Still looking to put together macro for sum of skips!

[mirage]

(Originally posted by Snides)

havn't got a for sure reason for that.. could be that the file was corrupted during your download or saving it, or there is some mention of a bug in the jet 3.51 using VB 5.0 (microsoft's software) not mine.. Microsoft claims that this bug is fixed in VB 6.0 (which is what I used for this) so the second reason shouldn't apply..

I downloaded the file myself and plopped it on my laptop for testing and I couldn't reproduce the error.. I suggest downloadin the mdb file again and save it in the same place, if you have the same problem I'll look into what might be causing it..

You mentioned that during install some files you had were newer so you kept them (which is a good idea) but maybe this is where the problem is.. have you install service pack 2 on your machine yet? I havn't done this on either system, so maybe I should put it on the laptop to test that out..

Hello Snides,
Re last question, have I installed service pack 2? Yep, (unfortunately) I have. This may be where the problem is. (Not to mention that it's turning out to be a pain in the a$$, as it acts something like a virus itself, taking over control of my machine in silly ways.)

Another thing I could try is deleting what I've already downloaded and re-down load from scratch again. And then if necessary could you be really specific about which button to press for updating the database. I'm pretty sure when I manually entered the date (not expecting that your program would do this for me automatically) that I used the same date format as what you had in previous draw. Maybe this is why data for last draw entered twice. Also the obvious button to press for "update" database is in the database update box, correct? (Just checking).

Your 2nd click here for download of the up to date database, is just an up to date database, nothing more? In which case I will not be able to update the database myself? It's not a fix to the program for updating the data base? Why don't I wait until there is a fix to the program, if necessary, and then start from scratch again?

Anyway, see what you think about service pack 2. Personally I think it was very clumsily designed as it keeps prompting for more updates when they are already done. Or it's confused because there are some incompatiblities somewhere.

 

[tomtom]

heh.. If that someone knew enough about access ... they could replace any of the 3 tables with their own

That's quite fair.

 

[nipsirc]

Snides

Have access to the complete up-to-date database of ALL the canadian lottery.

If you want it, let me know. I can even sent it to you everyday if I have time however I cannot let you have direct access to it.

Thanks

PM me with your email address.

 

[Snides]

Anyway, see what you think about service pack 2. Personally I think it was very clumsily designed as it keeps prompting for more updates when they are already done. Or it's confused because there are some incompatiblities somewhere. [/color]

I installed service pack 2 on the laptop, program still works. I'll stick to the theory that the updated database file you downloaded got corrupted somehow.. have you tried doing it again? if not, give it a shot and let me know what happens..

I'll add in a few fixes when i get time and post a program update, future updates will probably be smaller since you should have all the references files that were needed now..

 

[mirage]

I installed service pack 2 on the laptop, program still works. I'll stick to the theory that the updated database file you downloaded got corrupted somehow.. have you tried doing it again? if not, give it a shot and let me know what happens..

I'll add in a few fixes when i get time and post a program update, future updates will probably be smaller since you should have all the references files that were needed now..

Hello Snides,

I deleted everything related to Program Files/Snides on PC and downloaded from the link again. No more run time error. Program is again accessible. So far so good!

 

[mirage]

Hello Snides,

As per previous report, I successfully reloaded the program...
and then had to walk away for awhile... working up the courage to put on my steri-medical or kid-gloves for the most delicate operation of the program.
However, the updater is not wanting to cooperate.
Had fresh draws back to October 2, 2004. Should be no problem, right? I pressed "Update" button, pulled up update box, clicked curser in date box which auto pulled up the next draw date, October 9, 2004. Carefully put curser in the first number box. Typed in very carefully the appropriate number. Tabbed to the next box. Carefully entered number. And again, slowly, until all boxes done.... then hit Update button in the Update draw window and....

nothing.... Second try. Still nothing.
Tried hitting other Update button. Run time error.
Exited program. In again. Draws not updated. Exited.
Went into Snides through Explore. Into Excel files. Found I could update there. Messed around a bit too much. Saved Excel file. Exited.
Went into Snides program again, and now I have one properly updated draw for October 9, 2004 and 2 bum ones.
Will probably delete all the program files and re-install from the link again.
- Updater not working..?
- Is it OK to use the Excel file for updating the draw... ?

