RCP SuperSingles-n-Doubles 2014

Instructions

Contents

Introduction

Microsoft Excel Basics

SuperSingles-n-Doubles Standard Use

General

Games & Totals Worksheet

Standard Sorting Worksheet

Brackets

General

Brackets Sheets

Set & Adjust Sheets

Payout ($$$) Sheets

Brackets Entries Sheets

Use Of These Sheets And/Or Other Placement Tools Is Entirely Optional

Random Brackets Assignment Tool

Handicap Calculator

Special Events

Mulligan events

Prepping The File To Be A Cleared Template For Future Use

Introduction

Welcome to the world of RCP Software, home of powerful, economically priced, easy to use software for handling a wide variety of bowling events. These instructions cover how to use the specific features created by RCP Software and some basic instructions for those who are unfamiliar with computers and/or Microsoft Excel. We have found that even computer novices are able to successfully use our software. If you are an advanced user, you can probably just skip the primer on how to use Microsoft Excel.

SuperSingles-n-Doubles is specialty software focused on handling large singles tournaments and large doubles tournaments. It is also focused on large tournaments where the bowlers are only competing in brackets. And it can handle tournaments where these singles or doubles events are combined with brackets. Individual bowlers in singles tournaments, and doubles pairs in doubles tournaments are uniquely identified in the software by an Entry #, much like the runners in a marathon. The total number of Entries that can be handled is 4012. The maximum number of Entries that can be handled by the brackets features is currently 1000.

SuperSingles-n-Doubles is designed also to handle marathon events, such as where bowlers bowl perhaps 20 or 30 games over a period of time. This software can handle up to 114 games. 7 or 8-game singles events are a breeze.

This software is capable of handling some unusual situations, which customers have explained cannot be handled by software available elsewhere. Those complex uses are explained at the end of these instructions. It is most likely you will never use most of those more complex features but they have been provided for those who might wish to use them.And you might find the Mulligan tournament feature to be quite a bit of fun. For standard usage, just ignore the columns and other display components associated with those complex features.

Other software by RCP Software, such as our Sweeper software, can also handle brackets as well as doubles and singles but is oriented more toward league or bowling center sweepers where the group wishes to bowl a wide variety of events such as teams, one or more types of doubles, one or more types of singles, and even match club events. A wide variety of Sweeper-style modules is available for you to select at the time of purchase.Sweeper software is oriented also toward the smaller to moderate sized groups of bowlers, up to 400, commonly found in leagues and in local bowling center events.SuperSweeperScore and SweeperBrac have a wider variety of capabilities in standard events and brackets as compared to the sheer size capabilities in SuperSingles-n-Doubles.

There is some sample data entered in various places in the software where the user is permitted to enter data. These examples may be useful in learning the software by example. Please go through the instructions and learn the software. Try changing the sample data to see how things work. Then, when you have learned the software, you can clear all the sample data from the software (using Clear Contents on the right mouse button menu) and then save the cleared template to your hard drive, as a template, in a convenient Templates folder, such as the standard Templates folder set up by default by Microsoft for all Microsoft Office applications such as Excel. Saving the file as a template will generally automatically place it in the correct Templates folder. This will permit you to quickly start a new workbook file based on the template in order to handle a new tournament.

Microsoft Excel Basics

If you are new to computers and new to Microsoft Excel, this section should teach you the minimum you will need to know about Microsoft Excel. More detailed explanations on the operation of Excel can be found in Microsoft’s manuals and Help. Okay, let's get started learning.

First, Excel is a spreadsheet type of application. The data is spread out and displayed in rows and columns of cells. Click on any cell with your mouse. Note that the column letter is lit up at the top and the row number is lit up over at the left. The cell you clicked on is now the active cell. It is where you are at the time. It will be outlined in bold. We describe the location of a cell by column and row, such as cell C7.

Like on a house window, the window you are looking at which holds Excel can be split into panes. Doing so may make it easier to operate an Excel application because such an application’s display may span many columns and/or many rows. You can use Split to simultaneously view data that may be many columns and/or rows apart.

For practice, you are going to divide the Excel window into two side-by-side independently scrollable parts or "panes" which will allow you to do things such as looking at certain basic bowler information on the left side while reading scores or other information on the right side.Knowing how to set up such a split will be useful during this tutorial. The Split command is a toggle command. Alt, w, s is the standard way of invoking it. Once turns it on, a repeat turns it off. Splits can be done with both vertical and/or horizontal bars.

