To correct your database, follow these steps:

• 1) Create a backup of your database. (The backup you emailed me should be sufficient, unless you've entered much data since then).
• 2) Go to [File... Utilities... Tech Support... Command Prompt]
• 3) Type each of the following 2 lines, each line followed by pressing enter where I type [ENTER]:

  DELETE FROM MISC WHERE ITEM='PHONE:M'  [ENTER]
  EXIT  [ENTER]

• 4) That's all! Try producing rosters, and they should work fine.

(Don't worry if this explanation seems long-winded... I wanted to be as clear as possible so that it is easy to see what the final tournament would "look" like)

General Approach:

We will create multiple tiers of single-elimination brackets where the losers enter a subsequent bracket, so that a team must lose 4 games in a row before it is eliminated from the tournament. Each "Bracket" is composed of several "Rounds".

If a team wins, it will naturally progress to the next round in the same bracket, and will ultimately get to play as many games as possible.

If a team loses in a particular bracket, this is how it would advance

• First Bracket:
  • the losers from the first round enter round 1 of the second bracket
  • the losers from the second round enter round 1 of the third bracket
  • the losers from the third round enter round 1 of the fourth bracket
  • the losers from the fourth round have already played 4 games, and so are now out of the tournament.
• Second Bracket:
  • the losers from the first round enter the third bracket
  • the losers from the second round enter the fourth bracket
  • the losers from the third round have already played 4 games.
• Third Bracket:
  • the losers from the first round fourth bracket
  • the losers from the second round have already played 4 games.
• Fourth Bracket:
  • the losers from the first round have already played 4 games.

Here are the steps that you would take in Tournament Time to create this multi-level tournament:

• 1) Create the first bracket with all the teams in it, configure it as a "Single Elimination" tournament without pool play, with whatever "seeding" you prefer. Generate the tournament, and close the "Tournament Wizard" window.
• 2) Create the second bracket.
  • a) Do not enter any teams directly into this bracket;
  • b) Instead, on "Step 3 - Team List", click the "Advance Team from another tournament" button, select the tournament you created in step 1, above, when you are prompted to select a "master schedule".
  • c) Select the team from the list of "Placing Teams" that is described as "Round 1 - Loser Game 1" and click "OK" to add this team to the list of teams for this second bracket.
  • d) Repeat steps "b" and "c" for each of the "Round 1 - Loser Game xxx" teams until they all have been added to the second bracket.
  • e) Go through the rest of the Wizard Steps to generate and schedule the second bracket.
• 3) Create the third bracket.
  Follow the general steps for #2 above, but instead of selecting losers from the First bracket, Round 1, select these losers:
  • First Bracket, "Round 2" Losers
  • Second Bracket, "Round 1" Losers
  • Go through the rest of the Wizard Steps to generate the third bracket.
• 4) Create the fourth bracket
  Again, follow the general steps for #2 above, but this time, select these losers:
  • First Bracket, "Round 3" Losers
  • Second Bracket, "Round 2" Losers
  • Third Bracket, "Round 1" Losers
  • Go through the rest of the Wizard Steps to generate the third bracket.

And, finally, you are finished!

You now have a Master Schedule that is named after the "First Bracket", which consists of all the games from all four brackets. Because the subsequent bracket schedules were "Coordinated" with their Master schedule, Tournament Time will ensure that the games will not overlap each other, and will try to fill in the in-between gaps with games, where it won't violate the progression order of each individual bracket.

The losers will advance appropriately as each of the preceeding rounds is completed, so that a team has to lose 4 times before it is out of the tournament. (Note that this means that the losers from the first bracket, round 1, will advance after all the round 1 games in the first bracket have been completed, not as the individual games are completed) ]]> http://www.AllAmericanSportsWare.com/faq/tt.php#2958 Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:31:19 EST You might ask: "I like these new, prettier 'Enhanced Reports', but I can't edit them like I used to in "WinPrint", or export them to PDFs. Why did you take that away?"

Don't worry: We didn't take anything away. If you go to [File... Setup... Hardware] and "uncheck" the setting "Use Enhanced Reports", then you can still produce the older, WinPrint-based reports, and can edit them and export them to PDF.

