Frequently Asked Questions

Common answers to common questions

How do I copy ScoreBridge to a new computer or a laptop ?
How do I replace my ScoreBridge installation ?
What are the computer requirements to run ScoreBridge - Will my computer run it?
How do I enter the licence / support key?
Can I run ScoreBridge on an Apple Mac computer?
I cannot upload to Ecats, BridgeWebs or EBU Master points
Why cannot ScoreBridge input player numbers instead of names when entering players?
How do I upload a simultaneous pairs result to Ecats ?
Why do match point 'tops' look odd ?

How do I copy ScoreBridge to a new computer or a laptop

Please Note A ScoreBridge licence can only be issued for a new computer or a second computer such as a laptop if you have an active support subscription. More information

1. ScoreBridge program

Download and install ScoreBridge
Run ScoreBridge and complete the registration form - making sure you select the correct location for the BridgeData folder at the bottom of the form
Make sure that your system settings and Help settings are as you want
Your new computer will not know that you have a licence key so contact us to request one after you have installed

2. ScoreBridge data - Copy your BridgeData folder from the "old" computer to the "new" computer via a memory stick as follows

On the "old" computer
- Start ScoreBridge, use the menu Settings or System (whichever is there), and then click on "Show BridgeData Folder Contents" from the dropdown list
- You will see a Windows Explorer window and inside it a folder called BridgeData - now close the ScoreBridge window
- Use the mouse and the Ctrl button to select all the folders inside the BridgeData folder.
  (one folder for each club and a folder called movement containing your user movements)
  Then right click with the mouse and click copy
- Insert the memory stick into the "old" computer and you will get a new Windows Explorer window
  Click the edit menu and then paste which will copy all your data folders to the memory stick
- Double click the memory stick icon in the bottom right of your screen
  When a new window headed "Safely Remove Hardware" pops up click the stop button and then remove the memory stick
  OR
  Right click the USB stick listed on the left panel in the Explorer window and click Eject
On the "New" computer
- Start ScoreBridge, use the menu System, and then click on "Show BridgeData Folder Contents" from the dropdown list
- You will see a Windows Explorer Window and inside it a folder called BridgeData.
  Warning You MUST now close the ScoreBridge Window
- Insert the memory stick into the "new" computer and you will get a second Windows Explorer Window.
- Use the mouse and the Ctrl button to select the club and Movement folders from the "old" computer that you put on the memory stick, Right click with the mouse and click Copy
- In the Windows Explorer window that you opened via ScoreBridge, find the BridgeData Folder and open it
- Click the Edit menu and then Paste which will copy all your data folders to the BridgeData folder
- Reopen ScoreBridge and you should find all of your club(s) plus your user movements

How do I replace my ScoreBridge installation

This can occur if you get a virus or for some other reason your scoreBridge system is lost / corrupted

1 ScoreBridge Data - This is all in a single folder called BridgeData. Inside this is a folder for each club for which you score

If a club folder is corrupted, delete it
If you have a Backup BridgeData folder you can replace a deleted club folder by opening My Computer and dragging the club folder from the Backup BridgeData folder to the current BridgeData folder

2 Download and install ScoreBridge Program

Run ScoreBridge. If you get a Registration form, then complete it - making sure you select the correct location for the BridgeData folder (if still available) at the bottom of the form

Contact helpdesk for a licence key if required

If you get a message asking you to locate the BridgeData folder, and you have deleted this (e.g. because it is corrupt), then click Cancel and a new BridgeData folder will be created for you

What are the computer requirements to run ScoreBridge - Will my computer run it ?

Microsoft Windows 10 / 11
128 MB of memory
Screen size - minimum of 13.5 inches however 15 inches is recommended
Disk space - Trivial - we recommend a Solid State Disk (SSD) because they speed up the computer because traditional hard disk drives are often the slowest part in a computer.
Internet connection
The Internet connection is used to upload results to website or to share data with other scorers. It is not required to run the software once installed.
If unconnected you can install by downloading the installation file to a USB memory stick. You can then install the software from the USB memory stick in the required computer.

Please Note Microsoft discontinued support for

Windows 8.1 in January 2023
Windows 7 in January 2020,
Windows Vista in April 2017 and
Windows XP in April 2014

These operating systems no longer receive system or security updates. We are now unable to provide upgrades to these operating systems because they do not support the latest version.

Web server security updates meant we have had to update our software so ScoreBridge can communicate securely with them, and therefore you require Windows 7 or greater.

Windows in S Mode

You do not need a powerful laptop, however get one with an SSD (solid state disk) because that speeds everything up.
Cheaper laptops may have Windows 10 or 11 in S Mode - which means you cannot initially install ScoreBridge because it is locked to only allow installing applications from the Windows App Store.
You can simply 'unlock it out of S mode' to allow ScoreBridge to be installed; It is free to do via an official App as detailed by Microsoft.

How do I enter a licence / support key?

Once you have purchased a copy of ScoreBridge you will be emailed a Licence Key. You need to enter this to permanently unlock the features for your version.

Start ScoreBridge, click on the Start Menu
Find ScoreBridge app folder and click triangle icon to expand
Click ScoreBridge R10 app icon to start
Click System from the main ScoreBridge menu
Click Input Trial Key or Input Permanent Licence Key
Enter the Key in your email

If entering a support key, then select the 'Enter Support Key' option from the System menu instead.

Can I run ScoreBridge on an Apple Mac computer?

ScoreBridge is designed for and only works on Microsoft Windows.

However there are a few options to run ScoreBridge on an Apple Mac.

