Software Updates (check here to see what's new)

[Brian Agee]

1.5.1.84

This thread is where I will describe what is included in every software update that is released.

I'm constantly pushing out improvements to the software, however there has never really been a central location where users an see exactly what is included in each update. Some updates may be minor cosmetic changes, while others may contain long list of great new features.

This thread will be locked so that only I can post to it, this way it does not become cluttered. If you have a question or comment about a specific software update, then feel free to start a new thread with that patch number in the subject. Each post I make in this thread will have the 'File Version' listed first, and then a bullet list of what all has been changed with that patch.

Today I pushed out an update that allows all users to see if they are running the newest update or not. After installing today's update you can see your "File Version" (the build number of the last update released) when you click on the "Help" menu in the software. If you see a new update announced in this thread then you can quickly update the software by clicking on the Help menu, clicking on the file version, and then clicking on the "Check For Updates" menu item. This will instantly download the newest installer - which of course is faster than having to go to my website and click on the Free Trial button.

Here is what is included in today's update:

• Fix: Course Map now shows up correctly on the Registration Form and Neighborhood Announcement Report.
• Fix: Numerous prompts appear if photo is taken and the 'camera click' sound file is missing on the computer. This has not been reported by any users, just something I found when trying to run the software straight from Visual Studios.
• Fix: Clicking on the Races or Athlete list was not putting the focus back in the Bib # box at the top left of the Clock screen.
• Fix: I found a way to make the connection to cameras and readers more reliable on the Tag Check and Results Kiosk screen.

• Enhancement: Added File Version # and Last Updated date to the Help menu. There is also an option to "Check For Updates" that will automatically download the newest installer available.
• Enhancement: On the Import (from Excel or Delimited file) screen I set the first six columns (RaceID, Race Date, Race Name, etc.) to invisible by default. This improved the accuracy of the auto-sizing that occurs when you first load a file into ART.
• Enhancement: Cosmetic work on Course Mapping screen to make it easier to navigate.
• Enhancement: Added the ability to track how many events are being pulled down from (or results being pushed up to) RunSignUp or RaceRoster.
• Enhancement: When importing athletes (from file or from RSU, RaceRoster, or TFRRS) I increased the maximum starting bib number from 9999 to 995999. I had a user that needed to start at 10501 Hopefully nobody uses bib numbers that are over 7 digits long! :)

[Brian Agee]

1.5.1.85

• Fix: Increased size of panel above the list of athletes on the Open Race screen. A user reported that the "Import" button was not showing on his Microsoft Surface devices because his display settings was not allowing that button to be visible for some reason.
• Enhancement: Improved speed of deleting multiple athletes from the Open Race or Import screens. You can now delete many athletes from a race and they should almost disappear almost instantly. In the past it could take a few seconds before each item was removed.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.1.86

• Fix: Bug when deleting athletes. Looks like I failed to "commit" the transaction that handles deleting the athlete from all of the tables the athlete is linked to.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.1.87

• Improved how Splits are displayed on the Public Display Screen
• Added ability to connect to SensArray readers.

NOTE: The SensArray interface is not yet complete. It will currently only read tags in the RFID Testing Center screen. I needed to push this small update out for a guy timing a multi-lap cycling race this coming weekend.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.1.88

• Forgot to add reference to SensArray dll, this caused an error when opening up the RFID Testing Center screen. This update fixes this. This will hopefully be the last Version 5.1 patch before the 5.2 reveal at the RunSignUp Symposium.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.1.89

• Found another screen that was referencing another DLL that will be used in Version 5.2. Reference removed.

[Brian Agee]

I am very pleased to announce that Version 5.2 is officially available. One beta tester described it as "ART Supercharged!".

Because of the tremendous speed improvements, RunSignUp TLS upgrade compliance, and added flexibility with the reports - I would encourage all users to get the 5.2. I would also encourage you to check out the ART Endurance program listed below, especially if this software helps you earn money or if you depend on it for your timing business. So please take time to read the purpose and perks of the program and consider joining.

You will also see many improvements to my website over the coming weeks. Some new additions you can see right now is the ability to submit a request for quote after choosing which item you need. You can also find a list of most of the "accessories" that you see me using when I time races (TV Tripods, LED TV's, Camera or HDMI cables, etc.). This will jump you directly to the product to ensure you get the right item.

Here is what's new with 5.2: (video overview)

Speed/Reliablity Improvements:

• Everything is dramatically faster. Some of the items below used to take over a minute to complete (depending on the size of your race) - now everything should complete in a couple of seconds.

  • Importing Splits
  • Importing Athletes
  • Importing chip start times
  • Migrating an old SQLCE database to SQLite
  • Creating a new database
  • Mass deleting athletes
  • Processing Division and Team results
  • Publishing results to RunSignUp
    
    
• Fixed random (thankfully very rare) database locking issues.
  
  

New Reporting Engine

• ART now has an End User Designer built into the software.
  
• With ANY report you can now: Add your own logos, series sponsors, translate them to another language, or any other modifications you want. This includes making any changes you want to the layout or data shown on the report. Click the "Video Demo" tab on the report designer screen to learn learn how to do the typical modifications most users will want to make.
  
• Share reports with other users.
  
• Easily restore any custom changes your made back to the base copy.
  
  
• Reports generate faster and have more export options
  
  
• Easily switch back to previous report engine in the Settings screen if for some reason you like the previous reports better.
  
  
• New 'Calendar View' of your races is available when you click the "Open Race" menu item.
  
  
• Easily create Invoices. 
• Setup your own pricing structure.
• Handles one or many races on the invoice.
  
  
• If your email credentials are entered in the Settings screen you'll see an option to "Email To Race Director" when viewing any report. This allows you to easily email any report to the Race Director (or newspaper rep or whomever). For example, right after the race is over you may email the results and an invoice to the race director. This now requires just a few clicks to complete.

RunSignUp Interface Improvements

• Software now does bulk Submissions to RSU instead of many single submissions. So posting results is extremely fast now.

• If you use RSU at all, you are required to upgrade ART because of the new TLS requirement.

• Improvements made when pulling Team assignments from RSU.

Other notable improvements:

• In Help menu I've added an option to see what "File Number" (aka patch #) you're running and it is now easier to get updates. 
• Instead of going to my website, you can now click Help > File Number > Download Newest Update
• Any time a new updated is released, you can see what all is included here: Release Notes

• Changed Created Race screen so that it can be resized or maximized - which makes it easier to see the Exclusions on the Divisions tab.

• Added option to move athletes to a new team when deleting a team currently assigned to athletes.

• Added “Reload After Cycle” to Clock screen. With this enabled, the Public Display screen will reload the results (based on if you've selected Gun or Chip time) before starting back at the first finisher.

• Added auto-selection of Gender based on First Name entered. Gender will automatically be selected based on the most recent athlete available in the database with that same first name.

• Like always, many minor changes on nearly every screen and report available in the software.

ART Endurance Program:

• Click here to learn more
  

• Other ways to support ART (neither of these cost you anything):
  

• Purchase products from AtlasRFID?
• Use discount code "AgeeTiming50" for up to $50 off shipping.

• Do you have a RunSignUp Partner account?
• Open the Setting screen, select "External Accounts", and click on the link that says "Click here to create a free RunSignUp account". Login with your credentials and I'll get a small percentage of the profit they would have kept. You still get your full partner percentage. It's a small 'Thank You' for being the front line of support for the ART/RSU interface. A small percentage among so many users can add up to a decent amount.

SensArray Integration

• We now have a new lower priced 4-port system that we will begin offering soon. The SensThys QuadKit Package is comparable to the FX7500 Package ($2,320) but at a price tag of $1,734.00 after adding in tripods, mounting brackets, and a USP battery backup.

Besides being a better value system, the equipment is more compact and will require less cabling (faster setup time). The heart of the system is the SensArray+, which is a reader and antenna in one device. Since the reader is placed directly on your finish line, you no longer need the long, thick, expensive, and unwieldy antenna cables. You'll simply run a single Ethernet cable out to your finish line to power and communicate with the reader.

Both the FX7500 and SensArray+ come with a one year warranty. SensThys is working a few small modifications/accessories (like better rain protection) that allow the reader to better suited for race timing, so the price quoted above may change slightly over the next few weeks before it's officially offered on my website, however the cost will still be well below the FX7500 package price. Attached is more information on the 'QuadKit' for those RFID nerds that want to see the specs.

• Last night I quickly recorded a short video to show you what's in the box and roughly how it looks when it's setup: SensArray 'Quad Kit'

I hope all of you have a great Fall timing season. Also, thanks for being the best customers!

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.03

• Fix: Looks like the installer did not include the reports located in the Help menu of the software.
• Fix: The company name on the bottom left of the results report was not loading the user's company name that they entered in the Settings screen.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.04

• Fix: Update to date format used on the new Calendar report so that hopefully it shows races on the right date no matter which country you're located in.
• Fix: Invoice report and Invoice Screen now takes the MAX value between the base fee vs the price per participant times # of participants. I had the default setup with the assumption that the base fee and minimum number of participants would line up (for example a base fee of $450 or a price of $2 for registered participants if the race has more than 225 participants). A customer informed me that if they have their base fee at $450 but a minimum number of participants of 125 for example, then if the race had 150 participants the Invoice would show at $300 fee for timing. So I fixed this so that the software will take the maximum between the base fee or the price per participants times the number of participants.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.05

• Fix: Bib # Capture Sheet and Age Division Reports had a bug in them.

• Enhancement: The "Auto Copy" option on the clock screen will now be 'remembered' by the software and will be automatically be checked/unchecked based on how it was set the last time the clock screen was open.
  
• Enhancement: When creating new divisions, eligible exclusions will be checked automatically.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.06  

This update contains a bug fix (item #1 below) that is pretty important. Luckily I'm the only one that appears to have found it. I would encourage all users to get this update so that you don't have to worry about it biting you as well.

• Fix: Nobody else has reported this (thankfully), but at the race I was timing this past weekend I saw some strange behavior regarding the software pushing out database backups for the kiosk computer. Then when I pressed F5 to update the results I saw a few times disappear. I put them in manually without any problem, but this was obviously alarming. The race went on and everyone assumed everything went perfectly.

I found the culprit and fixed it in this update. Basically while a backup is being created (which takes a second or two) I stored any reads that came in during that time in a temporary collection to be saved once the backup is complete (but I show the times immediately so that you do not see a delay). The problem is that if the backup process has any problems it was not going back to process those reads. This has been fixed.

• Fix: Small tweak to Packet Label report so that the labels fit on the labels better.
• Fix: I found that the Age Division report was adding a page break between each division even though that option was not checked. This has been fixed.

• Enhancement: Upgraded ALR to use https (SSL security).

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.07

• Took out code that automatically stripped the leading zeros and colons from the time.
• I get requests to leave them in and requests to strip them out. I've decided to leave them in because those that want them removed is asking simply for cosmetic reasons, however those that want them in - they want it for functional reasons (for example - sorting).
• Increased size of Company Name text box on all reports.
  
• Cosmetic improvements to Division Results reports.

• Fix: Fixed results kiosk so that it does not print a blank label if a finishers tag is read before the kiosk has been updated. I also made it so that the tag is not ignored until after the label is printed.
• Fix: Fixed the "Class" value on the Division Reports
• Fix: Fixed display of cumulative time on Overall results if Gun time is selected.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.08

• Fix: TFRRS interface upgraded to TLS 1.2.
  
• Fix: The race calendar feature was still showing events on the wrong date for international users with a dd/mm/yyyy format set as their default Windows setting. I am hoping this update fixes this for good.
• Fix: The custom report viewer screen was failing to load the data on some reports.

• Enhancement: On the Clock screen, if an 'Enabled' reader fails to connect or the connection is dropped while the race is in progress then the reader will have a dark red font applied in the list of available readers.
  
• Enhancement: Minor cosmetic changes on a few reports and screens.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.09

• Fix: Roster Report: Team Name not displaying correctly.
• Fix: Announcer Screen: Splits not appearing for the specified duration.
• Fix: Import File Screen: Bug fix when importing delimited file.

