Common COMPMNGR Problems
and Frequently asked questions

 

Once you have COMPMNGR installed on your computer you can use its built-in help system to get answers to frequently asked questions, for example: 'How do I set up a new competition?' or 'How do I transfer my COMPMNGR installation from one computer to another?'. This page only addresses problems in getting COMPMNGR installed on your computer.

If you don't know what files and folders (also called directories) are or how they differ, or if you don't know how to navigate in the Windows file dialog box in order to download a file to a specified folder, or if you don't know how to use 'My Computer' to manipulate files (search, copy, move, or open them), then you need to find someone who does to help you with the contents of this section. The explanations in this section tell you what to do, not how to do them. Also, you should read the 'Basic ideas and terminology' and 'File overview' topics before any other.

(0) Basic concepts and terminology
(1) Downloading and installing COMPMNGR on your computer or installing a later version
(2) You can't get COMPMNGR to run after the download.
(3) You can get COMPMNGR to run but you can't open a competition database or can't open the database you want to open.
(4) You can get COMPMNGR to run and to open the database you want to open, but the status information at the bottom of the COMPMNGR window indicates that you are limited to 250 entries and the expiration date is wrong.
(5) You can get COMPMNGR to run and to open the database you want to open, but the data doesn't "look right" to you. For example, some of the information you know you have entered seems to have been lost.
(6) File overview
 


(0) Basic concepts and terminology

COMPMNGR is a computer program which resides in a file named CompMngr.exe and which is used to open and manage COMPMNGR databases. A COMPMNGR database consists of two files which have the same root name; the registration file has the extension 'rgc' and the main data file has the extension 'dbc'. For example, the database for your 2003 competition might be contained in files named MyComp2003.rgc and MyComp2003.dbc, and the database for your 2004 competition might be contained in files named MyComp2004.rgc and MyComp2004.dbc. An 'rgc' file is a small file containing valid passwords and the dates for the time window during which the organizer of a competition with more than 250 entries can perform certain operations, such as reheating the competition. (Most operations are not restricted to this time window and the restrictions apply only if there are more that 250 entries.)  The 'dbc' file is a larger file which contains most of the information about your competition, such as dance categories, packages, tickets, studios, attendees, dance entries, and purchases. The COMPMNGR program can be used to open different databases, but it can open only one database at a time.

All COMPMNGR files should be in the same folder. The default folder name is 'cmpmgr' (a six character abbreviation of COMPMNGR to reduce the chances of confusion between the folder name and the program name) and is on the c: drive on your hard disk; that is, the default folder is c:\cmpmgr. Many people have had problems because they unwittingly allowed their files to spread over several folders. The File overview topic describes the COMPMNGR files and tells you how to determine their locations.

To open a database, you launch (or open) the CompMngr.exe file, click on 'File' and 'Open' in the COMPMNGR main menu to pop up the Windows file dialog box, and navigate to the 'rgc' file for the database. When you select the 'rgc' file to open, COMPMNGR opens the 'rgc' file, retrieves the list of valid passwords, and then asks you to enter a password. If you enter a valid password, COMPMNGR closes the 'rgc' file and opens the 'dbc' file. If there is no 'dbc' file corresponding COMPMNGR will offer to create a new 'dbc' file for you, but that file will be empty except for a few default values and you normally don't want to do this to set up a competition database.

The best way to set up a competition database is to make a copy of your database from the previous year (e.g. make a copy of MyComp 2005 and call it MyComp2006), delete the entries and purchases, and make the required changes in dates, prices, etc. If you don't have a previous competition database you can start with the sample database files, named DEMODATA.rgc and DEMODATA.dbc, included with the COMPMNGR setup. (you should not enter your data directly into the DEMODATA database since it is overwritten every time you install a later version of COMPMNGR.) The steps in stetting up a competion database using a previous database (or the DEMODATA database) are:
(1) Run COMPMNGR and go to the data for the previous competition (Main menu:File + Menu:Open).
(2) Make a copy of the previous competition. In the main menu File drop down menu, select Make copy, then Exact copy, then in the text entry box which pops up, specify the name of the new competition. For example, if the previous competition had the root name MYCOMP98, you might name the new one MYCOMP99. This creates an exact copy of the old competition by duplicating the old registration file (MYCOMP98.RGC -> MYCOMP99.RGC) and database file (MYCOMP98.DBC -> MYCOMP99.DBC).
(3) Switch to the new competition (Main menu:File + Menu:Open).
(4) In the main menu Setup drop down menu select the item Reset parameters, then in that sub-menu select 'Typical reset for new competition'  to reset all the parameters typically reset for a new competition (reset start date, shift attendance flags, delete purchases, entries, men's numbers,.
(5) Print a setup report (Main menu:Report + Menu:Setup), study it, and mark any changes from the previous competition.
(6) Finally, you make the necessary changes in the new competition setup (e.g. the schedule of events, dance categories, and prices) by selecting the appropriate items in the Setup menu. The best procedure is to start at the top of the Setup menu and examine each item from top to bottom. After you complete the changes, you should print out another setup report and study it to make sure that all the required changes have been made. You should also print out the sequence of steps in using COMPMNGR and refer to it frequently to make sure you don't skip any important steps.

