PC Literate racing fans.....
 

I have been using a horse racing handicapping program which I wrote (using a lot of blood, sweat, & tears) some years ago and which has proven profitable over a long period of time.
But, and there is always a "but" isn't there? it was written in Qbasic, or a **************ised version of same and has a downside.
That is, it requires manual entry of the data, 5-10 mins. per race depending on nr. of starters and how quick you are on the keyboard, and output is to hard copy only, and no files are saved to the hard drive.
I am looking for someone who would be interested in taking on this project on a share basis as i think it has great potential if ease of use can be improved. I have discussed this with a friend who works in IT for one of the big 4 banks and who said it is a fairly simple thing to do, but as he works 60-80 hours a week already I can't take up his leisure (golfing) time to take it on.
No research or calculation needs to be done, thats already there, so I just need someone who can translate my Qbasic into something more modern?
I live in S.E. Melbourne and am retired so have ample time to do the "donkey work"
Input data comes in .xls format and if I can just apply it straight into the program there is money to be made picking the eyes out of every days races. I'd rather be playing golf than sitting over a PC every morning!
What I need then is a programmer with an interest in racing!
Gerry

Not sure if you have seen the work i have done in automating form import and excel files but it may be a workable idea for your system.

It imports to excel 2007-2010 and does all the calcs for you.

Take a look at the link for excel 2007-2010 below, the other file has some issues in getting earlier versions of office to work with the formulas i have created.

PC.....
 

Thanks for your interest Shaun.

Don't see any link included in your reply tho'?

Gerry

Click the first link in my signature.

PC Lit...etc
 

Shaun, I must be a bit thick or something, but apart from yur name at the top, where do I find your "signature"?
thanks again,
gerry

Gerry
If you have the source code I can help.
leave a contact, or PM.
Cheers

PC Lit...etc
 

Hi lomaca, Shaun et al....

If you care to contact me email add..

ozzy1495@gmail.com

I will endeavour to answer your questions and hopefully we can come up with a solution which will be beneficial to all.

Thanks again and have a good & winning New Year.

Gerry

If you're still looking for someone, I'm a C/C++ and Python programmer and relational database 'guru'.

You say the data comes in the form of an excel spreadsheet? Does that need to be manually compiled in any way? I'm a great believer in automating things from the very start, so automatically downloading/extracting data from websites is my thing. Python is brilliant for this.

Cheers

PC Lit...etc
 

I pay for the data which I download as required, i.e. when I feel like a bet. It comes as a .csv file which I save as an .xls file then extract the bits I need.

I then have to manually input the data to my Qbasic program which then rates the starters and produces a market priced to whatever percentage I want to work to. What I usually do is produce a 100% market and then I can either lay or back one or more selections according to whether, using Betfair, I can get (i.e. back) over the odds, or give (i.e. lay) under the odds.

I wrote the original program about 12 - 15 years ago and I have not done any updating for 10 years so am out of touch with the new programming languages, and because the manual input takes so much time (even tho' I'm retired) I have lost a bit of interest.

This program has been profitable over a long period of time, but as I say, the downside is the time taken inputting the data via the keyboard. I'm a senior cit. these days and have better things e.g. golf to do with my time.

Another member of the forum has emailed me and is being of assistance but if you want to join in, feel free to email me at the address given in an earlier post. Thanks for your interest,

Gerry

See Gerry's Tips today
 

Have received great assisstance in regard to my program and look forward to getting right back into the game......more later, but special thanks to lomaca
Gerry