• Enhancement: Results Kiosk: Race Date now shows in international format.
  
• Enhancement: Added 'Total Distance' to CSV export. This is also a new field available on the Overall and Athlete Type results. This was requested by a timer that is timing an event where the first X number of hours is on a long loop course and the final hour is on a short loop course. The winner is the determined by greatest distance completed across both loops, so this enhancement allowed the user to create two separate races, get the total distance completed for both, and merge the data together in one file. He used "Finishing Time in Seconds" and this new "Total Distance" value to get total time and distance on the results report. 

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.10

• Fix: Looks like the Results reports were not showing the Team Name correctly either.
• Fix: Open Race Screen: When clicking Sync and selecting the option to keep the Website's copy (when a difference is found between ART and website) I now refresh the Athlete list.
• Fix: On the Open Race screen when you click the "Sync" button: Added option to Ignore Registrants Without Bib # when pulling from online registration system. This makes it easy to do Race Day Signup and Race Day Check In.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.11

• Fix: When combining races, duplicate teams were being created if the Caseing for the team long name or short name was not identical.
• Fix: When Combining races, "unassigned" bib #'s from different races could cause athletes to have more splits that the race allowed after the merge was complete.
• Fix: When creating a custom report based on the Overall Results report there was no sorting going on with the results. Now it sorts by finish time as you would expect.
• Fix: Removed default values from TFRRS submission. I was informed by DA that sending blank strings was fine.
• Fix: The 'Sync' with TFRRS was throwing an error after importing the last participant. This was caused by setting a progress bar value higher than the maximum I defined for it.
• Fix: Immediate refresh of Athlete list after TFRRS Sync.

• Enhancement: SensArray reader performance improvements.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.12

• Fix: I was finally able to spend some time with Thinkify and improve the interface with the TR200/TR265 USB readers. Connecting to the reader should be more reliable and programming tags should not lock up the reader as frequently (hopefully not at all). The changes I made on the Assign RFID Tag screen probably also helps when programming tags with any reader.
• Fix: In multi-lap races, if you go straight to Division results the splits did not appear correctly. It was pointed out that if you go to Overall Results first, and then Division results, the splits would appear correctly. This has been fixed.
  

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.13

• Fix: RaceRoster "Sync" - It was pulling all athletes even though the "Require Bib" check box was selected.
  

• Fix: Added "Finish Place" to HyTek .lif file export.
  

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.14

• Fix: The Create Race > File File feature was not saving the race(s) if enough information (Race Name, Date, and Distance) was available in the file.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.15

• Fix: Barcode on Packet Label report now returns the correct number.
• Fix: A user reported an error when loading results, I am not sure how this was caused, but after receiving the database I fixed the code so that if the problem occurs the software will handle it without any errors appearing.
• Fix: Deleting teams was not actually removing them from the database.

• Enhancement: Improved the speed of processing commands with the Thinkify reader (aka - programming tags is faster).
• Enhancement: Added background worker to handle Canon photo capture commands.
• Enhancement: Added "Shrink Database" feature in Settings screen (above Update Database button). This allows you to free up unused space - making database transfers to the results kiosk faster.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.16

• Fix: Results Kiosk - Printing kiosk labels when an RFID tags is read.
  
• Fix: Division Results - When "Bottom Fill" is selected on the One Column version the report was occasionally adding page breaks in an attempt to keep divisions together.

• Enhancement: Import Screen - Improved the "Class" import so that it can handle additional values and map them to the correct values expected by the software.
  

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.17

• Fix: HyTek EVT file import. The software was erroring out if a team name contained more than once space between each part of the name.
  
• Fix: I also put in a couple of lines of code to attempt to fix a problem with the Kiosk screen showing an inconsistent number of total athletes in the race and also reflecting the correct division information if the divisions are updating during the race.

1.5.2.18

• Fix: Switching an athlete's race on the Clock screen was causing some unexpected errors - deleting the athletes time, not calculating the time adjustment correctly, or not saving the change at all.
  
• Fix: If you scan tags that belong to another race occurring on the same day (which is not pulled into the clock screen) they will appear as "unassigned". However if you later pull both races into the clock screen the software was automatically mapping those "unassigned" reads to the participant assigned to that bib number. This can cause the participant to have more "splits" than the race allows. Which in turn excludes them from the results.
  
• Fix: Minor update to FAQ report.
  

• Enhancement: Update the "Sync" process so that the check box labelled "Require Bib #" will stay checked or unchecked instead of switching on/off automatically after refreshing the athlete list.
• Enhancement: Updated the "Sync" process so that it will stop constantly asking if you want to update the website's list. Now it will only ask you this if you add or edit an athlete. This comes in handy if you're using paperless registration and the tag check feature (which I do for most races now).

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.19

Bug Fixes:

• The software was automatically adding in a bunch of Thinkify readers for those that have bluetooth devices attached to their PC.
  

Enhancements:

• Software now supports bib #'s up to 999999999.
  
• Added "Checked In" option on Open race page. This allows you to choose if you want to pull only the athletes that have "Checked In" when you click "Sync" (works only with RunSignUp).
  
• Added ability to show Gender rank on the other results reports (Team, Athlete Type, and Division).
  
• Added ability to periodically save chip start times instead of having to wait until the last person has left the starting line.
• Updated the Overall Results reports (Classic and 2-column versions) so that they now display Gender Place and Division Rank instead of "Age" and "Id Number". It appears that most people would rather see gender rank and division status instead of age and ID#. For those that want to see the Id Number (for cycling or USATF events) or age, they can easily add it back or create custom reports just for those races.
  

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.20

Enhancements:

• Added "Verify Age and Gender" feature to Athlete List.
  
• At this past weekends race we found quiet a few men that registered as women by accident. Many online registration sites have female as the default gender since typically women outnumber men at races. We also see examples where people enter the current date for their DOB instead of their birth date. So I decided to add a feature that allows the software to highlight potential problems so that you can review them. With this update you can open a race and right click on the athlete list and select "Verify Age and Gender" and it will highlight any athletes with an age less than 4 or more than 100 and where the gender doesn't match the next most recent entry for someone with the same first name.


• Added option to export a USATF Result File.
• Click "Race Day Tools > File Export > USATF Results File


• You can now pull an unlimited number of races from RunSignUp. I was unaware that the interface was only pulling the 50 most recent races.
  

Bug Fixes:

• When switching an athlete's race, the software now wipes out their RunSignUp ID. Otherwise it causes an error when pushing results to RunSignUp because the athlete has a RSU ID for the wrong race.
  
• With the last update I mistakenly left "RUNNER" hard coded for the athlete type in the OverallResults report. I did this to make sure it still fit as I was alter the report but I forgot to change it back to load from the database.
  
• The Place field in Athlete Type reports is now correct.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.21

Enhancements:

• When using the "Verify Age and Gender" feature I changed the color from light yellow to orange to make it easier to see.

• When chip start times have been pre-assigned for athletes. The software will now ignore any split/finish times that occur before their scheduled chip start time. It also ignores the participant for 10 seconds after their scheduled chip start time in case the athlete starts at the finish line (within the read zone) when heading out on the course.

• If multiple athletes are selected when deleting athletes, the software will now ask you to confirm that you really want to do this instead of deleting them without a prompt.

Bug Fixes:

• A user found that with one of the last updates, the "Start Listening" check box was disabled and unable to 'stop listening' after using the chip start feature. This is now fixed. I also added some code in to help ensure the start/stop listening background workers do not try to run on top of each other if you quickly switch back and forth between starting and stopping the readers.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.22

Bug Fix:

• I tested the new feature released yesterday by scanning tags for athletes with chip start times before and after the current time and found that everything worked perfectly, however I mistakenly assumed this new feature had no effect on manual entry of times into the system. Luckily Peak Performance Timing tested it shortly after the release and discovered that the software was not allowing manual entries at all for athletes with a chip start time set. Thanks Peak for bringing this to my attention so quickly!  This update fixes that bug.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.23

Bug Fixes:

• It was recently discovered that if a tag has a numeric EPC, but that numeric value was larger than 2,147,483,647, then it would cause an error during the process that batched up and saved chip start times. It would prevent the entire batch from getting saved to the database. This update fixes it so that the software can handle any EPC value and I also added in a few more layers to ensure that a single tag read problem doesn't cause the entire batch to fail.
• If you're timing a race with multiple laps, and your division setup allowed an athlete to 'win' more than one division, it was discovered that the 'splits' on the reports would duplicate.
• In races with multiple splits, the Cumulative times were not showing the correct value if "Gun" time is selected.'

Enhancements:

• When exporting reports, the software will now provide a default name that matches the report. In the past the name was always "Report1".
• Minor cosmetic improvements to the reports (Just a couple of examples - removed the "Line Through = "Disqualified" and the software will now show "DNF, DNS, or DQ" instead of the place for athletes marked as such).

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.24

Bug Fixes:

• In some situations (based on your race setup) it was not calculating the total invoice amount correctly.
  
• When deleting divisions, it was not removing them from memory. Which is why sometimes it would show "create male/female division also" and sometimes it would not (if you just deleted some divisions).
  
• If you imported participants and then tried to immediately push them to RunSignUp, the software was not displaying the prompt to ask if you wanted to push to RunSignUp or RaceRoster.
  
• Updated the default database that is provided when you first install the software. It was telling the user that the database needed to be updated as soon as you open the software for the first time.
  
• When switching races for an athlete on the Clock screen, it was not mapping them to the correct (matching) athlete type in the race they were being moved to. This would cause them to be excluded form the division results.
  

Enhancements:

• Added ability to show participants email address on results.
  
• I've updated the bib # capture sheet screen so that it does a good job of providing enough slots to fill up an entire page no matter how many athletes are in the race.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.25

Bug Fixes:

• A user was testing the software before timing a triathlon tomorrow and found that the Import Split Times feature has been broken. After digging into it for a few hours I found that this has actually been broken since version 1.5.2.19, when I allowed the software to handle bib #'s up to 999999999. For the nerds that want more info: I was unaware that the "key" of a hashtable (where key is the bib #, and value is the Athlete object) did not consider Bib # 1 (as an Integer) and Bib #1 (as a Long) as the same value. So as the software was looping through the splits and trying to find the appropriate athlete record it was not finding any matches, so no splits were being imported.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.2.26

Bug Fixes:

• The RaceRoster interface now pulls an unlimited number of participants. I was unaware that the default limit with the API was 500 participants.
  
• The 2-column division results was not loading the City for each athlete.
  
• When trying to delete divisions, they would disappear on the screen but were not being removed from the database. Causing them to reappear after reloading the race.

Enhancements:

• If you're timing multiple races where athletes will wear the same bib# as other athletes in different races going on that day, the kiosk will now show a list of athletes when their bib # is manually entered on the screen. The  participant can then select their name and see/print their results.

[Brian Agee]

Version 5.3 Officially available.

Here is what's new:

• 2019 TFFRS Compliance - Submitting DNS, DNF, and DQ'd athletes
• I received the following message from DirectAthletics: "the NCAA is now requiring reporting of DNFs to TFRRS-XC starting this coming cross country season". In the past the software was only sending participants that had a finishing time. I've updated the software so that it will send DNS, DNF, and DQ records that you set manually, but it will also automatically submit all athletes that do not have a time as "DNF".

• RunSignUp Interface Improvements:
• If a participant is in the software, but their registration is "cleared", "removed", "deferred". That participant will be removed from the software when you click Sync.
• When timing multiple races: If a participant is in the software, but they were transferred to another race in RunSignUp, that participant will be switched to the correct event in the software when you click Sync.
• When switching participants in the software from one race to another, if the computer is online, the software switch the athlete's race on RunSignUp automatically.
  
• The software now displays a lot more information on any errors returned by RSU when you try to push any information to them. No longer left guessing what needs to be fixed to allow the submission to go through.
  
• When syncing athletes with RunSignUp, the AthleteType now comes across too.
  
• RunSignUp interface now only pulls recent and upcoming races. In the past it would pull races from many years ago if that race was "renewed" every year. So the list of available races to pull in should look cleaner.
  

