Comparison of Versions 2 and 3

Although version 3 of COMPMNGR is a totally different program from version 2, every effort was made to make the user interfaces as similar as possible. The casual user might not even notice the difference. Some of the main differences are summarized below.

In version 2, data were stored in fixed length records, which meant there were limits on the length of text strings such as studio, person, and dance names. Version 3 has no such limits, names can be as long as you like. In version 2, new or edited data were not immediately stored in the data file on hard disk, so you could lose data if the program crashed between the time you added or edited a data item and the time it was stored on the disk. Version 3 stores a data item on the hard disk immediately after it is added or edited, which may appear to slow things down a little but is more reliable.

In version 2 if several computers (e.g. registrar and scrutineers) were running COMPMNGR, the only way they could share competition data was by merging data from diskettes passed among the computers. Version 3 allows file sharing across a network. If the computers can be connected in a network they can all access the competition data file concurrently so that diskette data transfers are not necessary.

The dance category setup in version 3 allows more competition types and heating options than that in version 2. For example, it allows single person events which you can set up for situations in which only one partner is known in advance (e.g. partner's names are drawn from a hat). It allows up to 254 dances, levels, and age divisions per category, whereas version 2 only allowed eighteen dances, fourteen levels, and ten age divisions per category. In version 3 you can change the sequence of dances in a category even after you enter people in the category; in version 2 you could not do this. Version 3 provides a feature called combine codes which allow heating options version 2 could not handle. Version 3 allows mixed entry types in competitions, e.g. professional vs. amateur, adult vs. youth, and gentlemen men vs. Ladies conditional on the number of entries.

Version 3 has an additional heating option which in some cases packs entries in fewer heats than does version 2.

Version 3 offers a "Bill to" feature for dance entries and purchases, so that the dance or purchase can be associated with one person or studio and billed to another person or studio. This feature will be useful in the case of several independent teachers dancing out of the same studio, which case version 2 did not handle very well.

Version 3 provides for "early bird" pricing of price list items and packages.

Version 3 has a superior method for tracking multi-round competitions, so that it can handle heats which contain a preliminary round of one competition and a final round of another competition.

Version 3 allows you to insert text lines having unique fonts into program. In version 2 all inserted text lines had the same font.

In version 2 dance entries were stored in two places, in dance entry forms and in the competition program, which sometimes produced conflicts. Version 3 stores dance entries only in the competition program and creates dance entry forms as necessary "on the fly".

In version 2 scrutineers could not change the number of entrants or number of judges in the scrutineering data entry box without losing any marks they had already entered. Version 3 allows addition and deletion of entrants and judges in the scrutineering data entry box without losing any marks already entered.

When you exited a person data dialog box or dance entry form without specifying a studio name, version 2 always asked you whether it should create a studio having the same name as the person's name for entry in the mailing list. In version 3 you have three options for handling this situation. You can have it behave like version 2, and ask you what to do. You can have it create the mailing list entry automatically without asking you. Or you can have it proceed without either asking you or creating the mailing list entry.

Switching from Version to Version 3

Switching from COMPMNGR Version 2 to Version 3 requires exporting some information from Version 2, then importing it into Version 3. This section describes how to do that.

To convert a COMPMNGR version 2 database to the correct format for version 3, you first run version 2, open the previous database to be converted, and do the following in the main menu Miscellaneous, sub-menu Text file operations:
(1) Set delimiter for export (select tab, semi-colon, or pipe symbol)
(2) Export setup data to text file; use a file name like SetupData.txt
(3) You have the option to Export person/studio data or to Export entry and purchase data (which will include studios and people) to a text file, say MainData.txt. Be advised that program format information (heat structure, men's numbers) is not preserved in the export/import process.

Run COMPMNGR version 3 and use it to open the registration file from the previous competition (versions 2 and 3 share registration files). COMPMNGR version 3 will then initialize a new (but mostly empty) database for you. In the main menu Miscellaneous, sub-menu Text file operations:
(1) Set delimiter for import to same as in (1) above
(2) Import formatted text data from the file you created in step 2 above, SetupData.txt in the example.
(3) If you elected to export studio/person or entry and purchase data as described in step (3) above, Import formatted text data from the file you created, MainData.txt in the example.


The imports can take a pretty long time, and the setup import is not perfect but does maybe 95% of the work for you. At this point you now have a version 3 database corresponding to the previous version 2 database. If the version 2 database file was named MyComp2001.cdb, the version 3 database file will be named MyComp2001.dbc. The root name (MyComp2001 in this case) is set by the registration file name. If you are setting up a new competition from the old one, you can now proceed with the usual steps for setting up a new competition (see the help system topics "Getting started" and "Sequence of steps in using COMPMNGR".