LOTTO CHALLENGER REVISION HISTORY Version 3.1 - October 1989 (Original Version) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 3.2 - November 1989 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Corrected a bug in the Drawing Summary which caused incorrect averages and percentages to be displayed if a large data file was used. 2. In the previous version, a number was Overdue if it had not been drawn in the past 10 drawings and if it was in the upper 50% of the Drawing Frequency list. This was changed so that Overdue numbers are now numbers which have not been drawn in the past 10 drawings and appear in the upper 25% of the Drawing Frequency list. Version 3.3 - January 1990 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Gave the user the option to change how many drawings are used to determine whether a number is Hot, Cold or Overdue. If the file LC.CFG is deleted prior to loading Lotto Challenger, the user is prompted to enter the number of drawings to be used. The default is 10 drawings for this option. 2. Added the ability to include Bonus numbers in the statistical analysis. A new question concerning Bonus numbers was added to the Configuration screen. Version 3.4 - February 1990 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. After a number system is selected to play, the prize guarantee for the system selected is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Press ESC to cancel playing the system, or press any other key to continue. 2. Added the option to print a registration form by pressing F10 on the Lotto Challenger closing screen. 3. The Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP) logo was added to the program title screen and user documentation. Version 3.5 - August 1990 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. In previous versions, the maximum number of tickets for number systems was 120 for Pick-5 and Pick-6 games, and 100 tickets for Pick-7 games. The maximum number of tickets was increased to 480 for Pick-5 and Pick-6 games, and 500 tickets for Pick-7 games. 2. New number systems were added for Pick-5, Pick-6 and Pick-7 games. These systems range in size from 4 tickets to over 300 tickets. Version 3.5 - August 1990 (continued) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. The "Drawing Summary" option in the Drawing Statistics menu asks for how many drawings to include in the Drawing Summary. The program defaults to the total number of drawings in the data file, minus the number of drawings used to determine if a number is Hot, Cold or Overdue. This was necessary because it is not possible to determine if a number is Hot or Cold for the first 10 drawings in History. Version 3.6 - January 1991 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Reduced the size of the number system files through the use of variable length records. Each file was reduced from 72,283 bytes to 15,176 bytes. The number system file for Pick-7 lotto games was eliminated. This change eliminated the need to compress any Lotto Challenger files when distributing the program on 5 1/4" 360K diskettes. 2. Corrected a memory error which sometimes occurred if the default number of drawings was not used for the Drawing Summary. 3. Added 3 new options in the configuration file (LC.CFG). To change the defaults for these options, the configuration file must be deleted (DEL LC.CFG). When Lotto Challenger is loaded, the program will ask if you want to change any of the defaults. The following new options were added: A. USE DEFAULT DRIVE FOR DATA FILES? The default answer for this question is "Y", which means that the program will look for the data files (files with extensions DAT, PIK, and TIK) in the same directory that the Lotto Challenger program files (LC.EXE and number system files) are located. If you answer "N" to this question, you are prompted to "ENTER PATH FOR DATA FILES." For this question, you must enter the complete DOS path where your data files are located. For example, if your program files are located in a subdirectory C:\LC on your hard disk, and your data files are in the subdirectory C:\LC\DATA, then the correct answer to this question would be "C:\LC\DATA\" (without the quotes). If you do not have a hard disk, but have 2 disk drives, you may want to keep your data files in the second drive. That way you won't have to worry about running out of disk space when your data file(s) get large. You can play several lotteries simply by having a separate data diskette for each lottery. If your program diskette is in Drive A, and your data disk is in Drive B, simply answer the question "ENTER PATH FOR DATA FILES" with "B:\" (without the quotes). B. DISPLAY SHAREWARE SCREENS? The default answer to this question is "Y." If you answer "N," then the opening and closing Shareware screens will not be displayed. This option is available to registered users only. If you distribute the program to others, please ensure that this question is answered "Y". Version 3.6 - January 1991 (continued) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- C. LOWEST NUMBER OF MATCHES FOR BONUS NUMBERS? This question applies only to Pick-6 lotto games that use a bonus number. The default answer is "5." The answer determines when the program considers a bonus number a winning number. For example, in California and most other lotteries with bonus numbers, there must be 5 matching numbers before the bonus number counts. One exception is the Pennsylvania Wildcard lotto, which accepts a bonus number with 3 to 5 matches. Anyone playing the Wildcard lotto should answer this question with a "3." 4. Added an error trap to display a meaningful message if the disk should become full. 5. Added extensive error checking when entering or modifying drawings. The new error checking includes: A. Range checking so that a number cannot be entered which is less than 1 or greater than the total number of numbers drawn for your lottery. B. The program checks for valid dates when entering new drawings. C. The program checks to see if duplicate number(s) are entered when entering drawing information. D. Before a new drawing is saved, the program first checks the data file to make sure there is not another drawing with the same date in the file. The program will not let you save duplicate dates. 6. When entering or modifying drawings, the cursor automatically advances to the next field if the number entered is 2 digits long. If the number entered is only 1 digit long, you must press ENTER to go to the next field. 7. When adding new drawings, a window is displayed at the bottom of the update screen that shows up to the last 5 drawings entered. The drawing date is displayed along with the numbers entered for that date. This feature was added so that in case you are interrupted while you are entering drawings, you can easily see where you stopped. 8. The "Winner's Circle" option now works correctly for Pick-6 lotto games that use Bonus numbers. Before this version, the Winner's Circle would consider a Bonus number a match regardless of how many other matches were found in the ticket. The program now uses the number entered in the LC.CFG file to determine if there were enough matches in the ticket to consider the Bonus number a match. 9. Bonus numbers are now highlighted in inverse video in Winner's Circle, Drawing History and Hot Numbers. 10. When you play a number system, the numbers on the resulting tickets are displayed and printed in the same order as the original number system. On the print out, the numbers played are shown in the actual order that was used for substitution into the number system. Prior to this version the numbers were sorted prior to displaying or printing the tickets. Version 3.6 - January 1991 (continued) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11. Added more extensive mouse support for the program. A mouse can now be used in all program functions. The left mouse button acts the same as the ENTER key, and the right mouse button works the same as the ESC key. Be sure to load your mouse driver before loading Lotto Challenger. 12. Added a new main menu option, F9, "File Maintenance", in order to easily delete old Quick Pick's files (extension PIK) and ticket files (extension TIK). Use the arrow keys or mouse to highlight the file you want to delete and press the ENTER key or left mouse button. If you answer "Y" to confirm the deletion, the file will be deleted. Press the ESC button or the right mouse button to return to the main menu. 13. You no longer have to run the Drawing Summary option in the Statistics menu prior to going into Quick Picks. If you have not run the Drawing Summary option before going into Quick Picks, you are asked if you want to run the Drawing Summary. If you answer "Y," you are asked how many drawings you want to include in the summary. The summary will not be displayed on the screen. Once the program is finished calculating the values, the Quick Picks screen will be displayed. Use the Drawing Summary option in the Drawing Statistics menu if you want to display or print the Drawing Summary. 14. After you save a Quick Picks file, you are asked if you want to print a listing of the numbers that were picked. This listing shows the numbers that were picked in the different categories, the Pick file name, and the order of the numbers in the file. The order is the same order in which the numbers are substituted into the number system file. 15. When the user presses F10 on the closing screen to print a registration form, the user fills in the registration information on the screen before the form is printed.