Valint Ski Scoring - The Valiant Menu Bar and Commands

Follow the links for descriptions of the commands contained in the Valiant menu bar

The "Valiant" menu bar replaces the Excel menu bar while Valiant is running. It's the heart of the program. Selecting commands from the menu bar sets into motion the computer code that does the work for you. You may use keyboard shortcuts to get to many of the commands. When you right-click on a cell (or selected area) a shortcut menu will come up. The shortcut menu contains the Cut, Copy, Paste and Clear Contents commands. You can switch back and forth between the Valiant menu bar and the Excel menu bar with the F7 key.

- Race Summary Information... Information about your race including the Meet Name, Race Date, Chief of Calculation, and any comments you may wish to include are viewable here. The Meet Name will appear in the left header of the print outs. The race date will appear in the right footer of the print outs. When you make a change in the race setup that affects either of these items, the Summary Information is updated. Race Summary Information is saved within every Score Book. You can view this information in Windows Explorer by right clicking on the file, and selecting “Properties”.

Worksheet A new worksheet will be added to your Score Book (header and footer information is automatically added to the new sheet.). To delete a sheet, right click on the tab at the bottom of the screen, and select Delete.

- Open... Is the regular OPEN command. It will open any Excel file. Commands on the Valiant menu bar generally work only on the Score Book file that Valiant opened or created, because only that file imports race setup information to Valiant. You can however, copy and paste information between different files. Exceptions are League Totals and Individual Totals files you may create using the additional menus added by the commands in the Utilities menu.

- Close the Score Book without saving...or Close Sometimes it's necessary to start over without saving your work. After closing the Score Book, Valiant restarts. If a file other than your race file is on screen, this command works as the regular Excel <Close> command, and you will be prompted about whether to save the file or not.

- Show the Excel menu bar <F7> Returns the standard Excel menu bar to the screen. (When the standard Excel menu bar re-appears, notice that the command <Show the Valiant menu bar> has been added to the <File> menu. <F7> toggles between the Valiant Menu Bar and the standard Excel menu bar.

- Auto Save Options... (Excel 2000) or Auto-Recovery Options (Excel XP and above) When you select this command, a dialog box will come up describing the Excel Auto-Save options. You may elect not to use this by selecting the "Never" option. Else, select how often you wish to save the file. Then decide whether you want to be prompted every time the save is to take place. (When prompted, you are allowed to skip the save, or accept it.) Auto-Save is not available if a file was opened as "Read Only". The auto-save dialog box also appears everytime you open a Race File. When the file is saved by Auto-Save, the race setup information within the file is not updated. You must use the < Save the Score Book> command to update the race setup information. If you are running Excel XP, the Auto-Recovery dialog comes up. Auto Recovery works differently that Auto-Save. The file is backed up, not saved. You must manually save a file to insure that your data is not lost due to a power outage. If Excel crashes and you have to restart it, the Auto-Recovery dialog will appear allowing you to open a backup file of the race file. Please see the instructions regarding AutoSave.

- Save the score book Saves the entire Race File. Since the Setup Information for a race is contained within the race file, any time you make changes to the setup, you should immediately use thie command to save the file so the Race Setup information is updated. For files other than the race file, this command works as the regular Excel <Save> command.

- Save As Use this to save the files to a diskette for transporting the files to the hill, or to save files to a different directory, or to save the file under a different name. Used in conjunction with the <Utilities || Clear all times...> command, you can use the same race file race-to-race, without having to start from scratch.

- Save as "Read Only Recommended" This will tag the file as a MS Excel "Read Only Recommended" file. I like to use this at the end of the race day, so that I don't inadvertently change the information in a file when I open it up at some point after the race. After using this command, but before closing the file, the file can still be changed, and those late changes will be saved, but the next time you open the file, you will be prompted if you wish to open the file as "Read Only" or to open it for editing. Files opened as Read-Only can still be manipulated by the Valiant Menu Bar commands (including changing the setup or options), but the changes will not be saved when the file is closed.

To remove a "Read Only Recommended" status from a file, start Valiant. Have it open the Score Book file of your choice. When prompted about "Read Only" select <No>. When the file is completely opened, select the <File || Remove the "Read Only Recommended" status> command. (Read Only Recommended is an <Option> in any Excel <Save-As> dialog box.)

- Print Preview Will show you how your score sheets will print. If you are ever unsure if a team name or person's name is too long to fit in a cell, use <Print Preview> to see if your entry will print like you expect it to. Avoid making columns wider just to make something fit, or the score sheets may not print correctly. (Every time you select the <Form View || Scratch Sheet> command, the on-screen event score sheet is re-formatted. The font, type alignment, and column widths are reset to the "Valiant" defaults.)

