Anatomy of a Calculation Setup Verification Sheet

Below (Fig. 1) is an example of a setup verification sheet, with annotations explaining some of the key features and how they are configured:

Figure 1: ISU Calculation Setup Verification Sheet generated by FS Manager.

1: Event parameters

These parameters configure the event overall and should remain consistent between categories:

• Software version: records the version of FS Manager used to generate the competition database. Should be the most recent version, barring extenuating circumstances e.g., updates released mid-competition.
• Elm Xml and Sys Elm Xml version: records the version of the file containing the elements and their associated Scale of Values imported into the scoring database. The current version numbers are documented at www.isuresults.com/setupverification.pdf.
• Competition Type: Defines the type of competition from the options shown in Figure 2. The International Competition option enforces the use of ISU regulations, whilst all other options allow the definition of custom scoring parameters.

Figure 2: Dropdown list in FS Manager showing options for competition types.

• Trimmed Mean: Defines the number of judges from which the trimmed mean final score is calculated. Options are None, 5, 6 or 7.
• Verification Rules Season: Defines the season of the verification rules applied to the competition.

2: Category parameters

• Category Type: Defines the category type e.g., Singles, Ice Dance etc.
• Gender: Defines the gender of the competitors, with options as Man, Lady or Mixed.
• Level: Defines the level of the competition, e.g., Senior, Junior, Advanced Novice, etc. If this option reads “Custom”, the competition can implement custom-configured verification rules. This option may also read custom if verification is disabled, but non-standard factors are implemented for the segment that have been defined in a custom setup file.

Segment parameters

3: General factors

• General segment factor: This factor is used to multiply the final score of the entire segment. This is typically 1.00, but is set to lower values for novice level pattern dances.
• Credit for highlight distribution: This factor is used to multiply qualifying element scores in the second half of the program (i.e., jumps at Junior and Senior levels). The time after which this factor is applied is defined in Section 6.

4: Component factors

This section configures the component factors of the program. Each component can have an independently defined factor, though in practice this is rarely, if ever, the case.

• General component factor: this is a flat value by which all component factors are multiplied. Should be left at 1.00 without explicit justification, given that component values can be individually configured.

5: Element checksum

The element checksum is a checksum value generated from the contents of the element file loaded into FS Manager. This value should match the value for the corresponding suite of elements published at the URL listed at the bottom of the Calculation Setup Sheet (www.isuresults.com/setupverification.pdf).

6: Time settings

• Program time: defines the length of the program for the segment, and the margin of error allowable. The options for the margin are +/- 10 sec., max. and approx., and cannot be further configured (Fig. 3). Figure 3: Dropdown list in FS Manager showing options for extra time.
• Start time 2nd half of program: defines the middle point of the program for performances where bonus credit is given for elements performed after the halfway point. If 0:00 is shown, no bonus is awarded for elements in the second half of the program.

7: Verification rules

This setting defines the verification rules that are used to check elements against during the performance. The options for this setting are ISU Rules, None or Custom.

• ISU rules will use the chosen season’s verification rules for the chosen level as defined by Swiss Timing. These rules are therefore only directly applicable to internationally recognised category levels.
• None will allow all elements corresponding to the current segment type as valid, but will also enable manual placement of asterisks to invalidate elements by the Data Relay Operator.
• Custom will load custom defined verification rules created by the results team.

8: Deductions

This section defines the deductions applicable to the segment and their corresponding values.

SOV: 2024/25 Season

Scale of Value XML

Click here to download the XML file for use with FS Manager.

Scale of Value Documents

Custom Scoring Setups

Overview

FS Manager is designed with hosting ISU competitions in mind, and thus only includes ISU standard scoring parameters and verification rules. However, it is possible to customise both of these through the configuration of XML files.

Custom Scoring Setups

Custom scoring parameters (i.e., factors and deduction multipliers) can be programmed into FS Manager and recalled for any competition that is not set as an “International Competition”. The general configuration can be seen below.

