RTools 2.0.0 Primer 2.0 (for A14)

(note - this is being written to be the new go-to link for people to read before downloading the 2.0 alpha)

In general, alpha builds that I release are plenty usable, but are simply builds that are focusing on adding or changing code, rather than fixing code. Early alpha builds may have features disabled simply in order to provide the most up-to-date versions to interested parties with the portions that knowingly do not work correctly removed. As alpha builds advance, newer functions may appear without full functionality as well, or non-standard functions may temporarily appear.

RTools 2.0 has several new changes, as well as adjustments in how the program is used. As of this writing (alpha 14), many of these are already in the program. The overall difference between 1.0 and 2.0 has been a paradigm shift in how information moves within the back-end of the program. The original idea of RTools' back-end was to spawn new windows much like new programs: independent from the program itself, just doing it's own thing. As features were added, the need became more and more apparent that an internal messaging system and inter-feature connections system was necessary. 2.0 has rebuild this internal structure, pushing individual tournaments as the center of RTools' paradigm and allowing for many new and improved internal tweaks that were more kludges in 1.0 and 1.1.


The following is a listing of the major new features of the program:

:: The main window now reacts to events in the program relating to how a tournament's state. If you have a timer that is reaching or at 0:00, the timer button will begin flashing. The other three buttons will also indicate which window is opened as part of the main scrolling display window.

:: Windows which utilize the "Outstanding Matches Only" functionality will now update the listings automatically every few seconds.

:: Preferences and settings are now granular to a tournament (rather than the entire program) and there are new windows to facilitate changing these settings. There are also options to save and load these preferences.


There are several changes to the workflow of the program, as well. Again, the following is just a selection of the more immediate differences.

:: In 1.0, you choose a program to interface with and RTools gives you all events found in that interfaced program. In 2.0, you still are given the options to select an event, but events are now loaded into the main window. When you load a new tournament, it's added to the main window's dropdown.

:: Settings are tournament-based now, rather than (mostly) either window-based or program-based. Now, making adjustments to an event's settings is much more intuitive, and settings are handled in a much better way, from both the front-end and back-end.

:: A single tournament only has a single window for any pairings, seating, or standing window. If you have one window up continuously on a second monitor or projector, the window will simply update to the new data when you click on the button. This is designed to supplant the functionality to automatically launch new windows on secondary monitors, while simplifying the entire process of handling multiple tournaments, both front-end and back-end.


As of this writing, RTools is in it's 14th alpha, (2.0.0a14) with no timetable for shift to beta or release. Release is dependent on the evolving status of EPIC, and the continuing additions that are being made to 2.0 alpha.