- Print....the Event Name or WorkSheet Name sheet Will print the on-screen sheet only. You will be prompted for the number of copies that you want from the printer. If you have a file other than your ScoreBook file on screen, this command acts as the regular <Print...> command.

- Print....the highlighted selection Sometimes, you only wish to print a portion of a score sheet. Select the area you wish to print, and then use this command. Only the section that you highlight (along with the appropriate column headings) will print. You do not have to select the column headings, they will print automatically.

- Print by Flight There are two options, but essentially, you will be printing full flights on a page (no flights are broken up between two pages unless a flight contains more that 24 persons).

- Change Printers... Allows you to quickly change the printer or printer setup. When you change printers, Valiant checks to make sure that the Score Sheets will print correctly so no teams get split up.

- Change Paper Size…Valiant supports letter (8½ x 11) and Legal (8½ x 14) paper sizes in your printer.

- Exit Valiant Ski Scoring Will end your Valiant session. You will be prompted to save the file. The Valiant Exit dialog will appear and you may <Start Valiant over again>, <Quit Valiant but leave Excel running>, or <Close Valiant and Excel>.

- Make changes to the race setup You may make changes to everything EXCEPT the number of persons on a team. That also means that you cannot change a race file that was setup for individuals only, into a team meet.

- Check Form View Each form that Valiant can sort a score sheet into has a name. This command will tell you what “form” you are viewing. Certain commands will insist that you start from a certain form (ex. The <Scoring || Tournament Totals (teams)> command will inform you that all score sheets must be in the “Team Results” form.)

- Manual Row Height Entry Valiant formats each printed page so that no teams are split between two pages. In order to do this, the row height is determined by the program. Sometimes, Valiant cannot figure out how to do this. You may use this command to change the row height. Unfortunately, because Valiant always attempts to adjust the row height everytime you open a file (based on the current printer), you may have to make this adjustment on a continuing basis. Microsoft Windows and your printer software control how the sheets print. Every printer is different, and Valiant tries to adjust to any printer.

- Random Run Times Fake times are entered into the active Event Score Sheet. You are allowed to pick the maximum and minimum times. DSQ’s are randomly interspersed. If you want to have some DNS’s thrown in, then you must enter them yourself. This command always enters a first and second run time, even if the event is only going to scored with one run.

If you are practicing with Cross Country scoring, the random times are finish times only. You must also enter start times using the commands in the <Registration> menu. If you are set up for Time of Day scoring, make sure your event start time is before your event finish times (random finish times are only allowed to 12:00 noon so your start times must be prior to the minimum event finish time.)

- Setup the active event This command will overwrite the seed/flight numbers in column 1. Use this command to re-format an empty event score sheet for registration. If you have completed your registration for any event, and wish to view the event once again in the registration view, use the <Form View || Registration Form> command.

- Insert the Running Order… (Blind Draw every flight), (Blind Draw first flight) or (Alphabetical Order)

Using Visual Basic’s random number generator, Valiant can generate blind draw run orders for you. Entering the run order with these commands will NOT assign a run order number to any line that does not have a competitors name on it.

-(Blind Draw all Racers) In meets involving seeded teams, this command will insert the running order as a "Blind Draw" for every person within each flight. Each flight has a different run order. Every time you run this, it will calculate a new run order. A RANDOM distribution is not the same as an EVEN distribution. (Some teams will luck out.) In meets with individuals only (no teams), the entire meet is treated as having one flight, and all registered racers will be assigned run order numbers as a blind draw.

-(Blind Draw first flight only) The first flight is a blind draw, and each subsequent flight has the same run order as the first flight. This option is not available in meets without teams.

-(Alphabetical Order) Alphabetizes the first flight by team name, and each subsequent flight has the same run order as the first flight. (Easier for JV racers to figure out where they should be standing in line.) This option is not available in meets without teams.

Note: for Cross Country meets, the start order is closely related to the Start Times and “Grouping” of racers. The topic is covered in the Cross Country instructions.

- Insert consecutive bib numbers This command will automatically insert bib numbers for all racers in a single event. It will prompt you for the first bib to be used, and then it enters consecutive numbers for all registered racers. If you use this command while the Registration Form or Scratch Sheet is on screen, all teams will have consecutive bib numbers for their members. If you use this command when the event is sorted by Running Order, all racers in the event will have consecutive bibs, starting with the first racer, down through the last racer. The first run of the event would then be conducted with consecutive bib numbers. The program will alert you to the last bib number used. If there is a blank cell in the "Competitors Name" column then no bib is assigned to that line on the Score Sheet. In Cross Country events, you may enter bibs into an event score sheet, or into the "Special Cross Country Start List". Direct downloading from any timer requires the use of bib numbers. The CP705 allows you to upload the running / start order to the timer and requires you to have bib numbers assigned to racers. The Valiant “Control Console” dialog boxes for the PTB and Alge timers also allow you to upload the running/start order.

