Orienteering Split Times "Progressograph"
Orienteering Split Times "Progressograph" |
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On-line Graphic Display |
NEWS. The Progressograph has been running for some 18 months now, and I'm pleased that it has attracted a good deal of interest, and more than 4000 visitors in a month at its peak. And, judging by some of the feedback I have received, has helped many people to gain a new insight into their orienteering strengths and weaknesses.
As with many such projects, the most fun comes from the creation rather than the ongoing maintenance, and I have to confess my enthusiasm for keeping up the publicity, and the many Sunday evenings spent processing results, has begun to wane a little.
But all is not lost. All the while, Dave Ryder of TVOC has had a similar system available for event organisers to provide graphical displays of their results. But I think it fair to say that without the provision of the 'service' element, only a few of the more technically adventurous organisers have taken advantage of the system. Now, however, Dave has perfected and made available an auto-upload facility, that makes submitting your results as easy as uploading them to Winsplits; and I have to say provides a superior output to the Progressograph, with variable leg lengths, a choice of baselines, instant selection and deslection, as well as other features.
So, I will happily add more results to the Progressograph if asked to do so, but otherwise recommend to you Dave's Splitsbrowser service. You can find it at http://www.splitsbrowser.org.uk
Thanks for visiting.
The table below shows available events in reverse date order, with links to the progressograph and to the official event results.
The table below shows available events. Clicking the event name will take you to the results for that event. Progressograph link is on the right.
The progressograph allows you to plot graphically your progress against others on your course. It relies on the split times published from Sport Ident e-punching events, and converts them into a visual display that will help you to see where time was lost and positions were exchanged.
There are different ways of plotting progress. For a good analysis see Ed Nash's article in Compass Sport of August 99. I have chosen to plot times relative to the fastest runner on each leg, so that even the winner is likely to show some time loss. The steeper the slope of the line, the greater the time lost against the fastest runner on that leg. The Y axis shows the cumulative number of minutes behind the imaginary ideal runner, who ran the fastest time on all legs. Control numbers are shown at equidistant intervals along the X axis. Ideally they should vary their spread according to leg length or ideal leg time, but I'm afraid the 'off the peg' graph program is not up to that - yet.
Listed above, in reverse date order, are the more recent events available. Select the adjacent hyperlink for the class(es) or course(s) that you are interested in, and you will be taken to a separate page.
You will see a drop-down list from which you must select the class you are interested in. That gives you a scrolling list of all finishers in position order. Highlight up to seven names (the graph becomes too congested after seven) that you are interested in comparing. Your selection does not have to include the winner. Use the 'shift' key when clicking to highlight a continuous span of names or the 'control' key to highlight additional discrete names. If you select more than seven only the seven highest finishers will be displayed.
Once selected, press the button to draw the graph. You can re-select and re-draw to you heart's content without re-loading.
The Graph is drawn by a Java Applet. It should not need any additional software or plugins, but bear in mind the following limitations:
The most common query I receive is that users are unable to print the graphs. Printing is certainly possible, I have produced successful prints, but to be honest success seems to depend heavily on the combination of browser and printer driver employed. An alternative approach which works for many is to capture a screen print (using the "Prt Sc" key) and paste it into your favourite image program; something like MS Photo Editor.
I would be pleased to receive any feedback you can give on whether or not you are able to print the graphs, and what browser and printer combination you are using. From November '01 I have reverted to use of a white background, which may help. If you have any knowledge in this area, or advice to share, please let me know.
Observations or comments to rpownall@dp.powernet.co.uk please.
I can process the splits from events that are published in standard Sport Ident format on the Web, or provided directly by the event organiser. I can also process splits from Mike Napier's results software. I will try to include all the major UK events, but if results are published in a non-standard format, and I can't get the standard results file from the organisers, then I can't do it. If you would like me to include an event that you can find the splits for, then just send me the file or a link to where they are published and I'll be happy to oblige.
You might want to point people here from your results pages as an added service. If you let me know in advance I will try and get your event processed as soon as results are available (most people seem to look up their results within a day or two of the event). Either I can get the results from the published pages, or alternatively send me a standard Sport Ident results format file. I will, of course, include a link back to your results page. I haven't got a system for Score events I'm afraid.
| The Progressograph is getting popular: | 2378 visits in October 2001 |
| 3372 visits in November 2001 | |
| 4054 visits in February 2002 |
Spread the word...
| Sport Ident Software homepage | |
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British Orienteering Federation |
| BOF Ranking Lists | |
| Lots of other Orienteering links | |
Richard Pownall (SMOC) rpownall@dp.powernet.co.uk
Feedback, comments on useability or ideas for improvement are most welcome.
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