FTP option for results files is great! However, at our club, our standard practice is to upload both the .blw and .htm file to the server, and we really need to continue this practice.
Any chance of adding an option to do that within the publish window, perhaps with a selectable checkbox, “Upload Sailwave (.blw) file with same name to same path”?
The reason we do this is that multiple scorers may need to access the .blw files over the course of a long series.
Thanks! Hugh
Hi Hugh,
Welcome to the Sailwave User Group.
I expect Jon will post a reply.
I am going to make an alternative suggestion. You could consider using a cloud storage area [Dropbox, pCloud. Microsoft OneDrive, Google] that all scorers can access. Most if not all of these also give you a number of older copies that you can go back to if necessary I use Dropbox and it has aved me on a couple of occasions from having to completely reenter the results for a series because I could go back to a previous version.
Another advantage if you have created custom templates and/or styles, using custom rating files or using Javascript effects by configuring all installations of Sailwave to use appropriate folders on the cloud storage all scorers would be using the same set-up; APART from Global options which are unique to every installation although can be configured to be the same. I sue this setup so I can have the same configuration on my Windows 10 systems, Linux systems and my MacOS VM.
NOTE - if the same Sailwave file is opened by two different scorers, changes made and then saved using your looked for FTP capability it will only be changes that the last scorer to save that will be available. Sailwave has no file locking functionality so it does not know if the same .BLW file is open on another PC.
At least with something like Dropbox both copies would be available, although working out the differences is more problematical.
More advanced solutions could be possible using change management software like Git as Sailwave .BLW file is only a text file. This would depend on what your hosting platform makes available.
Look forward to hearing what you and others think.
Kind regards,
Huw
Hi Hugh,
Thank you for your suggestion - I totally appreciate your need for multiple scorers to have access to the files. Normally this is done by most users by storing them on a shared cloud file system such as Dropbox, OneDrive, pCloud or similar, These have an advantage of storing backup copies of changes made to the file so you can revert to an earlier version if necessary (very useful for these types of applications) The period of backup copies is usually 30 days with free versions or longer with paid versions.
Uploading the blw using what is probably a different name to its current file name might also be confusing. You would also have to make sure that you have saved the file before publishing (Although this could be automated with some extra work)
I’m not ruling it out but will be interested in feedback from other users.
Jon
Huw, Jon,
Thank you both for your responses. Yes, we could use a cloud-based storage system for the Sailwave files, and I note the advantage of version control and shared usage that would offer. But that would require our team of scorers to all have access to the same cloud system, which might prove problematic. I personally have Dropbox, OneDrive, Google and Box accounts, but I doubt we could find one storage system with which all of our scorers are comfortable.
For 12+ years, we’ve been saving our Sailwave (.blw) files on our server, using the same filename as the .htm file, using a password-protected upload utility that doesn’t even require the scorer to use FTP. For example, results from our interclub long distance races (“long” being a relative term) are posted at https://nsc.ca/nsc_racing/results/2020/longdist/longdist.htm; the corresponding .blw file is at nsc.ca/nsc_racing/results/2020/longdist/longdist.blw, where anyone could access it if they so chose. (As a new user, I was limited to 2 links in a post.)
If you were willing to pursue this feature, yes, I agree, it would be good to automate saving of the file, prior to publishing. Until Sailwave offers the option to upload the .blw file, I think we’ll likely stick with our time-proven method, though it’s a little more clunky than the integrated FTP option.
BTW, while I am a newly registered forum user, we have been using Sailwave at our club since 2007, and contributing periodically to your great product. Results dating back 20+ years (pre Sailwave) are available at Results for NSC & Interclub Racing | Nepean Sailing Club. Unfortunately, all recreational boating here is currently subject to a government ban, but we are hoping to get out sailing very soon.
Best regards,
Hugh
Hi Hugh,
Thanks you for the feedback and hearing how long you have been using Sailwave.
Before the restart of sailing have you updated your version of Sailwave 
A suggestion for dealing with your requirement. You could write a Windows batch file which does what you would want in uploading two files to your server. This batch file can be called up during the publish process. Select from the drop down list of destinations ‘An installed application’ and then browse to or enter the location of the .BAT file>
This was the method used prior to the very latest version of Sailwave for uploading results to servers using SFTP.
Just a thought for your consideration.
PS - you would need to get batch file to all scorers!
Kind regards,
Huw
In our club we’ve been using Dropbox for years and all .blw files are saved there as we have multiple scorers that need access and we also use different PC’s that are linked to Dropbox. We might be moving to Microsoft OneDrive but the same principle will apply.
Regards,
Dave