Harrier--The Cross Country Program

Introduction

Harrier is a cross country scoring and timing program for PalmOS® devices. Harrier can score up to eight teams and 400 runners, keeping track of times for all runners and team points. Detailed results showing team points, overall placings and times and individual results by team may be viewed at any time and saved to a memo. Harrier can adjust times to match official results, and assign runners to places for final results.

Harrier can also score and time up to three intermediate splits during the race and report detailed results for each split.

Features

Up to 400 runners in a meet
Up to 50 runners per team
2, 3 or 8+ teams
Time and score up to three intermediate splits
Times for all runners in all splits
Scores for all teams in all splits
Results by team in all splits
Results by place in all splits
Save results to MemoPad
Use roster and assign runners to places
Adjust Time for all runners to match official results
QuickButton operation

Requirements

Harrier requires PalmOS® 3.0 or greater.

Purchase

The registered version of Harrier costs $12.00 and may be purchased by clicking the Buy Now button.

Trial Version Limitations

The trial version of Harrier has all the features of the registered version except that the times for all runners past 5th place in the race are truncated to ten second resolution. In addition, you cannot save results in the trial version.

Download

Download harrier22.zip. The download file contains the Harrier files and this documentation in pdf format.

Installation

To install Harrier:

Download harrier22.zip.
Unzip harrier22.zip--a directory called "harrier" is created with the harrier files in it.
Install harrier.prc on your Palm device.

Using Harrier

Quick Start

Using Harrier is quite simple:

Create a new race using the "Configure" menu item.
Configure team names by clicking on the team name button prior starting the clock.
Start the clock by touching the start button or pressing the PageUp key.
Record times by touching the team name or pressing a QuickButton.
Advance to the next split or stop the clock by touching the start button or pressing the PageUp key.
View results using the Results menu item.
Adjust times for accuracy using the Adjust Time menu item
Use a roster to assign runner's names to places in results.
Save and/or annotate results using the save feature when viewing results.

General Operation

Start the clock by touching the Start button with the stylus, or pressing the PageUp key. The clock is started and continuously updated. If you have configured Harrier to time intermediate splits, the Start button will change to read Next and the meet name will reflect the name of the current split being timed. When you press the Next button, Harrier will automatically change to the next split if there is one, or to finish time, if the last split has been timed. When you are timing the finish, the Start button will read Stop. Harrier displays the running time for the race and the scores and places as recorded for each team. Individual times are visible only when the results are displayed using the Results menu item. When a runner is recorded, Harrier updates the runner's team score and adds the runner's place to the team list. After each split is completed (by tapping the Next button), the scores and runner's places are cleared and scoring and placing starts again from place 1. The data for each split is saved and may be viewed later using the Results screen.

In an 8-Team meet, the Others button simply records a place and time for a runner whose team score you don't wish to record. When the Others button is pressed, the display to the right of the button shows the place recorded.

Meet Types

For all meet types, Harrier may be operated by either tapping buttons on the screen with the stylus, or pushing buttons on the Palm device. In the Dual and Three-way meet types, Harrier may be operated entirely using buttons. In the 8-Team meet type, if you wish to record places and times for more than three teams, you must use the stylus.

The meet type is selected using the Configure menu item. Three meet types are available:

Dual Meet

The Dual Meet provides two large buttons, one for each team. Scores and places are recorded under each button. In the Dual Meet type, the DateBook button records times and places for team one (the top screen button) and the PhoneBook button records places and times for team two (the bottom screen button).

Three-way Meet

The Three-way Meet provides three large buttons, one for each team. The buttons are aligned on the left of the screen and scores and places are recorded to the right of each team's buttons. In the Three-way Meet type, the DateBook button records times and places for team one (the top screen button), the PhoneBook button records places and times for team two (the middle screen button) and the ToDo button records times and places for team three (the bottom screen button).

8-Team Meet

The 8-Team Meet provides 8 small buttons, one for each team and a larger Others button. The buttons are aligned on the left of the screen and scores and places are recorded to the right of each team's buttons. In the 8-Team Meet type, the DateBook button records times and places for team one (the top screen button), the PhoneBook button records places and times for team two (the second screen button), the ToDo button records times and places for team three (the third screen button) and the MemoPad button records times and places for "other" teams.

