Earn $$ writing VB6 handicapping program.

[Vegas711]

I have a few books on visual basic 5 and 6.The books do not show what I am looking for. What i am willing to pay for is a simple handicapping program written in VB6.My goal is to only learn VB6 for handicapping programs, I am not seeking to earn a living writing code, just happy being a novice.

What I will do is send out an example of what I would like to have done. With the program I want ALL of the CODE so that I can learn how the program inports a race file, and assigns it to variables. etc. So I will need it to be documented.


All people who are interested in placing a bid , please respond.Looking forward to hearing from all programmers.

Thanks.
Mike.

[Speed Figure]

I have a few books on visual basic 5 and 6.The books do not show what I am looking for. What i am willing to pay for is a simple handicapping program written in VB6.My goal is to only learn VB6 for handicapping programs, I am not seeking to earn a living writing code, just happy being a novice.

What I will do is send out an example of what I would like to have done. With the program I want ALL of the CODE so that I can learn how the program inports a race file, and assigns it to variables. etc. So I will need it to be documented.


All people who are interested in placing a bid , please respond.Looking forward to hearing from all programmers.

Thanks.
Mike.

I 2nd that!

[highnote]

VB6 is my primary language. I have done custom programming for various people over the years. Since I am not currently betting, I have a little extra time to devote to programming.

I'd be interested in seeing what you are looking for and making a bid.

John

[vtbob]

Please send your specs to bob@pitlak.com and check out http://sports-bet-advantage.com

[OhioFan]

Hi Mike,

I've worked on various projects in the past using VB6 but my most recent experience is split between VB.NET and Java. Please send me your specs, I should be pretty interestd as I'm into both progeamming and handicapping.
My email is uctenor@yahoo.com

BTW, Microsoft has announced that support for VB6 will be ending, are there any particular reasons you want to use VB6 instead of .NET in the project?

Thanks,

Bryan

[NoDayJob]

All people who are interested in placing a bid , please respond.Looking forward to hearing from all programmers.

Thanks.
Mike.


Matt Thomas has been doing software for racing a long time. He has done projects for a few of my friends. He does program in VB too. You might want to check him out.

http://www.postimedaily.com/software/trs/customprog.php

NDJ [AKA Troll #1]

[eddie10]

check out this great bidding site. you have to approve of program before paying.I have no interest in site or programmers but I will recomend one programmer that i used. his name is mark and e-mail is maburkitt@bcs.org.uk you can request bids from him and others they are very reasonable the site is http://www.elance.com/

[Vegas711]

Thank you for all the responces.It is appreciated.

[cj]

I would say that whoever you get to do it should be as much about racing data as they do about programming...just my opinion.

[traynor]

Vegas711 wrote: <All people who are interested in placing a bid , please respond.Looking forward to hearing from all programmers.>

First, I assume you realize that the only thing you will get out of a program is number crunching. That is, if you don't have some specific algorithms of your own to use, the typical pace rating/earnings data app is not going to provide you with any more than you can get with a fairly cheap graphing calculator and a modest time investment (hand entering data rather than downloading).

Second, the advantages of downloading are often seriously outweighed by the disadvantages. For starters, you need an absolutely mechanical set of "rules" for selecting pacelines if you are going to automate the process. If not, every race is a standalone anomaly that cannot be used to create a "model." regardless of how many Sartin advocates believe otherwise. Specifically, you cannot pick pace lines using one criteria today and use another criteria tomorrow; the results are "not combinable in any meaningful way."

Third, if you do have a list of criteria for pace line selection, automating an app to crunch the numbers is fairly easy. If someone tries to convince you that you need a "select pace line criteria" option, with a laundry list of alternatives, you need to work on basic algorithms rather than automating the process. Pace line selection is not rocket science, and anyone with a database of a few thousand races can tell you exactly what criteria to use in which circumstance.

Lastly, if you have a workable method of selecting pace lines mechanically, then generating ratings which you interpet mechanically, you have the basis for a good application. If you do not, it is in the planning and design stage that you should put your effort, rather than in the programming stage.

None of this is intended to dissuade you in any way. It is to suggest that if you don't have an absolute killer app design already, you are better off to program a "utility" yourself, then change it, tweak it, and develop it on your own, rather than farming it out. If you have someone write a basic app to get you going, that is great; the bottom line is to realize that most of the value in programming is in the algorithms and design, not the coding.
Good Luck!

[Vegas711]

Traynor.


I have a set of ratings that I came up with. The thing that I am looking for is an example of a program that is written for a handicapping program. If I can see the program code ie how a program downloads a data file and assigns it to different variables then i will be able to program future programs for myself.