<Setups xmlns="http://tempuri.org/SetupDefinition.xsd" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" Title="BIS Custom Scoring" Version="1.1.0" xsi:schemaLocation="http://tempuri.org/SetupDefinition.xsd SetupDefinition.xsd">
  <Year Value="2425">
    <CustomDifficulties>
      <CustomDifficulty>
        <!-- Defines category name -->
        <Name>Beginner</Name>
        <ShortName>B</ShortName>
        <!-- Defines code used in ODF messages and when generating documents. Must be unique. -->
        <RscCode>NATBEG</RscCode>
        <!-- Determines sort order in FS Manager. Must be unique. -->
        <MapIndex>a</MapIndex>
        <CalculateFallDeduction>true</CalculateFallDeduction>
      </CustomDifficulty>
    </CustomDifficulties>
    <Competition>
      <!-- Determines the nature of the category and the difficulty it is associated with. -->
      <Category Type="Men" Difficulty="Custom" CustomDifficulty="Beginner">
        <Name>Beginner Boys</Name>
        <Segment Type="Free">
          <!-- This determines the name of the segment when it is created. For custom scoring, this cannot be overwritten. -->
          <Name>Free Skating</Name>
          <ShortName>FS</ShortName>
          <AdditionalTime>Add10Sec</AdditionalTime>
          <CreditForHighlight>1</CreditForHighlight>
          <GeneralComponentFactor>1</GeneralComponentFactor>
          <GeneralSegmentFactor>1</GeneralSegmentFactor>
          <Priority>ProgramComponentScoreDecides</Priority>
          <PerformanceTime>PT1M30S</PerformanceTime>
          <StartSecondHalf>PT0S</StartSecondHalf>
          <WarmupGroup>PT2M30S</WarmupGroup>
          <ComponentFactors>
            <!-- A component factor block is necessary for each factor, but is ommitted here for brevity. -->
            <ComponentFactor>
              <Factor>1.67</Factor>
              <MapIndex>0</MapIndex>
              <Name>Composition</Name>
              <ShortName>CO</ShortName>
              <Type>0</Type>
            </ComponentFactor>
           <!-- Other factors defined in this space... -->
          </ComponentFactors>
          <DeductionFactors>
          <!-- As with components, a DeductionFactor node is needed to define each deduction. -->
            <DeductionFactor>
              <Factor>0.5</Factor>
              <IsMajorityDeduction>false</IsMajorityDeduction>
              <MapIndex>4</MapIndex>
              <Name>Falls</Name>
              <Responsible>TechnicalPanel</Responsible>
              <Type>10</Type>
              <Value>-0.5 per Fall</Value>
            </DeductionFactor>
           <!-- Other deductions defined in this space... -->
          </DeductionFactors>
          <!-- VerificationRule determines whether to use ISU rules for redefined stock categories, whether to disable verification or to search for custom verification. -->
          <VerificationRule>None</VerificationRule>
        </Segment>
      </Category>
    </Competition>
  </Year>
</Setups>

Custom verification rules

Custom verification rules allow custom elements to be considered valid or invalid by FS Manager, and for custom program content requirements to be automatically assigned valid or invalid by the computer. However, documentation for this process is very scarce, and, as such, no advice is provided here for the majority of the functionality possible with these files.

An additional application of the custom verification is to enable custom pattern dances to be automatically loaded into a properly configured FS Score system, and validated by FS Manager. An example of this follows below.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- Here we can denote version and name to be displayed within FS Manager -->
<Validations xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://tempuri.org/RuleDefinition.xsd RuleDefinition.xsd" Title="BIS Solo Dance" Version="1.0.0"
    xmlns="http://tempuri.org/RuleDefinition.xsd">
    <Year Value="2425">
    <!-- This is where more complex verification rules would live -->
    </Year>
    <PatternDances>
        <!-- Define the dance name within FS Manager and whether it has keypoints or not -->
        <Dance Name="Golden Skaters Waltz" KeyPoints="No" Type="1" Id="1">
            <Or>
                <!-- The sequences and sections of the dance are defined here. Keypoints should not be included here. -->
                <Case>GSW1Sq</Case>
                <Case>GSW2Sq</Case>
            </Or>
        </Dance>
        <Dance Name="Riverside Rhumba" KeyPoints="No" Type="2" Id="3">
            <Or>
                <Case>RR1Sq</Case>
                <Case>RR2Sq</Case>
            </Or>
        </Dance>
        <Dance Name="Novice Foxtrot" KeyPoints="No" Type="4" Id="9">
            <Or>
                <Case>NFN1Sq</Case>
                <Case>NFN2Sq</Case>
            </Or>
        </Dance>
    </PatternDances>
</Validations>

Custom Elements

When configuring custom elements, there are two main methods to use: manual entry through the FS Manager GUI, or bulk upload from an XML file. Both are discussed below.

