Database Files

FinishLynx DATA files are small text files used to share information between FinishLynx and meet management programs. There are four kinds of FinishLynx DATA files:

lynx.ppl	There are competitors at the meet (Obviously!). Their names are stored in a file named lynx.ppl. This is simply a list of participants at the meet with their name, their ID number, and (optionally) their club/school/team affiliation. The lynx.ppl file can be used in conjunction with the lynx.evt file when you only know who might be in the meet and you have no idea in which events they will participate. This is often typical of all-comers events.
lynx.evt	There are Events (races). The participants in the events have their information stored in a file named lynx.evt. This is a listing of all the races with the lane, ID numbers and (optionally) the names of the people in each event.
lynx.sch	There are several events arranged in a Schedule. The listing of the events can be stored in a file named lynx.sch. This is a list of the events in the order in which they are scheduled to take place. The operator only has to tell the software to go to the next event in the schedule to call up a start list for that race.
*.lif	There is a result to a Race (This is, after all, why we’re doing this!). The software will - when the operator has read the picture and told the software to save the results - generate a file for the event which will store the photo and the results. If the Write LIF option is selected in the Database tab of the Options… dialog, FinishLynx will generate a file that stores the results information in a form which is usable by database software: a file which has a name which looks something like this: Boys3000 (EEE-R-HH).lif. It is simply the event name with “.lif” appended.

Any standard text editor, such as Notepad, can be used to create or edit these files - as can most spreadsheets. All files are simply comma-delimited text; an extremely common format which can be created on a Windows PC.

If any of the fields contain a comma – if somebody is called Steve Jones, Jr. for example – the data for the relevant field should be placed in quotes. The last name field for the example given above would look like this “Jones, Jr.”.

Creating the Start List

Start lists, contained in a lynx.evt file, contains a list of all the events and numbers to identify them by and, optionally, the participants in these events.

Purpose:

In its most basic form, the file ‘lynx.evt’ contains events and who is in them.

Format:

_{Event number, round number, heat number, event name, <wind>, <wind unit>, template, capture time, capture duration, distance, <start time>, wind mode, laptime info}

_{<tab, space, or comma>ID, lane, last name, first name, affiliation, <time>, license, <delta time>, <ReacTime>, <splits>, time trial start time, user 1, user 2, user 3, <delta time 2>, <delta time 3>, <speed>, <pace>}

_{<tab, space, or comma>ID, lane, last name, first name, affiliation, <time>, license, <delta time>, <ReacTime>, <splits>, time trial start time, user 1, user 2, user 3, <delta time 2>, <delta time 3>, <speed>, <pace>}

_{<tab, space, or comma>ID, lane, last name, first name, affiliation, <time>, license, <delta time>, <ReacTime>, <splits>, time trial start time, user 1, user 2, user 3, <delta time 2>, <delta time 3>, <speed>, <pace>}

or
_{event number, round number, heat number, event name
event number, round number, heat number, event name
event number, round number, heat number, event name}

 

Below is a sample lynx.evt file that shows a variety of acceptable formats:

 

; + Any line starting with a semicolon is ignored.

; + In general, you can omit unnecessary or unknown information.

; + To indicate no lane assignment leave the lane field blank or use a zero.

; + To indicate no ID number you must put a zero in the ID field.

; + To indicate a competitor status, the first character of the participant line

; must be a backslash (\) so that FinishLynx knows that the line is a

; participant line with a status, rather than the first line of a new event.

; + If NO participants are listed after an event entry FinishLynx will

;  attempt to locate each participant's information in the .ppl file

;  when their ID number is entered.:

999,1,1,Men's 100 Meter

,23,1

\DNS,22,2,Jones,Bob

,67,3,Mouse,Michael,Florida State

,93,4

,26,5

,12,6

998,1,1,Men's 200 Meter

; Since this event line has no participants after it FinishLynx will look

; people up in the .ppl file when an ID is entered in the Results Zone.

997,1,1,Women's 10000 Meter

,15,0

48,0

,29,0

94,0

,38,0

Events need not be listed in any particular order. If the FinishLynx operator knows the event, round, and heat numbers of all the events, any competition could be processed by FinishLynx using just this one file.

Creating the People List (Optional)

Since it is tedious to have to type a participants name and other information over and over, you can create a file called lynx.ppl. Here, all the possible participants and their ID numbers are listed. This allows you to only type the ID # in the event file, and FinishLynx will automatically look to the .ppl file for the other information.

Purpose:
This file ‘lynx.ppl’ matches ID numbers with names and affiliations.

Format:
ID number, last name, first name, affiliation, license, user 1, user 2, user 3
ID number, last name, first name, affiliation, license, user 1, user 2, user 3
ID number, last name, first name, affiliation, license, user 1, user 2, user 3

Below is a sample lynx.ppl file:

; + Any line starting with a semicolon is ignored.

; + In general, you can omit unnecessary or unknown information.

23,Duck,Don,MIT

54,Bear,Smokey,Maine

94,Rabbit,Jackie

Creating the Schedule File (Optional)

The second optional file is called lynx.sch and contains the order of events.

Purpose:
This file ‘lynx.sch’ contains the schedule of events

Format:
event number, round number, heat number
event number, round number, heat number

An example is shown below:

; + Any line starting with a semicolon is ignored.

; + If you omit the heat number or the round and heat numbers they will

;   default to 1.

; Example:

;Men's 200

998,1,1

;Men's 100

999,1,1

;Women's 10000

997,1,1

DNS	Did not start
FS	False start
DNF	Did not finish
DQ	Disqualified
SC	Scratched
ADV	Advanced

See How to add custom status codes? for more information.

You can prefix the LIF file name and image export file name.

• To select a prefix for a LIF file:

1. Click File | Options...  The Options dialog appears.

2. Click the Database tab.

3. Check the Date (YYYY-MM-DD format) and/or the Text box and then type in the text field next to it.  If you choose both, the static text comes first. Each item (date, static text, and root file name) are separated by a space. If you try to enter characters in the static text that are not allowed in a file name, they are changed to spaces.

Event Header Field #12 - Wind Mode

• To set a default mode - use a simple (unquoted) mode string ('Manual', 'Custom', '100M', '200M', '100M Hurdles' or '110M Hurdles').
  • 41,1,1,Men 800 Meter Hurdles,,,,,,,,100M
• To set all Wind parameters - use a quoted field that contains "mode,start,duration".
  • 41,1,1,Men 800 Meter Hurdles,,,,,,,,"Custom,5.0,15.0"

Event Header Field #13 - LapTime Information

• To set the Total Laps - use a simple (unquoted) total laps value (-1 indicates to blank the field and count up).
  • 41,1,1,Men 800 Meter Hurdles,,,,,,,,,2
• To set all LapTime parameters - use a quoted field that contains "total laps,laps per split,too fast time,too slow time".
  • 41,1,1,Men 800 Meter Hurdles,,,,,,,,,"2,4,10.0,15.0"