Author Topic: Buy-in/Addon using magstripe card reader  (Read 2909 times)

no_hoper

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Buy-in/Addon using magstripe card reader
« on: June 04, 2010, 05:10:53 PM »
I'm looking at issuing my players with league ID cards that have a magstripe.  Using a magstripe reader/writer attached to my computer, it would great if the TD software was able to initiate a player buy-in or add-on/rebuy and then read the player ID from swiping the ID card.

I've been thinking how to do this using the current release as a workaround in the meantime.  What I'm thinking is to setup the game before hand and then save it.  I will have a seperate interface application that I run during player sign-up that will read a card swipe and then modify the TD game file directly.  That will solve the buy-in problem but I doubt it will be possible to easily solve the buy-in/add-on.  I'm guessing that will have to be done the manual way.


dniezby

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Re: Buy-in/Addon using magstripe card reader
« Reply #1 on: August 17, 2010, 11:09:16 AM »
I'm with you hoper.

My league is HUGE and my member's ID cards have a bar code on them with their ID number.  I want to be able to use my bar code scanner to simply scan players in.

I am looking at getting one of those goofy looking Cat bar code scanners to use.  I think that all you'd have to do is scan a player's ID card while placing the cursor in the FIND box. Then hit enter.

The only issue I've found so far with using "find" is that the database is slow to access. 


Corey Cooper

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Re: Buy-in/Addon using magstripe card reader
« Reply #2 on: August 17, 2010, 01:20:46 PM »
This is exactly what the Find dialog was initially intended to do, and why the cursor is automatically set their when the dialog opens.

When you say the database is slow to access, what do you mean?  Are you saying when you press the Find button the player list updates slowly?

dniezby

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Re: Buy-in/Addon using magstripe card reader
« Reply #3 on: August 17, 2010, 02:01:17 PM »
Quote
When you say the database is slow to access, what do you mean?  Are you saying when you press the Find button the player list updates slowly?

Yeah, sometimes is seems to take a bit to find a player.  Now, keep in mind we have almost 3k members in our database.  We've recently gone through and cleaned out the inactive players and that has trimmed it down quite a bit and that seems to have improved it. Now we're at 1,570.

I will have to get one of those QueCat Readers to see if it works. Too bad there isn't a way for it to automatically log the player in once it scans. Well, maybe there is in the scanner software.  Like, "Scan and Enter" type of command so that you just have to ok it.

Corey Cooper

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Re: Buy-in/Addon using magstripe card reader
« Reply #4 on: August 18, 2010, 10:19:01 AM »
Now, keep in mind we have almost 3k members in our database.

Wow.

Now we're at 1,570.

Still wow.  At least it's good to know the software works and is usable with that large of a database (considering it's not really a database).  I tested with databases of 5000 players, but testing is always different from real life.

I recently realized the player dialogs could be sped up a bit by reworking them a little.  No concrete proof, though.  However, considering this size database is definitely the exception rather than the rule, the priority of doing that is not very high.  Sorry.  I'll try to find some time to work on it, but no promises.

dniezby

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Re: Buy-in/Addon using magstripe card reader
« Reply #5 on: August 18, 2010, 01:52:15 PM »
Any thought to migrate to an actual database? Like a portable version of MySql or so something?

Might also allow for even broader expansion of the program?

Corey Cooper

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Re: Buy-in/Addon using magstripe card reader
« Reply #6 on: August 18, 2010, 02:14:12 PM »
Not really.  I mean, yes, I've thought about it many, many times, but it would be very messy because of the way the TD is written and I haven't come up with a good enough reason to make it worth the effort.  I honestly don't think it would buy much.