Darts Trainer Manual

Darts Trainer

The Manual

Table of Contents 1. Downloading Darts Trainer  Firewall settings  Launching Darts Trainer 2. Main Menu  Games  Resizing Forms  Keyboard access for controls  Colour Schemes menu  Records 3. 501 Practice  Colour Schemes 501  Set-up  Practice game play 4. Scoring Session  Scoring game play 5. Invisible Man  Invisible Man settings  Invisible Man game play 6. Doubles & Trebles  Doubles and Trebles game play 7. Finishes  Finishes game play 8. Team Taylor Challenge  TTC game play  Skill Tests

1. Downloading Darts Trainer Go to www.small-punters-club.com and click on Darts Trainer on the main menu.

When using Darts Trainer for the first time there are 4 components required for the software to work, all part of the .NET Framework. These are available for free download on the MSDN website (Microsoft Download website), but to make it easier they can all be downloaded simultaneously by clicking on the “Download” link.

Firewall settings If you have Norton installed on your PC you may need to adjust the settings so that Norton allows the set-up file to download the software. Open Norton, click on settings, and then click on Firewall. You should then see a screen similar to the one below.

Because the Darts Trainer software is new and Norton is not familiar with it yet, Norton can stop your PC from downloading it, fearing it could be a threat. When more Norton users download the software, Norton will become more familiar with Darts Trainer and allow it to download normally. In the mean time you simply need to turn off “Download Intelligence” by clicking it and then clicking “Apply”.

When you click apply it will give you an option of how long you want to turn off the “Download Intelligence” setting, the “30 mins” option will be fine, Norton will automatically turn back on the Download Intelligence itself after 30 mins.

The Norton settings will be changed to ‘off’ as per below. If you have other firewall software which prevents the Download link from executing correctly you can perform similar actions to enable the download.

Setting is now turned to off

Now you can continue with the download, click on the download link

Click ‘run’ on the pop-up that is displayed, and you will then see the below screen

Click ‘Accept’, and downloads will begin. This will install the necessary components for the software to work correctly, it can take a few minutes so please be patient.

Once the components are installed, you will no longer require any further installations. Simply click on the Launch link on the website whenever you would like to use the software.

Launch link You will need to be a subscriber, and logged in to have access to this link. It will not be visible to Guests or Registered users, only Subscribers.

2. Main Menu Games There are 6 games to choose from the Main Menu which opens on start up – 501 Practice, Scoring Session, Invisible Man, Doubles and Trebles, Finishes, and Team Taylor Challenge. Clicking on any of the buttons will open the relevant screen for that game.

There is a menu at the top of the main screen with 3 options – Resize, Colour Scheme, Records.

Resizing Forms To resize the forms to fit your whole screen, you can click on the ‘Resize’ on the menu at the top of the screen, or you can press Ctrl + f, or you can press Alt + R then enter. To return the screen to normal size you simply do the same again. This works on all forms for each game. All of the menu items, including the buttons, can also be accessed using the keyboard, without needing to be clicked with the mouse. Simply press the Alt key, each menu item and button will then have one letter underlined, pressing this letter on the keyboard is the same as clicking with the mouse, i.e. it executes the control.

After pressing the Alt key you can then press the underlined letters for each button control to play your game of choice.

Keyboard Access for controls 501 Practice

Alt + P

Scoring Session

Alt + S

Invisible Man

Alt + I

Doubles and Trebles

Alt + D

Finishes

Alt + F

Team Taylor Challenge

Alt + T

Exit

Alt + X

Colour Schemes There are 6 colour schemes which can be chosen at any time by clicking on ‘Colour Schemes’ and choosing one from the drop down list. You can also access using Alt + c.

Each individual colour scheme can also be selected with the ctrl key combo per below: Green Gold Chocolat Olive Teal Gold Maroon Mix Bullue

Ctrl + g Ctrl + c Ctrl + o Ctrl + t Ctrl + m Ctrl + b

Records Every time you finish a game, your results from that game will be saved automatically when you exit the screen. On the Main Menu click on Records at the top of the screen, this will show a drop down where you can select the records for any of the 6 games.

The below screen will then pop up showing records for the selected game. You can move the columns to re-order them if you wish, or resize them by hovering over the edge of the column. You can also sort the data by clicking on any of the column headers, for example, to sort by date simply click on the Date header

You can maximise the records dataset to fit your screen, and use the scroll bars to view data not currently on screen.

