I looked in the TD/Affiliate FAQ and didn’t see anything about this. I have the December rating list downloaded and in WinTD. I want to download the Feb supplement. It says to ensure that there is no taratsup or tadskcnt file where you download the new supplement.
Questions:
I have files with that name in the main folder where I downloaded december, and also in the folder that was created when december was unzipped. Do I delete all of the files with that name, or just in the main folder?
What exactly do those files do? I want to make sure that I don’t delete december info that is still needed.
If I download the golden database from Feb, is there a different process with WinTD to update it versus the normal supplement process?
You don’t want to overwrite it, so usually when I download new supplements, I download them and create a new directory, extract them, etc. There’s no need to delete the december supplement, just extract it into a Feb 2006 directory and point WinTD to that directory, not the December Folder.
Most of the time you will get a “supplement”, which will only update players where their rating has changed. The Golden databases are a starting point, where you’d upload the “supplemental” databases from that point forward.
TARATSUP.DBF is the master file. If you save a file with the same name to the same folder, you will overwrite your existing database. Whether this is good or bad depends on exactly what you are doing. If you are downloading a “Golden Database” to replace your existing one, okay. If you are unzipping a supplement for importing to the big DB, not okay. This is easier to see if you show the file size.
OK, so for final clarification. I have the December list already in WinTD. I have downloaded the Golden Database (Feb) and the Feb supplement. The Golden Database readme file for Feb 2006 says that it is current through August 2005.
So, I interpret that as I should have WinTD update from the Golden Database, then re-run the December supplement, then run the Feb supplement. Is that correct?
(At least once I get it set up, it will be great to have it all ready to go at tournaments!)
That sounds like it should work, though I’ve never “updated” a smaller DB with a larger one. Another way to do it is to change where WinTD looks for the USCF database to wherever you saved the “Golden Database” (), then update it with December and February. BTW, I suspect the Feb. “Golden Database” is more up to date than August 2005; the readme file is identical to the August one, and was probably just copied. This would mean you would not have to update with December, though it can’t do any harm.
You don’t need to “update” the Golden Database using the “File-Update USCF Database” operation in WinTD–the Golden Database file is already in the “master database” format.
So, you can just put the Golden Database file (taratsup.dbf) somewhere and use the File-USCF Directory operation to tell WinTD where you put it. Once you’ve done that, you will immediately be able to import players from that database, or use it to update records of players already stored in your Master file(s).
When you get a supplement, extract those supplement files into a temporary directory, and do File-Update USCF Database (pointing WinTD to the directory containing the supplement files when prompted).
It will use the supplement information to update the existing taratsup.dbf.
We have a write-up on this with a bit more detail on our website:
