I think I know what the issue is. In the data file the first horse in each race contains fields of race information that no other horse has in its record. Specifically I am referring to Fields 16 and 225 and there may be others. I suspect that the NCG programs and other programs that won't work with a modified data file rely on those fields for some kind of data processing.
For example, perhaps a handicapping program won't process a non-thoroughbred race. So maybe the program searches Field 16 for the word "thoroughbred" and when it doesn't find the word it doesn't load the race. Or maybe the program is parsing out the race information from those fields. Without the source code I don't know exactly what the NCG programs look for but I suspect it's something exclusive to the information in the record of the first horse in each race. Obviously if that information is missing because the horse was scratched and its record (data row) is no longer in the modified file the program won't work properly.
This also explains why Handifast HHX and Equisim work -- they are not reliant upon the information found in the first horse's record so they happily load the modified file that is missing the scratched horse(s) data.
Bottom line? I could probably do a workaround for the scratch program that won't delete the data for the first horse in each race but that kind of defeats the purpose of the program.
Last edited by headhawg; 03-10-2018 at 12:13 AM.
|