 

[Snides]

when you click update (after entering the date and numbers) It does update the draw info. Problem is that it doesn't refresh the screen. I mentioned in the brief instructions that you would have to close the program to use the new draws. this means closing both the windows and starting the program again from the start menu. A bit of a pain in the butt, but I will change this in the future. What you did was click it 3 times because you didn't see a difference and thought it wasn't entered. I don't know why you got a run time error.. I just tried what you did and entered 4 draws (all the same) with no problem. It's not hard to add the screen refreshing, I just figured you'd only be adding one draw to each of the lotto's each time you clicked update and hoped that you had faith that clicking the update button would work

The excel file? no, you can't update in there.. the excel file is actually a csv file which can be opened in excel, but the file is created by the program and over-written each time it runs, it does not read any information from those files..

oh.. heh, you said "tried hitting other update button". ya, if you try to hit an update button before changing the date from "MM/DD/YY" you will get an error because it needs numbers for the date and the bonus number can't be "B". Looks like I have a bit of error-trapping to add so that the program checks to see if the data is valid before trying to update when you click the buttons. I'll add the screen refreshing in too, and maybe even a message box to say "update complete"

besides the updating problems, have you tried the wheeling functions and the "future draw skip sum checker" feature that you wanted? any comments on that part of the program?

 

[gsobier]

...you guys are having lots of fun with this project... ...I guess Snides might be learning a few things... ...many years ago (more than a decade, actually) I could have sworn every user had a God given gift to make a program fail on the very first try... ...this don't happen anymore, I learned many things along the way in those years... ...these days, I dare someone to break them most of the time... ...there have been some episodes where stupid mistakes are the cause of problems... ...getting better all the time preventing them...

 

[mirage]

(Originally Posted by Snides)

when you click update (after entering the date and numbers) It does update the draw info. Problem is that it doesn't refresh the screen. I mentioned in the brief instructions that you would have to close the program to use the new draws. this means closing both the windows and starting the program again from the start menu. A bit of a pain in the butt, but I will change this in the future. What you did was click it 3 times because you didn't see a difference and thought it wasn't entered. I don't know why you got a run time error.. I just tried what you did and entered 4 draws (all the same) with no problem. It's not hard to add the screen refreshing, I just figured you'd only be adding one draw to each of the lotto's each time you clicked update and hoped that you had faith that clicking the update button would work

But I swear that I did exit program - maybe it was after hitting Update - 3 times, not 2 - and then I did open it up again to check to see if it was updated at all, and it was not .... before I resorted to checking out what else I could try, i.e. the Excel file!
No big matter, I will try again.

 

[mirage]

Hello Snides,

Deleted the program and then downloaded fresh from link again. You were right, or it is working now - I simply update the draw, exit program, call it up again and now the draws are updated!

The future draw Sum Skip Checker works great!

The wheeling function is a bit puzzling. You have to be really carefully about entering the parameters or requirements. However, I have 2 crucial questions:
1) The green grid where it shows rows/columns, I would assume is to request how many numbers from any row or column so what are the green numbers for? They replicate literally the rows and columns that are on the play slip - to highlite a green number to orange is to choose that number as a designated number?

2) After wheeling, I got a list of skip sums in the blue box on screen, but no play combos... where are the combinations to play listed? In a file where?

 

[mirage]

2) After wheeling, I got a list of skip sums in the blue box on screen, but no play combos... where are the combinations to play listed? In a file where?

.... Further, I only requested that tickets be wheeled for a sum skip of 22 to 24, just to check it against Oct. 16, 2004.
The box on screen gave me a whole list of sum skips, from 6 or whatever.... to a high number.
And by any chance, is the file to which tickets to play are dumped called "TicketsLottario"? PC was unnable to read that file and in any case it was empty after running wheel program.

 

[Snides]

...you guys are having lots of fun with this project... ...I guess Snides might be learning a few things...

Not learning that much actually.. I know there were 'bugs' and easy ways to crash the program, but I released it hoping it was straight forward and easy enough to use that the 'known problems' wouldn't be a problem..

The project I've learned the most from would be the main access database I created at work that tracks all the inventory through the main database and has up to 20 users, from lowly stock pickers and receivers up to the president..

 

[Snides]

However, I have 2 crucial questions:
1) The green grid where it shows rows/columns, I would assume is to request how many numbers from any row or column so what are the green numbers for? They replicate literally the rows and columns that are on the play slip - to highlite a green number to orange is to choose that number as a designated number?

you got the first part of that correct, and the green numbers are the ones that the program uses when wheeling, but you have the orange part reversed. When you change a number to orange it is eliminated from the wheel. you can eliminate as many numbers as you like, this could actually turn into a 'bug' of sorts, if you eliminate all but 6 or less numbers, the program will still run but won't produce any tickets, which brings us to;


2) After wheeling, I got a list of skip sums in the blue box on screen, but no play combos... where are the combinations to play listed? In a file where?


the list with the skips sums is what is called a listbox, there should be a scroll bar on the right when the program finishes. You can scroll down that list and it will show the tickets it made, followed by how many combinations came from each of the skip sums at the bottom. The tickets are also dumped to the TicketsLottario.csv file, which should open in excel, if it doesn't you may need to install that feature in excel or choose to 'open with' notepad or wordpad.

