BBOtoXML is used to generate a USEBIO format XML file for a bridge event. The event data can be imported from a CSV file produced by the BBO Extractor Chrome extension, or from a USEBIO XML file generated by another scoring program or online bridge platform.

It supports player name conversion, masterpoint generation, score editing, and has the capability to merge multiple sections and/or sessions. Uses include merging online and face to face events.

For more information, help, and contact details see the BBO Extractor website.

• XML CREATION
• IMPORT/EDIT/MERGE CSV/XML
• SCORE EDITING
• RELEASE NOTES

XML CREATION

1. Enter values in the fields where required. The Club name, Club ID Number, Contact Name, scoring method and master points settings are stored by the browser and are displayed when the app is restarted. Also NBU specific fields are stored by the browser, like UMS Charge Rate (EBU only), CBAI Club Factor (CBAI specific), Master Factor and ABF Controlled (ABF Specific)
   
   
• Club Name - this is any name you like
  
  
• Club ID Number - if your club is affiliated to a bridge union, enter the union club ID
  
  
• Contact Name - optional, enter contact name and optionally any contact details. This will be displayed on Bridgewebs as Scorer.
  
  
• UMS Charge Rate - This is specific to EBU.
  
• 10 normal code for clubs (20 for county)
  
• 11 teaching / supervised play, no MP
  
• 12 MPs but no NGS


• 50 Affiliated/associated blue-pointed event.


• 60 Licensed county green-pointed event.


• CBAI Club Factor - This is specific to CBAI. You can select the values relevant to your club - 4,5 or 6.
  
  
• 'Master Factor' and 'ABF controlled' check box - This is specific to ABF.
  
• Master Factor can have values from 0 to 4
  
• ABF Controlled, used in ABF controlled events. If checked, the placing awards are allocated according to special master point rules.


• Scoring method
  • No Neuberg, or matches BBO Scoring - Turning off Neuberg simulates manual scoring. If the event originated from BBO Extractor then BBOtoXML will use BBO scoring, which is slightly different, but the scores will match those on the BBO website
    
  • Enhanced scoring (Neuberg) - higher precision calculation. Neuberg formula used when calculating results.
    
    
2. Select the bridge union and the master point scale. By default it will be set to 'Club' or 'manual', if the scales are not available yet.
   If 'manual' set master points boxes, North/South for one winner, North/South and East/West for two winner.
   
   
   • 0 or blank = no master points will be calculated
     
     
   • Free format strings of master points can be used as in these examples
     • enter these manually perhaps for CBAI master points, EW equal fourth.
       
     • where you don't want to allocate any master points to NS1. Note the leading comma.
     • an example of ACBL masterpoints.
       NS display on Bridgewebs will be
   
   
3. Click on 'Load Names' button, if you wish to convert BBO usernames to real names and optionally include NBO numbers. The names file will be loaded and used during the conversion to xml. The names file has to be in a prescribed format - see here for a sample.
   
   
4. Click on 'Create XML file' - this creates the XML file for upload to Bridgewebs, EBU/UMS, EBUscore and other scoring programs, NBOs and results websites. It will also pass the BBO bidding and play information to Bridgewebs.
   
   
5. When conversion has completed, this additional information is shown:
   
   
   • Event Date - the tournament date; Event Type - e.g. Pairs, Teams etc.; Event Title.
     
     
   • BBO Event Link is the link to your BBO tournament results page. You might wish to put it on your club website result page as a link back to BBO where players can see the original BBO results. Highlight it and copy it (CTRL+C) then paste it to the Bridgewebs calendar information area - see the website below.
     

IMPORT/EDIT/MERGE CSV/XML

BBOtoXML supports section merging and session merging for CSV or USEBIO XML files, except for events of type Individual. Session merging is only possible if the file contains board definitions from which a PBN file can be created. CSV files originating from BBO Extractor will always contain board definitions. USEBIO XML files may or may not do so, depending on their origin and how they were produced. The text below refers to CSV files, but the same applies to USEBIO XML file, or a mixture of the two file types, subject to the limitations noted in this paragraph.

Merging Events

• Merging Pairs/Swiss Pairs Sections
  
  It is possible to merge two or more Pairs or Swiss Pairs BBO tournaments, providing that they are components of a multi-section event. This is possible if:
  
  
  1. They all use the same scoring type (matchpoints or cross imps)
  2. If boards definitions are present then all the tournaments being merged must play the same set of boards.
  3. No player name appears in more than one of the tournaments.
  4. For Swiss Pairs number of boards per round has to be the same across all sections.
  
  
  BBOtoXML will report an error, and will not do the merge, if any of the above conditions is not met.
  
