master List of Officials is initially created from the Participant List(s).  At the same time that skiing participants are being picked up and allocated into the respective Scoring Files, WSTIMS is also picking up all those participants who are indicated as officials, and is storing them into the MLO file.

This MLO file is then available during the scoring of each of the events in the tournament.  Each of the event scoring modules provide you the framework to record credits for the specific officials working each event, by picking their names from this MLO list -- instead of having to type them all in.  The features provided in those Officials recording screens, also allow you to add to or edit the details contained in this MLO file, as may be needed.  It is important to note that, whenever an officials record in the MLO file is changed during an event, that a timestamp value is posted on that official's record in the MLO file.  The importance of this will become clear when we talk about multiple computer scenarios, below.

All of those recorded event credits are then merged together at the end of the tournament.  These are also combined with "Chief Codes" -- which identify the various Administrative Chief and Assistant Chief officials.  Those administrative positions are credited for the tournament as a whole, without respect to work in specific events.  Therefore, these Chief Codes also need to be indicated in the MLO file -- more on this in the section on Officials Codes, in the section below.

The merged event credits and the Chief Codes are finally consolidated during the Tournament Summary processes, to produce an Officials Credits data file, along with a number of additional reports.  That Officials Credits file will later be submitted, along with the Skier Performance data file, and numerous other reports that have been prepared in electronic format.  That's the big picture on Officials recording.

As you will appreciate from the above discussion, it is essential that the MLO file be available during the scorekeeping processes for every individual event in the tournament.  It is increasingly common to find multiple computers being used in the scoring of many tournaments.  In those situations, the WSTIMS Export and Import functions are used to transfer Scoring Files back and forth between the Master scoring computer, and those other computers used to score individual events.  In order to make the MLO list available to the scorekeeping processes that are run on those other computers, WSTIMS will automatically export a copy of the MLO file, in addition to the applicable Scoring file(s), whenever Scoring files are being exported to another computer.  Therefore, any external media device that carries a WSTIMS Scoring file, will also carry a copy of the MLO file as well.

Now since Edits and Additions to the MLO file will typically be done as an adjunct to the scoring of events, in this multiple computer scenario it will be important to bring any such modified MLO file information, back to the Master computer, along with the completed Scoring file(s) for those event(s).  Therefore, whenever scoring file(s) are being imported, the companion version of the MLO file (that will also be present on the transfer media or device), will be merged back into the MLO file on the incoming machine.  In this manner, adds and editing changes can safely be done to the MLO content on both the Master and/or event scoring computers.  The merge is where the timestamps come into play.  Whenever WSTIMS is importing/merging officials information, it refers to the values of those timestamps on both the internal and incoming versions, and thereby ensures that the latest revision information always survives.

The above point is yet one more reason why, when multiple computers are being employed in scoring a tournament, that the Chief Scorer should ensure that the clocks on all such computers have been synchronized.  If the clocks are not consistent, then MLO editing changes could be inadvertently over-written and lost.

One other embedded protocol involving the MLO file is worth noting.  More than one participant list may be involved in the setup for a particular tournament.  It is also possible that a participant list may be re-processed, after scorekeeping has begun, for some particular reason.  Therefore, when WSTIMS is processing a participant list and encounters an official, it merges that information into the MLO file.  So if that particular official is already present, then it will only update the information about that official, instead of adding that official to the list a second time.  And if WSTIMS finds that an existing MLO officials record includes a timestamp -- which indicates that official has been manually added or edited -- then WSTIMS will bypass the participant list information for that particular official.  Hence any adds or editing changes made to the MLO roster, after it was created from the participant list processing, cannot be inadventently overlaid, should that participant list be subsequently processed again.

Officials, including even those who do not ski, should be included in your participant entry list.  That way the WSTIMS entry list processing can pick up their names and membership numbers, at the same time it gets those of the participating skiers.  Each line in the entry list therefore represents one individual participant, who may be just a competitor, or a skier who also works as an official, or an official who does not ski.

Officials will be identified, by codes that appear in the "Officials Ratings" DJCS column in the entry list template.  As initially populated from a pre-registration export, or from a downloaded registration template, this four-character field will consist of four single-letter code values, indicating each members highest rating as a Driver, Judge, Calculator (Scorer), and Safety Director.  The value of each of those four code positions indicates the members rating in that respective officiating discipline, with a hyphen (dash) indicating no rating.  Those codes can be useful to the Organizer and the Chief Officials in planning their working crews and event groupings, and also triggers WSTIMS to pick up those names and numbers and codes into the MLO File, when the participant list is being processed.

Administrative Chief and Assistant Chief officials need to be indicated in this field.  This is accomplished by replacing the initial DJCS rating code value, with the applicable Chief and Assistant Chief Codes, which indicates that official's specific position.  Then WSTIMS will pick these up into the MLO file at the time those entry lists are being processed, to create the event scoring files.

A sample of a portion of a Participant List that includes such officials coding, is presented immediately below:

    93M022C -- Divisionally Grouped Registration  ---EVENTS---  OFCL
    Member Num.  Last Name  First Nm  Div  Age   SLM  TRK  JMP  DJCS
    ---+--+----  ---------  --------   --  ---   ---  ---  ---  ----
    100-10-8642  Armstrong  Jeffry     W4   --   WA   MW   JW   CJ
    800-00-0850  Clark      Dave       M4   48   MC   MW        CT
    500-04-7351  Cox        Larry      M3   39   MB             CD
    200-00-5937  Lee        Nikki      W3   --                  CC
    000-11-2222  Peterson   Kyle       B3   16   MA   JR   MB   RA-S
    600-00-4826  Morgan     Mike       M2   29   MA             CS

Alternatively, the Chief codes could be added to the MLO file later, after the MLO data has been picked up from the participant list(s).  Either route will wind up producing the same result.  Regardless of which approach you choose, be sure that these chiefs and assistants have been incorporated into your MLO file, so that these hard-working volunteers will get their working credits.

While not generally recommended, it may be possible for a single individual to wind up wearing two separate Chief Officials hats in a single tournament.  For example the Chief Safety Director may be working towards a scorer's rating and hence may also be serving as the Assistant Chief Calculator (scorer).  In that case, merely add that same individual to the MLO file twice, once with each of the applicable Chief Codes, and the resultant Credits data file will include both positions.

The backbone of the Officials Recording and Credit process is handled through the WSTIMS Event Management and Scoring programs.  Details on this subject are presented in the Event Scoring Mechanics section of this guide, under the Recording Officials topic.

The Officials Consolidation processing is carried out by the WSTIMS Tournament Summary task, which appears near the bottom of the WSTIMS Scoring menu.  When the Officials Processing option is chosen, this function will produce an Officials Data file, that contains the credits for all officials who worked in your tournament.  These are consolidated from the event position credits, rolled up across all of the event groups, along with the Administrative Chief and Assistant Chief codes that are indicated in your Master Officials List.  Click Here to display a sample of what that Officials Data file looks like.

Under the STJ columns for each of the officiating types, there will either be a letter code, a number digit, or a dash.  Letter codes of C or A indicate the Chief or Assistant chief official of that type.  A number digit indicates the number of specific event groups that the official was recorded for in that event type, with 9 signifying 9 or more.  Finally a dash appears where that official was not recorded for any events of that type for this type of officiating.  WSTIMS synthesizes the Chief codes together with the rolled-up event record credits -- and gives precedence to the Chief or Assistant Chief code, regardless of whether that individual may have also been recorded as working creditable positions as well.

In addition to producing this Officials Data file, the officials processing that is carried out during the Tournament Summary also generates two additional reports, that you will find of interest:

• The Officials Listing by Event recap presents precisely that, and is written into the Tournament Summary report file, following the Statistical Summary by Event recap.  A periodic review of this report by the Chief Scorer will identify any events for which the officials have not been completely recorded.  Click Here to display a sample of what that recap looks like.
   
  
• The Work Detail by Official recap produces an alphabetical listing of all of the officials identified with one or more creditable positions in the tournament, along with the details of which positions in which events that official has been listed for.  This recap will appear following the Officials by Event listing, mentioned immediately above.  Click Here to display a sample of what this recap looks like.

At the end of the tournament, each of the Chief Officials should make it a point to review this Officials Credits data file.  If they find information missing, or see any other details that need to be changed, there are two ways they (or the Chief Scorer) can go about fixing those deficiencies:

1. You could go back to the underlying scoring files, and there revise the details of the officials recorded for particular events.  Chief and Assistant Chief codes can be added or changed in the Master List of Officials file.  After making such corrections, then you would run the Tournament Summary task again, and that will produce a revised Officials Data file, along with revised copies of the above-mentioned detail recaps in the new Tournament Summary report.  or,
    
   
2. You could use the Edit a Text Format Data File function, which is presented in the center of the WSTIMS Setup Task Menu, and directly edit changes to the content of the Officials Data file.  Of course you should remember to save the revised file, before exiting that editing process.  Important !!   If you choose this editing route, be sensitive to the strict columnar positioning of the information in this file, and be sure that the revisions you make maintain that exact format.  For most editors (except for Windows Notepad), pressing the Insert key will switch the editor from Insert to Typeover mode, that will help in this respect.

The Officials Data file produced from the above-mentioned steps will be included in the final WSTIMS archive file that is submitted from each tournament.  The data in this file will subsequently be imported directly into the Officials system, when that archive is posted to the HQ system, just like the Skier performances are posted to the Ranking List system.  For more information on those end-of-tournament processes, see the material at Submitting Official Results.

When they are being created from your participant entry list(s), the Scoring file created for each event group will be identified on your disk by a File Name.  These names are used to help both you and the computer keep track of all these files -- and so the names of these files are always constructed according to a standardized naming convention:

• Each scoring file name will always consist of three or four characters, with the first two being the particular Event Group code used in the registration process, and the third identifying the particular type of event (S for slalom, T for tricks or J for jumping).
   
• For multi-round tournaments, there will also be a fourth position (a digit), which identifies the particular round of that event in that tournament.  Remember that each round for an individual event group will be represented by a separate event group file.
   
• In similar fashion, the individual "Segment" files from a single large segmented event will also be identified by a four-character file name.  These will have segment code letters A, B, C and so on in the fourth position of the file name, for as many segments as you may create.  More information about segments can be found at Segmenting Features for Large Events.

Throughout the balance of the WSTIMS documentation, whenever you see a reference to an event group "file identifier", or "file name", recognize that this will be the three or four character name which uniquely identifies the specific administrative unit which you wish to deal with at that particular point, constructed as defined immediately above.

To stimulate your thinking on this subject, here are some examples of various Event Group File Identifiers, which reflect all of the different structures discussed above.  As a check on your grasp of this "Administrative Unit", or "Event Group" concept, try to identify which of the structural types each of these represents:

    W1S  -- Women I Slalom           6MS1 -- 36 MPH Men Slalom Rd 1
    M3T2 -- Men III Tricks Rd 2      MCT2 -- MasterCraft Tricks Rd 2
    CMTA -- NCWSA Men Tricks Pt A    NMJ  -- Novice Men Jumping
    FCS1 -- 1st Class Slalom Rd 1    EPT3 -- EP Class Tricks Rd 3
    5HJ2 -- 5-1/2 Foot Jump Rd 2     BGT  -- Boys & Girls Tricks
    IWJ  -- Internat'l Women Jump    M3SB -- Men III Slalom Part B

From an overview standpoint, information processing activities occur in three major areas of a tournament:

• Registration and forms preparation
• Skiing Event Management
• Composite Scoring & Reporting

Activities may take place in all three of these areas simultaneously.  In addition, major tournaments like a Regionals or Nationals, can have two or more skiing events running at the same time as well.  Both of these dynamics lead to the need for computers in EACH of these areas.  The structure recommended places one PC in registration (which may also serve scoring later), plus another PC at each of the event sites.  Information is then passed back and forth between the registration/scoring Master computer and the Event site computers(s), using floppy diskettes or other removable memory devices.  The diagram below outlines the structure, and shows how these information transfers take place:

   Handles Registration,    Diskette and          Collects & logs
   creates Event Files,     forms sent to         data as events
   prints Running Orders    event site.           run, calculates
   and Judges Forms.        +-----------+         scores & places
                            |FORMS      |
       +---------+          | +-----+   |             +---------+
      /---------/|  ----->  | |DISK |   |            /-------- /|
     |         | |          | |  O =|   |  ----->   |         | |
     | MASTER  | |          +-|     |---+           |  EVENT  | |
     |COMPUTER | |            +-----+               |COMPUTER | |
     |         | |                                  |         | |
     +---------+ |          +-----------+           +---------+ |
    / o o o o /  +  <-----  |FORMS & LOG|  <-----  / o o o o /  +
   / o o o o /  /           | +-----+   |         / o o o o /  /
   +--------+ /             | |DISK |   |         +--------+ /
   +--------+               | |  O =|   |         +--------+
                            +-|     |---+
   Computes Overall           +-----+
   and Team scores,    Judges forms, printed      Prints event
   prints summary      log and diskette are       results for
   statistics and       returned to scoring        posting at
   final Scorebook.     when event is over.      the event site.

For a small local tournament, the event scoring processes may be run on the same computer which handles registration and overall scoring, hence requiring only one computer for the entire job.  This will eliminate the need to transfer files back and forth between machines.  the Windows operating system that most people will be using, provides you the ability to access two or more separate WSTIMS windows at the same time, so you can easily be carrying out more than one of these functions on the same computer at the same time.  However, if you are running on a DOS-only computer, that ONLY ONE of the above functions can be active at any given time.  So if that's your situation, then this should only be attempted for closed tournaments where you can crank out all the running orders and forms the night before it starts.

All of the scoring files for a tournament are created on the Master computer, from data that has been collected into one or more entry list (registration) file(s).  The running order (skier sequence) included in each of these event data files may be arrived at by random draw, or may be seeded in one fashion or another, depending on the type of tournament.  Each "Event Group" will be represented by a separate scoring file, into which is recorded all the information resulting from a particular round of that Event Group in the tournament.

After the individual events have all been scored, the Master computer will then merge these scoring files together in appropriate ways to produce the various combinations and summarizations involved in multi-round or overall scoring, and finally produces the official tournament scorebook.  A variety of other useful reports and summaries may be produced quite easily, including an interchange file of performance data for the ranking list, and an official's credit data file for headquarters.

If additional computers are to be used to run the various individual events, then it will be necessary to transfer files back and forth between the Master computer and the separate Event scoring computers.  WSTIMS provides specific File Transfer capabilities to support this need.  Scoring files can be "Exported" onto an external device (such as a floppy disk or memory stick), and then "Imported" into a separate Event Computer(s) (at the appropriate site) to score those individual events.  After the scoring for such an event has been completed, that scored file will then be exported from the satellite system, and then re-imported back into the Master computer again.

If the tournament is to be managed with only one single computer, then all the scoring files stay on this master computer, and the various individual events are run with this same machine.  If that's a DOS-only machine, this will usually require that the first day's files (and running orders) be created in advance.  Composite scoring tasks would have to be carried out in between events, since each event will keep the computer tied up until that event is over.

This DOS-only, single-computer method of operation, is only practical where the Chief Scorer / Computer Operator is intimately familiar with the system and its use.  Even then, this procedure is not generally recommended for an "Open" tournament where entries may be accepted as it runs, since both registration and scoring activities must be taken care of simultaneously in such an environment, and can only be handled well on separate computer systems.

This section of the WSTIMS user's guide explains how to start and run the WSTIMS system, and introduces you to the components provided in the WSTIMS menu structure.  Navigation within the WSTIMS system is accomplished through a convenient "point and shoot" approach, using Choice Lists.  Sometimes a particular Choice List may be referred to in this guide as a Task List, or an Option List, or perhaps simply as a Menu.

Each WSTIMS Choice List consists of a vertically-stacked list of items, and a "Highlight Bar".  The highlight bar will appear on one of the list choices, and can be moved to other items in the list above or below, using the up or down arrow keys on your keyboard.  Pressing the Enter key will select (activate) the choice on which the highlight bar has been positioned.

Navigation through the WSTIMS functions and tasks is provided with a two-part menu structure.  The first is the WSTIMS Setup Task menu, and the second is the Scoring Task menu.  These two menus are cross-linked -- the first entry in the Setup Task menu is a transfer point that will switch over to the Scoring menu -- and vice versa.  Together, these two menus provide access to all of the WSTIMS functions.

The Tasks shown on the Setup menu are those which need to be performed in advance of a tournament.  Tasks shown on the Scoring menu are those used during and after events are run and scored.  In both menus, the Tasks appear pretty much in the chronological order in which they need to be carried out.  The remainder of the material in this section introduces you to these menus, and explains how to find your way around WSTIMS.

• Starting the WSTIMS System
• Keyboard & Navigation Basics
• Running Multiple WSTIMS Windows
• Error Messages and Program Failures
• The WSTIMS Setup Task Menu
• The WSTIMS Scoring Task Menu
• The WSTIMS Hardware Setup Window
• The WSTIMS Tournament Setup Window

For Windows users, starting and running the WSTIMS System is just like starting up any other application program.  Click on "Start", then "Programs", then the "Water Ski Scoring" program group, and then double-click either the "Current Event Scoring" icon or the "WSTIMS Back Office" icon.  Then simply follow the instructions which will appear on your screen, until you get to the WSTIMS Setup task Menu.  Then you're in business.

The "Current Event Scoring" icon is intended for doing just that.  The "WSTIMS Back Office" icon is provided so that you can have a second WSTIMS window open at the same time, and use that to run other non-event functions -- such as entry list editing tasks, or report production, or file management activities, or whatever -- at the same time you're also keeping score for the current event in the "Current Event Scoring" window.  The resulting icons and titles that appear in the windows taskbar will help you keep track of which WSTIMS window is which.

To start up the special WSTIMS demonstration, Click on "Start", then "Programs", then the "Water Ski Scoring" program group, and then double-click on either the "Demonstration Startup" icon or the "Resume Demonstration" icon, depending on whether you are starting from the very beginning, or resuming partway along the line at a subsequent section.  Then simply follow the instructions which will appear on your screen, until you get to the WSTIMS Setup task Menu.  Then you're in business.

 
Starting the WSTIMS System -- DOS-Only Users

To start the WSTIMS system for regular tournament use, you would need to get to a DOS (C:\>) prompt, then just type in WSTIMS, and then simply follow the instructions which appear on your screen until you get to the WSTIMS Setup Menu.

To start up the WSTIMS System for the Demonstration case takes a different startup command.  As always, first you need to get to a DOS (C:\>) prompt, then just type in either WSDEMO START, or WSDEMO RESUME, depending on whether you are starting the demonstration case from the very beginning, or instead resuming somewhere in the middle of the case at a subsequent section.  Then simply follow the instructions which will appear on your screen, until you get to the WSTIMS Setup task Menu.

Once WSTIMS is operational, you do not use your mouse as a navigation control.  Instead you get around by using the special navigation keys on your keyboard.  For those who may not be familiar with this method of control, the topics below present a primer on that protocol, along with additional explanations about data entry and field navigation.

• Navigation via Choice Lists
• Other Choices: Files, Skiers, Officials
• Insert and Delete Keys
• Entering & Editing Data Fields
• Related Sets of Data Entry Fields
• Backing up & Bailing Out: ESC(ape) & F10

Most Decisions or Choices are made through a "Menu" format, as mentioned above.  Whenever you see the highlight bar appear on the screen, highlighting one item of what appears to be a vertically-stacked list of choices, this is your cue that you need to select one of those items from that list.  The highlight bar can be moved up or down one line at a time by pressing the Up or Down arrow keys on your keyboard.  Pressing the Enter key will select (activate) the choice on which the highlight bar has been positioned.

Think of these lists as continuous -- ie connected at the top and bottom -- so pressing the Down arrow key when the highlight bar is at the bottom item will move the highlight to the top, and pressing the Up arrow key when the highlight is on the top item will move it to the bottom.

In addition to this one-line-at-a-time scrolling with the up and down arrow keys, you can jump directly to the top or bottom of the list, regardless of where the highlight may happen to be.  The Home key will jump to the top item, and the End key will jump to the bottom item.

WSTIMS will generally pre-locate the highlight bar on the recommended or most likely choice, depending on the specific context.  However, you may of course select any of the choices listed, based on your assessment of the particular circumstances at that point.

Aside from the Option Menu framework noted above, many other WSTIMS selection lists are also handled in the same general fashion.  These include lists of Files, or lists of Skiers, or lists of Officials.  But there is a key difference -- the total number of items in these other types of lists may well be greater than can be displayed on the screen all at once.  When that is the case, only a portion of the list can fit on the display at one time.  When this happens, then you can use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll to a preceding or subsequent block of items in the overall list.

Unlike Skier and Officials lists, lists of Files may be presented in the form of a series of columns, with more than one vertical stack appearing on your screen.  The overall sequence of such file lists will always be alphabetic, and you can readily see how the sequence flows from the bottom of one column to the top of the next column to the right.  When multiple columns like this appear, then WSTIMS will respond to the Right and Left arrow keys, and will shift the highlight bar to the column to the right or left of where it currently appears.  It will generally stay on the same row, except when moving to the right and that adjacent column ends above the current row.  In that case the highlight bar will jump to the bottom item in that adjacent column instead.

In the specific case of the Trick Run display, the Insert and Delete keys are active.  The Delete key deletes the trick currently highlighted, and then shifts any following tricks upwards to close the gap.  The Insert key opens the list at the point currently highlighted, and shifts the trick that was highlighted, along with any following tricks, downward one position.  Then you can enter the code for an additional trick at that point.

The Insert key is also used with lists of Competitors and Officials, to signal that you wish to add an additional Competitor or Official to that list currently being displayed.

Apple Macintosh Users:   Since the Mac keyboard does not have either an Insert or a Delete key, WSTIMS will interpret the Option-I and Option-D keystroke combinations (which are the same as Alt-I and Alt-D on PC keyboards) as signals for these Insert and Delete functions.

When a field of data is to be entered or edited, WSTIMS will show you a highlighted area on the screen.  The size of that area indicates the maximum possible length of that field.  A blinking cursor appears somewhere in the field, and indicates the position where the next typed character will go.

WSTIMS deals with all alphabetic information (names etc) in all upper case mode, and hence will automatically capitalize everything that you type in.  So you do not ever need to use the Shift key.

For numeric values, in general you will not need to use the period key as a decimal point -- most entries are assumed to have a fixed number of decimal places.  With the sole exception of the Jump Meter Setup values, WSTIMS is able to interpret your data without your having to explicitly type in decimal points.

In addition to the typing keys which add or replace digits or letters or other special printable characters in the field, there are a number of other control keys on your keyboard that may be used when typing ...

• Left Arrow   -- moves the cursor one position to the left.
   
• Right Arrow   -- moves the cursor one position to the right.  If the cursor is already at the end of the content in the field, the cursor will not move further to the right even if there is more space in the field.  However the Space Bar will add an actual physical space character into the field, and that will shift the cursor to the right.
   
• Home   -- moves the cursor to the beginning of the field.
   
• End   -- moves the cursor to the end of the field.
   
• Delete   -- deletes the character at the current cursor position, and shifts any characters that exist to the right of that position leftward one, to close the gap.  Leaves the cursor at the same position in the field.
   
• Backspace   -- deletes the character to the immediate left of the current cursor position, and shifts both the cursor and any characters that exist at or to the right of that position leftward one, closing the gap.
   
• Enter or ESCape   -- Signals that you are done entering/editing the field, and that WSTIMS should then process or store the information in the field.

The choice list that appears following the presentation of most data entry fields will typically include a Revise Data choice item.  So if you discover you've entered information incorrectly, select that choice and WSTIMS will go back into Data Edit mode for that field, with the content exactly as you had previously entered it.  Then you can revise that content as appropriate.

In some instances you may be presented with two or more related data entry fields.  In such cases, that collection of data entry fields are dealt with as a related set, and so there are a few additional navigation control keys that you may find useful ...

• Tab or Enter   -- moves the cursor to the following field, to the right or below, depending on how the fields are presented on the display.  Also, if the cursor is at the rightmost position of a field and the Right Arrow key is pressed, this will also shift the cursor to the following field just like Tab does.
   
• Back-Tab  (Tab while holding the Shift key down) -- moves the cursor to the preceding field.  Also, if the cursor is at the leftmost position of a field and the Left Arrow key is pressed, this will also shift the cursor to the preceding field just like Back-Tab does.
   
• ESCape   -- Signals that you are done entering/editing the collection of fields, and that WSTIMS should then process or store the information in the collection.  If WSTIMS detects a problem with the content of any of the fields, it will beep and the cursor will appear in the (first) field which contains a problem.  Pressing the Enter key in the final field of the set is also taken as the signal to process the collection.

Since we're all human, it's entirely possible for us to make an incorrect choice, or enter incorrect data that leads us to an inappropriate place.  The ESCape key is generally taken to mean, "Whoa -- take me back a step".  So if you find yourself confronted with a data entry field as the result of making an incorrect selection from a choice list, pressing the ESCape key without entering any data will usually take you back to that choice list, where you can then select a different choice.

But sometimes ESCape isn't enough.  For example, you may select the wrong task from the WSTIMS Setup or Scoring menues, and not realize that you're in the wrong place until you get partway through the startup dialog for that incorrect task.  So if (when) you realize that you've gotten yourself in such a fix, and find that the ESCape key doesn't get you back where you want to be, that's when F10 can come to your rescue.  Throughout WSTIMS, the F10 key is the last-ditch Bail me out signal, that will always take you back to the WSTIMS main menu level.

Should you be in a Data Entry field at the time, and you don't see any response after pressing F10, then you may need to press the Enter key to signal that you are done with the data entry process, before the F10 keystroke will be understood.

There are a couple of potential problems that can arise, when you are running two copies of WSTIMS, in the same computer, at the same time.  In general, these involve conflicting claims on a single resource, such as a particular scoring file, or the system printer.  If you see any warning messages like, "File In Use", or "Printer not available", this means that the resource which you're trying to work with in that window, is already tied up by some other activity in the other window.  Before you can proceed, you may have to complete the conflicting activity in the other window.

Where the printer is involved, in most cases the second task will automatically switch to the "Reports to Disk" mode instead, and produce the report into a report file instead of to the printer.  In many cases this is what you'd want anyway.  Then you can always use the "Display/Print Reports" task to examine that report on your screen.

WSTIMS itself has a wide variety of Error detection logic built in.  Exactly how it notifies the user of errors depends on the specific context.

Where the scorer is asked to type in something, and interpretation of that data identifies a situation which requires the scorer's attention and a possible decision, then WSTIMS will make a raucous nuisance.  The pertinent input data field will usually be highlighted and blinking on the screen, and a context-specific error message will appear.  Merely read that message and follow the directions.

In some simpler situations involving data entry, say where a letter code is requested, a single Beep accompanied by no other reaction signifies that you pressed an incorrect key, and merely need to try again.  Another such situation is with trick scoring -- if you enter a trick code which WSTIMS doesn't recognize, then it will Beep like this and leave the cursor positioned in the trick code field.

Under highly unusual circumstances one of the WSTIMS modules may fail -- crash -- for some reason.  The clue that this has occurred will be a re-appearance of the QBasic program control screen -- like you see when WSTIMS first starts up -- with a big, obvious error message box overlaid right in the center of the screen.  If this occurs, examine that error message to find out why the program quit.  If that message says Device Timeout or Device Fault or possibly even Device I/O error, that typically means that your printer is not ready or has gone off-line for some reason -- so take a look at it first.  If you find that was the problem, you can recover from it: get the printer back into the ready state, then press the <ENTER> key (to clear the Error message box), and then press the F5 key.  F5 tells QBasic to resume, at the instruction which previously failed.  This will usually do the trick and get the program back in action, exactly where it was when it detected the problem.  If that doesn't work, then you will need to exit WSTIMS completely, and then re-start WSTIMS and then get back to whatever you were doing.

If the message was Device I/O Error and your printer is online and ready, then you may have encountered a Disk I/O error.  If this occurs on your data disk after you have begun scoring the events for your tournament, you may need to enlist the aid of someone who is knowledgeable about PC equipment and how to copy and recover data files, particularly if this occurs on a hard drive.  If the problem scoring file is on a floppy disk, sometimes copying that to another disk (using the machine which originally created it) will do the trick.  For a scored export file which you are having trouble importing, try copying it on the same machine which was used to score the event.

Next, you might encounter a message like SYNTAX ERROR when you start WSTIMS or select a specific task from the WSTIMS menu, that happens immediately after startup or selecting that task.  If this happens repeatedly, that indicates you've inadvertently altered the actual program code, and the solution would be to re-install WSTIMS.  A re-install will not lose any of your tournament data, this merely refreshes the programming code.  Then try again.

Finally, you might sometime you see an error message like Fatal Error, or Illegal Function Call, or Subscript Out of Range, or anything else which appears inexplicable.  Such errors are not recoverable, so if you get one of these, then you'll need to shut down WSTIMS and then restart it, and try what you were doing again.  If you get the same thing again, then you might have found a program "bug".  In this situation, please make a note of the exact message, noting the line number and device code that is shown with it, along with the specific task that you were running when this happened, as well as any other particulars about what was going on at the time.  Then send us an e-mail with those details, and attach a copy of your tournament backup file.  That will allow us to reproduce the problem on our machine so that we can identify exactly what's going on -- then we can develop a fix.

SOMETHING YOU SHOULD NEVER DO

You might find yourself unexpectedly looking at the QBasic control screen, with the following message box in the center of the screen:

    +----------------------------------------------+
    |                                              |
    |   LOADED FILE IS NOT SAVED.  SAVE IT NOW?    |
    |                                              |
    |   <<YES>>   < NO >   < CANCEL >   < HELP >   |
    |                                              |
    +----------------------------------------------+

If you should ever see this, then DO NOT press either the Y key, or the <ENTER> key at that point -- doing so could damage your working copy of the WSTIMS system.  Instead, DO press the N key (meaning NO!), if this should ever come up.

What this means is that QBasic has received instructions to either load a different program, or to return to the DOS system level, and you've somehow -- probably unintentionally -- made a change to the currently loaded program, and haven't saved it.  Under other circumstances, failing to save a modified program might represent an oversight (which is why QBasic puts this message out), but with the WSTIMS system there are NO instances where you should ever make any program changes.  If you should inadvertently make such a change to one of the WSTIMS program modules, then the LAST thing you want to do at that point is to wipe out the original version, by saving that mistake in its place.

Keep this caution in mind, if you should ever see this message box show up.

But as noted in the preceding section, if you do save an altered program module by mistake, just re-install WSTIMS and that should get you going again.

Immediately below you will find a reproduction of the WSTIMS Setup Menu, which is the first of the WSTIMS two-part overall menu structure.  You will notice that the top entry in this Setup Menu is a transfer item that will take you to the second part, the WSTIMS Scoring Menu.  Click on any of the underlined Task names in the image below, to jump to detailed material on that particular Setup task.

    94W048R          GOLDEN DOME CLASSIC           C:\WSTIMS\WSDEMO

    WATER SKI TOURNAMENT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - SETUP MENU
    ----------- WSTIMS Release (Date) = 3.56a(MAY 2009) -----------

    (Use ↓ & ↑ keys to select a function, then ENTER to execute it)

                    Switch To WSTIMS SCORING Task Menu 
                    Specify/Modify Hardware Settings
                    Jump Meter System Setup & Checkout

                    Select/Create Tournament Directory
                    Specify/Modify Tournament Settings
                    Create (or Copy) Entry List File
                    Edit A Text/Print Format Data File

                    Match Entry List(s) & Seeding Data
                    Create Event(s) from Entry List(s)
                    Running Orders & Forms Utility

                    Finished, Exit back to System

Immediately below you will find a reproduction of the WSTIMS Scoring Menu, which is the second of the WSTIMS two-part overall menu structure.  You will notice that the top entry in this Scoring Menu is a transfer item that will take you to the first part, which is the WSTIMS Setup Menu.  Click on any of the underlined Task names in the image below, to jump to detailed material on that particular Scoring task.

   94W048R           GOLDEN DOME CLASSIC            C:\WSTIMS\WSDEMO

   SCORING MENU - WATER SKI TOURNAMENT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
   ------------ WSTIMS Release (Date) = 3.56a(MAY 2009) ------------

    (Use ↓ & ↑ keys to select a function, then ENTER to execute it)

                    Switch To WSTIMS SETUP Task Menu    
                    Scoring File Manager and Editor
                    Display/Print/Export Reports/Logs
                    Running Orders & Forms Utility

                    Slalom Event Management & Scoring
                    Trick Event List Entry &/or Scoring
                    Jumping Event Management & Scoring

                    Divisional Summary and Scorebook
                    Multi-Rd Event Placements (by Grp)
                    Multi-Round Scorebook (by Group)
                    Tournament Summary and Team Scores
                    Monitor/Manage Interchange File(s)

                    Finished, Exit back to System

The WSTIMS "Specify / Modify Hardware Setup" task option, listed in the WSTIMS Setup task menu, invokes a "Hardware Setup" configuration window.  The settings provided therein, allow this system to function appropriately on a wide variety of PC compatible computers.  Selecting this task from the WSTIMS Setup task menu will open up that control window, where you can tell WSTIMS about how you want it to work with your computer.

When you start up WSTIMS the very first time after it has been installed, it will automatically develop a default set of hardware parameters.  This initial configuration will probably be correct as far as the disk drive configuration is concerned, although the Display and Printer types may not be appropriate, and so you may find it necessary to visit this Hardware Setup screen as part of your first run-through.

A screen shot of the WSTIMS Hardware Setup appears immediately below.  The operation of this screen is relatively self-explanatory -- just follow the directions which are shown at the bottom of that screen.  Each of the underlined links contained in this sample, will take you to a more detailed explanation about the function of that particular section.

   WATER SKI TOURNAMENT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ---- HARDWARE SETUP

   VIDEO DISPLAY COLOR OPTIONS:                SAMPLE VIDEO DISPLAY:
                                           +----------------------------+
       ( )  Std Monochrome                 ¦  This is some normal text  ¦
       ( )  Black & White                  ¦                            ¦
       ( )  CGA Colors                     ¦  This is Highlighted text  ¦
       (x)  VGA Cool Tones                 ¦                            ¦
       ( )  VGA Warm Tones                 ¦  This is a Selection Menu  ¦
       ( )  VGA Pastels                    ¦       Menu Item # ....     ¦
                                           ¦                            ¦
                                           ¦  This is a Warning Note !  ¦
   PRINTER TYPE SELECTION OPTIONS:         +----------------------------+

   ( )  Basic Epson & Compatibles          Default IOC Federation:  USA
   ( )  Epson LQ xx Series & Comp
   ( )  IBM Pro/Graphics & Comp            Export & Import Device:  A:\
   ( )  HP LaserJet & Compatibles
   ( )  Special (have code list)           Location of Tournament Data
   (x)  None -- Reports to Disk            Directories:  C:\WSTIMS\

  ↓ ↑ keys roll list, <SPACE BAR> selects -- TAB or <- -> Switches fields
  Press the ESC(ape) key to lock in these choices and store in Setup File

Also -- Controlling the WSTIMS window size

Display Type -- depending on your hardware, either the Monochrome or Black & White option will appear as the initial default choice.  If you have a display which supports colors, you will probably find one of the other color schemes to be more satisfying.  For non-color displays, the default selection will probably be the best choice.

