EzWinscore 3.0 and Palm 3.18 Installation

Documentation by Scott Chapman, Green Mountain Practical Shooters

Additional updates by Peter Cunningham (www.autoscoringsystems.com) and Rob Boudrie

This document was originally written for the use of the Green Mountain Practical Shooters (GMPS), so you will see some references to GMPS in this document.

Original Document:       26 April 2007
Updated:                      16 July 2007

Updated:                      29 March 2008

Contacts:

            Scott Chapman scot1911@comcast.net            1-802-238-8604

            Rob Boudrie                 rob@boudrie.com                    1-508-881-8997

            Peter Cunningham         lingus@acenet.com.au 

I have attempted to write these instructions in the best order to get you up and running without encountering any problems. The sequence is for a new installation.

At first the installation may seem a bit long and confusing, but really is quite simple – basically:

·        You are going to install your palm desktop software and name your palm PDA.

·        You will then install the USPSA EzWinscore scoring program.

·        You then install your USPSS scoring software on the PC and Palm PDA and synchronize the functions of all the software.

Utilizing the Palm Scoring software with USPSA EzWinscore requires 3 separate programs.

·        You need a Palm(s) PDA and the proper Palm desktop software.   Please Note:
The software must be AT LEAST version 4.06. If lower (older), information will not transfer between systems - despite the Palm scoring appearing on your Palm PDA.

·        You need a copy of USPSA EzWinscore V3.0 or above.

·        You need a copy of the USPSS scoring software V3.18 or above.

There are 2 different pieces of software referred to as “Palm” software.

·        The first is the Palm Corp desktop software. This allows your Palm PDA communicate with your PC, and must be Palm OS4.06 or above. (OS=Operating System)

·        The second “Palm” software is USPSS Palm scoring software. This is the actual scoring program installed onto your PDA.  Use USPSS version 3.18 or above.

After installation of the Palm OS on your PC:

You will be prompted to do a HotSync.  This involves connecting the cradle that comes with your Palm to your PC – put your Palm into it – press the HotSync button.  NOT difficult.

BEFORE proceeding, read the notes - This is where you name your Palm – it is important.

Palms and names.

A complete set of palms consists of a master, a backup master and up to 20 slaves. 

·        The ‘slaves’ are used by ROs on the range to collect scores. 

·        The analogy is “Point of Sale Scoring” – hence the name “PSS”. 

·        USPSA has an exclusive version “USPSS”.

GMPS has a “CLUB” package for our palm scoring software.  This allows us to have 2 masters and up to 20 slaves.  Hereafter, the CLUB version will be described.

The palms for scoring must have specific names.  The reasons relate to identity and data security issues in a match.  Basically – what is described is the logical pathways used by any computer.

The base name for the palms MUST  be the same for all the palms in the set.  Identifying characters are then added to the end of the base name:   We chose “GMPS”. 

Add:

·        “M” for the master

·        “B” for the backup master, and

·        The numbers “01-20” for the slaves.

The end code is logical and identifies the palms in the set;

·        “M” and “B” palms can communicate in both directions

·        “01-20” (slave) palms can only communicate “up” to the masters.

This prohibits unauthorized changing of match information.  We suggest keeping your palm names under 6 characters long, and use CAPITALS for ease of use.

The End Effect:

Our GMPS palms are now named:  GMPSM ,GMPSB, GMPS01, GMPS02 etc.

A  really important (and honest) note (by PC):

Should clubs wish to participate, then Palms from various clubs can be combined to run very large matches.  This achieves three things:

·        Clubs need not outlay large sums of money on either software or hardware, and with wide acceptance, can share palms by pooling them in very large matches.

·        Via a slight increase in shooter match fees (5-10%), over time, the software development costs might be recouped, and USPSA be the owner of the software.

·        “Instant” scoring means less work – more accurate scores – and the ability to promote our sport – If only to the annoyance of ‘anti gun’ zealots and their agenda to associate us with crime.