Here are the steps to produce a vertical split bar:

1) Place your mouse cursor over the letter at the top of a column. Let’s try the J at the top of Column J.

2) Click to highlight that column.

3) On the classic Window menu click on Split (or hit Alt, w, s which will produce the same result).

4) Press the Up cursor arrow. You now have a vertical split bar.

5) Look down at the bottom of each pane. There will be a scroll bar. Try sliding these bars back and forth.

6) Make a cell on the right side of the split bar the active cell. Scroll the right hand pane to the left, underneath the split bar, thus moving you to the right in the display, by pressing and holding the right cursor arrow.Also try this by usingthe scroll bar at the bottom of the right-hand pane.You scroll until you can see whatever column is under discussion in the tutorial.

You can remove the split bar later with the same Split command. Alt, w, s. Try that now.

Next we will try a 4-way split. Click on cell J2. Then hit Alt, w, s. Note the result. Try independently scrolling the various panes with cursor arrows and scroll bars to get a feel for how this tool can work for you.

Hint: A 4-way split (commonly done with J2 as the initial active cell) is pretty useful to most people while using this sheet because the money totals summaries are placed to the left of that while other information you may wish to view will be over to the right.

The entire Excel file is a workbook. It is comprised of worksheets. The first worksheet in SuperSingles-n-Doubles is the Games & Totals sheet. You can go to any worksheet by clicking on the tab at the bottom of the sheet. Ctl + Page Down or Page Up can also move you through the worksheets. Take a quick look at this time at some of the other worksheets. Those other sheets are for sorting tournament results, brackets management, brackets results, and handy utilities, etc.

At this time, you need to become aware of the Undo command. It is on the Edit menu if you have the classic menus. The simplest way of executing it is Alt, e, u. At this time place an “x’ in some open white background cell. Press Tab, Enter, or a cursor arrow to move away from that cell and confirm the text entry. Then press Alt, e, u. Remember this simple command. If you accidentally destroy something you shouldn’t have touched, immediately use this command to fix the problem. There is also a clickable Undo command icon in the upper left-hand corner of your Excel display. It looks like a curved arrow pointing toward the left. You can do multiple Undos, thus working backward sequentially undoing recent changes. Simply replacing data that you recall was in a gray background cell is NOT the equivalent of using the Undo command.

If you delay the repair after a mistake like this, you will have to Undo all intervening actions, thus erasing data. So avoid that, please. Remember, "If it's white that's where you write. If it's gray, stay away."

Please refer to Microsoft's manuals for general operation of Excel but if you're not that familiar with Excel, the following additional general hints should enable you to use Excel sufficiently:

  1. Pressing the Tab key after entering data in a cell will confirm the data and move the active cell one cell to the right. The active cell is the one with the bold border. Pressing the Enter key instead moves the active cell downward.
  2. Click the left mouse button with your mouse cursor over a cell to go immediately to that cell. Try that now. Click on cell M10. Enter the number 80 as the handicap per game for bowler #9 in that cell, thus replacing the sample number. Note you entered data in a white background cell. Press the Enter key.
  3. You can navigate through a worksheet with the cursor arrows, Tab key, or Enter key. Try each of those keys now to move around columns M and N.
  4. Try clicking the right mouse button with the mouse cursor over cell M3. Note the Shortcut Menu items. Use Clear Contents to remove data from a cell. Do not use the Delete command. Depending on the situation, you might remove important formatting with the Delete command. The Clear Contents command is always the safe one.
  5. Now Clear the data from cell M3.
  6. Then put it back by entering the data manually and press the Enter key.
  7. Try double clicking inside a white cell that contains some data. Now you are inside the cell and can add or delete data one character at a time. Use the Tab key or Enter to exit the cell when you are done.
  8. Make a cell in the A Scratch Total column active. Press End, down cursor arrow. Note what happens. Now press End, up cursor arrow.

Note that you can move the active cell through the grayed columns but just don’t remove or change any of the data in the cells in those columns. Keep that Undo command in mind in case you make a mirsteak.

You're doing great! Let's move on.

SuperSingles-n-Doubles is provided to you in the form of an Excel template. An Excel template has a file extension of .xltx. An Excel spreadsheet created from a template has a file extension of .xlsx. When you initially start up Excel, the seemingly blank spreadsheet you see is actually a copy of your Normal Excel template. Each time you wish to score a new tournament, you will make a copy of the SSnD template through the New command, thus creating a new spreadsheet file. Do this by going to the File menu and clicking on New. Locate a template and click on OK.

