Q: What is the mini-menu or Quick-Menu?

A: From within CHUMP, if you draw the stylus from SouthWest to NorthEast across the Graffiti text Area, a small graphical menu will appear across the bottom of the screen. It contains several options you may need in a hurry, such as "Add Code Viol", "Add Time Viol", and "Suspend Match Clock"

This is what the Quick-Menu looks like. If the Quick-Menu is onscreen and you want to get rid of it, tap anywhere outside the quick-menu.

Q: What, if anything, do the five buttons at the bottom of the Palm unit do?

A: The five "hard" buttons correspond to the five blocks, or "soft buttons", on the bottom of the CHUMP screen. Once a match starts, some umpires prefer to use the stylus to tap the on-screen "soft" buttons, and some prefer to use the "hard" buttons, by feel, with a finger or thumb, so their eyes never have to leave the court.

Q: How do I tell, at a glance, if any of the players have CVs or TVs?

A: Invoke the mini-menu and choose "View Details/Viols". T: and C: show the number of TIME and CODE violations for each player/team.

Q: What do I do in the event of a rain delay?

A: Just suspend the match clock and get off the court. SUSPEND MATCH CLOCK is a choice available either off the ADMIN menu, or off the quick-menu.

Q: What happens if I forget to start the match clock?

A: The match clock starts automatically when you enter the first point for either player/team if it has not already been explicitly started. If you have suspended the match, the clock will start automatically when you add a point for either player/team.

Q: In doubles, if I set the wrong server/receiver at the start of a set, how do I recover?

A: You can't. The logic to switch servers and receivers is very complicated, and the software counts on you setting these correctly at the start of the first two games of each set of a doubles match. As a professional umpire, it's not too much to ask. CHUMP will prompt you to set the server/receiver at the start of the 1st & 2nd games of every set. Ignore these prompts at your own risk.

It is also useful to know which player is which, especially in doubles. If the match is Sampras vs. Agassi, that's easy, but if it's a match involving less distinctive players, establish who is whom before the warmup starts and note (OTHER THAN shirt color, since shirts change) a distinctive feature of each (lefty, beard, taller partner, shorter partner, etc).

Q: I practiced a few points of my match, then I backed out the scores. But the match clock still shows a match time. Can I get rid of that?

A: Yes, use RESET MATCH CLOCK on the ADMIN menu.

Q: How can I tell if my link to the scoreboard is working?

A: Once you've plugged your palmtop into the scoreboard cable, use "Send Scoreboard Data" on the ADMIN menu.

Q: How do I clear off the scores from the previous match on my court?

A: Once you've plugged your palmtop into the scoreboard cable, use "Send Scoreboard Data" on the ADMIN menu.

Q: If I'm in the 3rd set, how can I tell what the 1st set TB score was? It's not on the screen.

A: This palmtop has very limited screen real estate, so a few concessions have to be made. In this situation, invoke the mini-menu and choose VIEW DETAILS/VIOLS

Q: What's the quickest way to back out a point if I make a mistake?

A: Invoke the mini-menu and choose UNDO. You can also choose UNDO from the MIDMATCH menu column

Q: I'm used to the ATP H-P palmtop software, where you can only back out points in one game. How does that work with CHUMP?

A: You can back out as many points as you want. You can back out the entire match if necessary.

Q: What's the row of symbols across the top of the screen that grows after each point?

A: That's an audit trail, to show the previous points in each game. "O" means first serve point, "o" means 2nd serve point, "d" means double fault, "A" means first serve ace, "a" means 2nd serve ace. The symbol "v" means penalty point. The symbol goes on the line of the point winner; for example, in this example, BE/JS won the first three points of the game, and JB/CW won the next two.

Q: How can I tell if the match clock is running?

A: If the match clock is running, the time is appended with "+", for example "1:03+". If the match clock is halted, the time is appended with a "-", for example "1:03-".

Q: The player names are abbreviated. Will I always be able to tell opponents and doubles partners apart? What if their initials are the same?

A: CHUMP has an algorithm to deal with this. On the iconic tennis court, three letters represent each player. If the players' last names are, for instance, Jones and Smith, you will get "Jon" and "Smi". If the last names start with the same letters, you will get a first initial and the first two letters of the last name. For example, with Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, you will get "MWo" and "TWo". If this still does not yield different abbreviations (for example, James Smith and Joe Smith), then you will get the first two letters of the first names and the last initial, i.e. "JaS" and "JoS".