It is the learning how to program that I am seeking help for. Vb6 is a language that i realize that maybe obsolute some day, but since i am not planning on being a programmer that is ok. I picked vb6 becouse i already have spent a little time learning it.

All that I need to learn a language like vb6 is to see the code for another handicapping program, then all i will need to do is make a few changes to construct my ratings with this code.

[DJofSD]

program downloads a data file and assigns it to different variables

Do you really mean to write a program to fetch a data file from a server on the internet and to process the data? Or will you be manually downloading the file to your PC then reading the data?

DJofSD

[Vegas711]

My intent is to download a race file either from Postime or the single file from Bris.Have the program take out from this file the fractional times etc. do a few calculations then print out my pace ratings.

Everything would be auto, no manual entry of fractional times, beaten lenghts.etc .

I like to see on a printed sheet my pace ratings for all the pacelines for all the horses.

[traynor]

Vegas711 wrote: <I have a set of ratings that I came up with. The thing that I am looking for is an example of a program that is written for a handicapping program. If I can see the program code ie how a program downloads a data file and assigns it to different variables then i will be able to program future programs for myself.>

Sage advice--reading other people's code can often confuse as much as it illuminates. If you are dedicated to learning VB6, get on one of the dozens of great VB sites that have code snippets; essentially short routines that do a specific thing, like download files. Rather than trying to make sense of an entire program, just look at the specific chunks you are interested in at the moment.

If you search something like "Visual Basic file handling" or something similar, it will turn up a lot of "snippet sites." I think the most developed is called Code Heaven or Coder Heaven. Then start looking at code samples. You will get a lot further a lot faster than if you try to put the whole program together at one time.

You might also want to try to download the Visual Basic Express Edition (free from Microsoft, at least for the next week or two) which has features called "intellisense" and "code completion," along with extensive documentation, help files, example applications, and tons of other stuff, that make programming almost intuitive.
Good Luck

[Lou G]

I realize I'm weighing in way late on this topic, but Vegas - if you are intending to use this hypothetical program only for your own use and you do not have a great deal of time and money invested in VB books/software, I would urge you to use Python to do what you want to do. VB involves a steep learning curve, even for someone with many years of programming experience in other languages and also an outlay of cash for software. Python is free, well-documented and supported, fairly easy to learn and can't be beat for knocking out simple programs in a very short time while still providing the facility to do extremely sophisticated coding as your experience level increases.

[NoDayJob]

My intent is to download a race file either from Postime or the single file from Bris.Have the program take out from this file the fractional times etc. do a few calculations then print out my pace ratings.

Everything would be auto, no manual entry of fractional times, beaten lenghts.etc .

I like to see on a printed sheet my pace ratings for all the pacelines for all the horses.



You understand that Postime doesn't have a single comma delimited file as does Bris. This means you'll have in essence two separate programs. Postime breaks the EB single comma delimited file into their 5 separate files. The program can be written, but I would suggest talking to Matt Thomas before you spend any time or money. Matt probably has a VB shell that will handle both types of files. Then all you have to do is set up your specific algorithms and you're on your way. Best of luck.

NDJ [AKA Troll #1]

[thebeacondeacon]

My intent is to download a race file either from Postime or the single file from Bris.Have the program take out from this file the fractional times etc. do a few calculations then print out my pace ratings.

Everything would be auto, no manual entry of fractional times, beaten lenghts.etc .

I like to see on a printed sheet my pace ratings for all the pacelines for all the horses.

I use Business Basic professionally. It involves a lot less house-keeping than VB, the file structures are more robust and less tempermental than SQL, and the manufacturers of the various dialects have stable versions and are not forcing their customers into market driven upgrades, e.g. VB to .NET.

While GUI programming is possible with this language, CHUI is what I prefer.

I have been developing my own handicapping tools using Post Time Solutions data files and have a both a mature data extraction program and a report generator that should be readily adaptable to your needs.

If you would like to post the details of your desired calculations and output or e-mail me privately, I will be glad to give you an estimate of the time necessary to achieve what you want. There will also be a cost of around $200 for the underlying programming language for your computer.

[cosmicway]

VB net is the latest Microsoft product but I have n't got it yet and I 'm using VB6.
The books written abt vb6 are many but very badly written most of them.
Anyway, ask the vb forums which one to buy.
Those forums are very friendly and whatever problem you come across they give you solutions.

Regarding the making of a handicapping program, as I often said here it is likely to take, overall, more time to calibrate it than learn computer language and develop it !
You can have a core from me, but we have to agree on the price - usage.
It also depends on compatibility. In the final product it should be reasonably straightforward to insert the relevant parameters and go from there. So it has to be compatible with your data sources.

Ergonomic design is also of high importance.
If the program is not ergonomically designed and the users "lose themselves in the corridors" then it's no good.