If the ticket file is empty, and no tickets are listed in that list box on screen, then your filters were too tight and didn't allow any combinations to adhere to the filtering rules. Try adjusting filters, "allow one" does what it suggests, maybe one, maybe none, but not more than one. "force one" means there must be one, not two, not zero, one! etc...

 

[gsobier]

...you are not alone... ...the hoping part burned me before too...

Not learning that much actually.. I know there were 'bugs' and easy ways to crash the program, but I released it hoping it was straight forward and easy enough to use that the 'known problems' wouldn't be a problem..

The project I've learned the most from would be the main access database I created at work that tracks all the inventory through the main database and has up to 20 users, from lowly stock pickers and receivers up to the president..

 

[mirage]

Hello Snides,

I'm still messin' around with the program to make sure it's not something I'm doing wrong before I ask more questions. Not sure about this 'listbox', for example... Will give it another try with different settings.

(Originally posted by Snides)

...the list with the skips sums is what is called a listbox, there should be a scroll bar on the right when the program finishes. You can scroll down that list and it will show the tickets it made, followed by how many combinations came from each of the skip sums at the bottom. The tickets are also dumped to the TicketsLottario.csv file, which should open in excel, if it doesn't you may need to install that feature in excel or choose to 'open with' notepad or wordpad.

 

[mirage]

Hello Snides,

Re: The Snides-O-Matic Skip Sum and Filtering Gizmo program.

OK, Uncle... I mean Help!

What is
"1 current skip"
"2 current skip"
"3 current skip"
"4 current skip", etc.,
all the way down the list to.....
"49 current skip",
in the 'list box'??? This is not a list of tickets or a number of ticket lines. The filters which I used were not loose and not tight.

I could try deleting all and downloading again???

Why do I have to click on the "Wheel Tickets for draw #" button twice for it to run?

There is a box which says "Go to draw #"
and a box which says "Wheel tickets for draw #". What is the box "Go to draw #" for? I used same number, 665, for next draw in both boxes. I know this may be an idiot logic question but is it necessary to put a number in the "Go to draw #" box?

Thanks!

 

[Snides]

"1 current skip " means "The current skip (or how many draws back) of the #1 is ##" It tells you how long ago the number 1 hit, and 2, 3, etc...

you don't need to download and re-install, everything is working fine..

You shouldn't have to click the 'wheel tickets..' button twice for it to run. The program does not update the screen while it is running, this is to save time, updating the screen would slow the program down more.. when you click that button it dumps the current skips for the draw it is wheeling for, you can see the scroll bar appear, and then it looks like the program stops until it starts adding tickets that fit into the filtering rules you set. when the program is done running (about 10 minutes) you can scroll farther down that list and see the tickets it made and how many combinations were made for each skip sum at the bottom. If there is no tickets showing after it finished running then the filters are too tight.

Ahhh, you are entering 665 as the draw to go to, you must be doing Lottario. There is only 664 draws in the Lottario database. if you want to wheel for the 665th draw you have to 'go to draw #' 664. when you enter 664 as the draw to go to, the program auto-fills in 665 as the draw to wheel for. By entering 665 as the draw to 'go to' you are asking the program to use the data from 665 to wheel for draw 666. Since there is no data for draw 665 because it hasn't happened yet, the program can't make any tickets.

Hmm, yes, you have to enter a 'go to draw' number and they should not be the same as the 'wheel tickets for draw #' box. go to draw number should be the last draw listed, and the 'wheel tickets for' should be the number of the next draw to occur (the program fills this in when you enter the 'go to draw' number.

Realistically, I guess you'll always be wanting to wheel tickets for the first draw in the future, but I put these boxes in so that you could wheel a draw in the past just to test out some ideas and theories if you like.. I can change the defaults for these boxes so that when you start the program it will be 'preset' for the first future draw if you like..

I guess I should mention here that if you do try wheeling a draw from the history, the first thing i mentioned in this post will show "1 current skip ##" which will be what the skip of that number was for that draw in history that you are wheeling for, and not the actual current skip from the last draw in history..

 

[mirage]

Hello Snides,

Commenting/requesting more info, requesting answers to more idiot questions...

(Originally posted by Snides)
"1 current skip " means "The current skip (or how many draws back) of the #1 is ##" It tells you how long ago the number 1 hit, and 2, 3, etc...

OK, this is understood...

