Using the NCNA Contest Score Reporting System
November 15, 2008
A simple web-based score reporting system has been developed for use in the ACM NCNA
regional contest. This document describes the basic operation of the first version of that system.
It is intended only for the use of judges (probably the head judge at each site).
A username and password is required to use the system. Each username is associated with a
contest site, and only the data (scores) associated with teams competing at the associated site can
be manipulated. Actual usernames and passwords will be distributed to site directors who will
issue them to the site head judge prior to the contest. There is currently no facility to allow users
to change their passwords.
The first step in accessing the system is to point a web browser at the URL
http://cs.unomaha.edu/~acmregn/edit.php
The typical web logon will be displayed, as shown below.
Naturally an acceptable username and password should be entered, and the “OK” button pressed.
THE USERNAME AND PASSWORD FOR THE SITE APPEARS AT THE END OF
THE SITE DIRECTOR’S “READ ME FIRST” DOCUMENT. This display (and the others in
this document) are from Microsoft Internet Explorer (7.0.5730.13) running on Windows XP SP2,
but the system has also worked on Firefox (version 3.0.3), Opera (version 9.72), and Google
Chrome (version 0.3.154.9) – on Windows XP SP2, Firefox (3.0.3) and Safari (3.1.2) – on Mac
OS X 10.4.11, and Firefox 3.0.2 – on Centos 5 (Linux). If you should encounter any browser
difficulties, please report them.
Once login is completed, you’ll see a page that looks like that shown below. The contest date
will naturally change from contest to contest, as might the number of problems.
As noted earlier, only a few teams are shown on this display, and sites with many teams may
need to scroll down to see all of them. In this display there is a separate row of buttons (ten are
shown here, but as noted earlier, that may vary). To the left of each row is the short name of the
school and the team name. To report or update the score for a team on a particular problem, click
on the button in the appropriate row corresponding to the problem.
When a button is clicked, the display show below will appear. The full school name and team
name, and problem number are presented, with a checkbox for problem solved/not-solved status,
and text boxes for the total number of runs (including the run that solved the problem) and the
time (in the format HH:MM or H:MM). Three buttons are also evident:
The interpretation of the controls is hopefully obvious. If a problem has been solved, then the
“Solved?” checkbox should be checked (it can be later unchecked if necessary to clear the
solution status). For a solved run, the total number of runs and time text boxes must be
completed. Total runs must be at least 1 for a solved run. The time must be in the range 12:30 to
5:30, and does not include “penalty minutes” (those are automatically computed by the scoring
system). If the contest is extended for any reason (for one or more teams), then appropriate
action will be taken to allow entry of later times. Do not include “PM” on the times.
The first of the three buttons, labeled “Submit Score Update,” is clicked once the appropriate
score information has been entered. If you decide not to update the score (for example, you
clicked on the wrong button in the preceding page), then the “Cancel Score Update” button
should be clicked. Finally, if you modified the score data and wish to restore the previous data
(from the database), click on the “Restore Original Values” button.
After clicking on the “Submit Score Update” button, the values you entered are validated. If a
problem is discovered, the same update page will reappear with an error message displayed in
red. An example of such a page is shown below. Here the judge indicated a problem was solved,
but did not specify at least one run (or a solution time). In any of these cases the appropriate
action is to enter the correct data and click on “Submit Score Update” (possibly preceded by
“Restore Original Values”) or “Cancel Score Update.”
The possible errors you may encounter are as follows:
 No runs specified for a solved problem – as described above.
 No solution time specified – each solved run must have a solution time.
 Bad solution time (not between 12:30 and 5:30)
 Bad format for solution time (don’t use 24 hour format or PM)


Number of runs is not numeric
Sanity check: more than 99 runs?
Notes
There is no logoff procedure required.
Cookies must be enabled to use the system.
A separate set of web pages are used to report scores. The scores are available in three orders: (1)
in rank order over all sites in the contest, (2) in rank order by site, and (3) in alphabetical order
by school and team name. These web pages are produced by a separate system (using the same
database, of course), but changes are not included in the reports the instant they are entered in the
score reporting system. Instead, these pages are regenerated periodically (perhaps once every
minute). The pages can be viewed at the URL http://ncna.unomaha.edu/~acmregn/rankorder.html
(the other pages are linked from that page).
There is no facility to handle data generated by the PC^2 system, although this will be addressed
in later versions of the software.
Problems and Questions
Please send e-mail to stanw@unomaha.edu if you have questions or problems with this system.
During the contest you may also phone 402-554-3583.