- Transfer bib numbers You must have entered bib numbers into one event, and that event must be active on-screen (any event can be this 1st event). This command will search the other events (of the same gender) for the racers names (their names must be spelled and punctuated exactly the same on all sheets) and then the program will copy each bib number over so each racer has the same bib in all events regardless of their seeding. When the program finishes transferring bibs to all the racers it could find, the other events will be sorted by bib number. Scroll down to the bottom of each event, and check for racers who did not receive bib numbers, and enter them manually. You must then enter the same bib numbers, name by name, for other events in which those racers appear. Be careful.

- Add Shows the Add Teams dialog box. You can only add team names up to the number of teams you indicated in the race setup. If you require room for more teams on the spreadsheet, you must first add teams using the <Setup || Make changes to the Race Setup> command.

- Delete This command will delete the team of your choice from the events (by gender) that you select.

- Check the Teams Because Valiant operates within a spreadsheet program, it is imperative that all team names appear on the score sheets exactly the same number of times that you have racers per team. At any time (usually after registration is complete), use this command to check the number of times that each team name appears on a Score Sheet. If you notice that teams seem to have "jumped" out of sequence (indicated by teams which are not completely in the heavy borders anymore), then you have an error that this command will find. The score sheet must be in the Registration Form, Scratch Sheet or Team Results form.

- Index the Run Order (for Cross Country races it's: <Index the Run Order and Start Times> If, at the start of your season, you draw for permanent start order, and in your meets, the teams have the same start order in every flight, and before each meet you index the run order so a different team has the 1st start in every flight, use this command to Index your run orders for you. The score sheet must be in the <Registration> or <Scratch Sheet> view. The run order numbers for the top team, get assigned to the bottom team, and the rest of the teams run orders get adjusted upwards. In Cross Country, the start times are indexed also. This command is for leagues that use the same race file meet to meet.

When utilizing Cross Country Scoring, the following commands are added to the Registration menu: (See the section on scoring Cross Country meets for more on these commands.)

- Special Cross Country Start List Creates a new sheet in the file, and imports the racers from the score sheets that you select. The Special Cross Country Start List is a tool for you to use to combine racers from different event score sheets. You may have a Special Start List for the men, and one for the women, and a third that combines both of those so your on-course race starters can work off one list. DO NOT ENTER RACERS FINISH TIMES ON THIS SHEET (no calculations are performed on this sheet). Start orders may be uploaded to the CP705 or to the Valiant Control Consoles from the Special Cross Country Start List. If you elect to do that you will be prompted to select which score sheets (up to all 8) are to be searched for bib numbers to paste the times to. When start and finish times come in from the timer, your event score sheets are searched until Valiant finds the correct bib number to paste the time to.

- Enter Start Times (any Sheet) A dialog box comes up asking you how you want the start times entered. They can be entered on a "Special Start List" or on any event score sheet. Start Times are entered according to the way the sheet is sorted when this command is run. The start time, start interval, and groupsize are options. If you are using a time option other than Time of Day, your first group (or first racer) will leave at zero hour and your race clock will start running at zero hour. If you intend to manually enter finish times into the score sheets, you should not use Time of Day. If you are direct downloading from a timer the start times you enter using this command get overwritten by the actual start times that download from the timer. However, entering start times using this command allows you to print sheets for race programs and on-course start officials. See the instructions for Cross Country scoring.

- Manual Sort (any sheet) Will sort any event score sheet, or "Special Start List" by the criteria you select. This command pre-selects the area that will be sorted. If you run this command on a sheet other than one of the event score sheets, or Special Start List, the sheet will get scrambled, and you will not be able to "Undo".

- Start Order for the Cross Country Start List… two commands for use with a Special Cross Country Start List only.

Blind Draw Enters a Blind Draw for all racers on the sheet, regardless of what event score sheet they came off of. You would then enter Start Times.

By Start Time This command will check the start times, and enter the running order. Use this if you have manually entered start times. The run order should be entered because it is used by some of the commands in the Form View menu.

- Export Data from the Start List back to the Score Sheets If you use Special Start List(s) to enter the start times, bibs etc., use this command to export the data back to the racers on whatever event score sheet they are on. You can export Start Times, Bib numbers, Run Order numbers and Seed numbers. This command always searches for names.

- Registration Form View a Score Sheet in the original "Registration Form" view.

- Running Order Distribution Form Formats the score sheet leaving just enough information for the competitors, coaches and parents to know what flight and run position their racer is in, what the bib assignments are and (for Cross Country) what their start time is. The rows are narrow to allow for more racers per page when printing. This form was designed to be included in race programs, or provided as handouts on race day. When using Cross Country scoring, the sheet is sorted by Start Times. If you elect to use a "Special Cross Country Start List" and combine racers from different score sheets at the start, you may want to use that Special Start List instead of the Run Order Distribution Form as a handout, or in programs.

