Sorry, rxcnc2, but no Excel table will solve the real problem. And the real problem is that the data coming from competitions are inconsistent - names are often misspelled, names and surnames randomly swapped, sometime incomplete, the result are often incorrectly formatted, and there are plenty of other problems in the data sheets coming to AIDA. It was not such a big problem with just a handful of competitions, but with the number we have today, it is simply not manageable with Excel sheets, whatever smart they are.
You really need a software solution for this. And by a software solution I do not mean at all statistics, graphs, and other flashing gimmicks for the end-user. Of course, they will be interesting too, but that's the last priority. What's the most important is the proper data collection, avoiding of duplicate entries, misspellings, and many other errors. The solution of Freedive Central already addresses it - it is the freediver himself who creates his account, and that only once for all competitions. So duplicates are automatically avoided by that. It saves work to the organizers as well to AIDA, because the data does not need to be re-typed at any point. If we have such a system that is really connected to the ranking database, it will be perfectly simple and easy to use, while relatively foolproof, and avoiding big majority of mistakes and data inconsistency. And we need that organizer, judges, or officials of national AIDA branches have the access to the system in real-time, and that they can enter and modify data. Of course, certain safety, authorizations and certifications need to take place there to avoid abuse or improper data handling.
The best solution would be having a complete system that will be used directly at the competition in real time, so that the data does not need to be re-typed, exported, emailed, or otherwise transmitted. They will be simply in there since the very beginning. Saving much time, work, and hassle, and avoiding errors, while allowing the community to see the results live.
You really need a software solution for this. And by a software solution I do not mean at all statistics, graphs, and other flashing gimmicks for the end-user. Of course, they will be interesting too, but that's the last priority. What's the most important is the proper data collection, avoiding of duplicate entries, misspellings, and many other errors. The solution of Freedive Central already addresses it - it is the freediver himself who creates his account, and that only once for all competitions. So duplicates are automatically avoided by that. It saves work to the organizers as well to AIDA, because the data does not need to be re-typed at any point. If we have such a system that is really connected to the ranking database, it will be perfectly simple and easy to use, while relatively foolproof, and avoiding big majority of mistakes and data inconsistency. And we need that organizer, judges, or officials of national AIDA branches have the access to the system in real-time, and that they can enter and modify data. Of course, certain safety, authorizations and certifications need to take place there to avoid abuse or improper data handling.
The best solution would be having a complete system that will be used directly at the competition in real time, so that the data does not need to be re-typed, exported, emailed, or otherwise transmitted. They will be simply in there since the very beginning. Saving much time, work, and hassle, and avoiding errors, while allowing the community to see the results live.
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