  Follow this procedure:
  
  1. Unless importing existing USEBIO XML files, run BBO Extractor to produce a CSV file and PBN file for each tournament (all PBN files will of course have the same content, as each section played the same boards)
  2. Run BBOtoXML. Select "Import/Edit/Merge CSV/XML" to load the first tournament. Select "Merge CSV/XML" to load the second tournament.
  3. Repeat step 2 for all tournaments that are to be merged.
  4. Two new buttons will appear - "Create PBN" and "Save CSV" (however, for merging sections you do not need to generate a new PBN file because you already have a file from step 1 that contains all the boards)
  5. You can edit the title of the combined event and the date
  6. Use the "Save As CSV" button to create a CSV file for the combined event
  7. Click on Go Back to go back to the main BBOtoXML screen.
  8. Click on "Create XML..." and select the CSV of the merged event to generate the XML for the merged event
  
  There is no constraint on the number of sections, tables, boards, i.e. several Rounds or Sessions can be created following the above procedure, which can then be merged into one multi-session event.
  
  
• Merging Teams Matches
  
  A number of csv files belonging to a single teams match can be merged, if they play the same hands and player names are different in each match.
  Thus merged csv files form one Round.
  Csv files for several separate rounds can be created following these rules. All files for different rounds can be then merged into one multiple team csv file, provided that player names are the same across all sessions, number of boards per round is the same across all sessions and hand records are different.
  
  Follow this procedure:
  
  
  1. Use "Import/Edit/Merge CSV/XML" button to load a CSV file (from BBO Extractor) for Round 1 into BBOtoXML
  2. Use the "Merge CSV/XML" button to merge the remaining Round 1 CSV files
  3. Use "Save As CSV" to create a merged CSV for Round 1, then "Go Back" to return to the main BBOtoXML screen.
  4. Repeat Steps 1 to 3 to create more CSV files corresponding to the remaining Rounds.
  5. Now load the merged CSV file for Round 1, and merge the merged CSV files for Rounds 2, 3, and so on
  6. Edit the title of the resulting CSV and save it, then use the "Create PBN" button to create a merged PBN file for the whole event
  7. Return to the main screen and use "Create XML file" to create the XML file for upload
  
  
  The simplest case of teams merging are two halves of a league match. First half is round 1 and the second half is round 2. They can be merged following the procedure described above.
  
  Several multiple teams events can be merged in a similar fashion.
  
  Multisession links will be handleed automatically. Teams of more than 2 pairs will be created if necessary.
  
  
• Merging Swiss Teams Matches
  
  Follow the procedure above for merging the individual teams matches. Once you have merged all rounds to a combined event, change 'Event Type' from TEAMS to SWISS_TEAMS and save the csv file.
  
  

Match Scoring Type and VP Scales

1. Swiss Pairs
   
   After the extractor run for a swiss pairs event, BBOtoXML deduces it is a swiss pairs event from the word swiss in the title.
   If the word Swiss does not appear in the title, the event type can be changed to Swiss Pairs on the BBOtoXML Import screen followed by saving the CSV.
   BBOtoXML gets the board scoring type from BBO, which is either imps or match points.
   It then by default assumes that the overall / match scoring is in VPs
   The match scoring can be changed from VPs to Percentage or IMPs and VPs via the Import/Edit/Merge screen:
   1. Click on this menu item and select your csv file extracted from BBO.
   2. Change Match Scoring Type from VPs to PERCENTAGE or IMPS and save csv.
   3. Click back to go back to the main screen.
   4. Click on the Create XML file and select your saved csv.
   
   For XIMP Swiss Pairs choose VP scale between WBF Continuous and WBF Discrete. WBF continuous is the default. XIMPS are divided by sqrt(rc/2), before they are converted to VPs.
   For matchpointed Swiss Pairs, only the WBF discrete VP scale applies.
   
   
2. For TEAMS Match Scoring Type can be IMPS or VPS, and if VPS, VP scale can be WBF continuous or WBF Discrete.
   
   
3. For Swiss Teams Match Scoring Type is always VPS and there is a choice of three VP scales. BBO VP20 is normally used for Swiss Teams flash version when you want to match BBO scoring.
   
   

Adjustments

Use the Import/Edit/Merge button to load the CSV file. At the bottom of the resulting display you will see the ranking list. To the right of every entry on the ranking list there is a text box where an adjustment may be entered. The adjustment value must be a positive or negative number and is added to the overall score for that pair, or team. The units of the adjustment value are the same as the units of the overall score, except for percentage scoring, in which case the adjustment is entered in matchpoints.

The effect of the adjustment can be seen on the ranking list order as soon as you hit Tab or Enter, or click anywhere on the screen outside the adjustment box. If you make a mistake you can clear the adjustment by entering 0 or clearing the field. Click "Save As CSV" to save the file, with adjustments, then go back to the main screen and use Create XML to generate the xml file.

