FIXTURE FOR EZYTIP
WHERE CAN I GET THE FIXTURE?
From the AFL
The official AFL fixture is available from http://afl.com.au then click on Fixture then follow the links to the 2008 premiership season fixture download in either PDF format or Excel format. Alternatively you can also find the fixture at www.realfooty.com.au and look for the link to the Fixture. The fixture is now also available in hard copy at most newsagents, etc.
Other Fixtures
The fixture used by Ezytip is very similar to the fixture used by the Kirby Footy Tipping program. (www.kirbyfooty.com). I have an excel spreadsheet with a macro that can automatically convert from the Kirby Footy fixture format to the Ezytip Footy fixture format. Here is the link to the spreadsheet which includes some instructions:
http://home.iprimus.com.au/footytipping/convertfixture.xls
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO ENTER THE FIXTURE?
All up it should take about an hour or maybe two to enter and check the fixture. Less for quick touch typists or if you can obtain the fixture in a similar format to the Ezytip format.
NAME AND FORMAT OF FIXTURE FILE
The fixture used by Ezytip Footy Tipping must be a comma separated file called fixture_8.csv in the folder where Ezytip footy tipping (2008 version) is installed. To open this file in Notepad, login as the Administrator and then click on the Setup Menu and choose Create / Show Fixture (located at bottom of Setup menu) and type in the matches.
Alternatively to create the fixture in Microsoft Excel, open Explorer, navigate to the folder where Ezytip footy tipping (2008 version) is installed and then double click on the file called fixture_8. Type in the matches and when you save the file in Excel please ensure that you save it in Comma Separated format (not Excel format). The advantage of doing it in Excel is that you don't have to type the comma's.
Each match in the fixture file must be entered on a separate line in the format round_no,match_no,date,home_team,away_team,ground_abbrev,night_or_day,margin_match
Each field must be seperated by a comma and there must not be any spaces before or after comma's.
Below is a description of each field in the fixture file:
round_no a number between 1 and 22.
match_no a number between 1 and 8 corresponding to the order of that match in the round. Must be in order.
date numeric day of the month, then a dash or backslash, then the first 3 characters of the month (eg. 7-Apr or 14-May). Will also accept numeric month (1 digit month only) (eg 7-4 or 14-5).
home_team team playing as the home team for the match. Use team names as shown in the example below.
away_team team playing as the away team for the match. Use team names as shown in the example below.
ground_abbrev abbreviation of the ground where the match is being played. Must not be more than 3 characters. See bottom of page for full list of ground abbreviations.
night_or_day single uppercase character (D = Day match or Early Day Match, N = Night Match, T = Twilight Match).
margin_match optional. Used to indicate the Deciding match in each round if using point margin to decide winners. Yes (or Y) if margin game otherwise leave blank or No. If left blank for all matches in the round the 1st match is used.
EXAMPLE OF FIXTURE (please use team names as shown in example below)
An Example of how the first 2 rounds of a fixture might look (note: example is not this year) is shown below: Please note that the full 2008 fixture comprises 176 games (22 rounds * 8 games) so therefore the fixture should have 177 lines in total including the first line which must be present.
round_no,match_no,date,home_team,away_team,ground_abbrev,night_or_day,margin_match
1,1,25-Mar,Richmond,Collingwood,MCG,N,Yes
1,2,26-Mar,Hawthorn,Melbourne,MCG,D
1,3,26-Mar,Fremantle,Carlton,S,D
1,4,26-Mar,St Kilda,Geelong,TD,N
1,5,26-Mar,Brisbane Lions,Port Adelaide,G,N
1,6,27-Mar,Sydney,Essendon,SCG,D
1,7,27-Mar,Kangaroos,Adelaide,MCG,D
1,8,27-Mar,Western Bulldogs,West Coast,TD,D
2,1,3-Apr,Melbourne,Richmond,TD,N
2,2,4-Apr,Collingwood,Western Bulldogs,MCG,D,Yes
2,3,4-Apr,West Coast,Port Adelaide,S,D
2,4,4-Apr,Adelaide,Brisbane Lions,AS,D
2,5,4-Apr,Essendon,St Kilda,TD,N
2,6,5-Apr,Sydney,Fremantle,SCG,D
2,7,5-Apr,Kangaroos,Geelong,MO,D
2,8,5-Apr,Hawthorn,Carlton,MCG,D
IMPORTANT: When you have finished creating the fixture run Ezytip Footy Tipping. If there are any obvious formatting problems in the csv file, Ezytip footy tipping will prompt you with a warning message. It will even tell you if a team name is not appearing in all 22 rounds. If no messages appear then select the View menu - View Future Rounds and check the fixture that you have entered against the AFL fixture. When you are happy with the fixture click on the Setup menu and select Import Fixture. Please note that once you have selected Import Fixture, whenever you edit or modify the fixture again you will have to reselect Import Fixture.
GROUND ABBREVIATIONS
AS - AAMI Stadium (Adelaide)
AU - Aurora Stadium (Launceston)
C - Carrara (Gold Coast)
G - Gabba (Brisbane)
MCG - Melbourne Cricket Ground
MO - Manuka Oval (Canberra)
S - Subiaco Oval (Perth)
SCG - Sydney Cricket Ground
SS - Skilled Stadium (Geelong)
TD - Telstra Dome (Melbourne)
TI - TIO Stadium (Darwin)
ANZ - ANZ Stadium (Sydney) - formerly Telstra Stadium