...you don't need to download and re-install, everything is working fine..

except I'm not getting a list of tickets...

...You shouldn't have to click the 'wheel tickets..' button twice for it to run.

yeah, OK, the button looks 3D after clicked once - I was used to seeing the hour glass...

...The program does not update the screen while it is running, this is to save time, updating the screen would slow the program down more.. when you click that button it dumps the current skips for the draw it is wheeling for, you can see the scroll bar appear, and then it looks like the program stops until it starts adding tickets that fit into the filtering rules you set. when the program is done running (about 10 minutes) you can scroll farther down that list and see the tickets it made and how many combinations were made for each skip sum at the bottom.

No, it doesn't do this... - Scrolling down the list to the bottom there are no tickets or combinations made
which are shown at the bottom. My filters were extremely loose, i.e.,-all numbers? skip sum 25 to 46? (and I was told to expect potentially 100's of thousands of combos for just a tight skip value!) I entered Go to draw # 664. Wheeled tickets for draw # 665 (Next draw).

... If there is no tickets showing after it finished running then the filters are too tight.

As I said, I don't think the filters were too tight.

...Ahhh, you are entering 665 as the draw to go to, you must be doing Lottario. There is only 664 draws in the Lottario database. if you want to wheel for the 665th draw you have to 'go to draw #' 664. when you enter 664 as the draw to go to, the program auto-fills in 665 as the draw to wheel for. By entering 665 as the draw to 'go to' you are asking the program to use the data from 665 to wheel for draw 666. Since there is no data for draw 665 because it hasn't happened yet, the program can't make any tickets.

I tried running the program with it set at "Go to draw #664" initially, and "Wheel tickets for # 665" initially as this is what seemed logical to begin with. Then tried it the other way - #665 & #665. Have just tried #664 & #665 again. This is not the problem.

...Hmm, yes, you have to enter a 'go to draw' number and they should not be the same as the 'wheel tickets for draw #' box. go to draw number should be the last draw listed, and the 'wheel tickets for' should be the number of the next draw to occur (the program fills this in when you enter the 'go to draw' number.

this is true. It does do this. At least it did on the first try.

...Realistically, I guess you'll always be wanting to wheel tickets for the first draw in the future, but I put these boxes in so that you could wheel a draw in the past just to test out some ideas and theories if you like.. I can change the defaults for these boxes so that when you start the program it will be 'preset' for the first future draw if you like....

It's OK, you don't have to change this...

But now it's time for my "idiot" questions.

1)If the program was downloaded/extracted into a "new folder", and the program itself is obviously executing/running just fine, therefore the "new folder" location is irrelevant as far as creating tickets, correct? Or not?

2)You mentioned something about I might need to install csv into Excel for the tickets to be in Excel, is that right? As it stands, the ticket data is not going into an Excel file at all. (No data - 0 bytes.). Do I need "csv" "installed" in Excel for the data to be put into Excel?

Isn't comma separated value a special software/text format that allows data to be imported into an Excel spread sheet? Is it an add-on to Excel or separate?

Do I have to write a macro to install comma separated values?? Research on the www seems to suggest that I do, I think, but it's about as clear as mud ?). My Excel reference books say nothing whatsoever about 'how to install csv'...(???).
Thanks!

 

[Snides]

1)If the program was downloaded/extracted into a "new folder", and the program itself is obviously executing/running just fine, therefore the "new folder" location is irrelevant as far as creating tickets, correct? Or not?

correct, if the program runs and the data from the draw you're playing shows up, then the program is working and you're good to go..

2)You mentioned something about I might need to install csv into Excel for the tickets to be in Excel, is that right? As it stands, the ticket data is not going into an Excel file at all. (No data - 0 bytes.). Do I need "csv" "installed" in Excel for the data to be put into Excel?

if no tickets are being produced on screen, then no tickets will go into the csv file. excel should install csv support by default when it is installed, the only way it wouldn't is if you did a custom install and told it you didn't want that feature or chose not to install 'converters and filters' in order to save disk space. I wouldn't worry about this.. if there's no tickets on screen, there won't be any in the file anyway.. I just mentioned this before because you said it wouldn't open the file at all..

The program is running through until it's complete i assume, you're not stopping it early somehow? I don't think you can without it closing itself.. I think what you should do is run the program, if you don't get any tickets produced, tell me all the settings you used. A screen shot would be nice, but not too likely based on your knowledge of computers and the restrictions imposed by this board.. So, write down all the settings on the screen and post them for me, I'll run the same settings here and see what i get..

 

[mirage]

Hello Snides, Thanks, --I have been really busy - Did take another look at program last night but will have to post either tonight if I have time or tomorrow.