Troubleshooting Tips

• Golfsoft Company has limited customer tech support resources.  Please read the following...
  
  
• Most of the problems users have with GLS are caused by trying to make the program do something it was not designed to do...  Some problems occur because of a misunderstanding of what GLS can and cannot do.  It cannot do everything.  That would be impossible.  If it can't do something, it can't be forced to do it.  GLS works best for leagues that have set players, set teams, and a set schedule.  GLS does not work with leagues that have different players every week or if playing the round is optional.  GLS does not work well, if at all, for leagues that change partners periodically or if the players "just kind of show up when they feel like it."  GLS is not recommended for leagues where players can play any course they want or turn in the scorecard whenever they feel like it.  Also, GLS, does not handle a mixed type league where it is necessary to have different hole handicaps for different players.  Won't work!  Everyone must play the same golf course.  They can tee-off from different tees, but the hole handicaps must be the same for everyone.  GLS will not automatically calculate some types of points.  For example, some leagues award points for showing up to golf.  GLS will not calculate this automatically, however, you can manually (user-defined points) enter team or individual points as you please.  GLS will not handle leagues with 3-person teams, ONLY individual, 2-person teams, and 4-person teams are allowed.  It can't be coaxed to work for leagues with 5 or more players on a team.  In order for GLS to work properly, the course handicaps for 18-hole courses must be odd numbers 1 through 17 on the front, and even numbers 2 through 18 on the back.  For 9, 27, and 36 hole courses the handicaps holes are numbered 1 through 9 for each nine.  GLS will not accept hole handicaps that do not comply with this requirement.  There are probably many other league rules that GLS will not handle.  If you are not sure if GLS can handle your league, email us with the league specifics.  We may tell you GLS is not recommended or we may have some ideas to make it work.
  
  
• Most error messages produced by GLS only tell us one thing...  Something is not setup correctly!  Some problems occur when a user may attempt to make changes in the GLS database (i.e. deleting records or tables)... Or by editing the Windows Registry without knowing the consequences of such changes...  Another big reason for problems is trying to edit an existing league to make it work for a new league.  When it is time to start a new league, then start it from scratch.  Do not try to edit another league, by changing the number of teams, or number of weeks on schedule, etc.  It will end up taking more time and creating more problems than it's worth.
  
  Experimentation, in general, is the cause of many problems.  Experimentation is good, that's how we learn.  But when it's time to set up the league, it has to be done correctly and in order.  When a user first gets the program they of course will experiment, creating leagues and running various functions.  This is a learning period before actually setting up your league.  Expect ERRORS during this period.  After all, most of the time we do not even know who will be in the league or how many teams there will be until a day or two before the league starts.  However, we all would like to get the league setup well in advance so that we can have the schedule and first night scorecards ready to pass out.  And this creates the NUMBER 1 PROBLEM people have with GLS:  Setting up the league before knowing all the facts:  Who's in the league, How many teams, The players, etc.  They setup the league and then want to go back and change the setup once all the league information is decided.  This is very hard to resist.  Maybe we setup a league for 24 players, and 12 teams.  Then we find out there will only be 20 players and 10 teams.  So instead of creating a new league, we think we can go back and make certain changes in the database so that it will work for the new revised setup....   (Loud Buzzer Sounding...)  Wrong!  This almost always causes problems. The best thing to do is START OVER with setup, especially if the number of players or teams change..  If this is what you have attempted to do, please start a new setup and see what happens.  League set up does not take that long, maybe 10 or 20 minutes once you have all the information.  You won't have to setup the golf course again.  Do not be afraid to re-setup a league.  Most of the time the problem(s) will disappear.  Thank You.
  
  
• If GLS will not allow you to enter scores, or otherwise is "uncooperative," check the "WeeksPlayed" Field in the "Leagues" Table.  Is the number of weeks played correct? If not, edit the table.
  
  
• GLS requires that the Number of Records in the "PlayerResults" Table equals the number of Players times the Number of Weeks Played. There must be a record for each player for each week, even if that record has all zeros.  If this is not the case then find out which records are missing, from which week number.  See the next tip for more help...
  
  
• If problems occur, it is a good idea to do the last week over again… In other words "Delete Last Scores Posted ."  This action deletes all records and resets all settings for the most recent week entered.  Access this feature through the "Edit Menu... Database... Delete..."  You can delete as many weeks as you wish using this function.  Let's say after 2 weeks you decided to change the way points are calculated or you were entering something wrong and you would like to start over...  No problem... Just delete the two weeks, make the changes to the points setup, and start over.
  
  
• The "Corrective Queries" can recalculate the critical statistics for the league.  For example, each time the Year-To-Date Report is run, GLS recalculates all points, scores, etc.  The recalculations are based on the data in the "PlayerResults" table.  If this table has correct data, then you can be assured that the Individual and Team Standings, Individual and Team Points, and Prize Winnings, are all correct.  If something does not seem correct, check this table in database mode to see if any posted scores or points are incorrect.
  
  
• If a players handicap appears incorrect...  Players handicaps are based on the data in the AdjOvePar Table for your league.  This table holds the number of strokes, after any adjustments, over par for the round.  Each player has a field header which contains the players ID number.  Each row in the table represents a week played.  There should always be the same number of rows in this table as weeks entered.  A "-99" (minus 99) in this table mean the player did not post a score for that week.  Check the data in this table to make sure they we posted correctly.  You can make changes to this table in Edit Mode.
  
  
• If problems persist, write to GolfSoft® at gls@golfsoft.com. Give a description of the problem and as many details about it as possible. A technical rep will respond by email within 24 hours at the latest, but most of the time much sooner than that....