Please understand that this is (obviously) not a commercial effort.  It requires old fashioned trust and support to effect change.

Phase 1 - Installation of software on PC and PDA

Step 1 - Load Palm Desktop Software

·        Install your particular Palm desktop software on your PC - then (as prompted)

·        Hot Synch and name your Palm PDA(s) as prompted by the software.

·        Do the master first, then any more palms you choose to add*.

·        After you do the first one, plug in the second, hit the hot synch icon on the PDA and follow the prompts.

·        Anytime you synch a non named PDA it will prompt you to name it, repeat this until you have named all your PDA’s.

Another note:

If your “Master” palms are late model, and your “Slaves” of older models:

·        Install the latest Palm OS on the main computer you intend to use in your matches.

·        Install the older Palm OS on another computer to name your slaves.

The reason for this is simply to avoid any conflict with OS (Operation System versions)

Step 2  - Load EzWinscore Software

Install EzWinscore software via CD or download, by utilizing the setup.exe utility.

·        It will default to directory:  c: \uspsa\ezwinscore

·        You will be prompted to insert club information.

·        This information fills in your match setup data.

Follow the prompts to complete EzWinscore installation – it is straightforward.

                    

Step 3 - Load USPSS Scoring Software.

Install the Palm Scoring Software onto your PC.  This is very straightforward - Just unzip the file and double click on the USPSSInstall.exe   It will default to directory:  c:\Program Files\zooid

           

(It is worth reading the unusual license agreement conditions.)

              

About 2 seconds later USPSS will be installed.

Next:  Ensure your Master Palm is in the Palm Cradle (make sure it is connected to your PC – the power is on and that you have a beer or two in hand!!)

·                                  Press the HotSync button on the Cradle and USPSS will install on your Palm.

CURRENT STATUS

·        You have installed the Palm Operating System onto your PC

·        You have established the ‘conduits’ that transfer data between Palm and PC

·        You have installed on your PC and your Palm the USPSS software.

NOW – you must get your club’s registration key for the CLUB version.

Contact Peter Cunningham on:  ass@acenet.com.au  (“ass” = Automated Scoring Systems)

You will be given a unique key* for your club for TWO masters and up to 20 slaves.  Two CD’s with the program, manuals, tutorials and a host of other useful ‘stuff’ will be posted to you.

.

STATUS:  Your PC and Master palm both have USPSS installed and now talk to each other.

·        Now:  Set up your “Backup” Master:

Put your backup master in the cradle and do a HotSync.   Name your Backup palm your club name – eg: GMPS and “B” to show that it is the Backup.  Full name is - eg: GMPSB.

·        Now:  You must name your ‘slaves”:

Place your first slave the cradle and press the HotSync button.  Select from the list the name for that slave.  Repeat this until all your slaves are named – thus:

Basically – that’s it.  Except for entering your unique key on each palm, your club is set up and ready to start playing.

           

·        Now:  Get familiar with the “HotSync” manager toolbar.

The unit controls the priority of data transfer between PC and Palm is the “HotSync Manager” – (bottom right of your screen):     

Later, when you want to HotSync data:

·        Click on that Icon and choose “Custom”.  A list of programs on your Palm will appear to the right will be the priority for each of which way you want the data to go. 

·        I choose to set the defaults of everything except “System” (at the bottom) to “DO NOTHING”.  This means – If I have ‘brain-fade’ then I can’t do any damage.

·        It forces me to select at every HotSync which way I want the data to flow.  (& use the brain!)

The setting you will be manipulating “custom” setting for USPSS.

You will need to alter this to suit your needs.  It is simply a switch.

You can choose to have the handheld overwrite the desktop, or desktop overwrite the handheld depending on which direction you want the information to flow.

In contrast to my ‘idiot proof’ setting, Scott Chapman sets his default for USPSS to “Handled overrides Desktop”.  This makes sure that the latest score for an individual is always uploaded when I Sync the Palm PDA to the PC.