- Coach's Registration List All your Score Sheets must be in the <Scratch Sheet> view. The first time you use this command, an additional worksheet (called "Coach's Teams") is un-hidden. There are two buttons at the top of the sheet. One button allows you to import information from the Score Sheets. The other button clears the Coach’s List. When you import information, you must select the teams you wish to import (a boys team and/or a girls team). See the information under "Stuffing Envelopes" for more information on how to use this form. When you close your race file, this form is once again hidden. When Cross Country scoring is being used, the start times are included in this sheet. For large meets this form makes a great envelop stuffer instead of handing each coach a compete start list that he/she must search through to find which of their racers gets which bib.

- Scratch Sheet Formats the score sheet into a Scratch Sheet, sorted alphabetically by Team Name, with a wide column set aside so that the coaches can note changes. Print these out the night before the race in preparation for the scratch meeting. On race day, after the coaches have scribbled out their changes on the printed sheets, note the changes in the computer by entering them into the "Competitors Name" column. REMEMBER....COLUMN 15 IS ONLY FOR THE PRINTOUTS and is otherwise ignored by the program. Using this command will also completely re-format your score sheet. The font, column widths, text alignment, and other default Valiant formatting will be reset for you. "Drag and Drop" operations can remove the fomatting from the cells you dragged information out of. When you are finished copying and pasting and dragging and dropping, run this command to set everything right. Do not switch to the Scratch Sheet until your race registration is complete, or the seed numbers will get scrambled. If that happens, run the <Registation || Setup the active event> command to reset the seeding.

The following (5) commands will sort an event into the form that you will print to send out to the courses for your recorders to keep track of times on. Times are then entered into the computer in whatever "form" you printed. (If you printed "1st run score sheet", enter times into "1st run score sheet".) One of these forms will work for you. The score sheet forms have only 24 racers per page to leave adequate room for writing in the times by hand. Using certain other command combinations, you may create custom forms for on-hill use. If you are On-Line downloading from a timer and you are downloading dual courses, you will want start lists for your timing crew to work from.

- 1st run Score Sheet Formats the score sheet so it can be used on-hill by starters and recorders for the first run of Alpine events. The sheet is sorted by Flight and Run Order.

Reverse Order within each flight…In races with "Seeded" teams this command sorts the racers in "reverse run order" within each flight. In races with individuals only, it reverses the entire order.

Re-Seed according to 1^st run times…Whether you are scoring a team event, or individuals only - the sheet will be sorted by 1^st run time with the fastest racer seeded first. You will then be prompted if you want to invert some of the top racers (similar to a second run in FIS/USSA). You may enter any number of racers to invert at the top. (Ex. If you want to invert the top five racers, the racer with the quickest first run time will start fifth, the second quickest fourth…and the fifth quickest will start first. Racers beyond 5^th place will start according to their first run time.) When you select this command, the program does not overwrite the run order numbers in column 2. Make sure your on-hill officials understand this. You may change the run order manually if you want to but you will permanently lose the first run start order.

- Bib Number If you are scoring a meet with no teams at all, just individuals racing against one another, a Cross Country meet, or a weekly beer league, you may find it easier to enter the racers times by bib number rather than a Run Order. Beer leagues especially, have little idea of who will show up on a given night, or what order (or even which course) they will race on. You can make copies of this sheet rather than 1st or 2nd Run Sheet, for your recorders to use on hill. All racers are sorted by bib, and the form allows you to enter the racer's times for both runs. If you plan to insert a run order, and use it on hill, then use one of the other score sheets.

- "Teams" You may enter times for both runs, and total them by hand on this form. This command is not available if there are no "Teams". This form is suitable for parents or other interested parties to keep hand scores on.

- Seed and Run order You may enter times for both runs on this form. Use this form if you run races without reversing the run order for the second run.

- Cross Country Score Sheet Sorted by start time, this form shows the start and finish columns. You may elect “This event only” or “All Events” to be sorted to a Cross Country score sheet.

-Total Time (for Alpine) or Finish Time – Start Time (for Cross Country)

After you have entered all the times, select this command to score the race. It will account for the DQ/DSQ/DNF's and DNS's and also, ties between racers. DSQ/DQ/DNF are usually set to the number of starting[1] racers +1. (If 50 people are registered to race, and 5 fail to make their starts, 45 racers actually take part. A DSQ/DQ/DNF would get a score of 46. If all 50 registered racers start the race (no DNS's) the DQ's will get a score of 51.) If you have elected to impose a time limit on runs, both the first run time, and the second run time are checked to see if they are over the time limit (in Cross Country, the TOTAL time is checked). If either run time is over the limit, the racer will be awarded a DSQ. Run times that are over the limit are made “bold” so you will know why the DQ was awarded. If a time cell is blank, that racer will be awarded a DNS..