So, you may wonder, why are "Enhanced Reports" better? We've been converting all our older reports to use a report system that can easily produce high-quality, very attractive reports. The development tools we have available for LAS v15, however, don't allow for editing the generated reports, or exporting them to PDF files.

We have planned, for a future release of LAS, to add the ability to export these reports to PDF, as well as to Microsoft Word, Excel, and several other formats. The Microsoft Word-exported report will then be able to be edited with much more power and control than is currently possible with the WinPrint-based reports.

Starting with LAS v15.00 build 24, you can now auto-fill the 2008 Little League Affidavit.

Please note: though Little League publishes the affidavit form as a PDF that you can manually type all your information into, then save, LAS cannot automatically fill out those official PDFs. The LL_Affidavit_BB.pdf and LL_Affidavit_SB.pdf files that ship with LAS have been modified to allow LAS to fill them out for you, however, a side effect of this adjustment is that you can no longer "save" the filled-out form, but you can print it out. This is not a problem because there are many fields on the form (such as signatures, and the pitch counts) that are easier to fill out with pen or pencil, anyway.

The official Little League Affidavits are available here:
http://www.littleleague.org/tournaments/

Just go to http://www.AllAmericanSportsWare.com/help and browse around!

Additional documentation for our other products will be coming soon.

Errors were encountered while evaluating plug-in files
Patch: Flexport Update verison is too low 12.17
Patch: AFTF Import Update verison is too low 12.17
Patch: Start New Season verison is too low 12.17
Patch: Reindex Autocomp verison is too low 12.17
This probably indicates that these plug-ins were not correctly installed

These errors occur because the older service pack is no longer necessary in the newer version of LAS because its functions have been integrated directly into the newer LAS. The warning message, therefore, is nothing to worry about.

The newer versions of LAS don't auto-uninstall the older service pack (which installed as several Plug-ins), but the plug-ins know they shouldn't run since the LAS version is newer.

You can stop LAS from showing this warning by removing the references to these plug-ins. Follow these steps:

1. Start LAS as the LAS Administrator
2. Go to [ File... Utilities... Plug-ins ]
3. Select each plug-in in the list, in turn, and click the "Uninstall" button at the top.
4. ( You may have to confirm any dialog boxes that appear asking "if you are sure" or "if you want to delete the plug-in file", etc. )

The next time you start LAS, the warning will be gone.

Instead, press the "Tab" key (on the left of your keyboard, above "Caps Lock") to move from field to field, and this error won't be encountered.

WORKAROUND: If you do accidentally open this window, you can click "Ignore" about 6 times, then click "Ok" about 6 times, and LAS will continue running without you having to exit, restart, and reindex it.

( This "Control Panel" is a new feature that is to be released in LAS v15, but which had been left "enabled" in later builds of LAS v14, even though it had not been fully tested. )

Often, after installing LAS and running as "Elevated Administrator" the first time, on subsequent runs, even as "non-elevated" administrator, the data folder is now read-only, and this error is shown:

  Product:   LAS  Ver:14.20.5  Build:200710151717
  Procedure: PROCEDURE LOADCOPYPROTECTION UPHARDWR.FXP
  Line:      343
  Error:     111
  Message:   Cannot update the cursor SYSTEM, since it is read-only.
  OS()       =Windows 6.00

Therefore, to enable the standard users of the computer to access the data files that were installed by the "Elevated Administrator", you have to deliberately assign Everyone the right to do so.

You can follow the instructions on this page to try a quick way of fixing these permissions. However, this way doesn't always work.

If the above method doesn't work for you, you can manually assign these rights enabling all users of the computer to use LAS, by following these steps:
(During these steps, you may be prompted for the administrator password, or simply to confirm the actions. Please do so when Windows asks!)

