ShipResults - A Windows Results Uploader

ShipResults is a Windows-based program that facilitates bridge results upload to the web server. It works with a number of scoring programs. At the moment, it works with:

• ASE 8 and 9
• Compass
• Compscore 2 and 3

If your scoring program is not on the list above, you don't have to read further.

Before Installation

Before you can start with the setup, you need to make sure you have the following:

1. Activation code for the program. If you haven't already received this please contact support@bridge-club.org.
2. Scoring program installed on your system. Make sure you know which scoring program you use and if any options related to creation and storing of result files are properly enabled.
3. You need to know where on the dis the  scoring program stores the result files. The installation will most likely guess correctly where the result files are, but if it doesn't (leaving the directory field empty) you will need to tell it.

Installation

First, you need to download ShipResultsInstall64.exe and start the installation process by running the downloaded program. This is a straightforward process that requires that you answer a few simple questions. NOTE: if you're using Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10 or later you MUST do: a right mouse click over the downloaded file and then choose Run as administrator option from the pop-up menu.

If you have an older version of ShipResults already installed, the installer will use your old settings and upgrade programs. If you want to put in new settings, you need to uninstall old version first.

To enter the activation code when asked, it's best to 'copy and paste' the code from the email you received. This is to avoid typing mistakes. Some characters, like '1' (digit one), 'l' (lowercase L) and 'I' (capital i) may look very similar, depending on your screen or printer fonts.

If the installer guessed the results directory, it will pre-fill the input field for it. Override it at your own peril! However, if the field is empty, you need to tell the installer where to find result files. This situation can happen if you are installing the ShipResults program before installing the scoring program or you'll always use a PC that's different from the scoring one to send results out. For example, you score results in your club, then copy the result files onto a portable media device (eg. USB stick and then upload the from a different PC.

NOTE TO COMPASS USERS: when setting the result directory, you must set the root of the Compass file tree, typically C:\Compassv6, because the rest of the file path is calculated, based on the current year. If you set the directory where the result files actually are, ShipResults won't find them.

Another decision to make is whether to have autosending on (default) or not. Autosending means, once the scoring is done and the scoring program has created the result files, ShipResults will detect that within a few seconds and then automatically package and ship the files to the web server for further processing. The main advantage is that directors/scorers do not have an extra duty to remember that they need to send results to the web server. It's also a convenience that saves work.

Whatever you choose, this is only an initial setting and you can change it later on.

Usage

If you switched on autosending, you don't have to do anything. Scores will be uploaded automatically and most of time, there's nothing to be done. If something goes wrong with uploads, you will be notified via baloon messages that will show as coming out of a little spade icon in the taskbar. This icon represents ShipResults. It may change its appearance to indicate various states it goes through, as well as the text that show when you hover the mouse pointer over it.

You can interact with ShipResults by doing a right mouse click on the spade icon in the taskbar. A pop-up menu will give you various options you can activate. You can switch autosending on and off, you can initiate sending of results yourself, and you can control various settings about which messages you want to see (or not).

WARNING: if you choose Exit option to terminate the taskbar icon, auto-sending will still continue if it was switched on before. If you want get the little icon back, you need to log out and log in again (or, reboot PC)