The built in error checking of this command works as follows: It searches Alpine events for a first place finisher with one time less than 20% of the other time. In leagues where the first run time may be for GS and the second run time for SLALOM, this may present a problem. You may ignore the error message, and continue on. The plus side is that you cannot have a first place racer with 44.00 seconds in her first run, and 4.40 seconds in her second run because the program will assume a typo and inform you. This command will also search for other possible typos. If you find it necessary to change a racers time after having run the <Individual Scoring> command, you must re-run <Individual Scoring>..

For Cross Country Meets: See the separate section that deals with Cross Country scoring. Essentially, the program subtracts the "Start Time" from the "Finish Time" to determine a racers "Net Time". When determining whether or not to award a DSQ for a time that is over a time limit, only the "Net Time" in column 10 is looked at.

-Best Run (of 2) (This command is not available for Cross Country scoring, or if the event only consisted of a single run) The event will be scored by taking the faster time of two runs, or a qualifying time if one of the runs was a DQ/DNS/DNF. A maximum time limit may still be imposed.

Meets with Teams The <Team Scoring> command starts by prompting you if any teams have received a penalty for rule infractions. You may penalize up to 3 teams[2]. Then, the command will take all the racers, sort them back into their teams, add up the finish positions, (or total times) of the scoring racers, add in team penalties if applicable, then format the sheet for printout. It will also account for team ties, but will not break those ties. NOTE: If the top 4 racers from each team are supposed to count in the scoring, and one or more of them is a DSQ, the team will receive a score provided the team scoring option is set to "Finish Position". If the fourth best person on that team is a DNS, the team will receive "No Score" (unless you use the option which gives a DNS a score equal to a DSQ). If you have elected to score the meet using "total time", a team with a "DSQ" or "DNS" for the last scoring racer will receive "No Score".

Meets with Teams and Qualified Individuals If you have chosen to remove the Qualified Individuals for team scoring, this command will re-calculate the race results for individuals but ignore all racers on teams whose team name starts with the phrase "Indiv". After re-calculating the results without those racers the command will then use the new results to calculate the Team Results. It will prompt you for rule infraction penalty points for teams (see the preceding paragraph), and then go on and calculate the team scores. The teams containing the "Qualified Individuals" will not be visible on the "Team Results" sheet or print outs. The team competitors will have different "Finish Positions" on the TEAM score sheet, than they did on the INDIVIDUAL score sheet, because the QI's who finished ahead of them, will have been removed. Racers Total Times are unaffected when removing Qualified Individuals.

- Best 2nd Run Time Both commands sort the event (without doing any calculations) to provide a quick look at how the race is progressing. You may use these at any time while entering the race times to get a glimpse at how the racers are faring in the first run, or second run. After taking a peek, go back to the score sheet form that you were using to enter times. You may print an event in either of these views, and post them to provide folks with an idea of how they're doing (and to keep them from bugging you). In Cross Country meets, the commands are renamed to <Sort by Start Time> and <Sort By Finish Time>.

- Breakdown the event to Dual Meets Mostly for high school leagues...after you have gone through and finished scoring an event, and it is in the "Team Results" view, you can select this command to score each team in the event, one against the other. Each dual meet will have a First Place racer. The dual meets are scored by whatever race scoring options you used.

The sheet that the Dual Meet scores are transferred to will also have the Meet Name, Discipline and Sponsor imported to it. If you normally run meets like this, and then break them down into the component dual meets, you are really gonna like this one. Unfortunately, Valiant does not break ties between teams in the dual meets. You must break any ties yourself (different leagues have different rules concerning tie breaking). When breaking an event down, you can 1) Pick just those individual dual meet scores that you need, off the sheet, 2) Print the dual meet pairings of your choice, or 3) Save-to-file the Dual meet pairings of your choice. 4) Print and Save-to-file. See the section of the instructions that deals with the Dual Meet Breakdown.

- Mandatory Gender Scoring Some NASTAR team events are run with teams of mixed gender, and each team must have a minimum number of women count in the scoring. This command (along with a minor addition to the registration process), will score those types of meets for you. See the section that deals with scoring this type of meet.) To use this command, your race setup must have at least 6 persons per team.

- Combined Scores (Individuals) Some leagues give medals for the best combined finishes. This command adds a sheet to the file, imports either the Times or the Finish Positions for all racers. The command then totals the sheet, and sorts it by the total (ties are accounted for and noted). You must have scored all events before you run this command. If you are removing Qualified Individuals for team scoring, if you run this command with all score sheets in the <Individual Results> view, ALL racers will be included. If you run this command with all score sheets in the <Team Results> view, the QI's will NOT be included.