1. Open a Windows Explorer window showing the LAS data folder. You can do this in many ways.. here are two alternatives:
   1. 1. Press [ Windows Key + E ] --- a "Windows Explorer" window will appear
      2. Click in the address bar at the top, and type: C:\ProgramData then press "Enter"
      3. Find the "LAS Data" folder in the list of folders in the Explorer window
   2. 1. Click the "Start" button
      2. Type: "explore las v14 data folder" ... Vista should locate the proper Start Menu icon for you.
      3. Press "Enter" to launch that Explorer window
      4. ( A "Windows Explorer" window should appear )
      5. Click on the "ProgramData" hover-button in the Location Bar. (When you hover on it, it should appear like a button)
      6. ( You should now be in the C:\ProgramData folder )
   3. Locate the "LAS Data" folder icon, and click it with your Right mouse button. A "Shortcut Menu" should appear.
   4. Select "Properties" --- an "LAS Data Properties" window should appear
   5. Find the tab called "Security" and click it
   6. Click the "Edit" button (around the middle of the window) --- a "Permissions for LAS Data" window should appear
   7. Click the "Add" button (around the middle of the window) --- a "Select Users or Groups" window should appear
   8. Type "Everyone" then press Enter (or click "OK") -- the window should close, and "Everyone" should show in the "Group or user names" list in the top half of the "Permissions for LAS Data" window
   9. In the bottom half of the "Permissions for LAS Data" window, there's a list called "Permissions for Everyone"... in that list, click the check box next to "Full control" and under "Allow" --- all the other checkboxes under "Allow" should automatically become "checked"
   10. Click "OK" to close the "Permissions for LAS Data" window
   11. Click "OK" to close the "LAS Data Properties" window
   LAS should now work correctly for all local users.
   ]]> http://www.AllAmericanSportsWare.com/faq/las.php#vista_read_only Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:37:10 EST This problem usually happens when your data files are not properly indexed. The best solution is to reindex your data files, which you can do by following the instructions here: How To Reindex

   The most common cause for this index problem is that the data files were somehow copied from a backup location into the active data folder. The indexes are deliberately removed from the backup copies to reduce the size of the backup, so when the data files are replaced in this way, they have not indexes associated with them. A standard "Reindex" should correct the problem, recreating all the required indexes. (Note: v15+ should detect this situation before it causes an error and automatically reindex your data.)

   This problem can be caused by other issues, however. So if reindex doesn't solve your problem, you may check our downloads area to see if there is an updated version of LAS that might solve the problem you're encountering.

   If you still experience the problem and you are running the latest build of LAS, then you'll want to contact Technical Support.

   ]]> http://www.AllAmericanSportsWare.com/faq/las.php#no_index_order Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:36:35 EST This is entirely a matter of opinion, since there are several different ways that you can go about assigning players to teams, each of which has benefits, depending on your point of view.

   The most obvious way is to simply type the division and team name into the player registration window. When assigning many players to teams, this can be very slow, since you first have to find the player record, then have to enter the right division and team. On the other hand, if you can make these assignments as you're entering new players, it can be very convenient.

   Note: If you misspell the division or team name, LAS will prompt you with a list of divisions or teams. Also, if you begin a partial division name or team name then "tab" out of the field, LAS will automatically complete the name for you. As you start typing the division or team name, a list of other names that start with the same letters will automatically appear...if you don't want the first one, you can press the Down arrow, or use the mouse, to pick any others from the list.

   Another way to assign players to teams is using [ Personnel.. Team Assignment ]. This gives you a list of players (optionally filtered in many different ways), allowing you to go through the list and pick a division and team for each.

   One more visual way to assign players to teams is using the League Explorer window. Any time you see a player listed in the right side of this window, you can drag that player and drop them onto a division or team in the tree on the left side of the window to assign that player to that division or team.

   Note: In the League Explorer list on the right, you can select more than one player at a time, then drag them all onto a division or team on the left. This follows standard "Windows" conventions:

   1. Click on one of them, and it should become selected.
   2. Hold the Ctrl key and click another, and it, too will become selected.
   3. Hold the Shift key and click another, and every player between the first one you clicked and this one will all become selected.
   4. Click-and-drag any of the selected players, and the whole bunch will be dragging. You can then drop the whole bunch onto a division or team to change all the assignments at once.
   ]]> http://www.AllAmericanSportsWare.com/faq/las.php#2873 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:35:52 EST Yes, Starting with LAS v15, you can!

   This capability is kind of "hidden", but only because it is the standard Windows way of doing things.

