Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

It's not that hard to do if you use a real database as a back-end. It could be done more easily in Excel even if it were programmed correctly. What you do is have a table (or sheet in Excel) just for riders, and one of the properties of a rider is the distance.

 

What needs to be done to do this right is:

 

1) Provide access to the rider database via web front-end

2) The RM then connects to the front-end with the app. One tricky part is making sure that everyone else on the Internet can't also get to the rider database.

3) A little while later (this would have to be tested to see just how long), the RM has the current rider database.

4) Instead of keying in everything about the rider, the RM then just enters the rider number (if present), and all the rider info comes up. If it looks like the right person, great. If not, then you have to search by name, or enter new rider. Same system for horses.

5) You then enter ride times for each rider, and it figures out everything.

6) Once you're done, you then print out the results in case something goes wrong, use the app to connect back to AERC, and upload the results.

7) AERC home office then does whatever they feel like they need to do to validate the information, and another app updates the main database with the ride results. This part is also tricky because we want to be sure that we're not updating some other ride.

 

This _can_ all be done - it's a SMOP (Simple Matter of Programming). Depending on the skill of the programmer, you're probably looking at 80-160 hours of programming and testing. IMHO, we ought to do this - it would save a lot of RM time, and perhaps more importantly, time spent at the home office transcribing things. Most of the problems with the current software isn't a problem with software, it's that this software isn't user-friendly enough.

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From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of terre
Sent: Friday, June 11, 2004 5:03 PM
To: Truman Prevatt; teri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: lif@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [RC] rm software

teri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

I used the software once at a ride.  I would rather just do pen and pencil.   If you enter the information  as the entries come in before a ride you are bound to dislike the software.  Reason being.  People do not always stick with the mileage they sign up for, they do not always ride the same horse they sign up for.  To change this information during registration is tedious.  People do not want to wait in line for you to fix the info.  Then you have those that are not registered and have to sign them up. 
 
Then you have the in timer and out timer.  Nancy is fast with her system she has.  A computer would slow her down.  Not to mention where Nancy is usually put most like does not have electricity.  Then you have the problem of not having enough juice to run it all day. 

It IS a bit of a pain in the butt, especially with a slow laptop, or if it's too sunny to see the screen, etc...but I still think the program is worthwhile.  If riders are in the db, it's fairly easy to enter them--and when they change horses and distances (truman!) it's a PITA no matter WHAT system you're using...especially if you try to be REALLY efficient and make up the rider cards in advance.

For me, it more than pays for itself (well, it IS free...!) at the end of the ride.  All you have to do is enter the time (actual time) the rider finishes, or the pull code--and the program does all the rest (assuming you have entered the start and hold times accurately, of course--GIGO).  Sort by time, print, and you are ready for the awards.  Go to the BC form, click import top ten, type in the vets scores and weights, and you are done.  I have always found this the most stressful part of ride management--trying to calculate riding times, etc--trying to make sure the order of finishers is correct.  This program does that for you.

I always email directly from the program to the office. I have asked them REPEATEDLY if the results are 'usable' in this form, and they always say "yes, they're fine"--so I have to take their word for it that the weird excel file the program emails is valuable to them.

It DOES make life a lot simpler.  You can also print lists of riders to check off at the start, and for the timers, etc...  It really IS a pretty good program, just a little glitchy and out-of-date.  Haven't seen a better one yet!

terre