COMPMNGR provides a feature for option of purging studios and persons from your database based on their attendance at previous competitions. You may want to use this feature if you have done a number of setups, each based on the previous competition, and have accumulated a number of persons and studios which no longer attend your competitions.

If the registration file of the previous competition database was past its expiration date, the same will be true of the new competition database. That does not prevent you from following the procedure just described; it just means that every time you run COMPMNGR you will see the expiration date notification. You can even begin to do your dance entries. Before you get too far along, however, you should arrange to receive a new registration file.


(1) Downloading and installing COMPMNGR on your computer or installing a later version.

The instructions below are the same as given on the COMPMNGR download page on this web site. You should follow these instructions whether you are installing COMPMNGR for the first time or replacing an earlier version with a later version. If you are replacing an earlier version with a later version you do not need to uninstall the earlier version; so long as you install to the same folder (the default is c:\cmpmgr) the later version will overwrite the earlier version without disturbing your competition databases. Note that there are only two steps in the instructions: (1) downloading the setup file SetupCompmngrV3.exe and (2) running the setup file to install the COMPMNGR program file CompMngr.exe and its supporting files on your computer.

To start the download process you click on the text "Download SetupCompmngrV3 now" on the download page. After you click on that text your web browser software will probably present you a couple of screens in order for you to confirm that you really want to download the file to your computer's hard disk and to allow you to select the downloaded file's location (i.e. folder or directory) on the hard disk. The exact form of these screens depends on the web browser software you are using. The first screen may offer you the options of running the program in place or saving (downloading) to your hard disk. You do not want to open or run the program in place. You do want to download to your hard disk. The second screen is most probably a version of the Windows file dialog box, which allows you to select the folder on your hard disk into which you want the download file to go. Your best bet is to download it to your Desktop folder, as mentioned above, so that an icon is created for it; then all you have to do is double click on the icon to run the setup program. The download requires around ten minutes on a dial-up connection.

After you download the setup file, you run it either by double clicking on its desktop icon or using Start/Run and browsing until you locate SetupCompmngrV3.exe. When the setup program is run, a very simple dialog box pops up to allow you to enter the location (the disk drive and folder) where you want to store the program and its associated files. A default location is provided (c:\cmpmgr), and you should use it unless you have a compelling reason not to. So all you really need to do is click on the OK/Save button. The setup program does four things: it creates the folder (if it doesn't already exist), it unpacks some packed files, it puts all the files in the folder, and it offers to create a desktop icon for the COMPMNGR program.


(2) You can't get COMPMNGR to run after the download.

If you can't get COMPMNGR version 3 to run at all you need to track through the sequence of steps in the installation process to determine what went wrong. The first step is downloading the setup program file, named SetupCompmngrV3.exe, from the web site. If you have been successful in downloading and running the setup program file, then skip to the next paragraph. When you download the COMPMNGR setup file either it is stored somewhere on your computer's hard disk or it isn't (sounds obvious, but a lot of folks don't seem to understand). You should use the Windows file search feature to determine which is the case. If SetupCompmngrV3.exe is not found on your hard disk then either you made a mistake in the instructions you gave to your web browser or something is wrong with your web browser. You should repeat the download to see if you can download SetupCompmngrV3.exe successfully. If you can't do so the problem is with your web browser or your computer configuration, which is outside the scope of this discussion. If you find that there is more than one copy of the SetupCompmngrV3.exe setup file you should delete all but the latest, as determined from the date on the file.