1. Boot Camp (Intel based Macs)

The first method is 'Boot Camp' and is free in that you don't need to purchase additional software to run Windows.
Boot Camp is built into Mac OS and lets you install Microsoft Windows. No need to download anything yourself just open Boot Camp Assistant and it will guide you through the rest.
For full details and help please see the Apple Support pages at https://support.apple.com/boot-camp
With Boot Camp when you switch on your Mac you then choose which operating system you wish to boot into.
When you have finished using ScoreBridge on Windows you can then reboot the computer and boot back into Mac OS.

If you don't have a copy of Windows then you can purchase a copy direct from Microsoft.
You will only require the Home edition. You can often get licences at a discount from other online retailers.

2. Virtual Machine via Parallels Desktop

The second method is to run Windows on your Apple Mac as a virtual machine.
The advantage of this is that you do not need to reboot your Mac to then load into MS Windows.
You can access all your macOS software as normal and just run any Windows program on your Mac as if it were a standard application.
The one we have experience with is Parallels Desktop for Mac
You can purchase this as a one-off licence or as a subscription, so you get updates for newer versions as they are released and updated yearly.
As macOS gets a free large upgrade each year then Parallels often but not always requires an update to work on the new macOS.

You can read a review and view a how to install video on 9To5Mac's website
In short you download and install Parallels Desktop and then it will run through the download and setup of a Windows 11 virtual machine. This method is officially supported by Microsoft.

3. CrossOver For Mac

There is CrossOver for the Mac. This allows you to install the software direct on to the Mac as if it was a standard Mac application.
It is special software which acts as a bridge between the Mac and ScoreBridge to have the required files that would normally only be available on Windows. You do not require a Windows license

You can read about it at on MacWorld website and install it from the CrossOver website

4. WINE

Finally there is Wine, an open source program, which allows you to run some Windows applications directly on the Mac. You do not require a Windows license or needing Windows running in the background unlike a virtual machine.
This uses a similar process to CrossOver.

To read more about it and how to install on the How To Geek website

I cannot upload to Ecats, BridgeWebs or EBU Master points

Note First you should make sure you are running the latest version of ScoreBridge

If you are having difficulty uploading to Ecats, BridgeWebs or EBU Master Points, please check your firewall and/or antivirus software.

Firewalls all have different ways of permitting programs to do this, so you will have to find and adjust the options for your particular software.
Simply turning it off temporarily will help confirm or otherwise if this is causing an upload problem.
You may have to add ScoreBridge to a list of programs allowed to do uploads / have direct Internet access.

For Release 10 the program is ScoreBridgeR10.exe in folder "c:\program files\ScoreBridge 10"
(or with a 64 bit computer in folder "c:\program files (x86)\ScoreBridge 10")

Why cannot ScoreBridge input Player numbers instead of names when entering players ?

Some older Scoring programs could only enter player details via a number
ScoreBridge set out to be easy to use - to let you use the naturally occurs rather than something artificial. It deliberately avoided using numbers

Using Numbers

Table slips have to have a name - so the number is an extra bit of information that has be written and got correct
Visitors do not have numbers - so these need a special procedure
Transcription errors are not obvious unless the name is automatically displayed (so why not use the name in the first place)

Using names

If you are handy with a mouse they can be picked off the list - and with a second click you get the normal partner as well
If you prefer the use of the keyboard you only have to key as much of the name as is required to uniquely identify it
Often the initial letters of the forename and surname will do this - i.e. enter ‘A J’ for Alan Jones
If this does not fully identify the person than another letter will usually do it
As soon as the name is uniquely identified, the computer will beep
Pressing the enter key move you to the next table position
To enter the name of the regular partner, just press enter again
To enter a visitor’s name, simply key it in in full and it is recorded for future occasions
Entry using names is not slow - entering names for 10 tables takes less than a minute

How do I upload a Simultaneous Pairs result to Ecats ?

ScoreBridge can produce files in the special format used by ECatsBridge for uploading to their database for use in Simultaneous Pairs events.

Note You should make sure you are running the latest version of ScoreBridge so that it can be sent via our server(s).

Info If you have 2 sections, these are best merged before uploading a single set of files to ECatsBridge

On the Results Screen simply select the Send menu and then Result To ECatsBridge

You will be asked to enter / confirm some basic data about the club
and then to enter the ECATs Session Number (see the back of the score sheets)

ScoreBridge will then produce the Ecats files, which are p.txt, r.txt, e.txt and c.txt, and save them

You can

Let ScoreBridge send them immediately as detailed above
Or send the files yourself in an email

Why do Match Point 'tops' look odd ?

Adjustments for Score Line Variances

This only occurs when the numbers of score lines vary between boards
Options can be selected via [Scoring Preferences] menu

With Neuberg Scoring, score line variances are handled automatically

With Simple Match Point Scoring there are 3 options

Adjust if score lines are less than the Maximum for all boards
- the average Match Points are the same for all boards
  ( strictly the correct way and is the ScoreBridge default )
Make no adjustment
- the average Match Points is set by the lines count on that board
  (the method manual scorers are used to)
Adjust if score lines are less than the Average of all boards
- the average Match Points are the same for the majority of boards
  (a half way house between the 2 above methods)

On boards with less than the Target ( i.e. Maximum or Average mentioned above) score lines, the difference between the actual and the target is added to every score line.

Example

Suppose the Target is 8 but we have a board with only 6 lines

the top and bottom would have been 10 and 0
2 ( 8 minus 6) is added to every line
A top is now 12 and a bottom is now 2
the average is 7 - exactly as it would be on an 8 line sheet.

This way all boards with up to 8 lines have the same average number of Match Points – namely 7.

If there are any boards with above 8 lines, these will be given an appropriate higher top and average – e.g. a 10 line board will have a top of 18 and an average of 9

With single Match pointing the process is the same but values are halved