• RaceEntry Interface Addition:
• Currently you can log in and pull in events and participants on RaceEntry into the software. Uploading results is not available yet. I expect that will be working within the week.

• Other notable improvements:
• The "Sync" button will now pull/push for all events scheduled for that day instead of just the race selected. This works across all registration providers and with the TFRRS interface.
  
• In the "TV" tab of the Clock screen there is a new option under "Show Split Times" which allows you to choose between showing a Total (cumulative) time for each split captured or the Lap time (time since last split).
• Added ability to drag and expand the section at the top left of the Clock screen so that it's easier to see which race is selected if all race names are fairly long.
• When manually timing multiple races that started at different times, the software will automatically correct the time captured as you enter bib #'s.
  
• When importing chip start times the software will now display a prompt to allow you to select which races (with the same race day) in the chip start database to import from. In the past this feature assumed the "Race.ID" was the same - meaning that you were required to have an exact copy of the database when capturing chip start times on another computer.
• When using the "Remove Race" button on the Clock screen I've added double checking display prompts to confirm that's what the user really wants to do.
• On the Clock screen the splitter controls are now highlighted in a gold color, hopefully making it easier to know which sections can be resized and easier to see in bright sunlight. Just click and drag on any gold colored line.
• Results Kiosk label will now show the participants Bib # to the left of their name. For example: "#124 - Doug Thomasey"
  
• Updated Settings screen to ensure that you cannot have a Database path that is the same as your "Backup" path. This could cause the live database to continuously overwrite itself with itself while timing.
  
• Fixed bug that occurred when pulling in "Results Only" races from RaceRoster.
  
• Fixed bug that would allow duplicate athletes to show up.
  
• Fixed bug when loading an athlete's performance for a race with divisions setup without division exclusions.
  
• When clicking "Sync" the software does a better join of knowing when you may need to "Update websites's participant list". Specifically after importing athletes.
• Fixed bug that occurs if you try to export an file and overwrite a file that you currently have open.

• SensThys RaceKit Update
• Added code to increase the power output of SensThys readers to the same level as the FX9500.

• Hopefully getting close to officially offering their products. Here's what's been happening since I brought up their products in the 5.2 announcement. 

• First I'd like to explain why I'm hopeful that the SensThys equipment works out. I really like the compact design (no long antenna cables) and lower price point. Additionally, since the reader is the most expensive and most important component of the timing system, it's great to work with a company where you or I can call them directly and speak to the owner or their development team if needed (try that with Zebra or any other reader manufacturer). They've been great to work with and are committed to making sure their product is a success. If everything works out, then the end result will be a system less expensive and easier to setup and transport than the FX7500 package available today.
• I've spent quiet a bit of time since the 5.2 announcement trying to make sure the SensThys equipment is ready for race day. I do not want to provide any hardware that could end up being a headache for me in the long run. With the first couple of iterations of their hardware the read rates were good, but not consistently 100% like I can get with even the older FX7400 reader. They quickly made some improvements to the cables, antennas, and reader and replaced each component free of charge. They continuously made improvements to the reader and other components until roughly June of this year when they go to a point where they felt it should easily out perform the FX7400/FX7500 at least. However I didn't have any other races to test it with during the summer months. So I sent the equipment to an ART user that times a lot more races during the summer. SensThys extended a crazy low "beta tester" price to a couple of other experienced ART users that I told them would be good testers and one of them accepted the offer. Both of these timers have had the equipment for a few weeks now, and I believe both have timed multiple events with it. We're currently waiting for a detailed review on what their experience has been so far.
• I talked to SensThys earlier today and they are open to adding a couple more beta testers if anyone else is interested in trying the equipment out and helping to perfect the system. I'm primarily looking for experienced timers that are familiar enough with their current reader to give a good comparison of the performance they typically get agains what they achieved with the SensThys kit.

Finally, I always like to remind everyone to please use 'AgeeTiming50' to get up to $50 off shipping if you order anything from AtlasRFID. This save you some money and they give me a decent 'referral bonus'. Additionally, if you're a RunSignUp partner, I would really appreciate it if you put yourself under my 'super partner' account (instructions here). This doesn't take very long to do and doesn't cost you anything, but RSU's referral bonus program is really great so I try to make sure all RSU partners know about the 'super partner' link to ART that takes just a minute to setup. If you're not a 'partner' but you manage or time a good number of races every year that are hosted on RunSignUp, please check out the partner program and see about signing up.

I'm looking forward to see what all races everyone times this Fall. Don't hesitate to reach you if need any advice or just reassurance that you've got everything setup to make race day as smooth as possible.

Thanks everyone!

Brian Agee

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.1

Enhancement:

• Credits to Gordie Aldrich on this one. This weekend he told me how nice it would be if the software could print team labels. Specifically he pointed out the following: "Say you have an event with 50 to 100 teams and several races, genders, varsity, JV, other, middle school, elementary, etc. Enough to drive a man to drinking! 😃
  Team labels would save scads of time in the set up process."
  
  So with this patch you will see a new option when you click on View Reports > Packet & Address Labels menu. 
  
  

Bug Fix

• Another user was timing a 2-man team time-based event and he wanted me to help him make a handful of modifications to the Team Results. Since the Team Results report does not display split times, we found that it was not calling the method that sets the Distance and Split Description for each split captured before loading the results. This patch will fix this bug, however I decided it would be a good idea to share this custom report and any helpful "Expressions" that others may need if they want to add more complicated data to their reports. So I will start a thread where custom reports and custom expressions can be shared.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.3

(1.5.3.2 was a re-publishing of 1.5.3.1 because I mistakenly left the TeamLabels report out of the installer package).

Enhancements:

(Credit to Tim Irvine for these first two)

• If "Capture Chip Start" is checked off on the Clock screen, you can now manually enter a bib # at the top left and press Enter to set that participants chip start time equal to the moment you pressed the Enter key. This allows you to easily (and manually) record chip start times in events like stair climb races, time trials, or other events where one person is starting at a time.
• I changed the prompt that appears when swapping a participant from one race that has already started to another race that started at a different time. It is now easier to understand exactly what will happen if you click "Yes" or "No" on that prompt.
  
• The RaceEntry interface now publishes results to their website. So it can now do all of the essential tasks that are needed pull in races, participants, and push up results afterwards.

(Credit to BlueRidgeTiming on this one)

• Made it so that unassigned times stay highlighted in Red even if they are within a half second of another time.

Bug Fix:

• Fixed a bug that would allow more "splits" to be captured for an athlete than the race was supposed to allow. This only occurred if you capture a split, assign it to an athlete in a different race, and then double click on that time and change the bib # to a finished athlete's bib # in another race. Crazy combo, but still at least one person was able to do it and discover the bug.
  

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.4/1.5.3.5

Bug Fix:

• 1.5.3.4 - A bug was discovered that would allow a participant to end up with more splits than the race allowed if their tags was read after they were manually edited on the clock screen.
• 1.5.3.5 - Another user found another rare combination of actions that could reset a race back to 00:00:00 without prompting for your permission first. Prior to this update, if you were timing more than one event, you delete an finishing time (which causes the list of races to appear at the top left), and without selecting any race in the list at the top left you click on the "Save" icon like you modified the Clock then it would reset that race back to zero.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.6

Enhancements:

• The software can now pull and push division information to and from RunSignUp. This is really nice because now we can encourage the race director to set it up themselves (Go Race Day > Race Divisions > Race Divisions > Edit Divisions) instead of hoping that my timing guy remembered to ask for the award breakdown and hoping that he entered it correctly into the software.
• If a race is pull into the software from RunSignUp (Create Race > From Account > RunSignUp) the divisions will be pulled in automatically if they were setup on RunSignUp.
• If a race is setup in the software and then pushed to RunSignUp (Edit Race > Web Interface Options > Green Plus button) the divisions setup in the software will be uploaded to RunSignUp automatically.
• There is now a "Sync" button on the Divisions tab if the race is linked to RunSignUp. This is how it works:
• If no divisions are in ART, it will automatically pull in whatever is on RSU.
• If divisions are setup in ART and none exist on RSU, it will automatically push the divisions to RunSignUp.
• If divisions are setup in ART and RSU, it will ask you which one you want to keep and overwrite the divisions setup at the other location.

Bug Fixes:

• When using the "Import Athletes" button in the settings screen someone found that if you select an older database that has not been upgraded yet then the software will display an error. For those that are curious. That button is there in case you want to create a new database but you still want all of the "history" of all athletes that have ever been entered into the system. Keeping the athletes allows the "verify age and gender" to be more accurate and of course it saves time when manually entering athletes that you've timed before. This feature will only pull in unique entries into your new database.
• When manually capturing chip start times, the software was not automatically clearing the bib # text box after pressing the Enter key.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.7

Enhancements:

• Very minor, but I changed the button at the bottom left of the Settings screen from "Upgrade Your Software" to "Upgrade Your License Key" because many with temporary keys have clicked that thinking that is how they "Update" their software.

Bug Fixes:

• When syncing race with RunSignUp, a user found that an event with a large number of changes would fail to sync. This is now fixed.
• When syncing with Arrow Live Results the software was only syncing the "default" race that was first selected from the tool menu at the top of the screen. This is now fixed.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.8

Enhancements:

• Added the ability for the software (and database) to store "Unassigned Chip Start Times". With this addition there is no longer a need to add dummy athletes as placeholders if you suspect you will not get all athletes into the starting line system before the race begins.
  
• When adding or editing athletes, the software will check to see if any 'unassigned chip start times' can be applied to the athlete. It will only apply a chip start time if it occurred after the race started and before they any split times that were captured for the athlete.
• When importing chip start times it will of course pull from any chip start times applied to any athlete and any chip start times in the "UnassignedChipStartTimes" table and of course only keep whatever is the very latest chip start time available if you do multiple imports.
• When capturing chip start times, the software will now flash the activity indicators when a tag is read before the clock has been started. This will provide peace of mind that everything is working well before the race begins.
  
• When Justin added in Arrow Live Results, he made it so that linking a race to Arrow was done through the "Sync" button. I found this irritating that I would have to hit "No" every time I tried to "Sync" with RunSignUp because it would always ask me if I wanted to publish to Arrow. So I made it so that Arrow Live Results works like all other websites. In order to submit a race to Arrow you will now open the Add/Edit race page and click on the green plus button.
  
• Added a "Comments:" label on the TeamRoster report. This was requested by a user that wanted a dedicated spot to write in special instructions for a coach if needed.
  

Bug Fixes:

• Misspelling of one word on the NeighborhoodAnnouncement report.
• The software was only highlighting one of the finishers in Yellow when two or more people finished within a half second of each other. It now highlights both like it used to (but leave it red if it's unassigned).
  

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.9

Bug Fixes:

• I've noticed a few times that the custom listview that I'm using to show the Athlete list on the Open Race page has an odd bug in it where the list will appear totally blank if you select the majority of the records in the list and use the Delete button to remove them. The remaining athletes are still in the race, but the list is blank. This update fixes that bug in the listivew control.
• Today another user and I tested importing of unassigned chip start times. We tested many combinations and found that everything worked perfectly except for one. If you import new athletes AFTER importing unassigned chip start times, those new athletes received chip start times from the "unassigned chip starts' table successfully, however those chip start times were not saved in the database. So if you reloaded the list of athletes the newly added athletes would not have a chip start time. This update fixes that bug.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.10/1.5.3.11

Bug Fixes:

• Updated switching rate for FX7500 and FX9600 readers.
• Updated Kiosk Label to fix super small font of the text that shows division ranking.
• Fixed bug with Push Undetected feature.
• Fixed bug where it would occasionally not give you an option to "Create Male/Female" division too.
• Fixed bug where manually entering chip start times was not being detected as changes that should trigger an "auto copy" to occur.
• Bug fix with pulling divisions from RunSignUp. A field that was assumed to always be there was not available and caused a bug.
  

