The latest revision always incorporates all past updates.
Return to download/Upgrade Page
This is a very important note for those of you using BB with Windows Vista and is something I recently discovered. If you also use Windows Defender, you must add Bidbuddy6.0 to the list of programs allowed through the Windows Defender Firewall. If you do not do so, BB cannot operate correctly and you will get many error messages about corrupt files and BB will be rendered inoperative.
BB 6.77 Rev v
Includes the year 2010 bid month dates.
BB 6.77 Rev u
There are two changes in the Pattern Analysis Screen. (1) When you
select [Clear All Bkmarks], BB will ask you to confirm that you want to clear
them so you don't clear your Bookmarks accidentally. (2) BB will no longer
de-select any op days when you select trips (either from the calendar or
carry-out) that operate on multiple days. If you want to limit
the op days you have to do it manually. I recommend that you limit op days by
selecting the days off you want in the RJSG or limiting carry-out days in the
RJSG. Of course if you want to select specific op days for any trip that
operates more than once, you can still do that. BB just won't do it
automatically because it may lead to results that are confusing to you.
The new version of BB that will support the DAL pattern format is all but ready to go. This new program can successfully process the DAL patterns for all of their aircraft, including transition patterns and made-up patterns. I have not yet decoded what the crew position information means on the DAL pattern rotations. Once I know that I will of course modify the pattern processing engine to process that data. Once you look at how the trip operating days are defined on DAL rotations I think you will conclude that the ability of BB to convert that info into visual form on a calendar is alone worth paying for a subscription. I think the DAL pilots will feel like they have died and gone to heaven when they see what BB offers them.
I have also added what I think are some exciting new features and options, but the operational aspects are mostly identical to what you have become accustomed to. I have tested it more extensively than any program I have ever written. I think both pilot groups and eventually F/A groups will be very excited by the result. I haven't decided on a release date. I am re-writing the help so that it is html format with many links within the help text. I am going to give this program a different name, but haven't decided what to call it. If you have a suggestion, please email it to me.
BB 6.77 Rev t
Fixes a potential error condition that could occur under some conditions when
starting the Ramjet SG (RJSG).
BB 6.77 Rev s
1) BB was not detecting some deadhead segments on other airlines (e.g.
DL) which caused BB to think some trips were illegal when if fact they were not.
Since this information is determined during pattern processing, you will have to
re-process patterns after installing this update.
2) I've changed the "consecutive work" logic in the Ramjet SG to include
carryout work days.
Progress Report on transition to DAL pattern format: I am very pleased with how this is coming. I've essentially completed the code to process DAL patterns for all of their aircraft. During pattern processing I also create a pattern format that looks very much like the current Northwest format. You will be able to view patterns in either format. I think you will like this very much because the DAL format does not contain ground times, and it is very difficult to determine the trip operating days for some DAL patterns. I am still working on how to handle transition patterns because DAL does this differently from NWA. What I am thinking about this is that in the FC you will have the option to put either normal patterns or transition patterns into the list of trips.
BB 6.77 Rev r
In this release I offer a significant update to the RJ Schedule Generator. You
now have the option of adding an unlimited number of "fixed trips" before
generating schedules. When you recall schedules you have have previously saved
that have "fixed trips", the schedules will be recalled showing the "fixed
trips". (Previously BB would recall the trips without the "fixed trip"
designation.) You can remove fixed trips either individually or all at once.
When you add a fixed trip to the SG Calendar, the [Removed Fixed Trip] button is
enabled. If you add another fixed trip, the button is re-labeled [Remove Fixed
Trips]. So pressing that button will remove ALL fixed trips. To remove fixed
trips individually, simply "right click" over any portion of the trip in the
calendar block in the SG calendar. BB will recognize the trip as a "fixed trip"
and enable the pop-up menu item "Remove Fixed Trip". Select that item and the
fixed trip will be removed from the SG Calendar. When you add fixed trips to the
SG calendar, BB will do legality checking just as if it were building schedules
automatically and warn you of any legality issues. Please NOTE: Do not recall RJ
schedules saved in a previous version of BB after installing this new version
because the format is NOT compatible and BB will blow up.
Many of you have asked if I will modify BB to work with the new DAL system. You
will be happy to know that I am hard at work writing the software to process DAL
patterns. I am well along on this task, and foresee no issues that will impede
my progress in making the DAL patterns compatible with Bid Buddy. The DAL
pattern format is significantly different than the NWA pattern format so it will
take several more months to complete this work. I will probably give users the
option of showing DAL patterns in either the DAL format or in the BB converted
NWA format. I will have more information on this as I get further along in the
programming and may release several beta versions to get some user feedback.
Make no mistake, this is a non-trivial effort but I am very pleased with how
things are progressing so far. I will continue to post my progress reports here
and give a timeframe for my initial beta release. Right now I expect to have a
beta version ready by May or June at the latest.
BB 6.77 Rev q
Fixes errors in the new pay rates table. I tried to automate the
pay rate entry using a formula to calculate them. I realized the results
would not be accurate, but then deleted the manually entered info for a few
aircraft and left the automated (A320 and B757). The table is now fixed.
There was also an MD90 entry that was incorrect.
BB 6.77 Rev p
1) Updates the Ramjet SG so that the full length of any carry-out trip
is displayed (until the visible end of the calendar).
2) Updates the website links that were connecting to obsolete web pages. They
now connect to the correct web pages.
3) Adds a new menu item for a pay comparison calculator for the new Delta pay
rates for all aircraft. I have also kept the old pay comparison calculator.
You can access the new pay comparison calculator quickly by pressing [F5] from
the Flight Calendar.
BB 6.77 Rev o
Adds Bid Month dates for 2009.
Remember to add your new DAL pay rates in your user profile "Pay Rates" tab. In
the near future, I will be updating the pay comparison calculator to include the
new pay rates for the DAL contract along with the DAL aircraft.
I am still not sure what pattern format DAL will be using at the time of SOC.
When I have this information I will change BB to process those patterns.
Depending upon the pattern format, this could be an easy or very difficult task
but I will do my best to have this ready on the month we transition to CLASSBID.
BB 6.77 Rev m
Fixes a problem processing transition patterns which would cause an
error message. This problem may have existed for a while and sorry I did not
catch sooner.
BB 6.77 Rev m
Fixes a possible error condition that could occur when you start the
RJSG related to the Rev k and L updates.
BB 6.77 Rev L
1) Changes the Ramjet SG (RJ SG) Calendar so that any generic vacation you add for
any bid month in a given year will remain on the RJ SG Calendar when you re-open
it unless you remove it before closing the RJ SG Calendar. Rev L
ensures that the correct vacation days are shown if you re-select the [Add
Generic Vacation] option on the Ramjet SG.
2) Changes the RJ SG Calendar so that "OFF" days you have selected for a given
month in the previous year are not carried over into the following year.
3) Disables two additional menu items when patterns are not available for a
given bid month. This prevents a possible error condition from occurring.
BB 6.77 Rev J
Screenshots below show an example of adding a user-defined activity to the FC.
1) Allows you to now create "user defined" activities and add them to
the FC. BB will save the "user defined" activities so you can use them at
anytime. You add a "user defined" activity like you do any other scheduled
activity except that after you click to define the last day of the activity, a
window opens allowing you to create a new activity or select an existing
activity. You can define any daily credit value and also any calendar block
color for the activity. You can also specify that the credit value be applied to
only one day. "User Defined" activities will appear on the RJSG Calendar with
appropriate credit offset.
2) Fixes a minor bug in the bidscript when using "generic vacation credit". The
number of days shown in the script line will reflect the number you show in the
RJSG.
3) There is a significant improvement to the HTML Calendar creation. The colors
on the HTML FC will exactly duplicate the colors you have defined on your BB FC.
Even the colors you use in "user defined" activities will be shown faithfully in
the html FC.
4) BB improves the way "important dates" that you have defined are put onto the
FC.
BB 6.77 Rev i
Fixes a bug introduced which prevented directly displaying a "Fixed
Trip" on the RJSG by clicking on the calendar.
BB 6.77 Rev h
This is a critical
"MUST INSTALL" Update!! Recommend you reprocess patterns after installing this
update!!
Found one more bug in the RJSG which would cause a "syntax error" when
starting the RJSG. This bug was the result of a coding error which could cause a
carry-in trip from being completely placed on the internal RJSG calendar which
contains each flight segment. Having carry-in trips correctly placed on
the background calendar is crucial to legality checking.
This update also fixes an issue in the FC Calendar which could cause an error
if you try to remove a trip which doesn't exist in the trip list because you
changed the processed pattern set to a different aircraft before trying to
remove the pattern.
BB 6.77 Rev g
1) Fixes a potential error condition when manually removing trips from
schedules in the RJSG.
2) Displays carry-out trips all the way to the end of the RJSG calendar if they
carry-out on or past the last day. Previously they displayed only the first few
days of the carryout instead of to the end of trip or end of the calendar
whichever occurred first.
3) Changes the installation program to allow installation on a different drive. DO NOT change the default folder.
BB 6.77 Rev f
1) Fixes possible "Array Dimensions Invalid" error message when building
schedules in the RJSG.
2) Fixes a possible startup problem with the RJSG in which the RJSG would never
start and you would get the dreaded endless windows hourglass.
3) Fixes a problem in the RJSG in which BB might build schedules right over days
off marked outside the end of the bid month.
BB 6.77 Rev e
Removes some debugging code I accidentally left in the Ramjet SG which
would cause a debugging information window to appear after doing certain things.
BB 6.77 Rev d
Improves the PA screen to include the option to select the number of flight
segments on either or both the departure and arrival day of the trip.
Fixes several bugs in the Ramjet SG which could cause potential problems with a few of
the schedules built. This is a significant bug fix (after extensive
testing and debugging) and I believe fixes any and all issues with the Ramjet SG
you may have seen.
Fixes a bug in the FC which didn't correctly identify some cases where there was indeed "24 off in 7 days" for some trip combinations.
BB 6.77 Rev b
Fixes a bug in the Ramjet SG which was causing an error message to appear when you dropped a trip onto a manually created schedule, and that trip triggered a legality issue.
BB 6.77 Rev a
This revision increases the speed of the Ramjet SG and is an extension of Rev z
below. It is critically important that you install this update.
There is no need to re-process patterns after installing.
BB 6.76 Rev z
Fixes a bug in the Ramjet SG which would cause the SG to get into a
"mode" where it would build illegal schedules because it would think that a trip
was on the background SG Calendar (the one you never see) when in reality it had
been removed in error because of an obscure error in the background trip removal
code. This error condition could also cause the trip stats to appear to be
miscalculated for those patterns built under this error condition. THIS IS A
CRITICAL UPDATE!
BB 6.76 Rev y
Corrects an error in trip legality rest checking for some augmented trips in the
Ramjet SG. This will primarily affect short 744 trips to AMS.
Corrects an error in the FC when checking trip rest for some trips when you add
those trips to your FC schedule.
You must reprocess patterns after installing this
update if you want the trip rest error checking to be correct on the FC
Calendar and the SG Calendars for the current month.
BB 6.76 Rev x
Adds "LHR" as a new international destination. 330 pilots should reprocess
patterns so that any pattern containing "LHR" will be processed properly and
thus handled properly for legality checking purposes.
BB 6.76 Rev w
1) Fixes a problem displaying "hardfly times" between segments on both the FC
and Ramjet SG Calendar when the segments were selected in "backward" order....
meaning last segment first and first segment last.
2) Fixes a problem displaying full "limo and hotel phone" where a limo exists in
the enhanced pattern display format. This is also addressed in the alternate
calendar creation.
BB 6.76 Rev v
Fixes a problem printing individual patterns in the new format. The pattern was
being split into two pages. This only occurred when displaying the pattern in
the FC individually and selecting [Print Formatted]. This update fixes that
issue.
BB 6.76 Rev u
"Critical Update": When I added 120-in-30 legality checking to the
FC a while back, my return programming code from that unintentionally
caused other legality checking to be bypassed. Of course, this is not a good
thing. That problem is corrected in this update and FC legality checking is now
back in full force. I apologize for the oversight.
BB 6.76 Rev t
1) Updates the way BB processes "illegal" patterns so that the daily credit for
each day is reflected correctly when you add these trips to the FC and SG. This
is important when the "illegal" pattern is also a 1-day carryout.
2) Removes your base from the list of possible layover cities since you never
layover at your base city. You must reprocess patterns to see this correction.
Also, your base must be correct in your user profile.
3) Adds an "Exit" button to the "Flight Times Display Window" because sometimes
(and without known cause) the title bar can be left off the window and you can't
close it and would have to shut down BB using Ctrl-Alt-Del.
4) Fixes a bug in the PA screen when recalling trips not using the "B" operator for trip length when the "B" operator had been previously selected.
5) Fixes a bug in the script for auto-downloading patterns if you also
use Jet Book. You must also nstall the new version of Jet Book (ver 4.08)
for auto pattern download to work properly.
BB 6.76 Rev s
I accidentally removed the code from the Ramjet SG that disabled 29-in-7
and 31-in-7 legality checking for the generic 747. The code is back so that
checking is automatically disabled for the generic 747.
BB 6.76 Rev r
1) Fixes a problem printing formatted patterns when the same pattern appears
multiple times on the schedule.
2) Fixes a logic error in the Ramjet SG which prevented removal of a "fixed
trip" if you generate schedules but no schedules could be generated.
BB 6.76 Rev q
1) Fixes the auto pattern download capability in the Pattern Acquisition Form
for those who have Jet Book.
2) Makes other small improvements to Ramjet SG operation.
BB 6.76 Rev p
Improves the display of the wide pattern format with dates so that it takes up
less space vertically.
BB 6.76 Rev o
Rev o fixes several problems introduced in Rev n which could cause the Ramjet SG
to crash when it starts up.
I've also added MSP as a base option for both the A330 and B747.
The Ramjet SG now performs 120-in-30 checking for all aircraft that have
augmented (3 or more pilot) segments. See Rev n notes.
BB 6.76 Rev n
This update adds 120 hr in 30 day checking to all aircraft that have
international augmented flying. This check is made for each augmented trip
segment. The look back is from the end of the augmented segment back 30 days.
This checking is available in only the Ramjet SG. Of course you must have
your previous months schedule on the FC for this checking to be valid.