A Sample Video Display box is presented in the upper right corner of this hardware setup screen.  The various items appearing within that box portray the range of display attributes which the WSTIMS system will use, and which are therefore SUPPOSED to be easily distinguishable from one another.  As you use the up and down arrow keys to cycle through the various video display options, this display area will change to show you how that particular choice will appear on your particular display.  The words "This is a Warning Note !" are supposed to be flashing, by the way -- this is one method that WSTIMS uses to attract your attention to unusual situations.

Since Water Ski Scorekeepers and Registrars find themselves working in bright light conditions -- often outdoors -- you may find that one particular color scheme is easier to see than the others.  Choose whatever option best satisfies your preferences -- then press the space bar to lock in your choice.

When WSTIMS is initially started on a computer running Windows, many users find the window it appears in to be smaller than they would prefer.  This can be changed.  Indeed, there are a couple of options available here.

One possibility is to switch WSTIMS into "Full Screen" mode.  The Alt-Enter sequence will do that -- find and hold the "Alt" key (typically next to the space bar), then while holding that down, tap the Enter key.  Repeating the Alt-Enter sequence will switch it right back again.  While this makes the WSTIMS window fill the screen, the downside is that you can't see the Windows Taskbar anymore, or readily switch to any other windows that you may happen to have active.  Actually that's not true -- the Alt-Tab sequence will bring up a task list, which will allow you to switch to other active task windows.  Some users like this; others find it awkward.

But that's not the only way.  You can keep the windows desktop arrangement just like it is, but make the WSTIMS window bigger.  Depending on what version of Windows you are running, and what your display device driver supports, there are a couple of different ways to enlarge the WSTIMS window.

One alternative is to drag the window frame to a larger size.  To try this approach, first click and hold the WSTIMS window title bar, then drag the whole WSTIMS window to the upper left corner of the Windows desktop.  Then release the mouse button, reposition the pointer to the lower right corner of the WSTIMS window, then click and hold there and drag that corner down and to the right.  If this does indeed change the window size, you will quickly discover that there are a variety of different sizes that can be obtained this way.  If one of those suits your preferences, then just leave it that way. 

If the above approach doesn't work for you, then another sure-fire alternative would be by changing the "Properties" of the WSTIMS program window itself.  To access these settings, right-click the icon in the upper left corner of the WSTIMS program window, then choose "Properties" from the menu which appears, then choose the "Font" option (or tab) from the window that appears.  You will probably find the current setting is the 8x12 size Raster font.  If offered, you may find the 10x18 or 12x20 size more to your liking.  Or, you could switch to the "Lucida Console" font style, and then choose a specific pitch size.  Once you have found a more satisfactory setting, then be sure that you check the "Modify the Shortcut" radio button, that will appear as you exit this properties window.

You'll notice that the initial default is "None, Reports to Disk".  If you have a printer attached via a parallel cable, and that printer is exactly defined by one of the first four options, then just make that choice.  If you have a printer that attaches via a USB cable, see the new section on USB printers below.  If you have some brand other than those listed in the selection list (like a Panasonic or Okidata or whatever), a quick look at the instruction manual -- typically under the heading "Software Compatibility" or "Software Installation" -- will tell you which of the above options to use for that printer, so choose accordingly.  For most modern ink-jet or laser printers, which are PCL compatible, you should select the HP LaserJet & Compatibles choice.

If you have an otherwise undocumented dot-matrix printer, then you may need to try printing a sample Slalom running order using each of the first three options, and then see which of them produces a spacing which matches the AWSA Slalom Judging form -- see pages 1-16 in the Demonstration Guide.

If you have a printer which does NOT produce appropriate results for any of the first five options, and you DO have the instruction manual which defines the details of that printer's command code sequences, then you can select the "Special" option at the bottom of that menu, to set up WSTIMS to work with this special printer.  When you press the ESCape key to exit the hardware setup screen, and have chosen that "Special" printer option, this will take you to a screen which allows you to tell WSTIMS about the unique command sequences for your printer.  Just look up the command code sequences for the seven specific printer functions which are shown on that menu, and supply those according to the instructions which appear on that screen.

• Install your USB printer and test it
• Make your USB printer a sharable resource
• Install Microsoft Network Loopback Adapter
• Configure the Network Loopback Adapter
• NET USE to connect LPT1 to your printer
• Test the Connection and Printer
• Cautions and side issues involved

Typically all you need to do is to plug your USB printer in, and hopefully Windows will recognize it and install the appropriate drivers automatically.  You may need a driver disk, or an internet connection so that Windows can find the appropriate device drivers.  At the conclusion of the installation process, you should check the Print Test Page option when it appears, to ensure that the installation was complete and that you can actually print to the device correctly.

Once your printer is installed, the next step is to make that printer a sharable network resource, so that the NET USE command will be able to link to it.  To do this, find your new USB printer on the Settings --> Printers window, then right click that printer name, and then click the Properties choice in the pop-up menu.

Once the printer properties window opens, click the Sharing tab, then click the Share this printer button, and make note of the value that appears in the Share name box -- this is the resource name that you will later need to supply in the NET USE command, when you get to that point.  While not required, one suggestion we will offer would be to specify that Share name as WSTIMS-USB.  Since later circumstances may lead you to need to disable and then re-enable this USB connection from time to time, having a consistent and easy to remember Share name for your WSTIMS USB printer will make that easier to accomplish.  Once the Share name is set to your satisfaction, click the Apply button and then exit the properties page.  Your USB printer is now sharable, and identifiable by that name.

Explanation:  Since we are going to use the built-in Networking capabilities of Windows to associate the LPT1: device with your USB printer, then Windows must think that is has a live network connection, in order for Windows Networking services to be active.  If the computer you will be using will actually have a live network connection (either wirelessly or via an ethernet cable connection) at the time you will be both setting up and working with your USB printer, then you're good and can skip the next two steps, since that live network connection will make Windows Network Services available, to support this USB association.

However, even though your USB printer is connected directly to your computer, if you will NOT have a live network connection to your computer when you will be setting up or trying to use your computer with a USB printer at the lake, then it is necessary to trick Windows into thinking that a network connection exists, in order for the requisite Windows Network Services to enable the association.  Such trickery can be accomplished by installing and configuring a pseudo-device that is conveniently provided with Windows, called the Microsoft Network Loopback Adapter.  These two steps here explain how to install and configure that pseudo-device, so that Windows will have Networking Services available at all times, even if you won't always have an actual network connection in place.

Here's the sequence of steps needed to install the Microsoft Network Loopback Adapter:

1. In Control Panel, double click on Add Hardware
2. Click Next on the subsequent panel -- Windows will then scan for new devices
3. When the scan finishes, select the Yes, I have already connected the hardware button, and Click Next
4. In the list that appears in the subsequent window, find and click the Add a new hardware device, and then click Next
5. On the subsequent window, select Install the hardware that I manually select from a list (Advanced), and then click Next
6. Select Network Adapters and then Click Next
7. Select Microsoft under the Manufacturer list
8. Select Microsoft Loopback Adapter in the Network Adapter list
9. Finally click through Next and OK and Finish until the process is complete

Explanation:  Unfortunately, the default settings for any network adapter device is for it to expect Dynamic IP address assignment, from DHCP services provided on a network -- typically provided by a router.  But in this situation you won't have DHCP available, and so you'll need to reconfigure the settings for the Network Loopback Adapter pseudo-device, so that it has a fixed (phony) IP address, and hence will be considered active even when DHCP services are not available.  The following sequence explains how to accomplish that change:

1. Click through Control Panel --> Network --> Network Connections, which should then show you the list of specific network adapter devices currently defined in your system
2. Under the Device name column, look for Microsoft Network Loopback Adapter, and right click the Name entry on that line, then click the Properties choice in the pop-up menu
3. Highlight the TCP/IP entry in the list of items in the subsequent window, then click the Properties button
4. Click the Use the following IP address button, then fill in the boxes immediately below that button with the following values:
• IP Address: 192.168.2.3
• Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
5. Then click through Apply and Next and Finish until the process is complete

This above process of Installing and Configuring the Microsoft Network Loopback Adapter is something that would only need to be done one time, for any given computer.  Subsequent switches to a different USB printer, or between USB and Parallel printers, won't need to have any changes with respect to this pseudo-device.  The only reason to have this device is to make Windows Network Services active, to support the NET USE association, when your computer is not truly connected to a real network.

Open a Command Prompt window -- that's typically under Programs --> Accessories --> C:> Command Prompt.  That should show you a C:\> prompt with a blinking cursor.  Enter the command exactly as you see it on the indented line below -- this command consists of five "fields", where those fields must be separated from one by one or more spaces -- the example below has those spaces exaggerated:

      NET   USE   LPT1:   \\127.0.0.1\WSTIMS-USB   /persistent:yes

If your printer has a different Share name value, then substitute that particular identifier string in place of WSTIMS-USB.  The 127.0.0.1 specification is merely a shortcut which designates the local computer -- if you know the network name of your computer, then you could substitute that value if you wish.  IMPORTANT:  if either the computer name or the Share name of your USB printer includes one or more spaces, then the entire fourth field in this command must be enclosed in double quotes.

      ie ...   "\\My Computer\My Printer"

The computer should respond Connection Successful, or something else to the same effect.  If you see an error message instead, hopefully that will give you enough clues to enable you to correct the problem.  After you get the Success confirmation, then enter

      NET   USE

with no other operands, and the computer should respond with a display of all the existing network connections currently in effect, which should now include LPT1: being associated with your USB printer.  The /persistent:yes operand at the end of the command tells Windows that this connection should be kept in force, even if the computer is rebooted.  That way you won't necessarily need to re-enter this command again every time you're going to want to print from WSTIMS to this USB printer.

Leave the Command Prompt window open and let's go on to the final step ...

In the same Command Prompt window where you entered the NET USE commands immediately above, enter the following command, which will copy a simple one page text file to the LPT1: device -- be sure you include at least one space after the word COPY, and at least one space before the ending LPT1: specification ...

      COPY   \WSTIMS\TRKINST.TXT   LPT1:

That should produce one page of text on your USB printer.  If your printer does not respond, then there's a problem with the connection -- in that case open the Printers control panel and see if your USB printer shows an active print job.  If you do get paper from your printer, but what it contains is either blank or illegible, then that indicates your USB printer is not PCL compatible, and this approach will not be viable.  In that case use the NONE -- Reports to Disk option and print your WSTIMS output from Wordpad when needed.

However, if you find yourself looking at a copy of the WSTIMS Trick Judges Instructions, then you're in business.  Congratulations !!   in that case, please continue and review the cautions and side issues explained in the section which immediately follows below.

The process explained above will result in a persistent configuration where the LPT1: device is associated with that particular USB printer, even across re-boots and relocation of the computer.  So long as that NET USE association remains in effect, whenever you print from WSTIMS, that output will go to that associated USB printer.

But there are some wrinkles that you need to be aware of, and there are also some special situations you may come across where you may need to deal with different printers at different times and/or places.  The remaining paragraphs below discuss some of these special topics.

Network Loopback Adapter Implications:  With respect to other activities that connect to the network or internet -- without this adapter in place, Internet Explorer or Outlook or other applications will typically give you a warning that you have no connection, when you're truly offline.  But with this in place instead, such attempts can cause such tasks to hang up instead.  No major problem, since you can always use Windows Task Manager to clear any such hangups.  But you need to be aware of how these behaviors differ, when you're truly offline.

Switching to a Different USB Printer:  You may find it necessary to subsequently use a different USB printer.  Accomplishing that only requires a subset of the original steps.  You will not need to remove the earlier USB printer device from your printers -- unless of course you know you'll never cross paths with it again.  So it's quite possible to have multiple USB printers defined, and switch between them from time to time.  Here below are summaries of what you need to do to deal with these situations:

• Installing Another USB Printer:  Merely follow the outline above to install the new printer.  Once that printer is installed and a test page printed, then you would follow the earlier outline to make this new printer sharable.  You should be sure to use a distinct Share name for each such printer, so that you can keep straight which is which.
   
• Switching LPT1: to a different USB Printer:  This would entail two steps:  first remove the existing LPT1: association, with a NET USE /Delete command, then establish a new LPT1: association with a new NET USE command specifying the new printer's Share name.  To wit:
  • NET   USE   LPT1:   /delete
  • NET   USE   LPT1:   \\127.0.0.1\New-Printer   /persistent:yes
     
• Switching Output to a Parallel Cable Printer:  Even if your computer already has an existing parallel port, and a parallel cable connecting that port to a printer, when you establish the above framework, then any output directed to LPT1: will go to the USB printer.  Of possibly greater consequence, any windows applications -- such as Word or Excel -- that may try to print to an existing parallel cable connected printer, will find their output going to the USB printer instead, when that LPT1: re-direction via NET USE is in force.  So if you need to access the Parallel cable printer, you'll need to do a NET USE LPT1: /delete command first to remove that re-direction.  If you later need to have WSTIMS talk to the USB printer again, all you need do is just issue the original NET USE command again to re-establish that connection.

This specifies the default three-character Host Federation code value that will appear in the Tournament Setup Screen, whenever a new tournament is created.  More information on the implications of these codes appears under the Tournament Setup section in this guide.

This specification tells WSTIMS where to read and write external transfer files.  This specification will default to drive A:\, or you can change this to another Device Code if necessary.  This device is expected to be removable media, and WSTIMS will always expect to read from or write to the root folder on this device -- it will not use sub-folders on this path.

You can specify any device present in your system, with only one exception -- WSTIMS will not allow you to specify the same hard drive device where WSTIMS has it's data folders located.  That's the device code which is specified in the Tournament Data Path specification which immediately follows.

If you have a computer which does not have a floppy drive, you have a couple of alternatives available to you.  If you have a removable USB Memory Device, insert that device, wait for Windows to recognize it, then note the device pseudo-Drive code which Windows assigns to the device.  Then specify that device code in the WSTIMS Hardware Settings, and then WSTIMS will be able to read from and write to this device, just like it was a floppy disk.  Of course, since this is a removable device, you must be sure that the device is properly inserted, before attempting to do any read or write activity on it.  And in a related fashion, be certain that you have properly disabled this device, before removing it from your system.

A CD-Rom disk may be used for importing, but CD-R/W devices will support WSTIMS exporting functions ONLY if you have CD-R/W software which allows the system to write directly to your CD-R/W device, from within application programs.  Some simple experimentation will help you determine whether your specific CD-R/W device is supported that way or not.

Here's another approach that may be useful, for situations where you do not have a removable media device available.  WSTIMS allows you to work with a special folder, under the primary WSTIMS folder on your hard drive, that can be addressed as a "pseudo-drive" B:\.   This folder will be treated by WSTIMS as though it was on external media -- it will allow you to export to or import from this folder, just as though it was working with a floppy disk or memory stick.

To enable this feature, all you need to do is to enter B:\ into this field in the Hardware Setup window.  Thereafter, you can freely use all of the WSTIMS Export and Import functions, and it will read from and write to files in this special C:\WSTIMS\DriveB\ folder, just as though it were an actual external drive.  Then you can use other windows functions to move or copy files between this folder and any other external devices you may have, such as USB storage devices or whatever.  Or you can e-mail files out of this folder, or detach files from incoming e-mails into this folder as well.

One final caution -- if your computer happens to have an actual physical drive which has been assigned the drive code B:\ in your system, then that will take precedence, and WSTIMS will not be able to access the \WSTIMS\DriveB folder on that system.

Location of Tournament Data Directories -- this entry tells WSTIMS where to look for your tournament data directories (folders) on your hard drive.  The installation default will be C:\WSTIMS\ -- unless you've installed to a different hard drive.  Those knowledgeable users who wish to store their tournament data directories under a different path, may use this field to specify that path.  For everybody else, that installation default should certainly be appropriate.

Navigating between the five option fields on this screen is done most effectively using the Tab key on your keyboard.  Please note that a "Back Tab" function also exists; hold down the Shift key and then press the tab key.  Tab goes forwards, Back Tab goes backwards.  Note that the Enter key will also advance to the next setting.

For those settings where you are supposed to supply a value, use the normal typing and editing keys -- right/left arrows, backspace, delete and so on -- just as you would in any other editing or word processing situation.

For some settings, you are presented with a list of pre-defined choices.  The "Currently Selected" setting is indicated by a checkmark between the Parentheses to the left.  You can use the up and down arrow keys to scroll the highlight bar through the various choices available.  Then pressing the Space Bar will select -- "Lock In" -- whichever choice is currently highlighted.  The Checkmark will then move to that highlighted item, to indicate its selection.  When scrolling the Display Color choices, please note that the contents of the Sample Video Display box (in the upper right corner of the setup window) will change, to indicate what that specific color choice will look like on your particular display.  Before locking in a final selection for this setting, be sure that all of the alternatives shown in that box are easily distinguishable from one another.

When you are satisfied with your hardware settings, press the ESC(ape) key to store all those choices and return you to the WSTIMS Setup Menu.

The WSTIMS "Specify / Modify Tournament Setup" screen is how the user controls all the major Structural and Scorekeeping options for a tournament.  Collectively, these settings are what allow WSTIMS to deal appropriately with a wide variety of competition and scorekeeping scenarios.  The Tournament Setup task is selected from the WSTIMS Setup task menu.

The settings which you specify on this screen control how WSTIMS carries out most of its activities.  Hence it is essential that you take the necessary time to get these values set properly, for the particular tournament that you will be scoring.

Some of these settings affect the content or structure of reports that you will produce after events have already been scored.  Those settings can be modified at any time, since they do not affect the derivation of the score values themselves.  However, some other settings do affect the manner in which files are created, or how scores are derived, and so it is essential that those particular settings be properly specified before scoring files are created or scoring activities are begun.  Those particular settings or choices will be clearly indicated in the explanation of each item.

A screen shot of the WSTIMS Tournament Settings window appears immediately below.  The operation of this screen is relatively self-explanatory -- just follow the directions which are shown at the bottom of that screen.  Each of the underlined links contained in this sample, will take you to more detailed material about the function of that particular element or section.

  WATER SKI TOURNAMENT SCORING OPTIONS             Directory: C:\WSTIMS\WSDEMO


  Federation: USA   Sanction ID: 94W048R     Ovrall  (x)  Fxd Base Ovrl (NOPS)
                                             & Team  ( )  Best Tm Skier = 1000
  End Date: 05-14-1994   Mixed Class? N      Score   ( )  AWSA Team Trials
                                             Basis:  ( )  NCWSA Placement Pts
  Tourn Name: GOLDEN DOME CLASSIC                    ( )  10/8/6/4/2 Plcmt Pts

  ( )  Single Rnd    (x)  AWSA Rules
  (x)  Multi-Rnd     ( )  IWSF          Team Scoring Parameters       Award
                     ( )  NCWSA      Plcmt C/O: --  Roster Lim: -    Places: 3
  (x)  Total Rnds
  ( )  Best 1 Rnd     Event/Group > ( )  1 Age Div in each Grp     (x)  Random
  ( )  Best 2 Rds     Composition > (x)  Mixed, Sep Ord/Plcmts     ( )  As Is
  ( )  Last Round     & Placement > ( )  Mixed, Cmb Ord/Pl NOPS    ( )  Seeded
  ( )  Rd 1 Only      Choice -----> ( )  Mixed, Cmb Ord/Pl Perf

  Event/Group Code List (key list as gg/gg/gg/.. or ALL for all std Age Divs):
  MM/WW/JR

    ↓ ↑ keys roll list, <SPACE BAR> selects -- TAB or <- -> Switches fields
    Press the ESC(ape) key to lock in these choices and store in Setup File

This is the three-character IOC code for the Federation which sanctions this particular competition.  While seemingly innocuous, this particular setting has some very significant consequences.  The Open (or International or Elite) divisions are typically treated and scored uniformly around the world.  However, each local sanctioning Federation tends to have its own specific local rules for handling the other Age Divisions.  Hence "Boys 2" in the USA, will mean something different than it does in Canada, and yet something else in Mexico, or Australia or wherever.

WSTIMS deals with these widely-varying Age Division definitions, by using a series of Divisional Control Tables.  A WSTIMS Divisional Control Table is a special control file, that has been developed for a specific federation, which includes the standard 3-character federation code as part of the filename, and which defines precisely what the applicable Age Division Codes and their respective specifications are, for that particular sanctioning Federation.  Please note that there is also a companion Divisional Ratings Table for each Federation, as well.

So when you supply a value for this specification in the Tournament Setup window, you are really telling WSTIMS which specific Federation's Divisional Control Table is to be used in scoring this tournament.  So of course if you should happen to type in a federation code value, for which WSTIMS is unable to find an associated Divisional Control table, then it will squawk at you and won't let you leave that particular code in this field.

As of this writing, WSTIMS comes with complete and current tables for USA and CAN, and also has prototype tables for MEX and AUS.  Those organizers outside the USA and Canada who would like to use WSTIMS, should Contact Dave Clark -- we will be happy to work with you to construct a table containing appropriate specifications for your particular situation.

In addition to the Division Controls issue explained above, the Federation Code is also included in the records of all performances, when "Performance Data Files" are later produced from this system.  When a new tournament is created, the initial code value in this field will be whatever has been set in the Default Host Federation code, which is controlled in the Hardware and System setup screen.

The Sanction Identifier for a competition, is a complex multi-part code value, that defines a number of important aspects for each tournament.  In the USA, the Sanction Identifier is assigned to each sanctioned event by the Competition Department at USA Water Ski, typically through the SWIFT sanctioning system.  Most of the code for each event is shown in the online tournament listings for each event.  For completeness, here is the concise definition of the elements of the Sanction ID:

• Ski Year.   This is a two-digit value, the last two digits of the Ski Year during which the tournament takes place.  So an event held in June of 2006 would have 06 for this part of the code.  An event in September 2006 (after the Nationals) would be into the 2007 ski year and hence would be coded 07.
   
  It is important to realize that WSTIMS has a separate set of Divisional Control and Ratings tables, for any given Federation, for each ski year.  So when you type in a particular sanction ID value, WSTIMS will check to make sure that the necessary tables are present, for the indicated Ski Year for the specified Federation code.  If those are missing, you will get a squawk and will not be allowed to store that ID value.  The most common cause of this error, is trying to use an obsolete version of WSTIMS into a subsequent ski year -- the solution will be to update your WSTIMS installation -- the newer release on the download website will include the necessary control tables.
   
• Region Code.   The second element identifies the Region or Organization under whose jurisdiction the tournament will be held.  This is a single letter value, one of the following:
• E for Eastern Region
• S for Southern Region
• M for Midwest Region
• C for South Central Region
• W for Western Region
• U for NCWSA (Collegiate) competitions

 
• Sequence Number.   This is a three-digit sequence number that uniquely identifies the individual tournament for the respective Region or Organization, within a given competition year.  SWIFT will assign the next number in sequence for that Region/Unit, as each sanction application is processed.  Hence these numbers reflect the date on which the sanctions are received, rather than the dates on which the events actually take place.
   
• Highest Class Code.   The last element is the Sanction Class code -- a single letter that indicates the (Highest) Class under which the tournament is sanctioned.
   
  • E for National Entry/Record Capability Tournaments
  • L for World Ranking List Capability Tournaments
  • R for World Record Capability Tournaments
  • C for Conventional Local Tournaments
  • F for Fun (or NSL) Tournaments
  • N for Novice (or You-Can-Do-It) Tournaments
     
  • A for the National Championships (Equivalent to L)
  • B for Regional Championships (Equivalent to class L)
  • P for Cash Prize Tournaments (Equivalent to class R)
  • Q for Cash Prize Tournaments (Equivalent to class C)
  • S for NCWSA Tournaments (Equivalent to class C)
  • T for NCWSA Record Capability (Equivalent to class L)
  • U for NCWSA Novice (Equivalent to class N)
     
  Classifications E, L and R represent the three distinct homologation levels of Record Capability standards and requirements, as well as representing overall tournament sanction classes.  Sanction classes P, B and A represent specific types of record capability tournaments, whose organization or results have special meanings.  A tournament sanctioned at any particular overall level, may have selected events run at levels lower than that of the tournament as a whole.  Hence an event sanctioned at class L could conduct individual event groups at class E and at Class C as well.  See the Mixed Class discussion below for more information on this point.
   
  It is important to note that the first six class codes in the above list (E-L-R-C-F-N) are the only valid codes that can be specified for any individual event group in a tournament.  The additional 7 sanction suffix codes that appear in the second group above only appear as part of the sanction ID for these specific types of events.  When one of these codes appears in a Sanction ID, then the equivalent applicable class code indicated for that type, will be used as the default class code for the events in that tournament.

Here are some specific examples of Sanction Identifiers:

• 05M014C   -- this would be the 14th tournament sanctioned in the Midwest Region during the 2004-05 competition year (probably being held in late 2004), Sanctioned as class C.
• 06S135R   -- this would be 135th tournament sanctioned in the Southern Region during the 2005-06 competition year, which is sanctioned as class R.  It may have individual events run as class R or L or E, or even as C or N or F.
• 06U031S   -- this would be the 31st tournament sanctioned by the NCWSA during the 2005-06 ski year, which is sanctioned as class C.
• 07S999A   -- this is the 2007 AWSA Nationals, which is the last event of the 2007 ski year, and which happened in this year to be held in the Southern Region.

Organizers in Federations outside the USA, would need to make up a Sanction ID for each of their events, that is consistent with the above coding scheme.

This specification is simply the date the tournament will be held.  For tournaments which will extend over two or more days, the date specified should be that of the final day of competition.  When a new tournament is being defined, WSTIMS will plug in whatever the computer has as today's date -- revise that to reflect the official planned date of the last event scheduled.

Whenever one of the primary Event Scoring modules is selected from the WSTIMS Scoring Menu -- which are used to score live performances, as they occur -- it will examine the End Date value, and compare that to today's date as carried by the Computer's Time/Date clock.  If it finds that today's date is incompatible with that specified End Date, then WSTIMS will issue a warning and suggest that one or the other of those dates be fixed.

This is a simple Y or N code, indicating whether there are events in this tournament that are run at classifications other than the overall Sanction Classification indicated by the final character of the Sanction ID value entered in the field above.  If all the events are run at that exact classification, then you only need to specify N in this field, and the class subject will never come up again for this tournament.

However, If some events are to be run at different classification levels, then it is extremely important for WSTIMS to be able to report the specific class under which every individual event group has been conducted.  The class code reported for each event group has implications for the World Standings List, as well as various National and lower level ranking lists.  Entering Y for this specification, will cause WSTIMS to become very sensitive about this issue -- it will ask you to confirm the classification, whenever you touch an scoring file -- either when an event group is being created, or opened for scoring.

This is the descriptive name for the tournament, which will be printed on all forms and reports that WSTIMS produces for this event.  The length is limited to 25 characters, and should not include commas or other punctuation characters.  Abbreviate as necessary to make your event's name fit into the indicated space.

This selection really indicates who the primary sanctioning body is, for the particular tournament.  Almost all tournaments sanctioned in the USA, by the American Water Ski Association, should specify the AWSA choice here.  That would be true even if particular events might be run as class L or R.  The IWSF choice should only be used for tournaments held outside the USA, or for those very few AWSA-Sanctioned events which are really international in scope, such as the Masters or the U S Open.  The NCWSA choice should be made for all Collegiate events conducted according to NCWSA team scoring and placement rules.

Please note that marking either the IWSF or NCWSA choice here may affect or even freeze the values in certain of the other WSTIMS tournament settings.  Such associations will be indicated, under the explanation for each of the affected setting(s).

This important structural choice must be made at the very beginning, and particularly before any scoring files are created for the tournament.  Remember that the form of the names of the scoring files depends on whether a tournament has only one single round, or more than one round.  In the single-round format, scoring file names are typically only three characters long; whereas scoring file names in multi- round tournaments are four characters long, with the round number being indicated by the 4th position of the scoring file name.  So be certain you've got this setting correct at the beginning.

Note that when the NCWSA rules option has been selected, then the Single Round format is forced.  And in related fashion, if the Multi Round format happens to be set, then the Rules Option will not allow you to select the NCWSA Choice -- trying to do so will just produce a squawk.

When the multi-round structure choice has been selected, then WSTIMS needs to know exactly how to combine the scores across the various rounds of each event, in order to determine final placements.  There are five different choices for this setting:

• Total all Rounds.   This choice totals the scores for each skier across all of the rounds, and then determines placements based on the resultant totals.
   
• Best Single Round.   This choice collects the scores across all of the rounds for each skier, selects the highest single round score for each, and then determines placements based on those resultant best scores.
   
• Best Two Rounds.   This choice collects the scores across all of the rounds for each skier, sorts them, then adds the two highest round scores.  Placements are then determined based on those resultant totals.
   
• Last Round.   This choice is most often used in tournaments which follow the Elimination format.  In this format, each skier's official placement in an event, is determined by their placement in the last round in which they ski.  So the scores in preceding rounds for those skiers who advance at each stage, are used merely to establish the seeding (running order) for the next round.  WSTIMS supports the most commonly used ruleset on these points, including the Eliminate/Seed option in the Multi-Round Duplicate (or Split) task -- which at the end of each round is used to create the subsequent round scoring file.  More information on this subject can be found in the Multi-Round Elimination casebook section of this guide.
   
• Round 1 Only.   This choice is used in some "Hybrid" format Multi-Round tournaments, where the official placements (and overall scoring) is to be based solely on the performances in the first round.  Subsequent rounds would be for ranking scores only, and performances in such later round will not factor into the official placements or overall scores.  In the case of a skier who does not ski the first round of an event but does ski later, they will not be given a placement in that event.

Once a skier's official score for an event is finalized, WSTIMS also computes two additional Derived score values.  These may be used for Individual Overall and/or Team scoring purposes.  The first of these is called a NOPS -- "National Overall Performance Score" value.  NOPS is computed by a rules-specified calculation, using a fixed basis value specific to the skier's applicable age division.  Where AWSA Rule 4.02(b) NOPS EP qualifications are being determined, these NOPS score values for each event are what is being used in those evaluations.

The second Derived score value is called the Overall/Team score.  Once this derived score is computed for each skier, then that value will be used in both the Individual Overall scoring computations, and also in the Team Scoring computations.  In most instances this Overall/Team score may be calculated by any one of several different computational schemes.  The specific method to be used in any particular tournament is selected by the user, from amongst the choices defined below.  Please note that the Casebooks section of this User Guide may provide recommendations on this setting, for particular types of tournaments.

It may be important to note that the Overall/Team score values are computed for each event, at the time the event is Finalized.  This occurs when the user presses the ESC(ape) key, at the Competitor Selection screen, in any of the three Event Scoring tasks.  Or with the Scoring File Editor, after responding Yes to the "Produce Placement Summary" query which comes up at the end of an edit session.  The resultant Placement Summary report that is produced for any event, will display the resultant Overall/Team score values in that summary, under the OA/TM heading.

Consequently, if the user should find themselves with the wrong choice for this particular option, after some events have already been scored and finalized, that the fix is relatively painless.  All they need do is to change the setting in the tournament setup, then merely re-finalize each of the events that have been completed -- in other words to produce a new placement summary report for each event.  And of course then check the OA/TM Score values that come out, to satisfy yourself that you now have the correct choice.

The following choices are available for this option:

• Fixed Base Ovrl (NOPS).   This selection merely tells WSTIMS to use the NOPS score value (which WSTIMS always computes anyways) for both Team and Individual Overall scoring purposes, as well as for NOPS EP qualifications.
   
• Best Team Skier = 1000.   This is a straight-line linear proportional computation, where each eligible skier's Overall/Team score is calculated as a proportion of the score of the highest-scoring skier whose team code field is not blank -- then that fraction is multiplied by 1000.  This choice is commonly used in IWSF tournaments, or in many Professional Cash Prize events where overall scoring is involved.  For those cash prize events where there is no team scoring involved, it is common to indicate the overall-eligible skiers with a Team code value of "OA" (OverAll) -- which results in the mechanism doing what you want.
   
  In the multi-round framework where this choice is commonly used, the process will use each eligible skiers's best score across the various rounds, relative to the highest such best score found for any eligible skier aross the rounds of that event.  In this multi- round framework, it is important to note that the Overall/Team score values are computed by the Multi-Round Placement Summary task, rather than with any of the individual round scoring files -- in this environment, the OA/TM score values shown in the results produced for any individual round, are not the final values.
   
• AWSA Team Trials.   This is a variant on the 1000 point scheme, as required by the special protocol developed by the AWSA International Activities Committee, specifically for the Team Trials.  Please note that this choice requires that the IWSF Rules selection, and the Best 2 Rounds Multi-round event placement selection, and the Separate for Each Division Event/Group composition option, all be chosen with your other settings.  This Team Trials choice should only be used for the Annual AWSA Team Trials events.  See the Team Trials Casebook section for more details.
   
• NCWSA Placement Points.   This method awards 10 times the number of skiers with scores to the first place skier, and 10 fewer points to each successively lower scoring skier in the event.  Skiers with zero points get a zero Overall/Team score value.  For two or more skiers tied across a number of places, the scores for all of those placement slots in that tie group are pooled, and the average value given to each skier in the group.  Consult the official NCWSA Rulebook for more details on this subject.  Please note that this choice is one of those that is forced, when the NCWSA Rules option is chosen.  These placement point values are used to computer Individual overall scores, as well as in the team scoring.
   
• 10/8/6/4/2 Placement Points   This is an alternative placement-based scheme, where the first place skier in each event is awarded 10 points, second place earns 8 points, and so on down to fifth place which is awarded 2 points.  The scheme continues to award 1 point to each skier at places below fifth -- thereby awarding at least something, for the participation of each team-affiliated skier who actually goes out and skis.  If you would want to stop at fifth place, and not award anything to skiers below that, you can accomplish that with this method, by simply choosing a Team Scoring placement cutoff value of 5.  See the section which immediately follows below.
   
  When this option is selected, these 10/8/6/4/2 values are used only for the team scoring; individual overall scores will be computed using NOPS under this option.

There are two key Team Scoring parameters that you can use.  These two parameters control precisely  which skiers' scores will be used to produce the total Team score for each defined team.  Please be aware that the specific method used for computing each skiers' Team/Overall score value, is controlled by the Overall/Team Scoring Basis setting, defined immediately above.

Please note that when the NCWSA Rules option has been selected, then these two settings are forced to specific values, as called for by the NCWSA team scoring Rules.  The Placement Cutoff value is disabled, and the Roster Limit value is forced to 4.  Once the NCWSA Rules choice has been locked in, then the WSTIMS Tournament Setup screen will not even allow access to either of these two settings.

Important Point -- the NCWSA All-Stars format requires a special (different) value of 10 for this Roster Limit setting.  If WSTIMS finds the string ALL STARS as part of the tournament name, then it will force this value to 10, instead of the normal 4.  Hence you should avoid All Stars as part of the name for any other NCWSA tournament.

• Placement Cutoff.   This establishes a threshold placement level, for consideration in team scoring.  Skiers with placements below this specified level, are excluded.  This parameter dates back to rulesets of earlier days, when team scoring was done by hand.  Since the early 1990's, this parameter is rarely used.  a value of 99 or a hyphen in this field means that no placement cutoff value applies; any number value establishes that number as the minimum placement value that is used to determine eligibility.
   