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.12

Hardware Updates

• SensThys RaceKit Pro:
  Today is the official launch of the new SensThys RaceKit Pro Package. SensThys is very committed to the success of the system in the race timing industry. Essentially this offering provides the most affordable and most compact option if you're looking for a new (full warranty) 4-port system. So over time, this may end up replacing the FX7500 package as the system of choice for those looking for a system to time small to medium sized races. The heart of the system is the SensArray Pro reader, which is a reader and antenna built into one device. Somewhat like the Alien 9650, but it allows you to connect 3 antennas to the reader instead of just one, AND you can daisy chain multiple readers together if you need more than 4 antennas at a read point (provide adequate separation between antennas connected to different readers). Since your reader is directly on the finish line, there is no need for the long, expensive, and unwieldy 400 series cables to place antennas on the opposite side of the finish line. You can see the system in action by clicking here.
  
  
• Feibot Mat Antenna Offer:
  Feibot has noticed a growing number of ART users buying their mat antenna. So they reached out to me to see how we can work together to make it easier for ART users that want mat antennas to buy their antennas. By searching "Feibot" on the users group page you can see that all of the reviews have been very positive. So after some discussion we decided to offer a "group buy" option like was was done a while back with Macsha. This way I don't have to guess how many people might want and then worry about the warranty slowly draining away with any inventory that sits at my house.
  
  I'm not sure how much people have been paying for the Macsha or Feibot mat in the past, so hopefully the following offer is considered a good deal. If I'm not mistaken the last group buy for the Macsha mat was roughly $900 for a 5M mat. With Feibot the group buy will be for their 8M folding mat antenna (the new design they just released) for roughly $200 less. It will be shipped from Feibot by sea instead of by air to put the cost as low as possible, this means the mats will arrive at Jamie Chandler's house 20-25 days after the order is placed and of course Jamie will send the mats to each of you once she gets them. This offer is only for US customers only. If 15 (or more) can be purchased for another country then of course we can extend this offer it those countries too.
  
  We'll have to calculate the shipping cost from Jamie's house to your location and add that to each order, but the price (including delivery to Jamie's house and taxes) is $680 per 8M mat. You can learn more and find instructions on ordering the mat by clicking here.
  

Software Updates

I pushed out an update today that allows two new features that I think some of you will find very useful.

1. Quick Results TV
   When you click on "Race Day Tools" you'll see a new option called "Quick Results TV". This is somewhat like a combination of the Results Kiosk  and Tag Check screen. It is designed to be run by a separate computer connected to a RFID reader that will auto-update itself just like the kiosk (but faster since it's not having to build results lists to show). The purpose of this screen is to allow participants to walk up to the TV (where an RFID reader will read their tag) and it automatically displays their name, time, division rank, and everything else that you see when you use the "Quick Results" feature on the Clock screen or when you enter a bib # on the results kiosk and click "Search". This allows the participant's friends or family to take a photo of them standing next to the TV that shows how they did. I added this feature in because I found that at every race people would whip out their phone and try to take a picture of their name and time as it appeared right when they finished or when I use the 'quick results' feature. Many races have a backdrop with sponsor logos listed just for people to take photos in front of the backdrop, this would be a great place to add the Quick Results TV. This provides another feature that you may offer to your races as an add on cost or simply to help you stand out from timers in your area. 
   
   
   
   
   
2. Real-time File Export
   When creating a new file export type you'll notice some new options in there that may open the door to some really cool features in the future. With this update, not only can you define your own "delimiter" and file extension, but you can also have the Clock screen spit the data out in real time instead of have to minimize the clock and manually run the file if you needed an export while the race is in progress. I tried to add enough flexibility to at the system should be able to produce just about any type of file needed. The files are pushed out to whatever path you have selected as the "Backup Database Location" in the Setting screen.
   
   Some may use this to do their own Live Results website, interface with other timing software, or interface with hardware (like LED display boards <-- already in the works). To create a custom export: Open any race, right click on the list of athletes, select "Export to file". Click on the green plus button and the following screen will appear:
   
   

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.13 / 1.5.3.14

Enhancements:

• Greatly improved the 'live export' feature so that it works better with RunSignUp's RaceDay Scoring system. It will also calculate and display speed, finish time, chip finish time, and pace even for unassigned tags and display that information in the file if requested to do so. I added a new export option called "All Reads" which will allow you to send all chip start, split, or finish times to them in a single field. So when using RaceDay Scoring you should use the format shown below. The filename can be anything you want and the computer name is optional. I added computer name simply to show that you can use it if you needed to include something in the file to distinguish that timing location.

• 

• The default database that is installed the first time the program is loaded onto a PC will now automatically include the RaceDay Scoring format and the Boston Athletic Association file export format.
• I added RaceDistance and Computer Name as file export options. Adding the computer name will hopefully allow users to provide a distinct description of the timing location if it's required by whatever system they're feeding the file into.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a bug that causing an occasional error when pulling participants from RaceEntry.
• Fixed a bug that was causing the Live Results TV not to reload results after pulling over a new database file from the main timing PC's backup folder.

[Brian Agee]

In the screen shot above, if you plan to use RD Scoring, you'll want to check the box at the bottom that says "Export live while timing". I just realized I had that unchecked when I took the screen shot.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.15

Bug Fixes:

• When exporting a custom CSV file by right clicking on the Athlete list it was discovered that an extra delimiter was being added if you selected the "giveaways" field. I fixed this and verified that all other fields will export correctly.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.16

• This was just a few small insignificant bug fixes or cosmetic changes. For example I think I had the wrong text on a tool tip pop up.

1.5.3.17

Enhancements:

• ART can now properly time relay races.
• You'll see a new "Relay Results" option when you open a race and click on the "View Reports" menu at the top and when you look at the "Action Keys" tab on the Clock screen.
• The relay results report will automatically switch from Portrait to Landscape view if 6 or more splits are captured.
• I found that this report can also be used if a coach wants to easily see how far behind each person on their team was from the previous person on their team. So if you've timed a XC race in the software then you can test this report with that race.
• I added a LOT of optional fields in to choose from if you wanted to create a custom 'relay' report. For example if you wanted to include more than just each relay members time then you can do so - for example their pace, speed, gender, age, etc.
• The only requirement for using the Relay Results report is that you have to have Teams setup and of course participants assigned to teams. Relay members can start in any order that they want and any member can run any number of legs. If you did want to require a minimum number of team members to run then you can use the "Scorers" textbox to set that up.
• If a relay race will have 4 runners completing 1 lap each, then you will leave the number of "Laps" for the race set to 1. This tells the software to allow "1" time (or lap) for each participant. If each relay member can complete 2 laps, then you will set the number of Laps equal to 2, and so on.

• Quick Results TV: Changed the text that appears between tag reads from "Scan RFID Tag" to "Want a photo with your results?"      "Stand next to this TV."

• When combining races the software will now automatically backup the database. It will also now ask for a confirmation if you try to merge races of different distances.

• CSV/Excel Import screen - Added ability to import Announcer Notes.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.18

Enhancements:

• I had someone that wanted to import a participant file that came from BikeReg, however the file had quotation marks around every value. This is not the first time I've seen this, so I quickly updated the software so that it strips out quotation marks when you pull in a delimited file.

1.5.3.19

Enhancements:

• Added a green plus button next to the Teams drop down list that appears when you add or edit an Athlete. This allows you to create teams on the fly as you add athletes instead of having to open the Edit Race page first.
• The Announcer screen will now automatically loop through all finishers across all races pulled into the clock screen instead of only the finishers for the race that is selected at the top left of the clock screen.
• Added the ability to select which teams to include (or exclude) from the Relay Results report. I also made it so that when the screen appears that show you the list of teams, you can click on the column header to sort it by team name in ascending or descending order.
• When printing Team Results, on the screen that allows you to select which teams to include, you'll see a new option at the top where you can tell the software to use the NCAA team scoring structure (incomplete team members or finishers after displacers for each team get a score of zero) or the IAAF team scoring structure (every finisher receives a score that matches the position they finished in).
• I did some quick searching online and through emails and forum posts and I couldn't find a clear definition on exactly how IAAF XC meets are scored, and what I did find didn't match exactly what some ART users were saying. So as a starting point I just made it so that your finish position is your score if IAAF is selected.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.20

Enhancements:

• Motorola, Zebra, and Impinj readers will now operate at very low power when programming tags.
• Tags with short EPCs can now be programmed. So if you had tags that you couldn't program before (it set the EPC to all zeros) then try it again with this update.
• Added a new RFID Testing screen that allows you to test the power and number of reads based on different tag and antenna placements.
• On the Import screen (where you can import a delimited or Excel file of participants), if there are multiple races scheduled for that day, I added the ability to select which race you want to import the athletes into. This allows you to import into each race without having to close and reopen the screen. Of course this comes in handy if a single file contains athletes for multiple races.
• I saw that RunningAhead.com no longer works inside the software, so I changed the default website to plotaroute.com.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.21

Enhancements:

• When setting or editing someone's chip start time on the clock screen, you can now choose between the traditional "date/time" format or you can set it by HH:MM:SS.MS. The software will remember (and use) whatever format you select for any future chip start edits.

• By HH:MM:SS.MS (For example if someone started (or is scheduled to start 30 seconds after the gun start - then you can enter 00:00:30.00.)
• 

• By Date/Time:
• 
  

• I added the ability for the software to ignore all "open" tags, or any other tag that is not specifically assigned to the race(s) you've pulled into the clock screen. This was a quick addition I did today, so I'm sure I'll improve it over time, but here is how it currently works:
• First I want to point out that this feature is dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. For example if a user mistakenly turns this feature on (and they didn't make their tags race specific) then of course on race day the system will ignore every finisher. Because this feature can have devastating consequences if turned on by mistake, I made it so that you have to click and hold a "Lock" icon for 5 seconds to enable this feature. A single click will quickly turn it off.
• When you open the Clock screen you'll see a padlock icon at the top right of the RFID Reader(s) tab. If you click and hold that padlock it will count down from 5 and the icon will change to a locked padlock. At this point, any tag not assigned to the race will be ignored.
• While capturing chip start times, the "Public Display" screen will now automatically show the name of the last person that was picked up and how long it's been since they left the starting line.
• Updated combo boxes in the software so that the drop down width is wide enough to show the longest value available.
  
• A user requested the ability to alter the "Duration" (how long a split/finish time is displayed on the Public Display screen) by fraction of a second instead of by whole second. This update allows you to change the duration by tenth of a second.
• A user wanted to customize their Overall Results report and add some team scoring values. This update adds the following field options to display on the Overall Results reports (TeamRank, TeamTotalScore, TeamFinishersCount, AthleteScore, AthleteIsDisplacer, AthletesOverallRank, AthletesTeamPlacing, TeamQualified, AthleteQualified, TeamAverageFinishTime).
• Updated Thinkify reader programming so that it correctly handles different length EPCs.
  
• Updated Athlete listview on Clock screen so that DNS, DNF, and DQ context menu appears correctly.
  
• Because of Covid-19, we only timed one race this month, and the race director needed results ordered by the participant's name. So I decided to go ahead and make it an option on the Overall Results to have it sorted by participant name.

Bug Fixes

• When creating divisions, the "Create Female Division Also" option was not working correctly sometimes. This has been fixed.
• Made it so that users can delete any field on the kiosk label and it will still print.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.22

Enhancements:

• I improved the functions around pre-setting the chip start times. Not only does it work better, but the "chip diff." column now shows the chip start values even if the clock hasn't been started yet.
• I added a checkbox on the Setting screen to enable/disable the new "Lock" option for open tags. This way it's not visible by default. I didn't want a new user to turn the lock on by mistake without knowing what it does.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.23

Enhancements:

• Added ability to capture chip starts and chip finishes at the same time.
  
• Learn more by clicking here and here.
• Moved the "auto save" label out of the RFID Readers tab so that it's easier to see when the next group of chip starts will be pushed to the database no matter which tab is selected on the right side of the clock screen.
• Many small cosmetic enhancements and minor bug fixes.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.24

Enhancements:

• Added ability to manually enter bib # on Announcer screen. This way you can easily supply a laptop or windows tablet and have someone with a microphone cheering people on anywhere on the course without setting up an RFID system.
  
