Version History

1/18/08 - Version 2.1 Release

• The algorithm for laying out pools and resolving club conflicts has been VASTLY improved, yielding more balanced pools (both by rating and club) and, in most cases, requiring no manual adjustments.
• The pool layout algorithm can now be set to minimize either club or division conflicts.
• During the pool layout process, warnings are displayed if a pool contains too many or too few fencers from a particular club/divsion. Also, if two fencers in the pool share the same last name, a warning is displayed to help avoid putting related fencers together in the same pool.
• Qualifier events now handle ties for the final qualification slot and allow you to choose the winner of the fence-off to determine who qualifies.
• DE bout slips now have a unique ID number printed on them. A new toolbar at the top of the main window contains a text entry field where you can enter the bout ID number to quickly enter the score for that bout without having to switch to the event. This allows you to quickly enter bouts from any event when running a multi-event tournament.
• Secondary display devices are now supported on computers with multiple video displays (monitors, projectors, etc.) The highly configurable system allows you to set the display to cycle through showing round seedings, results, strip assignments, DE tableaus, and more.
• Moving tournament files from one computer to another is now a simple procedure. You no longer need to move database files between computers - simply copy the tournament file to the other computer and open it in Fencing Time.
• Importing fencers and clubs from a comma-separated-value (CSV) file exported from a spreadsheet is now supported. This allows you to easily import fencer data from your own spreadsheets.
• USFA-supplied CSV files, such as the one available on the USFA website, can be imported into Fencing Time with no modifications. USFA membership status is automatically updated based on the membership year reported in the CSV files.
• The Event Classification Chart has been updated to reflect the USFA changes to the A1 event class made in August 2007.
• The Event Classification Chart has been updated to display the criteria for B2/C3, A2/B3, and A2/C3 events.
• The Event Classification Chart is now stored in a separate file, allowing easy updates if the chart is changed by the USFA in the future.
• The Event Classification Chart is now stored in a separate file, allowing At the end of an event, when ratings are awarded, the option to update a fencer's rating in other events has been removed since ratings are not considered official until the USFA receives them.
• The Event Classification Chart is now stored in a separate file, allowing A new option has been added to mark events as "USFA Sanctioned" or not. unsanctioned events do not award ratings. This setting can be changed at any time during the event.
• The Event Classification Chart is now stored in a separate file, allowing When starting an event, if some fencers do not meet the criteria of the event (and the limitations are enforced), instead of just showing the ineligible fencers, you can now choose to start the event anyway and ignore the fact that they're ineligible.
• The Event Classification Chart is now stored in a separate file, allowing The ability to override the default classifcation level of an event when awarding ratings has been removed.
• While an event is underway, you can now change whether or not the event is a qualifier and edit the list of pre-qualified fencers.
• Event dates, times, and fees can now be changed after the event has started.
• The number of ranked fencers to protect by default in veteran events has been corrected to the correct number.
• A new "Time Marker" feature has been added which allows you to enter a timestamped comment in an event. Events such as rounds starting and finishing, pool scores being reported, and DE tables completing, are automatically recorded.
• The pool layout form now includes fields for assigning strip numbers and referees. The preliminary pools can also now be printed out from this form. Fencer divisions are shown on the printed list.
• A search feature has been added to the pool layout form to help find fencers in the pools.
• The number of pools that are still out is now displayed above the pool list.
• When determining the competitors to promote from the pools, you can now manually edit the coinflips that were randomly generated.
• Assigning strip numbers to DE bouts by quadrant or octant is now done using the "Strip Assignment" button near the other DE buttons.
• The DE score entry form has been overhauled to allow the quick entry of multiple bouts.
• The DE score entry form has been optimized for numeric keypad users. Pressing a non-number key (/, *, -, +, or .) will move the cursor to the next score entry field.
• An option has been added to allow the use of the old-style DE score entry form (where bout IDs are not used.)
• A list of DE strip assignments can now be printed alphabetically by fencer last name.
• Bout sequence numbers, bout IDs, strip assignments, and fencer divisions can now optionally be displayed on the DE tableau.
• The DE options dialog has been simplified to a single page. Options relating to printing and displaying have been moved to the forms relating to those operations.
• DE bout slips can now be printed for all bouts, even if neither competitor is known. This allows you to print all bout slips for the round at once so that you don't have to wait on the scores to be entered before printing more.
• DE bout slips can now be printed collated so that when you cut them up, they are already stacked in the proper order.
• DE bout sltips are now printed evenly spaced on the page so that when cut, they are all the same size.