This check is also made when you add trips to the FC.
As background, 120hr-in-30days is a limit that is valid for any augmented (3
or more pilot) trip segment. It is not valid for any 2-pilot segments.
BB will look at each segment to determine when to apply this legality checking.
This update also fixes a problem with very long (10-14 day) carry-out trips. It
was possible previously that the Ramjet SG would not look back to the beginning
of the trip and therefore not include that trip in legality checking.
BB 6.76 Rev m
This revision updates the pay rates to include the Jan 2008 pay increase. You
can update the pay for your position by changing your position in the user
profile and then changing it back to your current position. The Pay Comparison
Screen is also updated.
BB 6.76 Rev k,L
In the last update I fixed one problem and introduced another. I made it
impossible to drag and drop trips onto a "blank" schedule without generating an
error condition. This update fixes that problem. It also will now allow you to
remove a fixed trip by right-clicking on it if the conditions are right for it's
removal... i.e. the [Remove Fixed Trip] button is enabled. The logic for
displaying flight time between segments that include any fixed trip segment is
also corrected.
Improves the logic in the FC (and small calendar) for saving and displaying
information on displayed holidays.
Rev L fixes a problem with the way the fixed trip was being refreshed when displaying Ramjet SG schedules.
BB 6.76 Rev J
Fixes a problem dropping a "Fixed Trip" onto the Ramjet SG Calendar. This update
will also now prevent an attempt to remove a "Fixed Trip" by right-clicking over
the trip because the "Remove Trip" option will be disabled for a "Fixed Trip".
Previously that could have generated an error condition. To remove a "Fixed
Trip", use the [Remove Fixed Trip] button which is enabled when there is a
"Fixed Trip" and the SG Calendar is clear.
BB 6.76 Rev i
Changed the html calendar generator so that it adds your selected holidays to
the html calendar. I've also changed to white the shading of "in bidmonth" days
in the html calendar that contain no scheduled activities.
BB 6.76 Rev h
1) Increases the number max number of hours in the pay comparison calculator to
115.
2) Fixes an issue in the Ramjet SG where a carry-out trip for a month with FC
trips would show as "Travel" days in the carry-out part of the trip on the
calendar. Now those days will show as empty (or "Off") as they should.
This really only had an impact when doing post-award trip building, but could
cause problems with the SG in some cases.
BB 6.76 Rev g
1) Adds your selected holidays to the small calendar. Also improves the
aesthetics of the small calendar.
2) Fixes a possible error condition that could occur when displaying the small
calendar screen.
3) Improves the enhanced pattern printout. There is now only one line for notes
so that the printout takes less space. Again all of the patterns will be
printed on a single page if possible.
Here is a screenshot of the Holiday Selection Window:
BB 6.76 Rev e,f
Rev f makes sure that the holiday information is not duplicated when you
change and save the FC.
1) In the preferences menu you can now select the holidays (beginning with year
2008) you want to appear on your Flight Calendar and Ramjet SG Calendar. Select
the holidays you want, or click [Select All] to select all holidays. All
holidays are currently selected when you install this update. You can
change the holiday selection at anytime and the changes will be reflected on
your FC when you close the selection screen. Changes will be reflected on the
Ramjet SG Calendar when you open it. The Ramjet SG Calendar is also changed so
that when you select a day off, the holiday will still show on the calendar.
Below is a screenshot for Jan 2008. If you have any holidays programmed
into the "Important Dates" part of your user profile, I suggest that you remove
them (Click in the little box to the left of the entry) so that they don't
appear twice if you also select that holiday in the Holiday Screen.
2) The enhanced pattern printout is changed so that if possible, all patterns
will be printed on a single page.
BB 6.76 Rev d
This update adds the option (in the Report menu) of creating a ".ics" version of
the Flight Calendar. This will allow you to export a detailed version of your
flight schedule to any other calendar program that supports this standard
format. Examples include the Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Windows Calendar
and many others. This will allow most of you to easily put your entire flight
schedule onto your PDA or PDA phone. I recommend that when you create this
calendar your computer is set to the time zone of your local base. Because of
the extreme time zone changes that can occur on some flights, you might have to
change the arrival date and the layover start date inside the calendar because
BB may not detect the date change in those instances. This is easy to do since
each event is set up as an appointment inside the calendar. For example, layover
begin and end times will define the boundaries of an appointment for any given
layover.
BB 6.76 Rev c
Changes SVT/CQ back to a 4-day course when you put that activity on the FC. This
applies only if you put SVT on the calendar after installing this update.
BB 6.76 Rev b
Fixes a calendar/ pattern printing problem that manifest itself under conditions
created in December.
BB 6.76 Rev a
This update adds 120 hr in 30 day legality checking for 3-pilot aircraft (B747
only). This checking is always active for the B747 and is available in the
Ramjet SG and the Flight Calendar. Make sure you have the previous
months schedule in the Flight Calendar when building schedules to be sure the
checking is correct.
If you have a "fixed trip" in the Ramjet SG Calendar, the display for that trip is now refreshed for every schedule you display. The reason for this improvement is that the display of the fixed trip could change for any schedule where another trip overlaps the fixed trip departure or arrival day. The fixed trip would then not be displayed properly for subsequent schedules (the problem that existed before this fix). So if there is a "fixed trip", the display will now be refreshed each time a new schedule is selected.
BB 6.75 Rev z
1) Fixes a record out-of-range problem when adding a very long carry-out trip to
the FC for some bid months.
2) Adds the bid month dates for 2008.
Note: I am working on adding 120 hr-in-30-day checking to the Ramjet SG.
This will require that you have your previous month's schedule in the FC if you
want this checking to be accurate.
BB 6.75 Rev y
1) Fixes a potential record out of range problem when adding a long carry-out
trip to the FC
2) Adds a line that tells the day of week and date for each new day in the wide
pattern printout if you print the pattern by clicking on it to display in the FC
and then selecting the wide pattern format to print.
BB 6.75 Rev x
Yet another improvement to the new formatted pattern printout, the most salient
of which is a change which prevents the acft change "*" from being
truncated in some instances.
BB 6.75 Rev w
After my own use and your feedback, the new formatted pattern output is improved once again. Here is an example.
BB 6.75 Rev v
Improves the new pattern printout format once again. Tell me what you think.
BB 6.75 Rev u
1) Fixes a problem with a "record out of range" error in the ramjet SG when
building schedules for aircraft with very long trips for the month of November.
2) I've taken a second stab at this new pattern printout format after your feedback and using it myself for a trip. Here is a screenshot of the improved format.
Note the that aircraft changes are shown after the aircraft instead of arrival city.
BB 6.75 Rev s
1) Fixes Titles in the Calendar reports so that they once again display the bid
month and year.
2) Introduces a new and exciting format for pattern printing. Let me know how
you like it. This format will apply only to trips on your FC. You can print
patterns in this format using the "Patterns Only New Format" in the "Print
Calendar" window. Or you can select [Print Formatted] when you display a pattern
in the FC by clicking on the pattern number heading on the FC Calendar Day.
Below is a screenshot of the pattern preview screen for the new pattern report
format.
BB 6.75 Rev r
1) Improves the Ramjet SG so that if you can drop a trip with a rest requirement
violation and get that warning message. Also, allows generated trip combinations
that get right to the minimum time between trips limit (was previously 2 minutes
above that minimum limit).
2) Improves the Pay Comparison Screen.
BB 6.75 Rev q
This update adds "Union Leave Block" and "Union Leave Reserve" as scheduled
activities you can add to the FC. The appropriate credit values are added to the
FC when you add either of these activities. They will subsequently appear on
either SG Calendar with appropriate credit values applied.
BB 6.75 Rev p
Fixes a problem using the [Auto BM/Rank] button in either SG with more than 80
schedules created. If you 'Auto BM/Rank' and then re-order schedules and then
'Auto BM/Rank' again.... BB would crash. This update fixes that problem.
I've removed the ability to save trip departure dates in the PA screen. The
reason is that from month-to-month these dates can change enough to result in a
BB error. Obviously between months the DOW changes for a given numeric
day. To preclude any errors or confusion, the trip departure dates check
box is always unchecked when the PA screen opens or when you restore a preset.
This update also includes several small cosmetic improvements.
BB 6.75 Rev n
Restores premium pay to all pay calculations to reflect the new agreement.
Improves the heading colors on the small and very small FC printouts to match
the other calendar colors.
Changes the FC heading colors so that they match the calendar printouts.
Please also read the update topic which follows.
BB 6.75 Rev L,m
With this version of BB I'm introducing two new very powerful features which can potentially save you much time and effort in your bidding.
The first of these features appears on the PA Screen. This update
introduces the [Automatic
Bookmark] button in the "Presets" section. If you check "Select
Preset Preferences" and have a series of pattern selection criteria preferences
saved in your presets, the [Automatic
Bookmark] button will be enabled. Now here comes the good part.
If you set your preset preferences so that as the presets advance they go from
most selective (i.e. most preferred) trips to least selective (i.e. lesser
preferred) you can automatically bookmark these trips according to your
preferences and do so in just ONE CLICK!!. Simply click the [Automatic
Bookmark] button and BB will cycle through your presets (up to 10) and
bookmark each set of unbookmarked trips in increments of 3. For example,
the first preset matching pattern set would be bookmarked 1, the second set of unbookmarked matching trips (corresponding to preset 2) would be ranked
4, the
third set 7, and so on. The operation will continue until BB reaches
either a blank preset or the "Defaults" (same as the 11th) preset, whichever
occurs first. After bookmarking all of the presets, BB will open the
Selected Patterns Window and display all of your bookmarked trips in "Rank"
order. The reason BB increments the rank by 3 for each preset is to
give you room to refine the rankings within each rank group. For example, you
might want to rank some #1 ranked trips to #2, or to #3 etc. The rank values now
go up to 33.
The second new feature appears on the SG Screen after creating schedules in either SG. Above the schedule Bookmark check box is a button labeled 'Auto BM/Rank'. Pressing that button will cause all schedules to be automatically bookmarked and ranked in the order in which they are displayed and then BB will automatically generate and display the resulting bidscript. Again, the rank order is determined by the schedule ordering criterion you have selected. When you click the 'Auto BM/Rank', if BB has created more than 80 schedules, only the first 80 will be bookmarked and ranked. If there are fewer than 80, then all will be bookmarked and ranked. In both cases the bidscript will show bid groups for all schedules that have been bookmarked plus the generic bid group if you have that option selected in "BS Options".
Rev m fixes a bug introduced in Rev k which causes the left digit of the pattern number to be cut off in some parts of the bid script.
BB 6.75 Rev k
There was a bug in pattern processing for some trips which resulted in those
trips causing an error condition when placed on one of the calendars. This bug
was related to trip segment processing. In fixing this bug I also noticed that
OGG and KOA were not being tagged as international segment cities. These issues
are corrected in this update.
This update also fixes a problem correctly processing "made-up" patterns so that
the credit times for legality purposes are applied in the FC. Any "made-up"
pattern should be reprocessed if you want to ensure legalities are correct with
any schedules containing that pattern.
Please reprocess patterns first for
July and then for August. Re-drop any trips onto your FC.
BB 6.75 Rev h,i
This update fixes a bug I introduced into "made-up pattern" processing when I
made changes to normal pattern processing. This bug would prevent you from
successfully adding a made-up pattern to the FC. This update fixes that bug, but
you will have to re-process any made up pattern that you want to add to the FC
before trying to add it.
Rev i fixes a problem overwriting existing patterns when creating a new pattern from an old one.
BB 6.75 Rev g
Updates BB Bidscript generator in the Ramjet SG to produce 4-digit pattern
numbers. Corrected a bug in the bidscript generator which was not consolidating
multiple dates for the same trip into one line if you had that option checked.
This was originally caused when I went from a 4-digit pattern number to a
5-digit number.
If you haven't installed a 6.75 update, continue reading the notes below.
BB 6.75 Rev f
In layover analysis, if there was a layover in the same city more than once in a
trip, BB would find only the first layover length/ arrival time
for the specified city. This update fixes the problem selecting the right
trips for all layover conditions and displaying the layover days on the calendar.
BB 6.75 Rev d
There was a very small bug in pattern processing. This error would cause an
error condition whenever BB attempted to put last pattern number in any bidmonth
on the FC or the SG Calendar, either manually or automatically. This update
corrects that problem but you must reprocess patterns
after installing the update. Then re-drop the offending pattern onto
the FC if that last pattern was on your FC.
BB will now assign a minimum rest after an international arrival at the end of a
trip of 11:30 for non-augmented trips.
BB will not check 8-in-24 for adjacent trips for 3-man crewed aircraft.
If you haven't installed a 6.75 update, continue reading the notes below.
BB 6.75 Rev a,b,c
Rev c fixes another legality checking logic error which could cause phantom 29/30-in-7 violations. If you've installed Rev b already, no need to reprocess patterns after installing this update, otherwise continue reading.
Rev b fixes a legality checking logic error discovered after further testing with widebody trips.
Legality checking is changed once again based upon new information. It turns out that CARMEN uses calendar day legality checking based upon a midnight base local look back over seven calendar days. BB now adds pseudo segments to account for arrivals that occur after midnight local base time. This allows for an accurate hard fly calculation at midnight and looking back over the preceding seven days. To make all of this work for August you must do the following.
1) Reprocess July patterns (The pseudo segments are created when you process patterns.)
2) Re-drop your July trips onto your FC (or do the auto-add in the "Patterns" menu)
Segment-to-segment times are still available in the FC and SG.
The "New Eighth Generation SG" is renamed the "Ramjet Schedule Generator"
The Ramjet SG has also been updated to fix a few "minor" issues that I discovered during an intensive code review. You might have had an issue when using a "fixed trip" on the SG which resulted in some illegal schedules being created. You might also have had a problem removing a manually dragged pattern from an already automatically created SG schedule. There was also a rarely occurring problem with carry-in rest being posted properly in the SG so that no generated schedules violated it.
The first line in each bid group (except for the generic) will include "MUST HAVE" in the new Ramjet SG.
This update also adds BRU and DUS as international cities so that 757 patterns incorporating those routes process properly.
Because of the extensive nature of these changes and the reprocessing update required, this update begins the 6.75 series.