Step 4 - Synch to load palm Software to PDA

Hot synch your palms again with the custom setting set to desktop overrides handheld.  This loads the palm scoring software onto the palm itself.

Step 5 - Unlock Software

Then open the palms and unlock the software with the correct code.  (see Page 5)

Step 6 - HotSync

Re Hot Synch your Palms, with the settings set to handheld overwrites desktop. This will install the correct files into the Palm directory that EzWinscore is looking for.

At this point all your software should be loaded properly and ready to score a match.

EzWinscore and Palm use Guide

Step 1 - Creating a new match

·        Open EzWinscore.

·        Go to File > New Match.

·        Enter a name for your new match.  I usually use the month and year i.e. March_2007.

HINT:  In the upper box where it says “save in” - I highly suggest you make a folder for match info in the “my documents” section of your desktop to save your match info.  At this time EzWinscore defaults to saving match info in the EzWinscore directory. This is very dangerous as you can make inadvertent changes to very important data in that directory.

When your satisfied with your input in this area, click Save.  This will exit this function.

The rest might seem very complex, but in reality it is simply establishing pathways to where data will travel.  When you try it, you will see that it is logical, and the many words here seem unnecessary.  Nontheless:

NOW:   Got to Setup > Match Info.

·        Here you will name your match, set up match attributes, and set the path for file saving and the palm output files.

·        In the box provided name your match (eg: March 2007), pick the type of match and the level of match.

·        In the location to save output files, this should default to the directory you choose in the new match setup (above).  ALL your match result files will be written to that folder.

·        In the palm transfer area, this has to be set to where your palm information is set on your system. This is where EzWinscore and the Palm PDA are going to be looking for the information they need to share.

·        Find your palm directory, the name you gave your palm will be in that directory.

·        Open your palm name and there will be a sub directory inside that called USPSS, this was created when you installed the USPSS software on your PDA and synched with the PC.

In my system this path is c: \palm\gmps\uspss  

If you use the Palm IIIxe the default installation for the Palm software is “c:\Palm”.  If you use a newer version of the Palm, the default installation directory is “C:\ProgramFiles”.  ”

·        NOW:  Set the Palm to override EzWinscore to: yes

When you are satisfied with your choices, click save, this will exit you to the main EzWinscore program.

You are now ready to start registering shooters for your match.

·        NOW:  Go to setup > registration

You will either register people for your match manually, or you can choose them from the mater database if you have previously registered them for a match.

Remember to click save after you have entered each shooter. When you are finished registration click close and return the main window.

If you choose to use the squad function in the Palms, this is also where you assign your shooters to squads. I highly suggest this. It makes searching for people much easier on the range.

Thinking ahead a little bit:

One thing to remember is to have to plan for unexpected shooters ahead of time.  We do this by registering on advance a few extra “walk in shooters”.  This establishes the ‘database’.

We don’t have the option of just handing a late show a score sheet and having him hit the range.

We register a few extra people, when a walk on shooter comes in, we give him a walk on number and take noted of their name, division class etc and enter this information into EzWinscore later when we crunch the scores.

You can add the walk on shooters now, or wait a minute and you can add them in blocks of 10 when you output the registration data to the palms.

It is important to do this, simply because of the analogy “Better to have a gun and not need it, than to need a gun and not have one.”   Create spare shooters.  If they are not needed it doesn’t matter.  If they are – just change the name.  It’s a ‘database’ issue.

·        NOW:  Go to Match > Palm

In this window you will see the button to “add walk in shooters” that we just talked about.  Go ahead and click it, this will automatically add 10 walk in shooters to your competitor list.

·        Now:  Click on “Export Registration”.  This will output your registered shooters to the proper directory to be transferred to your PDA on the next HotSync.

Step 2 - Transfer registration to your PDA

·        Plug your PDA into the PC.

·        Right click on the HotSync icon.

·        Go to Custom > USPSS > Desktop overwrites Handheld.