- Tournament Results (Teams) Creates and a worksheet that you may use to total scores for any meet involving teams, and to print your overall meet results. (See the section "Buttons on the Meet Totals form" for more on this command.) This command is not available unless there are teams involved. You do not need to have two events per gender to use the Tournament Results sheet. The Tournament Results will always import the team scores from all events by gender.

- Show Hand Time Worksheet Brings the Hand Time calculation sheet up on screen.

- Hide Hand Time Worksheet Hides the Hand Time calculation sheet (this command does not change any information you might have entered into the sheet).

- Copy the Hand Time Worksheet Will add a copy of the worksheet to the file. You can use the sheet provided with the program for all your hand time calculations (clear the sheet after each calculation) or you can make separate copies of the sheet for each racer whose time must be calculated from hand timers. You can rename each sheet as the copy is made. See the instructions for the hand time worksheet.

- Limit Team Finishers (handicap) Is a “Displacer” handicap. If you are running an event with large teams, and you want to limit the effect on smaller teams, but you want to run all the racers…first run <Individual Scoring> to include all racers for individual results. Next run this command. You will be prompted for the number of finishers that each team will be allowed. Each team will be limited to that number of racers as determined by their finish position. All racers on a team who finish above the limit will receive a DNS and the score for a DSQ/DNF will be recalculated. Example: Your meet has a team size of 12 persons. A couple of the teams only have 6 racers. You can run all racers and then handicap the large teams by limiting the number of racers in team scoring to 6 persons. If one of the 12 person teams was outstanding and finished in 1st through 12th place, when you limit their finishers to 6 persons, the 7th through 12th place members of that team will received a DNS and the 13th place racer (who was on another team) will be awarded 7th place and that will affect their team score. This handicap is useful when a school with an enrollment of 2500 students is racing against a school with an enrollment of 150 students. This command is not available if you are removing Qualified Individuals.

When using Cross Country Scoring, the following command gets added to the <Scoring> menu:

- % Out of First Place You must be in the <Individual Results> or <Team Results> view. The results of this calculation will be in column 12.

- Unhide Rows Valiant will sometimes hide rows from view so they don't print (rows with no "Competitors Name" entered. To unhide all rows that may be hidden from view, select this command.

- Unhide 30 rows past the last racer When you make a setup change which involves lowering the number of teams in a meet, and a team that you wanted to keep seems to have disappeared, select this command to check to see if it was inadvertently hidden from view. If it the missing team appears in the rows at the bottom of the score sheet, then you must once again increase the number of teams, delete the onse you don’t want, and then lower the number of teams. Don't type anything into the rows that get unhidden by this command. The program will ignore it.

- Hide Rows Select cells within all the rows that you wish to hide, and use this command. If you hold down the <CTRL> key, you can select non-adjacent rows and hide them all at once.

- Unhide All Columns Hiding columns is something the program does constantly to change the way you view the score sheets. Select this command to unhide columns 1 through 15.

- Hide Selected Columns Select the columns you wish to hide, and use this command. If you hold down the <CTRL> key, you can select non-adjacent columns and hide them all at once.

- Find or <F5> You may insert someones name, bib, or team name and it will search the active score sheet. If it finds a match, you will be taken there. <SHIFT+F5> will cause the search to go on to the next match. If you enter a name, you need only enter part of it, and Excel will search for the text string within every cell. (Example: If you search for "Smith", "Goldsmith", "Coopersmith", a team named "Smith's Racers" as well as "Smith" will turn up. Keep hitting <SHIFT+F5> to continue searching for the one you want.) Searching for numbers is specific for the number. Number searches are confined to the "Bib" column. Searching for bib "22" will only find bib "22".

- Sort by Name Sorts all racers by their name. If you entered them last name first, it will sort by last name, if you entered them first name first, it will sort by first name.

- Sort by Bib Sorts all racers by their bib numbers in Ascending or Descending order.

- Un-Lock the Score Sheet <F12> In order to eliminate inadvertent changes to data contained in a score book, you may only make changes to columns (1) through (5) in the "Registration" and "Scratch Sheet" views. If you find it necessary to make changes to event information when any other view is on-screen, you must first unlock the Score Sheet using this command. Everytime you change the on-screen view of an event, document protection is turned back on for that event. You may make changes to racer's times (columns 8 and 9) at any time. Locked cells cannot be edited. Locked cells are indicated by red fonts. Simply switching from one event to another does not lock an event you have unlocked. If a sheet is locked, you may not change a font to “bold” for NASTAR scoring (women are indicated by “Bold” fonts in the Competitors Name column).

- Full Screen <F6> This command helps small screened computers display more information at once, by eliminating the title bar, scroll bars, and row and column headings, along with the tabs at the bottom of the screen. You can navigate around the score sheet using the hot keys, function keys, arrow keys and mouse. Used with the Zoom function, you can shrink a sheet down, and get a lot of racers on screen.

