A Cato newbie seeks basic advice

sporr · 03-18-2004, 09:00 PM

Alright, alright. I'm getting off my lazy ass and getting this thing set up for our league. Now, is it better to use the Cato V4 program for our OOTP4 league files or should I convert them all to OOTP5 and use Cato V5 only?

A.J. Holz · 03-19-2004, 09:00 AM

I haven't tried this to verify it, but you *should* be able to:

1.) Use CatoBase v4 for your OOTP4 files, import whatever v4 files you have into the CatoBase database (I just like saying that).
2.) Once you're done with the v4 files, open the database file in CatoBase version 5.3.1. It should upgrade your existing data and allow you to add subsequent seasons of OOTP5 data.

It's supposed to work, but I've never tried it. This would save you the hassle of upgrading all of your v4 end-of-season files to v5.

Hammer755 · 03-19-2004, 10:28 AM

What AJ said.

It is really beneficial to use the Cato V4 on the seasons that were played in OOTP4 and Cato V5 on the seasons that were played in OOTP5. You can use Cato5 on OOTP4 seasons converted into OOTP5, but the HTML is created differently in converted seasons, and you lose some of the functionality from Cato doing it that way.

The USBA Cato is done exactly this way, with Cato4 used in OOTP4 seasons and Cato5 in OOTP5 seasons.

sporr · 03-19-2004, 11:24 AM

Thanks guys. Next question: How much time should I plan to set aside to get this set up? We are into our 9th season.

Killebrew · 03-19-2004, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sporr
Thanks guys. Next question: How much time should I plan to set aside to get this set up? We are into our 9th season.

Depends on your system speed - if you have a fast system the process is considerably faster. For importing 1 season (you have to do each season separately) I would say 20 minutes (count the OOTP html output and the CSV Exporter output), then add another 5-10 minutes of safety checks and/or edits in case your leagues has had team name or abbreviation changes or relocation. Then another 5 minutes of manually inserting the award winners for the year, that means about 35 minutes per year assuming no data errors. After all 9 years are imported the Catobase html page output can take anywhere from 3-8 hours so the entire process for 9 years might take 8-13 hours, again assuming no data errors.

Along the way it would be wise (IMO) to make clearly marked backups of the yearly html and CSV files as wel as a MDB (the access DB that Catobase uses) backup at the end of each years import.

sporr · 03-19-2004, 12:31 PM

Thank you sir.

Hammer755 · 03-19-2004, 01:47 PM

Shane,

Killebrew is pretty spot on with the time estimations, and I can't stress enough what he said - Make a backup of your Access Database after every season. Chances are you'll run into at least a couple of errors in the middle of churning a season and you'll have to go back to your previous backup, which is far better than having to start over completely.

What would really reduce your time would be to plan everything out before going into Cato. Depending on the customization of your league, this could be easy or difficult.

For example, do you vote on All-Stars/Awards or do you let the CPU to pick them? If the CPU picks them, there is no problem, as Cato will allow you to import them from the HTML files with one click. If the league votes, you probably want to have all that information neatly summarized before you start into the process, as you will have to hand-enter all award winners. Even if you don't vote on awards, there are a couple of awards in Cato that aren't in OOTP, such as Manager of the Year and Fireman Award that you'll have to consider.

Since OOTP4 didn't award Gold Gloves, do you want to fill in the blanks in the OOTP4 seasons, or just leave them blank? Again, if you leave them blank, it's not a problem, but if you want them for all years, you must round up that data. In the USBA, the whole idea of the Gold Glove was scrapped in favor of a 'Silver Slugger'-type offensive award at each position. But I had to go back and create one for each of the past seasons as well.

I have a very detailed multi-tab Excel spreadsheet that I use for the USBA that allows me to keep all the data gathered and summarized in one spot so that I don't have to round up multiple locations when it comes time to update. You're more than welcome to it if you want me to send you a copy.

sporr · 03-19-2004, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hammer755
I have a very detailed multi-tab Excel spreadsheet that I use for the USBA that allows me to keep all the data gathered and summarized in one spot so that I don't have to round up multiple locations when it comes time to update. You're more than welcome to it if you want me to send you a copy.

Thanks for the advice. Luckily I have just such a spreadsheet for our league that I have been using to update all of the player and league history text files each year. That'll make this process a lot quicker it sounds like. I knew my anal nature would come in handy someday.

treedom · 03-19-2004, 04:30 PM

i have two batch scripts which i use to automate the process...they make it all 100 times faster and easier...

the first is to save a year...i type in 'save 1907' and it pulls all the needed files from the lg directory and a set directory where the reports are...runs the csv utility...and saves everything to a '1907' folder in a backup directory...

the other is to feed a year into cato...so typing 'go 1907' will pull out everything out of the backup directory for that year, and put everything where cato wants it...it even launches the cato app for me...

so basically, when i end a season, i output the reports, pop open a command prompt...type save 1907, then go 1907 and next thing i know, CatoBase is right in front of me, ready to slurp in the data...

if you would like these scripts, please let me know...they are quite tiny in size...the only caveat is that you'd have to go through them and change the directories to suit your own setup...

Killebrew · 03-19-2004, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by treedom
i have two batch scripts which i use to automate the process...they make it all 100 times faster and easier...

the first is to save a year...i type in 'save 1907' and it pulls all the needed files from the lg directory and a set directory where the reports are...runs the csv utility...and saves everything to a '1907' folder in a backup directory...

the other is to feed a year into cato...so typing 'go 1907' will pull out everything out of the backup directory for that year, and put everything where cato wants it...it even launches the cato app for me...

so basically, when i end a season, i output the reports, pop open a command prompt...type save 1907, then go 1907 and next thing i know, CatoBase is right in front of me, ready to slurp in the data...

if you would like these scripts, please let me know...they are quite tiny in size...the only caveat is that you'd have to go through them and change the directories to suit your own setup...