BB 6.74 Rev q
Fixes a problem introduced in Rev p. This update fixes all issues with errors
and problems related to printing either "Bookmarked" or "Selected" patterns.
BB 6.74 Rev p
Fixes an error condition which would occur if you save a BPS, recall a different
BPS, and then immediately save another BPS. This update will also give a
confirmation option when overwriting an existing BPS.
Fixes some remote but possible error conditions which could prevent full transfer of your FC to MS Outlook.
BB 6.74 Rev o
Fixes a problem which would occur after printing bookmarked patterns with trip
rank order selected. This error condition would occur after printing the
patterns and cause an error message when subsequently displaying "Bookmarked" or
"Matching" Patterns. I've also added the ability to save the output of the
bookmarked patterns report as a ".txt" file, and to also optionally display that
file. If you select that option, the report will not be printed.
BB 6.74 Rev n
Fixes a problem in the new eighth gen SG which would cause an error condition
when using the SG directives "Set Commute Start" or "Set Commute End". This was
a testing oversight on my part.
BB 6.74 Rev m
Fixes a problem with an error message in the Layover Analysis screen for some
pattern sets.
This is a critical "must install" update!
BB 6.74 Rev k,l
This is a
critical "must install" update. It fixes a problem
getting an "end of file encountered" error message when adding and removing
trips from the FC. This problem manifested itself if you selected a new month on
the FC and added and then removed trips without first saving and trips you
originally added, or if you cancelled something you did and then subsequently
added a trip. This problem is now fixed in this release.
Rev l fixes an additional issue related to the rev k issue. Because many of you use the FC to try out different trip scenarios, it is important that you install this update ASAP for proper FC operation when you add and remove trips.
BB 6.74 Rev j
1) Fixes a logic error in the vacation shift feature in the 8th gen SG when the
vacation shift borders the edge of the bidmonth.
2) Changes the coloring of the heading on the FC Large calendar printout to be
consistent with the FC Web Calendar.
BB 6.74 Rev i
1) Adds a new option under "Preferences" to select the "Flight Calendar Legality
Checking Options"
2) FC legality checking is updated to reflect the options selected in the
FC Legality Options Window.
3) FC legality checking now includes trip rest requirement checking.
4) Error condition corrected when adding new occasion and right-clicking on the
date field to bring up the date select window.
5) Additional files are backed up and restored in the event of an abnormal
shutdown.
6) The "Gen Bidscript" command button in the "New SG" is now always displayed,
but still enabled only after you've bookmarked at least one schedule.
7) Fixes problem transferring some trips to MS Outlook.
The FC legality checking was changed because many of you apparently use the FC to test certain trip combinations and were counting on FC legality checking to flag any illegalities. That will now be the case but be sure to open the FC Legality Checking Options Window to set the legalities you want BB to check when you add trips to the FC.
BB 6.74 Rev f
Fixes a minor bug in the New SG so that scheduled pay is updated properly when
you remove a "Fixed Trip" from the SG Calendar.
BB 6.74 Rev d,e
1) This update corrects a schedule legality checking code error (29-in-7 and
31-in-7) which allowed some illegal schedules to slip through undetected. It was
a minor logic error in terms of the range of days that the legality checking
code was examining. Not many schedules would slip through, but until this update
a few could. This update corrects the problem in both the FC and the new SG.
(Was fixed in Rev c)
2) Fixes a problem in the new SG. Before this fix, if you save schedules
(bookmarked or ALL) and then recall them, selecting the option to Order on Pay
would generate an unrecoverable error condition. That problem is fixed in this
update; however, the fix won't occur on schedules you've already saved. It will
only occur on newly saved and recalled schedules. On schedules you've previously
saved, you won't get an error, but the schedules won't be re-ordered.
3) Improves the way schedules are displayed on the SG Calendar.
BB 6.74 Rev b
1) Fixes a problem transferring trips to MS Outlook (style1) where the release
to layover time is after midnight.
2) Changes pattern processing to ensure that all hardfly in a given day is
credited to the day shown on the pattern.
BB 6.74 Rev a
Re-process patterns after installing this update.
This update fixes the following issues:
1) Changes the way 1-day trips with a layover are processed so that the credit
info is credited to the first day even though the trip may arrive on the morning
of the second day. The information shown for these trips on the FC is also
improved. This is particularly important if that trip is a pseudo
carry-out trip. You'll have to re-drop those trips on the FC.
2) Changes the way trips are displayed on the FC so that the layover city and
length is now displayed.
3) Fixes an issues with the pattern selection tool.
4) Changes the [Clear All Bookmarks] function. If you select [Clear All
Bookmarks] on the PA Screen and the "Selected Patterns Screen" is open, any
bookmarks on the "Selected Patterns Screen" will be shown to be cleared.
BB 6.73 Rev z
1) Fixes the color bidscript report so that the last few digits of the last trip
in the generic bid group line are not cut off.
2) Fixes a possible but unlikely "subscript out of range" error in the Layover
Analysis screen when certain high-frequency cities are selected.
3) Fixes a problem writing trips to the MS Outlook Calendar where the trip
check-in time is between (xx55 and xx59)
4) Changes the rest requirement for non-augmented international trips where the
last day of the trip has a flight time less than 8 hours. The rest is now 9
hours release to report. I believe this is correct but if anyone knows
differently, please enlighten me.
If you reprocess patterns to get the new rest calculations, save your
bookmarks first and restore them after pattern processing
I have also been working on a full html BB help system. It's going to take a
while to complete but once finished will give you a much better help system
including links and screen shots.
BB 6.73 Rev x,y
NWA changed the pattern format slightly for March causing a "day in bid month
mismatch" when processing patterns. This update fixes pattern processing to
handle that format change. Even if you managed to process patterns successfully,
I recommend you reprocess patterns.
BB 6.73 Rev w
Fixes a problem generating log pages from made-up patterns.
Fixes a related problem processing 1-day made-up patterns.
Fixes a related problem transferring any made-up pattern to MS Outlook.
BB 6.73 Rev v
Revision v offers a significant milestone in trip legality checking. It turns
out that trip legality checking depends upon the type of segment flown when you
do the 7-day look-back. BB had not been considering the last segment type flown
when doing the look-back and thus would not properly catch some legality issues
when there was mixed flying (augmented, international, domestic). I have
corrected this issues in both the new eighth generation SG and in the FC. If you
do a segment-to-segment flight time display, BB will now put an arrow next to
the type of segment that controls the legality for the look-back.
YOU MUST RE-PROCESS PATTERNS AFTER INSTALLING THIS UPDATE!
You do not have to re-drop your trips onto the FC unless you want to re-check
any FC legalities. Many thanks to all for your patience with the legality
checking issues. I've gotten many muddled and incorrect explanations on this subject and it's taken your
feedback and many calls to crew scheds to finally pin down the exact methodology
for correctly checking legalities. The advantage is that I've combed over
the legality checking code many, many times and it is now highly optimized so
the new eighth generation SG is very fast.
Here's a brief explanation of legality checking for 29-in-7 and 31-in-7: If the segment flown is a domestic segment "29-in-7" (or 30-in-7" if you have it checked) is always used to look back the previous seven days regardless of the type of flying that occurred during that period. If the segment is an international segment "31-in-7" (or 32-in-7" if you have it checked) is used during the look back, again regardless of the type of flying done in any of those preceding segments. If the segment is augmented or deadhead, then neither rule applies. BB checks each segment and does the appropriate 168 hour look back from the arrival time of that segment and applies the appropriate legality to that segment based upon the type of segment it is. In reality BB uses minutes instead of hours but the effect is essentially the same. The exact manner BB uses to do this fast and accurately is a trade secret.
This update also offers some other improvements... mostly behind-the-scenes stuff.
One more thing: Make sure that you do NOT check "Add one day to redeye returns" in the user profile screen. Because the calendar day is no longer really even considered when doing legality checking there is no need to have that box checked.
I also recommend that unless you are on the generic whale that you no longer use the "old" schedule generator.
BB 6.73 Rev u
Fixes a problem calculating required rest for SEA A330 patterns. Because many of
those patterns begin with a deadhead, BB was detecting the wrong
aircraft type and using "double flt time off" to calculate the layover time. Now
BB ignores deadhead segments to find the aircraft type and correctly calculates
required post-trip rest.
BB 6.73 Rev t
This revision adds code to detect abnormal BB shutdowns. Many times after an
abnormal shutdown, BB data tables are corrupted and BB will not operate
properly. This change allows BB to detect abnormal shutdowns and restore data
tables. If an abnormal shutdown is detected, upon the next BB startup, BB will
restore all of the tables except the Trips table. BB will also tell you to
reprocess patterns because of the abnormal shutdown. NOTE: Reprocessing patterns
means going to the Pattern Acquisition Form ("Patterns"..."Get and Process
Patterns") and pressing the [Process ... Patterns] button. BB will restore
the Bookmark Pattern Set file, so if you've saved bookmarks you can restore them
after reprocessing patterns.
This update also corrects the "Record out of range" error that had been occurring when running BB during the initial run after entering the user profile information.
BB 6.73 Rev s
I had to change the way "Avoid Landing Airport" is handled in the PA
screen. You can now apply the AVOID criteria to all the landing airports you
select. You cannot select them individually (as before) because that was not
working. If there is demand I will create a separate selection criteria called
"Avoid Landing Airport" and keep that separate altogether from "Landing
Airport". Remember, you can always select your landing airports and them set
them as an AVOID so that BB ignores patterns with those airports in subsequent
searches.
BB 6.73 Rev r
Changes font color logic once again because I didn't like what I changed it
to in Rev q.
Adds "CA only" and "FO only" to the position selection options in the PA screen.
BB 6.73 Rev q
This updates ensure that the font color in the FC day cells is always black.
BB 6.73 Rev p
Fixes a problem counting commutes in the new SG. This problem would manifest
itself in schedules where there was a "no fly" day within any trip. That "no
fly" day was not being counted as a trip day and that was messing up the trip
stats calculation. The issue is now corrected and commutes should be correctly
counted.
BB 6.73 Rev o
There was a testing condition in the 8th generation SG that I forgot to remove
which would cause the SG to pause and display a message when building schedules
with only one trip on the calendar and then going on to the next schedule.
BB 6.73 Rev n
This update has purely cosmetic improvements to the 8th generation SG.
BB 6.73 Rev m
1) Adds three new operators to the Average Daily Credit selection criteria in
the PA screen: >=, <=, =.
2) Changes the Eighth Gen SG so that it counts a carry-in trip as a commute when
counting commutes.
BB 6.73 Rev L
Fixes a error in the PA screen when combining the "Augmented" selection with
other choices.
Makes "ZLO" an international destination when processing patterns with that
airport.
Makes final improvements to the PEW.... way more complicated to make that work
the way I want it to than I ever would have imagined.
BB 6.73 Rev k
Was still not happy with how the PEW was working when open and a new pattern
number was selected in the trip list. This update ensures synchronized updating
if the PEW is open.
Also changes the way the Pattern Analysis screen is captioned.
BB 6.73 Rev j
Improves functionality of the Pattern Entry Window (PEW)
BB 6.73 Rev i
I found a problem with legality checking in the new SG. This was caused by a
very minor and also very obscure logic error which would cause some illegal
schedules to make it through. This problem is now fixed after a three hour
trip through debugging hell. This is a must-install update
because you definitely want legality checking to be correct in all cases.
This update also fixes another issue in the PEW which could cause your trip
numbers to become corrupted, thus necessitating that your reprocess patterns.
BB 6.73 Rev h
There was a problem with the "Add year" function that caused Jan 19th to be
added twice. This update corrects that problem and fixes the FC. There is no
need to reprocess patterns as they will reflect the correct operating days after
you install this update.
BB 6.73 Rev g
You now have the capability to press a button to open the Smart Pattern Entry
Window. This gives you a very easy and intuitive way to go directly to any
pattern number in the FC. Here are some screen shots.
(Note: Rev f,g changes: If you change the FC month or year with the Pattern Number Entry window open, the PNE window will close. Also BB now adds a "click" sound when you click to change a digit value in the PNE wndow. Rev g prevents more than one PNE window from opening at a time. It also improves the logic of which numbers are displayed based upon the values available in the pattern list.
Press [Select Trip] to open the Smart Pattern Entry Window:
The following window will open adjacent to the trip list in the FC:
Click the number for the digit you want to change. You can drag a trip number directly from the pattern number box in this window.
BB 6.73 Rev d
You can now type a trip into the "Select Trip" box in the FC and if there is a
"match", BB will move directly to that trip. This obviates the need to type
quickly in the trip list to go to the trip. Just click inside the trip box and
edit the pattern number to the trip you want BB to select in the trip list. BB
will match to trip as you type. You can type as slowly as you like to
match the pattern number because BB triggers the search on the changes you make,
not the speed at which you make them.
I've improved the title color formatting of the patterns printout.
BB 6.73 Rev c
Apparently I omitted the file "logpage.dbf" in the full install version which
caused an error message when generating log pages. I've included that file in
this update.
BB 6.73 Rev b
Fixes an FC printing problem (file not found error) which was due to an
inadvertent global copy and replace which effected a part of the program it
wasn't intended to effect. Works now.
BB 6.73 Rev a
Fixes a minor possible pattern processing error related to the previous fix.
Reprocess patterns if you encountered an error while processing patterns with
the last revision.
BB 6.72 Rev z
Fixes the daily credit value problem on patterns where trips have duty periods
across several days. You'll have to reprocess patterns and re-drop trips if this
problem affected you.
Fixes the problem changing dates and getting errors in the User Profile screen.
BB 6.72 Rev y
Corrects the legalities checking algorithm in both the new SG and FC. It was not
working properly and was disallowing some legal combinations. Both work great
now.
Improves the aesthetics of the new SG with the new schedule pay parameter.
BB 6.72 Rev x
Pattern processing updated to correctly provide the daily credit values for all
types of trips.... even those with duty periods over a two day span. This will
ensure that trips dropped on the FC show the correct credit values in all cases.
The only time when daily credit values might have to be adjusted is in carry-out
trips where the duty period on the carry-out day extends over two calendar days.
You can adjust that manually if necessary. Widebody users should reprocess
patterns and also ensure you have the correct aircraft select in your user
profile.