• Roster Limit.   This establishes a limit in the number of skiers who will be eligible to contribute to the score for each defined team.  A value of zero or a hyphen in this field means that there is no limit; any number value between 1 and 9 establishes that number as the limit on the number of team skiers whose scores will contribute to the total team score.  When there is a limit in effect, all the skiers for each team are pulled together and sorted by team/overall score -- then only the top N team/overall scores are added together to produce the team score.
   
  There is one further important distinction between NCWSA and other rules (AWSA or IWSF).  When the NCWSA rules option is selected, the top N team/overall scores for each division are added to produce the team score for that division/event.  Under the AWSA or IWSF rules option, however, the top N skiers across all applicable divisions in each event are used.  So when a limit of 4 is used in an NCWSA event, then the top 4 team/overall scores in each event for each division are used to develop the team score for that division/event.  But when a limit of 3 is used in an IWSF event, then the top 3 team/overall scores across both the Men's and Women's divisions for that event, are used.  The same across divisions process applies for AWSA events as well.  Another way of looking at this, is that a separate NCWSA Team Score is computed for each division for each event -- whereas for AWSA or AWSA rules, each team has only one single across-division score computed for each of the three events.

In addition to producing conventional results for each event and Overall, WSTIMS also has the ability to produce special Award Summary listings.  These listings only show those skiers for the top N places in each event and overall.  The setting of this Award Cutoff value controls whether those reports are produced, and if so how many places are to appear in these listings.  The default value for this setting is a hyphen, which disables these reports.  Where this feature is desired, any value from 2 to 6 may be specified.

The AWSA Nationals and Regionals typically give awards to the top five places.  IWSF tournaments typically give awards to the top three places; Gold, Silver and Bronze.

When this option is active, a separate Award Report is produced as each event is completed.  These reports can be collected and delivered to the Media people, or to whoever is responsible for award ceremonies or distribution.  When the 3-event scorebook is produced for any group, a separate one-page Award Recap is also produced for that group, which lists the top N places in Slalom, Tricks, Jumping and Overall, on one single page.  Samples of this report layout can be found at [link].

This setting controls how the running order sequence of skiers within each Event/Group Scoring file is determined.  What you specify here, is critically connected with the layout and content of the Entry Lists which WSTIMS will be processing to create the various Event/Group Scoring files for this tournament.  More information on this subject appears in the applicable Casebook sections of this guide.

• Random Draw.   This choice will cause WSTIMS to conduct a random draw, for all the skiers within each applicable set.  Where you have one of the first two (Divisional) Event/Group composition choices, WSTIMS will do a separate draw for each Division that will appear within each separate Event/Group Scoring file.  Where either of the latter two (Combined Divisions) composition has been selected, then WSTIMS will do one single draw across the entire group, regardless of division.  With this setting, the Slalom and Trick and Jumping indicators that appear in your entry list will serve merely as Include Me indicators.
   
• As Is.   This choice will cause WSTIMS to merely retain the appearance sequence of the skiers, within each indicated Event/Group code that it finds under each of the entry columns in the supplied Entry List file.  This only really works well for slalom-only tournaments -- where there are two or more events in your tournament, you may want a different order of the skiers in one event, from what you want in the other event(s).  Alternatively, you could prepare a separate entry list for each event, if this is important.
   
• Seeded.   This choice will cause WSTIMS to use Seeding Values (Scores), which are presented in your entry list file(s).  Within each Group -- or Division within group, when the Mixed/Separate composition option is chosen -- WSTIMS will sort the indicated skiers by the supplied seeding score values, and order them with the highest-scoring skier going last in each applicable set.  With the advent of the new Online/Real-Time Rankings database implemented by AWSA in the fall of 2005, this facility opens up lots of new and exciting possibilities for local tournament sponsors.  More information on this issue is presented in the Preparations section of this guide.

This specification tells WSTIMS which of the four alternative Event Group Structures that you will be using for this tournament.  Please note that this choice is one of those critical settings, which must be properly set, before creating any scoring files or scoring any skiers.

The string shown in this field should contain all of the Event/Group codes that are being used in the tournament.  Code values must be separated by forward slashes (/), as indicated in the heading line that appears immediately above the code list.  The content of this list is used in several different places throughout WSTIMS:

• When the Create Events from Entry List task is run, any Event/Group codes that arise in that process are checked against this string.  You will get a squawk if you attempt to create a scoring file using a code value which is not in this string.
   
• When either the Scorebook or Tournament Summary tasks are run, both of these report generators are designed to process multiple groups in a single invocation.  The code string in this list will be used as the default list for both of these reports.  Of course, the user may specify any single code, or subset of codes, at their option, each time one of these summary processes is run.

Navigating between the various option fields on this screen is done most effectively using the Tab key on your keyboard.  Please note that a "Back Tab" function also exists; hold down the Shift key and then press the tab key.  Tab goes forwards, Back Tab goes backwards.  Note that the Enter key will also advance to the next setting.

For those settings where you are supposed to supply a value, use the normal typing and editing keys -- right/left arrows, backspace, delete and so on -- just as you would in any other editing or word processing situation.

For many of these settings, you will be presented with a list of pre-defined choices.  The "Currently Selected" setting will be the one indicated by a checkmark in the Parentheses to the left.  You can use the up and down arrow keys to scroll the highlight bar through the various alternatives available.  Then pressing the Space Bar will select -- "Lock In" -- whichever choice is currently highlighted.  The Checkmark will then move to that highlighted item, to indicate its selection.

When you are satisfied with your tournament settings, press the ESC(ape) key to store all those choices and return you to the WSTIMS Setup Menu.

The process of preparing to score a tournament with the WSTIMS system entails a few simple tasks.  These tasks parallel the same activities that the scorer and registrar normally go through in order to prepare for a tournament that is to be scored on paper.  With WSTIMS, you use the computer to help you perform these common steps, rather than paper forms.

This section of the document presents information on the following topics:

• The WSTIMS Setup Menu
• Create Tournament Directory
• Specify Tournament Settings
• Prepare Entry List File(s)
• Edit A Text/Print Format Data File
• Create Event(s) from Entry List(s)
• Running Orders & Forms Utility
• Setup Issues with Multiple Computers

When you get to actually running WSTIMS on your computer, you will find that there are two primary menu screens.  The first of these is called the WSTIMS Setup Menu, and is used to control the overall system and to provide access to the tasks necessary to prepare for a tournament.  The second, the WSTIMS Scoring Menu, is then used in the actual scoring activities, once a tournament has already been set up.

A reproduction of the WSTIMS Setup Task Menu is included in this guide.  In addition to the index which appears at the top of this section, you can access material on the various setup tasks by clicking on the links embedded in that screen shot.

This function is used to switch between existing WSTIMS Tournament Data Directories (folders), or to create a new Tournament folder, and/or to begin the import of a backup file from another scoring computer.  When this task is selected, WSTIMS will first list all of the existing Tournament Data Directories that it finds at the current Path.  That Data Directory Location path specification can be revised, if desired, through a setting on the WSTIMS Hardware Setup Screen.

In addition to the existing Directories that WSTIMS finds, the selection display will always include a [NewDir] item, at the very top of the list.  Selecting this [NewDir] item will begin the process of setting up a new tournament folder.  WSTIMS will then ask you to enter a string of up to 8 letter and number characters, which will become the name of a new Tournament Data Directory.  Some people like to use the Sanction ID as the Directory name; others prefer to use an abbreviated Location/Date schema, such as CYNLK605.  Use whatever makes sense to you, although of course keep in mind that you are limited to a maximum of 8 characters, which may not include spaces or punctuation characters.

It is recommended that you do not create a WSTIMS Data Directory directly from Windows, as you may inadvertendly specify a name that does not conform to the more restrictive DOS naming format that WSTIMS depends on -- in which case WSTIMS will bomb out when that folder is selected.  So you should always use WSTIMS to build the folder instead, then store your entry list into that existing folder from Excel (or wherever).

You will also use this same New Data Directory process as the first step in importing an entire tournament from a WSTIMS backup file, that has been archived from another computer.  Further details on that process are provided in the material which immediately follows below.

When WSTIMS creates and/or switches to a new tournament folder for the first time, the very next order of business will be for it to obtain all of the desired Tournament Setup specifications.  Upon creating a new Tournament Data Directory, WSTIMS will then offer the operator two choices for how those settings are to be specified.

1. The first alternative is for the operator to manually Enter these settings, through the WSTIMS Tournament Settings window.  This is what you will need to do when first setting up a new tournament on the Master scoring computer.  When this is your situation, then reply E to this query, and then WSTIMS will obligingly open an empty Tournament Settings window.  You can then proceed to specify all of those settings for your tournament.  If you need more detail on these settings or their implications, Click the link that appears immediately above.
    
2. The other choice would be to Import those settings, either from a previously exported WSTIMS complete archive file, or in association with one or more individual event scoring file(s) which are to be imported.  Either of those sources would need to be located on a removable media device located in the currently-specified Import/Export device.  When this is your intent -- as when setting up a secondary or satellite scoring computer for a multi-venue tournament -- then reply I to that "Where to Get Settings" query.  WSTIMS will then present you with a file selection screen, listing the candidate import files that it finds on the current removable media device.  These would include any [sanctionid].ZIP complete backup files, and/or a WSPARM.TNY file, which would be the companion settings file that is always exported in association with any individual scoring files exported by the Scoring File Manager task.  Select this WSPARM.TNY file if you are about to import one or more individual event scoring files, or select the applicable [sanctionid].ZIP archive file, as may be appropriate.  WSTIMS will then import as directed, and then will return to the WSTIMS Setup Menu for this new tournament that you have just imported for.  If you just loaded the settings only, and still have individual scoring files to import, then you would go to the Scoring File Manager & Editor to import those scoring files.  If you've imported from a WSTIMS archive file, then you will observe that this imports the contents of the entire tournament folder.

The next major task is preparing the participant list(s).  For conceptual introduction to Entry Lists and their content, refer to the Participant Lists material in the Concepts and Introduction section of this guide.  Then review the details about applicable topics from the following list --

• Pre-Registration Export -- From OLR
• Registration Template Overview
• Downloading a Registration Template
• Completing a Registration Template
• Entry List Prep without a Template

The new web-based USA Water Ski Online Registration system is a great convenience for your skiers, and also handles most of what a Registrar used to have to do manually.  Membership enrollments and/or renewals, and Annual USAWS participation waivers, must all be completed before a competitor may complete their registration.  Consequently, all of these essentials are already out of the way for your pre-registered participants. . A variety of useful online reports are provided so that the sponsor can keep tabs on the status of their entries.

All that remains to prepare for scoring, is for the sponsor or scorer to run the Pre-Registration Export process from the website, the night before the touranment begins, then tidy up a couple of remaining details in the resultant Excel spreadsheet.  If the tournament has filled earlier and no further entry activity is expected, then the export could be done as soon as the sponsor is sure entries are complete.

Obtaining a Pre-Registration Export Spreadsheet.   The sponsor or scorer would sign onto the Admin Website using the Tournament ID and Edit code, just like they would to obtain a Registration Template.  See the material on Downloading a Template below for details on that process.  Please note that you may also pull all members in selected geography, in addition to your pre-registered participants.

Completing a Pre-Registration Export Spreadsheet.   As delivered, the SL TR JP columns in your spreadsheet will contain the participant's Age Divison code, for each event that they have entered.  Unless you're dealing with a Regionals or Nationals, you will need to replace those with the pertinent Event Group codes, for however your tournament has been structured.  For help on how to plan those, see the material on Event Group Structures, as well as the specific guidance in one of the Casebooks sections.

Finally, be sure that all of your Chief and non-skiing Officials are included and properly identified in your final participant list.  See the material on Officials in Participant List(s) for more details.

Then you're ready to export your completed participant list so that WSTIMS can read it.  Detailed instructions on how to do that are in the instructions section of the Excel workbook itself.

For those sponsors who have not chosen to use the web-based USAWS Online Registration facilities (see immediately above), a pre-populated Excel spreadsheet containing all of the USA Water Ski members in a selected geographic area, can be downloaded from the Admin website.  That spreadsheet can then be used as a framework for carrying out Registration activities.  In addition to the actual data included in that download, this template also includes specific instructions on various duties of the Registrar and Scorer in preparing for a tournament.

Using these Registration Template files is the recommended process for use at those AWSA-Sanctioned tournaments that don't use OLR.  The balance of this section tells you how to go about obtaining and completing your Registration Template for a particular tournament.

To log on to the template website, you will need the Edit Code (password) for that particular tournament, in addition to the leftmost six characters of the Sanction ID.  The Edit code will have been sent by email to the Tournament Director, and the person who completed the sanction application for the event.  If you are listed as Registrar on the tournament application, and your email address is listed there, you can request the Edit Code be emailed to you from the website.  Otherwise you will need to get the Edit Code from the Tournament Director.

Once you have successfully logged onto the template website, you will then need to specify the scope of the members that you want to have included in your Registration Template.  You may select up to five States.  In most cases that should include the area from which the vast majority of your participants will be coming.  If this is an IWSF-Sanctioned Record Capability event, where you are expecting foreign skiers, then you should click the Include Foreign Skiers box.  If this is for a Pro tournament or a high-end Record Capability event, which may pull Elite skiers from outside local geography, then check the Include Open/Elite box on that specification screen.

Parenthetical note -- for any existing member that you are unable to find in your Template, remember that the Admin website now offers a Lookup Individual Members feature.  So go back to the Admin website and sign back on again to find any such orphans with this feature -- which is designed to allow you to paste that member's particulars directly into your template.

The instructions on the Template Specifications page tell you to click the Next button at the bottom, once you have chosen your desired list of states.  You will not see an immediate response.  It may take as long as a minute or two to prepare the member data into an Excel workbook for you.  Once that is complete, you will then see a page which announces your template is complete, with a Right Click Here link highlighted.  That means to point to that link and then click the Right button on your mouse, instead of the left button which is more normally used to click things.  Then follow the rest of the instructions that you will find with that link, to complete the download of your Registration Template spreadsheet file.

Once you have your Registration Template successfully stored in your local computer, then you should open it in Excel, and get familiar with what you find therein.  You will find that it initially opens to a section of instructions.  Unless you are already intimately familiar with these templates and their role in the WSTIMS scoring preparation process, we strongly recommend that you invest 5-10 minutes investigating these instructions.  Like this User Guide you are currently browsing, the template instructions section also has embedded links, that help you find your way to specific topics in a hurry.  You will find the answers to the most common questions are in this material.

Different tournament structures may require variation in the specific format or content of the WSTIMS-compatible entry list(s) that will need to be prepared for any given tournament.  Consequently, the Casebooks section of this User Guide includes details on the applicable entry list preparation steps involved in each of those specific scenarios.  Refer to the appropriate casebook section for those details, when needed.

Good practice is to bubble your expected participants -- both skiers as well as non-skiing officials -- up to the top of the Actives section, and leave the remainder of the active members still in that section below, in alphabetic order, in case you need to pick one of them up later.  Since WSTIMS picks up anyone in your list indicated as an official, we suggest that you insert a line following the last participant in that upper section, containing simply END OF LIST in positions 1-11, where the Membership ID number would normally go.  WSTIMS will trap on this trigger line, and can then be made to ignore all of the names in the list which appear below that separator.

In some instances, you may find a name listed twice in a Registration Template.  This will occur when a skier has recorded performances in one of the optional Divisions, other than the native age division that is associated with their official age for the ski year.  Be sure you determine exactly what division(s) such a skier actually intends to enter for your tournament, and only include that particular row in the upper (participants) part of your of your list.  Occasionally you may have a skier who is entering more than one division -- say an M3 age skier who will trick in M3, but who wishes to slalom in the MM division.  In that case you will need to include both rows in the upper part of your list, with each row indicated for the specific events in which the competitor will ski in that particular division.  In this case those two rows must be immediately adjacent to one another.

Please be aware that the presence of a row marked MM or OM or OW for a skier, does not necessarily imply that skier is currently qualified for that particular optional division.  Instead, this is an indication only that they have recorded scores in that particular division for the current 12 month ranking list period.  Qualifications can be determined by examining the Rating Codes, which appear in the template in the columns immediately to the right of the Ranking Score columns.  See the instructions section of the Excel template itself, for more information on this subject.

After you have finished recording all the expected participants in your Registration Template, and saved that completed Excel file, the final step will be to Export that data into one or more ASCII text-format files.  That is what WSTIMS expects to receive.  The details on how to carry out that Export process can be found in the Instructions section of the Excel spreadsheet file itself.

Before the advent of the Excel Registration Template framework discussed above, the creation and editing (and seeding) of the requisite text-format entry lists were carried out using the following three tasks, which appear near the middle of the WSTIMS Setup menu --

                    Create (or Copy) Entry List File
                    Edit A Text/Print Format Data File
                    Match Entry List(s) & Seeding Data

These functions are still included in the WSTIMS Setup Menu, although primarily for use outside the US, or for other special purposes.  Most AWSA-Sanctioned events should use either the Registration Template or the Pre-Registration Export approaches instead.  Then you would go directly to the Create Event(s) from Entry List(s) function, skipping over the above three tasks.

One possible exception to the above statement -- the Edit a Text/Print Format Data File task can be useful in making minor changes to the text-format file exported from an Excel template, without having to go all the way back to the Excel level.  Meanwhile, please recognize that the other two functions above probably do not come into play for most AWSA-sanctioned local tournaments.  Instead, AWSA entry lists are typically created with Excel from a Registration Template, as described in the sections above.

This function allows you to select any ASCII text format file in the current Tournament Data Directory, and open it in a text editing window.  This function is most useful for making minor changes to WSTIMS text-format entry lists, without having to all the way back to Excel to revise that data and then have to re-export the text file all over again.  Instead, you can directly edit that exported text file, make your minor changes there, and then run that revised file immediately.

When this function is selected, WSTIMS will present a screen displaying all of the eligible (editable) text-format files, from which you may make your selection.  Depending on the nature of the specific file which you select, WSTIMS may then issue some warnings or cautions, regarding the content and format of that particular file type.  Pay careful heed to any notes and cautions, if one should appear.  Then you will be taken into the actual editing screen, with the content of the selected file.

Under certain very special circumstances, a scorer may be faced with a competition where the organizers may have developed special placement rules which do not conform to the standards in the AWSA and IWSF rulebooks.  In such cases, while the performance information which is contained in the various WSTIMS scorebook and other results reports will be correct, the derived placements then may NOT be correct.  In unusual circumstances such as this, the Chief Scorer can produce the various WSTIMS scorebooks and other results reports into files, and then use this editing feature to make any necessary revisions to the placements or other content, as may be necessary.  Use extreme caution when doing so, of course.

Once you have completed the creation of your text-format entry list(s), the WSTIMS Create Event(s) from Entry List(s) task would then be run.  This function creates the various Scoring files from your participant list(s).  Exactly how that process works, depends on whether you have one single consolidated entry list file, or a separate entry list file for each division or division group.

• One Consolidated Participant List File
• Separate Entry Lists by Division/Group

Most typical local weekend tournaments will use one of the three types of Mixed Group compositions for the Scoring files, and so will have all of the participants -- both skiers and officials -- specified in one single Entry List file.  See the material at Event Group Structures for more detailed explanation of these alternatives.  An entry list prepared for this framework, will include three Event/Group code columns, one each for the Slalom, Tricks and Jumping events.  For each participant, the registrar will enter the appropriate event group code in each event column entered by that skier.  The Chief and Assistant Chief officials also need to be indicated under the Officials DJCS columns in that participant list.  When the time comes to process that entry list, WSTIMS will then use those codes to collect the various skiers into the appropriate Event/Group Scoring files, and all of those with Officials ratings or Chief codes into the Master List of Officials.

For this consolidated entry list situation, WSTIMS will begin by asking you to select your entry list file from a file display list.  WSTIMS will then proceed to read through that data, screening the content, and compiling a list of the Event/Group codes found in the skier data for each of the three events, and adding all officials found to the Master List of Officials file.  A cumulative display of those codes and counts will develop in the center of your screen, as this process is being carried out.  Any errors detected along the way will be noted near the bottom of that screen.  Only if the process is error free, will you be allowed to subsequently create the Scoring files for the indicated Event/Groups.

The resulting Code and count screen is then used as a navigable control screen, where you can scroll to particular codes, and select each one for which you want to create a Scoring file.  The sample which appears immediately below illustrates what that display will look like:

94W048R    GOLDEN DOME CLASSIC        MASTER ENTRY LIST PROCESSOR ...

 Point with Arrows    ENTER to Create Event File    ESC(ape) to Exit

SLALOM EVENT GROUPS       TRICK EVENT GROUPS        JUMP EVENT GROUPS

  MM 14 MEN                 MM 10 MEN                 MM 14 MEN
  WW 11 WOMEN           --> WW 10 WOMEN               WW  9
  JR  4                     JR  4                     JR  4

Enter Description for WW TRICK Group: Women
  
Enter Classification code for WOMEN TRICK, or just
press ENTER if base tournament Class of "R" applies: L

As you can see from the dialog illustrated above, when you select a particular code for which you want the scoring file created, WSTIMS will then ask you for a short description for that group.  Important!   Please note that this description is intended for human consumption, and will appear on all of your printed running orders and results listings.  So even though the Code may be WW, don't give WSTIMS WW for the Description as well -- instead use a short phrase such as Women 1-3 or whatever will be understood by the folks who ultimately view these postings.

If the Mixed Class setup indicator is Y, then WSTIMS will give you the opportunity to assign an alternative class code for this particular group.  If that setup option is N, then the default class for the entire tournament will be automatically assigned.

For a closed tournament where you have all your entries at the start, you would probably create all of your scoring files at one crack.  But for an open event where entries may spontaneously show up previously unannounced, you may want to only create a couple of events at a time, as the time for that event approaches.  This way the entry list can have additions made to it on an ongoing fashion.

When you have selected the 1 Age Div in each Group setup choice -- which is the norm at a Regionals or Nationals or NCWSA or IWSF or certain other specialty formats -- then WSTIMS will expect to be given a separate entry list, for each Event/Group code that appears in the list that you provided at the bottom of the Tournament Setup window.  In this framework, you will process those entry lists separately, one at a time.  Before beginning, however, WSTIMS will ask you a couple of key questions about the specific content of the entry list files that you are about to process.  See the Casebooks section of this guide, for more details on the format specifics that are applicable for the type of event you are working with.

If you have any Administrative Chief officials that are not also skiers, then those Officials need to be added to one of those participant lists, (doesn't matter which one), and their respective Chief Codes indicated in the DJCS column.  Participants coded as officials in the DJCS column of any of your participant lists will be picked up and collected together into the Master List of Officials.

There are three steps involved in specifying each of the entry list files as you process them ...

1. First WSTIMS will display a list of all of the candidate text type files that it finds in the Tournament Directory.  You will then select a particular entry list file.
    
2. Next you will select the Event/Group code from those in the Setup list, that you want to associate with this collection of Skiers.  Since you can only assign codes that are already in your pre-defined group list, that means of course that you must have completed your tournament setup and have the complete list of Group codes defined therein, before you will be able to process your entry lists.
    
3. And then finally you will be asked to enter a short description for the content of this group.  This might be something like Men, or Boys & Girls, or Women 3, or Men 7 & up, or whatever you feel is appropriate.  The idea is to clearly indicate exactly what that group contains.  As noted earlier, this description is intended for human consumption, and will appear on all of your printed running orders and results listings.  So even though the Code for a group may be SM, don't give WSTIMS SM for the Description as well -- instead use an appropriate short phrase.

Once the above choices have been entered, WSTIMS will then process all of the participants in that selected entry list.  When the end is reached, WSTIMS will report the number of skiers and officials that were identified in the incoming participant list.  If there were any errors detected in that data, those will be noted on your screen, and then creation of scoring files for this group will be bypassed.

WSTIMS will only proceed to create the Scoring files for an event/group when the entry list screening is completely error-free.  When that is the case, WSTIMS will then proceed to create each of the three events for which there is at least one skier entered in that entry list.  If the Mixed Class setup indicator is Y, then WSTIMS will give you the opportunity to assign an alternative class code to each event, as the Scoring files are created.  Otherwise, the default class for the entire tournament will be assigned to each Scoring file.  After creating all applicable events for the selected entry list, WSTIMS will then return to the Entry List file selection window, so that you can proceed to select and process another Entry List.  Continue this process until all of your Entry List files have been successfully processed.

Finally, you would use the WSTIMS Running Orders and Forms function, to print the running order listings for each of these event groups.  These can be printed on paper and then cut and pasted onto the pertinent scoring forms, as appropriate.  Alternatively, WSTIMS can produce a generic Judges' Scoring form, which includes the list of skiers along with several pre-printed blank columns that can be used to record scores or times or whatever you may find useful.  An additional alternative, would be to select the None -- Reports to Disk printer option, in which case the Running Orders and Forms function will write the selected running orders into a simple print file, which you can then pick up in Excel or Word, and format in whatever manner you may desire.  Finally, this task also gives you the means to print a Registration Check-in Form from each entry list as well, which can be useful in managing the check-in process on the day of the tournament.

Once your files and paperwork preparations are complete, the one remaining task might be to prepare the Jump meter system setup for this site, then check out and record those essentials in the WSTIMS master jump setup file.  See Jump Meter System Setup & Checkout for details.

This is also a good time to mention that if your jumping events will be measured using the Corson Video Jump measurement system instead of jump meters, that there are separate tools and documentation available on how to calibrate the reference marker grid, and prepare that system to measure distances.  Once that has been set up, WSTIMS can be run in this same Windows computer, simultaneously with the Video Jump program.  These two programs (WSTIMS and CVJ) have been designed with a semi-automatic common interface, and cooperate with one another to produce the results you want.  The WSTIMS Jump Event management program will control the skier list and boat times monitoring & checking, while the Corson Video Jump program measures the jumps and reports those distance results back to WSTIMS, which in turn handles placements and the pop-up scoreboard and the event log and Overall scoring and officials lists and so on.  There is a more comprehensive explanation of this whole interaction protocol, available in the CVJ User's Guide.

Overview:   A common usage configuration is to have one master computer which serves the Registration and Chief Scorer's needs, and then one or more "satellite" computers, which are used to score the individual events.  If you plan to operate this way, then you should review the following material.  But if you're going to operate strictly on one single computer, then you can skip ahead to the Event Scoring Mechanics section below.

Essential -- Synchronize the Clocks !!   Where scoring activities are going to take place on multiple computers, you will find yourself frequently transferring files back and forth between your Master and Satellite computers.  Since the timestamps on and in data files are critical determinants in how WSTIMS goes about protecting your vital scoring data, it is essential that the date and clock settings on the various computers be synchronized.  Otherwise, you could inadvertently wipe out completed scoring data, or officials working records, by copying what is really an earlier, empty, edition of that same file.  So be safe and check the dates and clocks on all your equipment for consistency.

Printers:   Typically, only the Master computer needs to be equipped with a printer -- the satellite computers are frequently laptop machines, which could be set up without printers.  The only exception to this might be for Satellite Trick event scoring, for which the printed scoring recap sheets are useful, and which therefore ought to be configured with a printer.  Slalom and Jumping events can be run without a printer at all -- unless you want to be able to produce event placements locally at that satellite location, immediately upon the completion of each event.

Scoring File Preparation and Dissemination:   The initial preparation activities discussed in the preceding section are carried out on the Master computer system.  Those activities will produce all of the Event Group files for the whole tournament, on that master computer.  So before you can score any of those events on satellite computers, you need to get copies of these prepared scoring files into those satellite computers, where the scoring activities will actually be carried out.

This file transferring process can be done wholesale, or one scoring file at a time.  To do it wholesale, select the WSTIMS Scoring Menu's "Export/Import Interchange File(s)" task, then the "Backup/Archive Entire Directory" sub-task, then follow the prompts.  This will produce a complete backup of the entire tournament directory in your master computer, onto your selected removable external data device (floppy disk or memory stick).  Then you can take that removable device to each of the satellite computers, and use the Select/Create Tournament Data Directory process, to create a new folder and import from that archive file.  This will result in a complete replica of the Master Computer's data files for the tournament onto that Satellite computer.

Alternatively (or subsequently), you can transfer individual scoring files back and forth between the Master and Satellite computers, one at a time.  If this is your plan, then the very first time you arrive at a Satellite computer with a scoring file to import, you will first have to Create the Tournament Data Directory and then Import the Tournament Settings, which would be from the WSPARM.TNY file that is automatically written to any external memory device, along with an exported scoring file.  Then you would select the Scoring File Manager & Editor task, to import the desired scoring files.

The Scoring File Manager & Editor selection is frequently referred to as the "Chief Scorer's Best Friend", since it provides most of the scoring file management utility functions that the Chief Scorer will need during the course of a tournament.  Two of the sub-task functions provided in this utility support the multiple computer configuration.  The first is to EXPORT a scoring file onto an external media device, so that it can be transferred to another computer, and the second is to IMPORT a scoring file, from an external device, into your computer.

So to setup piecemeal, you would use this Export function to copy some of the events onto an external device, say just the slalom scoring files, for the "Slalom Lake" satellite computer.  And do the same for any other satellite machines as well.  A point worth noting here, is that whenever an export function is carried out, a copy of the tournament parameter control file, and a copy of the Master Officials List, are also written onto that external device along with the scoring file(s).

Then you'd take that external device containing the exported scoring files to the appropriate satellite machine.  When you build the new tournament directory there, you would specify the "Import" option, although only for the tournament parameters, rather than for the complete restore function which was described above.  Once the directory and parameters have been set up, then you'd go to the Scoring menu on that computer, and use the Scoring File Manager IMPORT function to import the specific scoring files needed onto that satellite computer from the tranport media device.

That would complete the setup for any satellite computers.  Now you're ready to begin scoring the actual events themselves.

This next major section provides you reference information about how to operate the four primary WSTIMS Event Scoring Tasks.  The subjects listed below also serve as links to more detailed information on those various topics - click on any of these links, to take you directly to the desired material.

• Common Functions in Scorekeeping Modules
• Slalom Event Management & Scoring
• Trick Event List Entry &/or Scoring
• Jumping Event Management & Scoring
• Scoring File Manager & Editor
• Segmenting Features for Large Events

Each of the WSTIMS Scorekeeping modules provides the framework for you to manage the record keeping activities for a particular Event Group.  How the details of a skier's performance are used to determine the final score value, of course differs widely from Slalom to Tricks to Jumping.  Aside from those inherent differences, though, each WSTIMS scorekeeping module also provides you with an extensive list of common functions and services:

• Startup and Scoring File Selection
• Competitor Selection and Control Screen
• Navigating the List of Skiers
• Skier Data Editing Screen
• Scored the Wrong Skier -- how to Fix
• Adding a new Skier on the Fly
• Recording the Officials working the Event
• Accumulating Statistics about the Event
• Boat Timing Pattern Analysis
• Accessing the Event Log File
• Determining Ratings and Placements
• Calculating Overall and Team Scores
• Option Lists and Pop-Up Functions

When any of the Event Management tasks have been chosen, you will first be asked to select the specific Event/Group which you wish to score.  WSTIMS will present you with a list of all of the eligible scoring files, then all you do is move the highlight to the desired choice and press the <ENTER> key.

Depending on whether you've select Slalom or Tricks or Jumping, you will then go through a short dialog to establish some important "Ground Rules" to be followed for the particular event/group that you have chosen.  That process will be self-explanatory.  Then the competitor list will be loaded, and you're ready to keep score for that event.

The screen layout that you see immediately below, is called the Competitor Selection and Control screen.  This screen is how you keep track of the skiers in this event, including both those who have already been scored -- listed at the top of the screen, in placement sequence -- and the remaining running order of competitors still to go -- who will be listed below those with scores.  The highlight bar may be scrolled up and down the skier list as necessary, and when you press the <ENTER> key, that will select the highlighted skier name, and take that skier into the scoring process for that particular event.  The Prompts and indicators displayed at the bottom of this screen indicate the keyboard commands that are available to you to help navigate around.

This dislay is common to all of the WSTIMS Scorekeeping tasks.  The links embedded in this sample will take you to more detailed information about each of those specific controls or functions, that can be invoked from this screen.

     94W048R             GOLDEN DOME CLASSIC             MEN SLALOM

  LAST SP LINE TOTAL R  PLC  COMPETITOR NAME        DV TM AGE HOMETOWN

  4.50 58 1125 58.50 O   1   MORGAN, MIKE           M1 OA  23 LAKE WALES, FL
  2.25 58 1125 56.25 E   2   NEVILLE, BRUCE         M1 OA  24 SYDNEY, AU
  4.50 58 1200 52.50 E   3   MARTIN, PATRICE        M1 OA  22 PARIS, FR
  2.50 58 1075 62.50 O   1   MAPPLE, ANDY           M2     27 CLERMONT, FL
  1.50 58 1075 61.50 O   2   LAPOINT, BOB           M2     34 SACRAMENTO, CA
  4.50 58 1125 58.50 O   3T  KJELLANDER, MIKE       M2 OA  25 MOTALA, SW
  4.50 58 1125 58.50 O   3T  NEVILLE, MICK          M2 OA  27 QUEENSLAND, AU
  3.00 58 1125 57.00 O   5   LOWE, LUCKY            M2     28 WINTER HAVEN, FL
  1.50 58 1125 55.50 E   6T  HAZELWOOD, MIKE        M2     31 LONDON, GB
  1.50 58 1125 55.50 E   6T  DUVALL, SAMMY          M2 OA  26 WINDERMERE, FL
                             THURLEY, BRETT         M1     24 BRISBANE, AU
                             ROBERGE, CARL          M2 OA  25 ORLANDO, FL
                             LLEWELLYN, KREG        M2 OA  27 INNISFIELD, AL
                             ANDERSON, JUSTIN       M1 OA  21 ORLANDO, FL

  SELECT COMPETITOR with ↓ & ↑ then:  ENTER=Select  E=Edit  INS=Add  ESC=Exit

  HOME=Top PGUP=PrvPg TAB=NxtUp  T=TmSt  O=Official  L=Log  PGDN=NxtPg END=Btm

WSTIMS can accomodate well over a hundred skiers in any single event group file.  However, the Competitor Selection and Control screen can only display up to 15 skiers at a time.  Consequently, WSTIMS provides you the means to scroll around the complete skier list, as may be necessary.  On initial entry, or on return to this display after scoring or editing a skier, WSTIMS will show the last 10 scored skiers at the top, and the next 5 unscored skiers at the bottom, immediately below the lowest scoring skier.

In addition to using the Up and Down arrow keys to scroll through the 15 skiers shown on the current screen, there are several other keys that you can use to quickly take you to other portions of the complete skier list:

• Page Up   -- when the current section of the skier list being displayed is not at the top, Page Up will shift to the next 15 skiers above those currently shown.
   
• Page Down   -- when the current section of the skier list being displayed is not at the bottom, Page Down will shift to the next 15 skiers below those currently shown.
   
• Home   -- will take you to the very top of the list, to the first place skier.  If the display currently includes the first place skier at the top, but the highlight bar is located somewhere below that skier on the screen, Home will move the highlight bar to that top skier.
   