Handicaps

Handicaps are available only for matchpointed pairs and matchpointed individual events.
The handicaps can be added either to the csv results from BBO or to the xml results from RealBridge or other playing platforms.
To add handicaps to results:

• Click on 'Import/Edit/Merge' and select csv/xml result file.
• Click on 'Handicaps' on the menu and select a handicap file.The ranking list with the handicaps applied is displayed.
• Click on 'Save as CSV' and Go Back to the main screen. You can create an xml file there, containing handicaps, as usual.

The names in the handicap files must match the names in the results files. If csv file from BBO is used, you need to click on 'Load Names' on the main screen before applying handicaps.

The resulting xml file can be uploaded to EBU/UMS and other NBOs, in which case handicaps will be ignored.

Handicap Files The handicaps files are typically produced by scoring programs like EBUscore, ScoreBridge, BridgeScore. Handicaps can also be calculated and downloaded from Bridgewebs. Handicap file has to be in a prescribed format - see here for an example. Also see here for a handicaps file based on NGS%. When handicaps are based on NGS%, BBOtoXML will calculate an average NGS for the event and then the handicap will be the difference between this average and the NGS% in the handicap file.

Bridgewebs display Handicapped results can be displayed on Bridgewebs in two different formats, depending on your website settings. In one case there is a separate 'Handicap' tab and in the other case handicaps are shown on the same screen as the normal results.

If you want to clear previously applied handicaps, click on Clear Handicaps on the menu.

Substitutions

Some pair numbers map to more than two players due to substitutions. BBO Extractor resolves the mapping whenever possible and the resolved substitutions are displayed on the Import/Edit/Merge CSV screen. The first name pair shown for each pair number is the name pair currently on the ranking list. Click on a highlighted name pair to replace the current name pair in the ranking list. The name 'Gib' refers to a robot, as do names beginning with '~~'. These will always be displayed in the CSV and XML files as 'Robot' if moved to the ranking list.

If some pair names on the traveller could not be automatically related to a pair on the ranking list, a list of unresolved pairs is displayed. Follow the instructions on the screen, to manually resolve the substitutes. Choose a pair from the dropdown list that corresponds to the unresolved pair names and click 'Apply'.

For events of type Individual, the substitution list shows individual player numbers and player names rather than pair numbers and pair names

Editing Names

Clicking a name on the ranking list on the Import/Edit/Merge screen displays a dialog box allowing the name to be edited.
In the case of Teams events it sometimes occurs that an imported XML file contains the same pair of names more than once for the same team, with slightly different spellings. If the names are edited so that both pairs have the same names, BBOtoXML will ask whether the two pairs should be merged into a single pair.

SCORE EDITING

Click on Edit Scores on the Import/Edit/Merge screen to display this screen.

1. Press CTL-F, and type the first few letters of a player name, to locate a traveller line
   
   
2. The Contract,Decl,Tks,Lead,NS,EW fields are editable. Click on the field in the row that you wish to edit to move that cursor to that field. Enter a value and use Tab to move to the next field. Values may be entered in upper or lower case. The value entered is validated when the cursor moves to another field, or Enter is pressed. An invalid value is replaced with a '?'
   
   
• Contract is entered as, for example, 1N, 1Sx, 3Cxx (upper or lower case), or "P" for Pass. If NP (not played) is entered, this traveller line will be deleted
• Decl is N,S,E,W (upper or lower case)
• Tks is a number 1 to 13
• Lead is value followed by suit, e.g 7S, or TH
• NS, EW scores are calculated automatically, but an adjustment may be entered directly in these columns as follows:
• "+" converts to 60%
• "=" converts to 50%
• "-" converts to 40%
• Any whole number percentage between 0% and 99%, may be entered directly. For cross-imp pairs events the number of cross imps is calculated as
  2.0*(percentage-50.0)/10.0. For team events, the formula is 3.0*(percentage-50.0)/10.0 but fractional results are rounded to the nearest imp


3. The 'Add Row' button will add a row to a traveller, used for example if a traveller line is missing from an imported event. This function is not available for events that are scored on a match basis


4. The "Delete Traveller" button sets all contracts on the currently displayed traveller to NP (Not Played). The traveller will be removed from the event when the user clicks on "Save As CSV" or exits from the score editing screen.


5. After completing edits, click on "Save As CSV" to save the changes

RELEASE NOTES (these can also be accessed from the Help Menu)
   Version 2.0.2

1. New "Import Deal" function enables a composite PBN file to be generated for a multi-session Face to Face event. The procedure is:
• Import XML for first event & use Import Deal to import the PBN file for that event
• Save the event as a CSV.
• Go back to the main screen and repeat the above for the second event
• Merge the two saved CSV files and use "Create PBN" to generate the composite PBN. The boards in the second session will be renumbered.


2. "Import Deal" also has a second function. It can import a LIN file for a face to face event containing bidding data manually recorded on the BridgePal wireless scoring system. See here for full details