New SG legality checking for 31-in-7 and 29-in-7 are checking now automatically
turned off for 747 and DC10 regardless of what is checked in the legality
directives. For those aircraft you should also disable 8-in-24 checking although
that shouldn't be critical.
BB 6.72 Rev w
1) Fixes all known error issues that were discovered or reported in Rev v.
2) Updates the PA screen so that you can select patterns based upon pay. Updates the New SG so that it shows the pay credit for all generated schedules, and allows you to sort the schedules based upon their pay value. Updates the FC Pay calculation so that the pay value is now correct and also includes the "pay" hours on which it is based.
BB 6.72 Rev v
NWA changed the pattern format for December to include pattern pay. This screwed
up pattern processing. That problem is fixed in this revision. (There is nothing
wrong with the days in the bid month 12/2-12/30). Reprocess patterns with those
bidmonth dates. In the future, I will incorporate pattern selection features
that use the new pattern pay category.
BB 6.72 Rev t
1) Adds the same comprehensive segment-by-segment legality checking to the FC as is used in the SG. You can get total flight time and elapsed time between any two flight segments on the FC. Just right-click on the body of the trip day and follow the steps shown below.
Step 1
After you select one of the day legs, that day on the calendar changes colors as shown. The [Cancel] button is also activated if you want to cancel this operation. To cancel you need only move the mouse pointer over the [Cancel] button.
Step 2
Right-Click over the second trip day and then select the ending segment. The order of segment choice is immaterial as BB will order them correctly.
Step 3
The [Cancel] button will be reset when you close the FC Segment display window.
2) There are significant improvements to how BB handles corrupt files. In almost all cases now, when a corrupt file is encountered, BB will automatically fix it without you even knowing it.
3) There are other significant operational improvements in the area of error-checking.
Here's how to select the flight segments
First, click over the body of the desired trip day in the SG Calendar.
Then right-click over the body of the trip (box that shows layover info) in the
SG Calendar. The SG pop-up menu will appear. Click "Show Hardfly between
Days/Segments". A sub-menu will appear. The number of segments on that trip day
are the segment numbers that will be enabled. Select the segment you want to
start with. The time will be calculated based upon the departure time of that
segment. All segment times are normalized for timezone changes. When you click,
the message "first segment selected" will appear above the SG Calendar.
Follow the same procedure to select the ending segment. The arrival time for the
second segment will be used. So the times calculated will be from the departure
time of the first segment to the arrival time of the second segment. After
making your choice for the second segment time, the calculated info will be
displayed.
If you clear or change the SG Calendar before selecting the second time, the
first time choice will be reset and negated, and the "first segment selected"
message will disappear.
In actuality, BB doesn't care which order you select the segments. It compares
the segment position on the calendar (even on the same trip day) and picks the
appropriate first and last segment.
The SG Calendar has also been updated so that you can display pattern detail
just as you do on the FC. To display a trip on the SG Calendar, simply move the
mouse pointer over the trip number on the calendar. When you do that, the trip
will be "highlighted". Just click there to display the full pattern detail.
To use the new eighth generation SG, you need to reprocess patterns first for
the preceeding bid month and then for the current bid month (in that order). You
may save your current bookmarks and recall them after processing so that you
don't loose your pattern bookmarks and ranking. In succeeding months, you need
do nothing different to use the new SG.
Because the processing overhead to do segment-by-segment legality checking is
much greater than the previous SG calendar-day checking, the new SG is somewhat
slower than the previous one. But I think you will find the new capability worth
the slight decrease in schedule building speed. The big benefit is that this new
SG should never build a schedule that CARMEN cannot legally award.
As before, when you manually drop a trip on the SG Calendar, BB will tell you
the first legality violation detected if it finds a problem.
This has been the most extensively tested release I have ever made so I think
you will find it trouble free. If you do encounter any problems while using it,
please let me know. For the next several bid months, I will leave both versions
of the SG in BB. I recommend for the sake of segment-by-segment legality
checking that you use the new version.
Bid Buddy 6.71 Rev f,g,h
Rev g fixes a problem with the initial profile screen in the "new user" version.
There was a programming typo that caused a bunch of error message and improper
operation. I apologize for not catching that typo earlier because I'm sure
many of you have witnessed those error messages. I've also updated the
profile screen so that it will select the new contract pay rate when you change
positions. You can also type in your pay rate on the pay tab.
I've made it easy for keyboard users to operate in the "Selected Patterns"
screen (after "Show Matching Patterns"). Here's how:
1) You can move between patterns using the left and right arrow keys on your
keyboard
2) You can toggle bookmarks using the Spacebar key.
3) You can change the rank by using the [+] or [-] keys on your keyboard.
Rev h [=] will work for [+].
In the Schedule Generator screen, you can move among generated schedules using
the left and right arrow keys. When you change SG schedules BB will now generate
the "click" sound.
BB will once again give credit for international flights when calculating
projected pay.
Bid Buddy 6.71 Rev e1
This is for the "new user" version only. I released "Rev e" with a
data table error in the "Profile" table. This would cause an error message
when attempting to [Show Matching Patterns] or change bookmarks using the [+]
and [-] buttons. BB may have also generated an error message in the
initial profile after first starting BB. Users who installed the "new
user" version of Rev e should simply install the latest update (not do a
re-install of the new user version) and the error condition will be corrected.
Rev e1 "full install" will work without error.
Bid Buddy 6.71 Rev e
1) You can now add ATLAS awarded reserve days to the FC automatically using the
same method as adding awarded trips (i.e. "Patterns"..."Add Awarded Trips to
FC").
2) You now have the option to set or not set the alarms in MS Outlook when you
transfer your FC based upon what you check in the "User Profile" Options tab.
3) You can change the default daily vacation credit value in the profile screen
"Pay Rates" tab.
4) If you check the "Auto Click" option in the "Selected Patterns" screen, the
rank will change automatically in 1/3 of a second intervals when you move the
mouse pointer over either the [ + ] or [ - ] buttons. The screen is also
redesigned for easier use of that feature.
5) BB will now do nothing (instead of presenting an error message) if you select
"Transfer to MS Outlook" and MS Outlook isn't installed on your computer.
6) There are some minor changes to the way trips are selected in the PA screen
when using the "Release to Layovers" criteria based upon after midnight
releases.
Bid Buddy 6.71 Rev d
Improves overall operational logic and prepares BB for the contract changes to
come.
Bid Buddy 6.71 Rev c
1) I've made improvements to the "Selected Patterns" screen. There are now
buttons for increasing and decreasing rank by 1 so you don't have to go to the
pull-down box to change rank.
2) 31-in-7 and 32-in-7 checking is changed in the SG. It was
slightly possible to build some illegal mixed domestic/intl schedules before.
Bid Buddy 6.71 Rev b
Fixes a fatal error condition that could occur after printing bookmarked
patterns and then subsequently displaying selected or bookmarked trips. This is
a manifestation of the same problem addressed in Rev a but obviously not fixed
completely.
Bid Buddy 6.71 Rev a
Fixes a "File not Found" error that occurs after printing "selected
patterns"
Adds some cosmetic freshening to the "Selected Pattern Display" window.
Bid Buddy 6.7 Rev w
You can now toggle the entire DOW "ON" or "OFF" in the SG Calendar by clicking
on the heading for the Day of the Week (DOW). When you move the mouse over the
DOW heading, the mouse pointer will change to a hand, and the DOW heading will
become bold. When you click on the heading the entire DOW within that bid month
will be toggled "OFF" or "ON" depending upon what was previously selected. For
example, if you want all Mondays and Tuesdays "OFF", you need click only the DOW
headings for Monday and Tuesday to mark those days "OFF".
Likewise, if you right-click over the day number on any Sunday day in the bid month, that entire week will be toggled "ON" or "OFF". Any days that are already marked in that week will be set to the opposite.
Bid Buddy 6.7 Rev u
1) Adds some operational improvements to the pop-up calendar and the
flight selection Screens.
2) I mproves the cosmetics of the Legality Directives Form.
3) Adds a help topic for the SG Legality Checking Directive and makes that
help topic appear when you right-click on the SG LCD button.
Bid Buddy 6.7 Rev t
I made a typo when entering the bid month dates for May and June 2006. I've
corrected that in this update. Reprocess patterns after installing. To
force BB to update the bid month dates for 2006 to the correct date, you need to
delete the following two files in the "C:\bidbuddy6.0"
folder with BB not running: "months2006.dbf" and "months2006.fpt".
The other way to correct the problem is to put the correct bid month dates
for May and June in the Pattern Acquisition Form ("Patterns"..."Get and Process
Patterns".... upper left corner of the form.)
Bid Buddy 6.7 Rev s
This update fixes a problem processing 13-day trips, specifically ANC patterns
for May.
Bid Buddy 6.7 Rev r
1) Fixes a bug selecting trip checkout times (COT) using the "COT+" function in
the PA Screen. BB was using arrival time for that function instead of COT.
2) Fixes a random error condition which could occur when changing from one
selected trip to another in the "Matching Pattern Display Window".
Please read the following info on transferring the BB FC to MS Outlook.
Rev q Fixes a bug in creating the Outlook Calendar for Style 1. The last
leg of the trip wasn't being entered as an appointment. That is now fixed.
Fixes a problem selecting trips with checkout times that have a " " in the first
digit of the checkout time on the pattern. You'll need to reprocess patterns if
you want this correction to work for any previous month.
Please read info below on new capability to transfer your FC info to MS Outlook.
You can now transfer BB FC info to the Microsoft Outlook Calendar in one of two
styles. The command to do this is on the report menu. For those of you with Palm
devices, you should be able to transfer this Outlook
Calendar to your Palm and thereby have your BB FC and detailed trip info available in your Palm
Calendar. Click this link for info on
automatically formatting FC info transferred to Outlook.
Excerpt from BB Help
You can transfer the BB Flight Calendar to the
Microsoft Outlook (not Outlook Express) Calendar. There are two styles to select
from. To transfer the FC information, select "Reports"..."Transfer FC to MS
Outlook".... "Style 1" or "Style 2". Style 1 gives comprehensive information.
Style2 provides the same info as contained on the FC.
When you select the menu item to transfer, a window will appear asking
permission to access Outlook. Check to box to allow permission for 1 minute.
You don't need to start Outlook to do the transfer, and if Outlook is open when
you do, you will have to bring Outlook to the top to see the permission request
window.
You can set up MS Outlook to automatically color different activities using
"Automatic Formatting" and then setting different rules with keywords. See the
example contained in the link to the Softmica Website.
Bid Buddy 6.7 Rev n
Changes "Awarded Trip" processing to accommodate a new trip number format.
Awarded trips can now be successfully added to the FC.
Bid Buddy 6.7 Rev m
Updates Jr Trips processing to reflect format of latest Jr Trips Report.
Bid Buddy 6.7 Rev l
Fixes problem displaying SVT days on the HTML FC
Fixes potential issue adding awarded trips to FC
Bid Buddy 6.7 Rev k
Fixes a subscript range error when processing DC9 patterns for April. If you got
this error, reprocess patterns after installing this update.
Bid Buddy 6.7 Rev j
You can now drag trips from the available flights list into the selected
flights list when selecting specific flight numbers in the PA screen.
Bid Buddy 6.7 Rev l
This revision fixes an error condition which could occur in the PA screen when
selecting the "Flight Numbers" criteria along with certain other criteria.
Bid Buddy 6.7 Rev k
This revision changes the FC so that the initial trip selected in the trip list
will now be the first trip instead of the last trip. It is not necessary to
reprocess patterns after installing this update
Bid Buddy 6.7 Rev j
This revision adds a new option in the schedule generator directives. This
option is to limit the number of trips on any schedule. This option is "ANDED"
to any other option you select on the SG Directives screen.
BB 6.70 Rev h,i
Fixes a bug in 8-in-24 checking which prevented some legal schedules from being
built.
Changes pattern processing so that double-flight-time-off for SEA A330 flying is
not enforced. In other words, the patterns are processed just as the DTW A330
patterns are. Also changes pattern processing so that Capt Only trips,
which are always augmented, also waive the dfto requirement for A330 patterns.
Reprocess patterns after installing this update.
BB 6.70 Rev g
Fixes a bug introduced in processing "made up" patterns when I removed crew
meals from trips database. This bug is now fixed. This update also offers
several small cosmetic improvements.
BB 6.70 Rev f
Fixes a bug introduced in 6.70 (a-e) which made processing transition
patterns impossible. This problem is now fixed. You must re-process "normal"
patterns first before processing any transition patterns.
I've updated the merge feature in the BPS screen so that BB actually merges
selected op days by "OR"ing the two sets together.
Also fixes a bug doing 8-in-24 checking against a fixed trip in the SG. You
could have gotten a "record out of range" error message when building schedules
with a fixed trips.
I hope I haven't caused too many headaches.
BB 6.70 Rev e
Fixes a bug I introduced into the SG when doing 8-in-24 checking. You could get
a "record out of range" error along with an incorrect rolling 8-in-24 check. The
problem is now corrected. My apologies.
This update also uses the new verbiage for setting schedule limits in the bid
script. To make this change happen, press the [BS Options] button in the SG
(after bookmarking patterns), select the option you want, and then press [Use]
BB 6.70 Rev d
Fixes a fatal error condition that would occur if you selected [Print Bookmark
Pattern Summary] in the PA screen, then selected "Order by Rank", and then after
printing the patterns, returned to the PA screen and selected [Show Matching
Patterns]
BB 6.70 Rev c
My apologies. I introduced a bug in 6.67a,b which didn't properly credit
carry-out trips on the FC. It's fixed in this version and now working properly
once again.
BB 6.70 Rev a,b
Rev b fixes a problem processing patterns for some acft that was introduced in
Rev a
This is a significant update. It offers the following enahancements.
1) The BB Schedule Generator will now look at the rest end time of a trip in the
previous bid month even if that trip is not a carryout trip. If the rest period
of that trip extends into the next bid month, bid buddy will ensure that no
trips conflict with the required rest of that trip. If you want to make this
checking work for Feb, you will need to remove the last trip on your Jan FC and
then re-drop it onto the FC and [Save].
2) The BB SG will now check for a rolling 8 hr hardfly in 24hrs in adjacent
trips with non augmented or 3-pilot crews.