Yes yes - I'd love to see them - I'll PM you with an email addie if that is ok.

treedom · 03-19-2004, 04:52 PM

not a problem

...though you'd have to wait till i get home...don't have them handy here at work...

crackpott · 03-20-2004, 01:16 AM

I think you should contact Jeff to include them in the zip or something.

03-18-2004, 09:00 PM	#1
sporr Global Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Muscatine, IA Posts: 8,277	A Cato newbie seeks basic advice Alright, alright. I'm getting off my lazy ass and getting this thing set up for our league. Now, is it better to use the Cato V4 program for our OOTP4 league files or should I convert them all to OOTP5 and use Cato V5 only?

03-19-2004, 09:00 AM	#2
A.J. Holz All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 650	I haven't tried this to verify it, but you should be able to: 1.) Use CatoBase v4 for your OOTP4 files, import whatever v4 files you have into the CatoBase database (I just like saying that). 2.) Once you're done with the v4 files, open the database file in CatoBase version 5.3.1. It should upgrade your existing data and allow you to add subsequent seasons of OOTP5 data. It's supposed to work, but I've never tried it. This would save you the hassle of upgrading all of your v4 end-of-season files to v5. __________________ NABA - Tijuana Toros / Commish ORB - Oakland Athletics (former owner) MBBA - Seattle Storm JOBL - Grand Forks Varmints (former owner) FIBB - Chicago Fire TMBU - Tulsa Tomcats (former owner) ACL - Oakland A's (former owner) ACB - Rockville Superbas

03-19-2004, 01:47 PM	#7
Hammer755 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 2,348	Shane, Killebrew is pretty spot on with the time estimations, and I can't stress enough what he said - Make a backup of your Access Database after every season. Chances are you'll run into at least a couple of errors in the middle of churning a season and you'll have to go back to your previous backup, which is far better than having to start over completely. What would really reduce your time would be to plan everything out before going into Cato. Depending on the customization of your league, this could be easy or difficult. For example, do you vote on All-Stars/Awards or do you let the CPU to pick them? If the CPU picks them, there is no problem, as Cato will allow you to import them from the HTML files with one click. If the league votes, you probably want to have all that information neatly summarized before you start into the process, as you will have to hand-enter all award winners. Even if you don't vote on awards, there are a couple of awards in Cato that aren't in OOTP, such as Manager of the Year and Fireman Award that you'll have to consider. Since OOTP4 didn't award Gold Gloves, do you want to fill in the blanks in the OOTP4 seasons, or just leave them blank? Again, if you leave them blank, it's not a problem, but if you want them for all years, you must round up that data. In the USBA, the whole idea of the Gold Glove was scrapped in favor of a 'Silver Slugger'-type offensive award at each position. But I had to go back and create one for each of the past seasons as well. I have a very detailed multi-tab Excel spreadsheet that I use for the USBA that allows me to keep all the data gathered and summarized in one spot so that I don't have to round up multiple locations when it comes time to update. You're more than welcome to it if you want me to send you a copy. Last edited by Hammer755; 03-19-2004 at 01:51 PM.

03-19-2004, 04:30 PM	#9
treedom Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2002 Location: Transylvania Posts: 2,900	i have two batch scripts which i use to automate the process...they make it all 100 times faster and easier... the first is to save a year...i type in 'save 1907' and it pulls all the needed files from the lg directory and a set directory where the reports are...runs the csv utility...and saves everything to a '1907' folder in a backup directory... the other is to feed a year into cato...so typing 'go 1907' will pull out everything out of the backup directory for that year, and put everything where cato wants it...it even launches the cato app for me... so basically, when i end a season, i output the reports, pop open a command prompt...type save 1907, then go 1907 and next thing i know, CatoBase is right in front of me, ready to slurp in the data... if you would like these scripts, please let me know...they are quite tiny in size...the only caveat is that you'd have to go through them and change the directories to suit your own setup... __________________ A rake and a roustabout.

03-19-2004, 04:52 PM	#11
treedom Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2002 Location: Transylvania Posts: 2,900	not a problem ...though you'd have to wait till i get home...don't have them handy here at work... __________________ A rake and a roustabout.

03-19-2004, 10:28 AM	#3
Hammer755 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 2,348	What AJ said. It is really beneficial to use the Cato V4 on the seasons that were played in OOTP4 and Cato V5 on the seasons that were played in OOTP5. You can use Cato5 on OOTP4 seasons converted into OOTP5, but the HTML is created differently in converted seasons, and you lose some of the functionality from Cato doing it that way. The USBA Cato is done exactly this way, with Cato4 used in OOTP4 seasons and Cato5 in OOTP5 seasons.

03-19-2004, 11:24 AM	#4
sporr Global Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Muscatine, IA Posts: 8,277	Thanks guys. Next question: How much time should I plan to set aside to get this set up? We are into our 9th season.

03-19-2004, 12:31 PM	#6
sporr Global Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Muscatine, IA Posts: 8,277	Thank you sir.

03-20-2004, 01:16 AM	#12
crackpott Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 2,961	I think you should contact Jeff to include them in the zip or something. __________________ Abandoned Planet - Check it out. The photos don't suck anymore.