What's New with Version 19.0:
GrandPrix Race Manager™ was originally written for use in our Awana Grand Prix races at Gateway Church of El Cajon, CA. Then it was offered as shareware for a couple of years before being rewritten as a commercial grade application and launched as Version 2.0. Each year we continue to improve the software and have used it to run our own Awana and Cub Scout races each year. Countless race coordinators have given their feedback and suggestions over the years, which has helped make GrandPrix Race Manager into a quality race management software package and an outstanding value for the price.
Version 19.0 is part of the fourth generation of this software (V1 Shareware, V2-6, V7-15, V16-?). This generation is a major overhaul of the software to accomplish two main goals. The first is to make the software as user friendly and intuitive as possible. The second is to make the software compatible with both Windows and macOS. This was a major undertaking, as the software had to be written in a different programming language, but we are proud of the results and believe that you will find the software even more useful and easier to use.
- New or Improved Features for All Users
- MacOS Support
- Fixed issue with the software not starting up for some users.
- Overview
- Added a button to go to the online tutorial videos.
- Hardware Settings
- With SmartLine/Champ and RaceMaster timers, a communications check failure will now just provide a warning and then the software will start listening to the port. This allows the troubleshooting "Paperclip Test" to be performed, with that brand of timer selected. The "Paperclip Test" is used to verify if that the port is working or not.
- When doing a timer test, the software will warn if any received times are above the set DNF time.
- Registration
- Improved search feature on registration to be more intuitive and flexible. Can do a simple or complex search. Includes a "find next" feature.
- Fixed issue of search button not always being enabled when there were racers being displayed.
- Added the ability to do a delete or bulk operation with the currently selected racer, without having to first check the select box for that racer.
- Schedules
- Improved search feature on Schedules tab to be more intuitive and flexible. Can do a simple or complex search. Includes a "find next" feature.
- Racing
- Improved search feature on Racing tab to be more intuitive and flexible. Can do a simple or complex search. Includes a "find next" feature.
- Changed "Track Record" sound effect to be different from "End of Round" sound effect.
- If the timer has not already been initialized, the user will be directed to the Hardware Settings screen. Users should always test timer communications in the Hardware Settings screen before going to the Racing screen.
- Grand Finals
- Added support for groups that have run a differing number of rounds to be included in the Grand Finals Round. Only applies when advancing based on an equal number from each group.
- Standings
- Improved search feature on Standings tab to be more intuitive and flexible. Can do a simple or complex search. Includes a "find next" feature.
- Awards
- Improved search feature on Awards tab to be more intuitive and flexible. Can do a simple or complex search. Includes a "find next" feature.
- Added the ability to do a delete or bulk operation with the currently selected racer, without having to first check the select box for that racer.
- Report Settings
- Added the ability to hide vehicle number on certificates.
- Reports
- Improved the initialization time when using non-standard PDF fonts. The first time any report is run it will take some time for the software to catalog all fonts on the computer, but it will be faster when running reports thereafter.
- Added the ability to filter by group and subgroup, in addition to round, for the Individual Vehicle Stats report.
- (Windows Only) Added a custom PDF viewer to display reports, instead of depending on the user's default PDF viewer. It's easy to use and has an easy to find print functionality.
- General
- Upgraded the version of Python and the GUI framework that the software runs on.
- Added an option to disable the "Major Warning" sound effect.
- Added the ability to press F1 on the main screen and it will open the applicable help file section for the tab being viewed.
- Fixed issue of Recent Files list was showing files that no longer existed or were moved.
- Several other less notable improvements and fixes were implemented.
- MacOS Support
- New or Improved Features for Pro Users
- Software Settings
- Added the ability to select a Light or Dark theme for the application. Dark theme can reduce eye strain.
- Registration
- If scoring by times, you can now move a racer to a different race group, after racing has started. This does not affect the schedules or results, just the rosters and standings.
- Made sure that the refresh button was visible all the time, just in case there is a change made to the data file by DerbyDMV or DerbyWeb.
- Added auto scroll feature to the audience display screen.
- Snapshots
- Added a reset option to remove a racer's photo and set it back to the default image.
- Added a selection for landscape or portrait mode when taking new snapshots.
- Manual Scheduling
- Changed sort of available racer list to be by the total heat count. Makes it easier to find racers that still need scheduling.
- When adding/deleting heats, the Schedules tab will be updated even if the Manual Scheduling screen is kept open to do more scheduling.
- Racing
- On the Racing tab, when a round level is selected, it will now show the results in master heat order, if master scheduling is in use.
- On the Racing Settings screen, added an option to display Custom Field instead of Vehicle# for the heat winner pop-up notice.
- Top Times Settings
- Added a search feature. Can do a simple or complex search. Includes a "find next" feature.
- Added the ability to do a delete with the currently selected top time, without having to first check the select box for that top time.
- Added support for First / Last name order, instead of Last / First.
- Track Records
- Added group name to the new track record pop-up notice.
- Track Records Settings
- Added a search feature. Can do a simple or complex search. Includes a "find next" feature.
- Added the ability to do a delete with the currently selected track record, without having to first check the select box for that track record.
- Added support for First / Last name order, instead of Last / First.
- Standings
- Added auto scroll feature to the audience display screen.
- Awards
- Data File Merge
- Improved merge to update an existing schedule item in one file with the results from another data file, if applicable.
- Report Settings
- Added default options for Title 1 and Title 2, which are used on most reports. These are applied when creating new race data files.
- Reports
- Added an Awards Voting report to show the results of the voting using DerbyWeb.
- DerbyWeb
- Added support for select awards to be voted on. Voting can be done by the design judges or the audience.
- Added support so the crew that is staging the heats can flag each heat as being staged.
- Added support so DerbyWeb can have settings saved in a separate data file from the race data. This lets settings persist from race to race.
- General
- Several other less notable improvements and fixes were implemented.
- Software Settings