Custom Elements through the FS Manager GUI

Custom elements can be entered through the Elements tab of FS Manager. To do this, click New (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. New element button within FS Manager.

This opens the element entry interface, where you can fill out the details of your elements. For each element, you must select the category, group and type. Only once all three of these are selected will the element be registered as Custom (Fig. 2).

Figure 2. Element configuration interface, with dropdown menus displayed.

Once you have selected all of the categories and entered your element name, click Save (see Fig. 1). It is important that you always have a “No Value” variant of any element you create, unless you have an explicit reason to exclude this.

In the example, we are creating the SOV for the Extremely Cool Spin, the SOV table for which is below:

Extremely Cool Spin

To do this, we first create the No Value variant (XeSp), then XeSpB, XeSp1 and XeSp2. For each element, fill out the Base Value and for Calc (Fig. 3, right hand side). For elements where the grade of execution bonuses increase as the element level increases (as is typical for spins), this will be the same value in each box. After entering the Base Value and for Calc values, click Save, then click Calculate SOV, followed by clicking Save again. This will fill out the SOV boxes according to standard SOV scaling. If your element uses atypical SOV scaling, you must enter each value manually.

Figure 3. Examples of XeSp Scale Of Values entered into FS Manager.

If you are creating an element where SOV bonuses remain constant with changing levels of element (e.g., twizzles in Ice Dance), Base Value represents the base value of the element level (i.e., GOE +0), and for Calc represents the base value that is used to calculate the GOE bonuses (which is commonly equal to the base value of the level 1 version of the element). An example of this is in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Examples of elements with different Base Value and for Calc values. Note that the GOE scales for ATwW1 and ATwW2 are the same as the for Calc value is 3.12 in both cases.

Custom Elements in XML Documents

This section is currently being updated. Check back soon!

For a more portable solution, XML files can be written to define custom elements. These should be loaded after the master elements list that ships with FS Manager is loaded, and will not affect the element checksums unless a custom element redefines an existing element. The below procedure will load custom elements in addition to the stock elements:

1. Load the stock elements XML into FS Manager. This is found in the MasterData folder of the FS Manager install (default: C:\SwissTiming\OVR\FSManager\MasterData)
2. Load the custom elements XML into FS Manager by the same method. Once loaded, this should produce a popup showing how many new elements have been added and how many have been modified. Any modifications will affect the element list checksum, while additions do not.

<!-- This element version is ignored for custom elements -->
<ISUCalcFS elm_version="2425.4">
    <!-- Custom elements must be enclosed within a Custom_Element_List node, or they will delete the standard elements from the database -->
    <Custom_Element_List>
        <!-- ELM_ID must be unique -->
        <!-- ELM_NAME defines the long name printed in FS Manager -->
        <!-- ELM_SNAME defines the element code that is used to assign a value to the element -->
        <!-- ELM_SNAMWL defines the element name without a level, applicable to elements like spins (i.e., if ELM_SNAME was SSp4, ELM_SNAMWL would be SSp) -->
        <!-- ELM Group defines the category types which the element can be performed in -->
        <!-- ELM_SORT is an ID that is used to sort the elements in the SOV printout. It should be unique for clarity -->
        <!-- ELM_CALCGR determines the grouping for pattern dances -->
        <!-- ELM_VAL4 determines the element's calculation base value -->
        <!-- ELM_CALCBV determines the calculation base value for GOE calculations (e.g., for Solo Dance edge elements where GOE bonuses are the same for levels 1-4) -->
        <!-- ELM_TYPE determines the element type within FS Manager, though this does not seem to affect the way the element behaves when used in competition -->
        <Element ELM_ID="4000" ELM_NAME="Single Axel (Half Bonus)" ELM_SNAME="1Ah" ELM_SNAMWL="1Ah" ELM_SORT="BISF001" ELM_GROUP="S" ELM_CALCGR=" " ELM_VAL4="1.6" ELM_CALCBV="1.1" ELM_TYPE="Jump"/>
    </Custom_Element_List>
</ISUCalcFS>

BIS Custom Elements