Copyright: ®1994 Ronald G. Precup. All rights reserved.


OPOOL for Windows

Opicks Help File

Table of Contents

Overview

Entering Picks

Saving Picks

Reviewing Picks

Printing Picks

Turning in Your Picks

Security Considerations

Tips 'n' Tricks

Disclaimer


Overview

OPOOL Picks (OPICKS.EXE, version 2.5) is a companion program to OPOOL™ for Windows and has no utility without it. Use it to make your picks as a Pool Player to help insure easy, accurate entry of your picks into OPOOL for Windows.

If you make your picks using OPICKS, the OPOOL operator can read them from the resulting file automatically, avoiding the effort and transcription errors caused by manual reentry.

To use, click on the program's New button and enter the NFL Week for which you want to enter picks. A dialog showing the games for the week appears.  Fill in the dialog (see Entering Picks for details).

You can then review your picks to make sure they're right (and change them if they are not), print your own copy, and save them to a disk file readable by the OPOOL for Windows program.


ENTERING PICKS

The main OPICKS window has a menu and five large pushbuttons marked New, Open, Save, Review, and Exit. The Save and Review buttons are disabled until you have entered your picks, and are then activated.

Click on the New button or select File | New from the menu. A dialog box appears in which to type the NFL week number. Click OK, and a dialog box with a list of the week's games is displayed.

Enter your Pool Name and tiebreaker in the designated boxes.

Note: If you have already saved your picks for the designated week in a disk file, and that file is present in the directory from which you run OPICKS, the information in that file will be loaded and displayed automatically. You can edit it if and as you want.

The schedule for the week is shown as two columns of abbreviated team names, the first (left) labeled Vis for visiting teams and the other labeled Home. Simply click the radio buttons (circles) to the left of the teams you choose. Your choices will be preceded by filled circles.

When finished, click the Cancel button to discard your picks, or the OK button to record them. Caution: Clicking OK does not save the picks to a file. You must do that as a separate step. See Saving Picks.

If you click OK but have not entered your pool name, the program will not take your picks. Instead, it will inform you that you must enter your pool name if you want your picks recorded.

If you click OK but have not entered a tiebreaker, or have forgotten to make a pick in one or more games, you will be reminded of the omission and given the chance to go back and correct it. You can, however, choose to proceed

If you click the Main Window Exit button (or select File | Exit from the menu) before you save your picks, you will be asked whether you want to save them. If you click Yes, you will be returned to the Main Window, where you should click Save. If you click No, the program will terminate without having saved your picks.


SAVING PICKS

Once you have entered your picks for a week (see Entering Picks), you must click the Save button at  the Main Window in order to save them in a form readable by the OPOOL for Windows program.

The relevant information for later import by the OPOOL for Windows program is saved in a file under an 8-character file name with the file extension OPD created automatically by OPICKS as follows:

Characters 1-5: Pool name. If your pool name is shorter than five characters, the balance is filled out with underscore characters.

Character 6: the letter W.

Characters 7-8: the week for which picks are being saved, with single-digit weeks preceded by a zero.

For example, John's picks for week seven would be saved in the file named JOHN_W07.OPD.

It is this file you must provide to the OPOOL operator. See Turning in Your Picks.


REVIEWING PICKS

Once you have entered your picks, you can review them by clicking the Review button on the Main Window. This button is disabled until you make your picks.

Clicking Review displays a window showing the week's schedule with the picks you have made in capital letters, plus your tiebreaker.

The review window has three pushbuttons. Click Print to print a copy of your picks (see Printing Picks). Click Revise to call up the entry screen for making any changes you want. Click OK to leave your picks unchanged.


PRINTING PICKS

Once you have made your picks, you can print a copy on your default Windows printer (OPICKS does not let you select or change printers -- you must do that through the Windows Print Manager).

To print your picks, choose File | Print from the main menu. This selection will be disabled if you have not made you picks.

You can also choose to print your picks by clicking the Print button in the Review window (see Reviewing Picks).


TURNING IN YOUR PICKS

IF YOU ARE NOT CONNECTED TO A NETWORK: Give a disk containing your picks for the week to the person running your pool. If your pool is run by an person operating an electronic bulletin board, you can upload the file to the board.

For the method used in naming this file, see Saving Picks.

IF YOU ARE CONNECTED TO A NETWORK: You can (1) copy your file to a shared network directory designated by the pool operator for this purpose; or (2) share a directory on your local hard disk from which the pool operator can copy your picks; or (3) if you have electronic mail capable of attaching binary files, such as Microsoft Mail used with Windows for Workgroups, you can attach your picks file to an e-mail message to the person running your pool.

