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Ór 4.3.10 is out now

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(@martin)
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Like a bus, you wait ages for Ór updates and two come along in the same month.

Ór 4.3.10 is out now.

It includes two feature improvements plus one existing feature I had forgotten to document:

1. Download Start Box. Ór will now discard start punches from previous events. It does this based on day, week and discontinuities in the space-time continuum. This is useful if somebody forgets to clear the start box's backup memory between events.

2. Road Crossing now supports out-and-back crossings where a pair of controls are used to get competitors safely across a road and then back again - see the attached example. Note how the controls are configured in Ór for the course - the R-C control is the control AFTER the crossing and they must be in the order of the crossings.

3. Import downloads via SIConfig. This was in the last release but I had forgotten about it. You can download the Download box's backup memory using SIConfig and import it into Ór. Why might anyone want to do this? Some examples include, laptop fails, master station cable breaks, training event where you don't want to bring a laptop. The Download box will need a working battery (many don't as they are powered by the laptop). Also, you will need to edit the file from SIConig if the Download box has not been cleared between events.

Enjoy,

Martin

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(@daithi-power)
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Joined: 2 years ago

Hi Martin,

I ran an event yesterday and was re-acquainted with Ór for the first time in a few years. I'd just like to say kudos to you for what is a fantastic piece of software.

I had one young lad who forgot to clear and had a corrupted start time so I could have made use of the latest update to Ór if I had read this forum earlier. (I was able to fix the start time afterwards anyway)

I have a few suggestions, please feel free to ignore them if I they don't make sense or the functionality already exists but I have not been using it correctly.

The first is an idea to speed up registrations, especially for anyone who has trouble reading SI card numbers. Would it be possible for people to register just by inserting the SI into the reader. If the SI was either blank or its latest start was not today, then it would pop up the new competitor dialog box, populated with the SI number and other competitor details if they were in the database. The organiser would then just check the details (or fill in the blanks), select the desired course and hit OK and the competitor would be entered (status Yellow).

A second one would be to have a different colour status for competitors that were pre-entered versus ones who had physically shown up. Eg yesterday, I imported a start list with everyone who had pre-registered for the whole summer league as well as a few who pre-registered specifically for yesterday's event. At the end of the event, I still had lots of entries showing yellow though I knew that they were not all out on the course by the dwindling number of keys in the bowl. If they were say Blue when imported and only turned to Yellow when they arrived at the desk, and I entered their SI and confirmed their course. (or they stick their SI in the unit as per above), I would have had an accurate picture of who was actually still out.

Lastly, when someone who had pre-registered arrived at the desk yesterday, called out their SI and I entered it, I got a dialog saying eg "361774 has already been used by Daithi Power - Do you want to use it again? - Yes - No". When, I hit No, I got "Please enter an SI Number" It would be better if it opened the existing entry for that SI so that I could check the course and other details were correct. Instead, I closed the dialog, then searched for the entry in the start list, opened it and picked/confirmed the course. Not a biggie and if I had all the correct info when I imported, it wouldn't have mattered but when there is a queue of people waiting and you keep losing sight of the cursor because of the sunlight, every little helps.

Again, thanks for all of the work that you put into Ór. It really makes things so much easier,
Daithí

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Hi Daithi,

Sorry, I didn't see your post till today.

> ... corrupted start time ...
I think you may be mixing things up a bit here. It has been possible to override the start time of a competitor for some time. Edit the competitor, click the Extras tab, select "Ignore SI Start" and enter a new start time. Unfortunately, there may still be problems whth his time due to other old punches.

> ... register just by inserting the SI into the reader ...
I had thought about this several years ago but decided against it for various reasons.

> ... different colour status for competitors that were pre-entered ...
There is another, better, way to handle this. When the last competitor has started, bring the Start boxes to Download and put them upside-down over the download station. You can then import the backup memory into Ór. This will show exactly who has started and when. You may need a ferrite rod and it can take a few tries before it works.

Also, it should be reasonably clear who pre-entered using the Race Number. Sort by Race Number and you just need to know who was the last entry in the imported start list. Anyone below that is EOD.

> ... has already been used by ...
This is a bit clunky. I'll take a look at it in the future.

In case anyone is still reading, here are a couple of things that I have found helps make it easier to read the screen:

A while ago, I got a large collapsible grey plastic box from Lidl. I can put it on its side and put the laptop into it. It helps protect the laptop from the rain and provides a dark region around the screen. It's also good for storing & transporting the laptop, printer credit card reader etc..  Photo attached

Another tip which is great for old guys like me is to make the mouse pointer bigger and coloured. It's much easier to see. Open Settings from the Windows Start Menu. Search for "Mouse". You can change the Mouse Pointer Size & Style.

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