• DE quadrant and octant notation has been simplified. DE bout slips now always list the quadrant and octant of the bout listed as "n/4" and "n/8".
• Pool score sheets can be sent to Pocket Fencing Time (running on Windows Mobile 5 PocketPC PDAs) and the results can be imported back into Fencing Time upon completion.
• Event results can now be separated by gender, as is often done in mixed- gender youth events.
• The seed order can now be viewed and modified before starting an event. An option to randomize equally-rated fencers after adding or removing competitors has been added (since randomization will negate any hand-seeding that has already been done.)
• The seed order form has been overhauled a bit, and now the initial seeding can be printed.
• Seeding for team events is now done without considering the rating of the substitute fencer.
• Fixed a bug where the printed seed order showed the incorrect pool results (victories, indicators, etc.) after a combined pool round.
• A new dialog showing end-of-tournament options appears when the last event concludes.
• A new summary report can be generated showing all qualifications earned in qualifier events.
• The printed classification change report form has changed to match the layout of the official USFA form.
• A new report showing the daily schedule of events has been added.
• Fencer ranks and ratings are now listed on the event competitor report.
• The pool score display now can be shown in several font sizes.
• The maximum pool size has been increased from 10 to 32.
• Pool score sheets can now be printed in a more compact landscape orientation, which includes room for noting penalty cards.
• Competitors can now be reordered in a pool anytime during the pool round.
• The maximum allowed pool bout score can now be specified when setting up the pool round.
• When running pool rounds during qualifier events, the club & division conflict resolution option is disabled in pool rounds other than the first one.
• When setting up pools, if more than half of the fencers in the pool are from the same club, the suggested setting is to not use the teammate bout order. This is determined on a pool-by-pool basis.
• Pool options have been consolidated into a new dialog box to unclutter the main pool display. This includes the "Clear Scores" option used to erase all scores in a pool.
• A new option allows you to fill a pool with randomly generated scores. This is useful for when demonstrating how to use Fencing Time or in training new users.
• Pool strip numbers and referee names can be edited even after the pool round or event has finished.
• A warning about withdrawing competitors from a pool that have completed all their bouts has been added to the withdrawal confirmation.
• The visual style of the HTML pool scores has been enhanced.
• HTML results files for all events can now be exported at once.
• Fencer membership numbers can now be printed on sign-in sheets and final results.
• Fencer membership numbers must now be valid numbers rather than free-form text strings.
• Most printouts now allow you to select which columns to include in the report. This is especially useful if you want to not display birth years for privacy.
• When creating events, the default age category is now "Senior".
• The new "Event Notes" button allows you to add comments to each event.
• The dialog box asking to confirm the removal of unpaid competitors has been changed so that it's much less likely that you'll accidentally remove people by clicking the wrong button.
• Club affiliation can now be turned off when printing pool and DE score sheets.
• On DE tableaus, the winner's score is now printed first regardless of whether the winner was called first or second in the bout.
• DE bouts where a fencer withdrew or was excluded now print "Withdrawn" or "Excluded" rather than showing a score of 0-0.
• A bug was fixed which caused incorrect seeds to be displayed on the results so far in repechage rounds.
• If the second place finisher has been determined, the results so far will now always display the first place finisher.
• When adding a "late" competitor, you can now enter payment information.
• A new option lets you specify the default folder to use for saving and loading tournament files.
• Event dates and times are now set automatically when imported from AskFRED.
• The option to disable AskFRED features has been removed.
• AskFRED functions are now enabled in the trial version.
• A warning is displayed if you try to export results to AskFRED when there are no finished events.
• If a team event on AskFRED contains multiple teams with the same name, they will be made unique when they are imported.
• A progress bar has been added to show the status of database synchronizations.
• The database synchronization process has been streamlined and is easier to understand.
• A popup is now displayed when saving tournament data.
• The visual style of the menu bar has been changed to a more modern style.
• Accellerator keys are now displayed for menu items.
• A toolbar with common functions has been added under the menu bar.
• A dropdown list on the toolbar lists the currently active events for quick access.
• DE "trees" are now referred to as "tableaus".
• The columns on the Add/Remove Fencer form can now be reordered and hidden as desired.
• Right-clicking on the event list will show a menu option to sort the events.
• Numerous reports can now be sorted by clicking column headers.
• An "Edit" button was added near the event name to make custom event naming easier.
• An error is displayed if an invalid birth year is entered when editing fencers.
• Events can now be created from the CSV files exported by the USFA registration database (normally used to setup tournaments in XSeed.)
• Fixed some issues related to file access rights when running on non-administrator accounts.
• Upgraded to use version 2.0 of the Microsoft .NET Framework.