• End   -- will take you to the very bottom of the list.  If the display currently includes the last skier at the bottom, but the highlight bar is located somewhere above that skier on the screen, End will move the highlight bar to that last skier.  Getting to the bottom of the list quickly, can be useful for a couple of specific situations.  Let's say you encounter a "Scratch" -- that is, a skier who appears in the running order list for the event, but who fails to show up when it is their turn.  When this happens, you will just scroll down past that missing skier's name, in order to select the next skier below that for scoring.  When you do that, WSTIMS will reposition any such "Skipped Over" names that you have scrolled past, and move those out of the way, to the very bottom of the list.  This is done so that you don't have to keep skipping over that skipped skier name again and again every time uou need to select another skier.  Should you later find it necessary to find one of those "Skipped Over" skiers, you will find those down at the bottom, and End will take you immediately there.  Also, after using the Insert function to add a new skier when an event is already underway, such added skiers will always be found at the bottom of the list.  For those too, the End key will take you directly there.
   
• Tab   -- will take you to that portion of the list which includes the "Next Up" skier.  This is to the exact same place that WSTIMS normally positions to, on return to the Selection screen after scoring or editing a skier.

The Skier Data Editing Screen provides the means to modify any of the details about a particular skier in the current event, including even their derived score.  Occasionally, you may find that you've scored the wrong skier, most likely because the officials called in the wrong name by mistake.  This Skier Data Editing Screen is the tool that you will use to correct such mistakes.  See Scored the Wrong Skier below.

This Skier Data Editing Screen is invoked by moving the highlight to the desired skier name, and then pressing the E key.  This will place the current values for the selected skier into the editing screen layout shown below.  The user can then navigate through these fields and modify any of those values, as may be necessary.

There a few important rules that you must comply with, for most of these fields -- those details are discussed following the sample screen shot which appears immediately below:

    94W048R             GOLDEN DOME CLASSIC             MEN SLALOM

                 Name (Last, First):  MAPPLE, ANDY

           Member ID# (nnn-nn-nnnn):  700-10-7351

                  Age Division Code:  M2

                    Team Identifier:

                    Age Value (yrs):  27

                Competitor Hometown:  CLERMONT, FL

          ------------   R LAST SP LINE TOTAL   -NOPS-  R/O
          Score Detail:  O 2.50 58 1075 62.50   1096.5   -
          (Model Line):    x.xx xx xxxx xx.xx   xxxx.x   x

             Use TAB or ↓ ↑ keys to scroll data fields,
             Press ESC(ape) to store revisions when done.

• Name   -- must appear as "Last, First" -- with a comma and exactly one space between the last and first names.
   
• Member ID#   -- must contain hyphens in the 4th and 7th positions.  Also, if the Host Federation is USA, then each Membership ID # will be validated using the checksum algorithm for USA Waterski Membership ID numbers.  A "ChkSum Err" message, means that you've made a mistake in entering the ID, either mis-typing one or more digits, or transposing a pair of adjacent digits.  In a pinch you can use a special "Temporary" ID number, of the form "000-00-00nn", with any two unique digits in those last two positions.
   
• Age Division Code   -- must be one of the pre-defined two-character codes that exists in the Divisional Control Table for the applicable Host Federation code.  When you change the Age Division code for a skier who already has a score value, then WSTIMS will automatically re-calculate the NOPS score for that skier, according to the applicable specs for that revised division.  If needed, Click Here to pop up the USA version of that division code table.
   
• Team and Age and Hometown   -- are all optional fields.  However, the Age and Hometown fields will appear in results listings that may later go to the media, so it's good to supply this information if you can get it.  Where team scoring may be involved, be sure you enter the applicable team code for each skier.
   
• Score Detail   -- must follow the alignment of the "Model Line", that appears immediately below the score detail area.  Slalom and Tricks and Jumping scores each has its own unique model format.
   
  All number values should be lined up the right edge of the field indicated in the respective model.  If you revise the rightmost (official score) portion of the Score Detail line, then the NOPS field that follows this area will be calculated and automatically updated.  The Rating Code R will also be updated automatically, whenever the score value is modified.
   
  The score for a skier may be removed.  The need for this arises most commonly when the wrong skier was scored by mistake.  See the Scored the Wrong Skier material below, for more on this subject.  To remove a skier's score, merely blank out the entire score line, and the skier you are editing will then revert to the "not scored" condition.  Please note that the log file for the event will still show the details of how the performance was originally derived, of course.
   
  For Slalom and Jumping events, any revisions to this official score value area, will also be noted in the applicable log file.  So the Chief Scorer can readily find the details behind the original derivation of any score, as well as any subsequent edits, by reviewing that event log file.
   
• Tie Runoff (R/O) Placement   -- only appears when the selected skier is in a set of two or more skiers who the rules indicate are tied.  The initial value of this field is a hyphen (dash).  If the rules call for a Runoff to be conducted in order to break a tie, then the scorer would score that contest manually, and then merely edit the resulting placements into the R/O field, for the prevailing skiers, working from the winner downward.  That sequence of resolution is very important, by the way.  So do not try to edit an R/O field value into the worst-placing skier in a runoff set, otherwise you will find it impossible to resolve the placements correctly.  Always resolve ties by editing from the winning skier(s) downwards.

Inevitably, you will find that you've scored the wrong skier -- most commonly because the officials called in the wrong name by mistake.  Regardless, please note that it is not necessary to use the applicable Slalom or Jump event scoring program, and then go through all the gory details of deriving the score for the proper skier all over again.  There is a much simpler way to correct such mistakes, using the Skier Data Editing feature.

If you're still in the middle of scoring that particular event, you can invoke the Skier Data editor between skiers, right from the competitor selection screen, using the E action key on the applicable skiers which you need to change.

Essentially, this will be a copy and paste process.

Yes, a DOS Window actually can interface with the familiar Windows clipboard functionality.  So you can copy and paste between your DOS Window and other applications, or from one field in one DOS screen to a different field in possibly another screen.  We're assuming that the idea behind copy and paste isn't new to you -- just that the mechanics of how you carry out such operations in a DOS window is something you will not have encountered before.  So here's the explanation on how you go about doing that.

First, you will need to get the skier who has the score, into the Skier Data Editing window.  For a skier who already has a score, WSTIMS will position the highlight bar in the Score detail field.  That is exactly where you want it to be, so that you will be able to clearly see the bounds of that entire score detail field.  Now you are ready to copy that information to the clipboard.

Access to the Clipboard functions for a DOS window is provided through a drop-down menu, that is opened by clicking on the Icon that appears in the far upper left corner of the WSTIMS window.  Depending on the version of Windows you're running, this icon might look like C:/>, or perhaps as a black-red-yellow MS-DOS logo.  Simply click on that icon, then click on the Edit item that appears in the resulting drop-down menu, and that will present you with the Clipboard Functions sub-menu.

In addition to the familiar Copy and Paste functions listed in this menu, you will also find Mark, which you will most likely not have encountered previously.  Mark activates a mode whereby you then identify (mark) a particular field (or line or area) on the DOS screen, that you wish to copy to the clipboard.  The signal that Mark mode has been activated, will be the appearance of a blinking block cursor.  This will initially appear in the upper left charcter in the DOS window.  The Window Title should also change, and now begins with the word Mark as a further indication that Mark Mode is now active.

Entering Mark Mode is a necessary precursor, before you can select the text that you want to copy to the clipboard.  Once Mark mode has been activated, then you can proceed to mark the particular field that you wish to copy from, in one of two ways --

• With your Mouse   -- simply point to the leftmost position of the score field (first position of the highlight bar), then click there and drag the mouse pointer across to the right, including the entire score detail field occupied by the highlight bar.
   
• With your Keyboard   -- use the arrow keys to move the blinking block cursor to the leftmost position of the score field (first position of the highlight bar).  Then press and hold the shift key, and while holding the shift key down, tap the right arrow key until you have included the entire score detail field occupied by the highlight bar.

Once you've highlighted the entire score detail field using either of the two methods explained above, then press the Enter key on your keyboard, which will copy that highlighted area to the clipboard.  The block cursor will then disappear, and the word Mark will also disappear from the beginning of the Window title frame.  That score detail information is now safely recorded in the Windows clipboard.

Now proceed to blank out that score detail field, using the space bar.  Tap it for each character position, until the highlight bar jumps up to the name field at the top of the screen.  The score field should remain blank -- you've now succeeded in removing the score from this wrong skier.  Now all that remains is to pull up the skier that we want to paste the score onto, and do just that.

So press the ESCape key to return to the Competitor Selection screen.  Then for your own satisfaction you can scroll the bottom part of that list, and verify that the previously-scored skier now has no score.  Then find the (unscored) skier name who is actually supposed to have that score, and press the E key to select that skier for editing.  Then use the up and down arrow keys to get the highlight bar to the blank score field at the bottom, and be sure that the underline cursor is positioned at the first character position at the left end of that highlighted score detail field area.  Now you're ready to paste that held score detail information in.

To paste, bring up the Clipboard Functions sub-menu (see above), then click Paste.  The score detail line should now be pasted into that score detail area, and the highlight bar should skip up to the skier name field at the top of the screen.  The NOPS value should also appear as well.  That's all there is to it.

To add a skier to an event already underway, press the Insert key whenever you are at the Competitor Selection and Control Screen.  This will take you to the Skier Data Editor screen, but with all of the field values empty.  Simply enter the pertinent information for the Skier you wish to have added to the event.  You should recognize that the Name, Membership Identifier, and Age Division values are required.  The Team and Age and Hometown fields are optional.  See the Skier Data Editing Screen section for more details on the expected content and format of each of those fields.

Once you've filled in the values for the additional skier, then just press the Escape key, and that new skier will be added, at the bottom of the list.

The Officials Recording screen provides spaces to record the names of the various officials working that event.  There are actually two levels of screen displays that you will encounter when using these features, both of which are illustrated below.  The Primary Officials Recording Screen provides overall controls, and is where you select the specific position(s) for which to record a working official.  The Master Officials Selection & Management Screen can then be invoked to select a specific name to be recorded for that selected position.  This latter display also provides the framework that allows you to Edit or Add to the content of the Master List of Officials file.

The specific position codes you will find on the first screen vary a bit, between Slalom and Trick and Jump, but each event type provides space to record all of the officials that would work even the highest level events.  The codes are phonetic, with BD being a Boat Driver, BJ being a Boat Judge, TJ being a Tower Judge, VJ is a Video (or Computer) Judge, EJ is an Event Judge (or Extra Judge), SC is a Scorer and SF is a Safety worker -- who may be based on shore or may be riding in the towboat in a Slalom or Jumping event.  In jumping events being measured with the Johnson Jump Meter system, EJ1 & EJ2 are the two of your meter readers who are also serving as Event Judges, and then MR3 throug MR6 (or MR3 for C events) are your other meter readers.  All three event types have space to record two or three complete boat crews, along with the maximum number of officials that any event ever needs.  At local class C tournaments, if you have occasion to change one or two officials during a single event group, you can record the replacements in any of the unused slots, so that both will receive credit.

The screen shot reproduced immediately below shows what this primary Officials Recording screen looks like, for a slalom event:

     94W048R           GOLDEN DOME CLASSIC           MEN SLALOM

POS  EVENT OFFICIALS            -------------- INSTRUCTIONS --------------

BD1  NOCK, DICK                 Use this screen to record the officials
BJ1  BOICE, T C                 working this current Event Group.
BD2                                           
BJ2                             TAB to replicate the entire roster of
TJ1  HAMMEL, ROGER              officials from another scoring file.
TJ2  MATLI, RICHELLE
TJ3  DUSIN, TRUDI               Use the Arrow keys to scroll through the
TJ4  DANFORD, TOM               positions/officials listed to the left.
VJ1  IVES, KATHY                Delete will Clear the selected Position.
VJ2  SCHRAFT, SHERM
EJ1                             Press any letter key (A-Z) to access the
EJ2                             Master Officials List, at that specific
SC1  PRESSLEY, GARY             letter.  You may then choose an official
SC2  PIERCY, JANET              for the position currently selected, or
SF1  BYRNE, PAT                 you may also Edit or Add to the content
SF2                             of the Master Officials List, as needed.

                                Press ESC(ape) when you are done to store
                                this data and return to whence you came.

In some instances it can be helpful to copy the list of officials from another scoring file of the same event type -- the Tab key invokes that capability.  Then you just select the particular event to be copied from, and WSTIMS will replicate the officials names from that file, into the current event records. 

Pressing one of the 26 letter keys (A-Z) on the initial Officials Recording screen will invoke the Master Officials Roster.  This Master List is always presented in alphabetic sequence, by last name, and it will open to that portion of the roster that corresponds to the particular letter key which you pressed to invoke the list.  So if you were looking for Mike Lee, for example, you would press the L key.

Officials names for each applicable position are selected from this Master Officials Roster.  That Master List is initially populated from information contained in the Participant List(s), which comes from the Registration process.  More information on this subject can be found in the Officials Overview section.

The MLO List may also be Edited, or Added to -- on the fly -- from within this Officials Recording framework.  The Command Keys that drive the specific functions available at this screen, are noted at the bottom of that screen.  The screen shot reproduced immediately below shows what this Master Officials List screen looks like -- by the way, this particular display was produced by pressing the L key:

     94W048R           GOLDEN DOME CLASSIC           MEN SLALOM

POS  EVENT OFFICIALS            MASTER OFFICIAL ROSTER  MEMBER ID-#  DJCS

BD1  NOCK, DICK                 JOHNSON, DEE            200-00-6888  ACD
BJ1  BOICE, T C                 JOHNSON, LAURA          400-00-1584  ARS-
BD2                             JOHNSTON, RUTH          800-00-1917  ACJ
BJ2                             KEPCHIA, JEFF           700-00-3035  RS-S
TJ1  HAMMEL, ROGER              KINNEY, JIM              GET MEM #
TJ2  MATLI, RICHELLE            KRUEGER, FRED           000-00-0899  SS--
TJ3  DUSIN, TRUDI               LARSON, LEON            600-00-0073  SPSN
TJ4  DANFORD, TOM               LEE, MIKE               800-00-0327  RSSS 
VJ1  IVES, KATHY                LEVIEN, GEORGE          300-00-0108  CS
VJ2  SCHRAFT, SHERM             LINDY, GEORGE           400-00-0268  SS-R
EJ1                             LOHR, ANN               900-00-0867  ACC
EJ2                             LOHR, STEVE             200-00-0866  CJ
SC1  PRESSLEY, GARY             MATLI, RICHELLE         000-04-0387  -PS-
SC2  PIERCY, JANET              MAYHEW, BOB             300-00-1141  RP-N
SF1  BYRNE, PAT                 MCLAUGHLIN, TAMI        200-00-5287  ACS
SF2                             MELCHERS, CHARLOTTE     700-00-0100  -PSS

PgDn PgUp ↓ ↑ (A-Z) to Scroll   ENTER=Select   E=Edit   INS=Add   ESC=Abort

Pressing the <ENTER> key will select the name of the Official currently highlighted in the Master List, and record that name for the event position currently highlighted on the left side of the screen.  And WSTIMS will then switch back to the Primary Officials Recording Screen, so that another position may be selected.  This alternating process of:

1. Pick the Position, and then
2. Pick the Specific Official for that Position

Please note that pressing the ESCape key at the Primary Officials Recording screen will cause WSTIMS to store the event officials list and return you to wherever you were in the scoring process, at the time the Officials Recording process was invoked.

WSTIMS can accomodate well over a hundred officials in the Master Officials List file.  However, the Officials Selection and Control screen can only display up to 19 Officials at a time.  Consequently, WSTIMS provides you the means to scroll around the complete Officials list, as necessary.  Unlike the Competitor Selection screen, Officials have no placements or any running order, and so the Master Officials List will always be displayed in strict alphabetical sequence, by last name primary.  This display is invoked by pressing one of the 26 letter keys, and the list will be opened at that part of the list beginning with that particular letter.

In addition to using the Up and Down arrow keys to scroll through the 19 officials shown on the current screen, there are several other keys that you can use to control the process and/or quickly take you to other portions of the complete Officials list:

• Page Up   -- when the current section of the Officials list being displayed is not at the top, Page Up will shift to the next 19 officials above those currently shown.
   
• Page Down   -- when the current section of the officials list being displayed is not at the bottom, Page Down will shift to the next 19 officials below those currently shown.
   
• Any Letter Key A-Z -- will reposition the current display, to that portion of the Master Officials list that begins with that particular letter.
   
• ESCape   -- aborts the Master Officials display, and returns back to the Primary Officials Recording Screen.

The Official Data Editing Function is invoked by moving the highlight to the desired Official name, and then pressing the E key.  This will switch into Field Editing mode, for the details of that particular official.  The user can then navigate through these fields and modify any of those values, as may be necessary.  There a few important rules that you must comply with on these values -- here are the groundrules for each of the three fields --

• Name   -- must appear as "Last, First" -- with a comma and exactly one space between the last and first names.
   
• Member ID #   -- when entered, must contain hyphens in the 4th and 7th positions.  Also, if the Host Federation is USA, then each Membership ID # will be validated using the checksum algorithm for USA Waterski Membership ID numbers.  A "ChkSum Err" message, means that you've made a mistake in entering the ID, either mis-typing one or more digits, or transposing a pair of adjacent digits.
   
  You may find it necessary to add an official to the Master list, in order to select them for a creditable position for the current event, but under circumstances where you are unable to get their membership identifier at that exact instant.  No problem -- you can skip over the Member ID # field, and WSTIMS will merely stick GET MEM # in that location, highlighted, as a reminder that this information is missing.
   
  As the tournament matures, the Chief Scorer should visit this MLO roster from time to time, and make it a point to identify any such officials in the MLO roster, whose numbers need to be obtained.  If the Registrar makes it a point to include all expected officials in the entry list(s), along with the skiers themselves, this should be a rare occurrance.
   
• DJCS Code   -- for any of your Administrative Chief or Assistant Chief positions, this code field is used to indicate the specific Administrative position for which the official is to be credited for this tournament.  The complete list of all those Administrative positions, and the associated codes, can be found in theChief Codes table.  For all other officials which are pulled in from the Registration Extract, this field will indicate the officials ratings as a Driver, Judge, Calculator (Scorer), and Safety Director.  Those codes are purely informational for the Organizer and the other chief officials -- that content has no down-stream implications.  So for any officials you may add to the MLO file, that are not in one of the Administrative Chief or Assistant positions, this field may be left blank.

Exiting from the Official Data Editing function, either at the conclusion of an Add process, or after editing the details of an existing official, will re-display the revised Master Official list, with the highlight positioned on the specific official that was just Edited or Added.

Pressing the Insert key at the Officials Master List Screen will take you into the Official Data Editor function, but with all of the field values empty.  Simply enter the pertinent information for the Official you wish to have added to the Master List.  See the Official Data Editing Screen section for more details on the expected content and format of each of those fields.

If desired, you can abort the Insert process, by pressing the ESCape key when the editing highlight is in the blank Officials Name field.  That will abort the Insert process, and return you back to the Officials Master List screen.

The WSTIMS Slalom and Jump scorekeeping modules are both designed to be operated in real-time, gathering data as each competitor performs, pass by pass.  Consequently, both of these two modules can display an event-to-date Statistical Summary, at any instant.  This display can be invoked by pressing the T key, either from the Competitor Selection screen, or when in the midst of scoring a skiers performance, whenever the cursor is active in any option list.  The sample below illustrates what that recap looks like:

      94W048R         GOLDEN DOME CLASSIC         CLINIC SAMPLE JUMP

  ------ EVENT-TO-DATE STATISTICAL RECAP AND BOAT TIMING SUMMARY -------

  TIME STARTED  10:40      TOT PASSES RUN    40      TIMES:   SEG1  SEG2

  CURRENT TIME  12:05      PASSES / SKIER   3.3      AVG DEV   0.7  -0.4

  DURATION       1:25      PCT R/R (TIME)   7.5      SPREAD    2.3   1.9

  SKIERS PULLED    12      PCT R/R (OTHR)   0.0      Z-SIG     1.4  -0.8

  MINS / SKIER    7.1           BOAT DRIVER(S):      MR SOFT TOUCH

                   Press 'T' key again for boat timing
                   details, or any other key to return:

This recap can be extremely valuable to the Chief Judge, in keeping track of how an event is unfolding.  The first two columns are self-evident, and tell the CJ and other officials how the pace of the event is unfolding.  That portion needs no further explanation.

The rightmost set of columns recap the pattern of boat times.  For jumping, this will presents separate summary stats for the first and second segments.  For Slalom, there is only one summary.  These numbers help the Chief Judge and Chief Driver monitor how well the boat officials are doing in shooting for ideal times.  This recap is based on the exact boat time values that are being called in and recorded on each pass.  These time values are expressed in hundredths of a second.  For purposes of this recap, each segment time value is converted to a deviation value, by subtracting the ideal time for the specified speed.  An example will help -- so for a slalom pass which produces a 1692 time, where the ideal time is 1695, the time deviation will be -3 (hundredths).  Given that background, here then is a brief explanation of the three statistics presented in this recap:

• AVG DEV   -- is the Mean (average) of the deviation values.  The deviation units are in hundredths of a second, and the average deviation here shows one additional decimal place.  So assuming that the event recapped below was for 57 kph Men jumping, where the ideal first segment time is 5.18, then the 0.7 AVG DEV for the 1st segment shown in the sample below, tells us the average time was 5.187, or less than one hundredth of a second from the ideal target time.
   
• SPREAD   -- is the Standard Deviation of the collection of deviation values.  This number indicates how much dispersion there is, in the pattern of times.  Smaller numbers indicate greater consistency.  Where the pattern of values are normally distributed (as they will be here), then about two-thirds of the deviations should fall within plus and minus one Standard Deviation of the Average Deviation (the mean).
   
• Z-SIG   -- is actually a "Z" statistic, which expresses the Significance of the Difference, of the Average Deviation (the mean), from the ideal Zero.  This value hence takes into consideration both the Average and Spread values of the collection of deviations for the event.  This Significance statistic also takes into consideration the sample size (the number of observations), in the collection of deviation values in this particular event.  Z-Significance values greater than +3 (slow), or less than -3 (fast), are an indication that the Average Deviations are "Significantly Different" from the desired target value of zero, which is called for in both AWSA and IWSF rules.

In addition to the overall average boat time numbers shown in this recap, WSTIMS can also give the user a more detailed Boat Timing presentation, as shown in the sample below.  This includes a histogram of the deviation pattern on the left, along with the graphical display of the latest 15 passes shown on the right.  Both of those displays are expressed in terms of the +/- deviation ranges indicated at the far left:

         94W048R         GOLDEN DOME CLASSIC         CLINIC SAMPLE JUMP

   +15 and up    0                          |                               |
    +9 to +14    0                          |                               |
    +5 to +8     0                          |                               |
    +2 to +4     5  ****                    |       1       1           1   |
    -1 to +1    22  ************   -------- | 1-1-----1-1-----1-1-1---1---1 |
    -2 to -4     5  ****                    |     1       1         1       |
    -5 to -8     0                          |                               |
    -9 to -14    0                          |                               |
   -15 & down    0                          |                               |
                    HISTOGRAM BY RANGE       -15  -->  MOST RECENT  -->  -1
   +15 and up    0                          |                               |
    +9 to +14    0                          |                               |
    +5 to +8     0                          |                               |
    +2 to +4     7  *****                   |               2 2 2   2       |
    -1 to +1    16  **********     -------- | 2---2-2-----2-------2-----2-- |
    -2 to -4     9  *******                 |   2     2 2             2   2 |
    -5 to -8     0                          |                               |
    -9 to -14    0                          |                               |
   -15 & down    0                          |                               |

        DRIVER(S):  MR SOFT TOUCH              Seg 1 on Top, 2 on Bottom
                                               Press any key to Return:

The collection of times displayed above, happen to be both tightly clustered and well centered.  Hopefully this display should always look something like this, where there are roughly equal quantities falling both above and below the center -1 to +1 interval.  If you see this display showing the vast majority of times falling either above or below that center interval, then that is an indication of a boat crew which are not using the speed control to shoot for the intended center of the tolerance range.

Both the Slalom and Jumping modules in WSTIMS generate an Event Log file.  This is an accumulative audit trail log, that shows exactly what the scorer input into the program on each pass, followed by various derivatives or interpretations that the program made with respect to that input data.  This can be an invaluable resource to the chief scorer -- or to the event scorers themselves.  Whenever it would be helpful to reconstruct, "Exactly what did you put into the computer for Billy?", or "How the [blank] did the computer come up with that score for Sally?" -- just pop up this log file and you'll almost certainly find the answer there.  This event log is always written into a file on the disk, and this can be accessed by the user at any time, by pressing the "L" key at either the Competitor Selection screen, or at any Option List during the scoring of a slalom or jump performance.  A sample of such a Slalom Event Log is shown immediately below:

94W048R    GOLDEN DOME CLASSIC    MEN SLALOM

EVENT MANAGEMENT LOG STARTING AT  06:53:13  08-05-2005
MINIMUM STARTING PASS ADJUSTED: UP 2 PASSES FROM DIVISION BASE
TIMING TOLERANCE CHART: ABT STANDARD
************************************************************

****** NEW SKIER SELECTED AT 07:00:26 -- DANFORD, THOMAS
CHOOSES TO START AT 342--28, LEAVES  36  BUOYS PENDING
PASS DATA FOR 55/1425 --- TIME: 1695\ 0  SCORES: 6 6 6 6 6
HIGH, LOW = 6.00 6.00  GATES=( 0 , 0 ) SCORE  6.00   TIME OK
PASS RECORDED, CUM = 42.00
PASS DATA FOR 55/1300 --- TIME: 1696\ 1  SCORES: 6 6 6 6 6
HIGH, LOW = 6.00 6.00  GATES=( 0 , 0 ) SCORE  6.00   TIME OK
PASS RECORDED, CUM = 48.00
PASS DATA FOR 55/1200 --- TIME: 1252\ 2  SCORES: 4H 4H 4H 4H 4H
HIGH, LOW = 4.50 4.50  GATES=( 0 , 0 ) SCORE  4.50   TIME OK
PASS RECORDED, CUM = 52.50
SKI: 55 1200  SCR: 55 1200  P/A/F/L/M/R/C/T: 0 2 0 0 0 450 450 5250
SCORES RECORDED -- M 4.50 55 1200 52.50  733.3 (185535  )

If a Trick event is being run without a printer -- with the Hardware "Reports to Disk" option selected -- then the Trick scoring recaps will be written to this log file, and can also be accessed and browsed on your screen, exactly as you do with a Slalom or Trick event log.

The Score Detail information for each skier is normally determined by the respective Slalom or Trick or Jump scoring module, automatically, when that skier's performance is finalized.  As noted above, that result may also be revised manually by the Scorer, when needed.  In either case, the rightmost "Official Score" field in this Score Detail area is used by WSTIMS to determine the appropriate Rating Code earned by the performance.  Those Rating codes are shown under the R heading in the screen display and in various printed results listings.

Also, Placements are determined dynamically, and updated every time the Competitor Selection and Control Screen re-appears.  However, you need to recognize that the placements shown during the scoring of an event, are based solely on the performances in the current round.  So if you are scoring the 2nd or 3nd round of a multi-round tournament, and the Multi-Round Placement option chosen is anything other than the "Last Round" choice, then the placements shown here will NOT truly be correct.  The Official placements will be determined when you run the "Multi-Round Placement Summary" task, after each subsequent round has been completed.

The "Results" listing that is produced at the completion of any single round of an individual event, will only include placements if this is the first (or only) round of that event.  Event Results listings produced from a 2nd or higher individual round scoring file, will include the results, but not placements any longer.  As noted above, the scorer should use the "Multi-Round Placement Summary" task to produce that information.

Event Finalization is triggered, when the user presses the Escape key at the Competitor Selection and Control Screen.  While a NOPS score value is computed automatically at the time each skier's score is determined (or revised by editing), you should keep in mind that the official Overall Scoring Basis might be something other than NOPS.  Consequently, the Official Overall/Team score values are determined by WSTIMS at the same time the Placement Summary listing is produced, during that Event Finalization process.

The end-of-event processing for an NCWSA collegiate event will also calculate and produce Team scores and placements for the event.  This is unique to NCWSA rules, though.  Other IWSF and AWSA team scoring processes have the team score for each of the three events developed from the collection of skiers in an event across all divisions, and consequently those team scoring functions are provided by the WSTIMS Tournament Summary task, instead of by the event scoring.

If you've been scoring a Slalom or Jumping event, and you have a live printer available on that machine, then you will be asked whether to switch the results listing onto that printer, instead of writing this report onto the end of the event log file.  If you want a paper copy to post immediately, then you'd want to switch over.

If you're working on a satellite computer, then you'll need to use the Scoring File Manager and Editor to EXPORT this scoring file, so that it can be transferred back to the master computer system.  The IMPORT function would then be run back on the master computer, to complete the transfer.  Then you're ready to run any consolidation reports, for which this just-completed event group may represent a part.  If desired, you can also produce a results listing for any single-round event on the Master computer, at any time, by simply editing that scoring file and then immediately pressing the Escape key.  In a Multi-Round competition, instead you would run the "Multi-Round Placement Summary" function from the Scoring menu.

During the course of a Slalom or Jump skier's performance, WSTIMS will take the scorer back and forth between entering data about each pass, and making decisions or choices about that data, or what to do next.  Those choices will all be made from an "Option List" menu, which is uniformly located in the upper left section of each of the score derivation detail screens.  Like the main WSTIMS menu listings, these option lists are used by the scorer to tell the event scoring module what to do next.  The list of options shown in this section will change from step to step, as the details of each pass of the skier's performance unfolds.  These options merely reflect the official rules, and should be both familiar and self-explanatory to any knowledgeable water ski official.

In addition to the main job of selecting scoring options, four valuable "Pop-Up" keyboard commands are also available to the scorer, whenever that "Option List" area is active.  Activating any of these four Pop-Up functions will appear to take you away from what you are doing with the currently skier -- it will switch the display to something else -- but WSTIMS can immediately restore the original screen and choices, putting you back exactly in the same place, with just a single tap of the Escape key.  This is true of all four of these Pop-Up functions.

These four Pop-Up commands are:

• The "O" key will pop up the Officials Recording window for the current event.  This works exactly the same as when you invoke this function from the Competitor Selection and Control Screen.  The ability to pop up this screen during skier performances, permits the scorer to chip away at recording the officials information as an event runs, even between individual passes in the slalom or jumping events.  And when invoked this way, a tap of the ESC(ape) key will return you immediately to the Scoring detail screen, exactly as you left it.
   
• The "L" key will pop up the Event Log Display for the current event.  Just as with the other pop-up displays, the ESC(ape) key will return immediately to the Scoring Detail screen.
   
• The "T" key will pop up the Timing Statistics Recap for the current event.  Please be aware that when this display is popped up during the midst of a skier's performance, that the Minutes Per Skier value will be a bit higher than the true value.  This is because the duration is always calculated from the current time backwards to when the first skier was selected, and so that includes whatever time has elapsed for the current skier, even though that skier isn't included in the Skiers Scored count yet, since their score is of course still undetermined.  A minor issue, but one you should be aware of.  And of course just as with the other popups, tapping any key will return immediately to the Scoring Detail screen exactly as you left it.
   
• The "S" key will pop up the Scoreboard Display.  This "Leader Board" presentation lists the top places in the event and their score details, and can be consulted at any time between passes, to see what the top scores are.  As with the other pop-up functions, tapping any key will return you immediately to the Scoring detail screen, exactly as you left it when the S key was pressed.  If your computer has the ability to drive a second display monitor, then an additional monitor can be placed by the Announcer, and then during Slalom and Jumping events you can keep this Scoreboard display on the screen most of the time.  That way the announcer will always have this up-to-the-minute Leaderboard information at a glance.  This will relieve them of the need to keep score, and also keep them from pestering the scorer over the radio. Here's a sample of what that Leaderboard looks like for a Slalom event:

        94W048R             GOLDEN DOME CLASSIC             MEN SLALOM

        Current Competitor Status:         Current Competitor Identity:
       ----------------------------        ----------------------------
      58 Kph (36.0) 1125 M (38 Off)         Name: ROBERGE, CARL
      Last Pass: 6.00   Tot: 54.00          Age: 25  Div: M2  Team: OA
                                            Hometown: ORLANDO, FL

 LAST SP LINE TOTAL R NOPS PLC LEADING COMPETITORS:  DV TM AGE HOMETOWN

 4.50 58 1125 58.50 O 1125  1  MORGAN, MIKE          M1 OA  23 LAKE WALES, FL
 2.25 58 1125 56.25 E 1081  2  NEVILLE, BRUCE        M1 OA  24 SYDNEY, AU
 4.50 58 1200 52.50 E 1009  3  MARTIN, PATRICE       M1 OA  22 PARIS, FR
 2.50 58 1075 62.50 O 1096  1  MAPPLE, ANDY          M2     27 CLERMONT, FL
 1.50 58 1075 61.50 O 1078  2  LAPOINT, BOB          M2     34 SACRAMENTO, CA
 4.50 58 1125 58.50 O 1026  3T KJELLANDER, MIKE      M2 OA  25 MOTALA, SW
 4.50 58 1125 58.50 O 1026  3T NEVILLE, MICK         M2 OA  27 QUEENSLAND, AU
 3.00 58 1125 57.00 O 1000  5  LOWE, LUCKY           M2     28 WINTER HAVEN, FL
 1.50 58 1125 55.50 E  973  6T HAZELWOOD, MIKE       M2     31 LONDON, GB
 1.50 58 1125 55.50 E  973  6T DUVALL, SAMMY         M2 OA  26 WINDERMERE, FL
                               ROBERGE, CARL         M2 OA  25 ORLANDO, FL
                               LLEWELLYN, KREG       M2 OA  27 INNISFIELD, AL

                           Press any key to Return:

There's an important point regarding these "Pop-Up" functions in both the Slalom and Jump programs.  Let's say you have already chosen the "Record Next Pass" selection in the option list, and consequently are looking at a prompt for the first score input field regarding that next pass -- and you find yourself needing one of these pop-up functions.  When this happens, all you need to do is to press the ESC(ape) key at that input prompt, and that will take you back to the option list -- which will then give you access to the Pop-Up functions.  When you are finished with that pop-up function, then you can select the "Record Next Pass" option, and you're right back in business.

When the WSTIMS Jumping module is selected, a short Startup Dialog will be conducted.  See Slalom Startup for details on what that dialog will consist of.

A reproduction of the Slalom scoring screen appears immediately below.  Each of the underlined items is a link that will take you to more information about that item or subject, for when you need specific help in a hurry.  Or, you can read sequentially through the material which appears following the sample, for an orderly explanation of how each Slalom skier's performance is scored with WSTIMS.