• Added Bib # to the left of the participants name on the Public Display.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed bug in Invoice report.
  
• Fixed time display options on Team Results report.
• Fixed loading exclusions when entering a division with a From and To age that are identical.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.25

Enhancements:

• Made the following improvements to the Results Kiosk.
1. Results now scroll by paging up and down and you can customize how quickly the results scroll. It's a lot easier to read this way.
   
2. When timing races based on 'most laps completed' the results kiosk now shows a column that shows the participants total distance completed.
   
3. Many efficiency and cosmetic improvements.

• A requirement for ART timing the "World Ultra-marathon Championship" requires that the Race and Split distance (in meters) now support decimal values.
• The Public Display screen will now show/hide milliseconds with split/finish times based on the 'Display Hundredths of a second' check box on the TV tab on the Clock screen.

Bug Fixes:

• In my own testing I found that with the last update an error would appear if you tried to delete an 'unassigned' time.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.26

These are all small bug fixes, I just wanted to push these out now because the next update may be pretty large with some of the new features coming.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed bug that allowed the software to get confused on the true state of the reader (reading/not reading). Basically the "Start Listening" control should disable itself until after it completes making the reader(s) 'listening' or 'not listening'. Since it was not disable, it allowed the user to click it again before it finished turning the readers on. The same is true if you try to "stop listening" but click the button twice. This may cause the reader to NOT disconnect (stop listening) when it was supposed to, forcing a reboot of the reader before the software can reconnect to the reader.
• When manually capturing chip start times, the 'auto finish gap' was looking at only the first time that bib# was entered. If you entered the bib # multiple times, it was not using the last time the bib # was entered when looking to see if that person may have finished.
• When importing DNS statuses, it (for some reason) was only pulling the DNS status for those that actually had a chip start time. Yeah, the logic was backwards... It now pulls in any DNS status for any athlete when you use the "import chip start times" feature.
• When timing a practice race and then re-setting it back to 00:00:00.000 the Announcer screen would continue to cycle through finishers even though the race has been reset. This is now fixed.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.27

Enhancements:

• Added the ability to do "Dual Results" on any race that has teams setup. No extra setup is required, just setup a XC race and time it normally, then click on "View Reports > Dual Results". Just like with the Relay and Team results, the software allows you to choose which teams to include in the Dual Results report. Then it will score every team individually against every other team that was chosen and display the results. The results order the teams by most "wins" and it will automatically switch between Portrait and Landscape mode depending on how many teams it's displaying. Where the same team intersects on the chart (in red), you can see the total wins and losses for the team.
• Special thanks to MCRC timing for sponsoring this feature and explaining how it should work. It was a lot of work and maybe only a handful of people will use it, but for those handful of people it will save a TON of time.
• I've attached example so that you can see what the results look like.
• I went through every screen and used a more neutral colors all screens now have a more uniformed look. Hopefully this makes all screens easier on the eyes.
• To make the program even easier for new users, I hid all of the "Team" related report options when you click on "View Reports" if the 'Race Type' is simply "Road Race". Of course they appear if you select a race has 'team scoring' or is a 'track or XC race'.

Bug Fixes:

• A user found that the Athletic.Net result export file was not excluding DNS, DNF, and DQ'd participants.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.28

Bug Fixes:

• I recently found that the distance wasn't being set right when pulling some races in from RunSignUp where the distance was setup as "meters". The distance was coming to me as (for example) "800m" but my software was expecting the word "Meters" somewhere in the text. I'm not sure if they changed something on their end or if most people setup the race in "miles" and this hasn't been caught until now.
• When deleting teams from a race and pushing any athletes assigned to that team over to a different team, I found that the software was not "committing" a transaction and saving that change. So those athletes were left unassigned to any team, forcing the user to manually assign them to whatever team they wanted them to be pushed over to.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.29

Enhancements:

• In the Athlete list on the right side of the clock screen, each race now lists how many participants, finishers, chip starts, Disqualified/DNS/DNF, and On Course finishers.

• Here is an example of how it looks:
• 
  

• When manually capturing times, the software will not automatically adjust the time (on the leave event of the bib # text box) when it sees that you've entered a bib # that belongs to a different race then what the split was captured for.

• The custom report viewer now supports any reports that allow sorting of the report data.
  

Bug Fixes:

• I added some additional error handling to help ensure that the results kiosk doesn't stop working (or display an error message) if it has a problem loading updated results.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.30

Bug Fix:

• I was just informed that the the TFRRS submission needs to send "m" and "f" instead "Male" and "Female". So if you time college XC meets then you'll want to get this update before pushing the results to TFRRS.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.31

Enhancements:

• In the past, when opening a race, the software would automatically group together any races that are scheduled for the same day. However some people are timing 100 mile, 24hr, or longer races and need to group races together that span multiple days. So I've altered the software so that it will group together any race that is within 3 days of the race you have selected and that is occurring in the same City. Grouping by City also helps if you're like me and have multiple timers in different locations timing on the same day. Now when you pick one of your events, you'll only see the other races that belong to your event (not the other events that your other timing crews are working). If the City is left blank, it will be included if it's within 3 days of the race you have selected. So it's best to enter the City when creating the races.
• From the main tool menu at the top of the screen. When you click on Open Race, the tool tip that displays when you move your mouse over the list of races now shows the City that the race occurs in.
• On the screen where you select which races you want, the "continue" button is now selected by default.
  

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed it so that the Clock screen doesn't randomly select another race when you refresh results or do some other actions within the Clock screen. I think this was causing some people to mistakenly start races that they didn't mean to start.
  
• When closing the clock screen, I've heard (and seen) cases where the screen would close before the reader had "stopped listening". Leaving the reader in a "connected" state, which prevents the software from reconnecting and forces the user to reboot the reader. So I added some code to help force the window to wait until after the reader is disconnected (stopped listening) before closing the Clock screen.
• Fixed the 'distance' that is pulled from RunSignUp.
• When moving an athlete from one race to another, it was not adjusting their chip start time (if a chip start was captured for them).

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.32

Enhancements:

• I added a new "Advanced" tab in the Settings screen. I moved a couple of the options that was in the "Database Settings" screen into the new Advanced tab, and I added a new option that allows you to specify the number of days that you'd to group races by (see the first bullet point under Enhancements in the 1.5.3.31 release notes). The default is "0", which means that the software will work as normal and only group together races scheduled for the same day. However you can go increase this up to 7 days.
• I did some additional improvements to how results scroll in the Results Kiosk screen. If no Divisions were setup, the software would flash a blank ListView before cycling back around to the Overall results and scrolling again. This gave it an unflattering flicker as it cycled through the displays.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.33

Enhancements:

• The RunSignUp interface now loads Corral information. The Tag Check and Announcer screen will display what Corral information. This was added so that participants can use the Tag check screen to not only verify everything is correct, but they can also see which wave/corral they've been assigned to start in.
• I found that the kiosk screen was scrolling through the results too quickly when only a few finishing times are available. Now each set of results will display for a minimum of 5 seconds before going to the next set of results.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.3.34

Enhancements:

• Updated the Athlete Mailing Label report so that it has many more fields available. A customer requested the ability to create award stickers that can be placed on post cards or trophies (see attachment for example). I tried to attach a copy of the report file so that others can add it as a "custom" report option however it looks like .rdlx files are not allowed as attachments in Google Groups. Email me if you'd like a copy of it.
• Removed the text that says "Let us know if anything is not correct:" at the top of the tag check screen. This way I had more room to show the Corral information that is now being pulled from RunSignUp.
• Updated the Custom Report viewer so that it can handle passing parameters in to a greater number of reports.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed minor bug mentioned here.

[Brian Agee]

I forgot to add an image of the results postcard that the customer created using the new fields available in the 'Athlete Mailing Labels' report. Hopefully this helps make sense of the purpose of the report included in the last email.

[Brian Agee]

Version 5.4 Officially available.

Version 5.3 had 34 updates since it was released in August of 2019. Many of these updates included some big new features. Instead of summarizing and including everything listed since the original 5.3 was released like I usually do, I'll let users scroll up on the Software Updates thread and skim through that list if they want to learn more about each feature and when it was added.

With today's update I wanted to go ahead and update the version to 5.4 since it has a few bigger features that have been requested for a while now.

Enhancements:

• Added a dedicated "ResultsLabels" report.    (View Reports > Mailing Labels > Results Labels)
  • This allows you to easily print a label that can be stuck on a trophy, postcard,  or award certificate. See the previous post on this thread for an example.
• Added ability to clear all chip start times for a selected race.
  • I can't think of good examples of when this might be needed, but more than one user has asked for this so I decided to add it in.
  • This option is only visible after chip start times have been captured.
• Added ability to adjust all chip start times.
  • This can definitely come in handy if you use a separate computer to capture chip start times, but then realize that you forgot to sync up the Windows Clocks for the start and finish line computers. If you see that the windows clocks are (for example) 30 seconds off, then you can now easily increase or decrease all captured chip start times by 30 seconds.
  • Another scenario where this might be useful is if you pre-set everyone's chip start time, but something causes everyone to start later than expected.
  • This option is only visible after chip start times have been captured.
• Added MileSplit Results file export.
  • Video demo
• Added the ability to have Ghost Runners for XC races.
  
  • Since this is a feature that most timers will not use, you must manually enable this feature in the "Advanced" tab of the Settings screen.
  • Video demo

This update also include some minor cosmetic improvements on different screens and probably some minor bug fixes if I found anything that was acting strange while running through the different screens.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.4.1

Bug Fix

• The message boxes that appear when clearing out all chip start times was not displaying the correct prompts and was not handling if the user selected 'Yes' or 'No' correctly.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.4.2

Bug Fixes:

• Doing a mass adjustment of chip start times was failing when a negative number of seconds was entered.
• The double confirmation messages that appear when clearing all chip start times was not correctly checking to ensure the user selected "Yes" on both prompts.
• When saving a race the software was not correctly checking to ensure that the "ghost runners" option was enabled in the Setting screen.
• The auto-scroll was jumping ahead too far and also not displaying the very bottom list view item while on the Division Results screen.

Enhancements:

• The Announcer screen now displays the overall place for each finisher as soon as they finish, and as it cycles through existing finishers.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.4.3

Bug Fixes:

• When merging/combining races the "giveaways" were not being merged.
• When adding or editing an participant record, the Athlete Types and Giveaway lists were not loading correctly if you switch from one race to another.

Enhancements:

• When submitting races to RunSignUp, I removed the prompt that asks if you want to make shirt sizes available as giveaway items on RunSignUp. This was added back when shirt sizes were static values and is not longer relevant since ART now allows custom giveaways like RunSignUp does.
• When creating an Athletic.net results file, the software now uses chip time instead of gun time. Obviously if no chip start times were created the software will use gun time in the results file.

1.5.4.4

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed bug with Distance when uploading events to ALR. This caused the race to appear on ARL, but no URL would appear in ART.
• Fixed bug with Lap Manager screen when the race has between 4 and 6 participants.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.4.5 (video overview)

As we look forward to a busy Fall season I thought it would be fun to post a video that covers some of the lesser known features that I think all timers should know about and consider using. I hope you find it useful: https://youtu.be/qVQhENHctlA

Bug Fixes:

• Athlete list on right side of Clock screen would not show all updates if multiple people crossed at the same time.
• Import Athletes screen where it would not assign the correct bib #'s if you import athletes into more than one race.
  
• If an athletes was marked as "DNS"", "DNF", or "DQ" but then their tag was picked up, the left side of the Clock screen was now showing the "DNS", "DNF", or "DQ" asterisks next to their name until the results were refreshed (via F5).
• When exporting reports, the default file name would be listed as "Report1" instead of a file name that represents the type of report that was run (for example: "Division Results")

Enhancements:

• Added ability to push XC Team results to RunSignUp (see video overview link above).
• Added ability to link an existing race in ART to an existing race on RaceEntry.
• The Clock screen will now automatically refresh if you minimize it and click the "Sync" button to pull participants from RunSignUp, RaceEntry, RaceRoster, or TFRRS.
  