- Zoom Is the regular zoom command from Excel. You may use it to change the amount of information that you can view on screen at once. It does not affect the printed output. If you zoom down too small, your computer will not be able to display the characters, and the "#" character will appear in cells. Don't worry, your data is still there, it just can't be displayed.

- Clear times from all events Use this command to clear all times when you intend to use the same score sheets over again on a different day. Be very careful about using this command, it will cost you all of your data. You would probably want to use the Save-As command first, before using this command. In Cross Country meets, you will be asked if you want to remove the Start Times as well as the Finish Times.

- Copy Data from another Race File This command is for those situations when you must use two computers to score events. There may be a laptop at the bottom of the GS hill, and another at the bottom of the Slalom hill. At the end of the runs, the data from the two race files must be combined into a single file so the tournament can be scored. This command replaces the necessity of copying and pasting from one workbook to another. The sheets are searched by bib number.

- Load the <League Totals> menu Adds the League Totals menu to the Valiant menu bar. The League Totals menu contains commands to create another Excel file within which you can keep track of your league from meet to meet. Additional commands allow you to export team data from your current race file to the League Totals file.

- Load the <Individual Totals> menu Adds the Individual Totals menu to the Valiant menu bar. The Individual Totals menu contains commands to create another Excel file within which you can keep track of your teams members from meet to meet. Additional commands allow you to export data for individuals from your current race file to the Individual Totals file.

- Close all files but the Score Book If you have Valiant installed as an Add-In application, then, on some machines, the XLStart directory contains files that Excel may open after Valiant opens your score book. These auto-opening files might be on top, and it will appear as if a ScoreBook wasn't opened for you. You may switch workbooks with the list in the <Window> menu, or you may use this “Close all files…” command to close (without saving) all other files, INCLUDING personal macro libraries (personal.xls).

- "Time Column" headers You may change the headers for columns 8 and 9. The Alpine default is “Time #1” and “Time #2”. You may change them to "Red" and "Blue", or "Blue and Red" to reflect which course the times refer to. For Cross Country races the default is “Start” and “Finish”. Header changes are saved with the race file so you don’t have to make the change everytime you open a file.

At first, the only command available in this menu is <Select Timer Model>. After you select your timer model this menu changes its name to the timer model selected. Ex. If you select model “PTB605/606” the Timer Commands menu becomes <PTB605/606>.

- Select timer model Selecting a timer model activates the rest of the commands in the menu. The other commands in the menu are customized to each specific timer model (which means you cannot select an Alge model and expect to communicate with your Tag Heuer timer).

- Off-Line download Available for the Tag CP520 and CP705 Downloads times from the timer’s memory. If you select one of the other timers, the command is Off-Line Transfer (from log sheets). Off-Line transfer is explained in the Timer Communication instructions.

- On-Line (continous) download Download times on the fly during the event. Available for all supported timers.

- Upload the running order The CP705 supports this in “Alpine Ski” mode or in “Cross-Country” mode. You can upload the running / start order of the bibs prior to an event. Cross Country upload can include “Groups” of racers and automatic starts as dictated by the clock on the timer. The CP705 and Valiant support automatic start times (at a specific hour and minute) and automatic start intervals as well as manual starts. If you are using one of the other timers the running orders are uploaded from the score sheets to the Valiant Control Console dialog boxes (one for Alpine and another for Cross Country) when you select the <On-Line download> command. The Valiant “Cross Country Control Console” supports group starts but not automatic starts.

- PTB605/606 setup (parameters) Send commands to the timer to change settings or start a new timer run. This command is only available for the PTB605 and 606.

- Close the Serial port End communications with the port the timer is connected to. This command is included as a safety measure in case you have trouble printing (or something) because the port is open for communication. Other than for some weird problem or IRQ[3] conflict, Valiant will close the port without any input from you.

- Unfreeze allows you to scroll all the cells up off the screen including row 1.

- Freeze at Row 1 only Allows you to scroll left and right, but the column headers are always visible.

Valiant Instructions Starts Microsoft word and opens “Valiant 2007 Instructions.doc” (this file).

Timer Instructions Starts Microsoft word and opens “Timer Communication 2007.doc”.

Please note that the above commands will not work unless Microsoft Word is installed on your computer and the two help files named are in the “Instructions” folder in your installation folder.

- Hot Key Help <F11> Brings up a window to remind you of what all the function keys do, as well as the filename of the current Score Book, and what event, and what form you are currently viewing.

- About Valiant Gives information about the program version, registered owner, and Tech Support.

NOTE: The <League Totals> and <Individual Totals> menus are loaded manually when you select the commands in the Utilities menu.

