Creating A Contest Database

[Hardcore]

Hello Guys! I hope everyone's weekend is off to a good start!

I am trying to set something up in Filemaker, but unfortunately my skills are still at a basic level, and what I'm trying to accomplish is a little too advanced for me to do on my own. Thus, I am looking to you 'experts' out there for help.

I am trying to set up a contest, and I think Filemaker is capable of doing everything I need. Here is what I want to happen:

-Each user answers several different questions where I have specified the possible values.

-Then once everyone has entered all of their answers, I can run a script that will tell me who go the most correct.

-So, if for question 1 a person entered their answers as "A", and I specify "A" as the correct answer, I want that person to be given one point.

-It should then move to question 2 and give all of the appropriate people points.

-Ultimately at the end I should have a list of all the people and how many points they have.

Is this possible to do? I know how to create the page and define the field values, but I have no idea how I would create the 'score keeper' script.

Any help would be greatly apprecited, as I have tried everything I could think of already and can't get it to do what I want. (I also tried banging my head against the keyboard, but for some reason that too did not work )

Thanks in advance!

[SteveB]

We need to know how the file is setup. If there is one record per respondent with all his questions on one record, and the number of questions is fairly small, you can easily create a calculation that will automatically give him the right score.

This won't be a good solution if you've got lots of questions, or a differnt file layout.

[LaRetta]

Hi Hardcore!

Well, as Steve says, it depends upon your structure. If all of your records are in one database (flatfile), all you need is a columnar report with sub-summary part above the body based upon ContestantName. Place the ContestantName field within this sub-summary. Place the record detail (Answer #, score amount) in the body. Then create summary field in field defs based upon ScoreAmount. Finally, create a sub-summary part below the body based upon the new summary field and place the summary field in it.

It's better to have two dBs related because it sounds like you have a 1:n situation, ie, one Contestant will have many answers but the above would still apply - you would just run the report from the 'many' (or SCORES) dB. You can assign 'weight' to each field (if each question is in one dB) via auto-enter calc; there are other options too!!

Let us know if I've totally confused you and the rest of the great people on the Forum will straighten you out!!

LaRetta

[Hardcore]

WOW is my head spinning! I thought I was confused before....but now OH MY! hehe.

First off, I would like to thank you for your replies. I truly do apprecite all your help and I know I could not do this on my own. While I am not completely new to Filemaker, the things I am doing are definitly on the basic end of things, while it sounds like what I want to accomplish now is a lot more complex! But, nonetheless, I am up for the challenge, but I know I'll need some help, so thanks again!

Let me elaborate a little bit more because I'm sure that will help with the answer....

As you probably know, the Super Bowl is next Sunday. Every year I have a ton of people over for what is a massive party. This year I want to add another element of excitement by allowing people to buy a ballot that will feature a ton of different bets. (It's just $2, but it's the excitement that counts!) The issue I am faced with is that people are going to constantly want to know where they are ranking and then, once it's all over, if they've one. So, sitting there and coutning everything by hand is not a very good option )not to mention very time consuming). So, I figured if I could have everyone enter their ballots into Filemaker, I could have it all processed very quickly.

So, right now I have no database structure at all, and I am simply going to proceed however you recommend....the more instruction the better! I can't expect you to hold my hand, and I understand that, but the more detail you could put into your reply the better.

Thanks a million!!!

[andygaunt]

Here is an example for this database.

Includes a questions database, an answers database for the results, and a players database.

Unstuff SuperbowlQuiz.sit (using Aladdin Expander or WinZip)

Open the Players.fp5 file and play the quiz. Only 1 question in there so far. But it will give you the idea.