AREA update
- Thread starter ecz
- Start date
nitro
Member
Hi all,
before anything else : sorry for my silence. I actually almost quit GS once they moved to the new format which I find uneasy...
AREA does not motivate threads usually so I'm surprised by the thread and the activity and I'll try to catch up with different posts and ideas.
1= All the data is free as it is mentioned on the site. Any fork/parallel initiative is okay by me. Just make sure the data remains free.
If people want to get into the AREA adventure with me, I'm very much open too, of course.
2= The problem with data updating has too choke points :
2.a : data often requires to be carefully read by someone (now it's me but it
could be people from a team or from another parallel system). This is because people do not care to make sure the guy they played is Terry Gray or Terry Grey, and even less so to make sure it is the same guy than Terence Gray who played in another tournament. And even less so to make sure the two Patrick Martin who play ASL in USA and in France are not the same.
TDs are careful enough regarding spellings for the people they know but I have to correct things here or there. Players are certainly NOT careful enough regarding this (and you can see it by reading ASLOK PISSheets) so that I believe that any self-care system as ROAR would not work for AREA.
2.b : data formats are an issue. ECZ wrote us about the very simple format he uses (player 1, etc) and I agree it is straightforward. But it comes only in PDF format so I have to retype everyting which is a hassle (BTW ECZ : that is why I am lagging behind schedule with VASLeague and on top of that ... I lost the whole file with 150 games I had generated from you original file... |-( But I will procees them and I'm sorry to have been so long..). Other formats are as simple but just a bit different (like the one used by Mel for Stockholm). Others are a bit trickier but can work too as the xls file that David Goldman sends me every year.
It does take some effort to convert things to a unique format and I'm not sure how to eliminate that problem since different TDs have different ways to run their tournament. For instance, François Boudrenghien uses poker cards to do the pairings and written paper to score results. I will not ask him to switch to "my" system : we are all happy he keeps running his tourney (almost 30 years now!).
All this can be solved by working with a team.
3= Getting the TDs to send the data
Some are really good at that and they will send me the data as soon as available. Over the time, they become more and more numerous.
I can easily think of 15 or 20 TDs doing that. And it is REALLY appreciated.
Some others take quite some time and iterations to get the data. Keeping track of whom I've written, whom not, what is pending or has been for too long is not what I do best. Here too I can take some help.
4= Revisiting the site
Some suggested to have it revamped. I have no problem with that. I tend to prefer sober design but, again, I'm opened. I believe that it
is necessair to have a program to generate automagically the thousands of HTML pages the site has.
All in all, I would say that :
in the current AREA (as opposed to any fork), I would gladly have people assisting me in getting the data from x or y tournament and
translating it in the standard simple format that I use.
If some guys have ideas about the way the site should look like, they can work on it too.
If some have ideas as how the sotware tools should work and want to get into that part too, no problem.
Best Regards to all
before anything else : sorry for my silence. I actually almost quit GS once they moved to the new format which I find uneasy...
AREA does not motivate threads usually so I'm surprised by the thread and the activity and I'll try to catch up with different posts and ideas.
1= All the data is free as it is mentioned on the site. Any fork/parallel initiative is okay by me. Just make sure the data remains free.
If people want to get into the AREA adventure with me, I'm very much open too, of course.
2= The problem with data updating has too choke points :
2.a : data often requires to be carefully read by someone (now it's me but it
could be people from a team or from another parallel system). This is because people do not care to make sure the guy they played is Terry Gray or Terry Grey, and even less so to make sure it is the same guy than Terence Gray who played in another tournament. And even less so to make sure the two Patrick Martin who play ASL in USA and in France are not the same.
TDs are careful enough regarding spellings for the people they know but I have to correct things here or there. Players are certainly NOT careful enough regarding this (and you can see it by reading ASLOK PISSheets) so that I believe that any self-care system as ROAR would not work for AREA.
2.b : data formats are an issue. ECZ wrote us about the very simple format he uses (player 1, etc) and I agree it is straightforward. But it comes only in PDF format so I have to retype everyting which is a hassle (BTW ECZ : that is why I am lagging behind schedule with VASLeague and on top of that ... I lost the whole file with 150 games I had generated from you original file... |-( But I will procees them and I'm sorry to have been so long..). Other formats are as simple but just a bit different (like the one used by Mel for Stockholm). Others are a bit trickier but can work too as the xls file that David Goldman sends me every year.
It does take some effort to convert things to a unique format and I'm not sure how to eliminate that problem since different TDs have different ways to run their tournament. For instance, François Boudrenghien uses poker cards to do the pairings and written paper to score results. I will not ask him to switch to "my" system : we are all happy he keeps running his tourney (almost 30 years now!).
All this can be solved by working with a team.
3= Getting the TDs to send the data
Some are really good at that and they will send me the data as soon as available. Over the time, they become more and more numerous.
I can easily think of 15 or 20 TDs doing that. And it is REALLY appreciated.
Some others take quite some time and iterations to get the data. Keeping track of whom I've written, whom not, what is pending or has been for too long is not what I do best. Here too I can take some help.
4= Revisiting the site
Some suggested to have it revamped. I have no problem with that. I tend to prefer sober design but, again, I'm opened. I believe that it
is necessair to have a program to generate automagically the thousands of HTML pages the site has.
All in all, I would say that :
in the current AREA (as opposed to any fork), I would gladly have people assisting me in getting the data from x or y tournament and
translating it in the standard simple format that I use.
If some guys have ideas about the way the site should look like, they can work on it too.
If some have ideas as how the sotware tools should work and want to get into that part too, no problem.
Best Regards to all
Thanks Bruno to have fully understood the spirit and the sense of my questions.
I would help in some way. The work you do is excellent and the effort is tremendous. I would at least translate the VASLeague data from PDF to a format suitable with your tools, but probably I need a two-hours course...
I would help in some way. The work you do is excellent and the effort is tremendous. I would at least translate the VASLeague data from PDF to a format suitable with your tools, but probably I need a two-hours course...
mharviala
Member
Perl is a general scripting language
MySQL is a database
Doug Kirk
Senior Member
Have KC and Chicago 2017 been submitted?
nitro
Member
Hi Doug
I got Chicago but not Kansas City : can you please send me the TD's email please ?
-B.
Danno
Ost Front Fanatic
Hi Bruno,
Got your email and am working on sending in the March Madness results. Sorry for being late this year.
Danno