1/2/06 - Version 2.0 Release

• Added support for fencer and team point rankings. Events can be seeded using ratings, points, or a combination of the two.
• Added support for repechage rounds (from 16 and 32)
• Added support for all-places-fenced-off rounds (from 8 and 16)
• Direct elimination rounds now can include an optional fence-off-for-third bout.
• Bout slips where only one competitor has been determined can be printed.
• Bout slips in elimination rounds can be printed with the bout's quadrant or octant. Quadrants/octants can have strip assignments printed on them.
• The seeding at the start of prior rounds is now displayed in the competitor list when a round is viewed.
• The Add/Remove fencer form now allows you to edit the fencer information (name, club, rating, point rank, etc.) in-place, rather than going to the "Edit Fencer" form.
• Finished events can be "unfinished" so that scores can be altered if necessary.
• Fencers that withdraw during elimination rounds can be un-withdrawn
• Fencers are now randomized within each pool (except when teammate order is used)
• The interface for qualifiers has been greatly simplified, and the USFA qualification rules were added for all USFA qualifiers (Div II/III, U19, U16, Y14, Junior Olympics, etc.)
• Rules were added for team qualifier events (Senior, Div I, U19)
• DE trees can now be displayed on-screen in one of five different sizes. For example, the smaller display modes are helpful for laptops with limited screen space, and the larger modes are useful when projecting the DE tree on the wall.
• DE trees can be printed in one of three sizes. The large size is especially useful for posting at events.
• Table letter names are now printed on DE tables.
• Registration & event fee dollar amounts can be tracked and financial summary reports can be printed. Fees paid on FRED are imported automatically.
• A configurable autosave feature has been added so that the tournament can be saved every few minutes.
• Added the new Northeast Pennsylvania division to the division list.
• Event results can be uploaded to FRED before all of the events in the tournament have been finished.
• Entire teams can now be black-carded.
• Fixed a bug where, on rare occasions, C3-rated events were not awarding ratings.
• Fencers now only store birth year rather than full birthdate.
• When fencers are ineligible for an event, the criteria making them ineligible (such as wrong gender, too young, etc.) is now displayed.
• Tournament files are now automatically stored in each user's "My Documents" folder in a new "My Tournaments" folder.
• Fixed a bug where pre-checked columns on the sign-in sheet were sorted incorrectly.
• Fixed a bug where if a fencer's rating changed external to a tournament file, the updated rating is used when the file is loaded.
• Fencer ratings are now saved at the start of team events to ensure more accurate seeding.
• Fixed a rare bug in the qualification rules that caused a miscount of the number of fencers in the field because it failed to include pre-qualified fencers.
• The 10-minute DE bout timer can be set or reset to a specific duration at any time.
• Bout timers don't reset to 10:00 if the score is changed after the countdown has started.
• Bout timers retain their count even if the tournament file is closed and re-opened.
• Competitors are no longer reseeded after DE rounds, but rather retain their seeding when entering subsequent rounds.
• The tournament title header only appears on the first printed page of a DE table, rather than every page.
• The "View Pool Assignments" list now defaults to viewing by name.
• Pools now have a "Clear Scores" button used to clear all scores from the current pool
• Invalid scores in entered in a pool bout now are erased after the warning popup.
• If the pool bout score for the winner in a saber event is less than 5 (or 45 in a team event), a warning popup is displayed since it's most likely a typo since saber bouts never go to time!
