Internationalization

v3.0.0.39 has been released as a beta version, it has an improved purchase order model where parts are added more intellegently and also with possibility to add or change order details for each supplier. You can even decide if you want the order form written in English or translated to your own language.

I have been in contact with all my translators and sent out the material to be translated so shortly there will be versions in German, Italian and Norwegian too. Most likely I will have to modify the user interface to make place for longer strings but that's no big deal.

Getting closer to Christmas...

Last week I released beta version 3.0.0.37 to a few Swedish users to get some feedback. Fortunately Charles Wessman was one of them and he has pointed out a few errors in the car version and also made me add some nice new features.
The latest beta release is now v3.0.0.38 and what remains is essentially a more flexible way to create a purchase order.

Translators
I am also looking for translators, it is about 1300 strings to be translated and I need help with the following languages: Spanish, French, Finnish and Danish.
Translators salary will consist of a free license after the work is done! Please contact me at torkel@tracktimer.com if you can assist (only the program shall be translated, the documentation will still be in english).
I already got German, Italian and Norwegian translators and I will start to feed them with data shortly so they can begin to work.

The new maintenance page that consists of part status, maintenance log and suppliers. Note also the Stock group check box and the two new columns Supplier and Req. Qty. Red parts has qty zero, blue parts has qty < req. qty. By using the supplier data Tracktimer creates purchase orders for each supplier ready to be either sent as a telefax or as e-mail.

Screenshot of the new detailed suspension page for motorcycles

Screenshot of the new basic suspension page for motorcycles

Just a little bit more...

The suspension setup possibilities for motorcycles are now hugely improved thanks to input from Espen at www.esp1tech.com. A place for everything, just as it should be.
I have also taken the plunge to create an "intelligent" stock function, a part status group (or more) can now be assigned as a "Stock group" and when it is two new columns are shown: Required Qty and Supplier. Together with the new supplierdatabase this means that you can easily create reports and buy orders to be either faxed or e-mailed directly to the supplier. All items where qty is less than required qty are also indicated in the program.
This is also the best place to enter all inspection intervals, task lists and such since an item in a stock group can have a qty count of zero without being removed. Think of the stock group as the complete part list from where you move parts to other groups.
Most of this has already been implemented, what remains is the supplier database and the reports.

Ooops!

I noticed zero visitors for two days in a row. When I checked I had forgot to renew the domain name tracktimer.com... :-( But now it has been payed for so in a few hours the site should be up and running again.
No more news about Tracktimer unfortunately, August has been a very busy month "real world wise".

Vacation is over

Now back home after four weeks of vacation. The first week was spent almost 100% on finishing the v3.0 for test but the other three weeks have been completely computer free but not racing free! I've been racing in Gelleråsen (11th place...) and also practiced at the brand new track Gotland Ring. This track will be longer than Assen next year! Right now it's 3200 m long and is an extremely nice track, check out http://www.gotlandring.com for more information.

I have received some e-mails with questions and bug finds from v3.0.0.33. I will answer all these in a few days and hopefully also have a new improved v3.0.0.34 ready soon.

This weekend I will go to Anderstorp and have a look at the European Championship in roadracing. I will also have a small stand to demonstrate Tracktimer, please stop by and say hello if you see me.

v3.0 is on it's way!

Yesterday I sent out download information for v3.0.0.32 to customers and sponsored users. One bug report so far that has been taken cared of. Updates will be found at the same place starting this evening.

The evening is here!
Version 3.0.0.33 is now available, it contains a bug fix regarding first usage date for tire list and cosmetic changes to the jetting guru.

This is how the motorcycle setup screen looks on computers running Windows XP.

Basic versions

Well, since I have changed the format and now store the setups together with the sessions I cannot have the limit of one setup for each track as I had before. The "new" basic version will contain only the original core functionality of Tracktimer, the sessions and the setups.
There will be no Part Status and no Maintenance functionality, just the tabs Actual Session, Setup, Tracks and Completed Sessions. A detailed list of the differences will of course be available when I release v3.0.

My Aprilia RS250 one hour later...

My Aprilia RS250

Less is more

In theory the concept of having separate session and setup files are good. But in reality it is not very good. Since you remember a setup by the session it was used in it is easier to refer to a setup as "the one I used in the first qualifying session here last year" rather than "the setup named blablabla". Also if you use the same setup and the only thing that has changed is the mileage on the tires it feels rather stupid to create a new setup just because of this. Not to mention that without this connection session files can be moved around into subdirectories as you wish without having the dependency of a setup file to bother about.

Because of this the v3.0 will be a slightly different animal regarding setups:

• When you prepare a setup for a coming session it will be saved as an Incomplete session, not as a setup


• The definition of an incomplete session is a session without lap times


• All incomplete sessions are stored separately, these can be seen at Sessions-Incomplete


• When you enter lap times to an incomplete session it changes to a complete session


• You can of course open only the setup part from any session, modify it and reuse it in another session, this has not changed


• All your existing sessions are merged with their corresponding setup files and these setup files are removed


• Part setups remain as before

And yes, it will now take me even longer to get the v3.0 out, sorry about this but I feel that the changes done are so important that they cannot wait.

Aircraft technology coming up!

The part status function has been completely redone, now there are replacement limits and inspection interval limits with the possibility to add a list of tasks to do during inspection. Create a report for the parts to be inspected, print it out and hand it to a mechanic. It comes complete with a list of tasks to do and also a field to sign when done. This is taken directly from the aircraft industry and if it works there it will work for racing too! Thanks to my team mate Fredrik Dahlgren for this information!
A few more beta releases has been handed out and I haven't heard any complaints yet so it's looking good.

World Championships SBK and SS600 starts next weekend!

And I know that some of the teams are going to use Tracktimer, that feels good!

A Norwegian translation is on its way too so the next version will be more multilingual than ever! I have also written about half of the documentation (this is really boring stuff FYI) and try to work on that a little day by day. Maybe it's just me but it is so much more fun to create something new than to describe for others how to use that "new" feature... Hopefully the result will be good anyway!

I have received new very nice Swedish track maps from Magnus Thomé, administrator of the extremely popular Swedish car site http://www.rejsa.nu. These will be available from the homepage later.

I also want to apologise for not updating this blog as often as I had planned, I will try to do it at least once a month from now..