3) The BB SG now gives you the option of what legality checking you want to
apply. So now you can put your actual schedule on the SG calendar and use it to
check 30-in-7 legalities. You change the type of checking you want by pressing
the "Legality Directives" button in the SG. That will open the "SG Legality
Directives" screen. Remember that any legality you select is preserved, so
before building schedules for bidding, make sure you have "29-in-7" and
optionally "31-in-7" selected.
4) Fixes an error condition that could occur when selecting "Landing Airport" in
the PA screen when "BM Only" was selected for the scope.
5) Fixes a problem adding trips to the FC from awarded schedules.
Please note that you MUST reprocess patterns after
installing this update!!
BB 6.67 Rev g
Fixes a problem with the "# of sits over 3 hrs" selection criteria in the PA
screen.
BB 6.67 Rev f
1) Changes the Bookmark Patterns Set (BPS) screen so that you can now optionally
merge any BPS with the existing bookmarked patterns.
2) You can now display bookmarked patterns directly from the BPS screen.
3) Fixes a potential issue when printing patterns which might cause the
pattern(s) to not print.
BB 6.67 Rev d
Changes the way the SG handles augmented trips. They are no longer counted
against the 31-in-7 legality.
BB 6.67 Rev b,c
Revision c fixes an error which occurred when saving pattern selection
criterion with the new "Sits >= 3 hrs" selected in the PA screen.
1) Changes the pay comparison calculator to include the new interim pay rates so
you can really see how bad it is.
2) Updates the FC pay calculator with the new changes. There will be a slight
variance with the 757 because I include all international in the international
premiums for the 757 because singling out ANC and HNL trips was too much work
for too little payback.
3) In the Pattern Analysis screen, I now allow you to screen trips based upon
how many sits are over 3 hours. This takes the place of the crew meal selection
which no longer has much merit as a selection criteria.
You MUST reprocess patterns after installing this
update!!
BB 6.67 Rev a
1) Adds bidmonth dates for 2006
2) Updates Jr Trips processing to account for changes in the CARMEN report
3) Updates automatic FC trip processing for adding scheduled trips to
accommodate changes in the CARMEN report.
BB 6.65 Rev z
Corrects an omission which could cause an error when you attempt to open the
layover information form.
BB 6.65 Rev y
Fixes some minor cosmetic issues
Changes the way after midnight "checkouts to layover" are handled in the PA
screen. Any checkout between midnight and 3am will be considered to arrive after
22:30 instead of before 0600.
Please reprocess patterns after installing this update
to get this change to work correctly!!
BB 6.65 Rev x
Changes "Earliest Report Time" to "Report from Layovers" and "Earliest Release
Time" to "Release to Layovers". This time excludes checkin and checkout times.
This update also fixes a problem introduced earlier in computing schedule stats.
Please ignore Revisions "v" and "w"
BB 6.65 Rev u
Fixes a bug introduced in the prior revision that appeared when you
selected "Carry Out Trip" in the Pattern Analysis screen.
One more item I forgot to mention for Rev t. You now have the option to
unbookmark selected trips in the pattern display screen.
BB 6.65 Rev t
This is a substantial update. You must
reprocess patterns after installing this update!
Here is the list of changes and new features.
1) SVT is now a 3-day event because of the distant learning program. Your credit
options are 5:20 and up. If you need to fix your Oct FC, remove the current SVT
from it and then add it again. You can now add SVT to a bidmonth for which there
are no trips without getting an error.
2) The selection criterion in the PA screen has been changed to "Trip Checkin
Time" and "Trip Checkout Time" for compatibility with the new bidding software.
3) You can now specify "Set Commute Start xxxx - yyyy" and "Set Commute End xxxx
- yyyy" in the SG directives screen. If you have specified either or both, the
appropriate command(s) will also appear in your generic bid when you generate
your bid script.
Revision s had a problem with file versions that could result in errors.
BB 6.65 Rev r
Updates processing of Jr Trips (in postaward analysis) to reflect the
new format from Carmen. Because Rev q is such a large update, you must have
installed Rev q before installing Rev r. I'm doing it this way because I
want to keep future updates as small as possible.
BB 6.65 Rev q
1) Adds the layover information screen. Most cities are not currently
populated with information. You can use this screen to input information by
selecting a category and then selecting "Edit" and then "Finish" after entering.
Once you've entered info, you can use the [Send] button to email the info to
Softmica for inclusion. If you don't want to do that, I simply request that you
email layover city info. I will continue to edit the info and add it in updates.
2) You can now print the bookmark pattern summary in "rank" order.
3) There are other minor improvements.
BB 6.65 Rev p
Prevents you from shifiting any vacation period out of the bid month in the SG
screen. Also prevents a possibl error message when selecting vacation shift and
the vacation period borders either the beginning or end of the bid month. Very
soon I will be releasing a version which includes the new layover information
screen. I think you will really like it when it comes out. If you select
the BB icon for your shortcut, it will no longer disappear after installing this
or future updates.
BB 6.65 Rev o
Fixes a bug which could result in the error message "Variable YC not
Found" when processing Jr Trips. I believe I have found the cause of this error
and rectified the problem.
BB 6.65 Rev n
This revision prevents any selected operating days from being changed in the PA
screen when selecting from either "Bookmarked" or "Not Bookmarked" patterns. The
advantage of this is that you can do any kind of searches on your Jr Trips and
not change the selected op days no matter what kind of searches you do. That
way, only the trip-days available with Jr Trips will ever be selected. I just
wanted to be sure that you can do Jr Trip Analysis without having to worry about
changing the selected op days. Always remember though, that you must select
"Bookmarked" under scope in the PA screen when doing searches on "Jr Trips".
BB 6.65 Rev m
Reprocess patterns after installing this
update!!!
I made a change in revision k which adversely (and unknowingly) affected pattern
processing results. When doing PA, not all trips would be selected in some
instances where the data wasn't correctly tabulated during pattern processing.
I've corrected the problem in this revision. Please reprocess patterns after
installing this update. Again, I apologize for any inconvenience.
Some of you will want to select patterns again in the PA screen to be sure all
truly matching patterns were selected.
BB 6.65 Rev L
Revision L fixes a problem (newly discovered) that I'll describe now. If SVT
appeared late enough in the previous month to appear at the top of the SG
Calendar, trips that operated on the corresponding days as SVT (from the
previous month) would be excluded when building schedules in the new bid month.
Very strange problem I know and not detected until now. So.... if you had SVT at
the end of June on your FC, you will want to regenerate schedules for July after
installing this update to see what schedule choices were excluded by this bug.
This was not a problem inherent in the schedule builder itself, but instead an
issue of wrongly defining SVT begin and end dates in the new bid month when
putting SVT at the top of the calendar (outside of the current bid month).
BB 6.65 Rev j,k
Reprocess patterns after installing this
update. It changes processed patterns results for some one-day
augmented international turns and one-day redeye trips that return the second
day. Reprocessing also adds carry-out trip info that is used in the PA
screen.
Rev k slightly refines the selected op day methodology in the PA screen.
I've also restored the selected op day "autoselect" feature in the PA screen. It
now works when you specify trip operating days in your selection criteria and
(or) when you specify "carryout = 0". If you have already "bookmarked" a trip,
BB will not change any of the previously selected op days, but will add to them
if they are not already selected and the criterion specifies that they be
selected.
Selected op days are preserved if you select "carryout = 0" and then
subsequently select "carryout = somethingelse", and there are times when you
will want to [Restore Selected Op Days]
The "Honor Avoids" in the Layover Analysis screen now properly filters down the
selected trips.
I know that for some reason the usual BB icon is not appearing when you install
these update. I believe the reason is because I am no longer having each
revision appear in add/remove programs. You can manually attached the airplane
icon by right-clicking on the generic BB6.6 icon, selecting "Properties" and
then "Change Icon". Then navigate to the "C:\Bidbuddy6.0" folder and select
BB6.6.exe. Don't worry about the warning message you get in windows when you
first select "Change Icon."
BB 6.65 Rev i
The auto-trip op day selection feature wasn't working properly so I've removed
it in this revision from the PA screen. It may or may not re-appear in the
future as I think things through with this issue. Sorry for any headaches I
caused with it.
BB 6.65 Rev h
1) Allows you to now have the PA and Layover Analysis (LA) screens open
simultaneously.
2) Fixed a problem which allowed multiple instances of the LA screen to open. Ok
when open, but bad when trying to close.
3) Adds an "Honor Avoids" to the LA screen. If checked, previously Avoided trips
will not be considered when doing layover analysis. The box is enabled only if
there are trips that have been marked "Avoid". You can set "Avoids" in the PA
screen.
If you're using Rev f or higher and have reprocessed
patterns since installing one of those revisions, you don't have to reprocess;
otherwise, reprocess patterns for both June and July after installing.
BB 6.65 Rev g
Wow... sorry for all the updates but I found some problems displaying bookmarked
trips and also with the logic for resetting trip op days. Those problems are
fixed in this update. I have some tremendous ideas for future updates, but for
now I'm going to keep the functionality stable and work on fixing any bugs that
crop up. This update fixes all known bugs.
BB 6.65 Rev f
If you haven't reprocessed patterns since your last
update, you must reprocess patterns after installing this update.
1) Fixes the report for displaying selected patterns in the selected patterns
display screen.
2) Adds the option to display only selected op days in bookmarked trips in the
Patterns-by-op-day report
3) Does not reset the trip selected op days (to every op day) when you open the
PA screen
BB 6.65 Rev e
If you haven't reprocessed patterns since your last
update, you must reprocess patterns after installing this update.
This update changes the layover analysis so that when selecting trips with a
layover on a given day, the trip operating "select op days" are automatically
selected. The only select op days "marked" are ones that satisfy that layover
criteria. This occurs ONLY when "On one of these days"
has been checked. The other modifier to that concept is that if the trip has
previously been bookmarked, the previously selected trip op days are preserved
and then modified to include the op days that satisfy the layover request.
BB 6.65 Rev d
Beginning with this release, BB will no longer make a new entry in the add/remove programs list.
This update also improves the consistency of the [Clear All Days Off] button on the SG Screen.
BB 6.65 Rev c
Release Rev b with a bug when you selected patterns in the Layover Analysis
Screen
You MUST reprocess patterns immediately after
installing this update!!!
BB 6.65 Rev b
You MUST reprocess patterns immediately after
installing this update!!!
1) This update allows you to now select patterns by flight numbers in the
PA screen. Again, this is in keeping consistency with ATLAS.
2) When you "Show Matching Patterns", the Limit option will be enabled
only if the trip operates on more than one day. The limit values available will
be "None", which means there is NO limit, and numbers between "1" and the number
of trip frequencies.
3) When you select trips by trip operating day, if the trip operates on
more than one day, only those trip op days that match the trip operating day(s)
will be selected in the "select op days" when you "Show Matching
Patterns". This will automatically limit those trips on generated
schedules to the desired operating days unless you subsequently modify the trip
op day selection. You can restore all selected trip op days with one button now
included on the PA screen.
BB 6.65 Rev a
You can now specify "Avoid Criterion" in the PA screen. See online help for details. If you specify "Avoid", then the search scope is effectively changed to eliminate the "Avoided" trips.
In the Selected Patterns screen and the SG screen, you can select a trip limit. This will limit the number of times that trip can appear in any given schedule. A limit of "None" (the default), means that there is no limit to the number of times a trip can be in a schedule.
There is now [Clear Days Off] button on the SG screen.
There is now a [Reset Screen Selections] in the PA screen.
You can now click on the comparison operator for "Sit Length" in the PA screen so change it.
BB 6.64 Rev i
I believe that this is a significant and powerful update.
Firstly, I've added a search "Scope" selection to the Pattern Analysis screen.
The scope choices are "ALL", "BM" ( "Bookmarked"), and "! BM" ('NOT Bookmarked).
There are many ways to use the new scope selection but the most significant is
when doing Jr Trip analysis. Once you load Jr Trips, they are the only ones that
are bookmarked. So if you do searches on "Bookmarked" trips in the PA screen,
you can get a great idea of the selection criteria that will find the trips
available at your seniority when you bid. Searches on "Bookmarked" trips will
also only search for trips that are marked as operating on a given day (as
opposed to all possible operating days). The default trip search scope is always
"ALL". The scope is never saved with your other preferences and you will have to
explicitly set it to something other than ALL anytime you open the PA screen.
Secondly, I've incorporated the same "real time" selection feature into the
"Layover Analysis" screen as in the PA Screen.
BB 6.64 Rev h
I introduced a minor bug a few revisions ago. This bug would manifest itself if
you tried to recall saved trips in the SG with days off marked and without the
SG calendar in the "Reset" state. I've fixed that issue in this revision.
I've also made sure that the "Bookmark Pattern Summary" button is now enabled in
the "Pattern Analysis" screen only if there are "bookmarked" patterns available
to view.
BB 6.64 Rev g
This revision adds an "Avoid Airports" selection criteria to the Pattern Analysis screen. You can select up to 5 airports to avoid. The airport list is created when you process patterns and includes every airport that is found in the patterns select to be processed. Airport selection works just as it does for layover cities.
I've also increased the trip value range up to 80:00 in the "Trip Value" selection criteria.
There was a sound file missing in the last update which would cause an error message when changing the "generic vac credit" value. This update includes that file.
YOU MUST REPROCESS PATTERNS AFTER INSTALLING THIS UPDATE!!
BB 6.64 Rev f
Fixes problems with SVT travel days in the SG Calendar. They will now appear
properly and credit will appear if the travel days are for credit. The travel
day(s) for credit will also appear in the bidscript if you have elected that
option. You should not need to remove/add SVT in the FC for this change to
reflect properly in the SG Calendar and bidscript.
I've also fixed a minor bug recalling saved selection criteria in the Pattern
Analysis Screen.
BB 6.64 Rev e
Fixes a few bugs with a first-time install. Should also cause BB to size properly when started.
BB 6.64 Rev d
1) Fixes a potential bug that could occur with SVT on the calendar. I
recommend that if you have SVT this month you remove it from the FC and then add
it back. Also improves the SVT selection screen.
2) Fixes a program error issue that could occur after generating your bidscript
and then returning to the SG screen.
3) Prevents you from toggling days off in the SG Calendar unless the calendar is
in a "reset" state.