The first thing to do after you have started a new workbook for your upcoming tournament is to give it a distinctive name, then save it to a folder in a location that makes sense to you. Save the new file with a name like Fun Club Doubles 20100514.xlsx to indicate a doubles tournament held on May 14, 2010, for the Fun Club. If you use such a syntax, the files for the Fun Club tournaments will appear grouped together and in chronological order in your Windows folders.

You may wish to freeze the top row (known as the Header Row) of a spreadsheet in place while vertically scrolling down a worksheet so you can still see the Header Row to remind you what type of data is in each column. To do this, place your mouse cursor over the Row Number for Row 2. Click to highlight the row. Then go to the Window Menu and click on Split (or use Alt, w, s). If another split is presently in place you will need to remove it first with this toggle command, then use Split to freeze the headers for vertical scrolling. Then click in any white cell to continue working. If you now scroll down the worksheet, note that the top (header) row will remain in place and you will be able to see the column headings.

You can remove the header row freeze by clicking on Split on the Window menu (or use Alt, w, s).

In Excel 2007 and later, we use the Split command instead of the Freeze Panes command that was sometimes used in Excel 2002/2003. It functions almost identically and is a more universal command.

Note carefully that if Split is invoked from an active cell situation, the split bar(s) will appear above and/or to the left of the active cell. So you can do a combination (4-way) Split to keep the Header row visible and allow horizontal split scrolling. Try that now. First remove any Split bar(s)that may be present by using the Split command. Then make cell J2 the active cell. Then invoke the Split command. Note what happens. You will see 4 panes. Try the scroll bars.

Now you're a Splitting whiz!

Now try scrolling the left side panes by clicking a few times on the triangle at the right-hand end of the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the left side or your screen. Press and hold your mouse button on the triangle. Note what happens. Now try the same thing on the right side and note that you can line up distant items from the same record on the right and left sides of the vertical split bar. Try sliding the vertical scroll bar (over at the right) up and down to see how that works.

If you have a horizontal split bar in use, you can jump between top and bottom panes easily. Try the F6 key (to jump up) and Shift+F6 (to jump down) to see what happens. This also works for jumping between right and left panes.

Try Ctl+Page Down and Ctl+Page Up to move between sheets.

Try pressing and holding Page Down. Note the rapid scrolling.

In a column that has some data, press End, then the Down arrow. Press End, then the Up arrow.

Click on any cell. Right click on it. Copy. Move to a blank cell. Right click. Select Paste Special. Look at the choices presented. Note the Values only choice in the upper portion. You will occasionally use that choice and this process to paste only the values from some computed areas to some summary area. Just keep this Paste Special process in mind.

Give a standard Print command (Ctl + p) to see the dialog box for your printer. Note you can select specific pages of a worksheet to print. You can also highlight some portion of a worksheet and print just that Selection. Try out the Print Preview command on the File menu. Obviously, Excel worksheets can be huge so you will want to carefully delimit the print command to just what you want to print. If you want to select and print just a portion of a worksheet, try it out first in Print Preview to see what you’re going to get.

Note the portrait and landscape possibilities for orientation of the paper if you want to print something out. We have preset certain sheets in SSnDto one or the other orientation but you can certainly change that if you wish. You may wish to just print out the portions that show money winners but that is up to you. Highlight and Print Selection may be useful if you use the optional detailed layout sheet at the right of a Brackets Entries sheet and wish to print it out for use in making the actual bracket entries.

To Sort data to rank bowlers by highest scores, right click on the data to be sorted. (This will be done on the Standard Sorting worksheet so you might want to look at that sheet now as an example.) If you want to sort all the bowlers, that is a single level Sort. If you click in the column holding the data by which you wish to sort (e.g. Scr Series Total), you can just select Z to A or largest to smallest and that will sort the data.

Before you Sort for the first time on the Standard Sorting worksheet, be sure to specify in the Custom Sort dialog box that your data does not have a header row.

If you wish to sort some group of scores where not everyone is in the group (e.g. a pot game), then do a multi-level sort. To do that, select Custom Sort on the right mouse button menu. Sort at the first level, largest to smallest or Z to A by the group designation, such as sp4 for scratch pot for game 4. That brings all the entrants to the top. Then sort by scores for that game (SG4 in this example) at the second level. That sorts among the entrants into that event.