·        Close the HotSync manager.

·        Synch your PDA by a press on the HotSync icon (on your Palm screen or PC.)

After the sync process, open USPSS program on your palm, you will / should see all of your registered shooters have just been transferred to the Palm PDA.

You are now ready to define stages and transfer them to EzWinscore.

Palm Tricks and Tips ( 1 )

·        We Register the shooters in EzWinscore and transfer that data to the palms

·        We  Define the stages in the Palms and transfer that data to EzWinscore

This process makes sure that all the data matches in both places.

Why we define stages in the Palm instead of EzWinScore

Stages are define din the Palm because EzWinScore does not have target specific sufficient information about the stage for the Palm scoring system.   For example, there is no difference in the EzWinScore stage profile for a stage with 3 targets taking 2 rounds each an a stage with 6 targets taking 1 round each.

Why we define stages in the Palm instead of EzWinScore

Stages are define din the Palm because EzWinScore does not have target specific sufficient information about the stage for the Palm scoring system.   For example, there is no difference in the EzWinScore stage profile for a stage with 3 targets taking 2 rounds each and a stage with 6 targets taking 1 round each.

Step 3 - Transfer Stages & Verify Scoring from PDA to EzWinscore

·        Define your stages as needed in your Palm PDA.

·        Plug the palm in the PC.

·        Right click on the hot synch manager.

·        Go to Custom > USPSS and set to “handheld overwrites desktop”  (if you set this as your default as recommended before it will already be set).

·        Tap the HotSync icon on your Palm PDA.

·        After the HotSync completes (2 seconds) - Ff it isn’t already open > Open EzWinScore.

·        Go to Match > Palm

·        Click “Import Stages”.  This will import your stages, check the unique stage identities, and review the statistics to make sure your stages are correct.

·        NOW:  Go to Setup > Stages

Click on each stage and verify that the information that was transferred accurately.

It is important because it defines your stages – and stage identities.

If you have a classifier in your match, you will need check that particular stage and manually set EzWinScore to the proper classifier number.  This is important when you output your results to USPSA for classifications and mission count fees.

Go Shoot your match!

Palm Tricks and Tips ( 2 )

·        We have found that the Palm IIIxe models are perfect for range palms, all the Palms really do is carry data around.  We utilize EzWinscore to do the number crunching.
There is no need to by “all out” Palm PDA’s for your range.  At this time we are buying IIIxe’s on Ebay for $5-$20 per unit.  They take AAA batteries which can be changed when they run down.  You do not need find an AC outlet to charge from, then wait whilst charging is done.

·        In contrast – later model palms with bright screens and rechargeable batteries can do a whole days RO use without recharging on the range.  Do that at night.

·        Rechargeable batteries get “tired” after a couple of years.  If you buy a used rechargeable Palm, it may not hold a charge comparable to that held by a new unit.  (Dell knows this limitation of batteries, which is why their laptop batteries only have a one year warrantee, no matter how long a service contract you buy for your machine)

·        Make sure to use screen protectors and tape the battery door on the back shut with a paster.

·        I also write which range number the palm is going to on the paster.  Believe me you will want to do this!!!

·        If you dedicate a Palm to a stage. Make all the stags except for the one(s) you wish to score inactive. This will help prevent from scoring on the wrong stage. It happens just like on paper, Ever been to a mach with two 24 round, all paper target courses?  I have, and the mistakes do happen.  The Palm cannot automatically know what range it’s on, that’s the scorekeeper’s job.

·        Set the Auto time out to power down function on your palms to the maximum amount of time possible. This is 3 minutes on the IIIxe.  If the Palm powers down automatically, hitting the power button will take you to the exact place the Palm was before it powered down.

·        Set the bottom 4 buttons on your Palms to invoke USPSS, the scoring program.  This will save a lot of people from searching in the Palm for the program after a shutdown.

Step 4 - End of Match Transfer & Changes

Plug the Palm PDA into the PC.  (this always helps!)

