JCapper Message Board

          JCapper 101
                      -- Cant Get Jeffs Track Profile to Run

"Jeff’s Track Profile Export

General Overview
One thing I’ve always done as a horseplayer is maintain separate track profiles for each surface and distance where I play. I’m a firm believer that until I know where most of the winners are coming from I have no business playing a given track or circuit. The records I keep of my own live play continually reinforce the value of understanding the demands of the track – and going with the grain - not against it. If I don’t have a clear understanding of a track - what is winning and why - I simply will not play there.

If the prevailing pattern for 6f dirt sprints at my favorite track is that the races are being won by E run style horse with top CPace numbers who are racing on or near the lead, then I don’t want to back horses that lack the ability to go to the front. When early speed is dominant I will adjust my UDMs to reflect the demands of the track. In the early 1980’s I meticulously kept track profiles by hand. Later, in the 90’s I did them in Excel. Finally in June of 2008, I decided to create a Data Window Export so that I (and others) could do them entirely from within JCapper. The Jeff’s Track Profile Export you’ll find in JCapper mimics exactly the format of my own Excel Spreadsheet.

Running Jeff’s Track Profile Export
Running a Data Window Jeff’s Track Profile Export is a two step process:

1. Activate the Track Profile Export by selecting it from the MENU in the Data Window. This toggles the Export “On.”

2. Run a Data Window query. This actually “runs” the Export. Whatever races are returned by the query you run after toggling the Export “on” – data for the race winners of those races is written to the table named Export2 in the JCapper2.mdb file found in the c:\JCapper\Exe folder.

The screenshot below shows the Data Window MENU items for JCapper2008 (as of Jan 2009.) The user has already selected Jeff’s Track Profile – Clear First. Look at the title bar running across the top of the Data Window. When an export has been activated you will see text describing the type of Export that you are about to run. The Export at this point is activated. From here, to run the Export, simply click the ALL button and open a PlayList File. The Data Window will run the export while it runs your query. Once the query has finished and you see results displayed in the Data Window’s textbox your Export is complete. Export data will be sitting in the export table..."

"Clear First Option
When the user clicks MENU and selects an Export with the Clear First option, all data sitting in the export table for the selected Export is cleared prior to the Export being run. As the Export is run fresh data matching the Data Window query being run by the user is added to the table. The end result: The data sitting in the export table after the Export has been completed is an exact match of those starters returned by the Data Window query run by the user to drive the Export.

Append Option
When the user clicks MENU and selects an Export with the Append option, all data sitting in the export table prior to the Export being run is left untouched. As the Export runs fresh data matching the Data Window query being run by the user is added to the table. The end result: The data sitting in the export table after the Export has been completed is a combination of whatever data happened to be sitting in the table AND those starters returned by the Data Window query run by the user to drive the Export.


Design
The design of the Data Window’s Export functionality is simple. While running a query, if the user has Activated an Export, the Data Window will write exported data to an Access table. Working outside of JCapper, the user can use Access to get at the data in the Export table(s.) He can create queries, custom reports, and even manipulate the data and perform number crunching to generate custom factors and odds lines.

Viewing Reports
Viewing a Report is easy. Click MENU and select the appropriate Report Generator. Then use the drop downs, checkboxes, and buttons found on the Report Generator to build and run your report.

Jeff’s Track Profile Report Generator
Launch Jeff’s Track Profile Report Generator by clicking MENU and then selecting the Jeff’s Track Profile Report Generator menu item. I’ve tried to make the Report Generator itself idiot proof. When first started the buttons on the Report Generator will be disabled. The buttons become enabled once the user selects enough options from the drop downs to create a valid report. To create a valid report, select Track, Distance, Surface, Track Condition, and Date Restriction. Once you have done that the Generate Report Button becomes enabled. Clicking the Generate Report Button will cause the Report Generator to query the data sitting in the export table, match it against your selections for Track, Distance, Surface, Track Condition, and Date Restriction and create an HTML Report file named JeffsTrackProfileReport.html on your Default Data Folder. The report file can then be viewed by opening it in a web browser or clicking the View Report Button on the Report Generator."