   If you click on the Season node in the tree, all the registered players should show in the right. Now, follow these steps to select more than one player:

   1. Click on one of them, and it should become selected.
   2. Hold the Ctrl key and click another, and it, too will become selected.
   3. Hold the Shift key and click another, and every player between the first one you clicked and this one will all become selected.
   4. Click-and-drag any of the selected players, and the whole bunch will be dragging. You can then drop the whole bunch onto a division or team to change all the assignments at once.
   ]]> http://www.AllAmericanSportsWare.com/faq/las.php#2872 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:18:02 EST WORKAROUND: Either select a different set of players (try "Unregistered") or don't specify any filter conditions.
   Other player labels don't have this problem. ]]> http://www.AllAmericanSportsWare.com/faq/las.php#2726 Mon, 03 Dec 2007 12:58:48 EST Our programs use databases intensively to store your data, create and manage schedules, and more. Basically, any information you store in our programs gets placed in a database.

   To be able to quickly access this information, our programs create "indexes" into the databases. As the data is updated, these indexes are updated to point to the new data, or the new location of the data.

   However, sometimes the indexes don't get properly updated. This is most often caused by an "improper termination" of our applications. That is, the program is forced to close without an opportunity to update the index files to match the updated data. This may be caused by many things, for example:

   • Windows "crashed" and force the computer to reboot
   • Windows was told to Shutdown or Restart (by the user, or by a new program "installer"), but our program (LAS, TT, etc), was in a state that couldn't be exited without user-confirmation. Windows gives it some time to close, then just forces it to terminate.
   • The user forced our program to terminate using the Task Manager via CTRL-ALT-DEL, CTRL-ALT-ESC or some other Process Explorer.
   • The power to the computer was lost, causing the computer to just switch off.
   • Some components (newer or older) that are incompatible with our programs can cause our programs to generate a 0x000000C5 error and terminate improperly.

   How do I ``re-create the index``? -- Each of our programs that relies on persistent indexes (LAS, TT & SP; GameTime creates new indexes whenever it needs them) has an ability to force new indexes to be created. In each program it's different, yet similar:

   • League Administration Software -- Go to the LAS Main menu, and select [ File... Utilities... Index Data ]. After a confirmation, LAS will rebuild your indexes.
   • Tournament Time -- Go to the TT Main menu, and select [ Tools... Reindex ]. TT will immediately rebuild your indexes.
   • Stats Pack -- Go to the Main menu, and select [ File... Reindex ]. After a confirmation, SP will rebuild your indexes.
   • Message Center -- Go to the Main menu, and select [ File... Reindex ]. After a confirmation, MsgCtr will rebuild your indexes.

   ]]> http://www.AllAmericanSportsWare.com/faq/index.php#how_to_reindex Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:37:42 EST If you have updated our print preview program, WinPrint, by downloading it from our website, that may result in Windows XP or Windows Vista showing a message box like this each time you try to view a report:

   Basically, this is because, when Internet Explorer downloads a file from the internet, it saves in a related file a record of what "security zone" the file was downloaded from. Then, when the user tries to run it, if that security zone setting is such that a warning should be shown when an unsigned exe is run, it shows the warning.

   There are several conditions that may cause the message to not be shown:

   1. If it wasn't downloaded using the "Attachment Manager", this info isn't associated with the file, and the warning won't be shown. (IE uses the "attachment manager"... it's likely that Outlook and Outlook Express probably use it too, so sending attachments might have the same issue.)
   2. If the internet security zone isn't set to prompt, then no prompt will be given. (unfortunately, changing this affects ALL unsave/unsigned .EXE files, not just WinPrint)
      The setting is at [ Internet Explorer -> Alt+T (Tools menu) -> Internet Options -> "Security" page -> Miscellaneous \ "Launching applications and unsafe files" ]
      There are three choices "Disable", "Enable (not secure)", and "Prompt (recommended)"
   3. If the hard drive is NOT NTFS, then the info cannot be saved with the file, so it isn't.

   This security warning also may appear when WinPrint.exe is being accessed across a local network, in which case the local network is assigned a "Security Zone" which may or may not be the same security level as the internet. Typically, the local network should be more trusted / less restricted, and should not cause this warning to be displayed.

   Here are some references that may be useful in dealing with this issue:

   • How to work around it: http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winvista/1151260847
   • What the root cause is: http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winvista/1162134132
   • Microsoft's description of the cause of this behavior: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/883260
   ]]> http://www.AllAmericanSportsWare.com/faq/index.php#2840