TM Harness files

[Tom]

I don;'t know what they are thinkging, but the file is full of gobbledegook symbols - how do you do anything with this crap?
I wanted to do some work on harness tracks, but this stuff makes the file useless to me. Is anyone able to decipher this stuff???

[BillW]

It's all Greek to me :confused:

I think you got a trashed file, Tom. You probably need to call them and have them fix it.

[wilderness]

Are your referring to the Trackamster Plus files that are useable in their data software or any spreadsheet software?

TM offer example files here (left column)

http://www.trackmaster.com/harness/demos/hmpsamp.htm

I have a data file which explains the 250+ fields that was sent to me when Trackamster was relatively new. The file is obtainable today by contacting TM support.

Contact me with your email through the message center if you'd like the file.

[Tom]

That's the file - the *.exe PP files. It is the one Pandy uses fro his diamond program. When you expand it, you get a bunch of db files-this one is the runline file.

No Bill - ALL the files are like that.

[wilderness]

I looked at the datamap file I was referring to and there are 995 fields.

Perhaps the problem is with the Pandy software?
Try opening the file in Excel.

[Tom]

That's what it is open in.

[wilderness]

Tom,
Try changing the fonts in your Excel for effect.

[headhawg]

Tom,

Welcome to the world of dBaseIII files. What I think is happening is that Excel cannot handle the file structure. For instance, I don't think Excel can interpret the symbol 'o' for being parked or even the lengths (buggies) behind because in the file itself l.b. is done as a superscript included with the horse's position. They should be separate fields, but as far as I can tell from some output that I've looked at they looked combined.

I'm also wondering what these field names stand for:

25 CALL_1Q_BF Character 2
26 CALL_1Q_PO Numeric 2
27 CALL_1Q_PK Character 2
28 CALL_1Q_AF Character 2
29 CALL_1Q_LB Character 2

Obviously "Calls for the 1st Quarter" (and LB = lengths back and PO=Position?), but what do BF, PK, and AF stand for? Maybe the PK is the 'parked' symbol(s) and AF and BF are the fields for some kind of 'break" indicator??

This should all just be in a comma-delimited file but for some reason Trackmaster does their PP files in stupid dBaseIII format. I started working on some stuff months ago but I gave up as it was a bit too much work for this "code writing dabbler". If I come up with something easier -- like a converter to a .csv file -- I'll pass it along.

HH

[Tom]

I tried saving it as a text file, but that converts everyting into a "?"
(My sentiments exactly!)

Problem is that is the way it explosed from the exe file.
Maybe if I had dbase, I could import it and it would be readable?

Thanks all for the replies.

[wilderness]

I tried saving it as a text file, but that converts everyting into a "?"
(My sentiments exactly!)

Problem is that is the way it explosed from the exe file.
Maybe if I had dbase, I could import it and it would be readable?

Thanks all for the replies.

Tom,
This is a Windoze issue.
Four years ago, I made the transdition from Win 98 to XP.

During my archival process and later conversion to webpages from my saved RTF files.
Windoze converts hypnens, em dashes and other special characters to "?" when copy and pasting the text into a straight text software and/or html.
Even changing em-dashes to hyphens.

It's quite frustrating for webmasters who jump back and forth between the two venues.

There are some tools that are functional on a limited basis.
One I was using for a while is named "Pure Text".

[wilderness]

Tom,

Welcome to the world of dBaseIII files. What I think is happening is that Excel cannot handle the file structure. For instance, I don't think Excel can interpret the symbol 'o' for being parked or even the lengths (buggies) behind because in the file itself l.b. is done as a superscript included with the horse's position. They should be separate fields, but as far as I can tell from some output that I've looked at they looked combined.

I'm also wondering what these field names stand for:

25 CALL_1Q_BF Character 2
26 CALL_1Q_PO Numeric 2
27 CALL_1Q_PK Character 2
28 CALL_1Q_AF Character 2
29 CALL_1Q_LB Character 2

Obviously "Calls for the 1st Quarter" (and LB = lengths back and PO=Position?), but what do BF, PK, and AF stand for? Maybe the PK is the 'parked' symbol(s) and AF and BF are the fields for some kind of 'break" indicator??

This should all just be in a comma-delimited file but for some reason Trackmaster does their PP files in stupid dBaseIII format. I started working on some stuff months ago but I gave up as it was a bit too much work for this "code writing dabbler". If I come up with something easier -- like a converter to a .csv file -- I'll pass it along.

HH

POST_AF C 2 R Running Lines - Position and Trouble at Post call (trouble after)
CALL_1Q_BF C 2 R Running Lines - Position and Lengths back at 1Q call (trouble before)
CALL_1Q_PO N 2 0 R Running Lines - Position and Lengths back at 1Q call (position)
CALL_1Q_PK C 2 R Running Lines - Position and Lengths back at 1Q call (park symbols)
CALL_1Q_AF C 2 R Running Lines - Position and Lengths back at 1Q call (trouble after)
CALL_1Q_LB C 2 R Running Lines - Position and Lengths back at 1Q call (lengths back)

[wilderness]

I tried saving it as a text file, but that converts everyting into a "?"
(My sentiments exactly!)

Problem is that is the way it explosed from the exe file.
Maybe if I had dbase, I could import it and it would be readable?

Thanks all for the replies.

Tom,
Most any database software will import dbaseIII files.
dBaseIII imports does require naming of the fields, while dBaseIV imports automatically inculde the field names.

The are many Freeware database tools that work effectively and will import dBaseIII files.

[Tom]

When I import into Access, the symbols do not change.

[headhawg]

Thanks wilderness. I knew that I was on the right track, but the Trouble Before and After fields were causing some confusion.

Tom,

Check your PM.

[wilderness]

Tom,
If you open that file with NotePad (or any other text editor) , you'll see that files are not pure text. They are field delimited.
Rather, are designed for a specific software.

It's been seven years or more since I tinkered with these TM files.
TM is very customer oriented and I'm sure would advise you of how to utilize the files in non-TM software's.
You'll need to call them via land-line.

[harnesslover]

They are fractions of a length. You can simply do a 'find/replace'.

I believe ╛= .75 lengths, ╝ = .50 lengths, ╜ = .25 lengths

[Tom]

Excel will not let me copy the symbols to the Find box.
But you gave me an idea how to work around it. Maybe.....

[harnesslover]

Excel will not let me copy the symbols to the Find box.
But you gave me an idea how to work around it. Maybe.....

Thats odd, I have never had a problem. Just highlighted the symbol, opened find/replace and Ctrl V and no problems

Send me a PM and I can show you the end result

[Tom]

OK, Ctrl V works. I was trying to use right clicks.
Thanks....this will do it!