• Added UltraSignUp file export option when you click the "Race Day Tools > File Export" menu item.
  
• Added label on RFID Readers tab that allows you to see recent bib #'s leaving the starting line in real time. Provides more assurance that things are working correctly. (see video overview link above)

• Redesigned Public Display screen (see video overview link above)
  • The screen will automatically switch to a list of finishers (or split times) when multiple people cross within the user-defined "duration".
  • Users can define the number of rows and text size when the public display is showing a list of finishers instead of individual finishers.
  • All text now automatically resizes to the maximum size available.
  • Users can define how large the clock displays on the screen.
  • The software will automatically hide/show the appropriate columns based on the type of races and number of 'Laps' being tracked.

• Added more options (fields) to the file export feature.
  • Team Long Name
  • Overall place by gun time (it used to only give you place by chip time)
    
  • BestDivision by gun time (it used to only give you place by chip time)
    
  • DivisionPlace by gun time (it used to only give you place by chip time)
    
  • TotalInDivision by gun time (it used to only give you place by chip time)
    

• Added the following fields as options to display on the RelayResults report:
  • AthleteTypeDesc
  • Class
  • AthleteEmail
  • AthleteCity
  • AthleteState

[Brian Agee]

1.5.4.6

Enhancements:

• Added option to select "Hidden" as a gender for an athlete.
  • I was able to do this without having to make any database changes. However if you have any upcoming races already setup in the software that have a division with "Combined" genders, then you'll want to edit those and ensure "Combined" is still selected.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed bug introduced in the last update that prevented races created in ART from being pushed up to RunSignUp.
• Fixed text display bug in Announcer screen when timing multi-lap races.
  
• Fixed bug when exporting overall Place and division data by gun time and chip time in the same file.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.4.7

Enhancements:

• When pulling in races from RSU or RaceEntry, if the software sees that no participants have been assigned a bib # then the software will ask you if you want to pull the participants in or not. If you plan to use Dynamic Bib Assignment then you can click "No" and only pull the race in.
• Switched the default RunSignUp "environment" from "Test" to "Live".

Bug Fixes:

• When using the "Round times up to nearest second" feature, it was not rounding up the Hour when the time was 1 second away from then next hour (for example 2:59:59.4).
• The OverallResults_Classic report was showing the "Athlete Type" instead of the "Class" when Track or XC Races is selected as the race type.
  
• The Race Verification feature was displaying "Members" and "Displacers" info even if you did not select a race type of Track or XC Race.
  
• When you first pull in participants and the software asks what bib # you want to start with, if you click Cancel it will now actually cancel and not pull in anyone instead of forcing you to enter a valid bib #

[Brian Agee]

1.5.4.8

Enhancement:

• Most users that use the Email feature do so with their Gmail account. The problem is that you must enable "Less secure apps" in order for my software to send emails from your account. This is not obvious of course and it's not super easy to find this setting. Plus Gmail will randomly turn it back off. So I made it so that if Gmail is selected as the email provider a link will appear that will jump you straight to the setting so that you can turn it back on. This will hopefully save you and I both a lot of time and headache because it's a common issue I have to help new customers with.
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  

[Brian Agee]

1.5.4.9

Enhancement:

• When creating HyTek .lif result files the software will now ask you each time for the Race, Round, and Section #. If this was entered before, the default value for each dialog will be what you entered previously.
• Updated the Users Manual and Suggestions reports in the Help menu with new information (not that anyone reads user manuals anyway).

Bug Fixes:

• When submitting multiple XC results to RunSignUp it was deleting all previous XC results as it submitted each new XC results set. Leaving you with only one race with XC results on RunSignUp.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.4.10/1.5.4.11:

Bug Fixes:

• Updated security protocol for ArrowLiveResults.

1.5.4.12

Enhancements:

• Added ability to enter a "Short Name" for a race.
  • If a short name is entered, the software will default to showing it rather than the long name in most areas of the software.
  • Example short names: 5K, 10K, Half, Full, Sprint, Olympic
• Added ability for the Roster report to show more than just one race at a time.
  
• Added code that should improve the reliability of connecting to Canon cameras in the Clock screen.
  
• Updated ART to handle RSU's changes to pushing/pulling participants with non-traditional gender selected.
  
• Added "Race Distance" as an optional field to show on the Roster report (using the report designer)
  
• Made it so that the software does not try to "phone home" and check the license key on the weekend. This way there is no concern about the software taking a long time to load on race day.
  

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed bug where the reader could get left in a "connected" state when closing the Clock screen.
  
• Bug fix with pulling races from RaceRoster.
  
  • Null Registration Open/Close dates were causing a problem.
• Fixed the calculation of milliseconds that could result in a 1 second difference between different result reports.
  
• Fixed bug that appears when syncing athletes with RSU when multiple athlete types are available in ART and more than one 'custom question' is available on RSU (but no custom question has an answer that matches an athlete type).
  
• Fixed bug when pushing divisions up to RSU that contain the "&" symbol.
• Fixed bug when pulling athletes into RaceRoster that are located outside of the USA.
• Fixed bug when editing split descriptions.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.4.13

Enhancements:

• Added a "Chip Start List" report.
  • At some of the longer trail runs we time the course marshals have requested a list of every participant that started the race. So I decided to add a report that can provide this. When you open a race and click on "View Reports", you'll see this new report under the "Race Day" reports. This report is only enabled if chip start times have been recorded for the race. You can sort the results by Bib #, Name, or the participant's start time.
    
    
• Added dynamic fields that can be used in the body of emails.
  • 
    
    
• When using the "replace this database" feature to copy a database over to another computer, the software will now force a backup of the existing database before replacing it.
  

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed bug where the Public display could have data in the wrong columns when it's displaying a list of finishers.
  
• Fixed bug where the race name was not appearing in the Results list of the Clock screen.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.4.14

Enhancements:

• With the new Chip Start (aka missing persons) report added in 1.5.4.13:
  • Added ability to exclude participants that have finished - or marked DQ, DNS, or DNF.
    • This is the new default display since this report will mostly likely be used near the end of a long race when people are wondering who may still be out on the course.
      
      
  • Added these additional fields to the report:
    • LastSeen
      • This may come in handy if you're timing a multi-lap (or time based) ultra event. Essentially this tells you how long it's been since the system last had contact with the participant.
      • In some of the ultra races we time up in the Ozarks it's not uncommon for people to get lost or to drop out of the race without telling anyone, so this report makes it easy to print off a list that show long long they've been missing and it lists each person's phone # so that we can try to reach out to them.
    • LapsCompleted
      • This does not display on the report by default, but it is a field that can be added in the built-in report designer if you wanted to add it.
        
        
• When viewing the Overall, Division, or Team results you can now select a specific AthleteType to filter the results by.
  • By default "All" is selected, so essentially you can ignore this new feature since most will not need to filter these reports by athlete type.
  • This was added because a customer in the UK has a Cross Country event where individual team members may qualify just for the "Regional" awards, just the "League" awards, or they may qualify for both. This one race includes everyone that qualifies for either of those events. Those that qualified ONLY for the League event should not appear in the Regional event results (and vice versa), and those that qualified for both should appear in both sets of results. Oddly these XC races will also have age division awards (again, one person may qualify for both sets of age division awards from that single race).

Bug Fixes:

• When pulling participants from RunSignUp, if those participants have bib #'s assigned on RunSignUp the software will ask if you want o use those bib #'s or not. I discovered that if you hit "No" and enter a new starting bib # that the software would ignore your requested starting bib # and use the ones that are on RunSignUp anyway.

[Brian Agee]

Version 5.5

Enhancements: (Video Overview - Link to LED board shown in video)

• The Public Display has been completely overhauled.
  • It can now easily show multiple races at the same time.
  • You can define how any results should appear on the screen at one time for each race it's displaying.
  • It can display live XC team scores as finishers are coming in.
  • There is an option in the Clock screen to automatically show the public display full screen on a secondary display. So no more having to drag is over and maximize it.
    
  • You can show/hide just about anything on the screen and make any information larger or smaller to get the perfect look.
  • You can change any of the colors of any of the times on the screen. Including setting the colors to be specific for each race.
    
  • Everything auto-grows/shrinks (even as the text changes) to fit whatever your screen size is.
  • It can show chip starts in real time.
  • It displays split times and how many laps completed/remaining.
  • You can display any custom message you want to enter manually.
  • You can upload a company logo and have that on display at the top the entire time if you want.
  • The software will remember all of the settings so the next time you pull up the display it should look like you want for whatever display you're using.

• You can now switch between capturing chip starts and capturing chip split/finish times whenever you want. The software no longer disables the 'capture chip start' checkbox if you open a race that has already been started.
  
• When capturing chip start times, times are now saved instantly and the "Athlete" list on the right side of the Clock screen now updates itself immediately.
• The Athlete list on the right side no longer refreshes the entire list any time chip start, splits, or finish times are captured. To resolve this I had to move the race stats (Total Participants/Chip Starts/Finishers/DQ/On Course) information to the list of races at the top left of the clock screen. With .Net Listviews, it's unavoidable the entire listview refreshes when the group header text is updated. So I cannot display dynamic data in the group headers without the listview refreshing itself each time the header text is updated.
• The software now automatically backs up the database if the race is being restarted after the scheduled race start and if the race has finishers. This helps ensure people do not mistakenly lose results they meant to keep.
  
• When using the "Verify Age and Gender" feature the software now informs you of how many potential issues it found. Saving you from having to scroll around and look for records highlighted in orange.
• Added checks to ensure the Results Kiosk does not try to update its database while it's in the middle of doing a task that requires access to the database.
• Athletes load faster when opening races in the software.
• Added ability to multi-select Athlete Types to include in the Overall and Division result reports.
  
• You now have the option to add two or more people with the same name if you want. You'll still be informed of the potential duplicate.
  
• The "Lap Manager" screen and ability to edit start/split times from the Open Race screen was removed.
• Added option to include RaceRoster, RaceEntry, and TFRRS URL as dynamic fields in the email screen.
• Improved the algorithm used to dynamically set the Clock's font size (in the Clock screen) and the text that appears on the Tag Check, Quick Results TV, and Announcer Screens.
• Removed view millisecond option from Clock screen
• Many small cosmetic or performance improvements throughout the software.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.5.1

Bug Fixes:

• When removing and re-adding a race to the Public Display it was calculating the overall  place incorrectly.
• When syncing with RSU I found a scenario where it may pull in bib #'s incorrectly. A subsequent sync would correct the bib #s, but of course it should pull them correctly the first time.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.5.2

Bug Fixes:

• Found a couple of areas of code that could cause the total "on course" number to be calculated incorrectly.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.5.3

Bug Fixes:

• The Date of Birth control was being set to the current date when editing an athlete.
• The Public Display was showing "chip" time even though "Display Gun Time" is selected.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.5.4

Enhancements:

• Added options in the Settings screen (advanced tab) to show Bib # and Team Name on Public Display.
• Added the participant's phone number as an optional field to display on result reports.
• Previously the software would prevent a split/finish time from occurring prior to any pre-set chip start time for an athlete. With this update it will also prevent a split/finish time from occurring up to the number of minutes you specify as the "auto finish gap" if you check that feature off. For example if you set an athlete's chip start time for 8:10:00AM and have a 10 minute 'auto finish gap' set, then the athlete cannot have a split/finish time until at least 8:20:00AM.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed bug when pulling in more than 2,500 athletes from RunSignUp into a single race.
• Fixed bug where the Split Display group box was disabled even when you're timing a multi-lap race.
• Updated the process that saves sequential files so that it uses military hours in the filename.

