Form Master by Cascade Systems

[Martin]

Jaap has the Form Master (OPK) posted on his web archive, and Peter has copies in the eBay store

A racing enthusiast Chris Machin and myself are are in the process of extracting the programming code (Jaaps excellent; Splitopk, Split, and RevTran) then endeavoring to bring the 'program' up to date.

Form Master (here) CM/XP Cascade Systems Ltd., Richard Naylor Image 16K including Manual - Race horse form prediction system.

RevTran PC Reverse translator which produces OPL source code from an OB3 translated procedure file.
Split PC Utility to split the source code from an OB3 procedure file into a separate OPL file.
Splitopk PC Utility to split an OPK pack image file into its constituent parts.

REVIEW
Users will find the OPK works on any CM/XP or in Jape - you need to place Horse on the top level menu. The manual is very comprehensive but a certain amount of 'horse racing form' knowledge certainly helps, I got trapped in an endless error loop more than once.

More to follow
Martin

[thesourcerer]

That is a very interesting proposition. I remember that quite a lot of people made a lot of money using the original program at the time. It is a serious tool, but requires a knowledge of horse racing and some dedication to entering the data. I had thought about updating it, but it is beyond my capabilities.

[thesourcerer]

Thinking about gambling, it reminds me that several casinos banned Psion II’s when they realised that it was causing serious losses!

[Martin]

I've deconstructed the OPK using Jaaps tools and reproduced the relationship between the routines.
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FlowChart.png

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I've added a few extra exit points because as Peter says a certain amount of horse racing knowledge is required and it is all to easy to end up in an endless error loop where the only way out is to remove the battery.
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I've stalled where the manual refers to a completing the datasheet that was included with the original manual but is not in my rescued notes. Without this datasheet getting to grips with the data entry requirements is difficult.

Martin

[Martin]

Turf
Current version 001 manual version (E) - As this changes contact Martin for updates.

The revised Form Master program is released under the revised name Turf the manual and other details are (here).

This thread privides users with a space for feed back and suggestions. Listed here are those that have received a copy of the current version of the program pack.

Chris Machin - Project catalyst and Racing Form Specialist.
Bernard Moran - the loan of an Original 1988 Form Master Manual.
Steve Yates - Forum member - original 1987 FormMaster user, interested to learn of the updates.
Dave Norwood - Forum member - interested in the programming.
Lamadon Christophe - Forum member - Turf subscriber from Paris.
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DSCI0991b.png

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Users and those interested are encouraged to use this thread for questions, feed back and suggestions.
Sincerely Martin