• Tied pool scores don't keep prompting you for the winner as you tab through the score grid. You will only be prompted the first time the score is entered, or if the score is subsequently changed.
• All references to "Director" have been changed to "Referee"
• Minor updates to Fencing Time can be installed via the "Install Update File" option on the Tools menu.
• The "Include Header in CSV" option has been removed.
• The "Allow Unrestricted Manual Seeding" option has been moved from the Preferences form to the Seed Order form for ease of use.
• The strange scrolling behavior seen on the Seed Order form when moving fencers up and down has been fixed.
• Fencer rating decay is now displayed as a summary list rather than an annoying series of popup messages.
• A new form is shown at the end of each round to let users select the next round type. Previously, this was only available in "Custom" event formats. Now event formats can be altered after each round regardless of the event format initially chosen.
• When event windows are minimized, an abbreviated event name is shown in the title bar.
• The event summary page has been reorganized and has buttons for the reports that can be generated.
• After an event is finished, results are now shown on a new "Results" page rather than behind the old "View Results" button.
• When printing DE bouts, a list of bouts to be printed is displayed. Numerous options are available to customize the printing of DE slips, such as the ability to fill a printed page with blank DE bout slips (in the space that would otherwise be wasted.)
• The tournament and event panels now have a collapse/expand button to help conserve screen space.
• There is now a wizard to help walk you through the process of transferring tournament files to another computer.
• The fencer and club databases are no longer present on the left panel. They are now found under the View menu, where they are displayed in a "spreadsheet" format. In this form, the data can be sorted and edited in-place.
• When printing a sign-in sheet, the list of selected columns is saved so that the options don't need to be re-selected each time a sheet is printed.
• The event class (or possible event class) is now printed on seeding and sign-in lists.
• Fencers are no longer automatically removed from an event if they have not checked in. Instead, the removal of these fencers is prompted when the event starts.
• Fixed a minor error where Division I was listed as "D & Above" rather than "C & Above" in the New Event Wizard.
• Under Windows XP, buttons and other visual elements are drawn using the currently selected system theme.
• The current USFA Age Eligibility chart (showing what birth years are eligible for each age-restricted event) is available on Help menu.
• On team match forms, the order of the teammates is saved after each change.
• Virtually every report can now be printed, emailed, and saved to text, csv, or html.
• Pool bout order and team bout selection dialog boxes are now sizeable.
• The "Create FRED Event" form has been removed. Now, when loading a FRED pre-registration file, all events are automatically created.
• The Synchronize Fencer and Club forms displayed when loading a FRED pre-registration file have been streamlined to make the differences more obvious so that the correct data can be selected more easily.
• Fencing Time tournament files are now saved in XML format using the FTX extension.
• All files saved as HTML now conform to the XHTML standard. The styles have been updated to make the pages more readable.
• The XML format of the Fencing Time databases has been simplified and optimized.
• Fencer's "Member Number" is now saved as string so that any value can be stored.
• All internal files created by Fencing Time (databases, configuration files, etc.) are stored in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Fencing Time in order to conform with Windows application standards.
• Fixed a problem with locking the file when using a custom logo graphics.
• Changed installer program from the crappy Windows Installer to Nullsoft Installer

