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Bid Buddy
Frequently Asked Questions
1)
Will Bid Buddy work with ATLAS II?
In a word..YES!! Atlas II is simply a new
method to access the ATLAS II website which is very similar to the one we
currently access through the compuserve gateway. The best news for BB
users is that you will longer need your SecureID token. That is good news
because it will allow me to do things with BB that I haven't been able to do
previously. I believe I will be able to offer you auto jumpseat booking,
and automatic pattern download.
More details on these new capabilities will be forthcoming. And I'm still working to get
direct bidscript transfer into the ATLAS bid editor.
2)
When I go to the
schedule generator, the [Create Schedules] button isn't enabled (it's greyed
out). How do I get Bid Buddy to generate schedules?
The thing to
remember about the schedule generator is that is uses only "Bookmarked" patterns
when generating schedules. If you haven't bookmarked any patterns, then the
[Create Schedules] button won't be enabled. Normally, you "Bookmark" trips when doing
pattern or layover analysis, but you can also bookmark trips by checking the
check box labled "bookmark" when any pattern is selected in the pattern list.
3)
How do I limit
carry-out in the schedule generator?
The answer is very easily. Simply mark
the first day off in the new bidmonth that you want to exclude from flying. For
example, if you don't want carry-out past the 2nd day of the new bidmonth, mark
the 3rd day of the next bidmonth "OFF" in the schedule generator. Remember, you
can mark days off in the next bid month by clicking to the right of the day
number (the green area), even though the day number itself is disabled. Once
the day is marked as off, Bid Buddy will prevent any carry out that overlaps
that day. You can also select trips in the Pattern Analysis Screen that
limit carry-out to the number of days you specify. Furthermore, BB will
now show the carry-out value for each SG schedule. In more recent versions
of BB, you also have the option to limit carry-out credit in the SG directives.
4)
How can I sort my
bookmarked schedules in the schedule generator?
Simply save the bookmarked schedules to
area 1,2,3 or 4, and then recall them. When you recall them, the previously
bookmarked schedules are displayed in rank order and only the schedules you
bookmarked are displayed. (All the others are discarded.) You can save up to 4
different sets of bookmarked schedules, and each set can have different
bookmarked trips and different days off.
5)
I've downloaded
patterns and bookmarked schedules, but Bid Buddy won't generate any trips.
What's wrong?
Chances are that you processed patterns
for the wrong month by selecting a pattern zip file for a month other than the
month you wanted. You'll know this immediately if you look at the flight
calendar and see that trip operating days aren't shown on the calendar for any
trip that you select. Make sure that you select correct zip file (in the
bidmonth data form) for the month you have chosen. The best way to do that is
to download your patterns to the same place every month and overwrite the
previous month's zip file. Remember, you'll need to "clear the pattern file" in
the bidmonth data form before processing the correct pattern zip file.
Beginning with BB6.1 Rev k, BB will automatically select the correct pattern
zip file after you download it. The only condition is that you must download it
to the same place as the previous month, or into the "C:\Bidbuddy6.0\Patterns" folder.
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