In the 8-Team meet, the others button is used to record places and times for runners who are not one of the eight teams listed on the screen. Using the others button keeps places and scores accurate without having to select a specific team for a runner.

The Meet Configuration Memo

The Harrier Meet Configuration Memo is simply a specially formatted Memo Pad Memo that Harrier reads. The Memo contains all the information for a meet, including the meet name, type, number of splits to be timed, and team names and rosters of runners. This information is used in Harrier to easily assign runners to their places in the final results and to quickly set up the meet information and team rosters in the configure screen.

A Meet Configuration Memo has the following form:

Harrier Meet

Name <meet name>

Type <2, 3 or 8>

Splits <0, 1, 2, or 3>

Split <name of split>

Team <Name of Team>

Runners for team.

Team <Name of Team>

Runners for team.

The first line of the memo (the memo title) must begin with "Harrier Meet". This is what Harrier uses to find the memo. On the same line, you can put any additional identifying information you wish for ease in identifying the memo.

The "Name" line contains the word "Name" followed by the name of the meet.

The "Type" line contains the word "Type" followed by either a "2" (for Dual Meet), "3" (for Three-Way Meet), or "8" (for Large Meet).

The "Splits" line contains the word "Splits" followed by a digit indicating the number of splits to time. A value of "0" indicates no splits. The maximum allowed number of splits is 3.

Following the "Splits" line are lines starting with the word "Split" followed by the name of the split. These should be entered in the order in which they occur in the race. For example, to time mile splits in a 5K race, enter the following:

Splits 3

Split Mile 1

Split Mile 2

Split Mile 3

After the split information is entered, enter roster information for the teams you wish to score.

The "Team" line contains the word "Team" followed by the team name.

Following the "Team" line, subsequent lines are the names of runners for that team.

To enter additional teams, simply enter another "Team" line followed by lines containing the runners for this team.

Example:

Harrier Meet Jim Danner
Type 8
Splits 3
Split Mile 1
Split Mile 2
Split Mile 3
Team Sunset Apollos
Harrison Wilson
Stephen Angius
Adam Bernot
Joey Mucha
Mycah Norville
Sean Lavelle
Team Beaverton
Stuart Eagon
Michael Devenport
Brandon Lopez
Alan Webb
Adam Goucher

Viewing Results

To view the results of the race, select the View Results menu item. The view results form provides a button for each team and buttons for viewing meet results in different formats. The selector at the top of the form allows you to select which split is being viewed, or to select the final results. The splits are listed by name. The final results are available by selecting the meet name from the list. If the "Show All Splits" box is checked, then results of each type will show all splits in order.

Touching one of the team buttons displays the results for that team. The places for each team member are listed, along with their time.

Touching the "Team Results" button displays the team scores, sorted by score for the meet.

Touching the "Individual Places and Times" button displays a listing of all runners recorded during the meet by place and showing their times.

Touching the "Complete" button displays a listing of the team scores, individual team results, and a listing of all places and times in one memo.

Adjust Times

If your start time was off by a bit and you want to adjust your results to match the official results, select "Adjust Time" from the Menu, or touch the "Adjust Times" button on the results screen.

The Adjust Times screen shows the current winning time and an "Adjusted Winning Time" in three fields. Please note that the fields are Minutes, Seconds, and Hundredths of a second (Not tenths of a second).

To adjust the times, enter the corrected winning time in the Adjusted Winning Time field, then press "Apply". Harrier will calculate the difference in the times and change all times recorded by that amount.

Saving Results

To save results in memo form, simply touch the "Save" button on the results display screen. If you wish, you can also edit the memo--any changes are saved when you save the memo.

Assign Runners to Places

When you select "Bib Places" from the Results screen, a scrollable list of all places, with times and teams is shown at the top of the screen. At the bottom right are the runners from the Harrier Roster in another scrollable list. This runner list shows the runner's team (abbreviated) and the runner's name. On the left of this list are a selector and three buttons.

The selector allows you to filter the place list by team. This minimizes the scrolling required to assign runner's to their places.