4) Tweeks the pattern processing engine so that it will work with all "multi-day
over a duty period" scenarios.
BB 6.64 Rev c
1) BB updates pattern processing for trips that have more than one calendar day
in a single duty period. BB now gives credit for each day that flying occurs
instead of giving credit exclusively in the last day of the duty period. This
will correct some problems with credit in carry-out trips as well as some pay
calculation issues. You must reprocess patterns for any month in which you
want this change to occur.
2) Allows you to make SVT travel days "for or not for credit". Please note that
because of the new way SVT is added, if you delete SVT and then select "Cancel",
the SVT credit calculations will not work correctly. The way to fix that problem
is to delete SVT and then re-add it to the FC. Please also note that if
you want to use the new SVT features, you must remove SVT and SVT travel days
from your FC, select [Save], and then add them back.
3) Changes the pay calculation window to show SVT and SVT travel days
separately. Ensures no high time is paid either for svt or svt travel days.
4) Updates the international cities to include Bermuda (BDA).
5) Fixes a minor bug in the pattern selections screen so that the number of
matching patterns is updated when changing the deadhead "from" city.
6) There were instances where if you didn't update BB in sequence you
could have gotten errors when using the SG directive limits. This update
will automatically update everyone to the correct place.
BB 6.64 Rev b
1) I've made some schedule generator improvements. There was an issue where if
you requested a very wide schedule range, the SG might not build every possible
schedule depending upon the credit values of remaining trips. This version
corrects this issue and tweaks it slightly to improve performance.
2) The patterns-by-op-day report now includes a column for "Credit in Bid Month"
which of course is different than "trip credit" for carryout trips.
BB 6.64 Rev a
Adds a new button to the selected pattern screen which will select and display
the first trip in the list of selected patterns that isn't currently bookmarked.
In conjunction with the button added in Rev y, this will greatly speed the
process of bookmarking and ranking patterns if you select patterns from most
restrictive to least restrictive criteria.
BB 6.63 Rev z
Carry-in trips that go off-calendar at the beginning of the display calendar
were causing an error to be generated when selecting that bidmonth. If the
offending bidmonth was the current month, then the error would occur on startup.
Furthermore, if you tried to remove these trips in the carry-out month, (as
opposed to the departure month) it would also cause and error. This update fixes
both problems. Also, I've improved the function of the [Bookmark and Rank
ONLY Unbookmarked Trips] button so that if all trips in the "selected trips"
list have been bookmarked, the button will become inactive.
BB 6.63 Rev y
The following discussion applies to trips in the "Selected Pattern Screen" which
is the screen that appears when you select [Show Matching Patterns] in the
Pattern Analysis Screen.
While using BB this morning I got a new idea that I think will be really helpful when bookmarking trips. When doing pattern analysis the normal sequence is to select the most restrictive (preferred) criterion first, and then relax the criterion to get more trips. However, after bookmarking the first set of trips (say to a rank of 1), bookmarking subsequent sets was more difficult because normally the first set of trips, which you had already bookmarked and ranked, would be included in the second set; therefore, you would have to bookmark and rank the second set individually (trip-by-trip). To solve that problem, I've introduced a button [Bookmark and Rank ONLY Unbookmarked Trips]. Now, you can globally bookmark and rank the unbookmarked trips that are mixed with your bookmarked ones, without changing the ranking of the previously bookmarked trips. This makes it very easy to create different strata of bookmarked and ranked trips without have to individually select or examine each trip. For the more advanced user, I believe this new feature will make life much easier and save a significant amount of time ranking trips.
Here's a travel tip: Select "Order by Rank" to quickly review your bookmarked trips in rank order in the selected patterns screen.
BB 6.63 Rev x
There are some trips which have two layovers on the same calendar day. This is a
situation which BB wasn't exactly designed to handle. I've modified the pattern
processing engine to process these trips so that the trip length is now correct,
and the daily credit values are correct. What you will have to modify manually
is the layover information when you drag the trip onto the FC. Since there are
two layovers in a single day, BB overwrites the first with the second when
processing patterns. Only an extensive design revision would allow BB to capture
the double layover information. I've elected to go for the simple solution and
allow you to modify the info on the FC as needed.
BB 6.63 Rev w
BB was not properly finding trips with Avg Daily Credit values of 10 hrs or more
in the Pattern Analysis screen when selecting a value greater than 8 hours. I've
corrected this problem in this version but you will need to reprocess patterns
for the change to work correctly. I've also added NAS to the list of
international destinations.
BB 6.63 Rev v
When processing Jr Trips, it is no longer necessary to separately bookmark
awarded trips, or modify the Jr Trips report to include them. BB will now
automatically bookmark the trips on your Flight Calendar when processing your Jr
Trips report. Just make sure you've put your awarded trips onto your FC before
processing Jr Trips and they will be bookmarked (as they should be) along with
the Jr Trips on the list.
BB 6.63 Rev u
Found a bug in the code to process made-up patterns. That is corrected in this
update.
BB 6.63 Rev t
Corrected a typo in the code to fix the file "Calrep.dbf". Sorry if you
got an error while trying to fix that file.
BB 6.63 Rev s
For some reason, many ".dbf" files have been coming up corrupt for different
users. I've greatly expanded the number of corrupt files you can fix yourself
under "File"...."Fix Problems"..."Fix Corrupt Files". I've also changed
some code to hopefully minimize this problem from happening in the first place.
BB 6.63 Rev r
Rev q code for dropping trips in the SG calendar had a typo which
prevented it from working properly. Rev r fixes the problem. My
apologies to any of you who ran into this issue.
BB 6.63 Rev q
Fixes a bug in which the trips list was unresponsive in the SG immediately after
adding/changing generic vacation.
Trip credit and carryout credit (if applicable) is now shown on the last day of
each trip in an SG schedule. If the trip is a carryout trip, trip credit within
the bid month is shown on the last day of the bid month, and carryout credit is
shown on the last day of the trip.
BB 6.63 Rev p
Changed generic vacation to make it independent of "normal" vacation that
appears on your flight calendar. You can have both normal and generic vacation
in the same bid month if you like. If you have "normal" vacation and no generic
vacation, the bidscript will NOT include the generic vacation script line in
each bid group. Only if you have explicitly entered a generic vacation value
will the generic vacation script be included in your bid script. The "normal"
vacation value cannot be modified in the schedule generator when selecting "Add
Generic Vacation". Please note that any schedules saved prior to this update
which include generic vaction, will not properly show generic vacation when
recalled. You must regenerate and re-save schedules that include generic
vacation for them to be properly recalled.
BB 6.63 Rev n,o
Updates the list of international destinations in the pattern processing engine
so that per diem and international hardfly will be correctly calculated. You
must re-process patterns and re-drop your FC trips if you want to see the
effects of this change for February. I made a change in revision "n" that
introduced a bug. It's fixed in Rev o.
BB 6.63 Rev m
Revision m offers a fantastic new capability in the Pattern Analysis Screen. You
get a real-time count of the number of patterns selected as you change your
selection criteria. I believe this is a tremendous new feature that you will all
really find helpful. I've also better organized some of the selection criteria
on the PA Screen. I was laying in bed last night and this new idea popped into
my head. And so now you see it manifest in reality.
BB 6.63 Rev j ,k,L
1) Fixes an error in the Schedule Generator which caused it to not always
correctly count the minimum number of days off between trips.
2) The schedule generator trip limit is now 999.
3) Schedule building with the SG Directives selected is significantly improved.
4) Changes the "Trip Departure Time" selection criteria in the Pattern Analysis
Screen to "Trip Report Time" for standardization with ATLAS.
5) Adds a new selection criteria in the Pattern Analysis Screen: "AVOID ETZ
Departure Before xxxx". If you check this criteria, you will Avoid
selecting trips
that have an Eastern Time Zone (ETZ) Departure before the time you select. This
applies to all days within a trip.
6) Adds more time values to the "Longest Sit" selection criteria in the Pattern
Analysis Screen.
You MUST reprocess patterns to use the new ETZ selection criteria. You must
re-generate schedules for the "minimum days between activities" to work
correctly.
7) You can now select "yes" or "no" after checking international giving you a way to select domestic only trips.
BB 6.63 Rev i
I thought I had it right, but I was wrong twice. I didn't quite get the pattern operating date processing algorithm right in Rev g or f. It is correct now, but you must reprocess patterns after installing this update. I apologize. No excuses. My testing was inadequate and I rushed my solution.
BB 6.63 Rev g
1) Adds trip rest and 24-off-in-7 legality checking for SVT (and travel days)
when SVT is in the schedule generator calendar. Trip post-rest requirements
cannot conflict with SVT, and 24-off-in-7 must also be met for trips surrounding
the SVT event.
2) Fixes the global delete of saved schedules under the "File" menu. Previously,
this would work only in the bid month you had selected. It now deletes all saved
schedules, thus freeing significant disk space.
BB 6.63 Rev f
General improvements in help and other behind-the-scenes areas.
BB 6.63 Rev e
Fixes an error condition that could occur when generating an html flight
calendar report.
BB 6.63 Rev d
There was a bug in the pattern processing engine that caused BB to not recognize
MAR 01 trip operating dates if the trip left on that date and also dates in the
two previous months. The reason was that
this bidmonth spans three calendar months, and my code wasn't designed to
include that possibility in a single trip. (I believe only A330 Trips are
like that, so those on other aircraft will likely see no change.) After much gnashing of teeth, I've updated the pattern
processing code to include this possibility. Please re-process patterns to make
this work. You can save your bookmarks and restore after processing so you don't
have to re-bookmark patterns. Also be aware that you don't have to re-download
the pattern file, you just have to click on the "Process Patterns" command
button on the Pattern Acquisition Form.
BB 6.63 Rev c
I've fixed a bug that was just pointed out to me that doesn't properly
account for "24-off" periods on all days for trips with very long layovers. This
effects only trips in which the layover length is greater than 48 hours.
You need to reprocess patterns to have BB correct the problem.
Fixes an error condition that could occur when using the "Calc Pay" function.
BB 6.63 Rev b
1) There was is major issue in the last several releases. Because I greatly
changed many parts of the schedule generator, I totally messed up the bid script
generator without knowing it. I've fixed it in this release but YOU MUST
REPROCESS PATTERNS AFTER INSTALLING THIS UPDATE!!. You must also NOT recall any
schedules created prior to this release. You must re-generate schedules either
automatically or manually and re-bookmark them and then regenerate your bid
script. If you save schedules after installing this release, they will
recall properly. My apologies for this.
2) Fixes a problem caused when manually adding trips to the schedule generator
which would cause trips to disappear if adding a new trip after going back to a
schedule.
3) Fixes a problem calculating per-diem on international trips. You need to
re-process patterns and re-drag any international trips back to your FC for this
to work properly
4) Allows you to print trips from the FC with the option to (or not to)
highlight trip departure times.
5) Adds another logbook page style to select from.
BB 6.63 Rev a
Adds pattern download and processing specifics for SEA A330. I accidentally checked the "read-only" box in the installation version of pattsbyoppday.dbf which thus causes an error message when trying to generate the patterns by operating day report for new-install users. It's fixed in this version for all new-users and all who update. This revision also changes the bidscript text for generic vacation to closely reflect the actual text used by ATLAS. There are also additional cosmetic improvements.
Be sure to scroll down the page (or click this link) to read the details about how to use the new "fixed trip" capability in the Schedule Generator. This was a widely requested feature and offers you another powerful option for building schedules.
BB 6.62 Rev z
Updates revision number and adds some additional cosmetic improvements.
Happy New Year!!! There will likely be one more revision in early January to
update the auto-pattern downloading feature to accommodate the opening of the
A330 base in SEA. I cannot do the update until I see where sequentially
NWA puts the A330 in the pattern download list.
BB 6.62 Rev y
This revision fixes a bug which could occur when recalling schedules
(bookmarked or all) built with a "fixed" trip. If you have previously saved and
recalled schedules using a "fixed" trip, delete them or overwrite them, do not
recall them until you have saved them with this update installed.
Generic vacation is now saved and recalled with schedule sets that contain it.
When you generate the bidscript, the generic vacation will appear in each
bidgroup. The generic vacation command is disabled when viewing schedules.
This update also further improves the very small FC printout.
BB 6.62 Rev x
Adds hot keys and icons to the BB main menu, and fixes an issue in which
you could change months in the FC when the SG and Layover Analysis forms were
active. There are also cosmetic improvements.
BB 6.62 Rev w
When save a bookmark pattern set, BB will now automatically update the
name of the BPS to reflect the new bidmonth in which it was saved. There is no
need to rename it. So basically, BB will automatically and properly name your
BPS if you allow it.
BB 6.62 Rev v
Updates Jr Trips processing so that it works when pattern numbers are
less than 1000. The new Jr Trips report doesn't pad the pattern numbers, so I
had to change the Jr Trips processing engine to pad them when I parse them do BB
can match them up when processing and bookmarking trips.
BB 6.62 Rev t,u
This revision adds powerful new features to Bid
Buddy and is a "must-install" update!!
You can now add a "fixed" trip to
the SG Calendar. You add a fixed trip by dragging any trip (bookmarked or not)
onto the SG Calendar when the [Create Schedules] command button is shown and
enabled. BB will recognize and label that trip as a "Fixed" Trip. It will remain
on your SG Calendar until you remove it.
When you build schedules and the SG Calendar contains a "fixed" trip, all
possible schedules will be created from "bookmarked" trips that accommodate the
"fixed" trip. The "trip-day limit" directive has no effect on the "fixed" trip,
but does still limit all other trips to the directive limit when BB builds
schedules.
Revision u adds the ability to save, recall and generate a bidscript for schedules which have a fixed trip. When you recall schedules saved with a fixed trip, the schedules are recalled with the fixed trip appearing as a "normal" trip in each schedule. Bidscript generation is as it has always been.
Here is a screen shot after trip 1055 was dragged onto the SG Calendar as a "fixed" trip.
You can remove a "fixed" trip only using the [Remove Fixed Trip] Command button.
That button is normally labeled [Create New Blank], but is relabled when you add
a "fixed" trip to your SG Calendar. After you remove the "fixed" trip, BB will
revert to "normal" operation.
BB allows only one fixed trip on the SG Calendar. BB won't allow you to drag
another.