1/3/05 - Version 1.42 Release

• Fixed a bug with the national qualifiers which produced incorrect results if a fencer was pre-qualified.
• Added program version to the splash screen.

11/20/04 - Version 1.41 Release

• Fixed a bug where birthdays imported from FRED were appearing as January 1st.
• Paid/Here/USFA/Qualified lines are now checked on the printed sign-in sheets if the corresponding column is checked in the Add/Remove form.

11/11/04 - Version 1.4 Release

• Age restrictions for events can now be enforced if selected to do so.
• Events can be designated as a "National Qualifier" when created. Doing so will add a "Qualified" checkbox to the check-in process where you can mark fencers as pre-qualified. After the event, a form will display which allows you to apply the qualification rules (as defined by the USFA) to the fencers to determine who qualified for events such as Division I-A, II, III, etc.
• Events can now be classified using the "combined" classifications: B2/C3, A2/C3, & A2/B3.
• The Active DE Bout List now offers checkboxes to mark "On-Strip" and "Printed" status of bouts.
• Competitors that withdraw during the first round of pools are removed from the event entirely as if the had never participated.
• Team tournament functionality has been greatly enhanced. You can now print out the team order forms (for captains to define their fencer order) and then key in the orders and print a team relay scoresheet with all fencers listed.
• The "Add Latecomer" button in the first round of pools now works for team events.
• When possible, multiple pool size options are provided. For example, in an event of 70 fencers, Fencing Time did not offer 5 pools of 6 and 8 pools of 5 as an option. This option is now offered, along with all other plausible combinations.
• The pool size list now displays the total number of pools for each option.
• Pool and DE score data is now exported to FRED.
• Team tournaments now allow pools of size 2 and 3.
• Events now offer the "Senior" age class, which enforces a minimum age.
• Events now let you set the date and time of the event when it is created.
• The Preferences->Program now offers the option to display last names in uppercase.
• The Add/Remove fencer/team forms now have Paid/Here/Member/Qualified checkboxes for use during check-in.
• When starting an event, you have the option to automatically remove competitors that were not marked as checked in.
• The round times report now computes total run times.
• Results now include competitor's division.
• An event's predicted event classification is now displayed on the summary tab.
• Event description is now appended to the event name rather than replacing it. This fixes the confusion of events not assuming the proper names when imported from FRED.
• Added foreign countries as divisions. Also added "Unknown" as a division option.
• The USFA Event Classification chart is now available on the help menu.
• The number of club members is now displayed on the Edit Club form.
• Fencers are now numbered on the printed sign-in sheet.
• Event windows that have been minimized are maximized when they are double-clicked in the event list.
• The USFA logo has been updated to the newer logo.
• The "Edit" button on summary tab has been removed. Now, to change the event name, now click on the name itself.
• A checkbox is now present on the Add/Remove Fencer form to hide or show fencers that are ineligible to compete in the event based on the enforced rules.
• Added a "New Fencer" button to the build team form.
• The layout of the pool promotion form has been adjusted so that it fits on an 800x600 resolution screen.
• Added a new "View Club Totals" button to the pool layout form to display the total number of competitors from each represented club.
• The DE bout score popup now properly accepts the Enter key to enter the score.
• Added a "Print" button on the Results So Far form.
• Added an option under Preferences>Printing to print DE tables and seeding orders with a larger font for easier reading at a distance.
• When printing the sign-in sheet, you now can select which columns to include: Paid amount, Checked in, USFA member, Birth year, and PreQualified.
• On sign-in sheets for team events, teams now list team members, ratings, & clubs.
• DE bout scoresheets now print the Bout Number, i.e. "Round of 16 bout #4"
• When printing the seed order, the seed order at the beginning of the currently selected round will be printed.
• You can now print the initial seeding before an event starts. Prior to this, you could only print the fencers sorted by last name.
• The default filename for tournaments are in the format of "Date_TournamentName.ftt"
• Files exported to be uploaded to FRED now include "RESULTS" in the filename.
• Bug Fix: The start and end date are no longer printed twice in tournament name box and on printouts (for single-day events.)
• Bug Fix: A3-classified events are no longer incorrectly reported as A4 events.
• Bug Fix: Withdrawing a fencer from a pool while using teammate order reordered fencers, which made entering scores from paper much harder. Fencers are no longer reordered after withdrawals.
• Bug Fix: Withdrawing a fencer sometimes didn't erase the bottom score row from the pool form, which led to confusion and duplicated fencer scores.
• Bug Fix: Changes to DE bout scores now mark the tournament as needing to be saved.
• Bug Fix: "&" characters in competitor names on pool display now display correctly.