 ROBERGE, CARL (M2 OA ) Age: 25             Start at Speed: 58   Line: 1425
 300-44-0384 From: ORLANDO, FL
                                            SKIER TAKING RERIDE (w/LIMITS)
 SELECT OPTION BELOW: (or O/L/T/S)
                                            Next Pass is: 58 KPH (36.0 MPH)
   x  Record next Pass data                 LINE 11.25 M = VIOLET (38 Off)
      Post Score as Final                      n Buoys Pending Full Pass
      Re-Start this Skier                   Tolerances (4): 1173-1186-1197
      Quit Skier, No Score
                                            Scores:  4H   4Q   4Q   4H   4Q

 PASS SP/LINE  TIME     PASS TOTAL NOTE     Boat Time:  1188

   1  58/1425  1604     6.00 42.00          Enter Time for Segment # 4
   2  58/1300  1624     6.00 42.00 SLOW     Majority: 4.25
   3  58/1200  1611     6.00 54.00
                        5.00       (MIN)    Codes for Entering Judges Scores:

                                              1-6 for whole buoy counts
                                              H  for 1/2 buoy,  Q for 1/4
                                              G  for missed gate (before or
                                                   after count tells which)
                                              -  at end of 1st fld if same.

There are two important parameters that the scorer will need to specify at the time a Slalom event is being started:

• 2 or 4 Tower Judges   Depending on the class of the event, and what the Gate and Tower judging framework may be at the site, slalom may be run with either two or four tower judges.  You will need to tell WSTIMS which applies for the upcoming event, so that it will know how many judges' scores to expect on each pass.  Simply enter 2 or 4 on your keyboard.
   
• Starting Pass Elevation   At some IWSF-sanctioned or Cash Prize events, slalom starting speeds may be required at levels higher than the minimum scoring basis speed for applicable division(s).  If that is the case for an event you will be scoring, the Chief Judge and Chief Scorer should huddle before the slalom events begin, and clarify exactly what those revised statutory starting passes will be, and exactly how many passes above the minimum scoring basis that is for the division(s) involved.  Those values should be written down and kept near the slalom scoring computer for that tournament.
   
  Please note that this specification has no actual affect on the computation of a skiers total buoy count.  That will still be a function of the skiers' final pass relative to the minimum divisional starting speed and line length.  The affect of this elevated pass parameter will be merely to constrain the speeds and/or line lengths at which the skier would be allowed to begin their performance.

Each slalom competitor is allowed to choose the boat speed and line length for their starting pass.  That choice is limited by the Age Division for each skier, and may also be further constrained by elevated start requirements that may apply at particular high-end tournaments.  See the paragraph immediately above.

The range of options for Speed and Line Length which you may select for any particular competitor will be limited by the above constraints, and only those alternatives which are available can be chosen.  However, AWSA Rules allow a competitor in Slalom to start at a boat speed above the maximum for their Age Division, up to the maximum for the Open division for their respective gender.  So the speeds you can choose from will not necessarily be limited to the maximum for the Age Division.  If you do choose a higher speed for any particular skier, though, WSTIMS will beep and ask you to confirm that the skier really does intend this higher speed.

Once a skier has been selected and their starting speed and line length have been established, various status information will appear on the Slalom Scoring screen.  The skier's name and some other useful identifying information will be shown in the upper left corner.  An accumulation of the results of each successive pass will be built in the lower left section.  The exact specification of the next (or current) pass will appear in the upper right section, directly below the initial starting speed and line length, which will remain visible for the duration of the skier's appearance in this screen.  Those Next Pass specs values will change, each time the skier advances to another more difficult pass.

A skier may elect to begin their performance at a speed or line length above the allowed minimums for their age division for this specific competition.  In that case, the score values for those omitted passes are put "on the shelf", and will be credited to the skier only if they make a complete pass on the actual pass they will ski next.  Any such Pending Buoys will be shown in the Next Pass area on the screen.

A skier may also choose to waive intermediate passes after they begin -- see the Entering Scores section below, for how you tell WSTIMS to skip a pass.

The scoring of a Slalom performance involves the scorer and computer in a series of exchanges, alternating between entering data (scores & times), and choosing options which result from interpretations of that data.  All of the Data Entry fields are presented on the right side of the scoring screen, while the choices appearing in the Select Option Below area in the upper left section, will continually change as this process unfolds.  Each time a choice is needed, all of the alternatives that are applicable to the context that currently exists, will appear in that list.  In general, the highlight will appear on the most likely choice, given the context.  But you should always be sure to look at those choices, and make a different selection whenever that is appropriate.

Remember that this Select Option Below menu is also where you can trigger any of the four Pop-Up Functions -- Officials / Log / Timing-Statistics / Scoreboard -- that are available to the scorer during the course of scoring a skier's performance.  The (or O/L/T/S) prompt is merely a reminder about these.  Remember also that if you've already advanced to a the first score field for the next pass, that a single tap on the Escape key will take you back to that Option List.  That will provide you the opportunity to switch to a reride on the previous pass, or trigger a Pop-Up, or whatever else may be appropriate to the specific circumstances as they unfold.

When the Record Next Pass Data option is selected, WSTIMS will then lead the scorer through the necessary data entry for that next pass.  Depending on the startup choice of 2 or 4 shore judges, WSTIMS will expect to be given either 3 or 5 score values for each pass, and presents you with that number of separate score fields, following the Scores: prompt.

The rules allow a slalom skier to skip (omit) any intermediate pass during a run, with the score for such omitted pass(es) "at risk" until the subsequent pass chosen is completed successfully.  You can enter the word SKIP in the first score field whenever the skier chooses this option, and WSTIMS will obligingly advance to the next pass and add to the Buoys Pending value whenever you do so.

These score fields act like linked cells in a spreadsheet.  Pressing the Tab or Enter or Down Arrow key in any of these fields will cause it to shift the cursor into the next field, while the Up arrow or BackTab (Shift-Tab) will shift the cursor into the previous field.  The forward slash key "/" is also accepted and interpreted as a forward field transfer trigger.  When one of those forward field trigger keys is pressed on the final field, that is accepted as the "End of Input" trigger, and causes the program to decipher and interpret all of the score fields at once.

In the interest of miniming wear and tear on your keyboard -- and on your fingers -- WSTIMS has been trained to understand shortcut score codes.  So instead of the Four keystrokes that would be needed to type in the value  4 . 2 5,  WSTIMS allows you to type in simply 4 Q instead, which is only Two keystrokes -- half the work.  So, Q is a quarter, and H is a half.

Also, the vast majority of passes results in all 5 (or 3) judges calling in the identical score value.  So WSTIMS allows you to put one score code value in the first field, and then add a hyphen -- a dash or "minus" sign -- at the end of that field.  Then when you press the Enter key for that field, WSTIMS will propagate that exact value across all of the remaining score fields in the input area.  But it leaves the cursor positioned in the last field, rather than immediately resolving the input, so this permits you to go backwards and revise any of the earlier fields if necessary.

If a missed gate is involved in one or more of the judgements called in, that is signified by the letter G in a score input field.  Since the Gate judgement is supposed to be a separate decision from the Skier Buoy score judgement, WSTIMS expects to find a G along with a numeric buoy count value, in the same field.  If the G comes before a buoy score -- G4 -- WSTIMS interprets that as a missed entrance gate, followed by a continuing score of 4.  But if the G comes after a buoy score -- 6G -- WSTIMS interprets that as a missed exit gate instead -- or as 6 with no continuation.

As an aid to the infrequent user, WSTIMS presents a brief recap of these score codes, in the lower right corner of the Slalom Scoring screen.

Finally, if the Escape key is pressed at any of the score input fields, that will trigger WSTIMS to evaluate them all, if they all have values present.  If the particular score field the cursor was at was blank, then WSTIMS will abandon the score input process and return to the Select Option choice list instead.

Now that "All-Buoy" slalom timing is the standard for all competitions, it is the majority score arrived at by the judges, that determines exactly which segment of the course the time is to be taken for.  Hence WSTIMS needs to get the judges scores first.  Once those are evaluated, and the majority score has been determined, then WSTIMS can decide which Score ID (segment) time is to be taken and evaluated.

At the start of each pass, WSTIMS displays the ideal time and tolerances for a full pass run (Score ID 6), for the applicable speed of the next/current pass.  But once the majority score has been determined, then it will revise the display to indicate the values appropriate for that majority score.  And it will also indicate the applicable segment ID code, below the time input field.  These are all helpful indicators for the scorer, when the time comes to input the boat time value for the pass.

WSTIMS expects times in hundredths of a second -- and doesn't expect you to type in a decimal point.  So 16.95 is expected as 1695.  If a user should happen to put in a time with a decimal point, WSTIMS will just remove it anyways -- so don't bother.

There are a number of circumstances where you may not have a time value for the applicable segment ID.  In those instances, WSTIMS will accept and respond appropriately to a number of specific keywords, which you may enter in the field where the time value would normally be input.  Here is the list of those special time outcome keywords, and the respective handling that will result from each:

• OK  -- WSTIMS will offer the same options as if a time value had been entered that was within the allowed tolerance.
   
• FAST  -- WSTIMS will offer the same options as if a time value had been entered that was smaller than the fast tolerance for the applicable speed.
   
• SLOW  -- WSTIMS will offer the same options as if a time value had been entered that was greater than the slow tolerance for the applicable speed.
   
• NONE  -- For when the timer or speed control fails, and does not produce a time value for the applicable segment ID.  This keyword invokes special handling, in accordance with AWSA rule 10.10(b)3.  WSTIMS will present a special set of options for dealing with the provisions of this specific rule.  Which choice you make at this point depends on whether the boat can give you a time value for an earlier segment ID.  If so, and that segment time is not slow, then WSTIMS will protect a partial pass score up to that segment, for any subsequent reride.  Reference the rulebook for more specifics.

It is common practice in many areas to only call in the last two digits of the time value.  So if the boat speed is 55 Kph, and the ideal time is 1695 seconds, then if "97" is called in, everybody know that means 1697 -- and "01" would mean 1701 -- and so forth.  WSTIMS understands this concept, and so whenever it finds that only two digits have been entered, that abbreviation will be interpreted accordingly.  However, keep in mind that such interpretations will always be in terms of the ideal (expected) time value for the segment ID indicated by the majority score.

So it pays to be cautious -- 2 digit values are only a useful communication shortcut when both parties are on the same page.  When the score is less than 6, then it is highly recommended that the boat judge call in the entire time value for the appropriate ID, rather than just the last 2 digits.  Here's a concrete example of where things can go awry.  Let's say we're at 55 Kph and the boat judge has a score of 1-1/2.  Anticipating that as the majority, he sees the ID 1 time of 446, where the allowed range is 437-451 -- just fine in other words.  So he calls in 46.  The problem can then arise if the scorer gets the majority score as 2 instead -- where the ID 2 allowed range is 703-723.  So an input value of 46 would be interpreted as 746, which would be slow for a score of 2.  So the resultant dialog has the scorer going, "I show 46 as slow", with Judge rebutting, "No it isn't, 46 is almost ideal" .... you can see where this leads.  Had the judge called in 446 instead, then it would be obvious to all what was wrong -- incorrect score ID.  Hence the recommendation to use complete time values for less than complete passes, or for the very slow speeds where the allowed tolerance range can be over 50 hundredths wide -- both those situations are prone to misunderstanding, where only the last 2 digits are called in.

Finally, note that the Boat Time input field is actually linked backwards to the last score field, so that if you press a backwards field transfer trigger key -- Up Arrow or BackTab -- at the Boat Time input field, the cursor will politely move back to the last score value field for you.

In the event of fast or slow boat times or other applicable circumstances, a slalom skier may be faced with an optional or a mandatory reride.  WSTIMS has all of the applicable rules built in, and will help ensure that the officials have the appropriate choices at each stage.  If protected or limiting score values are involved, WSTIMS will post those values on the screen, and use them as appropriate when the reride is taken.  WSTIMS even includes support to "Set aside" a skier in the midst of a complex reride situation -- as when a 5-minute rest is granted following multiple rerides, during which one or two other skiers would be pulled.  In all of these complex situations, take the time to carefully note the cues and choices that WSTIMS gives you, and you'll get the right answer.

A reproduction of the Trick Scoring Detail screen appears immediately below, as it will appear when the program is in Trick Edit Mode.  Please note that this is only one of the four distinct Modes that WSTIMS may display when scoring Tricks.  The mode the Trick program is in at any instant, will always be indicated immediately below the competitor identifying information in the upper left area of the screen.  More detailed information on the purpose and functions of each of these various modes can be found under the Trick Screen Modes heading below.

Each of the underlined items in the screen sample below is a link that will take you to more information about that item or subject, for when you need specific help in a hurry.  Or, you can read sequentially through the material which appears following the sample, for an orderly explanation of how each Trick skier's run is entered and scored with WSTIMS.

 ROBERGE, CARL (M2 OA ) Age: 25      1  1  T7F      OK     1  1  B       BFR
 300-44-0384 From: ORLANDO, FL       2  1  RT5B     OK     2  1  SL5F     OK
                                     3  1  TWBB     OK     3  1  W5B      OK
    **** TRICK EDIT MODE ****        4  1  RTWBB    OK     4  1  WLBB     OK
                                     5  1  TBB      OK     5  1  F        OK
    Second Pass    Trick # 1         6  1  RTBB     OK     6  1  B        OK
    Facing Front    On 1 Ski         7  1  T5F      OK     7  1  W5F      OK
                                     8  1  TWO      OK     8  1  BFL      OK
 Use cursor (arrow) keys to move     9  1  TWLO     OK     9  1  RBFL     OK
 around, or one of the following    10  1  TWLB     OK    10  1  BFLB     OK
 to modify the Highlighted Trick    11  1  TWLBB   FLL    11  1  F       RPT
                                    12  1  TF             12  1  WLO      OK
  Del -- Delete this Trick          13  1  TB             13  1  SLB      OK
  Ins -- Insert a Trk (before)      14  1  TWF            14  1  F       RPT
  A -- Add tricks (at pass end)     15  1  TWB            15  1  RSLB     OK
  ENTER -- Go to Options Menu                             16  1  BB      OOC
  0 / 1 / 2 -- Revise # of Skis                           17  1  RBB         
  R -- Revise Trick code
  B -- OOC Before course
  Y or C -- Credit OK on Trick
  N -- N/C     L -- not on List
  F -- Fell    U -- Unresolved
  S -- Skipped (omitted) Trick
  O -- OOC After Horn

In competitions where Declared Trick Lists are being used, it can be very helpful to enter the skiers' declared runs in advance of an event.  This will lighten the burden on the event scorers once that event begins.  This will also allow you to print a Judges Scoring Form for each skier.

These Pre-Scored forms can then be collated and copied in stacks, and then one such stack given to each of the trick judges.  The judges can then note their judgements on these pre-printed forms, instead of having to write down the codes for each performed trick.  This is primarily a time- and labor-saving convenience, that permits the judges to concentrate their attention more on the judgement side of the process, instead of on the "administrivia" aspects.  And of course this also helps the scorers, since the incoming judgement forms will all be uniformly arranged.

When the WSTIMS Trick Scoring Module is first invoked, it will ask the user whether they wish to Pre-Score (enter) declared trick lists in advance of an event, or if they are actually about to Score a live event.  This choice controls many aspects of the way the WSTIMS Trick Entry screen operates.  You will see this issue mentioned at various points in the material which follows below.

TRAVERS, CHRISTOPHER  M1 S     PASS 1     TRAVERS, CHRISTOPHER  M1 S     PASS 2

MEN 1 TRICK                  12:36:45     MEN 1 TRICK                  12:36:45
2005 NATIONALS TESTING     08-06-2005     2005 NATIONALS TESTING     08-06-2005

JUDGE: _______________  SEC'Y: ______     JUDGE: _______________  SEC'Y: ______

 # S TRICK  STATUS VAL  CUM  COMMENTS      # S TRICK  STATUS VAL  CUM  COMMENTS
              ___                                       ___
 1 1 B       |___|  60  ---  (OOC)         1 1 T7F     |___| 450  450
              ___                                       ___
 2   WL5F    |___| 420  420                2   RT5B    |___| 350  800
              ___                                       ___
 3   SLO     |___| 400  820                3   TWBB    |___| 330 1130
              ___                                       ___
 4   RSLO    |___| 400 1220                4   RTWBB   |___| 330 1460
              ___                                       ___
 5   B       |___|  60 1280                5   TBB     |___| 200 1660
              ___                                       ___
 6   SL5F    |___| 550 1830                6   RTBB    |___| 200 1860
              ___                                       ___
 7   SL5B    |___| 550 2380                7   T5F     |___| 350 2210
              ___                                       ___
 8   SLBB    |___| 450 2830                8   TWO     |___| 300 2510
              ___                                       ___
 9   W7B     |___| 480 3310                9   TWLO    |___| 480 2990
              ___                                       ___
10   BFL5F   |___| 850 4160               10   TWLB    |___| 320 3310
              ___                                       ___
11   BFLO    |___| 800 4960               11   TWLBB   |___| 480 3790
              ___                                       ___
12   FFL     |___| 800 5760               12   RTWLBB  |___| 480 4270
              ___                                       ___
13   BFL     |___| 500 6260               13   TF      |___| 100 4370
              ___                                       ___
14   RBFL    |___| 500 6760               14   TWL5B   |___| 600 4970
              ___                                       ___
15   BFLB    |___| 750 7510               15   TWF     |___| 150 5120
                                                        ___
                                          16   RTWL5B  |___| 600 5720

It is important for the user to recognize that the Trick Detail screen has four distinct Modes.  The functions and keystroke commands available to the user, depend on which mode the program is in at any given instant.  The Current Mode will always be indicated in the upper left section of the screen, below the skier name.  Immediately below that Mode indication, you will find a recap of the applicable keystrokes commands that are available at that particular juncture.  Following is an Index to these four modes, and the specific functions of each --

• Trick Input Mode  -- Entering or Inserting Tricks
• Trick Edit Mode  -- Access/Modify Tricks & their Status.
• Trick Code Mode  -- Entering / Revising a Trick code
• Trick Options Mode  -- Once Trick Details are Final

Trick Input Mode is automatically entered immediately after selecting a previously-unscored skier, who does not have their trick run already entered (pre-scored).  When input mode begins for a pass, the program will first ask for the number of skis the competitor is riding at the beginning of the pass.  See # of Skis for a Trick below.  The program will then accept (and validate) the list of tricks, one by one.

For more information about shortcuts and protocols involved in entering the proper official code for each trick, see Entering Trick Codes below.  After each trick code is entered when the program is being operated in Scoring mode, the program will then move the highlight bar to the Disposition column on the screen for that trick, and will then wait for a Trick Disposition Command Key next.  As a convenience during Input mode, the Enter key is interpreted As equivalent to the "Y" or "C" disposition command keys, and will also result in the new trick being classified as "OK".

When in Pre-Scoring mode, however, the program will only accept the "BFR" or "OK" disposition on the first trick in each pass.  On all the other tricks after the first in each pass, WSTIMS will automatically apply the "OK" disposition.  Consequently, except for that first trick in each pass, pre-scoring consists of just typing in the codes.

After completing the entry of a trick, and while the trick code field for the next trick is still empty, pressing the Up Arrow key will cause the program to move the highlight bar up to the last trick in the current pass, and to switch into Trick Edit Mode.  This is handy in case you discover you've made a mistake on an earlier trick -- just press the up arrow until you arrive at the trick in error, make corrections as necessary, then press the "A" (Add) command key to resume input at the end of that pass, or alternatively press the down arrow until WSTIMS switches back into Trick Input Mode following the last trick in the pass.

When the trick code field for the next trick is still empty, pressing the Escape key, or typing in "END" as though it were a trick code, will conclude the current pass.  If this was the first pass, WSTIMS will then switch to the second pass, and begin by asking for the number of skis for that second pass -- except for NCWSA events, of course, where tricks only consist of one single pass.  At the conclusion of the second pass (or first pass when NCWSA), WSTIMS will switch to Trick Options Mode, and present you with the computed score for the skier, based on the tricks and dispositions you have entered.

At the beginning of a new pass, when the program is in Trick Input Mode, the first thing you will be asked to specify is the number of skis the skier is riding. For a single ski press the digit "1".  When the competitor is riding a wakeboard, and for NCWSA events only, press the digit "0" (zero) key to invoke the special NCWSA scoring provisions for tricks performed on a wakeboard.  For AWSA events, however, a wakeboard (which must be without fins) is treated as though it is a single ski -- so in those events you will need to press the digit "1".

When the competitor is riding on two skis at the beginning of a pass, press the digit "2".  The program will then ask whether the entire pass is performed on two skis, or whether the competitor drops a ski at some point during the pass.  When a ski is dropped during the run, then as the tricks are entered, the program will ask for the number of skis for each trick entered, until you indicate "1" ski, whereupon it will stop asking for the remainder of the pass.  Alternatively, if you indicate at the start that the entire pass is performed on 2 skis, then the program will not need to ask on each subsequent trick.

It may be necessary on occasion to modify the number of skis indication for one or more tricks that have already been entered.  Consequently, when the program is in Trick Edit Mode, it will understand and respond to the digit keys 0/1/2 as a request to modify the number of skis for the currently highlighted trick.  Such commands to change the # of skis will be subjected to a number of Legitimacy Checks.  If you are changing any trick in a pass from 2 skis to 1 ski, then the program will automatically reclassify all of the subsequent tricks below that trick in that pass as well.  Please note that to change a trick from 1 ski to 2 skis, that can only be done at the beginning of the pass, or where the immediately preceding trick is already indicated as being on 2 skis.  The program will not allow you to create a sequence where a two ski trick follows a one ski trick -- such is not a reasonable sequence.

When in Trick Code Mode, you will actually be typing (or editing) in the trick code field that is currently highlighted.  Simply type in the letters and/or digits that make up the official code for the desired trick -- and be aware that you may use the backspace and delete and arrows and other normal text editing keys, as necessary, to arrive at the desired code value.

Some judges and/or skiers may occasionally use some common variations on the official codes -- such as "OB" instead of "BB" -- or WTF instead of TWF.  WSTIMS understands all these common variations, and will automatically translate such variations into the proper official code.  For Flips, where the official codes were revamped in 2004, the program will still understand the "old" codes, and will substitute the proper new codes automatically.  A formatted listing of these Trick Codes and Allowed Variations can be popped up into a separate browser window, and can be left open and available for instant reference while you are scoring a trick event.

Reverses may be indicated by merely typing in the single letter "R", instead of having to spell out the complete reverse code.  For example, following a TWBB, if you merely enter "R", then the program will expand that to "RTWBB" automatically.  Where the preceding trick is a simple 180 degree turn, WSTIMS will then present a reverse of the preceding trick instead.  For example, encountering the sequence "W5F" / "B" / "R", WSTIMS will translate that final trick into "RW5F".  Essentially, it will understand what you mean.

WSTIMS keeps track of the position of the ski(s) (facing front or facing back) at the conclusion of each trick.  Consequently, WSTIMS may squawk at you if it detects a "Position Error" -- in other words an illogical sequence.  When being operated in Scoring Mode, then you will have to correct the problem immediately, before it will let you proceed to the next trick.  Only the Auto-Insert and Revise options noted below are available when WSTIMS tricks is being operated in Scoring mode.  However, when in Pre-Scoring mode, and a position error is detected, then you will be given all three of the following choices --

• Accept   -- for example, you might find "TWLF" followed immediately by "TWF", which is clearly impossible to execute as written.  In such instances, it's quite likely that the skier is planning to perform only one or the other of those two tricks, but not both -- probably depending on their balance at the conclusion of the preceding trick.  In such cases it's easiest to leave both tricks in the run exactly that way, then when the judge's forms come in later, and you see which trick has actually been executed, then you would mark the omitted trick as Skipped.  To do this you would choose the "Accept" option which will be given.
   
• Auto-Insert   -- you might find a declared run containing "W5B" / "RW5B", with nothing in between.  Yet here the skier is clearly intending to perform both of the two tricks.  Usually the skier will already have a "F" credited elsewhere in their run, and so didn't bother to include the intervening (but necessary) positioning trick, since it would not be scored anyways.  In such a case we recommend you choose the "Auto-Insert" option that will be given, whereupon WSTIMS will add a "F", between the two tricks.  That way all of the moves that the skier would be expected to perform, would be accounted for in the run.  If this Auto-Insert option is selected following a toe trick, then the program will insert a "TB" or "TF", rather than a "B" or "F".
   
• Revise   -- another possibility is that you may have read the list incorrectly, or made a typing mistake and input an incorrect code, or a trick out of sequence.  In these cases you wouldn't want either of the previous two choices, but instead you'd want to revise the current trick, and make it be something else.  This will be the default treatment, if you do not select either the Accept or Auto-Insert options.

If such a Position Error is detected when the program is being operated in actual event scoring mode, then you must either correct the error by revising the erroneous trick code, or by selecting the Auto-Insert option to have the program insert an "F" or "B", as appropriate.  The Accept option is only offered when you are operating in Pre-Scoring mode.

Each listed trick will be classified with one of the following Trick Disposition Codes.  This Disposition (status) code for each trick will appear on the screen as a two or three character abbreviation.  Each Disposition also has a unique Command Key associated with it.  Pressing the indicated Command key, will apply that specific disposition to the currently highlighted trick.

• Creditable -- "OK" -- Y or C key command.  Trick will be listed with appropriate point value in the scoring recap, and that value included in the skier's score. 
   
• No Credit -- "N/C" -- N key command.  Scores zero, listed that way in the scoring recap. 
   
• Before Course -- "BFR" -- B key command.  Scores zero because the trick was begun before the skier arrived at the level of the yellow "May Start" trick course buoy.  Only the first trick of a pass may be so indicated. 
   
• Not on List -- "NOL" -- L key command.  Not creditable because the trick was not listed on a declared run.  Scores zero, but will be listed in the scoring recap to account for positioning.  Since Declared Lists are no longer required in Record Capability events, this status has become obsolete.  If a trick should happen to get this disposition, you can readily change it to OK with the Y key.
   
• Skipped -- "SKP" -- S key command.  This trick will be omitted from the scoring recap for this pass, but the trick will still be retained in the file at that point in the run.  When a subsequent round scoring file is created (with the multi-round scoring file duplicate function), the original declared trick list, including any skipped tricks, will be carried forwards into that subsequent round. 
   
• Fell on Trick -- "FLL" -- F key command.  Scores zero in the Scoring Recap.  Unlike all the other codes above, this disposition will define the end of the pass.  If keyed on a trick as they are being entered, this will automatically conclude the current pass.  If applied to a trick in a pre-scored run that was entered earlier, all the subsequent tricks below this one in the pass, will have their dispositions blanked out, and the cursor then cannot be moved below this trick, so long as this "FLL" code appears there. 
   
• Out of Course -- "OOC" -- O key command.  Scores zero in the scoring recap.  Like the Fall disposition noted immediately above, this OOC disposition also defines the end of the current pass, and will lock out any subsequent tricks listed in the pass. 
   
• Unresolved -- "???" -- U key command.  Scores zero in the scoring recap, and noted as "UNRESOLVED" in bold in that recap.  This disposition is provided for when there is an issue of identification or creditability, which will require either consultation or video review at a later time before the scoring of the pass can be officially resolved.  When one or more tricks are so indicated in a skier's run, then the score summary for that skier will show "UNRESOLVED" instead of showing the first and second pass scores, as a reminder that this skier is in need of further review before the score can be finalized. 
   
• Repeat -- "RPT".  Scores zero in the scoring recap.  Unlike the other disposition codes -- which are under the explicit control of the user -- the Repeat status is automatically determined by WSTIMS, according to the official rules for repeats.  Consequently there is no keyboard command associated with this disposition.  Repeat status is automatically determined and indicated as tricks are being entered, depending on the status of the previously entered tricks.  However, when the program is in Trick Edit mode, and the disposition of tricks are changed, or tricks are added or deleted, then the repeat status of the various tricks displayed on the screen may no longer be accurate.  Consequently, each time the program leaves trick edit mode, it always conducts an automatic and thorough review on the status of all potential repeats, updates its dispositions at that time, and then refreshes those dispositions on the screen display.
   
  WSTIMS will only credit the first occurance of a trick listed under each trick number -- subsequent occurances of another trick, under the same number, which would otherwise be creditable, will be noted as "RPT" and will score zero.  This is exactly as called for by the rules.
   
  Important !!   There is one wrinkle that WSTIMS trick scorers need to be aware of, specifically with regard to the multi-turn surface tricks listed under trick #5 in the rulebook table.  If the skier should happen to perform another trick under #5 later in the run, where that second (or 3rd etc) trick has a higher point value than the first one, then this simplistic "score the first occurance" treatment that WSTIMS applies will not be the correct answer.  So if the skier subsequently does a creditable 5 or a 7, after an O (or OB) has already been credited earlier in the run, then that 5 or 7 will show up as a repeat.  We just haven't been able to make WSTIMS quite that smart.  So if this occurs, you will need to mark the first trick (O or OB) as "N/C", in order for the higher-valued later trick to be properly credited.

Immediately after selecting a skier who already has a defined run, the Trick program will come up in Trick Edit Mode.  This could be a pre-scored run that was entered before the event (or round) began.  Alternatively, this could be the trick details for a skier who has already been scored earlier in the event -- if you find it necessary to review or revise the details of that run or its scoring.  In either instance, the highlight bar will initially be placed on the first trick in the first pass.  When the selected skier does not yet have a defined run, then the Trick program will come up in Trick Input Mode instead.

When the program is in Trick Edit Mode, you can use the navigation keys (arrows etc) to scroll the highlight bar around to specific tricks in either pass, and then Operate On that highlighted trick, with any of the available keyboard command keys.

As a reminder, the list of command keys for the operations that you may apply to any trick, will always be displayed in the lower left corner of the Trick Detail screen.  These Trick Edit Mode command keys fall into the following major categories --

• Navigation Keys   -- the arrow keys allow you to scroll the highlight bar around to any other existing trick in either pass.
   
• Switch to Input Mode   -- Pressing the down arrow key when the highlight appears on the last trick at the end of a pass, or pressing the A key when on any other trick, will cause the program to switch into Trick Input Mode, following the last trick in that pass.
   
• Delete or Insert   -- The Delete key will delete the highlighted trick;  The Insert key will open a space before the currently highlighted trick (moving it down), and switch into Trick Code Mode, so that you can enter an additional trick in that spot.  The program will switch back into Trick Edit Mode immediately after you have finished typing the code, with the highlight on this added trick.  You can then use any of the Trick Disposition command keys to change the status of this newly-added trick, as may be appropriate.
   
• Trick Disposition Keys   -- allow you to define or modify the Disposition (status) of the highlighted trick.  The complete list of possible trick disposition codes appears below, under the Trick Dispositions heading.
   

When you exit the Trick Edit Mode -- either the <ENTER> or ESCape key in Edit Mode is the trigger -- WSTIMS will first perform a comprehensive Post-Edit review pass, of all the tricks in both passes, before presenting you with the Options List.  While certain tests regarding position validation and repeat status are determined as tricks are being entered one-by-one, it is also possible for alterations you make in Edit mode, to create illogical sequences or conditions.  For example, simply marking a RW5F as Skipped, can create a possible position sequence error, and would also affect the repeat status of another RW5F if there one were to be listed esewhere in the run.

Since it is impractical to do all possible checks immediately after every possible change, instead this post-edit review pass is performed on exit from Trick Edit mode.  The official repeat status of each trick is established, and also the position sequence is validated.  Any illogical conditions identified during this pass will be brought to your attention for resolution.

Once the post-edit review is completed, the official score for the credited tricks is summed up, and that final result is then displayed in the lower left corner of the window.  The Options List will then appear, offering you the following four choices --

1. Print a scoring recap of the executed tricks and their status.  This will be sent to a printer if one is currently active, or else this recap will be inserted at the end of the Event Log File.
    
2. Return to Edit mode, should you need to make any further revisions to the tricks or their status.
    
3. Drop this skier record and return to the competitor selection screen, typically used when you discover that you've pulled up the wrong skier.
    
4. Post the final score to the skier, and return to the competitor selection screen after determining the placement for this skier in with the others whose scores have already been finalized.

Which option in the list will be the default -- ie which choice will have the highlight bar on it -- depends on the immediately preceding action.  When the program was in Trick Edit Mode, and the highlight bar was positioned on a trick in the first pass when the exit trigger occurred, then the option list will come up with the "Return to Trick Edit Mode" as the default.  When it was in Edit mode with the highlight bar on a trick in the second pass, then "Print Scoring Recap" will be the default choice.  When it was already in the Options mode, and the Print Option was just selected, then the "Post Score" choice will be the highlighted default.  So in general, the most common flows will result from merely pressing the <ENTER> key at each stage.

When the WSTIMS Jumping module is selected, a short Startup Dialog will be conducted.  See Jump Startup for details on what that dialog will consist of.

A reproduction of the Jumping scoring screen appears immediately below.  Each of the underlined items is a link that will take you to more information about that item or subject, for when you need specific help in a hurry.  Or, you can read sequentially through the material which appears following the sample, for an orderly explanation of how each Jumper's performance is scored with WSTIMS.

 ROBERGE, CARL (M2 OA ) Age: 25          Boat Speed: 57    Ramp Hgt: 5.5
 300-44-0384 From: ORLANDO, FL
                                         SKIER TAKING RERIDE -- W/LIMITS 
 SELECT OPTION BELOW (or O/L/T/S):       WIDE TRIANGLE -- MAX: 212

     Change Ramp Height                  P# 3  RH 5.5  Spd: 57 KPH (35.4 MPH)
     Record Results & Proceed            Tm Tols: (332+186) 511-525 & 236-246
     Change Requested Speed
     Skier Given a Reride                Result? (P/J/F): J    Air Time: 2.25
     Revise Result & Times               Boat Time Values:  333  187  240

                                         ANGLES:  UPPER   LOWER   USED  AVG
 PASS HGT/SP  TIMES   MTR  FT   MAX
                                         Meter A  137.5   137.3   AVG  137.4
   1  5.5/57 519/241 57.6 189
                                         Meter B  108.6   107.2   LWR  107.4
   2  5.5/57 517/239 53.6 176
                                         Meter C   99.1    99.4   AVG   99.25
   3  5.5/57 520/240 56.9 193 (212)
                                         Dist: 193 Ft  59.0 M  Tri: 2.99 M
 Intersection   A-B    A-C    B-C        
 Coords  X:   192.8  211.8  210.2        Speed: 48  Lift: 18 F/S  Hgt: 23 Ft
 (feet)  Y:   -16.6   -6.5   11.4        
 **** Meter C Probably  88.6 ****        Enter Official Distances Above

In addition to all of the scorekeeping functionality, WSTIMS also includes features to perform the mathematical distance calculations, when a Johnson Jump meter system is being used to determine jump distances.  In order to use these features, the WSTIMS Jump Meter Setup & Checkout task must have been run first, for the particular meter and ramp configuration on which the event is taking place.  That Setup and Validation process prepares the WSTIMS system to compute distances for that configuration.  See the Jump Meter Setup section for details.

Alternatively (or additionally in special cases), the Corson Video Jump (CVJ) or other video measurement system may be used to determine jump distances.  When CVJ measurement is being used, the WSTIMS scoring program may be run on the exact same machine that is running CVJ, or may be run on a separate computer.  Both WSTIMS and CVJ have been programmed so that when both programs are being run in the same machine, they transfer information back and forth semi-automatically, thereby reducing the potential for human beings to inject mistakes when transcribing the information from one computer to another.  Whether both applications are run on one single computer, or separate computers used for each of these two functions, is a choice left to the particular group of officials running an event -- both approaches have their respective advocates and critics -- the comfort level of the officials involved is probably going to be the primary factor in how any particular team will choose to operate.