- Import Scores Imports scores from a Score Book file, to a Team Totals file, (or a worksheet within your Score Book.) The first time the command is run, the team names are imported and then the scores are imported from the event of your choice. The program selects which column to import scores to, by finding the first clear cell in row 1 of the sheet). The totals are calculated, and the sheet sorted automatically. The race date is also imported.

- Calculate the totals If you make changes to scores in the "Race" columns, use this command to re-compute the totals.

- Sort Teams Is for those situations where you find you need to make manual changes to the standings. It sorts the teams according to the totals column. You must make manual adjustments to the scores in a "Race" column (NOT the totals column) to correctly utilize this command (the totals column is re-calculated everytime this command is run.)

- Delete a Race If you make a mistake importing the information from the Score Book, this command will erase the information for the race you specify. It is not an "UnDo" command.

- Determine the Worst Scores per team Will search a Team Totals sheet, and determine the 1st worst, 2nd worst, and 3rd worst scores for each team. This information is entered into 3 columns at the far right side of the sheet.

- Delete some Worst Scores After having determined which scores for each team are their worst scores, you may have the program delete some of those scores, and then re-total the sheet. You will first be prompted about creating a copy of the worksheet that you want to delete scores from. You should make a copy because deleting scores is permanent, and you can do it on a copy without losing data on the original sheet. You will then be prompted about discarding the "1st Worst", "1st and 2nd worst" or "1st, 2nd and 3rd worst" scores. You will also be prompted about re-calculating and re-sorting the sheet.

- Import Scores Imports scores from a Score Book file, to an Individual Totals file, (or a worksheet within your Score Book.) The first time the command is run, the competitors names are imported and then the scores are imported from the event of your choice. The program selects which column to import scores to, by finding the first clear cell in row 1 of the sheet). The totals are calculated, and the sheet sorted automatically. The race date is also imported.

- Calculate the totals If you make changes to scores in the "Race" columns, use this command to re-compute the totals.

- Sort Individuals Is for those situations where you find you need to make manual changes to the standings. It sorts the teams according to the totals column. You must make manual adjustments to the scores in a "Race" column (NOT the totals column) to correctly utilize this command (the totals column is re-calculated everytime this command is run.)

- Delete a Race If you make a mistake importing the information from the Score Book, this command will erase the information for the race you specify. It is not an "UnDo" command.

- Determine the Worst Scores per Individual Will search an Individual Totals sheet, and determine the 1st worst, 2nd worst, and 3rd worst scores for each person. This information is entered into 3 columns at the far right side of the sheet.

- Delete some Worst Scores After having determined which scores for each person are their worst scores, you may have the program delete some of those scores, and then re-total the sheet. You will first be prompted about creating a copy of the worksheet that you want to delete scores from. You should make a copy because deleting scores is permanent, and you can do it on a copy without losing data on the original sheet. You will then be prompted about discarding the "1st Worst", "1st and 2nd worst" or "1st, 2nd and 3rd worst" scores. You will also be prompted about re-calculating and re-sorting the sheet.

Clicking on a cell, or a group of selected cells, with the right (or secondary) mouse button will bring up a menu that contains the following commands.

- Cut The regular cut command. The same as using the <CTRL+X> key combination.

- Clear Contents The same as using the <Delete> key. Can be used for a range of cells.

The rest of the short-cut menu commands are disabled because I don’t want you messing around with the cell formatting, page setup or other things that might affect how many persons appear on a printed page.

Right-clicking on a row or column normally brings up a Excel short-cut menu. Those menus contain formatting commands that would interfere with the way Valiant prints the score sheets. I have disabled these shortcut menus when Valiant is running.

When Valiant is running, the Standard Excel menu bar has the following commands added to the <File> menu:

If you have exited Valiant, but still have Excel running, the following command is available in the <File> menu:

- Start Valiant Ski Scoring brings up the “Welcome to Valiant Ski Scoring” dialog box.

The Function keys F1 through F12 are assigned as Hot Keys (F5 thru F12 are repeats of Menu Commands):

F11 Hot key reminder. Informs you of the score book name, the event (and in what form) you have on screen, and what all the hot keys are.

F12 Locks and Unlocks the score sheet. A locked score sheet has red fonts in some of the cells. The cells with red fonts indicate that those cells are locked (to prevent inadvertent typos).

[1]Michigan Regional and State meets are required to score DSQ/DNF and DNS as the number of registered racers +1.

[2] Depending on your Team Scoring option: Alpine penalties will be in “points” or “seconds”. Nordic penalties will be in “points or “minutes”.

[3] IRQ is computer gibberish for “Interupt Request”.

[4] The event names shown here for the F1 to F4 keys are for example only. The sheet names are whatever you have named each event.

The Valiant Menu Bar replaces the Excel worksheet menu bar

File Menu

Setup

Registration

Form View

Scoring

Utilities

Timer Commands

Window

Help

League Totals

Individual Totals