The main form has several buttons as pictured above. Click New Session.
Before doing so however, check that the Bridgemate server is connected
and turned on (green light for A/C power, orange light for batteries)
and that the Bridgemate Control Software program isn’t already running.
When starting a new session, the screen at right appears. You can press Enter or Tab to move between the items, or you can click to the item using the mouse.
The labels on the screen are self-explanatory. Remember when entering the number of tables to always round half-tables up i.e. 11½ tables should be entered 12.
The options in the movement dropdown will change based on the other movement parameters.
When you expect to curtail a session, chose the highest number of rounds that you may play. Sessions may be curtailed if you nominate too many rounds, but it is not a simple a matter to add rounds to a movement that has been set too short.
The basic masterpoints weighting will automatically change from 1.5 to 2.5 when you select red points. If the event has an additional weighing, e.g. a master or restriction factor, enter that weighting in the separate additional weight box. For example, for a novice red point event with a master factor of 0.8, the Basic Weighting is 2.5 and the Additional Weighting is 0.8.
The Extra Info button allows for a variation of the usual masterpointing places.
Howell and other one-winner movements, and Single Session Teams use Templates. Standard templates are provided by Altosoft and can be edited by users as necessary.
When done, click Apply.
Check the confirmation dialog to ensure that the movement
parameters are correct, and note the skip round number and bye stand position
if applicable.
You will then be presented with the Session Management form, which has 4 tabs: Setup, Bridgemate Results, Player Names and Print Reports and Web, as pictured.
If there is only one section, you can now click Launch. However, if there is another section, click New Section, and follow the same steps.
Important – you cannot create a second or subsequent section by clicking New Session on the main screen, as this will create a different Bridgemate database for the new section, and you can’t have two separate databases for the one session. Clicking New Section from the first section’s form ensures that the one database is used.
Continue doing this until all sections of the room have been set up. Then click Launch.
When Bridgemate Control Software finishes adding tables,
it will minimize automatically and return you to Compscore2. However,
it is important to watch this process to see that it adds tables, because
if there is a communication program, no tables will be added. Communication
problems may be able to be resolved by rebooting the PC.
Now you can distribute the Bridgemates to the appropriate tables, including the sit-out table if applicable, and players can turn them on. After a welcome screen, they will be asked for the numbers for the players sitting in each position around the table.
Players can enter either their Club Number or their ABF number. If they are uncertain, they can enter zero – this will result in an “unknown name” in Compscore2 , which can be changed later within Comnpscore2 itself.
Be careful to distribute the right Bridgemates to the right section if there are two or more sections.
If the Bridgemate asks for a Board Number when first turned on, enter an impossible number, e.g. 59 and press OK. (This may happen if, for example, the previous session was curtailed.) This will force a refresh. If anything else untoward happens when the Bridgemates are turned on, activate the TD Menu on the Bridgemate unit and choose the Reset option – Option 0.
Compscore2 and the Bridgemate Control Software programs should both remain open throughout the session. You should also leave each section’s Bridgemate Section form open through the session, though you are able to re-open a closed session form via Open Session on the main form.
If the BCS program is accidentally closed throughout a session, it ill stop retrieving data from the Bridgemate server. To re-open it, DO NOT press Launch from the Compscore2 Bridgemate Session screen, as this will erase any results that have been entered. Instead, click Advanced on the Bridgemate Session Management form's Setup tab, and click Re-Launch.
There are some useful reports you can run by clicking Print Movement Reports on the Setup tab.
There is also an Advanced button on the Setup form. This provides a couple of options:-
You to create One-Winner templates from a standard 2-winner movement, based on converting the current movement into a one-winner movement. See Templates at the end of this section.
By clicking Re-Launch You can reconnect to a Bridgemate session in the event of the BCS program closing accidentally during a session (e.g. an unexpected reboot or power failure). Note that if you simply click Launch again, it will overwrite data that has been accumulating in the Bridgemate server - connecting using this Advanced option simply reconnects but doesn't send out any movement data.
You can force a Movement Curtail - this will send a message to the Bridgemates that the session is being curtailed. This may save you having to deal with the Bridgemates showing a session still in progress when next used.
You can print a list of players in the session, sorted by total masterpoints, which is useful for determining the median player when computing a masterpoints Master Factor.
On the Support tab, you can upload the session's BWS database to the web site for retrieval by Altosoft. This may be useful for Support purposes.
If there is a late change to the movement (i.e. a late pair), edit the
movement under Setup and click
Apply. This will display a Movement
Update form as pictured.
If the movement has changed, (e.g. more tables, different movement, different half table situation etc, answer Yes.
You then need to tell Compscore2 whether or not the Bridgemates have been launched.
If the Bridgemates have already been launched (and perhaps play has started), select Yes, and nominate the round from which the Bridgemates are to be updated. If play hasn't started, you can choose Round 1, otherwise choose Round 2. (If this late change necessitates a change to the Round 1 pairs and/or tables, but scores have already been entered for Round 1 (for example, a late pair arrives and fills the sit-out table), you may need to record the results for this round at this table on paper and enter these in Compscore2 later. It may also be necessary to enter averages into the Bridgemates for Round 1 boards that now won’t be played in order to move onto the next round. Those results can be edited or deleted via Compscore2 later.
If the Bridgemates haven't been launched, select No from the dropdown. This will simply update the entire movement that will be sent to the Bridgemates.