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Frequently Asked Questions -- FAQ

Website: http://www.leagueassistant.com/

  • Should I download the 16 or the 32 bit program?
  • Which version of the program do I have?
  • What is the quickest way to setup the program for my league?
  • Can I change the font size for a report?
  • How can I customize a report?
  • A player arrived late and did not play the first game. How do I enter this?
  • I am using team difference handicapping. Why are the handicaps not correct after I enter the scores?
  • I have entered all the scores into the program but the program will not process the scores?
  • Does the program use the Peterson Bonus Point system?
  • Can I print blank data entry forms (recap sheets) to be used at the competition site to record the weekly results?
  • How do I uninstall The League Assistant Program from my computer?
  • Is there a program available for Apple Macintosh or Linux computers?
  • I am having problems installing the program with Windows Vista
  • How can I find the backup data files on my system?
  • Does the program use the Peterson Bonus Point system?
  • I have other questions or need technical support, what is the quickest way to get help?

    Should I download the 16 bit or the 32 bit program? This used to be an issue years ago. Today only the 32 bit version is available for download. This version has been tested on computers with Windows 32 and 64 bit operating systems. Please contact the author if you feel you need the older Windows 3.1 16 bit or DOS version of the program. Top

    Which version of the program do I have? The program version is displayed each time the program is started. It is also displayed in the title bar at the top of the program screen. You can also click on the Help menu and select About League Assistant to find the version number. Top

    What is the quickest way to setup the program for my league? Follow these eleven steps for a quick start.

    1. Start The League Assistant program. Click on the File menu and select New. If the program asks you if you want to make a backup of the current data files, click on Yes. Enter a file name into the Create New League Files dialog box, for example, you could enter the file name MYLEAGUE.
     
    2. In the GENERAL LEAGUE SETUP PARAMETERS screen you will need to specify the type of league you have and other parameters such as the number of teams, players per team, etc. Please note that some of these parameters cannot be changed for the league you are creating without creating a new set of data files. After entering the parameters click on the OK button and the program will setup a league for you using all the default selections for other options.

    3. Click on the Setup menu and select Scoring Parameters. Modify the scoring to match the needs of your league.

    4. Click on the Setup menu and select Split Season Options. Modify the options to match the needs of your league.

    5. Click on the Setup menu and select Award Options. Modify the options to match the needs of your league.

    6. Click on the Setup menu and select Teams and Subs. Modify the teams the program setup to match your league's teams.

    7. Click on the Setup menu and select Classifications. Modify the classifications to match the needs of your league.

    8. Click on the Setup menu and select Lanes and Schedule. Modify the schedule to match that of your league.

    9. Click on the Setup menu and select Officer and League Names. Modify the names to match that of your league.

    10. Click on the Setup menu and select Extra Statistics and Fees. Modify the options to match the needs of your league.

    11. Click on the Setup menu and select Team Prizes. Modify the data to define the prizes for your league.

    12. OPTIONAL: If you will be using brackets, click on the Setup menu and select Brackets. Create one or more brackets for your league.

    You do not have to complete all these steps in one session on your computer. Just complete the steps in the order listed at your leisure. When you are done you will be ready to start entering weekly results into the program. You may need to consult with the other officers on your league for decisions on how to setup some of the options such as handicapping. Top

    Can I change the font size for a report? The program determines the font size for the report based on information provided to it by the printer driver for your printer and values you have selected when performing a printer setup. The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have the latest printer driver for your printer. Consult the information you have on your printer to find out how to get the latest printer driver. If you have the latest printer driver you can still make some adjustments to the font size by deciding whether or not you want left and right margins on the printed reports. If you eliminate the margins, the font size is likely to be larger. You can toggle the margins on or off on the Option menu and when creating individual reports. A check mark before Printer Margins means that the margins will be used and the font will most likely be smaller. Another way to change the font size would be to select a different paper size for your printer or to change the print mode from Portrait to Landscape. People often ask this question because they want to squeeze all the information into a single page. This is possible for many leagues but some leagues are just too large to make a one page printed report that is legible. Many of the reports also have options such as including extra statistics, awards, etc. that add to the length of the report. Eliminating or changing these options will shorten a report. For the ultimate in customization, see the FAQ on report customization. Top

