Harness Handicapping Software

[wsmith8]

Hi,
I am not a programmer but I have been handicapping harness races for forty
years. I would like to write my own harness handicapping program using
TrackMaster Plus platinum .exe dbf files.

I need to know the best software program to use, what programming language/
language’s I need to learn where, when and how to start.

I have plenty of time because I am retired.

Thanks for your opinions. :bang:

wsmith8

[headhawg]

Have you done any kind of programming before?

[wsmith8]

No, I have not done any kind of programing. I am very computer oriented and
have had a programmer write a personal harness handicapping program for me over a year ago. I would like to write my own but the learning curve may be a little much.

I may have to use a programmer's services again, BUT that is very expensive.

wsmith8

[headhawg]

It's expensive because programming takes a LOT of time. Now I'm not a gifted programmer by any stretch but I have around 130 hours of my time invested in a free program called Handifast. Handi has at least five times that amount. At only $10/hour...well...you can do the math. Good programmers will get $30 - $50 and hour so the cost can add up.

As far as doing it yourself I would suggest maybe that you try to write some formulas in Excel to see if you can get the math to work out. That way you don't need to worry about importing data and programming the user interface.

Then I would look at trial versions of programming software. Decide what your program needs to do and then try to match that with the features of the programming language. For example, if you need database capability you need to choose a language that has built-in capabilities for that. If you don't want to have too much of a hassle with the GUI then find a language with built-in GUI creation commands.

You can probably find a site online that will help you with basic programming logic. W3Schools.com, for instance, has a lot of tutorials for scripting languages like JavaScript or Ajax, and even HTML.

There are more experienced programmers here so maybe they will give their opinions also. Good luck in your endeavor. It's a frustrating path but very rewarding when the project finally comes together.

HH

[wsmith8]

I did not mention that I wrote and maintained twelve of my own websites for ten years. I have since removed them because harness handicapping is my main interest.

The programmer that wrote my personal harness-handicapping program used:

“The source code is in C# and built with .NET 2005 (but 2008 or 2003 should also work just fine). Any programmer would need to know C# and SQL to make additions or modifications to this project.”

I now would like to write a different type of harness handicapping program which
would go into much more depth that has been very successful for me.

I use Quattro Pro not Excel and am familiar with various formulas.

wsmith8