[Brian Agee]

1.5.5.5

Enhancements:

• Added real-time antenna performance stats so that the software will provide a better picture of exactly what's going on with the RFID equipment. For each antenna, you can now see the total number of reads received, antenna being triggered in real time (appear in Bold when picking up tags), number of reads specific to the current finishers, the peak RSSI value (power received by the tags), and which antenna(s) are doing the bulk of the work picking up the tags that actually get written out to the database (for example, at the finish line it would be the antenna that got the first read of the tag).
  • You can see these stats in the RFID Readers tab. The screen shot below was created using a small Thinkify reader and a tag I had here at my office.
  • The "Ant #" is of course the antenna port number.
  • The row representing Antenna #1 is in bold because it's currently picking up a tag.
  • The "Total Reads" column shows the total number of reads for the entire race. When the antenna is currently picking up tags it will put those most recent reads in parenthesis so that you can get a real-time look at how each antenna is doing as participants go by. The number in parenthesis will go away if the antenna has not picked up a tag for at least 3 seconds.
  • Peak RSSI is the maximum power that a tag has received from that antenna.
  • The "Key Reads" column will show you which antenna did the read that actually made it to the database (any chip start read, and the first read of a tag that was saved as a split or finish time).

• • 
    
• Added option to keep assigned chip start times for participants even when resetting a race back to 00:00:00. When chip start times exist, the software will ask you if you want to clear those or not when you press F2 to reset the race.
  
• Added option in Settings screen that allows you to use the lowest power setting available in the Tag Check screen. This is primarily for those that do not own a small USB reader.
  
• Added ability to pre-set the athletes start time in the "Optional Fields" area when you double click on their name on the Open Race screen.
• Added the ability to use the "Auto Finish Gap" feature without having to check the "Capture Chip Starts" checkbox.
  
• Improved the efficiency in which the software processes manual and chip times that are captured.

Bug Fixes:

• Removed the "Refresh" toolbar button on the report viewer control. Users should use the larger "Refresh" button at the bottom left of the screen instead.
• Fixed bug that could cause the "on course" number at the top of the screen to be incorrect.
• Fixed bug with pulling Athletes from RunSignUp. If the athlete was not assigned a bib # on RunSignUp and no "Starting Bib #" was entered in ART (which you're only prompted for if no athletes exist in ART for the race), then athletes would come across from RunSignUp with a "0" bib #. This has now been fixed so that athletes simply get the next sequential bib  # according to ART.
• Fixed bug in Public Display where it was still showing Chip time even though Display Gun Time was selected. This only occurred when the race with finishers was first loaded into the public display.
• Various small bug fixes

[Brian Agee]

1.6.0.0 (Video overview)

Instant SMS is only available for Endurance Members.  Here is the link to join if you want to add this capability for your races: Join the ART Endurance Program

If you're already an endurance member, you can begin using this feature now by following these steps:

• Twilio Setup Guide (video)

Enhancements:

• Added Twilio SMS integration, which allows the software to instantly send participants their results the moment they finish or if their time has been modified. This also allows the timer to send any message they want to any or all participants easily. For example during the race you can easily send a message out to everyone reminding them to return their tags before leaving the event, you give shout out to the race sponsors, or you can send a text to individuals that may be lost on the course to see if they simply dropped out without telling anyone.
  
  
  • These items are related to the Twilio integration
  • Added ability in the SMS tab of the Settings screen for users to specify a custom Header and Footer that will be included automatically on every text message that the system sends.
    
  • Added ability to right click on athlete list in the Open Race screen and select "Send SMS" to send a text to all selected athletes. This pops up a window where you can enter a message to send the selected athletes.
  • Added icon next to the athletes phone number (when editing athlete in Open race screen) that allows you to send a text to that athlete.
  • Added ability to highlight one or more finishers on the left side of the Clock screen and then Right Click and select "SMS results". This sends each of the selected athletes their results.
  • Added two options on the "Quick Results" tab of the Clock screen that allows you to "Send SMS" or "SMS Results" for the athlete you've pulled results up for.
    
  • Added ability to highlight one or more athletes in the "Athlete List" on the right side of the clock screen and then right click and select "Send SMS". This pops up a small window where you can enter a message to send the selected athletes.
    
  • Added ability a "Text" option on the Results Kiosk screen that allows the participant to send themselves their result by text message.
  • Added checkbox in Advanced tab in the Setting screen to choose if the website URL is sent automatically or not when sending texts and emails to participants.
  • Added a dedicated "Send Text Message" option on the main menu that will allow you to easily send a text to all athletes for a given race or for all athletes in the entire database. As you compose the text and select the recipients you can see a total cost estimate of sending the message.
    
    
• In the "Advanced" tab of the Settings screen there is a new option that allows you to choose if you want your reader list stored in the database or on the computer. Making the readers list specific for each computer will probably be the preferred option for most timers.  Storing the reader list on the computer means that you no longer have to worry about losing your reader information when you replace or create a new database.
• When capturing chip start times you will now see a green box appear right below the box that says "You're currently capturing chip start times". This will hopefully prevent anyone from checking the "Capture chip starts" checkbox and then forgetting to un-check it before the finishers come in.
• I improved ArrowLiveResults.com by speeding up how fast the list of races load and putting the countries and states in alphabetical order.
• Added Phone # column to the Athlete listview.
  
• Updated the text that appears when viewing a participant's performance. It now shows less characters and is cleaner looking.
• Added links in the External Accounts tab that make it easy for users to find integration guides for each of the interfaces options shown.
• Added ability to "show" the password for each of the credentials listed in the External Accounts tab.

Bug Fixes:

• Some extremely edge case bugs were found and fixed.

[Brian Agee]

1.6.0.1

Enhancements:

• Performance improvements when using the new SMS feature and in some other areas of the program where the software may hesitate for a bit while it's completing a task.
  • Converted most of the methods that are used to check for internet access, sending large amounts of text, or other tasks that could freeze up the UI to asynchronous methods. So if you're timing in an area with poor internet access this should not have any negative effect on the software now. If you're in a place with poor internet, when you right click on the Athlete or Finisher list you may notice that the "Send SMS" option may take a second or two (or longer) before it's enabled as the software checks to see if you have internet access. However when it does appear enabled, you should be able to click on it and the messages will go out without slowing down or freezing up the program.

Bug Fixes:

• For international users:
  • Updated the method that validates phone numbers so that it accepts more than 10 numbers. Verified with a customer in the UK that the SMS feature now works there with this update.
• For everyone:
  • I found that with the original 6.0 release I added "Race Short Name" to the text to help limit the number of characters being sent. However that doesn't help any if I forgot to remove the "Race Long Name" that it was including before. Duh! This update fixes that. So this update may save you a little bit of money by keeping your SMS character count down.

[Brian Agee]

1.6.0.2
Note: If you plan to use the new SMS feature this weekend please make sure you're running at least version 1.6.0.1 to ensure that the timing software handles checking for internet access and sending texts asynchronously (simply put, the screen doesn't freeze at all). Especially true if you're timing in an area with slow or limited internet access.

Bug Fixes:

• It was discovered that the icon to the left of the green play button in the RFID Readers tab of the Settings screen disappeared. The button was functional and pulled up the RFID Sensitivity Test screen just fine, however the button was invisible since the icon was missing.
• The Team Results calculation on the right side of the "Public Display" was incorrect if you pulled up the display for a race that had been timed previously.

[Brian Agee]

1.6.0.3

I hate to come back with another one so quick, but I want to make sure everything is prefect before the weekend hits.

The addition of asynchronous methods (which does speed everything up keeps the UI responsive) caused one problem that I wasn't aware of. Pushing results up to RunSignUp errored out. So if you use RunSignUp you'll want to get this update. 

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed bug caused when pushing results up to RunSignUp.
• I found out today that RaceEntry changed their API methods and it caused races not to be able to be pulled in. This is fixed with this update.

[Brian Agee]

1.6.0.6

There have been a couple of reports of the software crashing when pushing results up to Arrow. I just learned that apparently this was happening even before 6.0. So I've spent the past few days pushing the Clock screen extremely hard - flooding it with constant tag reads while also having it send SMS results, Arrow Live Results, pushing results up to RunSignUp, refreshing the results, and kicking the computer offline and online during all of this. I tried my best to break the system and was able to find a few actions that did cause a crash. This update should fix the areas of code that bombed out.

In case you're wondering what happened to 1.6.0.4 and 1.6.0.5?

I used a couple of version numbers for beta testers, so this installer and software version numbers were out of sync. I'm getting them back in sync with this update.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed bug in Settings screen. When you click "Update Database" I failed to close a "reader" object. Which would freeze the program when you tried to click "Save".
  
• Added some additional validation and error checking during the Arrow Live Results submission process to help ensure it doesn't crash the program.
  
• Fixed some formatting issues when generating CSV files in the Open Race screen (when you right click on the athlete list).
  
• Fixed bug that could cause "unassigned" chip start times not to be mapped to newly imported/created athletes.
  

Enhancements:

• Improved the responsiveness of the "Announcement" textbox in relation to the Public Display.
  
• If you choose the option to "Show Bib #" on the public display, it will now add a "#" symbol before the bib # to make it more obvious that data is the bib #.
• Improved the responsiveness even more regarding sending SMS messages and tracking/retrying failed messages.
  
• Improved the layout of the controls in the "Public Display" tab to help ensure lower resolution screens can check/uncheck the races the user wants displayed.
  
• Added the ability to "Unlink" a race from RunSignUp (which also disassociates all of the participants too) even if it's linked in the "Live" environment.
  • This allows you to unlink an event if you mistakenly picked the wrong event, or it would allow you to delete all participants from RunSignUp and 'push' them up from the timing software if you ever had a need to do that.
  • You can still re-link it to the event on RunSignUp and when you click "Sync" it should re-associate all participants with the correct RunSignUp ID for each participant if the participant exists on both systems.

[Brian Agee]

1.6.0.7

Bug Fixes:

• A user was able to find one more combination of events (again revolving around pushing results to ALR) that could crash the program. That is now fixed.
• In the last update to 5.5 some code was added that caused the Chip Start Time to be set to the Gun time of the race if you add or edit an athlete after the race has been started. The software should have left the chip start time as "null" for the athlete. This is now fixed.

Enhancements:

• Added integration to the Finished Results Multi-Function LED Display (website).
  • The clock will show the race name, running clock, and finisher info (place, name, and time) automatically.
  • If anyone is looking to buy one, we can sell them, or you can buy directly from their website.
  • Be advised that there is also some basic networking knowledge required to get the laptop, reader, and clock on the same network.
  • I do not have one of these in my hands to play with, so I couldn't create any 'in-depth' demonstration or marketing videos on how they work. If you look on the Timers Talk Facebook page and view posts from Chris Drescher or Brian Sparacino, then you can see the clock in real races. Here is a video Brian recorded that shows sample data (running clock, results coming in) coming in: Clock Demo
  • 
    

[Brian Agee]

I mistakenly pushed the update out to the "Beta" folder instead of the Live folder. It's out there now. Sorry for the confusion.  I still had the Beta folder up from when I was pushing updates out for Brian Sparacino to test the clock integration, thought I had the Live folder up when I did the final push out to everyone.

If you click on Help > File Version # > Download Newest Update and your computer instantly shows the file is available. That means your browser probably provided you with a "cached" copy of the installer instead of re-downloading the file to ensure it has the newest installer. You can either clear your file cache in the Browser settings screen or you can open an "Incognito" or "Private" session and then navigate to my website and click on the Free Trial button to ensure the browser actually downloads the installer.

I would recommend installing this update. This does have two bug fixes that could cause headaches if you don't have this update.

[Brian Agee]

1.6.0.8

Enhancements:

• The software will now automatically add the team if you swap an athlete to another race and their team does not exist in that race.
• If the backup path is set, a backup of the database will occur every time an athlete record is edited in the Open race screen.
  

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a lag issue that can cause the Clock screen to freeze for a few seconds when it checks for internet access on a very slow network connection. For example when the auto-backup process tries to send to a cloud location or when you right click on an athlete and the software tries to determine if the "Send SMS" option should be enabled. This fix may also improve the speed at which the program initially loads as it is "checking license key".
• MileSplit informed me that they only accept pre-defined distances if the distance is sent in Meters (which is all that ART stores). They did not give me that pre-defined list when I requested it. They said they can take any distance in miles formatted to the nearest tenth of a mile. So this udpate will now send the distance in miles to the nearest tenth when creating MileSplit result files. Also all leading zeros on finishing times are now stripped off since they informed me they do not want those either.
• Removed phone number format check for international numbers.
• Added code that would remove a participants RunSignUp ID if you swap them between separate races that are not linked up to the same RunSignUp_RaceID. Otherwise an error may appear when results are pushed up for an athlete with a RSU ID that does not match anything on their side.
• Added code to back up the database every time the Sync button will remove more than 10 athletes from any of the races. Athletes are removed when they are transferred to another event or if they are deleted from RunSignUp. I added this auto-backup in just in case someone deletes everyone from RSU but wanted to keep them in ART.
• Fixed the "large increment" value on the Bib # Sheet so that it will increase enough to fill up an entire page if you click along the slider bar at the top.