    How can I customize a report? The easiest way to do this is to print your report to a file. Open the file with a word processing program (Windows Write or Windows WordPad are fine; Microsoft Word and Open Office Writer also work well) and perform your customization. Click on the Option menu, select Print To . . ., and then File or select "Text File" as the "Print To..." destination for the report. Select the report you want to run from the Reports menu. When the report runs the save file dialog box will appear and you will be able to specify the file name and location for your report, for example MYREPORT.TXT. Unless you specify otherwise the file with the report will be in the same folder on your computer that your data files are in which is normally the C:\LEAGUE ASSISTANT folder. Open this report with your word processor of choice. Highlight all the text in the report and change the font to Courier New True type font. You can now customize the report in anyway you like, such as changing font size, adding information, adjusting the formatting, etc. Another option is to copy the report you view on the screen to the clipboard and paste it into a word processing document. Top

    A player arrived late and did not play the first game. How do I enter this? Each game of bowling competition is comprised of ten frames. If your league is not a bowling league, then your situation will be different. Any game that is not played or which does not have all frames played will have incomplete frames. On the data entry spreadsheet you will find a checkbox labeled Incomplete Frames. This checkbox is normally clear since all frames are normally played. However if a player arrives late, leaves early, is injured, etc., all the frames for this player will not be played. You will want to enter the absentee score for this player for missing games or a pro-rated absentee score for partial games. You will not want this score included in the player's total scores (pins in bowling) since the game was not really played. For example, suppose you have a player with a 155 average and that player's normal absentee score would be 145 (155 - 10). This player arrived late and missed the first game. To enter this properly in the program you will click the Incomplete Frames checkbox to put a check mark in it. This will then activate a column labeled "I" next to each game in the spreadsheet. After you enter the score for each game on this team you will need to indicate if all the frames for that game were completed. Placing an "X" in the "I" column for a game will mark that game as being incomplete. The scores for that game will be used to compute wins and losses but will not be counted in the stats for the player. In the example case, you would enter a 145 as the score for the first game and you would place an "X" in the "I" column next to this score. All other scores in the spreadsheet for this team would not have an "X" in the "I" column. Top

    I am using team difference handicapping. Why are the handicaps not correct after I enter the scores? To compute the handicap for team difference handicapping, the program needs to know who played on each team. It can then compute the average total for each team and determine which team gets the handicap and how much this handicap will be. The way to do this with the program is to use the Opponent button on the data entry form. Enter the scores for a team. Click on the Opponent button and enter the scores for the opposing team. Click on the Opponent button again and the handicaps will now be computed correctly. You need to follow this procedure for each set of opposing teams. Top

    I have entered all the scores into the program but the program will not process the scores? After you have entered all the scores for a given week and click on the OK button the program will ask you if you want to process the scores and update all the stats for that week. You can answer Yes to process all the scores now or No to defer processing to a later time (maybe you want to check on a score with someone before the processing is done). You will not be asked this question if all the scores are not entered. If you have 10 teams on your league and you have entered scores for 8 of the 10 teams you will see a line at the top left of the data entry window that says Results entered for 8 of the 10 teams. The scores will not be processed until this line says Results entered for 10 of the 10 teams. The results are not entered for the team if there are any zero values in the spreadsheet for any player on the team. You may have zeroes in the spreadsheet if you have absentee or vacancy players on the team and you thought that you did not have to enter data for these players. The program will fill in the scores for absentee or vacancy players automatically for you but you must first let the program know that the player is absent or that you are using a vacancy and not a substitute. You do this by selecting the Type of Player to be a Regular - Absent or a Vacancy. After making this selection and pressing the Enter key, you will need to select the name of the player who is absent or the vacancy you want to use. After making this selection and pressing the Tab or Enter keys, the scores will be automatically filled in for you by the program. Top

