RTools 3.2.49

Just a quick update from the 3.2 line, which brings a piece of 4.0 work that I did on the WER access system.

• WER tournament listings now provide the tournament’s sanctioning number and date.
  • This will fix the event issue which forces you to name each event in a unique way prior to selecting it. It’ll also speed up the search.
• WER tournaments are no longer listed if their scheduled start date is more than approximately one week into the future.
  • Another way to simplify the WER screen. I may be looking at doing similar things to older, completed events as well.

4.0

RTools 4.0 is a broad rewrite of the entire code base, in the same way 3.0 and 2.0 were in the past. The main purpose of the rewrite is to compartmentalize and increase the efficiency of the connection code, while also doing some core rewrites of many of the systems which output that information, from the main scrolling window to many of the printing systems.

In addition, RTools 4.0 will change how you interface with the program, depending on what features you want from it. The current interface will be simplified a decent amount, removing EPIC, Networking, and other tools more appropriate for large tournaments. For those larger events, you will have a brand-new interface which utilizes the redesigned back-end, and will turn networking and EPIC into first-class citizens, in the same scope as today’s visual and printing interfaces.

So, where is this right now? The first stage is mostly complete. This is all the back-end translation work, which takes the data from the tournament software and turns it into a standardized container of information, as well as the creation of methods which format this information into the form that output systems will work with.

The second stage is rewriting the output interfaces, including a complete rewrite of the scrolling display, as well as all the printer displays. This should add a speed boost to these interfaces, while also condensing much of the new work that has been added since the display was first written in the pre-1.0 days.

The third stage is the rebuild of the main UI and networking components, connecting together and organizing all of the pieces.

Third EPIC update

This one will be up sometime later this week. .48b will include:

– Configurable option for the Personal page, whether to let people enter in their DCI number or to select their name from a dropdown menu. (the later being added in this update)

– Updated graphic assets.

(more…)

RTools 3.2.48 (+ second EPIC update)

I popped the .48 update onto the download site last night. There has been one update to EPIC since that release, with two changes:

– With all the changes and updates to the EPIC interface, I forgot to remove my personal analytics javascript from the pages. That’s all removed on .48a.

– The “Pairings” setup is reformatted a good bit. Names are now in alphabetical order, with player points also displayed. Because of some of the issues that took down RTools (look a couple posts back, can’t miss it) this aspect of EPIC is getting a bit of an update to be a more viable alternative than it was previously. Expect that page to get more updates.

Not dead yet….

Two things:

– Download links are back up.

– v.3.2.48 will be available sometime between Friday and Sunday. Three main changes/fixes:

1. EPIC will be a separate download for this and future versions.
2. EPIC will have no longer use DCI numbers directly in back-end files. Rather, all DCI numbers will be hashed, and the Personal page will hash your DCI number prior to sending any information to the server. Importantly, this change makes both EPIC and RTools incompatible with previous versions of each.
3. There will be a bugfix for a surprisingly common bug involving events in WER where an odd number of players are entered after round 1 is paired, and given automatic losses in that round. (rather than a bye)

RTools Update

RTools was taken down in a very general, but pretty direct request. I’ve since received further information that clarifies this greatly. Sorry I can’t get into more specifics. (not for any legal reason)

The download page will be back up this week. EPIC’s download will become separate from RTools’, and an update to both will come out also this week. This update will remove DCI numbers from being the method used to find players. (they’ll still be used for the personalized info, just hashed)

RTools Download Temporarily Down

Download links for RTools are temporarily removed while changes are made to the EPIC system, as part of a request by Wizards of the Coast.

RTools 3.2.47

This is the final version used during PT Philly.

• Fixed an issue where an all-caps name would not display in the proper position.
• Networking system now contains a system for pushing timers to remote windows. Because there’s no documentation here for that, here’s a couple notes:
  • Ignore “Screen”. To push to a secondary window, treat the two windows as one large window like you see them in the Display control panel and position accordingly. (0,0 is the top-left of the display where the start menu is)
  • C = Change, S = Start/Stop, T = Put on top, X = Remove

Before you ask, yes, this interface is a bit janky. I developed this both with a bad cold and simultaneous with the 4.0 update. As this timer code will not be moved to 4.0, function was much more a priority than form.

The link will be updated tonight or tomorrow. I’m 1/2 way through changing which machine I use as a programming machine, and as a result my development is on one machine, while the building process of the .exe is on another.

IMPORTANT
I just want this to be clear, to those that were at PT Philly or heard about this. On Saturday night, there was an issue that stalled three tournaments for approximately one hour, and forced those tournaments to be rebuilt from result slips. The cause of this was not RTools. The short answer is that the reporting software WotC produced was not originally designed for multiplayer events, and a known bug in that software regarding team events caused the 2HG event to become corrupt, and also took down all other events being run on that machine. (The PTQ and a couple other events were run on a second machine)

Another update

There are three things in development at various stages, all somewhat related to PT Philly.

– For PT Philadelphia, I am skinning EPIC’s interface on Legion Events into a mobile event interface f0r players. With the next update, I’ll probably release some variant of this skin as the default or as an option. It is currently available to view here.

– There is a custom timer interface being developed for PT Philadelphia, essentially allowing timers to be run in the same style as remote pairings. This is also doubling as a tech test for some ideas for future updates.

– Although it pretty much is confirmed in the previous two, RTools is going to be used in the same force at PT Philly as it was used at GPKC. Public Events will use all RTools interfaces and event information will be found via Legion Event’s EPIC interface.

Quick Update

– No update on the WER + EPIC bug. This is, unfortunately, a bug occurring in the code of the Java virtual machine and not my own, and it occurs someplace it is not trivial to fix.

– There are updates in the planning stages, but I am holding off on talking about these for the time being. There is a possibility that the development path of the next update may change, as I may be working on a new project which would (ideally) use RTools as a major component.

– I (along with RTools in some capacity) will be at PT Philadelphia.