10/05/03 - Version 1.3 Release

• When exporting event results to HTML, you can now choose to include complete round details. This will include complete pool scores and a copy of the DE tree.
• You can now add a "late" fencer to a pool without having to restart the entire round. Doing this will not disturb the scores of any bouts that already have been fenced. This can only be done during the first round of the event.
• Entering a score into a pool score box will cause the cursor to automatically jump to the next box. Prior to this, you needed to manually move to the next box with the mouse or by using the Tab key. You can change the behavior back to the old way (no automatic moving) on the Program Preferences screen.
• The pool score boxes can now be navigated using the arrow keys on the keyboard.
• The option to use the teammate bout order is now selectable on a pool-by-pool basis.
• The pool display has been overhauled to be easier to use. The pool list now shows a list of all pools (rather than a drop-down selection list). Pools that have finished are shown in the list grayed out.
• DE tables now have more view options, including the ability to display the tree from any round (round of 32, 16, etc.)
• The DE round now has an "active bout list" above the DE table that shows which bouts are ready and which are waiting on the ten-minute timers. You can use this list to quickly jump to a bout on the DE table.
• You can now print best 2-of-3 bout slips for youth events and 10-touch bout slips for veteran events.
• You can now generate an email or form which lists all rating changes to be sent to the USFA after your tournament is done. This is done by selecting the menu item Tools>Reports>Classification Change Report.
• You can now set the event starting time on the event Summary tab. This time is also printed on the sign-in sheets.
• U17 events and younger can only earn ratings if they are C1 or better, as per the USFA rule change effective 8/1/03.
• If using a teammate order results in a pool bout order where a fencer will be stuck fencing a lot of back-to-back bouts, Fencing Time will ask you if you want to switch the pool to the standard bout order.
• You can view and print a list of all fencers in the tournament (along with their club and location) by selecting the menu item Tools>Reports>Competitor List.
• You can view and print a report showing all of the round start and end times for your tournament by selecting the menu item Tools>Reports>Round Times.
• You can now change the tournament name/location/dates by double-clicking on the yellow information box above the event list.
• You can change the event name to a custom name (as opposed to the default one that Fencing Time generates) by clicking the "Edit" button on the event's "Summary" tab.
• Added an optional Member # to the fencer data and search functions to find fencers by this value.
• Added an option to the printing preferences for displaying the Member # on the sign-in and final results printouts.
• Added city and state information to club data.
• Added the Youth-8 event age category.
• Fixed a bug where if a fencer was signed up for an event that had not yet started and they earned a new rating in another event, their rating was not updated in the unstarted event.
• Fixed a bug where A2-class events were not awarding an E rating to 11th and 12th place.
• Fixed a bug where events with only one competitor could not be finished.
• You can now choose to finish an event at the end of a pool round. This fixes a bug where pool-only events could never be ended.
• Changed the input control for birthdates to from a calendar to scroll arrows.
• Adding and removing fencers from events now happens much more quickly.
• Events in the event list that are finished are shown grayed out.
• Round numbers are now printed on all pool and DE sheets.
• The "Start Next Round" button now turns green when the round can be ended.
• Ratings are now shown on DE "results so far" display.
• The new "DE Options" button consolidates several options into one place.
• Upgraded the FRED integration to support FRED API v1.2
• FRED integration now defaults to ON.
• Upgraded to use Microsoft .NET v1.1.
• Rewrote the autorun program to automatically install MSI and .NET if needed.

11/22/02 - Version 1.2 Release

• Added a confirmation dialog to the "Remove All" button on the Add/Remove Fencers window.
• Completely overhauled the DE results computation. Fixed a bug where if fencers of an identical tie seed fenced each other, they would still be marked as tied in the final results.
• Added a warning that some competitors were not checked in when starting an event. Warning is not displayed if no checks are used on the Add/Remove window.
• Added a link to the Fencing Time webpage to generated HTML result pages.
• Fixed a bug where scores were not rearranged if the competitors were reordered in a pool due to a withdrawal.
• Bout order can now be switched from standard order to teammate order or vice-versa on a per-pool basis by using the View/Change Bout Order button on the pool window. This makes it easy to change the bout order used if you are not satisfied with the teammate order generated by Fencing Time.
• Ratings that are technically invalid (older than 4 years) no longer generate error.
• Made the Modify Seed Order window resizable for easier rearranging of long lists of competitors.
• Fixed a bug where the bout order wasn't printed for pools of 2!
• Fixed a bug where the Create FRED Event button wasn't disabled in non-FRED events and therefore caused a crash when clicked.
• Added some blank lines to the printed sign-in sheet for adding walk-in competitors.
• Added an option to the Preferences to allow you to disable the printing of fencer's ratings on all printed forms.

8/16/02 - Version 1.1 Release

• Fixed bug related to rating decay.
• Updated event classification table to reflect new Aug 2002 USFA table.
• Added new Green Mountain USFA division.
• Age-limited tournaments no longer default to "Unrated" (as per new rules)
• Div I events now restricted to C rated fencers or above (as per new rules)
• Added .NET installation confirmation dialog to install process.

6/22/02 - Version 1.0 Initial Release