FAQ for FS
Feel free to add more Q&A to this FAQ
Index
General questions
What does FS mean?
That is a secret.
Why make another scoring system when there are many alternatives available?
RACE was initially made available for free for CIVL members use, but as GPS scoring became the normal method of scoring competitions the development of RACE stalled. Limitations in the code and structure of RACE meant it was better to start from scratch to solve the challenges for scorers, and also be able to handle future changes to the scoring formats and formulas.
There are and have been several variants of GPS scoring programs available, some commercial, some for free. They have all been useful but most have been discontinued as the market is very small, or the use of the solution require high technical knowledge.
The goal of FS is to be free and open source, very efficient, easy to use, and well documented. We do need help, especially with the documentation. Any feedback is good! Please use the forum for general stuff, and tickets for bugs or feature requests.
What are the country codes used in FS
FAI use IOC codes (more or less). This is list of "FAI" countries, which should always be up to date: http://old.fai.org/index.php?option=com_fai&controller=ranking&task=getCIVLRankingCountries&format=raw
The lines are organised as follows, with 5 fields separated by ';'
- field 1: the country ID number in the FAI database
- field 2: country name as it should be used
- field 3: three-letter abbreviation
- field 4: type of FAI member category (if value is '1' => active member; if value is '19' => associate member; if value is '3' => temporary member ; representatives from temporary members are 'FAI competitors' which should appear in the individual rankings but not the country rankings; no problem to put their country name alongside 'FAI competitor' in the individual rankings)
- field 5: if value = '1' then it is a suspended country.
When FS is started the first time with no internet connection will use ISO codes. Starting FS with the PC online will cause the list to be updated with the latest codes from http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/extranet/rankings_countries.asp (which are IOC codes). This is stored in user.config which is found under "C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Application Data\Erdal_IT\FsComp.exe_Url_<something...>\1.2.13.1" (no point in attempting to change the Nations entry in this file as it will be updated any time you start FS and are online.
The World Ranking (WPRS) will accepts results with either codes.
For a diff between ISO and IOC codes - Wikipedia comes to the rescue; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_IOC,_FIFA,_and_ISO_3166_country_codes
Technical
What are the requirements to run FS
You need a very basic setup - any computer that can run Windows and .NET 2.0. A serial port/USB port for GPS tracklog download is very useful, but the traclogs does not need to be downloaded on the same computer that FS is installed on. FS itself require little memory and disk space, but you might want a USB stick or extra drive to back up tracklogs and such.
Scoring
FS Does not calculate distance correctly!!!
Yes it does, it's just different from the old incorrect ways. See the TaskDistance page for more info.
What scoring formulas are available
As of version 1.2.8 you can choose between GAP and PWC formulas. The GAP formula can be set up as GAP 2000, GAP 2002, OzGAP 2005, and GAP 2007. See the ScoringFormulas Wiki page.
Why does FS allow changing GAP parameters during a competition?
Even though FS will allow you to do this, does not mean you should. FS will allow this to give the scorer and organizer maximum flexibility. There might be situations where this is needed. For example to make it possible to change the minimum distance if the competition is moved to another site where the original min distance might be dangerous or unfeasible.