Here is a screen shot after BB generated schedules with the "fixed" trip. As you can see, the schedules are built "around" the "fixed" trip.
BB will now label trips on the SG Calendar that begin and end with a deadhead.
The shading is also different so it's easy to see. In the screen shot
above, you can see the labeling on the last day of trip 0954.
Here is another screen shot showing labeling for trip 0955 that begins with a deadhead.
Revision t also fixes some bugs introduced in Rev s, and some other issues as well.
BB 6.62 Rev s
There are many significant improvement in this revision.
1) By popular demand!!
There is a new schedule generator directive to limit
carry-out hours. That
limit is "Anded" to the other limit combinations (if they have also
been selected). Of course, the carry-out limit directive can be selected
exclusively.
2) An SG bug is fixed which allowed some trips to be manually dropped onto the SG
calendar even though they conflicted with the rest requirements of another trip.
(This bug did not exist when using the schedule generator to generate schedules automatically.)
3) Adds 30 minute increments to the min sched selection for all times above 63
hours in the SG.
4) Fixes a condition which disabled the "Augmented Trips" selection in the
Pattern Analysis Screen.
5) Improves the cosmetics of the Pattern Analysis Screen.
6) Significantly improves the Very Small Flight Calendar.
BB 6.62 Rev r
This revision improves rendering of trip info on both the large and small flight calendars. Changes I introduced in Rev q made rendering worse than before. Rev r makes it better than ever. I also added some minor cosmetic improvements. As an aside, I know I release a lot of updates, but I feel that you are better served if I release them as I complete them so you can start using the improvements right away. Improved software doesn't do much good sitting inside my computer only.
BB 6.62 Rev q
1) Corrects a problem creating a new pattern from an existing one. Turns
out, if you hadn't ever printed a calendar, the pattern you selected to modify
wouldn't appear on the "edit pattern" form. This issue is now fixed.
2) Adds the ability to select a generic vacation credit on the SG screen. This
is for use with the new monthly vacation bidding option which lets you basically
float your vacation anywhere. So if you use the generic credit, you can build
your schedules with that credit in mind, and then put your vacation (at least
monthly) where in the month you want it after building schedules. The previous
vacation features remain as they are.
3) Adds the option to select a crew position when generating the
patterns-by-operating-day report.
4) Improves the log page printouts for both "Style 1" and "Style 2".
5) Adds the ability to put a Simulator Seat Support activity on your FC. This
has a 4:15 credit value.
BB 6.62 Rev p
Allows the schedule generator to accept schedules that include 29 hrs in 7 days
instead of below that limit (28:59). There are some trips that are built at
exactly 29 hours in 7 days (hardfly). This is a "must-install" update!!
BB 6.62 Rev o
1) Adds a seconds style logbook page which has a smaller font but includes more
information. The new format is "Style 2". Style 1 now has a larger space between
the hole markings and the page title.
2) Gives you the option to print your log page in either "Style 1" or "Style 2".
3) Adds print preview before printing logbook pages.
4) Adds some cosmetic enhancements.
BB 6.62 Rev n
1) Adds the ability to print an even smaller version of your FC from the "Very
Small Calendar" Screen. You can print a 4.5" x 3.5" small calendar and also
print the new 3.5" x 3" calendar.
2) You can now print flight logbook pages for the trips on your FC. You can do
that from the report menu if you want to print logbook pages for the entire
month (each trip is a separate page). To print a log page for a specific trip,
just right-click over the trip on the calendar and then select "Print Logbook
Page" from the pop-up menu. The logbook pages have hole-punch
circles for jep-style folders. If you have any comments or suggestions on
this new feature, please email me.
3) Rev L bug fixed. Rev m didn't properly show the flight number on the log page for deadhead segments. Fixed in Rev n.
Revision L had a typo bug which is corrected in Rev m. If you are an FO
or SO and you try to print log pages, Rev L will generate an error message.
BB 6.62 Rev k
1) Corrects a problem with the 24-off-in-7 logic in the schedule generator. The
previous versions had some incorrect logic which allowed some schedules to slip
through that should not have. I apologize for not catching this bug
sooner. Rev k makes one additional change to ensure the proper 24-in-7
logic stays intact when trips are displayed.
2) Makes multiple operational and cosmetic improvements throughout the program.
BB 6.62 Rev i
This update affects the screen to add awarded trips to your FC.
As of Nov 2004, ATLAS is using new awarding software for some positions. The
format for the awarded bid is different from the previous software. If your bid
uses the new software, click the check box below the command button (Use Format
for new ATLAS Awarding Software). That way BB can put your trips onto the FC
using the newer format. The new format looks as follows:
Awarded 00004 11/04/2004 12:50 12/06/2004 12:50 27:56 000
Awarded 00020 11/11/2004 12:40 12/14/2004 18:56 24:03 000
Awarded 00038 11/25/2004 12:55 12/22/2004 14:10 27:58 000
BB 6.62 Rev h
1) Incorporates the year 2005 bid month date information.
2) Incorporates the current and bridge agreement pay rates assuming an effective
date of Dec 1, 2004 for the new rates. After that date, BB will update your pay
rate automatically (including international overrides) when you select
[Projected Pay]. The pay comparision calculator has also been updated to reflect
the current and bridge agreement rates. You can also update your pay rate
manually in your user profile screen by selecting a different position than your
current position, and then re-selecting your current position. Again, you need
to do this on or after Dec 1. The new pay projection will follow the bridge
agreement in all areas after Dec 1st with one exception. BB will no longer add
any premium pay for SVT beginning with this revision.
BB 6.62 Rev g
1) Adds the "B" (Between) operator to trip length in the pattern analysis
screen. This operator, when selected allows you to select trips with a trip
length between the first and second value inclusive.
2) Allows you to select an arrival or departure window up to 16 hours (instead
of 8) when viewing connecting commuter flights for trips on the FC.
BB 6.62 Rev f
Adds the "BETW" (Between) operator to the
trip value selection criteria in the Pattern Analysis screen. If you select the
"BETW" operator, the third combo box will be
enabled. This will allow you to select a scond trip value. BB will then select
the trips between those two values inclusive. For example, you can select trips
with a credit value between 27 and 33 hours inclusive as shown below.
This update also improves handling of the condition where you attempt to auto-download patterns when Jet-Book is already running.
This revision also adds a few cosmetic revisions.
BB 6.62 Rev e
Third time's the charm on the crew position selection. I left out a set of
parenthesis which prevented the crew position selection from working correctly
when other criteria were selected with it. That is now fixed. Have you
ever had a day when you felt like you were a member of the "All time dumb
team"????
BB 6.62 Rev d
1) Fixes the "other trip conflict" problem when dropping trips into the SG
Calendar.
2) Changes the way the "Crew Position" select works so that when a specific crew
position is specified BB gets that crew position plus the trips with "all 3" at
that crew position. This only effects ANC trips.
3) Rev c had a bug I didn't catch during testing, but found later.
BB 6.62 Rev b
This revision adds the capability to order your trips by "Patt num", "Rank",
or "Dep Time" in the Selected Patterns Screen. If the trips are ordered by
"Rank", you can change the rank and the trips will be immediately re-ordered
when you do.
BB 6.62 Rev a
1) Adds the ability to select a crew position in your patterns selection
criteria where that is available. You will need to
reprocess patterns for any month in which you wish to use this feature.
The selection box is at the bottom of the pattern analysis screen. The
join operator for this selection is always "AND" regardless of the join operator
you have selected.
2) Fixes an error condition which occurred if you selected the BidScript
Preferences screen and subsequently opened the Schedule Generator Screen.
3) Updates the "User Profile Screen" to reflect the latest possible Base/Acft
combinations.
BB 6.61 Rev z
Fixes a potential error condition that could appear if you are using BB,
switch to another application for a while, and then return to BB. Also now
preserves your trip-day limit directive setting, so that it is the same when
return the schedule generator. "y" and "y1" had a few problems which could
cause errors.... sorry.
BB 6.61 Rev x
In this revision I've re-written the part of the "Selected Patterns" screen that switches between "All Selected" and "Show Only Bookmarked Trips". Previous versions didn't work the way they should have and could have generated error messages when selecting or displaying "Bookmarked Only" patterns. This version also allows you to "unbookmark" when displaying "Bookmarked Only" patterns. Rev w had a few problems which are corrected in Rev x. I didn't fully realize the complexity of the changes required.
BB 6.61 Rev v
Updates auto-pattern downloading and processing to reflect elimination of
DTW DC10 flying. If you want to use auto-pattern downloading and processing, you
will need this update because BB cannot automatically select the correct
position without it.
BB 6.61 Rev u
You can now easily add all of your awarded trips to your Flight Calendar for a given bid month.
When viewing your ATLASBID "Reasons" report, highlight the area that shows your awarded trips and then press [Copy].
The highlighted area should look like this:
Awarded 5559 08/05/2004 16:00 08/07/2004 11:31 12:45 254
Awarded 5341 08/09/2004 14:31 08/12/2004 14:31 20:44 254
Awarded 5362 08/16/2004 06:31 08/18/2004 19:21 19:25 254
Awarded 5555 08/22/2004 13:15 08/24/2004 10:48 13:14 254
Awarded 5336 08/29/2004 11:55 09/01/2004 12:12 04:24 254
Be sure to highlight the entire area including spaces before pressing [Copy]
In Bid Buddy, Select "Patterns"..."Add Awarded Trips to Flight Calendar"
Press the [Paste from Clipboard] button.
NOTE: When you press this button, whatever information that was previously in the box will be replaced with the new information from the clipboard.
Press [Add the Awarded Trips to Flight Calendar] button.
If you have copied correctly, your new schedule will be added to your FC and saved, and the "Awarded Trips Window" will close automatically. If there is a problem, BB will tell you what it is, and the window will remain open.Rev u also changes the "saved" vertical screen dimension property of the FC, so that it is restored to the correct dimension when you restart BB.
BB 6.61 Rev t
This update improves the auto-pattern download feature so that the correct file is selected to be processed. It also adds a few other minor improvements.
BB 6.61 Rev s
Turns out that what scheduling told me last month wasn't true. Only Canada
segments (begin or end in US) count against 29-in-7, instead of all
international destinations. I had to tweek the pattern processing engine once
more. All but DC9 folks need to reprocess patterns for September to correct
after downloading this update.
BB 6.61 Rev r
Auto-pattern download updated to reflect closing of the HNL base. Any category
below that in the list won't download automatically without this update.
BB 6.61 Rev q
You can now limit the number of times the SG will add a given trip on a given
day to schedules built. There is now a checkmark below the SG directives
checkmark which will activate this function. Click on the "Trip Day Limit
Directive" command button to set the trip-day limit. See online help for futher
details and the advantages of using this feature to limit trip dependencies in
built schedules.
I've also improved the screen position "save" feature in the FC, so that it comes back where it should when you restart BB.
BB 6.61 Rev p
I rewrote the "sizing" routine of the FC screen. You can now size it to whatever your monitor will allow. If you click the "zoom" icon, the FC will completely fill your computer screen. I hope you all like. I'd appreciate feedback.
BB 6.61 Rev o
In keeping with the theme of the latest updates, I've significantly improved
the schedule generator algorithm for speed and completeness. In many cases,
schedule generation will be much faster. Because the SG is also more complete, it
will under certain circumstances build many more schedules for a given hourly
range. I've spent more time painstakingly going through this code then you can
imagine, and I think I've whipped all the remaining SG demons. I
believe it's the best schedule building algorithm in the world bar none.
I've also made it so that you don't have to remove any trips from your FC to
build schedules on the same month's SG calendar. This will make doing Jr Trips
analysis much easier since most of you put your awarded schedule on the FC
before doing anything with Jr Trips.
BB 6.61 Rev n
This is an important revision because it changes something I didn't understand
as I should have. If you fly a segment from outside the US into the US, or
inside the US to outside the US, that segment always counts toward 29-in-7 for
schedule building purposes. The BB pattern processing engine considered those
segments to be international and didn't count them toward 29-in-7. The net
result is that BB could build schedules which exceeded 29-in-7 because certain
segments were not included in the mix. With this release I have changed that.
However, you must reprocess patterns and re-drop your trips onto your FC,
especially if you have carry-out from Aug to Sep. I really do apologize that I
haven't gotten this right until now. But I personally got bit by this, and after
a discussion with crew resources figured out what happened. If the same thing
happened to you, I genuinely apologize. I'm still working to give you the best
BB possible.
BB 6.61 Rev m
In an effort to have BB fix problems that come up, I've added a "Fix
Problems" choice in the "File" menu. I will expand this over time to give
you a way to fix some common problems without outside help. The following
two you can fix now.
1) Made it possible to rebuild a corrupted flight calendar. Under the
"File"..."Fix Problems" menu, the option is "Rebuild corrupted flight calendar".
The flight calendar will by necessity be blank when restored.
2) You can now restore a corrupted "ztrips.dbf", also from the "File"..."Fix
Problems" menu.
I've changed button caption in the "Selected Patterns Screen" to "Bookmark and
Rank All Selected Trips" to reflect what actually happens when you press that
button. Remember, all selected trips can be ranked at once by selecting a rank
number and then pressing that button.
BB 6.61 Rev L
This revision, along with version 1.1 of AJBFLM makes it possible to press the "download and process patterns" button while AJBFLM is running.
BB 6.61 Rev k
In Rev h I introduced a problem processing transition patterns. I've corrected that in this revision and also changed BB so that the full pattern number is displayed when you process transition patterns. Again... sorry for the inconvenience as the "side effects" problem bites me once again.
BB 6.61 Rev i
I found a problem with the way the schedule generator was detecting the time
between the end of any carry-in trips and the first trips on the sched gen
calendar. The result was that the rest-after period for the carry-in trip was
not being honored in many cases. I apologize for this oversight. This problem
has been corrected in this revision for both auto-generated and manually created
schedules.
BB 6.61 Rev h
1) Auto Pattern download and processing is now available. You must first
download and install the Auto Jumpseat Booking and Flight Listing Manger from
www.softmica.com. You must
also enter your access ID and password in the Access Information Form in the
AJBFLM.
In BB, the
button appears on the Pattern Acquisition Form which allows you to download and
process patterns all in one step. This button will work only if you have
accomplished the above, and your BB Profile information for base, aircraft
and position are correct.