At this point you should have one copy of the SetupCompmngrV3.exe setup file. You need to know that running the setup file does the following:
(1) creates a folder (default is c:\cmpmgr) if it does not already exist.
(2) extracts (from within the body of the SetupCompmngrV3.exe) a number of files including the COMPMNGR program file (CompMngr.exe), two help files (CompMngr.hlp and CompMngr.cnt), and some supporting program files and stores them in the specified folder.
(3) offers to create desktop shortcut icons for CompMngr.exe.
If you have not already done so you should run the SetupCompmngrV3.exe. Then you should determine whether the files CompMngr.exe and CompMngr.hlp are located on your hard disk. It will be assumed in the following that all COMPMNGR files (possibly excluding the SetupCompmngrV3.exe setup file) are located in c:\cmpmgr.

If CompMngr.exe exists on your hard disk all you have to do is create a desktop shortcut icon for it or, if a shortcut exists, make sure that its command line points to the correct location for CompMngr.exe. If CompMngr.exe is not found after you have run the SetupCompmngrV3.exe setup file, then you may have a very old or incomplete version of the Windows operating system which does not support the setup file operations; in this case you can contact the vendor who will email you a copy directly.


(3) You can't open a competition database or can't open the database you want to open.

You should understand that the first time you run COMPMNGR it will not go directly to open a competition database for you, and the title bar at the top of the COMPMNGR window will say something like "Compmngr (no competition)". You will have to click File, and then Open, to pop up a file location/selection dialog box, then specify the folder in which your data are located and the name of the registration file for your competition. If you don't understand about registration files, you should go back to the COMPMNGR overview page and read about them. If you close COMPMNGR while a database is open, the name of the database is stored in a configuration file so that the next time you run COMPMNGR it will go directly to (i.e. ask you for the password for) that database.

If you can get COMPMNGR  to run but you can't access your competition data, then the first thing you need to do is locate the main files required by COMPMNGR and make sure they are in the right place (see overview below). There are three absolutely essential files: (1) the program file CompMngr.exe, (2) a registration file whose root name has the file name extension ".rgc" (e.g. MyComp2003.rgc), and (3) a main database file having file name extension ".dbc" and root name the same as that for the registration file (e.g. MyComp2003.dbc). These and all other COMPMNGR related files (e.g. help files) should be located in the same folder, preferably the default folder c:\cmpmgr. If they are not, then you should move them so they are. Finally, if you are running COMPMNGR from a desktop shortcut icon, you should check its properties to make sure it is pointing to "c:\cmpmgr\compmngr.exe". To be sure, locate CompMngr.exe using "My Computer" or "Windows Explorer" and run it from there rather than from a shortcut icon.


(4) The status information at the bottom of the COMPMNGR window indicates that you are limited to 250 entries and the expiration date is wrong.

There are three possible causes for this limitation:
(1) You have not submitted a license agreement and received a registration file allowing more than 250 entries. In that case you should do so.
(2) You have received a registration file allowing more than 250 entries, but something went wrong when you saved the file. This case is discussed below.
(3) You have received a registration file allowing more than 250 entries, but you are outside the range of dates which allow more than 250 entries. In that case you should contact the vendor.

If you are emailed a registration file it is up to you to save the file in the same folder as all your other COMPMNGR files, which normally will be c:\cmpmgr. There are three common problems in retrieving and installing a registration file.

The first is that the file was either not saved or it was not saved in the correct folder. If you are having problems which you believe are related to retrieving and installing a registration file, the first thing you should do is determine whether the file is in the correct folder. You can use your computer's file search feature to determine whether the file has been saved on your hard disk and, if so, whether it is in the correct location. If it has not been saved and is no longer available in your email records, then you will have to contact the vendor for a replacement. If it has been saved but is in the wrong location, then you will have to move it to the correct location. It is fairly common for users to accidentally save their registration file in the 'My Documents' or 'DeskTop' folders.

The second common problem is inconsistent file names. The root name of the registration file has to be the same as the root name of the main database file. The second problem most commonly arises when you have already assigned a root file name and started to set up your upcoming competition, and you receive a new registration file with a different root file name. For example, suppose the root file name you selected for your new competition is MyComp2003 (that is the main files are MyComp2003.rgc and MyComp2003.dbc), and you receive a new registration file named MyComp03.rgc. In this case you will have to delete the old MyComp2003.rgc file and rename MyComp03.rgc as MyComp2003.rgc.