[Brian Agee]

1.6.0.9

Enhancements:

• Added ability to easily enable/disable readers in the clock screen by right clicking on them.

Bug Fixes:

• Increased the status monitor time so that it doesn't check the reader as frequently.
  • The software is designed to check if the reader is still connected and working properly if it has not seen a tag read from the reader within the last 5 seconds. The problem is that in order to check if the reader is responding, the software temporarily tells the reader to stop listening so that it can send a message to the reader and (hopefully) get a response back. This only takes a fraction of a second, this very well could cause a tag to be missed if a runner flies through at the perfect time. It seems to be very rare, but it's the only explanation for why a few users have reported that if the system misses anyone - it's typically the very first runner. 
  • There has always been the option to turn off the status monitor on the RFID Reader tab, but it is on by default.
  • The software now only checks the reader if it's been at least 30 seconds since the last tag read was reported by the reader.
    
    
• Updated the MileSplit export filename so that it has the word "miles" in it instead of just the upper case "M".

[Brian Agee]

1.6.0.10

Enhancements:

• Electro-Numeric Integration (Video Demo  |  Owners Manual)
  • We are now reselling this clock if anyone would like one. Same price as from Eletro-Numeric, but of course we make a little bit on each one so you'd be supporting both businesses if you choose to buy them through us.

Bug Fixes:

• When sending results to TFRRS, the software will now ensure that every "team code" (team short name in ART) is unique.

[Brian Agee]

1.6.0.11

Enhancements:

• Small update that adds the ability to show or hide the Overall and Division place on the Results Kiosk, Quick Results, and instant SMS Results features. You can find this new option in the SMS tab of the Settings screen.
  • In some cases it makes sense for the quick results features to hide the Overall and Division place information. For example, if the results are based on 'chip start time' then it could cause confusion if the participant receives a text or print out that shows them winning a certain division, but as additional people come in this of course may change if someone that started and finished later actually ran the course faster than they did.
  • Some may also want to hide the Overall and Division place to ensure that people do not try to grab their award before official results are printed, or the opposite happen and a large number of people that didn't win an decide to leave instead of hanging around for the awards ceremony.

[Brian Agee]

1.6.0.12

Bug Fix:

• A very rare but extremely serious bug was found that could cause the software to lock up when you first open the Clock screen. This seems to only effect a couple of computers for some reason. Essentially the software was automatically trying to connect to an Eletronumeric clock when the Clock screen first loads. I did not specify a "timeout" period because in my testing it never hesitated to either find the clock or fail trying to connect. It appears that this is not the case for some computers, and I just learned that the default 'timeout' period for COM ports is "infinite". So this update makes it so that the software does not automatically try to find and use Eletronumeric clocks as soon as the Clock screen appears. Those with "Eletronumeric" clocks will have to "enable" the clock in the Public Display tab. Of course I also set the "timeout" period to a 1/2 second.

[Brian Agee]

1.6.0.13 (video overview)

Enhancements

• Dramatically sped up how fast the software spends "Checking license key"
  • The very first time you open the software after this update it will take just as long as it did before, but after that it should open instantly.
    
    
• Added ability to flag participants that are picked up earlier than they should have been.
  • This makes it easier to catch participants that register for a longer event but then run the shorter event.
    
    
• Added ability to show award winners instantly.
  • Names appear in light green and what they won is shown in a column on the Clock screen.
  • They're also highlighted in green on the Public Display and Results Kiosk.
    
    
• Added ability to determine which results to show on the Results Kiosk (Overall, Division, or Team).
  • Showing only what you need should allow the results to update faster.
  • I also moved the Settings down below the race name so that they're easier to see and use.
    
    
• Updated the screen used to the Tag Check, Announcer, and Quick Results TV so that no matter how it's used you'll have the ability to manually enter a bib #.
  • I also added the ability to show or hide these fields on those screens:
    • Race Name
    • Bib #
    • Gender
    • Athlete Type
    • Team Name
    • Announcer Notes
      
      
• When doing a negative countdown, it will now show hours.
• Added ability to show Athlete "Notes" and "Announcer Notes" on reports.
• Updated the AthleteType combo box so that it will have a dynamic width, growing if a long Athlete Type is entered.

Bug Fix

• Fixed bug that could show a -1 age if the DOB is the current day.
• Fixed bug that caused an incorrect "On course" amount on the clock screen.
• Fixed bug that caused the Results Kiosk to freeze, and it was not showing the award categories on the Division Results list.

[Brian Agee]

1.6.0.14

Of course immediately after an update I often get emails with other good ideas that build on the new feature or improve an existing feature. A couple of users also tested the new features in ways I have not and found some bugs.

Enhancements:

• You can now right click on an athlete in the Clock screen (either the finisher list on the left or the Athlete list on the right) and quickly swap their "Athlete Type".
  • For example if you see a "Walker" sprint across the finish line, you can now quickly swap them to a "Runner" without having to minimize the clock screen.
    
    
• When timing multi-lap races, the Clock screen will now only highlight the final split captured to show if they are an award winners, it was a very close finish, or if they finished before the minimum minutes allowed.
  
  
• The Results Kiosk will now show participants name in this format: John Doe instead of this format: Doe, John
  
  
• The "Bib #" label above the bib # entry textbox will now turn Red if textbox loses focus. Besides the flashing "cursor" in that textbox, hopefully this provides another confirmation that pressing the spacebar will actually start the clock.

Bug Fix:

• When a race is duplicated, the new "Minimum minutes allowed" value was throwing an error when trying to edit the newly created race.
• The new method created to quickly check award status on the fly was not checking the "athlete type" correctly.

[Brian Agee]

1.6.0.15

I spent some time this week testing the lesser used features to ensure they all work reliably. Features like the Quick Results TV and Announcer Station. I plan to use both of these at the race I'm timing in Little Rock this weekend. Obviously if I find any bugs I want to fix them and push an update out immediately so that everyone has has the most reliable program I can offer.

Bug Fix:

• Fixed bug with how the Quick Results TV and Announcer Station auto-updates itself. Basically I made it update exactly how the Results Kiosk auto updates itself.
• Fixed bug in Results Kiosk where clicking "Refresh Readers" button may cause the screen to lock up if you click it while it's already in the process of trying to find and load readers.

[Brian Agee]

1.6.1.0 (Video Overview)

Enhancements:

• Redesigned Clock screen.
  
  • It is now easier to see exactly what is going on and manage each race. All races appear in a scrollable list on the left side of the screen. All of the actions you need to do for a particular race are available when you click on the Clock for that event.
    
    • 
      
  • Races will now appear in order of when they're scheduled to start. The software will also now automatically check off the first race(s) that are scheduled to start that day when you pull multiple races into the clock screen. If you're starting an individual race, you can simply click "Start" under the race, or check off the race and then press the Spacebar or click the button that appears above the list of races.
    
    • 
      
  • Added the ability to "Finish" a race.
    
    • This stops the clock from running and prevents any additional reads or manual time entries for the race. This should come in handy for XC races that you know are done but you want to leave them on the Clock screen in case you need to print or edit results. With the race "Finished" you no longer have to worry about a coach walking up to return unused bibs and it triggering a bunch of invalid reads.
      
  • I tried to design the clock screen so that all of the "Timing" actions are easily accessible at the top of the screen and all of the 'race management' tasks you need are easily accessible on the left. So things are less disjointed and more logically grouped together.
    
• Added the newest Canon Capture dll available to download, which is V13.16.10 as of this update.
  
  • In case anyone asks: Canon's website shows V13.17.0 (which adds only the  R100 model) as the newest SDK, but their download page provides V13.16.10 as the newest update available to download.
    
  • Here are all of the models that the software should be able to work with now:
    
  • 
    
• Changed the Create/Edit Race screen to a wizard style layout, with itemized navigation on the left hand side and back and next buttons at the top. I tried to group things in a more logical way because in the past you could change a value on one screen (like the Race Type or number of Laps) and not see that something is now enabled/disabled on another tab.
  
• The "Need help? Watch Video Demo" link at the top right will now pull up a video that covers the specific section that you currently have selected. For example, if you are in the "Scoring" section and click the link, the YouTube video that appears will cover everything on the Scoring section in great detail.
  • 
    
• Updated Installer - It has a cleaner look and includes a "license agreement' for new users that want to know the 'rules' of using the software.
  
  • 
    
• Added ability to customize the Quick Result TV text. See the bottom of the Advanced tab in the Settings screen.
  
• Added setting in Advanced tab of the Settings screen to automatically check "Auto Finish Gap" when capturing Chip Starts. It is True by default.
  
• The software now automatically checks off all races scheduled for that day when performing some actions where you'd typically want all races selected (like when pulling up the Clock screen).
  
• Updated the information that can be shown/hidden on the Quick Results TV and Announcer Station.
  
• Updated links to the IAAF Rule regarding rounding times up to the nearest second.
  
• When deleting an Athlete Type that is associated with a Division, the Divisions list view now refreshes automatically.
  
• If IAAF is selected for the race, the IAAF option is now selected automatically when you print Team Results.
  
• Improved efficiency in which the Clock screen stores and processes a flood of reads.
  
• Removed requirement to create at least one Athlete Type. Instead I just create a "Runner" type for them if none have been entered.
  
• Removed requirement to create at least one Team if Track/Cross Country race type is selected.
• Changed the Race name at the top of the Open Race screen and on the Choose Race screen to show the Short name (if it's available) instead of the long name.
  

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed bug rounding times up on the Division Results.
  
• Fixed the team results on the Public Display so that it should always match the printed results.
  
• Fixed bug where unassigned chip start times may not be imported into the finish line computer.
  
• Fixed layout of the Quick Results TV to ensure no text is cut off no matter how much information is shown.
  
• RaceEntry has two ways Teams can be set up for a race. The software was only pulling teams by one of those methods. With this update it will now check both methods for teams to pull in.
  
• Fixed bug in Public Display where text wasn't being resized properly when new results come in and push up previous results that were displayed.
  
• Fixed bug that could appear if two tasks try to open and execute a "transaction" on the database at the same time (this could 'lock' the database).
  
• Fixed bug when hidden gender participants showing up as Female.

[Brian Agee]

1.6.1.1

Bug Fix:

• I found that when interacting with the new Race controls on the left of the clock screen it was not putting the focus back into the Bib# textbox at the top left of the screen. So this is a minor update to fix that.

[Brian Agee]

1.6.1.2

Enhancements:

• A handful of people have expressed the desire to see the Results and the Athlete list at the same time on the Clock screen, like how it was prior to version 6.1. Some users have a display that has a very low maximum resolution, that's why everything was put on separate tab pages. Branston has changed the layout of the Clock screen so that the results are always visible, users can click and drag (see the yellow bar) the panels to whatever width they want, and if a resolution is so small that things do not fit - a horizontal scrollbar will appear so that they can still get access to everything.
• I never liked that users might accidentally set (or reset) the "actual start date" on the Edit Race screen without knowing how it affects with the Clock screen. So I have moved the 'actual start date' to the Race control on the Clock screen. You can now set the Clock time by using the up/down arrows next to the Hours, Minutes, and Seconds - or by changing the race start date/time.

Bug Fix:

• This past weekend a couple of users reported that the "Start Listening" button didn't do anything if they pulled up the Clock screen (with no races started), started a race, and then tried to 'start listening'. Closing and reopening the clock screen allowed them to 'Start Listening'. This bug has been fixed with this update.
•