2) BB now checks to make sure you are processing patterns for the bid month you
have selected. If the patterns you are processing and the bidmonth do not match,
BB will stop processing and tell you that the months do not match.
BB 6.61 Rev g
1) Fixes a problem when calculating trip rest for A330 trips and some other
augmented trips. The aircraft designator for the A330 can be 332 or 333 and can
be mixed within the pattern if there are deadheads. BB will now calculate the
correct rest for those trips.
2) Under certain instances, there could be a program error in the pattern
analysis screen if you select certain criteria along with a layover city and the
"AVOID" criteria when you [Show Matching Patterns]. That problem is now
corrected.
BB 6.61 Rev f
1) Carry-out is now included in the "Patterns by Operating Date" report.
I hope you like because it was a pita to do.
2) I've ensured that you cannot recall any saved schedule sets in the SG if
you've deleted them all from the "File" menu.
BB 6.61 Rev e
Fixes a bug that occured if you bookmarked all selected trips and subsequently clicked on the bookmark box to unbookmark the trip shown.
BB 6.61 Rev d
I've changed the "selected patterns" screen so that you can select the
rank before or after you bookmark. The advantage to this is that you can now
rank sets of patterns whatever you want. For example, if you are viewing
patterns and want to rank each pattern in the entire set to "4", just select 4
in the rank box and then press [BM ALL Selected Trips], and all trips will
bookmarked and ranked #4. If you want to change the ranking of a group of
selected trips, simply change the number of the rank and press [BM ALL Selected
Trips] and all of the trips will be changed to the new rank number.
BB 6.61 Rev c
Sorry for all the recent updates folks, but I did want to get you all the latest
before bidding.
1) This update fixes a problem finding trips that depart/arrive before or after
0700-0930. BB was not putting a "0" as the first digit which caused problems for
BB in finding the correct trips. You will have to reprocess patterns for this
change to take effect. If you want to preserve your bookmarks, save them first
and then restore them after processing patterns
2) I've fixed a bunch of problems that could appear if you leave the pattern
analysis, selected pattern display and other windows open, and then switch back
and forth among them while changing different parameters. There was a
particularly serious problem that could crop up if you ran the "Patterns by
operating day" report, left the report open, and then switched back to any other
window, and subsequently closed the report display window.
3) The bidscript generator will now add the appropriate schedule generator
directives to your "generic" script if you have the directive box checked when
you generate the script. Here is an example of what that will look like in your
script:
5: SET Commutes 3 Min Days Off 6
6: SET Max Days On 5
You do not have to have the directives active when you generate schedules, only
when you generate the bid script.
Also, I'm very much hoping to have some good news on direct bidscript transfer
into ATLAS BID very soon.
4) I've changed the "save all scheds" in the SG so that you don't have
to have any schedules bookmarked to save them in areas 5 through 8.
BB 6.61 Rev b
1) You now have the option to save all schedules with bookmarks preserved in areas 5, 6, 7, and 8 as shown in the screenshot below. When you recall schedules saved in those areas, all schedules are restored as though you had never left what you were doing. This capability allows you to stop what you were working on (in terms of reviewing schedules, bookmarking and ranking) and then return to it later by recalling the schedules from the area you saved them in. You still can right-click over any area (1..8) with saved schedules to delete that information. You can delete all saved SG schedules at once from the "File" menu.
2) You can now delete all saved HTML calendar information in one command from
the file menu. If you use HTML calendars (either FC or SG), I recommend that you
use this command monthly because it will free up a lot of disk space.
3) I've improved the way BB frees up disk space on it's own.
BB 6.61 Rev a
1) I've fixed a problem with bidscript generation. BB was not generating the
bidscript bidgroups in rank order if you selected the option to have bid groups
numbered consecutively and you hadn't viewed your trips in rank order by saving
and recalling ranked schedules. Sorry that I didn't pick up on this sooner and
thank you for pointing it out.
2) You now have the option to save your bidscript to a text file which you can
then use to email or use in another application such as a word processor.
BB 6.6 Rev z1
1) You can now rank up to 80 schedules.
2) I've improved the shading of the rank buttons to better show the rank numbers
that have already been used. Remember, you can still click on a "used" button
and overwrite an existing rank and shift the adjacent ranks to the right.
3) There has been a problem with printing individual help topics. I believe I
have resolved that problem with this release.
4) Restores the correct "no drop" drag icon in the schedule generator
screen and FC.
1) Automatically labels bookmark pattern sets when you save them if you don't
label them yourself.
2) Improves custom tip text in the flight calendar. I've also made other
cosmetic improvements.
3) Updates help to reflect recent changes
BB 6.6 Rev w & x
Revision w also adds back an omitted report file so you can print the bookmark pattern summary. Revision x adds back the report file for bookmark patterns with patterns report.
I apologize for the "issues" as my BB project got corrupted and I had to completely rebuild it. I thought I had everything, but obviously missed a few things.
BB 6.6 Rev v
Includes a couple of "Easter Egg" files inadvertently omitted from Rev u. Please also read the information on Rev u which is also included in Rev v.
BB 6.6 Rev u
1) BB adds "smart" vacation shifting in the schedule generator. BB keeps track
of each vacation period and will only allow you to slide your vacation the
correct number of days. It will also not allow you to slide your vacation into a
scheduled activity. BB will add any vacation slide information to your bidscript
for any vacation period that has been shifted. Because of this new capability, I
had to modify the format for saving bookmarked scheds. Therefore, any previously
bookmarke schedules cannot be restored.
2) I've included a new option in the "File" menu for "Deleting all old
bookmarked schedules". I recommend that you click on this menu item and execute
the command so that you are starting fresh with your bookmarked schedules.
(Don't confuse schedules with patterns here. Patterns are not affected.) Running
this command could also free up significant disk space and help BB run faster.
3) I've added selection criteria in the Pattern Analysis Screen for:
** Deadhead
to start trip
** Deadhead
to end trip
You must reprocess patterns for any month in which you want to use that new
selection criteria.
I am making great progress on Auto jumpseat booking for ATLAS II. I mostly have
everything working. Now it's a questions of refining and testing and testing.
BB 6.6 Rev t
1) Made another change to the schedule generator. BB wasn't properly
updating the range for building schedules when you changed it. Strange
problem.... but would manifest itself in not showing all trips within the range.
2) In the last update, the install added BB to the startup process so BB would
start automatically when you start your computer. That was a mistake and I've
removed that in this update.
After the msconfig program comes up:
BB 6.6 Rev s
This update includes a missing ".dll" file that BB looks for when opening
the Pattern Acquisition Form. If you have been getting an error when
opening that form you will need to install this update.
When adding a scheduled activity, one of the cells in the FC was not changing
color when you moved the mouse over it. That bug is now corrected.
BB 6.6 Rev q
Revision q fixes a problem in the schedule generator which prevented all schedules to be displayed when you selected a wide hourly range for building schedules. This revision also fixes the problems outlined below.
Rev o full install did not correctly include all of the updated files. None of the revision o updates correctly installed the shortcuts to start Bid Buddy. Revision q fixes those problems.
BB 6.6 Rev o
This revision includes a change to correct an data overflow error condition when processing 747-400 patterns. It also adds a few cosmetic changes and a link to ATLAS II. This update also uses new library files for a slightly smaller download footprint. It might correct any activex registration issues also.
BB 6.6 Rev n
Revision "n" has many new features, fixes and capabilities. First I'll detail
the fixes:
1) BB was not correctly "tagging" international hardfly on the last day (or
first day on a 1-day trip) of the trip. This resulted in the pay calculation
being incorrect. There was also a problem with BB correctly calculating
projected pay for trips with international deadheads. That is now also fixed.
You will only see these fixes if you reprocess patterns and re-drop the trips on
your FC.
2) BB was calculating too long a required rest period after international
(non-augmented) trips. That is now corrected.
3) BB will now by default print only the patterns that depart in the selected
bid month when you print patterns.
4) BB would generate an error if you attempted to modify a made-up pattern and
process it. In other words, it wouldn't allow you to process one that you had
already changed. This is now fixed. (NOTE: You must still adhere to the
prescribed pattern format.)
New Features
1) Bookmark Pattern Set(s) Screen
A Bookmark Pattern Set or (BPS) is basically any set of "bookmarked" patterns
that you want to save and later recall. You can access this screen under the
patterns menu or with a button in the SG screen. Please read online help for all
of the details.
2) ATLASBID "Jr Trips" processing
You can now easily import the ATLASBID "Jr Trip" information and use it to see
what you could have held in a given bid month. You access this screen from the
"Analyze" menu. Please see online help for all the details.
3) Trip daily credit edit capability for unusual patterns.
There are some trips which can create problems in a carry-out scenario because
of when the credit is totaled. Below is an example:
623 1 757 ANC-MSP DDH
844 2155 603 508
57 2125
623 2 D95 MSP-ORD DH 122 700 816 116 0 624 806 1724 1839
831
---------------------------------------------------------------------------> See
Detail #1 <-----------------
623 3 74F ORD-ANC B 901 255 625 630 630 630 745
0 0 155 640
If this trip is a carry-out trip that begins on the last day of the bidmonth, BB
will give all credit for the first duty period to the second day of the trip as
shown in the pattern. Thus, there will be zero credit on the first day. To
correct this problem I've added the capability to manually change the daily
credits. In this case, you would change the daily credit for day 1 to 508 and
for day 2 to 116. You must do this before you drop the trip onto the FC or use
in the SG. You activate the daily credit screen by right-clicking on the pattern
number in the pattern list on the FC and then selecting "Modify Daily Credit
Values". It's easiest to display the pattern first, and then modify because the
modify screen will remain on top of the pattern display screen.
4) There is now an option in the Bid Script Options window to show "SET Claim
SVT Credit = xxxx" in your bid script bid groups in the month you have SVT. If
you do not claim any credit, then it won't be shown.
5) There is now a [Paste from Cipboard] button in the Flight Table Editor to
help you easily paste the information you've copied from the timetable.
BB 6.6 Rev m
1) Fixes an error condition that occurs when saving a schedule to HTML in the SG
in which there is a carry-in trip.
2) Changes 30-in-7 checking and 32-in-7 checking (in the schedule generator) to
reflect the new ATLAS requirement that essentially creates a 29-in-7 and 31-in-7
limit for the purpose of awarding trips.
BB 6.6 Rev k
This update fixes a problem correcting trip length for some redeye return trips.
You will need to reprocess patterns after installing this update.
BB 6.6 Rev j
1) Improves some FC internal programming and the way the mouse pointer and
tip-text changes depending upon the context of what you are doing.
2) Fixes the way BB handles multiple overwrites and then "cancel" when adding a
scheduled activity to the FC.
3) Improves some SG cosmetics.
BB 6.6 Rev i
This revision adds the option to "Limit consecutive work days" to the SG
directives. This directive can be "joined" with any of the other directives.
It also fixes a bug in the "min days between activities" directives which was
limiting from the beginning of the month even if there was no carry-in.
BB 6.6 Rev h
1) You can now "overwrite" a schedule ranking and adjacent schedules will be
re-ranked sequentially until an unranked space is encountered. Once you have
ranked a schedule, that ranking will appear in "blue" when you rank another
trip. If you select a "blue" ranking, all schedule rankings inclusive and
adjacent to that ranking will be increased (moved to the right) by one until
there is an unused rank position available. If there are no unused positions up
to 35, then the schedule ranked 35 will be "unranked" when the other adjacent
rankings are adjusted. This new capability allows you to easily reselect a high
rank position and have the other rankings fall in order without having to
manually re-rank any trips.
2) By popular demand: BB now shows
carry-out credit for each schedule displayed in the schedule generator.
3) Windows Installer now forces update of key files to prevent the error
problems encountered in the past after updating. This should now cause all
upgrades to result in a "clean" install.
BB 6.6 Rev g fixes a calendar printing problem that had occurred when certain options were selected.
BB 6.6 Rev f updates all the web links to the new Bid Buddy website.
There are many
new features in version 6.6. Here is a summary. Additional details are in
online-help.
1) Updates BB to work
with Win-XP themes and new features. BB is updated to use newer, faster,
database technology... especially if you are running it under Win-XP.
2) Allows you to
individually set the trip operating days that BB will consider when building
schedules. You can select specific days either from the Pattern Display screen
after viewing "matching" patterns., or in a "floating" window in the "Schedule
Generator Screen". You can activate the "Op Day Select Window" in the schedule
generator one of three ways: (1) Double click on any pattern number in the
list. (2) Click on [Show Op Day Sel] (3) Right-Click over any pattern already
on the SG calendar, and then click the 2nd menu item in the pop-up menu.
3) New pop-up menu item
when clicking over any vacation day in the schedule generator which allows you
to shift your vacation left or right. You can move vacation only from an
"empty" SG calendar. BB will not allow you to shift any part of the vacation
out of the bid month. There is currently no provision to add the "shift
vacation" command to your bid script. Let me know if that is a feature that you
desire.
4) New ability to
automatically add travel days when adding SVT to the flight calendar.
5) You can now tell BB to
automatically add a modified pattern to your flight calendar immediately after
successfully processing it.
6) You can now finish
adding a scheduled activity to the flight calendar simply by left-clicking on
the last day of the activity. You can cancel the "set scheduled activity" mode,
by moving the mouse over the "Cancel Set" button on the FC.
7) You can now leave the
Schedule Generator Directives Window open when using the schedule generator.
8) BB now includes sound
effects for certain actions. You can enable or disable sound effects on the
profile screen.... preferences section.
9) BB will now by default
remember your last selections in the Pattern Analysis screen and restore those
setting when re-open that screen.
10) New help option by
topic list. It's an easier way to see and access all of the help topics. There
is also a keyword search capability.
Revision e includes the following fixes
1) The "vacation shift" option is disabled if you right-click on a vacation day outside of the selected bidmonth.
2)
BB will no longer specify "double-flight-time-off" for rest when processing A330
patterns. This will allow back-to-back trips.
Fixes
--------
1) BB will now always
return to the trip you drop on the FC after you drop it.
2) BB will now better
process made-up patterns
3) BB will not generate
an error after generating a bid script and returning to the SG directives
screen.
4) BB is now even more
robust when you switch contexts with multiple windows open.