    Can I print blank data entry forms (recap sheets) to be used at the competition site to record the weekly results? Click on the Edit menu and select Weekly Scores. Adjust the lineup for each team to match what you expect it to be at the competition site. For example, if you know that a sub will be playing for a certain person, you can enter the sub's name now. When you have the team lineups the way you want them, click on the Print Form button. You can print forms for one or more teams. Top

    How do I uninstall The League Assistant Program from my computer? You can click on the "Uninstall" selection in The League Assistant program group or you can click on the Start menu, select Settings, and then select Control Panel. Double click on the Add/Remove Programs icon. Scroll down the list of programs in the dialog box to find The League Assistant. Click on the program name to highlight it. Click on the Add/Remove button to remove the program from your system. Close the dialog box and the control panel. If the directory C:\League Assistant still exists on your machine after you follow this procedure, you can delete it and all the files left in it to complete the uninstall. Top

    Is there a program available for Apple Macintosh or Linux computers? The League Assistant program is designed for computers with a Microsoft Windows operating system but you can also run this program on your Apple Macintosh or Linux (Ubuntu, Devian, etc.) operating system. 

    If you have a Linux system you will want to use WINE (http://www.winehq.com). The League Assistant program runs successfully on this system. Click on the link to learn how to install WINE on your system. Once you have successfully installed WINE you will be able to install and run the League Assistant program.

    Specific directions for installing this program on a Mac can be found in this help file or on the League Assistant website.

    Some alternative methods you can consider for your Mac are as follows.

    Click on the following links for Apple's information on running Windows applications on their system:

    Explore how you can run Windows on your Mac using Boot Camp.

    Using the free Wineskin application to run the League Assistant program on your Mac.


    If you do use The League Assistant program on a non-Windows operating system contact the author for information on how you can qualify for a substantial discount on The League Assistant program. Top

    I am having problems installing the program with Windows Vista. This was a problem with some older versions of the program but you should not have a problem with the current version. If you do, please contact the author to discuss the problem. Top

    How can I find the backup data files on my system? If you have the "Automatic Backup" option checked on the "Option" menu, the program will frequently make a separate backup file for your data. If you do not have this option checked, the program will ask you if you want to make a backup at key points in the program. The backup file is made for the current week. If you are making backups automatically, you will have a backup file for each week. Backup files are useful for restoring the data for a prior week to correct an error or keeping a backup of your data on different media, for example a flash drive or an external drive. Backup files are also useful in providing support for questions you have about using the program with your league data. The backup files are stored in the same folder as your data files. Backup file names all start with an ampersand character "&" and end with ".zNN" where NN is the week number. For example, if your league files are named "my league", then the backup file for week one would be name "&y league.z01", the backup for week two would be "&y league.z02". If you want to be sure that you do not lose any of the information you have entered for your league, you will want to periodically copy all the backup files from the folder they are normally stored in to another media such as a flash drive, external hard drive, CD, etc. Top

    Does the program use the Peterson Bonus Point system? Yes it does. However, since this is not a standard system, the system used in this program may or may not meet the requirements of your league. Please read the section in this help file about how this system is implemented and evaluate whether it will meet your needs. Top

    I have other questions or need technical support, what is the quickest way to get help? This help file has a wealth of information about the program and most likely has the answers you need. Search the help file first. If you need more help, the best thing to do is to contact the author by Email (preferred) or phone. In the Email you will want to ask your question or describe the situation as clearly and completely as you can. Using examples taken from your data works best. You will want to attach two files to your Email. The first file is your most current backup file. The second file is the program trace file, "LAProgramTrace.txt",  which gives the author information about your system and how the program runs on it. Click on the links to learn more about these files. Your Email with the attached two files should give the author all the information needed to quickly answer your questions or solve your problem. You can find more information in the Technical Support section of this help file. Top