·        Right click on the hot synch manager

·        Go to Custom > USPSS

·        Set setting to palm overwrite desktop if it is not defaulted to this setting.

·        Tap HotSync on the Palm PDA screen or PC.

·        After the synch open EzWinscore.

·        Go to Match > Palm > Import palm scores

This will import all your scores and a numbered table.

IMPORTANT: do not use this next function until all of your palm data has been transferred at the end of the match !!!!!!!!      This is especially important with multiple day matches such as Area Championships where the Sunday shooters may be on the Palms on Friday but haven’t shot a single stage yet.

·        NOW:  Go to Match > Missing score sheets.

Click the box that says to “Remove no show competitors from Match”

This function removes only the shooters that have no score sheets whatsoever filled out for them. This will greatly help with your housekeeping in Step 4.

·        NEXT:  Go to Setup > Registration > Already Registered

Double click on any competitor you need to modify or delete.  If it is a competitor that didn’t shoot, click the box labeled  “Delete from Match”.

If it is a legitimate walk on shooter, modify the information in the proper “Walk in Shooter” number with their correct information.

The Palm ó EzWinScore synchronization process is based on Competitor Number, so this change of name in EzWinScore may be done at any time during the match or in final score preparation.  There is no need to wait until after the last Palm synchronization to complete this step.

·        Now:  Go to Match > Calculate Results

Select your proper parameters for your match and click “Calculate”, your match is now scored. You can now output your results as you wish.

Three Gun Scoring

The Palm scoring software does not support Three Gun matches when used as a standalone scoring program however, there is a procedure you may use in order to utilize the Palm as a “data collection device” for Three Gun matches using EzWinScore.

What this means is the following:

·        The Palm software cannot be used to calculate the results of a Three Gun match in the palm.  This is not an issue for matches using the Palm to collect scores, however, it means you cannot use the “results calculation” feature in the Palm to view results.  USPSA clubs running matches with Palm scoring do not use the “results calculation” feature in the Palm, so this is not a issue for the stats team.  (also, the “Club Version” does not support this “calculate results” feature).

·        The Palm software can be used to collect the scores for the three gun matches.

Setting up for a Three Gun Match:

There are a few specific steps needed to set up Palm/EzWinScore for Three Gun integration, specifically:

·        The Rifle Match, Shotgun Match or both options must be set in EzWinScore match setup:

·        Stages in the Palm MUST be defined in the following order:

o       All Pistol stages

o       All Rifle stages

o       All Shotgun stages

·        When you import the stage definitions into EzWinScore, you will be asked a series of questions regarding stage type (for example, “Is this a Pistol or Rifle stage?”).  Answer each of these questions to complete the stage import.  If you make a mistake, just repeat the stage import process.

Once you have imported the Palm stages, the numbering scheme will differ between EzWinScore and the Palm – however, the stage names may be used to establish the relationship.  For example, consider a three gun match with 3 Pistol, 3 Rifle and 3 Shotgun stages

Multi Gun Scoring

It is not currently possible to use the Palm to collect scores for a USPSA MultiGun match. Automatd Scoring Systems will consider adding multigun scoring to the Palm interface once EzWinScore has full multigun scoring capability.

Final Comments from Scott Chapman

I have tried to include everything in these instructions to get a new user through the entire process.  Obviously I haven’t included every single step. (Peter Cunningham note:  I’ve tried filling in some gaps – hopefully not to make things confusing.)

More help on using the Palm Scoring is available from USPSS.

Additional information on EzWinscore is available in the help section of the EzWinscore program.

If you need any help I am available at scot1911@comcast.net, or by phone at 1-802-238-8604

Scott Chapman (principle author of this document)

and

Peter Cunningham

www.AutoScoringSystems.com

ass@acenet.com.au

Skype:  Peter.Cunningham  Mittagong Australia  (EST – Sydney time.  -10hrs from LA)

And

Rob Boudrie

rob@boudrie.com

+1 508 881 8997