In all cases, try to ensure your picks are received by the pool operator before the deadline. The pool operator will not be responsible for your failure to alert him or her that your picks for the week are available on time for import.


SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS

Obviously, you would not want someone submitting picks for you without authorization. Know your pool operator, and if necessary work out a system for authenticating your OPICKS picks.

Hand delivery of a disk is safest.

If you use a network, a safer course is to share a directory on your computer for which the pool operator has read-only, password-protected network privileges and can copy your picks. The drawback here is that it is difficult to ensure that the operator will download your picks before they are due.

Alternatively, on a network, the pool operator can create a password-protected directory into which you upload your picks. If you attach your picks file to an e-mail message (see Turning in Your Picks), you can password protect the message. This is the most secure network method.


TIPS 'N' TRICKS

The 1995 NFL Schedule as announced in the spring of 1995 (plus changing the Raiders from L.A. to Oakland during the summer) is hard-coded in to OPICKS.EXE. Any changes occurring later will not be reflected in the displayed schedule.

Typical of the kinds of changes that occur later are home-and-away switches caused by, for example, post-season baseball games or natural disasters. In these cases, it is important to coordinate carefully with the OPOOL operator.

OPOOL for Windows, unlike OPICKS, has a user-changeable NFL schedule, so the schedule distributed on the weekly pick sheets is likely to be more accurate than that of OPICKS in case of differences. Before turning in your OPICKS file, make sure the schedule is the same as that distributed by the OPOOL operator.

If you are a computer guru, make your picks file read-only to inhibit someone else from submitting fake picks for you.


Disclaimer

This program is distributed under license held by the registered user of OPOOL for Windows. It is copyrighted and all rights are reserved to the author as set forth in the program's copyright notice in the About Box. The program is not intended for use apart from an office-type football pool using OPOOL for Windows.

No warranties of any kind are expressed or implied, including without limitation any WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY or WARRANTY OF FITNESS OR SUITABILITY FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. The author is not responsible for any damages of whatever nature incurred through the use of this program, direct, indirect, general, or consequential. Use of the program is entirely at the user's own risk.

This program is designed for entertainment purposes only. Any use of this program in violation of any federal, state, or local law, including without limitation laws regulating or prohibiting gambling, is in violation of and automatically voids the license.


Pool Name

The unique name (five characters max) you have in the OPOOL program. It is the name that appears on the Pool's Pick Sheets, Tally Sheets, and  in OPOOL standings.


Tiebreaker

A number that is your prediction of the total number of points to be scored by both teams in the Monday Night Game of a given week. If two or more Pool Players tie with the most correct picks for the week, the tiebreaker is used to pick the winner (closest tiebreaker to actual point total, over or under).


Team Names

These are the abbreviations used by OPICKS (and OPOOL) for the 30 National Football League Teams:

ATL	- Atlanta Falcons

AZ	- Arizona (Phoenix) Cardinals

BUF	- Buffalo Bills

CAR   - Carolina Panthers

CHI	- Chicago Bears

CIN	- Cincinnati Bengals

CLE	- Cleveland Indians

DAL	- Dallas Cowboys

DEN	- Denver Broncos

DET	- Detroit Lions

GB	- Green Bay Packers

HOU	- Houston Oilers

IND	- Indianapolis Colts

JAX    - Jacksonville Jaguars

KC	- Kansas City Chiefs

MIA	- Miami Dolphins

MIN	- Minnesota Vikings

NE	- New England Patriots

NO	- New Orleans Saints

NYG	- New York Giants

NYJ	- New York Jets

OAK   - Oakland Raiders

PHI	- Philadelphia Eagles

PIT	- Pittsburgh Steelers

SD	- San Diego Chargers

SEA	- Seattle Seahawks

SF	- San Francisco Forty-Niners

STL    - St. Louis Rams

TAB	- Tampa Bay Buccaneers

WAS	- Washington Redskins


Browse Sequence

Overview - Main_Sequence:005

Entering Picks - Main_Sequence:010

Saving Picks - Main_Sequence:015

Reviewing Picks - Main_Sequence:020

Printing Picks - Main_Sequence:025

Turn In - Main_Sequence:030

Security Considerations - Main_Sequence:035

Tips - Main_Sequence:040

Disclaimer - Main_Sequence:045

Team Names - Main_Sequence:050