The third common problem can occur if you receive your new registration file BEFORE you start to set up your upcoming competition and, when you get around to doing the setup, you overwrite the new registration file. Suppose that the new registration file is named MyComp2003.rgc. Suppose further that you go into the previous competition database, call it MyComp2002, and make a copy named MyComp2003 in order to start your setup. When COMPMNGR makes the copy it will ask you whether it is OK to overwrite MyComp2003.rgc. If you answer yes then you are overwriting the new MyComp2003.rgc with the renamed copy of the MyComp2002.rgc file. In this case you will have to contact the vendor for a replacement.


(5) Your data doesn't "look right" or some appears to have been lost.

So you have opened your database and something doesn't look right. Something has changed or it appears that information you have entered has been lost. The most common cause of this problem is that there are two copies of your database and you entered information into one, closed COMPMNGR, then reopened it with the second database. The problem of two database copies has occurred two ways. The first is inconsistent use of file names; for example you have a database named MyComp03 (MyComp03.rgc and MyComp03.dbc) and one named MyComp2003 (MyComp2003.rgc and MyComp2003.dbc). The second is use of more than one folder; for example you have copies of MyComp03 (MyComp03.rgc and MyComp03.dbc) in both c:\cmpmgr and in c:\compmngr. If you are lucky all of the information you need is in one or the other, usually the one with the most recent file date. In that case you just delete the older database files and use the newer ones. If you have information you need in both copies you can attempt to export the information from one and import it into the other so that it has all of the information. If you think you need to do this you should contact the vendor for technical support; before you do so you should examine the folder or folders containing your COMPMNGR files to locate your database files.


File Overview

If you have followed all the instructions for installing COMPMNGR you should have the main COMPMNGR files all in the same folder: The main files, excluding competition data files, used by the COMPMNGR program are:
COMPMNGR.EXE - The actual COMPMNGR for Windows program file and is the only absolutely essential program file.
COMPMNGR.HLP - The main help system file.
COMPMNGR.CNT - The table of contents for the help system file.
LINEDRAW.TTF - a font file used to display and print scrutineer's scoresheets.

The main competition data files come in pairs, one pair for each competition database (you can work with more than one competition at a time).
*.rgc (e.g. MyComp2003.rgc) - the registration file, which must be obtained from vendor. (Older versions use extension .reg)
*.dbc (e.g. MyComp2003.dbc) - the main database file, which you can create if you have a registration file
When you download and execute the COMPMNGR setup file, a sample database pair labeled DEMODATA is placed in the folder with the rest of your COMPMNGR files.

A COMPMNGR registration file is a small file containing the maximum number of entries allowed, a master password assigned by the vendor, subordinate passwords you may assign, and beginning and ending dates between which you are allowed to enter more than 250 entries and heat your program. Registration files have the file extension ".rgc" (for example, MyComp1999.rgc). When you use the COMPMNGR program to open a competition database, it first opens the registration file for the database, retrieves the list of passwords, and prompts you to enter a password. If you enter a valid password, it next opens the main data file, which has the same root name (MyComp1999 for the example above) and an extension dbc. COMPMNGR then determines whether the current date is between the beginning and ending dates between which you are allowed to enter more than 250 entries and heat your program. Even if the current date is outside that range AND you have more than 250 entries, you can still use most of COMPMNGR's features (e.g. invoicing, accumulated awards points calculations, setting up your next competition). The main features disabled when you are outside the date range AND have more than 250 entries are making new dance entries and heating the competition program.

To make sure all of your files are in the same folder, or to locate the folder, you can use the "file find" utility program which comes with all Windows computers or, if you can run COMPMNGR, you can use its built-in file location feature. To use the Windows utility program click on the "Start" button, then on "Search" or "Find" in the pop up menu, finally on "Files or folders". Type "compmngr.*" (without the quotes, upper or lower case) to locate all files starting with COMPMNGR. They should all be in the same folder (c:\cmpmgr if you used the default) and you should make a note of the folder name. Then repeat the search using "*.dbc" to locate all your main database files, which should be in the same folder as the program files. To use the COMPMNGR feature click on main menu item 'File', then 'Search for COMPMNGR components'. The COMPMNGR search feature searches for 'rgc', 'dbc', and COMPMNGR program files all at the same time.

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