When the Jumping Event Management task is selected from the WSTIMS Scoring menu, the operator will be presented with a listing of available pre-defined Johnson Jump Meter setups.  If Meters are being used for this event, the operator should enter the number corresponding to the applicable meter setup.  If a Video measurement system is being used instead, then the letter V should be entered, instead of a setup index number.

Please note that WSTIMS can operate with both meters and a video system, in the same event.  So, if a meter setup number is entered by the operator, WSTIMS will then inquire if a Video system is also being used -- respond Y or N as applicable.  If Y is specified, then on each jump, the operator will have the option to indicate which measurement method(s) are to be used for that particular jump.  See Entering the Result of a Jump Attempt below for more information on this subject.

If a meter setup was selected, and if this is a class C or lower event, then WSTIMS needs to know whether each meter station is manned by one or two meter readers.  Respond by pressing either the 1 or 2 digit key.  For Record Capability events (E, L or R), two meter readers per station is required, and therefore automatically assumed by WSTIMS.

Once WSTIMS has determined the measurement framework that will be used, it will then ask the scorer to specify the height that the ramp is currently set at.  Allowed values are 6.0, 5.5, 5.0 or 4.5, with the 4.5 foot value being used for AWSA Seniors divisions or WSDA events where the ramp is set anywhere below the 5 foot (.235 ratio) setting.

In general, all the jumpers in any particular Event Group will be jumping on the same ramp height.  However, there are certain circumstances under which a ramp height change may occur between jumpers in a single Event Group.  See Changing the Ramp Height for the details on how this is accomplished between skiers in a single Event Group.

Next you will be asked whether you are planning to Enter Air Times on each jump or not.  This optional feature results in skier Speed and Spring and Height values being computed on each measured jump, where an Air Time value has also been input.  The Air Time / Speed / Spring / Height section below provides more detail on this subject.

Finally you will be asked to indicate the specific boat model, the size of the engine, and the particular speed control system being used in that boat.  All three of these elements are chosen from lists provided, so this isn't a case of typing in data, but rather of indicating these details through choices.  This data is written into the event log file, and then subsequently picked up and incorporated into a new special boat timing recap data feed file, that is automatically produced when the Jump Boat Timing Analysis task is run as part of the end-of-tournament processes.

Every jump competitor is allowed to choose the boat speed and boat path for each jump attempt, up to the maximum speed allowed for the applicable Age Division.  When a new Jump competitor is selected for scoring, the first thing WSTIMS will do is ask you for their selected boat speed.  The highlight bar will initially be positioned at the maximum allowed speed for the applicable division -- scroll the highlight bar, if necessary, to the speed announced by the boat judge, and press the enter key.  You will then be taken to the Primary Jump Options choice menu.

Since the skier has the option to change the boat speed from one jump attempt to the next, the Primary Jump Options list will always include the Change Requested Speed option, on every jump attempt.  When this option is selected, the boat speed selection list will re-appear, with the highlight bar pre-positioned at the boat speed value most recently selected for this skier.

If you have already selected the Proceed to Next Jump option, and have WSTIMS asking for that attempt's outcome, and then you hear the towboat saying that the speed has changed, or on your own notice that the speed shown on the screen isn't the correct value, no problem.  Remember that all you have to do is hit the ESCape key, and that will take you back to the Jump Options list, where you can then select a revised speed.

After the skier and speed have been selected, WSTIMS displays the fast and slow time tolerance limits applicable for that selected boat speed, for both the 82 meter and 41 meter timing segments.  New for 2009, WSTIMS also shows you the expected times for the new 52 meter and 30 meter sub-segments of the combined 82 meter segment.  If the skier's selected speed is subsequently changed between jumps, these displayed limits will also change accordingly.

It is important to note that beginning 2009, WSTIMS now expects to get times for three segments on each jump -- for each of the 52 and 30 and 41 meter segments.  Details on that new protocol are provided in the Entering Boat Times section below.

When a skier has chosen a speed that is below the maximum for their indicated age division, please note that the final segment fast and slow values you see displayed are the applicable limits called for by the rules, and not the values you will find in the tolerance charts for that particular speed.  See AWSA rule 9.09(e-f), or IWSF rule 13.04, for the pertinent details.  The value 999 showing as the final segment slow tolerance limit really means that there is no slow limit (as these provisions call for).  That 999 value will also serve as a reminder that the skier is skiing at below their division maximum speed.

After a new jumper is selected for scoring and their speed chosen, the Option List will initially include a Change Ramp Height choice.  This is provided to accomodate those rare instances where a single jump event group contains skiers who will jump at different ramp heights.

When such a mixed group is run with the ramp height going from higher to lower settings, WSTIMS will probably detect the need for change itself -- it will squawk at you when a skier is chosen in an age division whose maximum ramp height is less than what WSTIMS has the ramp height setting at.  If (when) this happens, that's when you would need to use that Change Ramp Height choice, to modify this setting.  Or perhaps you've chosen the wrong skier instead -- or have an incorrectly set age division for the skier chosen -- in those cases you'd select the Quit Skier option, to abandon scoring this skier with those settings.  Then you could select a different skier, or edit settings for the skier, as needed.

When going the other way, with the ramp height increasing, you will have to remember to use the Change Ramp Height option to revise the ramp height, on the first jumper selected after the ramp has been raised.  This can be easy to overlook.  If you should find that you've scored one or more skiers with the incorrect ramp height value, the Competitor Data Editor function is the easiest way to revise the indicated ramp height code in the score records for the affected skiers.  It is not necessary to completely re-score the complete jump ride for each such affected skier.

The important thing to tuck away here, is that this Change Ramp Height option is offered within the scoring process, after a skier has been selected for scoring, and only before their first attempt -- rather than from the competitor selection screen that you see between skiers.

Once a skier has been selected and their Boat Speed and Ramp Height have been established, various status information will appear on the Jump Scoring screen.  The skier's name and some other useful identifying information will be shown in the upper left corner.  An accumulation of the results of each jump attempt will be built in the lower left section.  The exact specification of the next (or current) jump will appear in the upper right section, directly below the boat speed and ramp height choice area, which will remain visible for the duration of the skier's appearance in this screen.

The details displayed in these various status and accumulation areas will change and grow, as the skier's set develops.

The scoring of a Jumping performance involves the scorer and computer in a series of exchanges, alternating between entering data -- outcomes & times, meter readings and/or distances, etc -- and choosing options which result from interpretations of that data.  All of the Data Entry fields are presented on the right side of the scoring screen, while the choices appearing in the Select Option Below area in the upper left section, will continually change as this process unfolds.  Each time a choice is needed, all of the alternatives that are applicable to the context that currently exists, will appear in that list.  In general, the highlight will appear on the most likely choice, given the context.  But you should always be sure to look at those choices, and make a different selection whenever that is appropriate.

Remember that this Select Option Below menu is also where you can trigger any of the four Pop-Up Functions -- Officials / Log / Timing-Statistics / Scoreboard -- that are available to the scorer during the course of scoring a skier's performance.  The (or O/L/T/S) prompt is merely a reminder about these.  Remember also that if you've already advanced to the Result field for the next attempt, that a single tap on the Escape key will take you back to that Option List.  That will provide you the opportunity to switch to a reride on the previous pass, or trigger a Pop-Up, or whatever else may be appropriate to the specific circumstances, as they unfold.

Selecting the Proceed to Next Jump option begins the process of scoring the next jump attempt.  The first thing the user is asked for is a one-character Result Code, to indicate the disposition of the jump attempt, and which also governs the choices which will subsequently be offered to the scorer, as the official outcome of this attempt is determined through subsequent interactions.  Here are the primary Code values which can be entered at this field --

• Pass -- P  result key command.  When the skier rides past or balks.  In this instance only the first segment (52 and 30 meter sub-segments) time will be requested, and then the normal What Next between jumps options will be immediately presented in the option list after those two sub-segment times have been entered.
   
• Fall -- F  result key command.  When the skier does not land a scoring jump.  Remember that the Boat Judge is the official who makes this judgement.  After the times values are entered, the normal What Next between jumps options will be immediately presented in the option list.  However, note that when distances are being computed using a Johnson Meter system, that a special Distance for Information Only option is presented after a fall has been detected.  This option is provided for when the officials wish to plot the landing and determine what the distance would have been for that unsuccessful attempt.  Selecting that option will lead to the normal meter reading & distance calculation process, although the results thereof will be discarded afterwards -- the attempt will officially be logged as a fall.
   
• Jump -- J  result key command.  When the skier lands a successful jump.  After the boat time values have been entered, the choices presented in the Option List area will depend on whether a Johnson Meter system setup was specified or not at the startup of the current event.  If Meters were specified, then a Calculate Jump Distance choice will appear, and that choice will take the user to the Enter Meter Reading Values process.  If a Video System was specified, then a Enter Video Ft & Mtrs choice will appear instead, and that choice will take the user to the Entering Video System Distances process.
   
  When a Video Distance Measurement System is being used, there are a couple of additional -- or alternative -- Result codes that can be specified by the scorer on a successful jump.  These alternative codes more precisely control exactly where and how the video distance information is obtained on any particular jump.
   
  
  • V -- Video Interface  result key command.  This indicates a successful jump, and when the Enter Video Ft & Mtrs choice is selected, WSTIMS will extract distance information from the CVJ result interface file.  If a WSTIMS Jump event is being scored without a meter system, then this is exactly what the J Result code does as well.  This V code should be used when the CVJ distance system and WSTIMS are both being run in the same computer, and a meter system was selected during event startup, but the operator wishes to bypass the meter distance computation and use only the Video distance on a particular jump.  This scenario arises most frequently when jump meters are being used as backup to a video system, instead of a video recording process.  Or where a video system may only cover the longer portions of the entire landing area, and meters are used to plot the distances for shorter jumps.  In either of those selective situations, then this V option should be used instead of J, as appropriate on each jump.
     
  • K -- Keyboard Interface  result key command.  This indicates a successful jump, and when the Enter Video Ft & Mtrs choice is selected, WSTIMS will request the resultant official distances, in both Feet and Meters, be entered manually on the WSTIMS Scoring screen.  This code should be used when the Video distance measurement system is being run on a separate computer, or even when CVJ is being run on this same computer, whenever the distance information for a particular jump is coming from a different computer -- which is probably seeing a different part of the landing area.
     
  • B -- Both Systems  result key command.  This special code is intended for use when both a meter and a video system are being used simultaneously, for the same range of jump distances.  This will result in both Metered and Video computed distances being reported and logged together, to facilitate more detailed comparative analysis.  The Video distance values are logged as the official outcome.  This feature has rarely been used since 1999, but still remains for when the need arises.

Keep in mind that the Jump Result Code field and the set of Boat Time input fields act like linked cells in a spreadsheet, except that you can only advance forward out of the Result code field, by pressing one of the valid Result code keys -- or the ESCape key, which will take you back to the Option List.  Pressing the Tab or Enter or Down Arrow key in one of the boat time fields will cause it to shift the cursor into the next field, while the Up arrow or BackTab (Shift-Tab) will shift the cursor into the previous field.  The forward slash key "/" is also accepted and interpreted as a forward field transfer trigger.  When one of those forward field trigger keys is pressed when the cursor is in the final segment time field, that is accepted as the "End of Input" trigger, and causes WSTIMS to decipher and interpret the Result Code and time values together.

So ... when you have already pressed one of the Result code keys that signifies a successful jump, and the cursor has already moved forwards into the First Segment time input field, and then you hear the boat judge go, "Oh, that was a fall" -- you merely need to press the Up Arrow key once, and the cursor will obligingly jump back into the Result Code field for you, so that you can revise that now-incorrect Result code.

Three Timing Segment Values Expected (2009) -- Except in the case of a Pass (balk), the latest rules require that the times for all three of the revised jump timing course segments be reported and interpreted.  So there are three separate time input fields.  The 52 meter and 30 meter sub-segment time values should be entered into the first two fields, and the final 41 meter segment time value goes into the third field.  This input protocol is consistent with the way that times for the three segments are displayed by the latest versions of both the Perfect Pass and Zero Off speed control systems.  WSTIMS will add the 52m and 30m segment times to derive the 82m segment time, and then use that value when required by the applicable rules.

2009 Class L/R (IWSF) Events -- IWSF 2009 rules require separate consideration of the 52m segment time, only for Men's events, and only where the distance is 65 meters or further.  WSTIMS evaluates the segment times immediately as they are input, and so if you see the 52m segment time flagged, please be aware that this may not trigger an out-of-tolerance situation, once the distance value has been input.  Also be aware that the treatment of 52m out-of-tolerance times is the reverse of what you're used to for 82m and 41m bad times -- ie a fast 52m time is considered a disadvantage and an optional reride, while a slow 52m time is considered an advantage and hence would be a mandatory reride.  Finally, please note that under the latest IWSF rules, jumps with times considered an advantage, are now deferred until the end of the skiers set, and will only result in a reride if it is the longest jump of the set.  See IWSF rules 13.04 and 13.15 for more complete details.

Keywords:  Where Time Values are NOT Available -- There are a number of circumstances where you may not have time values for a specific jump attempt.  In those instances, WSTIMS will accept and respond appropriately to a number of specific keywords, which you may enter in the field where the first (52m) segment time value would normally be input.  Here is the list of those special time outcome keywords, and the respective handling that will result from each:

• OK  -- WSTIMS will offer the same options as if time values had been entered that were within the allowed tolerances.
   
• FAST  -- WSTIMS will offer the same options as if the 82m segment time (now the total of the 52m and 30m sub-segment time values) was smaller than the fast tolerance for the applicable speed.
   
• SLOW  -- WSTIMS will offer the same options as if time value(s) had been entered that were greater than the slow tolerance for the applicable speed.

Now let's get back to talking about numbers.  WSTIMS expects times to be entered in hundredths of a second -- and doesn't expect you to type in a decimal point.  So 5.18 is expected as 518.  If a user should happen to put in a time with a decimal point, WSTIMS will just remove it anyways -- so don't bother.

Last-2-Digit Shorthand Convention -- It is common practice in many areas to only call in the last two digits of the time value for each timing segment.  So if the boat speed is 48 Kph and the ideal 52m first segment time is 397, then if "98" is called in, everybody know that really means 398 -- and "01" would really mean 401 -- and so forth.  WSTIMS understands this shorthand concept, and so whenever it finds that only two digits have been entered, that abbreviation will be interpreted accordingly, by referring to the expected time value for the applicable segment and expected boat speed.

It is important to understand that these interpretations are based on a couple of assumptions.  So it pays to be cautious -- 2 digit values will be a useful communication shortcut only when both parties are on the same page.  Whenever a skier has requested a boat speed which is below the allowed Division Maximum, then it is highly recommended that the boat judge call in the entire time value for each segment, rather than just the last 2 digits.

Here's a concrete example of where things can go awry inadvertently, when only two digits are being input.  Let's say you've got a novice jumper who requested 42 kph -- for which the ideal first segment time is 703 -- and who has just landed their first successful jump.  Whereupon the skier signaled the boat judge to take the speed up two intervals, to 48 kph.  With the collective excitement going on at both ends of the towline, it's quite possible for the boat judge to forget to advise the scorer that they have changed speed.  You can probably guess where this is going.  So on the next jump, the boat judge sees a time of 629, notes that as good (for the new 48 Kph speed they are now running) and calls in "29".  The scorer types in 29, and WSTIMS (working from the 703 ideal time for 42 kph which it still thinks is the applicable speed) expands that to 729.  WSTIMS then quite properly reports that 729 as slow, when evaluated against the 42 kph slow side tolerance limit of 724.  So the resultant dialog probably has the scorer going, "I show 29 as slow ...", with the Judge rebutting, "No it isn't, 29 is OK by my chart ... " you can see where this leads.

Had the boat judge called in the complete time, as 629 instead, then it would be obvious to all what was wrong -- there was an incorrect assumption about the speed.  Hence the recommendation to use complete time values, whenever the skier is running at below maximum speed.  In such circumstances, the scorer should also be on the alert for the possibility that the skier might ask for an increase in the boat speed, when advancing from one jump to the next.

Now continuing with the above scenario, where the scorer has this skier at 42 kph and with an indicated first segment time of 729 -- where it's supposed to be 629 instead -- what do we need to do now?  Actually we need to change both the speed and the time values.  You will find that WSTIMS anticipates such scenarios, and offers choices accordingly.  So the scorer would first need to select the Change Requested Speed option, and then revise the speed to 48 kph.  Next they would select the Revise Result & Times option, and then revise the time value to 629.  Then the computer and boat will be back on the same (correct) page, and both can move forwards to dealing with the distance on this jump.

When a Boat supports Only two-segment timing -- There can be circumstances where a towboat from an earlier year, which is not capable of reporting 3-segment times, is used for an AWSA event.  When this situation arises, the boat judge will only be able to supply two time values -- a complete 82 meter segment time and then a 41 meter segment time.  The scorer should enter the complete 82 meter first segment time in the first input field -- where the 52 meter segment time would normally go -- and enter all three digits of that value.  WSTIMS will then recognize that value as the 82 meter segment time, rather than the 52 meter segment time that would normally be supplied here, and then will jump forwards to the third boat time input field for the 41 meter segment time.  In this instance WSTIMS will not have any values for the 52 and 30 meter sub-segments, and will only interpret the 82 meter and 41 meter segment times according to the applicable rules.

Navigating Amongst Outcome Code and Timing Segment Input Fields -- Please be aware that the Outcome code field and the jump timing segment value input fields are all linked together.  So as you are entering these values for a jump, and the cursor is in one of the later fields, and you then notice that you need to revise what you had input in one of the previous fields, then you can press a backwards field transfer trigger key -- Up Arrow or BackTab -- and WSTIMS will politely move the cursor back to the previous field.  The first boat time segment input field is linked backwards to the Jump Outcome code field, so pressing a backwards transfer key when the cursor is in that first time input field, will then take you back to the Jump Outcome code field. 

The meter reading angles are the principle inputs to the Meter System distance computation.  If communications are good, the operator can input these as they are being called in over the radio or intercom.  If there are two meter readers at each meter station, then two angles need to be input for each station, otherwise only one angle will be expected.  Where there are two, the Upper meter table value is expected first, and the Lower meter table value is expected second, as each station's sightings are being input.

Each angle reading is entered as a two or three or four digit value, and is expected to be expressed in tenths of a degree, although the operator does not need to explicitly type in a decimal point as part of each reading.  WSTIMS will automatically insert the decimal point at the right place.  So 655 is understood to be 65.5, 650 is understood to be 65.0, and 65 is also taken as 65.0, and so on.  Simply type in the digits as each value is being read in.  Be aware that you may use the backspace and delete and arrows and other normal text editing keys, as necessary, to input the desired angle.  Then press the <ENTER> key to conclude that value and advance to the next field.

There is a handy shortcut when two meter readers are present at each meter station.  The Upper table value is keyed in first.  Pressing the <ENTER> key alone at the Lower table value, without typing in any digits, will signal WSTIMS to use the exact same value as the Upper reading.

These six (or three) meter reading input fields behave like linked cells in a spreadsheet.  Pressing the Tab or Enter or Down Arrow key in any of these fields will cause it to shift the cursor into the next field, while the Up arrow or BackTab (Shift-Tab) will shift the cursor into the previous field.  The forward slash key "/" is also accepted and interpreted as a forward field transfer trigger.  When one of those forward field trigger keys is pressed on the final field, that is accepted as the "End of Input" trigger, and signals WSTIMS to compute the distance.

So if you realize that you made a typing mistake on one of the earlier values as you are working your way through keying in these readings as they are being read to you, you do not need to cry an immediate halt.  Instead you can continue to key in the additional readings as they come in, but just do not press the Enter key on the final field.  Instead at the point you can use the Up arrow or Back-Tab keys to work your way back to the erroneous reading, and then revise it as necessary.  Then use the Enter key to advance back down and conclude the meter sighting input process.

Once all the meter readings have been input, WSTIMS will then analyze those angles according to the applicable distance computation rules, and then display the outcome of those computations and analysis on your screen.  When two meter readers are used at each station, WSTIMS will report whether it used the Average of the two readings, or the Upper reading alone, or the Lower reading alone.  In general the Average will be used where the readings are reasonably close together.  However, where WSTIMS reports Upper or Lower alone, you may want to relay that back to the meter readers at that particular meter station.

The results of the distance calculation are presented below the meter reading input area, along with the computed size of the Error Triangle.  So long as that triangle is of acceptable size, then the displayed distance values, expressed in both Feet and in Meters, are the official outcome of the jump.  However, should any revisions to the meter reading values be necessary, a Revise Meter Readings choice is presented in the Jump Options at this point.  That will take the operator back to the Meter Reading input area.  Following any such revisions, then a revised analysis and distance computation will be done with those revised angles.

Unless you have a "Wide Triangle" (see below), the distance outcome(s) on the display should be reported back to the Boat Judge immediately.  Once you are fairly comfortable with the operation of the jumping program, you should find that you are able to report the distance back to the boat about the time it is passing the jump on the return trip.

Before leaving the distance calculation procedure, however, there is one more step that ought to be carried out -- to confirm the meter readings.  Experience with parallel testing against "automatic" meter systems has shown that about one reading out of a hundred winds up in the computer incorrectly -- and given 3 x 6 = 18 meter reading values per skier, that means that a mistake will occur on about one skier out of every five.  This "human factor" error rate is high enough to justify extra effort to catch and fix these errors, which may stem from any of the following three causes:

1. A meter reader could interpret the scale on the protractor on the meter table incorrectly, or ...
    
2. A meter reader could make a clerical or verbal mistake in reporting the reading to the masterboard/computer, or ...
    
3. The masterboard/computer operator could make a mistake in hearing a reading, or may key it into the computer incorrectly.  A common error of this type is to transpose (switch) two digits.

While larger errors will produce a wide triangle, and thereby focus your attention on the problem, smaller errors will usually slip through unnoticed -- but can produce incorrect distances.  Therefore, after reporting the distance to the boat (and getting their confirmation), it is recommended that all six of the meter reading values be called back to the meters, and that each of the meter readers actually look at their sighting arm against the protractor while their reading is called back, to see if what they hear matches what they see.  This readback procedure will catch all of the above-mentioned types of errors.  Assuming that the distance is reported to the boat about the time they are passing the jump on the return trip, that leaves more than ample time to accomplish this readback confirmation, and make corrections if needed, before the meters and masterboard need to prepare for the next jump.

Finally, when you are satisfied with the meter readings and resultant distance computation, then you would select the Accept Calculated Distance choice from the option list.  That will leave the distance calculation mode and move on to the scoring options, with whatever choices are appropriate at that point, given the context.

Wide Triangles -- Diagnostics

(bk to Jump index)

A Wide Triangle is what occurs when the intersections of the sighting lines from the three meter stations, form a triangle whose size is larger than allowed by the rules.  Sometimes this may be the result of a bad sighting by a meter reader operator.  But this can also occur as the result of a transcription or data entry error at the computer end.  WSTIMS offers quite a bit of information and diagnosis that can help you understand more exactly what has happened on any particular jump, when the triangle size exceeds the rules allowance.

First, note that the distance values shown on the line below the meter readings are for the shortest vertex of the triangle.  The Triangle size is also shown at the right end of that line.  The distance to the longest vertex of the triangle appears in the Wide Triangle message that displays near the top right on your screen.  If that triangle size is big -- say 3-4 meters or larger -- then you've probably got either a data transcription error, or an error by one of the meter readers.  Of course the first thing you will do is verify the meter readings on the screen, to see if a data transcription or recording or entry error crept in.  If you find such an error, then correct it and see if the wide triangle goes away.

There are additional diagnostics presented in a display that will appear in the lower left corner of the screen.  What are being shown here are the X (downcourse) and Y (side-to-side) coordinates of each of the three sightline intersections, formed by the each of the respective pairs of projected meter sighting angles -- A&B, B&C and A&C.  The coordinates for each of those three intersections presented are computed relative to a line running downcourse from the top center of the ramp.  WSTIMS knows the side-to-side position (Y coordinate) at which jumpers typically land, as a function of the relative distance.  So starting with an assumption that only one of the meters is actually off, and hence that only one of the intersections will fall at a Y coordinate which is reasonable for that approximate distance, WSTIMS will then determine which intersection fits best.  Then presuming that the angle from the remaining odd-man-out meter is the bad one, WSTIMS will then calculate what the sighting from that station would have been, had that meter been pointed to the same location as the intersection of the sightings from the other two meters.  It will then report the meter it thinks is in error, and what that "shoulda been" angle is, displaying this information at the bottom of that lower left diagnostic area.  If that message says, "Meter x Probably ...", then WSTIMS is very sure this is the problem.  Alternatively, this might display as, "Meter x Could Be ..." instead, in which case that diagnosis is less certain.

This little "what if" analysis will usually diagnose large errors correctly, although smaller triangles are less certain.  Here below is a recap of the most common causes of meter sighting errors, and what to look for whenever you find WSTIMS reporting a wide triangle:

• A Scale Mis-Interpretation Error, can happen easily when the scribe line on the sighting arm falls just below one of the even ten degree intervals on the protractor.  For example, the operator may see that the line is passing through the 100 degree legend, and is at about the 9 degree mark.  The true angle is therefore actually about 99 degrees, but it's easy to misinterpret this as 109 degrees instead.  This scale mis-interpretation phenomenon happens with some frequency, so check WSTIMS's diagnosis, and see if that suggestion is approximately ten degrees higher than the reported sighting value(s), for the meter fingered.  If you think this is what happened, then we suggest you clarify with the meter readers involved, something like, "Meter x, could that reading actually be 99 degrees, instead of the 109 degrees you called in?"  If they then agree that was the case, then you've found your fix -- revise that reading and your wide triangle will probably go away.
   
• An Edge Sighting Error occurs when the meter operator inadvertently lines up either the left or right edge of the front of the meter arm with the landing plume, instead of the scribe line that runs down the center of the sighting arm.  If the discrepancy in the WSTIMS diagnosis is around 4 degrees, either higher or lower, then this might have occurred.  If so, there is no way to correct for it.  But if you get a number of errors on this order from a particular meter station, then this might be the underlying problem.
   
• A Secondary Plume Error typically occurs on an awkward landing, where the skiers' landing is not very solid, and some other part of the skier's anatomy subsequently makes a big splash somewhat further downcourse from where the skis really landed.  Such a "Fanny Dunk" landing can produce two or even three plumes, with the second one typically larger than the true contact plume.  Inexperienced meter readers may pick up that secondary plume in error, which can lead to a wide triangle.  One key cue here, is that such a secondary plume will always yield a reading higher than it should be, since that will always be further downcourse.

Finally, if the net result of your review does not cure the wide triangle situation, then you will have to select the Accept Calculated Distance option.  WSTIMS will then deal with that outcome, in accordance with the various provisions of the rules.  See AWSA rule section 9.12(e) or IWSF section 13.10, and then carefully work your way through the options which WSTIMS will present you with, as you and WSTIMS together apply those various applicable rules provisions.

When the Input Video Feet and Meters choice is selected for a jump, what WSTIMS does next depends on exactly which Result Code was keyed in for this jump.  If the K (Keyboard) code was entered, then WSTIMS will present two input fields for the official distance values, and then switch into data entry mode for those two fields.  The first field is for the Official AWSA distance, in feet -- expected as a simple number of two or three digits.  The second field is for the Official Metric distance, in meters, which is expected to include one decimal place.  As with most other WSTIMS inputs, the decimal point may be omitted for the meters value, and WSTIMS will figure it out.

As with the two segment time value fields, these two input fields are linked, and the entered values are evaluated when the Enter key is pressed when the cursor is in the Meters value field.  The two manually input values are compared, and WSTIMS will squawk and not let you proceed if it detects that the two values provided are incompatible.  If the Escape key is pressed when the cursor is in the first (Feet) field, with no value having been entered, that will cause WSTIMS to jump back to the Scoring Option list, so that the user can choose some other path, if needed.

If the B (Both systems) result code had been entered, then after the meter system distance values have been determined, WSTIMS will then switch into data entry mode for the two distance numbers, presenting the values computed from the meters as initial values in those input fields.  The operator may then revise those to reflect the official distance values obtained from the video system.  In this instance both the Metered and Video distances will both be reported in the event log file for this event.  That log file can then be printed (or imported into a spreadsheet), and used for later comparative analysis.

If the V (Video) result code had been entered, or the J (Jump) code entered when the Video distance option was specified during the Event startup, then WSTIMS will look for the official distance values in the CVJ interface file.  When CVJ is being run and has the WSTIMS Interface option checked in the CVJ Setup window, then a file is written into each time the Record Jump button is clicked on the CVJ measurement window.  That CVJ information includes three values -- the Official AWSA Distance in Feet, the Official Metric Distance with one decimal place, and the attempt number for the skier.  So each time the Enter Video Ft & Mtrs option is selected in WSTIMS, WSTIMS picks up the most recently written values from this CVJ interface file.

WSTIMS specifically checks to see if all three numbers in the CVJ interface are exactly the same as the values obtained from the most recent previous access.  Since the CVJ attempt number is increased by one each time the Record Jump button is clicked, the only way WSTIMS would find exactly the same values in all three fields, is if CVJ had not computed a new value since it was last visited.  It is entirely possible for the Operator process a jump in CVJ, but forget that essential last step in the CVJ distance computation procedure.  And in that case WSTIMS will still find the result of the preceding jump in the interface file.  Which of course would be incorrect.

So when WSTIMS detects this No New CVJ Result condition, it will squawk at the operator, and then offer the following two choices:

1. Retry  -- this provides the operator the opportunity to switch back over to the CVJ program, then finish computing the distance there, and then return to WSTIMS and have it go back to the interface file again.  This choice would be appropriate when the operator had neglected to finish computing the new distance in CVJ on this same machine.  Or ...
    
2. Key In  -- this will tell WSTIMS to ignore the interface file values, and to instead switch into Data Entry mode for these two values, just as though the K (Keyboard) result code had been entered for this jump in the first place.  The most common cause of this No New CVJ Result error message is from the operator pressing V or J as the result code, when they really should have pressed K instead.  So in that situation, this choice will get the operator directly to where they really want to be anyways.

In the event of fast or slow boat times, or wide triangles, or other applicable situations, a jumper may be faced with an optional or a mandatory reride.  WSTIMS has all of the applicable rules built in, and will help ensure that the officials have the appropriate choices at each stage.  If protected or limiting distance values are involved, WSTIMS will post those values on the screen, and use them as appropriate, when the reride is taken.  WSTIMS even includes support to "Set aside" a skier, in the midst of a complex reride situation -- as when a 5-minute rest is granted following multiple rerides, during which one or two other skiers would be pulled.  In all of these complex situations, take the time to carefully note the cues and choices that WSTIMS gives you, and you'll get the right answer.

When this feature is being utilized, the computer operator (or another person working alongside) would be timing each skier's time in flight for each jump, using a digital stopwatch.  The time value desired is the elapsed time between "liftoff" from the top of the jump ramp, to "touchdown" on the water surface -- actually the time in the air.  This Air Time value is then input for each jump, along with the Outcome Code and Boat Time values.

Knowing the distance of the jump, and the time in flight, WSTIMS can then apply ballistic formulas to compute several additional interesting statistics as a byproduct of the process.  These derivatives include the Skier's Speed (in miles per hour) at the base of the ramp, his Lift or Spring (in vertical feet per second), figured relative to a trajectory which is parallel to the plane of the ramp, and the maximum height (of his skis, in feet off the water surface) at the peak of his trajectory through the air.

Jumping fans understand that the longest jumps are achieved by getting the most speed into the ramp, and the best spring off the ramp surface.  This WSTIMS feature gives us a way to evaluate these separate elements, on each jump.  This can be a crowd pleaser and the skiers themselves are very interested in the data -- and so these derivatives are recorded in the event log for later reference.

Whether this feature will be used or not for any particular jump event is controlled by the response to the "Entering Air Times?" query that is posed at the startup of the Jump event.  If this option has been chosen for an event, and an air time value is not available when it is being requested for a particular jump, WSTIMS allows you to just press the <ENTER> key without entering an Air Time value.  In that case it will go ahead and process the boat time and meter reading or video distance data, and skip these additional derivatives on that jump.

Preparing the Johnson Jump meter system for a jumping event is a complex task.  One that should be carried out well before the first jump event is about to be started.  The following topics are presented in sequence following the index below, or you can go directly to any of those listed sections by clicking on the desired topic link --

• Meter Setup Overview
• Required Measurements & Sightings
• Meter Setup Recording Form
• Entering Your Setup Data

The three-meter Johnson Jump Meter distance measuring system that is still in occasional use today is actually a type of surveying system.  Consequently, the exact configuration of those three meter stations must be identified with a high degree of accuracy, in order for the system to deliver the expected required precision.  This guide is not intended as a tutorial on preparing a metering system.  Nonetheless, we must emphasize that taking the time to get accurate measurements for that setup, will turn out to be time well spent.

Before the WSTIMS Jumping Event Management task can be used to calculate Metered distances, you first have to prepare WSTIMS by providing it with information about the meter configuration for the site.  This only needs to be done once for each tournament, and the resulting derivatives then stored as an entry in the WSTIMS Jump Meter Site Setup file.  The Jumping Event Management task begins by asking the operator to select the applicable setup file entry to be used, as part of the Jump Event Startup process.

The information needed as inputs to the WSTIMS Meter Setup and Checkout function, include the distances between the sighting arm pivots of the three meter tables, and various sightings taken from each of the three meter stations.  Of course, these measurements and sightings must of taken after the protractors and sighting arms have been installed and the meter tables set up and levelled and locked down for the tournament.  The Meter Setup Recording Form (which appears below) identifies the specific measurements and sightings which must be taken.  Print out a copy of this form and use it as a guide, whenever you are faced with this task.

The distances from meter A to meter B, and from meter B to meter C, should be measured between the centers of the sighting arm pivot screws.  If the meters are not arranged in an approximately straight line, then you will also need to measure the distance from meter A to meter C as well.  These distance measurements need to be accurate to at least the nearest 1/2 inch -- 1/4 inch is preferable.

Then you need to record various angle sightings taken at each of the three meter stations, as indicated on the form.  Try to get these sightings pinned down to at least the nearest 1/10th of a degree -- even better if you can read to +/- .05 instead.  Of course, when taking sightings to the ramp or test buoys, be sure the water is calm and flat, without boats running around, or else your sightings could result in large triangles simply because the ramp or buoy might actually be in different locations, at the times you take the sighting from each of the different meter stations.  Some jump ramps can move back and forth by two feet or more with changes in the wind speed or direction, depending on how they are anchored.

Sightings between the meters should be to the center of the pivot point on the target meter station.  In taking the sightings to each of the other meters, don't simply assume that the meters are in a straight line and write down 180 and zero for all these readings, even if a casual glance gives that appearance.  With a typical setup, where the A-to-B and B-to-C distances are each about 80 feet, a one inch forward/backward displacement of the pivot point at meter B, is equivalent to a 1/10th degree difference in the angle formed between the AB and BC lines -- so take the time to check this aspect out very carefully.

