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Last update: Friday June 3, 2005 9:44
By now all Graders should have received the new Grading CD-ROM. If anyone hasn't received their copy would they please contact either me, or the BCF Office.
Included on the CD-ROM is the grading master list for
the 1999-2000 season together with:
a) Data-checking program for submission
files (including associated documentation);
b) Updated documentation
defining the format for submission files;
c) Updated version of Congress
program;
d) Copy of League program;
e) Version of master list for users
of Tournament Director program;
f) General Instructions, etc.
The production of this list, together with the associated software is a significant milestone on the road to provided a successful grading list this year.
I understand that a few people have been having problems with reading the CD-ROM. Howard Grist has done some tests and come to the conclusion that there aren't any 'rogue CD-ROMs' going round, your drive can either read the CD-ROM or it can't, and getting a new CD-ROM is going to make no difference. If anybody is having trouble reading the CD-ROM, they should contact Howard who will send them the checker program, plus the other documentation on diskettes.
The best e-mail address for Howard is - howard.grist@btinternet.com. Please note that the e-mail address supplied in the checker documentation is incorrect and should read howardgrist@hotmail.com.
I would request that you all use the data-checking program before submitting your files to the central system, as this should ensure that your file can be read by the central system. There are a couple of differences to the format of the .dbf files supplied on the CD-ROM compared with those issued previously which result in spurious error messages reported by the checker program. The first of these are that all the names on the players.dbf have been truncated to 18 characters, so the checker could well report on name differences when this is not actually the case. The second of these is that the club counties have been truncated to 3 characters resulting in the checker producing 'Club County must be 4 characters' messages when nothing is actually wrong with the result file. If the files are checked without specifying the .dbf file locations, then everything is fine.
Finally, I remind you all of the deadlines for grading as follows:-
i) End of May for requests for new player codes.
ii) End of June for submission of grading results (for those of you that
haven't already seen the published instructions, a copy as published on the BCF
website is attached as an annex to this letter). For those of you whose event
is already complete, I would ask that you send us the results early. This is
your own interest, as it will give more time for the central team to provide
feedback and to resolve any difficulties.
C E Majer Acting Director of Grading 25/03/01