If you wish to export this data to excel for further analysis, such as creating your own tables for filtering or pivot tables, simply do the following. - click on the dataset anywhere to highlight one of the rows, this will highlight yellow. - press Ctrl + a, this will select all data on the data set. - press Ctrl + c, this will copy the data to the clipboard. - click on the excel spreadsheet where you want to copy the data. - press Ctrl + v, this will paste the data to the excel spreadsheet, you can then format as you wish.

Deleting Records To delete records, highlight the row you wish to delete by clicking on it.

Press the delete button

and then press save

If you press delete without pressing save the row will not be deleted, and will appear the next time you open the records. If you delete a row by accident, simply close the form without pressing save and reopen it, the deleted row will still be there. The delete action is only confirmed when you press save.

3. 501 Practice Bullue colour scheme

Press ‘Pause Session’ to stop the timer during a session, then click ‘Continue Session’ to resume. Green Gold colour scheme

Chocolat colour scheme

Maroon Mix colour scheme

Olive colour scheme

Teal Gold colour scheme

501 Practice Game Play Using Darts Trainer is very straight forward. Each game records important results in order to compare your game play over successive sessions. Simply enter your score in the score box and either press enter on your keyboard (fastest method), click the enter button or use the Alt + E keys. After entering a score, your remaining score is reduced, the scorebox is automatically highlighted and ready for your next score so all you have to do is type your next score and press enter

If you hit the same score twice in a row, you can simply press Enter without typing as it will already be in the scorebox. For example, the last score above was 45,

which is still highlighted in the scorebox.

Should you hit 45 again simply press the enter key without any need to re-type the score.

If you enter an incorrect score just click on the Undo button or press Alt + u. To take a break during a session press Pause Session or Alt + s, and this will pause the timer; Press Alt + s to continue, or click on the Continue Session button which will appear after a session has been paused. If you wish to scrap your current session and begin a new one, click on New Session or press Alt + n. If you have already completed at least one game the session details will be saved.

The 501 Practice session records the following stats:  Scoreboard for the current leg  Darts thrown for the current leg  No. of games played for the session  No. of visits to the board for the session  Length of the session  3 Dart average  Doubles percentage  Number of scores above 180, 140+, 100+, 80+, 60+, under 60 and what percentage these scores relate to the total visits for the session.  Records number of darts for each leg, 10-12 darts, 13-15 darts etc.

Set-up

Some users may position a laptop or wireless keyboard beside their dartboard so they can type the score quickly when retrieving their darts; others may position a laptop or wireless keyboard beside the oche so they can type quickly before turning to face the board. Another excellent method is to have a wireless keypad beside the dartboard, like in the pic below. Everyone has their own preferred method of entering their scores.

Again, each button and menu can be accessed using the keyboard, via the Alt and Ctrl keys.

When you have finished a leg during a 501 practice session, the below screen will request the checkout details of your final visit to the board for the leg in question. It requires only two inputs 1. No. of darts thrown for your last visit of the leg 2. No. of darts thrown at a double during the leg

You can type the number, press tab to move to the next box, type the second number and then press enter on the keyboard. You can also use the mouse, if you click on the entry boxes a drop down will appear and you can select the correct number. If you enter the wrong score by mistake simply press the Undo button or Alt + u, and the score is removed and stats reset to their previous levels before the incorrect score was entered. To start another leg / game just press enter or click on the New Game button. The New Session button resets all stats to zero, and saves your current session if one leg or more has been completed.

When you exit a session on any of the games, the below pop-up will request confirmation that you want to exit. This is simply a precaution in case the Exit command is pressed accidentally. Pressing ‘yes’ will exit will save your session details and return to the main screen; pressing ‘no’ will return to the game in progress and continue as normal.

4. Scoring Session

When recording your scoring session you shoot for highest scores. Scores are entered the same as for the 501 Practice session. For each score you will be awarded points: 170 += 4 pts

140+ = 3 pts

100+ = 1 pt

60+ = -1 pts

40+ = -2 pts

less than 40 = -3 pts

The score will record your cumulative totals as you play.

80+ = 0 pts

When you exit the game the stats are

automatically saved, and can be accessed on the main screen, ‘Records’ menu item on the top menu.

The stats recorded during you Scoring Sessions are:  Cumulative points total  3 Dart average  Session length  Number of visits for the session  Number of scores and percentages within specific ranges: 170+, 140+, 100+, 80+, 60+,40+,