In addition to the sightings to the mark on the center of the takeoff lip of the ramp, you also need to take sightings to the inside (15 meter line) buoy which marks the end of the second segment of the jump timing course (identified as 15ET in the rulebook diagram).  Some people also like to drop a buoy in the landing area at a measured distance from the ramp, in which case sight this as well.  The Other Test Sighting line on the form is provided just for this purpose.

          JUMP METER SYSTEM SETUP RECORDING FORM
          --------------------------------------

                              A TO B    B TO C    A TO C
                             -------   -------   -------
    BASELINE DISTANCES
    BETWEEN THE METERS:      _______   _______   _______


                               ANGLES AS SIGHTED FROM
                             ---------------------------
    SIGHTINGS TO BE TAKEN:   METER A   METER B   METER C
    ----------------------   -------   -------   -------

    PIVOT ON METER A          (N/A)    _______   _______

    PIVOT ON METER B         _______    (N/A)    _______

    PIVOT ON METER C         _______   _______    (N/A)

    CENTER MARK ON RAMP      _______   _______   _______

    INSIDE END TIMING BUOY   _______   _______   _______

    OTHER TEST SIGHTING      _______   _______   _______

Once you have obtained the requisite measurements and sightings from your meter configuration, then you are ready to run the WSTIMS Jump Meter System Setup function to prepare WSTIMS to measure jumps.  The Menu entry for this appears near the top of the WSTIMS Setup Menu.

When this function is initially started, it will present you with a list of all the existing entries in the Meter Setup file, and then offer you the choice between pulling up an existing Meter Setup, or creating a new setup.  It is also possible to delete entries from your master setup file, by entering a setup number preceded by a minus sign.  Be very careful about deleting a setup entry, though -- because this is a one-way door -- there's no "recycle bin" function here.

To illustrate this Meter Setup function, you may wish to go through the process with some sample data which we provide below, just as you would for a site where you are preparing for a tournament.  Here we will be giving you each of the various data items as part of this narrative, at the point we actually want you to enter them.  In a real situation you would usually be working from a filled-in copy of the recording form which appears earlier in this section, however.  You can proceed through this demonstration narrative sequentially below, or alternatively you can click one of the following links to go directly to the indicated topic --

• Meter Setup Demonstration Background
• Meter-to-Meter Sightings
• Meter-to-Meter Distances
• Sightings to Ramp Center Mark
• Sightings to Timing Buoy 15ET
• Revisions, Tinkers and Features

Here's a little background on the site whose data you will be entering (so that you can sort of visualize things and hence see where these readings came from):  The meters are in the typical area (on the ramp side of the jump course), so jumpers are traveling from right-to-left as seen from the meters.  The shoreline is curved, and so meter B is about seven feet behind the line from meter A to meter C.  The protractors have been aligned parallel to this A-C baseline, including the one at meter B.  Finally, the line from meter A to C is not quite parallel to the jump course, with meter C being further back.

Before you begin to enter data, we need to point out an important difference between what you are about to do, from all other parts of the WSTIMS system.  We designed the Slalom and Jumping Event programs so that they would assume the standard number of decimal places for all line lengths, boat times and meter reading input values, so that you wouldn't have to use the decimal point key (the period) with any of these entries.  During this meter setup process, however, we don't know how precisely you may have re- corded the various measurements, and so you will have to enter them with the decimal point in the proper place.

Now let's get started with this new setup.  To indicate that you want to prepare a new setup entry, you should press the <ENTER> key at this first prompt, without typing any setup entry number.  WSTIMS will then ask you for a name for this new setup, which may be anything up to 20 characters long.  We suggest you call this DEMONSTRATION SAMPLE ($$)

The process starts by asking for the angles sighted from each meter to each of the other two meter pivots.  Put these numbers in carefully, and check each number before you press the <ENTER> key to finalize it.  Enter these as follows ($$)

• From A to B:  185
• From A to C:  180
• From B to A:  5
• From B to C:  175.3
• From C to A:  0
• From C to B:  4.7

These six angle readings collectively define the interior angles of a triangle, and so they must of course add up to exactly 180 degrees -- and the setup process will require that this checks out exactly.  It will not allow you to proceed, until this condition has been satisfied.  You will find that the computer doesn't like the above values, and in fact we had you make a deliberate mistake, in order to make a point and to illustrate a feature.  If you visualize the meter layout as we described it earlier, with the protractors all aligned parallel to the baseline from A to C, and with meter B behind this baseline, then the reading from meter C back to meter B would have to be negative, rather than positive as indicated by the numbers above.  You may want to do a little sketch and visualize these relationships, to satisfy yourself about how this would look.  That is the reason why these values don't check out.

If you run into a consistency check failure like this with a real meter setup, then you'll need to examine your data and the computer's analysis, and then figure out where the problem lies before you can fix it.  Guessing is not the way to proceed in such cases.  If the discrepancy is large -- more than a few tenths of a degree -- then you've got a recording problem somewhere.  A sketch could help visualize what's wrong, or else simply go back to the meters and check everything and you'll find the error soon enough.

On the other hand, if the diagnosed interior angle sum is within a couple of tenths of a degree of the expected 180.0 degrees, then look carefully at your numbers and determine the angle between the two sightings at each meter -- typically the angles at station A and station C will be quite small, while the angle at B will be much larger.  Now that you know what each of the three angles looks like, and how far off the sum is from the expected 180.0 degrees, then you can go back to meters and re-evaluate these sightings.  If the observed differences at A and C match your numbers exactly, then an off-center pivot screw at meter B is most likely the culprit -- adjust as necessary.

Once you've got the problem diagnosed, you then will have one or more corrections to make to these sighting values.  To correct things, you don't have to re-enter all these numbers from scratch.  Instead, when you simply press the enter key for any of these input prompts, WSTIMS will continue to use the value it already has for that particular sighting.  Go ahead and do that for the first five entries, then type in -4.7 for the last reading ($$).   That should have fixed the problem, and so we are now ready to continue.  If not, check your numbers carefully, then correct the problem using the same procedure described immediately above.

Next the computer will ask you to input for the distances between the meters.  Enter the following Measurements ($$)

• Distance from A to B:   81' 9"      which is   81.75
• Distance from B to C:   88' 5-1/2" which is   88.46
• Distance from A to C:  169' 8"    which is   169.66

The computer should have accepted those entries, and confirmed the calculated distance from meter A to meter C, based on the AB and BC distances you supplied, along with the angles that were entered in the previous step.  Note that since it's usually harder to measure the longer distance from meter A to meter C than either of those other two shorter distances, the computer will actually use its calculated value for the AC distance, and only verifies your supplied AC distance as a validity check.

Also, the computer will verify the proportionality of the AB and BC distances, to the vertex angles measured at Meters A and C.  If these two descriptions of the meter triangle's shape do not agree closely enough, the process will notify you of that discrepancy.  This is most likely to occur because of inaccurate sightings at A or C, or from attempts to "fudge" the meter sightings so that the vertices add up to the required 180 degrees.

If you do get a Proportionality Discrepancy error at this point, then examine your data.  First, figure what the interior angles at Meters A and C come to.  Then, look at those angles in comparison to the AB and BC distances that you've supplied.  That comparison will probably show you where your inconsistency problem lies.  Getting AB and BC reversed is the most frequent cause of this error.  Once you've fingered the problem, Then revise either the angles or distances, as necessary.

Now it's time to enter the sighted angles to the center mark on the Ramp.  Use the following numbers for the demo ($$)

• Meter A: 74.6
• Meter B: 47.2
• Meter C: 29.7

These sightings have now established the location of the jump ramp center, relative to the Meter System baseline from A to C.  The program will give you those coordinates, along with the calculated size of the error triangle created by the intersections of those three sightings.  Unless you made an input error, the triangle size shown should be well within the allowable tolerance.

Next, the computer needs to know which direction the site is set up.  That is, whether the jumpers will be flying into the landing area traveling right-to-left, or left-to-right.  Enter 1 (one) for right-to-left, or -1 (minus one) for left-to-right, as appropriate.  Since this sample is right-to-left, you should enter 1 ($$)

Next, the computer will ask for your sightings on the End-course timing buoy 15ET -- input the following readings ($$)

• Meter A: 126.6
• Meter B: 105.2
• Meter C: 77.8

The expected distance of this particular buoy from the ramp is about 175 feet.  Since the tolerance on this distance is about plus or minus two feet, any distance value in that vicinity would indicate you're in the right area.  Much more important is to get a good triangle at this sighting, which will confirm that the meter setup is producing good closure at both ends of the critical area, which extends from the jump forward through the landing area.

You'll note that this sighting has also identified the orientation between the meter baseline and the boat course, which the program will use later in translating jump sightings from meter baseline coordinates into ramp centerline coordinates.  That is part of how WSTIMS goes about interpreting and diagnosing wide triangles, should one occur.  In this example case, you should have produced an acceptable triangle on this sighting as well as on the ramp.  Both of which are required in order to satisfy the rules requirements.

Now that you've finished entering all the required items, WSTIMS has shifted to a coded "Menu-Selection" method of operation.  Here you can select an option, and then possibly enter any input values which may be associated with that option.  One of those choices should allow you to look at (list) all of the values connected with the setup so far.  Examine the prompts, find that option, and select it ($$)

That option causes WSTIMS to display all the values on the screen at one time.  If the values you entered had not checked out satisfactorily, this display option would permit you to compare all the values on your recording form with those in the computer, so that you could find (and fix) any entry errors.  If your values had been entered correctly but still didn't check out, then your problem lies with the measurements or the sightings themselves, and you'll have to do those over to find and solve the problem.  Having a laptop or portable computer available can be a big help, since you can check things out right on the spot -- and this particular task does all its work through the keyboard and display anyways, so you don't even need to have a printer for this part of the process at all.

You should be aware that you can use the WSTIMS Meter Setup task as a simple-minded distance calculator, to plot occasional jumps during practice sessions.  In fact, the same diagnostic logic to deal with wide triangles that is built into the Jumping Event Management program, is also provided in this Meter Setup function.  See Wide Triangles & Diagnostics for more on this topic.  These features make it possible to figure out the results of a jump with only two meter readings.  To illustrate, let's say we have meter readings of 136.9 from meter A, and 65.9 from meter C -- so go ahead and put those in as a test plot, along with an arbitrary value of 90 for the missing meter B ($$)

Notice what happened -- you should get a wide triangle, naturally -- but you should also see that WSTIMS has figured out that the meter B reading doesn't fit with the sightings from A and C, and so it has come back with an estimated value for meter B.  Now you can try the plot again, just pressing <ENTER> for the meters A and C readings, and entering the estimated meter B reading it just gave you, to find out the proper distance for this test jump ($$)

That completes the meter system setup process for a new site, so simply press the S key, and WSTIMS will then save all the parameters defining this meter system setup for this site will be saved as an entry in the WSTIMS Master setup file ($$)

Now let's switch gears for a moment and say you need to revise an existing meter setup for a site that is already in your setup file (perhaps the ramp may have been re-anchored since the last time you were at this site).  We DON'T want you to do anything during the following discussion, by the way -- we're just explaining how you would go about this, when the need does eventually arise.  After you've started the Meter Setup function from the WSTIMS Setup Menu, you would then select the setup number for the site you wish to revise.  WSTIMS would then load all the parameters for that setup from the Master Setup File, recap those values on your screen, then present you with this same option list, so that you can make whatever changes may be needed.  You should of course check both the ramp center and the 15ET sighting in such a situation, as required by the rules.

Once you've made any necessary changes and verified the revised setup values for this site, you can then save this revised setup.  At that point, WSTIMS will give you the option to create a new setup entry with these revised values (which leaves the existing entry intact), or to save these in place of the previous setup data for this site -- do whichever makes sense.

            SCORING FILE MANAGER / EDITOR

 30 Control Table Entries loaded from DRTUSA93.DAT


        SCORING FILE MANAGER/EDITOR TASK MENU

       (Use ↓ & ↑ to select, ENTER to execute)

              Create a New Scoring File
              Edit Scoring File Data
              Return to WSTIMS Main Menu   
              Export Scoring Files to A:\
              Import Scoring Files fm A:\
              Dup (or Split) Scoring Files

In general, all the scoring files for a tournament should be created by the WSTIMS Create Events from Entry List function, which uses one or more prepared participant lists as input.  However, on occasions it can be useful to simply create a Scoring Event file for a couple of skiers, directly from keyboard entry.  The Create a New Scoring File sub-task of the Scoring File Manager & Editor does exactly that.

The first piece of information you are asked to provide is the Event/Group Code (file name) for the Scoring file you are about to create.  See the material under Event Group Codes for more information about how these codes are formulated.  Let's say we need to create a "Seniors" Trick event Scoring file, and that we are working in a single-round tournament structure.  Given that, SRT would be a reasonable code for such a file.  But first, remember that whatever code you choose needs to begin with one of the two-character Event/Group prefix codes that have been entered in the Event Group Code List which appears in the WSTIMS Tournament Setup window for this tournament.  Therefore, it may be necessary to expand that list of codes, before you create a new scoring file which begins with a new two-character Event/Group prefix.

Next you will be asked for a Description for this new SR TRICK event group.  You can see that WSTIMS has already recognized that you are creating a Trick event scoring file.  Consequently it will automatically append TRICK to the description we enter here.  So all we would need to enter here would be SENIORS, and WSTIMS will complete the official description from that.

Before we begin entering the list of competitors for this new event group, WSTIMS will ask you how it should handle Membership Identifiers.  In the usual situation where WSTIMS is being used to manage the complete registration and scorekeeping functions for the entire tournament, WSTIMS will need to have the actual membership identifier for each skier.  These Identifiers are used as keys to match each competitor's results together, across rounds and/or events, and also appear in the official scorebook and seeding extract file which are produced at the end of the tournament.  And so of course you would need to input each skier's actual Membership Identifier, obtained from their membership card or wherever.  But in other special instances you may not need membership Identifiers, and then you could have this function generate (make up) phony Identifiers for you for each skier.  Respond as appropriate.

Now you are ready to start entering the skiers for this new event group.  For the details, see the material on Adding a new Skier which appears in the Common Functions section earlier in this guide -- the input form that is used here, is identical to the one used to add skiers to a Scoring file that already exists.

As the note at the bottom of the input screen suggests, after you have finished entering the last skier for this new event group scoring file, you should press the ESC(ape) key at the name prompt for another skier.

This function allows the Chief Scorer to make any changes in a scoring file, either before or after that event has been scored.  This could involve ANY of the pertinent skier data, including the reported score details for skiers who already have scores.  Once a scoring file has been selected for this function, you will find the familiar Competitor Selection and Control Screen, exactly as with each of the event programs.  The only difference is, that when you press the <ENTER> key on the Editor's selection screen, this will open up the Competitor Data Editor window for that skier, instead of beginning a score derivation procedure.  So unless you need to re-derive a competitor's score in detail, then using this function of the Scoring File Manager/Editor is the simplest route to making changes.  Even in the final score details.  However, if you do edit the score detail in this fashion, keep an eye on the "Model" score line for the applicable event type, and be sure that the revised detail you have edited lines up with the columns in that model.

When an editing session is completed using this feature, the operator is given the opportunity to print a placement summary report, exactly like that which is produced at the normal completion of a Slalom, Trick or Jump event scoring session.  This provides the Chief Scorer an easy means to create another placement summary report for a completed event, without having to go through all of the rigmarole involved in starting up one of the individual event scoring functions.  Note that if any score data has been changed during such an editing session, WSTIMS will then automatically force a new placement summary report to be produced, at the conclusion of that editing session.

This function will Export selected Scoring files, from the current tournament directory on the hard drive on your computer, onto the root directory of the removable storage Export/Import device which is specified in the Export & Import Device setting, which appears on the WSTIMS Hardware Setup Screen.  The Drive Letter code for that specified device is cited directly in this sub-task menu entry, so you can be sure exactly where that is currently pointed.  See the material under Hardware Settings for more information about this device.

When this sub-task is selected, WSTIMS will first remind you to be sure that the specified device is inserted and ready to be written on.  Then it will present a screen listing all the existing Scoring Files, which you can then use as a selection list.  Move the highlight bar to any Scoring file which you wish to export, then press the Enter key.  WSTIMS will confirm the number of skiers (and the number of those having scores) as it copies that scoring file onto the removable device.  That selection list will remain on the screen, so that you can move around and Export as many Scoring files as you wish, until you explicitly press the Escape key, which will then take you back to the Scoring File Manager sub-task menu.

This function is the exact opposite of the Export function -- here WSTIMS will Import selected Scoring files, from the root directory of the specified removable storage Export/Import device, back onto the current tournament directory on the hard drive on your computer.

When this sub-task is selected, WSTIMS will first remind you to be sure that the specified device is inserted and ready to be read from.  Then WSTIMS will present a screen listing all the Scoring Files which it finds on that device, which you can then use as a selection list.  Move the highlight bar to any Scoring file which you wish to import, then press the Enter key.  WSTIMS will confirm the number of skiers (and the number of those having scores), as it copies that scoring file back onto your hard drive.  That selection list will remain on the screen, so that you can move around and Import as many Scoring files as you wish, until you explicitly press the Escape key, which will then take you back to the Scoring File Manager sub-task menu.

Both the WSTIMS Export and Import functions will typically deal with the situation where the selected scoring file already exists on both the source and destination end of the copy process.  What has to be protected against, is the inadvertent copying of an empty (unscored) version of that particular event, to replace the later (with scores) version of that same file, after it has been scored.  Doing this in the wrong direction would be disastrous, and wind up wiping out all those scoring results.  Most unpleasant, if that were to happen.

Consequently, regardless of whether an Import or Export is involved, WSTIMS will always check the number of skiers scored in the versions of the file on each end of the intended copy.  If WSTIMS finds that the version of the file on the intended Destination end of the copy process, contains more skiers with scores, than are indicated in the version of the file on the intended Source end -- then it will squawk at you, and will not carry out that copy operation.

This is a more sophisticated (and hence safer) check than is done using Windows Explorer or File Manager to perform such file transfers, and hence you should always use these WSTIMS protected Export/Import functions for this purpose, rather than using Windows functions.

If the source of such an Export or Export operation also has a companion Event Log file (xxx.PRN), that log file will also be copied across after the scoring file itself has been transferred.  Scoring Files for Trick events that have been scored are also accompanied by a companion Trick Scoring Detail file (xxx.TSD), and those will also be copied across as well.

Additionally, a copy of the MLO file is also transferred to the external media, whenever an Export operation is being done.  And in a related fashion, each Import operation will wind up merging the content of the incoming MLO file found on the external media, into the version of the MLO file already internal to that importing system.  For more details on the MLO file and the associated functions, see the material on Officials Recording Features.

Finally, if you are about to start a new tournament, and have a floppy disk which has already been used for file transfers at an earlier tournament, or a USB device which may also have files on it from an earlier tournament, then you should delete all those files from that device or disk, before carrying out any file transfers for the new competition.  That will eliminate the potential for inadvertently picking up some of those previous scoring files by mistake.

This final sub-task of the Scoring File Manager & Editor actually serves two very different, but equally important, functions:

• Duplicate  (or copy) an earlier round scoring file for a particular event, to create a subsequent round scoring file for that same event, in a Multi-Round competition.  This function is used regularly, for every Multi-Round tournament.  The rest of this section which immediately follows, explains this Multi-Round Duplicate function.
   
• Split (or subset) to create Segments of a large event.  This function is used to split up very large events into Segments, where that event may be run on more than one lake, or across more than one day, or with more than one group of officials.  There is a separate section of instructions below, which explains all the aspects of how to work with segmented events.  See Segmenting Features for Large Events for details.

You may have already noticed that the "Create Events from Entry List" task (on the Setup Menu) only creates the first round scoring file for each event group in the tournament.  There are three very good reasons for this:

• In the Elimination format, the running order in subsequent rounds is typically seeded from the results of the preceding round -- so of course you can't establish that running order for a 2nd or 3rd round, until the preceding round scoring has been completed.
   
• At local competitions where entries are not closed, it's quite common to receive one or more add-ins, after the first round file has already been created.  Therefore, it's safer to postpone creating subsequent round scoring file(s), until after the first round has been scored.  That way these subsequent round files will automatically inherit those add-ins, that were inserted after the first round file was initially created.
   
• As an event is scored, it's not uncommon for the scorers to make some minor editing changes to the skier data -- spelling changes, division codes, team coding, membership Identifiers, or whatever.  When the subsequent round scoring files are created after the event has been scored, then those revisions will also be passed forwards.

The Dup (or Split) Scoring File sub-task provides this Multi-Round Duplicate function.  When you select this function, WSTIMS will present you with a list of all the scoring files, which you can then use as a selection list.  Move the highlight bar to any Scoring file which you wish to duplicate, then press the Enter key to select that file.  That selection list will remain on the screen, so that you can move around and duplicate as many Scoring files as you wish, until you explicitly press the Escape key, which will then take you back to the Scoring File Manager sub-task menu.

Then you will be asked for a "Function Code", that tells WSTIMS which specific function is to be performed from that source file.  For creating subsequent round files, the choices would be one of these three:

• Copy -- copies all skiers in the source round file, in the SAME running order sequence as they originally appeared.
   
• Reverse Copy -- copies all skiers in the source round file, in the REVERSE sequence from the way they originally appeared.
   
• Eliminate/Seed -- copies only the top "N" places into the subsequent round, and seeds those based on the reverse of their placements in the source file.  The best performance skis last, in other words.  When this function is chosen, you will then be asked for the cutoff N value -- this may be any positive value, up to the number of skiers who placed in the source round file.   In the specific case where you want to seed the third round of an event, based on placements from the combined scores of the two preceding rounds -- as is expected at the AWSA Team Trials for example -- you can select the special Multi-Round Summary File as the source for this Eliminate/Seed function.

Once you've created an additional round file this way, then if necessary you can print a running order for that new round of this event, using the Running Orders and Forms utility, just as you did for the earlier round file.  Although this may not be necessary at the typical local multi-round tournament, where the same running order sequence is commonly used for all rounds.

For very large events, and at some NCWSA or IWSF competitions, a single individual event may be split into two or more separate "Administrative Units", which we call Segments.  This might be done for the purpose of switching official's crews, or so that these segments can be run on separate lakes, or even to be run on different days.  Consider the typical local weekend tournament, where a single Administrative Unit will usually contain more than one division from a scorekeeping standpoint.  Segmenting large events is the exact opposite situation -- here we will take what is really one single event, and then split it up and run it as a series of separate Administrative Units.

Each segment of such a segmented event does represent a separate and complete Administrative Unit, from an operational and statistics-gathering perspective.  But at the same time, the scores in each segment do NOT provide a complete view from a placement standpoint, of course.  There will need to be an additional process, run later, to combine the data from these separate segments after they've all been scored, so that a composite placement listing can be produced.  In addition to merging the scores, that consolidation process will also add together the statistics from the various segments, thereby also yielding a summary of times and rides for the overall event.

The "Chief Scorer's Best Friend" -- the Scoring File Manager & Editor -- provides most of the special support for dealing with Segmented events.  Here's a quick step-by-step overview of how such a segmented event is created and managed:

1. The complete Scoring File (let's refer to this as the "Parent" event file) will be created in the normal manner, and an overall running order listing will usually need to be produced from that.  However, this parent event file will NOT be scored in, as you would with other Scoring files.
    
2. Instead, we will create a series of "Segment" (children) files, split off from that one Parent scoring file.  Each of these segments are created with the Dup (or Split) sub-task of the Scoring File Manager and Editor, using the Split function code.  You repeat this split process, for as many segments as you want to create from that parent scoring file.
    
3. Each segment you split off will be assigned a sequential suffix letter code (A, B, C and so on), which becomes the 4th character of the scoring File name for these respective segment files.  You will be asked to specify the range of skier sequence numbers to be included, as each segment is created.  For example, if you have 60 skiers in an event, you may want to split off 1-20 into Segment A, 21-40 into Segment B, and 41-60 into Segment C.  For NCWSA or IWSF tournaments, there may be systematic or planned sub-divisions of the overall running order for an event, which may dictate where the segment splits are to occur.
    
4. After the various "Children" event segment files have been split off, then you may want to print separate running orders for each of those separate segments.  You will find that the segment code has been incorporated into the Event Description in each of these segment files -- ie file M3SB (segment "B" of the Men 3 Slalom event) will appear as "Men 3 Slalom Pt B".
    
5. Each of these segment files will then be exported to the appropriate scoring computer(s), and then scored separately from one another, in the usual manner.  Remember that Record-keeping-wise, each segment of the overall event represents a separate Administrative unit, each with a separate crew of officials, separate summary statistics, and so on.
    
6. After each segment has been scored and then returned to (imported into) the master computer, then the information in this completed segment will need to be "Merged" into the Parent file.  To merge a completed segment file into the parent scoring file, carry out the following steps:
    
1. Use the File Manager and Editor to Edit the Parent (M3S) scoring file.
    
2. When the competitor selection screen appears, press the "M" (merge) key on the keyboard to initiate the merge function.  You may see a prompt to this effect on the bottom of the screen, although you should be aware that this prompt may be overridden by a "TIE" warning, if a tie exists at or above the award placement cutoff.
    
3. The Editor will then ask for the Segment code for the Segment file which you wish to merge into this parent file.  This will be the single letter suffix code (B for the segment file M3SB, for example).
    
4. Once you've pressed the key for that suffix letter, then the Editor will open that specific segment file, add the summary statistics for that segment to the overall event totals, and then merge in the score details for all the skiers who have been scored in that segment.
    
5. Then the Editor will compute revised placements for all the skiers who now have completed scores.
    
6. Press the ESCape key to conclude the edit session, which will cause an updated placement listing to be produced.

As you may have already figured out from the above description, it is extremely important that each completed segment file be merged once -- and only once -- back into that Parent scoring file.  Since the merge process adds the summary statistics for that incoming segment to the totals for the overall event, if any segment's merge were to be repeated, the extra merge would inflate those composite statistics improperly.  Therefore, it may be preferable to wait until all of the segments have been scored, and then merge them all at once, and then produce the final placement listing for the event.  However, for IWSF Championship format events, where the Series are typically run over multiple days, this will not be practical -- you will need to produce a cumulative placement listing from the parent file at the conclusion of each day's competition for that event.

Now there is one remaining wrinkle involving segments.  If these segments of a large event are to be run sequentially -- as opposed to simultaneously -- it may be desirable to have each succeeding segment inherit the skiers and score results from all preceding segments, so that the cumulative real-time placement status can be monitored as the overall event continues.  This is easy to accomplish, although it will require just a few moments of down time between the conclusion of scoring one segment, and the beginning of the next.  Let's say we've just concluded Segment A, and are about to go into Segment B.  Here are the step-by-step details needed to accomplish this:

1. After concluding Segment A in the normal manner, reply No to the Run another Event query, then select the Scoring File Manager & Editor task from the WSTIMS Scoring menu.
    
2. Export the just-completed segment A scoring file (M3SA) onto an external device, to be sent to the main scoring computer.
    
3. Select the Edit Scoring File Data sub-task, and then select the about-to-be-scored segment B (M3SB) Scoring File.
    
4. Then initiate the Merge function, and key in the segment code of the preceding segment A -- just press the A key, in other words.  That will merge the scores of the completed segment A skiers, into this second segment scoring file, but without affecting the statistics or officials for this next segment file, which will remain empty following this merge process.  Only the skiers and their scores are pulled in from the segment A file.
    
5. End the edit session with the ESCape key.  There is no need to produce a placement summary at this point, since what you've now got is just the same as what you had at the end of segment A which you printed a moment ago.
    
6. Restart your Event management program, then specify the Segment B scoring file.  When the competitor selection screen comes up, you will find the scores from the first segment A are now included.  Then as the scoring continues into this next block of skiers, your leaderboard will be showing you the complete and cumulative scores and placements, for the entire event.

Once a number of events have been scored, you will need to produce some composite reports.  Each of these compositing functions will combine the results of more than one round, or more than one event, to produce some kind of summary report.  There are a variety of these reports -- and these will be somewhat different in content and design, depending on whether this is a Single Round or a Multi-Round competition.  The list of available Tasks shown at the bottom section of the WSTIMS Scoring task menu, will depend on which format tournament you are working with.  The rest of this section will describe these various tasks and their respective functions.

• Overall Scoring in the Single Round Format
• Multi-Round Event Placements by Group
• Overall Scoring in the Multi-Round Format
• Multi-Round Overview / Checklist
• Tournament Summary and Team Scoring
• Accessing Reports Created on Disk
• Boat Time Graphical Analysis Reports
• Adobe Reports for CJ, Towboats, Safety
• Submitting Official Results

Overall scoring in the single round format is performed by the "Divisional Summary and Scorebook" task, which will appear in the bottom section of the WSTIMS Scoring menu.  It is Essential for you to remember, when working in the single round operating mode, that all three of the events for each division or group must have the same two-character Event Group code.  This is necessary in order for this overall scoring function to be performed correctly.  This task performs several functions, for each specified Event Group (or Division) code you wish to report on:

• The associated Slalom, Trick and Jump scoring files are pulled together, and overall scores and placements are derived for all skiers who are qualified for overall placement.  An overall placement summary listing is then produced.
   
• If the "Award Summary" report option is enabled (by the presence of an "Award Cutoff" value in the Tournament setup screen), then a one page Award Report is produced for each Division, which lists that specified number of top places in each of the three events, plus Overall.
   
• Then a comprehensive "Reference Format" Scorebook report is created for that group.  For NCWSA or IWSF tournaments where Team Competition is involved, the sequence will be primary by Team code, and then alphabetic by skier within each team.  Otherwise, the sequence will be purely alphabetic sequence by skier name.  Please note that there are two formats available for this report -- you should use the "Condensed" format for local posting at the tournament site, or with the "Reports to Disk" option to create an exportable file which can be posted on the Internet or elsewhere.  The alternative "Full" format report would then be produced at the end of the tournament, for official submission -- see the "Submitting Results" heading at the end of this section for those details.
   
• Finally, for NCWSA tournaments, a Divisional (Men or Women) Team Placement recap is produced, which is in alphabetical sequence by team code.

When printing to paper, this Divisional summary may produce multiple copies of each Division or Group -- a copy count is requested when this task is first selected.  Each time you select this task, you will be asked for the code or list of Group codes which you wish to have processed at that time.  When printing to paper for local posting, you may wish to run each Division or Group separately, immediately after its third event is complete.  When creating the web-postable Condensed Scorebook -- which is done with the None - Reports to Disk printer type option -- each time you run this function you should include all of the Event/Group codes.

When you are operating with the Reports to Disk printer option, the Condensed "Web Scorebook" html report will includes all of the above report sections for each division, along with a navigation index at the top. , This format allows viewers to click directly to any particular section of interest.  The Web Scorebook is designed to report the status and results of every event for every division, and hence can be rerun each time an event or division is finalized, and the result dropped directly onto a website, in place of an earlier version.  This way people following a tournament from a distance can obtain updated results periodically, throughout the course of the competition.

If you select the Full format and have the Reports to Disk option set, and if WSTIMS finds that these Report file(s) already exist on your disk, then you will be given the option to discard the existing report and "Overwrite" that file from the beginning, or to "Append" to the end of what was already out there from the previous invocation of this function.  This way you could run Divisions piecemeal, and still wind up with a cumulative report which includes all of the Groups or Divisions.  Or alternatively you can run it all at the end, specifying all of the codes in one single pass.  Either way will accomplish your intentions.

In the Multi-round tournament structure, event placements are not necessarily determined by any single round of the competition in that event alone, but rather are based on some combination of the scores across those rounds.  The tournament setup screen provides a number of alternatives for how this is to be done.  For Elimination format tournaments, you should select the "Last Round" choice.  For other formats, select any of the other options, as may be appropriate to the rules in effect for that particular competition.  Results which are produced at the conclusion of the scoring for a 2nd or 3rd round of an event will include the details of the performances, but will not show placements, because of the above dynamic.

Then whenever you complete a round of competition for any event group, you will need to run the Multi-Round Event Placements by Group process, for that event group.  This process performs a number of functions:

• All completed rounds for that event group are pulled together, and a summary of their performances across those rounds is prepared for each competitor.
   
• Composite placements for this event group are determined, according to the option(s) selected in the Tournament Setup screen.
   
• The Team and Overall score components for each skier in this event group are determined, and stored in a special summary file for that event group, along with the derived event placements.
   
• A Multi-Round placement summary report is created for that event group.  This looks much like the placement report which is produced at the normal completion of any individual event or event round, except that this report combines the scores for all of the completed rounds of that event group, and also lists the derived Overall and Team score components resulting from the above processes.

Overall scoring in the multi-round structure is done with the "Multi-Round Scorebook (by group)" selection, which appears near the bottom of the WSTIMS Scoring menu when operating in Multi-round mode.  This performs a number of functions, which are controlled by one key Question which you will be asked as this task begins -- how to deal with Overall Scoring.  You have two choices:

• To calculate a SEPARATE Overall score for each competitor for each round of the competition.  This is the typical option which would generally apply at local level "rating" tournaments.  This choice will combine rounds and events separately, and calculate a separate overall score for each round, according to the provisions of AWSA Rule 4.02(c).
   
• Alternatively, one single COMBINED round overall score may be calculated for each skier, across all the rounds.  Then within each Division or group, Overall placements will be determined from those combined scores for all eligible skiers.  This latter option is typically only used at the few cash prize multi-round tournaments which include overall competition (such as the Masters, or the U S Open), or at IWSF sanctioned tournaments which are run wholly according to the IWSF Championships format.  In those situations, note that the overall scoring is typically done based on the 1000 points system, with the 1000 points in each event going to the highest-scoring overall eligible (or team-affiliated) skier in that event.

Depending on the other options you have selected in the Tourament Setup window for this particular tournament, WSTIMS will recommend what it thinks is the most logical choice for this Overall option -- although you may of course override that recommendation if you wish.  Once this option has been chosen, then the Group or Division code list to be processed will be requested.  For the Combined option, you would typically have each division in separate scoring files, and with common codes for each division across the three events.  Therefore each Division would usually be processed separately in that instance, and hence the resulting scorebook will be naturally segmented by these various divisions.

For "Pick and Choose" or other "rating" tournament formats, there typically will be no overall placements, and so the structures of the event groups need NOT be related across the Slalom and Trick and Jump events.  For one such example, see the explanation of Proficiency-Based Event groupings found in the Multi-Round Pick -n- Choose Casebook.

Consequently, in order to produce individual overall scores for the three- event skiers, the Multi-Round Group Scorebook task will need to process ALL of the event group codes in one single swallow, so that the widely-scattered performances of those three-event skiers can be brought together, and their separate round-by-round overall scores properly computed.  In this instance, the resulting scorebook will be produced as one single listing, and will be sorted alphabetically, within age divisions.

After getting this key choice resolved, WSTIMS begins processing the specified Event Group code or list of codes.  This involves a number of steps, and may produce a number of results reports:

• All of the individual round scoring files for the specified group are gathered and those results stored by skier ID.  The special Multi-Round Placement Summary files discussed earlier in this section are also collected -- these provide the pre-digested event placements, along with the team and overall score components for each event group, where the second (combined round) overall scoring option has been selected.
   