Q: How do I plug my Workpad into the scoreboard?

A: If you are driving a scoreboard with your Workpad, up in the chair there will be a connector like this:

This connector plugs into the bottom of the Workpad. Be gentle, the connectors are mostly plastic.

Hardware Information for the 2002 U.S. Open

For the 2002 US Open, CHUMP will be running on a monochrome (black-and-white) Palm m500. We decided to use black-and-white rather than color because it is much more visible in direct sunlight. Instead of a connector, we will be using Palm cradles on the umpire chair arm. The cradles will look like this:

The Palm m500 looks like this:

The Palm inserts into the cradle and mates with an adapter in the bottom of the cradle. This is much the same concept as the old IBM 4612 "rocket launcher", except much smaller, and successfully inserting the Palm into the cradle requires MUCH less force. It "clicks" into place with a gentle push.

The Palm m500 mounted in the cradle looks like this:

To remove the Palm from the cradle after the match has completed, simply tilt it forward and lift, and it will snap out of the cradle:

As in previous years, back in the umpires' office there will be a cradle and a printer for umpires to print out their scorecards, statistical summaries, and code violations after their match has concluded.

If the Palm is seated in the cradle properly, and the cradle is getting power properly, the on/off button in the upper right corner of the Palm will be illuminated.

Q: What is the difference between an IBM Workpad and a Palm?

A: Nothing. The IBM Workpad C3 is a Palm Vx painted black. There are absolutely no other differences, so if you have worked with a Palm before, you will already be used to the Workpad. Other Palm OS licensees whose PDAs are similar to identical are Handspring, SONY, and TRG.

At the 2002 US Open, we will be using the Palm m500.

Q: How many matches will a Workpad hold?

A: CHUMP has been designed to be extremely space-efficient. Match data files occupy only approximately 5k apiece. The CHUMP program is about 100k. The CHUMP ADMIN program is about 20k. Therefore, 180 matches, along with all the requisite CHUMP software, occupy approximately 1 Meg. Workpads come with a minimum of 2 Megs, and most have 8 megs. So.........if you've got no other data (addresses, memos) loaded on your Workpad, then it will hold approximately 380 matches (on the 2 meg model) and about 1,500 matches (on the 8 meg model).

Q: What types of scoring formats does CHUMP support?

A: Pretty much everything except no-ad. In order of commonality, CHUMP supports the following:

Best of 3 tiebreak sets

Best of 5 tiebreak sets

Best of 3 sets, no tiebreak in final set

Best of 5 sets, no tiebreak in final set

Seniors format (best of 3 sets, with a tiebreak instead of a final set)

Seniors format with SuperTiebreak (Connors Tour - best of 3 sets, with a 10 point tiebreak instead of a final set)

ATP experimental format (best of 5 sets, first to 4 games wins each set, tiebreak at 4-all)

Best of 3 sets, tiebreak at 8-all of final set

Best of 5 sets, tiebreak at 8-all of final set

One "Pro Set" to 4, TB at 4-all

One "Pro Set" to 6, TB at 6-all

One "Pro Set" to 8, TB at 8-all

One "Pro Set", no tiebreak

Q: Can I edit code violations after the match is over?

A: Yes, via EDIT CODE VIOLATION CLASSIFS under the MIDMATCH menu. However you cannot edit which point of the match the code violations were given. Therefore, if you're rushed, go ahead and give the CV with "unknown type" and then go back & edit it later. At any time during or after the match, you can change the classification of any Code Violation to any player. After choosing which of the players you want to edit, if the chosen player has any violations, you can click on the one to change. Each violation is listed with the point of the match on which the violation occurred, along with the current violation classification

Then you can then click the violation classifications list to choose another classification for the chosen violation by clicking on the violations list.Click on the arrow:

Which will reveal a list of the possible choices:

Once the violations list shows the new classification, click Set Violation Type to execute:

Q: What is the quickest way to add a Code Violation or a Time Violation?

A: Invoke the Quick-Menu and proceed from there. You can also invoke the regular menu and then choose Add Code Violation or Add Time Violation from MID-MATCH.

Q: Can I edit the set/match times after the match is over?

A: Yes, use Edit Set / Match Times under the ADMIN menu.