To assign a runner, select the place in the team list and the runner in the runner list, then press the "Match" button.

If you wish to assign a runner to a place and the runner does not appear in the runner list (or you have not loaded a roster using the Configuration Memo, press the "Manual" button and enter the runner's name.

To correct errors, simply reassign the place as described above.

Press the "Done" button to exit the screen.

QuickButtons

Harrier supports using the Palm buttons to start and stop the clock and record times for some teams. The PageUp button starts the clock when the start button is visible, stops the clock when the stop button is visible and clears results when the clear button is visible.

The DateBook button records a time and place for a runner on Team 1 (the topmost button on the screen) when the clock is running.

The PhoneBook button records a time and place for a runner on Team 2 (the second button from the top on the screen) when the clock is running.

The ToDo button records a time and place for a runner on Team 3 (the third button from the top on the screen) if a three-way or 8-team meet is selected and the clock is running.

The MemoPad button records a time and place for a runner not on one of the displayed teams if an 8-Team meet is selected and the clock is running.

The Harrier Menu

Configure

Select the meet type to be Dual Meet, Three-Way Meet, or 8-Team Meet.

Enter the number of splits to record. Valid entries are 0 which records only the final time of the race; and 1, 2, or 3, which record results for 1, 2, or 3 intermediate splits respectively.

This selection allows configuration of the scoring for your particular meet. The default is to score the first 5 runners on the team and have runners 6 and 7 count for scoring places. All subsequent runners on a team are ignored for scoring purposes.

Results

Displays the results form that allows you to select which results to view.

Adjust Time for Accuracy

If your start time was off by a bit and you want to adjust your results to match the official results, select "Adjust Time" from the Menu, or touch the "Adjust Times" button on the results screen.

Register

Prompts for and verifies your registration code. Obtain a registration code by purchasing Harrier at Stickman Software.

About

Gives information about this version of Harrier.

Score Calculation and Display

Harrier by default calculates team scores as it is done in Oregon high school Cross Country. I have no idea if there are other prevalent methods. If you know of one, let me know. The scoring is configurable (see Configuration).

Harrier scores the first five runners on a team. Runner's six and seven on a team count in the places for scoring purposes, but do not count in their team score. Runners lower than 7th on a team do not count in scoring at all.

The result of this is that Harrier will sometimes display place listings for a team that do not add up to the team score. For example, in the normal case of a dual meet where both teams run 7 runners, the following may be displayed:

Team 1: 18 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, (10), (13)

Team 2: 38 3, 7, 8, 9, 11, (12), (14)

However, if the teams run more than seven runners, the following could occur:

Team 1: 18 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, (10), (11), (12), (13), (14)

Team 2: 39 3, 7, 8, 9, 14, (15), (16)

Note that Team 2's place list, when added up shows a score of 41, but the display score is 39. This is because the 8th, 9th and 10th runners for Team 1 placed in front of runner 5 for Team 2, pushing his place in the race to 14. However, Team 1's 8th, 9th and 10th runners don't count in the calculation of team scores, so for scoring purposes, runner 5 for team 2 gets 12 points, not 14.

This "feature" of Harrier allows you to record accurate times in races where teams run more than 7 runners. In Oregon, this is commonly done in JV races and in many dual meet varsity races.

Harrier displays the place recorded for a runner next to his team's button. The place recorded is the runner's place in the race. If the place is simply a number, then that runner's place counts in the team score. If the runner's place is surrounded by parentheses, then his place is lower than 5th on his team, and his place does not get added to the team score. If the runner is lower than 7th on his team, then his place is recorded in the place list (so you can retrieve his time), but the place does not count in terms of calculating team scores.

Accuracy

The function that Harrier uses for timing records time in 1/100 of a second intervals. Harrier rounds each timing calculation to the nearest 1/10 second. Harrier takes some amount of time to update the screen display from the time an event was recorded. During this time, Harrier cannot record another time, since PalmOS does not multitask. The worst case time for this much less than 1/10 second.

Tips

Harrier

Comments/Suggestions

If you have any comments about Harrier, or suggestions for improvements, please email me at tthkbw@verizon.net.