• If that combined round overall option is in effect, then the Combined round Overall scores are calculated for each skier, and overall placements are derived.  Then an option is provided to produce a comprehensive "Overall Placement" report, which looks like the multi-round event group placement reports produced for each of the individual event groups, except that this one contains the composite overall scores for all overall-eligible skiers.  Additionally, if the "Award Summary" report option is enabled (by the presence of an "Award Cutoff" value in the Tournament setup screen), then a one page Award Report is produced for each group, which lists that specified number of top places in each of the three events, plus Overall.
   
• Then a Scorebook report is created.  Just as with the Single Round Scorebook, be aware that there are two formats available for this report -- you should use the "Condensed" format for local posting at the tournament site, or with the "Reports to Disk" option to create an html format file which can be posted on the Internet or elsewhere.  The alternative "Full" format report would then be produced at the end of the tournament -- but for officials only -- see the "Submitting Results" heading at the end of this section for details.
   
  Where a particular tournament -- other than the AWSA Team Trials -- has the 1 Age Div in Each Group structure, and the scorer elects the Combined Round overall option, then the Condensed format scorebook will present four multi-round placement listings for each division -- Slalom, Tricks, Jumping and Overall -- rather than the otherwise-usual alphbetic reference sequence format.  When running the final version of the Web Scorebook in that specific situation, we recommend that instead of processing the set of divisions all in one group, that the scorer instead process them one at a time.  WSTIMS will show instructions on the screen on how to do so.

Preparing for and scoring a multi-round tournament involves a number of steps, which must carried out in the right sequence and at the right times -- whether by hand or with the computer.  We've prepared the following outline, to highlight the sequence of these steps involved for each event group at a typical three round tournament:

1. Prepare registration list(s) from skier entries, in an Excel spreadsheet, that you download from the USA Waterski Website.  If you are using USA Water Ski's Online Registration system, that will be a Pre-Registration Export, otherwise get a Registration Template for selected geography and then record your entered skiers in that framework.  Next you would define your event groups and codes, and then place those codes as entry indicators in the registration list.  finally you would Export that participant list to a text file, using the Excel Formatted Text, Space Delimited "Type" option.
    
2. Use the WSTIMS Create Events from Entry List function to create the scoring file(s) for the first round.  Produce running order and judge's forms from that file.
    
3. Score the first round of this event group and post the results.
    
4. Use the Scoring File Manager and Editor's Dup (or Split) Scoring File sub-task to create the event file for the second round, from the results of the first round.  Produce running order and judge's forms for the second round from that new file.
    
5. Score the second round of this event group.
    
6. Run the Multi-Rd Event Placements function to produce the combined two-round placement summary, then post those results.
    
7. Use the Scoring File Manager and Editor's Dup (or Split) Scoring File sub-task to create the event file for the third round -- from either the second round file, or from the combined two-round placement summary file.  Produce running order and judge's forms for the third round from that new file.
    
8. Score the third round of this event group.
    
9. Run the Multi-Rd Event Placements function to produce the final three-round placements for the event group, then post those results.
    
10. Run the Multi-Round Scorebook, after the final round for all three events have been completed for all the groups.

For a two-round tournament, Steps 7-9 would not apply.  For a CLOSED multi-round tournament, where the later rounds will NOT be seeded based on results from earlier rounds, then steps 4 and 7 could be carried out immediately following step 2, and all the necessary forms for all rounds then prepared in advance.  This would be very rare, though -- for many reasons it's usually better to create each new round from the predecessor, after that preceding round's scoring has been finalized.

Team scoring involves skiers across the entire tournament, and consequently the team scoring functions have been incorporated into the Tournament Summary and Team Scoring task, which performs essentially the same functions in both the single round and multi-round formats.  Each time it is run, this task may perform some or all of the following functions:

1. It processes all of the event group files (including event segments and multiple rounds) for the specified list of event group codes, and produces a report containing a one-line-per-event-file recap for each such file.  This recap summarizes the key status information about each scoring file.
    
2. If team scoring is in effect for this tournament, it will add up the team scores according to the specifications in the Tournament Setup, then derive placements for each of the three events plus overall, and then produce a team scoring placement summary report which presents that information.  If the "Limited Roster" method of team scoring has been specified, you may also choose to produce a detail report which will show the specific skiers whose team score components have been incorporated, for each team for each event.  When the NCWSA placement-based team scoring option is in effect, be aware that there will be event and divisional team scoring summaries produced by the individual events and by the Divisional scorebook task as well -- in that situation the team scoring results which come from this final summary task will be the Combined (Men and Women) team scores and placements.
    
3. When run at the end of the tournament, Officials' work credit information must be processed.  It is recommended that you include officials processing occasionally at earlier times as well, so that you can review the officials that have been recorded for each completed event.  When being run with a live printer, an optional report listing the specific officials who worked each event group may be included -- when run with the reports to disk option in effect, then this detail report will automatically be created into the disk report file.  Another optional report itemizing the details of the events worked for each official, may also be created.  And finally, this process will produce the Official's Credit Data File (named [sanctionid]OD.TXT), which will be submitted along with the other tournament results.  These reports will help you ensure accurate credits are produced for all of your working officials and reported to the AWSA HQ official's maintenance system.
    
4. Optionally, the final Water Ski Performance Data File (named [sanctionid].WSP) may be created after spinning through all of these scoring files, once the competition is over and all of the scores have been finalized.  This file must be created and submitted at the end of the tournament.

As you can see from the above explanation, this task serves a number of different purposes.  Consequently, you will want to run it from time to time during the tournament, to obtain one or more of these derivatives.

Regardless of the operating mode, all Slalom and Jumping events will produce a log file on your computer's hard drive.  Each of these will have a file name which is the same as the scoring file name from which it was derived, except with a .PRN filetype suffix.  In addition, if you use the "Reports to Disk" hardware setup option, various other WSTIMS report tasks will produce their results into report data files, instead of onto the printer.

To provide access to these various report files, you will find the "Display/Print/Export Reports/Logs" task near the top of the WSTIMS Scoring menu.  This function provides the means to Examine or Print or Export or Analyze these various Event Log or Report files.

After selecting this task, you will be presented with the following Sub-task selection menu.

   ANALYZE / DISPLAY / EXPORT / PRINT
   ==================================
   Specify the Task to be Performed:

      Jump Meter Reader Analysis
      Jump Boat Time Analysis
      Slalom Boat Time Analysis
      Return to Scoring Task Menu 
      Export Report/Log/Data file
      Browse a Report or Log file
      Print a Report or Log file

The primary choice would be to "Browse" a report or log file.  Choosing this option will display a list of all the logs and report files that have been created, and then ask you for the name of a specific report or log file that you wish to have displayed.  In some instances you may also wish to export a copy of a specific report or log or data file to external media -- the Export option will do that for you.  If you DO have a valid printer type defined, an additional option will appear which will allow you to PRINT any selected report or log file, rather than just browse.

The Display/Print/Export Logs/Reports task (immediately above) also provides access to Analysis of Boat Times, for any or all Slalom or Jumping events.  These analyses are created from the Slalom or Jumping event logs, and will be printed if you have a valid printer defined at the time -- or may be written into Report files (named [sanctionid]BT.xxx) instead, if you have the Reports to Disk option chosen in the hardware setup window.

This function gives you the means to produce a graphical-like analysis of the boat times patterns.  These should be of particular interest to the boat drivers, including the Chief Driver, of course.  A rule new in 2007 requires that this analysis be created for all AWSA tournaments class C or higher, and included with the other post-tournament reports and data files.  New for 2009, the boat timing analysis for jumping will also automatically produce a data extract of the incoming 3-segment times, that is required by the IWSF or AWSA Technical Committees.  Production of that data file and it's inclusion in the final archive will automatically be handled -- but the scorer must run these Boat Time Analysis steps at the end of the tournament.

Click Here to display a sample of the Slalom analysis report in a separate window.  Explanation of the Average, Spread and "Z" statistics that you will find in these reports can be found Here.  Below the Average, Spread and "Z" statistics, you will find three "Percentage Buckets", which classify the percentage of the full pass times which fall into those three respective categories.  The "Ideal" bucket includes all passes within +/- two hundredths of the ideal time.  The Fast and Slow buckets catch all passes which are three or more hundredths away from the ideal time in the respective direction.

When run with the Reports to Disk option, WSTIMS actually creates two separate copies of these reports, intended for different purposes.  The report file named [sanctionid]BT.PRN is intended for the Chief Judge and Chief Driver and Sponsor, and for the respective Regional Driver's Committee representative.  This report includes all of the details.  There is also a secondary report file, named [sanctionid]BT.HTM, which has been formatted for public posting.  The latter presentation has had the names of the boat crews removed, and has some of the key statistics highlighted so that they are easier to find.

Parenthetically, where the Johnson Jump meter system is used to derive jump distances, and there are six meter readers (two per meter station), there is also a "Meter Spread Analysis" report which can be produced from any Jumping event log file.  This can be useful in tracking down problems with the meter system (or it's operators), at such affairs.

Adobe PDF documents, and the free Adobe Reader Utility, have been around for years, and so most of us have already had some experience using these tools to view or to print documents.  However, using this tool with pre-structured, to-be-filled-in document templates, may represent an excursion off into uncharted waters for many of us.  Never fear, the process is really quite simple.  The following topics are presented below:

• Overview on Adobe Report Documents
• Adobe Acrobat Reader Version(s)
• Completing Forms on Another Computer

The Chief Judge's report, Safety Director's report, and Towboat Usage report can now be prepared in the form of electronic documents, instead of on paper forms.  WSTIMS will create these blank documents for you, in the form of Adobe Acrobat PDF files, in your tournament folder, as part of the tournament setup process.

Please note that use of these Adobe electronic report documents is strongly encouraged.  This makes it easier for the chief officials to have all these reports completed by the end of the last day of the tournament.  Then all of the various post-tournament documentation requirements can be satisfied by this one single package submitted by the sponsor or scorer.  Those organizers and/or officials who are not comfortable with these electronic documents may still use the paper forms if they insist, nonetheless the completion and submission of all these post-tournament reports needs to be accomplished in a timely manner either way.  You will find the electronic documents to be less work, once you've been through the process once.  These provide the tools so that the various chief officials can leave the tournament site soon after the last competitor is off the water, without having to take outstanding paperwork home with them.

The Adobe Acrobat Reader utility, widely available, is used to fill in these various report and document files, and to then save these completed electronic documents back into the WSTIMS tournament folder.  Those completed report files will then be automatically picked up and included in the final WSTIMS archive file, that the Sponsor or Chief Scorer will run after all of the scoring results have been finalized.

To open one of these document templates and fill it in, all you need to do is navigate to the WSTIMS tournament folder, using Windows Explorer or My Computer, and then click on the desired [sanctionid]??.PDF document file.  The .PDF file suffix tells your system that this is an Adobe document file, and that will automatically open it with the Adobe Acrobat Reader.  If your system doesn't recognize that suffix, this means that you need to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader first -- see the material on Adobe Acrobat Versions in the section below.

There are several important issues to using these new Adobe PDF reports, in place of the older paper-and-ink documents.  The remainder of this section addresses those issues, and offers some suggestions and guidelines.

First and foremost, it is important to note that the Adobe Acrobat Reader utility is a piece of free software, that anyone can download from the Adobe website.  This program has the capability to fill in and then save these Report document forms that USA Waterski has created for us.

There have been many versions of the Adobe Acrobat reader released over the years -- the most recent release (in 2007) is version 8.0...  If you don't already have the Acrobat reader installed, then merely go to the internet and do a search on "acrobat reader", then install the latest and you'll be ready to go.  If you have an earlier version, what you have may or may not be able to deal with these latest documents.  The easiest way to find out, is just to try one.

If your installed Acrobat Reader opens one of these Adobe report document files and shows a message saying something about "incompatible features" or "upgrades", this means that the Acrobat Reader version you have is probably not able to support all of the functions built into these templates, and that you will need to install (or update to) a newer version.  With some earlier versions, you may find it saying something about needing to upgrade to the non-free Adobe Acrobat Standard or Pro edition.  Relax, that's not true.  Instead, search for and download the latest Acrobat reader version, and then you should find things work fine.

Where two or more computers are being used to score a tournament, then the Master (back office) computer is generally not fully utilized all the time.  In that situation, the Chief Judge and Chief Driver and Chief Safety Directory could complete their respective Adobe report documents on that back office computer, at some convenient time before the end of the tournament.  However, some Chief Scorers may not want others tying up their back office computer for such purposes.  So WSTIMS provides an easy way to help you transfer these files to and from another computer, so that they can be filled out elsewhere.

The WSTIMS Monitor/Manage Interchange File(s) task provides the mechanics to export these Adobe Report document files to external media, so that they can be completed on a separate computer.  Once completed elsewhere, then those completed report document files can later be re-imported back into the WSTIMS tournament folder on the Master scoring computer, again using this same framework.

Please note that you would only need to have a working installation of the latest Acrobat Reader on the WSTIMS scoring computer, if these documents are going to be completed on that machine.  The creation and importing and exporting and archiving of these .PDF document files by WSTIMS does not require the Acrobat Reader on that machine.

The Chief officials are collectively responsible for ensuring that all of the required reports and documents are completed and submitted to USA Waterski following each sanctioned competition.  The material in this section explains the role that WSTIMS plays in the overall process, and the specific WSTIMS tools that are included so that the Chief Officials can manage this process most effectively.

• Overview on Submitting Results
• Monitor/Manage Interchange File(s)
• Final Results Submission Details

Once a competition has concluded, a variety of data files and reports and documents need to be created and/or completed, for submission to USA Water Ski HQ.  The organization has now migrated all of these reports and documents to a 100 percent electronic post-tournament report framework.  WSTIMS will serve as the gatherer of all these items into one single "Submission Package", which the Chief Scorer (or tournament director) will ultimately e-mail to the respective Regional Seeding Committee representative.

The Chief Judge's report, Safety Director's report, and Towboat Usage report can be prepared in the form of electronic documents, instead of on paper forms.  More detail on this subject can be found at Adobe Reports for CJ, Towboats, Safety.

All of the other reports and data files are created by the Chief Scorer using features provided in WSTIMS.  Before preparing the official reports and files for submission, the Chief Scorer may want to print some of these on paper first, for local posting or distribution purposes.  Once any such paper copies are out of the way, then the reports and data files for official submission need to be created.  In order to create those reports as files, the "None, Reports to Disk" Printer Option, which is found in the WSTIMS Hardware Setup control screen, needs to be selected.  This setting signals the various WSTIMS report creation tasks to write their results as files, instead of to your printer.  The next section below provides more details on these specific reports and data files and how each of these is created.

This management screen provides the information and tools that the Chief Officials need to monitor the status of the various reports and documents which must be completed.  You can use the links embedded in the reproduction screen shot below, to take you to more detailed information about each of these files, and where that particular item is created, either within or outside WSTIMS:

07M008C   ISLAND LAKE 2 ROUND 2006            Directory: C:\WSTIMS\ISLAKE06

ARCHIVE / RESTORE / EXPORT FUNCTIONS        Backup/Archive Entire Directory
------------------------------------        Restore/Reload Entire Directory
  Ensure Device B:\ is Ready, then          Export/Imp File (select below)
Select Desired Function to the Right  -->   Return to Scoring Task Menu     

FILE NAME       DESCRIPTION / EXPLANATION         -------- STATUS ---------

07M008C.SBK     Full Reference Scorebook Rept     09-11-06  9:03p
07M008C.WSP     Waterski Performance (Seeding)    09-11-06  9:32p
07M008TS.PRN    Tournament Summary Report File    09-11-06  9:32p
07M008OD.TXT    Official's Credit Data File       09-11-06  9:37p
07M008BT.PRN    Boat Time Tracking Report File    09-11-06  9:25p
07M008CS.HTM    Condensed Scorebook HTML Rept     09-11-06  9:11p
(not built)     Award Summary Recap HTML Rept
07M008CJ.PDF    Chief Judge's Report Document     09-11-06  5:15p
07M008SD.PDF    Safety Director's Rpt Document    (raw template)
07M008TU.PDF    Towboat Usage Report Document     09-11-06 11:42a

Run the Display/Print Event Logs or Reports task, from the WSTIMS Scoring menu, and then select the Slalom and Jump boat timing reports, as applicable.

Full Reference Scorebook Report

(bk to IntrChg indx)

Run the Divisional Summary and Scorebook (single round tournaments), or the Multi-Round Scorebook (by Group) task (multi-round tournaments), from the WSTIMS Scoring menu, and select option #1 to create this Official reference scorebook file.

Run the Scorebook Report task again, and this time choose option #2, to create the HTML results files -- which can be posted on websites or given to the media.

Run the Tournament Summary and Team Scores task from the WSTIMS Scoring menu, selecting all of the results options for Performance and Officials data files and reports.  Selecting the Performance Data file option triggers WSTIMS to request contact information from the person running this process, including a name, phone number and e-mail address.  If you should run this process over again at a later time, WSTIMS will offer the contact information that it already has, saving you the need to re-type those details -- although of course you may revise those as may be appropriate.  This information is collected as an aid to downstream recipients, should it become necessary for one of them to followup for any reason.

Template (empty) documents for each of these reports are created in your tournament folder, during the WSTIMS Tournament Setup process for a new tournament.  The applicable Chief Officials can complete these documents right there in the WSTIMS tournament folder, and those will be automatically picked up and included in the Backup .ZIP file that is eventually created at the end of the tournament.

Alternatively, the Chief Scorer could Export one or more of these report document files to external media, so that these reports could be completed on a separate computer.  The completed report document(s) can then be Imported back into your WSTIMS tournament folder so that they will be sitting there, ready to be picked up into the final archive.

More details on the preparation and handling of these Adobe Report documents can be found in the Adobe Post-Tournament Reports section of this guide.

The status of each of the standard interchange files is listed in this recap on the right hand side of the display.  For any of the WSTIMS- created reports which already exist, this area will present the date and time when that report or file was last written.  Any files marked (not built) in the file name column to the left have not yet been produced, and will not show a timestamp.  Some of the Adobe Document report files may be indicated as (raw template) instead of showing a timestamp, which indicates that specific report has not been worked on yet.

If you want to export one or more of these individual report files, for yourself or for the media or other officials, you can do that from the lower section of this control screen.  Simply move the highlight to any of the existing files, then press either E or the Enter key, to export (copy) that particular report onto the specified external device.  Do that for as many of these reports as you may have need to export.

For the Adobe Acrobat report documents, you will also have the option to Import the highlighted item back into the WSTIMS tournament folder, from the specified external media device.  This Export/Import feature is provided for when the Chief Scorer prefers to have the other Chief officials complete their reports on a separate computer.

This function collects all of the data files in the entire tournament folder, and compresses them all at once into what is called an archive file.  This archive file is named [sanctionid].ZIP, using the Sanction ID for the particular tournament.  That file is written to the Export/Import device path, whose drive ID is specified in the WSTIMS hardware Setup screen.  The external drive ID targer will be indicated in the heading at the top left on the Manage/Monitor Interchange Files control screen.  If the Export device is a floppy disk drive, it is a good idea to do this backup to a new empty disk, to be sure there is adequate room to back up everything.

You may want to perform this complete backup/archive function for a number of different purposes:

• Where multiple scoring computers are going to be used.  For more details on this process, see Setup Issues with Multiple Computers.
   
• At critical points during important competitions, just for safety's sake.  At a Regionals or Nationals, for example, you might want to create a backup each night before leaving the tournament site.
   
• At the very end of a tournament, to prepare the final archive file that you will submit, after all of the required reports and data files have been completed.  See the Final Results Submission discussion below for details.

This function is the opposite of the Backup/Archive function -- it opens the [sanctionID].ZIP file from the indicated external device, and restores those data files to the current tournament directory.  This function includes a very important choice -- whether to perform a newer or a complete restore:

• The Newer  option restores only those files found in the incoming archive file that have date/timestamps that are more recent than those on the corresponding files already in the tournament folder.  This is the normal choice, used when synchronizing data between multiple scoring computers at a major tournament.  Whereas
   
• The Complete  option restores all files from the archive, regardless of their date/timestamps.  This choice has the potential to lose you valuable data.  Where the tournament folder has an updated (newer) version of a particular file, those changes will be overlaid by the older copy of that file that comes from the archive.  Consequently, this option should only be selected in the unusual situation where you may have somehow corrupted some data in your tournament folder and hence need to restore earlier copies of the damaged files.

The final step is to run the Backup/Archive Entire Directory sub-task, which is located at the top of that Interchange file control menu.  That will create the final backup [sanctionID].ZIP file, containing all of the required reports and data files.  Remember that this file will be written to the currently-defined Export/Import device path, whose drive ID is specified in the WSTIMS Hardware Settings control screen.  So if this setting points to a floppy drive or to a USB memory device drive ID, be sure that device is ready before selecting this option.

That final exported compressed file, is what you should submit to your respective Area or Regional seeding representative.  E-Mail is preferred wherever possible -- see the "Instructions for Chief Scorers" document posted on the AWSA Tournament Kit section of the website, for the current e-mail address of your regional contact.  If e-mail is not feasible, then you could mail a floppy disk instead -- be sure it is addressed to the correct person per the Instruction sheet.

• Multi-Round Slalom Only
• Multi-Round Pick -n- Choose
• Single Round 3 Event w/Overall
• AWSA Regionals and Nationals
• NCWSA Collegiate Tournaments
• AWSA Team Trials -- Elite & Jr
• IWSF Championships Format Events
• Pro Events -- Multi-Rd Elimination

The Multi-Round Slalom Only tournament format is by far the most common AWSA sanctioned tournament format.  WSTIMS includes a wide variety of features necessary to support many other specialized formats.  But for this local Slalom Only format, most of those special features are not involved.  Hence this casebook section shows you only what you need to know and to do, in order to use WSTIMS for this most common format.  These specifics are explained in the material that follows below.  We recommend that newcomers to the administration of such a tournament read through this section in it's entirety.  For reference purposes, you can get directly to particular topics, by clicking on the links in the following checklist:

• Obtain the Sanction ID
• Prepare Participant List
• Tournament Settings
• Entry List Finalization
• Creating Scoring Files
• Report Production

If you do not have access to the tournament kit, then you should be able to find the Sanction ID posted in the USA Water Ski Tournament Schedule, as part of the entry for that particular tournament.  Remember to choose the AWSA sports division, the applicable Region, and the appropriate ski year.  It's also important to remember that the Tournament Schedule website only lists the leftmost 6 positions of the Sanction ID -- the 7th position (class) indicates the highest sanction classification that has been approved for the tournament, which could be C or E or L or R.  The Tournament Director should have that information.

Once you have the applicable Sanction ID, the next step will be to prepare your participant list, beginning with resources you would download from the USA Water Ski Admin website.  If the tournament has been set up for Online Registration, you would select the Pre-Registration Export process, which will deliver an Excel spreadsheet containing all of the participants who have pre-registered online.  Where the sponsor has not chosen to make Online registration available, then the sponsor or scorer would go to the USA Waterski Admin website and download a Registration Template -- which is an Excel spreadsheet file containing all eligible USA Water Ski Members from a selected geographic area.  This template would be used to create your Participant (Entry) List(s).  Details on those particulars can be found in the Preparing Entry List Files material.

There are a number of WSTIMS Tournament Settings that need to be properly set in order to implement the correct rules for a Multi-Round Slalom Only tournament.  These particular settings are highlighted in red, or appear as a link to more detailed information, in the reproduction of the WSTIMS Tournament Settings screen that appears below.  Discussion regarding specific settings follows the screen sample.

WATER SKI TOURNAMENT SCORING OPTIONS             Directory: Y:\WSTIMS\WSDEMO

Federation: USA   Sanction ID: 07S048C     Ovrall  (x)  Fxd Base Ovrl (NOPS)
                                           & Team  ( )  Best Tm Skier = 1000
End Date: 05-14-2007   Mixed Class? Y      Score   ( )  AWSA Team Trials
                                           Basis:  ( )  NCWSA Placement Pts
Tourn Name: GOLDEN DOME 3 RD SLALOM                ( )  10/8/6/4/2 Plcmt Pts

( )  Single Rnd    (x)  AWSA Rules
(x)  Multi-Rnd     ( )  IWSF          Team Scoring Parameters       Award
                   ( )  NCWSA      Plcmt C/O: --  Roster Lim: -    Places: -
(x)  Total Rnds
( )  Best 1 Rnd     Event/Group > ( )  1 Age Div in each Grp     ( )  Random
( )  Best 2 Rds     Composition > (?)  Mixed, Sep Ord/Plcmts     ( )  As Is
( )  Last Round     & Placement > (?)  Mixed, Cmb Ord/Pl NOPS    (x)  Seeded
( )  Rd 1 Only      Choice -----> (?)  Mixed, Cmb Ord/Pl Perf

Event/Group Code List (key list as gg/gg/gg/.. or ALL for all std Age Divs):
MA/MB/MC/WK

In the Multi-Round framework, there are a number of alternative ways in which the individual round scores may be combined to arrive at the final placements.  Be aware that unless the tournament announcement explicitly calls for some other choice, AWSA rule 13.01(c) says that you must follow the Total All Rounds alternative.  You can find more information on the alternatives WSTIMS provides in the Multi-Round Placements section of this Guide.

This is one of the more important specifications you will need to make in setting up for your tournament.  The appropriate choice for this option should be clearly spelled out in the Official Tournament Announcement.  If you are at all unclear as to what this means, then please review the Event Group Composition Alternatives material in the Concepts section of this Guide.

This specification is where you list the codes that define the Event Groups that WSTIMS will work with for this tournament.  These are the codes that you will be placing into the SL column of your entry list, for each of your participating skiers.  See the explanation on Entry List Preparations below, for a couple of examples of what those will look like.  These codes tell WSTIMS how to distribute the individual skiers out into those groups.  How those blocks are constructed, and what those codes mean, will depend on which of the Event Group Composition alternatives (see above) applies to this tournament.  If you are at all hazy about what these codes represent and how to use them, then you should visit the material on Event Group Codes in the Concepts section of this Guide.

For this most common Multi-Round Slalom Only local weekend tournament, there are two main alternative structures that you will work with:

1. Proficiency-Based Competitive Groupings  -- where you are breaking up your skiers based on their ranking scores, to create homogenous groups of skiers of comparable abilities.  This is the bottom-most Event Group Composition choice available on the Tournament Setup screen.  When this alternative is chosen, skiers will be competing on the basis of their raw event scores within each group, irrespective of age divisions.  Here is an example of how one sponsor creates groupings in this manner:
    
   
   • G1 -- No Ranking Scores
   • G2 -- Ranking Scores 0-50
   • G3 -- Ranking Scores 51-66
   • G4 -- Ranking Scores 67-80
   • G5 -- Ranking Scores 81-94
   • G6 -- Ranking Scores 95&apm;up
   
    
2. Grouping Blocks of Age Divisions  -- where WSTIMS will be keeping score at the individual Age Division level -- yet from an administrative standpoint, you are collecting those Age Divisions into a relatively small number of groups, of roughly similar sizes.  Within each such group, the skiers are competing only against others in their own Age Division.  Here is an example of how one sponsor creates such groupings:
    
   
   • MA -- Men Grp A 58 (B3/M1/M2/OM)
   • MB -- Men Grp B 55 (M3/M4/MM)
   • MC -- Men Grp C 55 (M5/M6/...)
   • WK -- Women & Kids (W1/W2/.../G1/G2/G3/B1/B2)
   
    
   You will note that this collection of groupings yield four groups that contain the more-than-25 traditional AWSA Age Divisions.  These need to be grouped from the published running order of events, and in a fashion which produces groupings of roughly equal sizes.

Please note that AWSA Rule 3.02(b) provides a great deal of latitude for sponsors to create inventive competitive frameworks for local tournaments.  And WSTIMS includes the support for just about all of these alternatives.

WSTIMS includes features to keep score for Teams of skiers, where those team members may be scattered across the various Event Groups.  Many sponsors have found that the addition of Team competition to their local tournaments brings an additional dimension of excitement.  See Team Scoring Features for more information about these possibilities.

Aside from identifying the participants and recording payments into a registration template when Online Registration is not being used, the most significant activity involved in finalizing an entry list for a Multi-Round Slalom Only tournament, is coding each participating skier into the appropriate Event Group.  How you do that depends on whether you will be using a Proficiency-Based or Grouped-Age-Division structure:

1. Proficiency-Based Competitive Groupings  -- Click Here to display a sample of an entry list for Proficiency-Based groups.  You will note that we have sorted the participants by their Slalom Ranking Scores, and then applied the appropriate group codes, according to the ranges defined earlier in this casebook.
    
2. Grouping Blocks of Age Divisions  -- Click Here to display a sample of an entry list organized by traditional age division groups.  Here we have sorted the participants by Age Divisions, and then applied the appropriate group codes according to the grouping scheme defined earlier in this casebook.

Once you have completed the preparation of your entry list, including all of the Officials you expect to be in attendance, you should always remember to save your completed spreadsheet.  The final step would then be to export the content into a text format file for WSTIMS -- the details on how to do that are in the Instructions section of the Excel spreadsheet file itself.  Once you have finished the Export process, remember to close Excel.  Then you will be ready to create your Scoring Files.

You begin the process by selecting the Create Events from Entry List(s) function from the WSTIMS Setup menu.  You would then select the Standard entry list format, then choose your exported text format entry list file, from the selection list that WSTIMS will show you.  WSTIMS will then read through that data, screening the content, compiling a list of the Event/Group codes found, and adding all officials found to the Master List of Officials file.  Any errors detected along the way will be noted near the bottom of that screen.  When the process is error free, will find yourself looking at a screen that looks something like the reproduction below:

07S048C    GOLDEN DOME 3 RD SLALOM        MASTER ENTRY LIST PROCESSOR ...

 Point with Arrows    ENTER to Create Event File    ESC(ape) to Exit

SLALOM EVENT GROUPS       TRICK EVENT GROUPS        JUMP EVENT GROUPS

  MA   9  B3 / M1 / M2
  MB  14  M3 / M4
  MC  13  M5 & UP
  WK  13  WOMEN / KIDS


Enter Description for WK SLALOM Group: WOMEN / KIDS

WOMEN / KIDS SLALOM RD 1 (WKS1.SCO) Successfully Created

This Code and count screen is then used as a navigable control screen, where you can scroll to particular codes, select each one for which you want to create a Scoring file, then provide a description.  More details on this process can be found in the Creating Scoring Files section of the Preparations chapter.

The above steps will create your first round scoring files.  See the Multi-Round Overview / Checklist section for the outline on the remaining steps in the overall process of running a multi-round tournament.

At the conclusion of the second or third round for each Event Group, run the Multi-Rd Event Placements task for that group.  This will combine the scores for that group, across all the rounds, and produce the resultant placements according to the Multi-Round placements option chosen in the tournament setup.

Once the skiing is all finished, then run the final scorebook(s) and other reports, as spelled out in the Producing Results section of this Guide.

The Multi-Round Pick -n- Choose format is the most common type of AWSA 3-Event sanctioned tournament format.  WSTIMS includes a wide variety of features necessary to support many other specialized formats.  But for this local Pick-n-Choose format, many of those special features are not involved.  Hence this casebook section shows you only what you need to know and to do, in order to use WSTIMS for this frequent format.  These specifics are explained in the material that follows below.  We recommend that newcomers to the administration of such a tournament read through this section in it's entirety.  For reference purposes, you can get directly to particular topics, by clicking on the links in the following checklist:

• Obtain the Sanction ID
• Prepare Participant List
• Tournament Settings
• Entry List Finalization
• Creating Scoring Files
• Report Production

If you do not have access to the tournament kit, then you should be able to find the Sanction ID posted in the USA Water Ski Tournament Schedule, as part of the entry for that particular tournament.  Remember to choose the AWSA sports division, the applicable Region, and the appropriate ski year.  It's also important to remember that the Tournament Schedule website only lists the leftmost 6 positions of the Sanction ID -- the 7th position (class) indicates the highest sanction classification that has been approved for the tournament, which could be C or E or L or R.  The Tournament Director should have that information.

Once you have the applicable Sanction ID, the next step will be to prepare your participant list, beginning with resources you would download from the USA Water Ski Admin website.  If the tournament has been set up for Online Registration, you would select the Pre-Registration Export process, which will deliver an Excel spreadsheet containing all of the participants who have pre-registered online.  Where the sponsor has not chosen to make Online registration available, then the sponsor or scorer would go to the USA Waterski Admin website and download a Registration Template -- which is an Excel spreadsheet file containing all eligible USA Water Ski Members from a selected geographic area.  This template would be used to create your Participant (Entry) List(s).  Details on those particulars can be found in the Preparing Entry List Files material.

There are a number of WSTIMS Tournament Settings that need to be properly set in order to implement the correct rules for a Multi-Round Pick -n- Choose tournament.  These particular settings are highlighted in red, or appear as a link to more detailed information, in the reproduction of the WSTIMS Tournament Settings screen that appears below.  Discussion regarding specific settings follows the screen sample.

WATER SKI TOURNAMENT SCORING OPTIONS             Directory: Y:\WSTIMS\WSDEMO

Federation: USA   Sanction ID: 07S048C     Ovrall  (x)  Fxd Base Ovrl (NOPS)
                                           & Team  ( )  Best Tm Skier = 1000
End Date: 05-14-2007   Mixed Class? Y      Score   ( )  AWSA Team Trials
                                           Basis:  ( )  NCWSA Placement Pts
Tourn Name: GOLDEN DOME 3 RD P & C                 ( )  10/8/6/4/2 Plcmt Pts

( )  Single Rnd    (x)  AWSA Rules
(x)  Multi-Rnd     ( )  IWSF          Team Scoring Parameters       Award
                   ( )  NCWSA      Plcmt C/O: --  Roster Lim: -    Places: -
( )  Total Rnds
(x)  Best 1 Rnd     Event/Group > ( )  1 Age Div in each Grp     ( )  Random
( )  Best 2 Rds     Composition > (?)  Mixed, Sep Ord/Plcmts     ( )  As Is
( )  Last Round     & Placement > (?)  Mixed, Cmb Ord/Pl NOPS    (x)  Seeded
( )  Rd 1 Only      Choice -----> (?)  Mixed, Cmb Ord/Pl Perf

Event/Group Code List (key list as gg/gg/gg/.. or ALL for all std Age Divs):
MA/MB/MC/WK

In the Multi-Round framework, there are a number of alternative ways in which the individual round scores may be combined, to arrive at the final event placements.  In this specific Pick -n- Choose format, due to the ride limit typically applied, skiers within each defined grouping will likely be skiing a different numbers or combinations of rounds.  Consequently, the Best Single Round placement option is really the only one that makes sense in this situation.  However, you should be aware that unless the tournament announcement explicitly calls for that choice, AWSA rule 13.01(c) says that you must follow the Total All Rounds alternative.  You can find more information on the alternatives WSTIMS provides in the Multi-Round Placements section of this Guide.

This is one of the more important specifications you will need to make in setting up for your tournament.  The appropriate choice for this option should be clearly spelled out in the Official Tournament Announcement.  If you are at all unclear as to what this means, then please review the Event Group Composition Alternatives material in the Concepts section of this Guide.