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1994-11-23
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LOTTO MANIA
a
Database Software Program
for
6 out of ? Type Lotteries
Table of Contents
Page
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 General Information 1
1.2 User Fee 1
1.3 Warranty 1
1.4 User Acceptance 2
1.5 Shareware Agreement 2
1.6 License Agreement 3
1.7 A Word About Virus's 3
2.0 Support Policy 3
2.1 Author Support 3
2.2 ASP Support 4
2.3 Vendor Requirements 5
3.0 Installation and Backup 5
4.0 How LOTTO MANIA Works 5
5.0 Features 7
6.0 Screens 8
6.1 Opening Screens 8
6.2 Help Screens 8
6.3 Main Menu 8
7.0 Utilities 9
7.1 Selection: A) General Information & 9
License Agreement
7.2 Selection: B) Add more Draw Numbers 9
7.3 Selection: C) Examine Draw Database 9
7.4 Selection: D) Frequency of Numbers Drawn 9
7.5 Selection: E) Find My Number 10
7.6 Selection: F) Check My Number 10
7.7 Selection: G) Even - Odd 10
7.8 Selection: H) Decades 11
7.9 Selection: I) High Flyers 11
7.10 Selection: J) Low Flyers 11
7.11 Selection: K) Computer Picked Numbers 11
7.12 Selection: L) What Comes With ... 11
7.13 Selection: M) Screen Colors 11
7.14 Selection: N) Lottery Maintenance 11
7.15 Selection: Q) Quit 12
8.0 Problems Precautions and Errors 12
9.0 PIN Numbers 13
1.0 Introduction
1.1 General Information
Thank you for choosing LOTTO MANIA. It is easy to learn and fun
to use. Please note that:
THIS PROGRAM IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH NOR AUTHORIZED
BY ANY LOTTERY CORPORATION OR COMPANY
Lottery draws are intended to be completely random and therefore
how a number has performed in the past should not influence how
it will perform in the future. Nevertheless, many people when
selecting their numbers review the past performance of the var-
ious numbers. LOTTO MANIA supports databases with details on past
performance of numbers and groups of numbers.
The opening screen of LOTTO MANIA indicates whether the software
is Shareware or Registered. Both versions are copyrighted.
Anyone who acquires / distributes this software in anything other
than the Shareware version is in violation of the license agree-
ment and is therefore subject to prosecution.
1.2 User Fee
You have acquired LOTTO MANIA, lottery database software. You may
have acquired it free of charge, or you may have purchased it
from a dealer for a nominal duplication charge.
Any money you may have paid to obtain a copy of this program was
paid for the distribution and copying of the program and not for
the program itself. Users are given a ten day grace period to ex-
amine LOTTO MANIA and see if it meets there needs. Users retain-
ing the software after this grace period are required to pay
the author $15.00 (Canadian or US Funds).
Payment should be made to: R. Leafloor
P.O. Box 72161
Kanata, Ontario
Canada, K2K 2P4
Databases for several Canadian and USA lotteries are provided as
a payment incentive. User support is only provided to paid users.
1.3 Warranty
Users of LOTTO MANIA must accept this disclaimer of warranty:
LOTTO MANIA is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warrant-
ies, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the
-1-
warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The
author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential,
which may result from the use of LOTTO MANIA.
LOTTO MANIA`s intended purpose is amusement, although it is not
warranted for this or any other purpose. It is specifically not
warranted for use as a means of picking winning lottery numbers.
Nor is it warranted to be free of defects or bugs, and the data-
bases supplied with it are not warranted to be accurate or comp-
lete. All numbers contained in the databases (whether author,
third party, or user entered) are all unofficial.
1.4 User Acceptance
The user acknowledges that: this software is not associated with
nor authorised by any lottery corporation or company; all data
and numbers contained in the program are unofficial; in the case
of a discrepancy between the LOTTO MANIA numbers and those of the
respective official lottery source, those of the official lottery
source take precedence; the author assumes no responsibility for
the accuracy of the program or data; and that lottery draws are
intended to be as far as possible completely random, accordingly
the author makes no claim that the use of this program enhances
or alters its users chance of winning in any manner, way or form.
1.5 Shareware Agreement
The shareware version of LOTTO MANIA can be freely copied and
shared with others without obligation to the owner for distribu-
tion.
Anyone charging for distribution, must meet the vendor require-
ments given in section 2.3 of this manual.
The LOTTO MANIA shareware package includes both program and data
files.
To ensure that all LOTTO MANIA shareware recipients receive their
shareware in the same condition, that is with identical data
files, all data manipulation utilities are initially locked.
Once a copy of the LOTTO MANIA shareware has been installed on
the users hard drive, the user can unlock all utilities and get
full access to all program features merely by selecting "Regist-
ration" from the Maintenance Menu and entering his/her name and
address.
Registration is a free, local process. However, the registered
version can not be shared with others, and registering does not
alter the users obligation to pay $15.00 to the author should the
user decide to keep and use this software beyond the ten day
evaluation period.
-2-
1.6 License Agreement
LOTTO MANIA is software protected by Canadian Copyright law and
applicable international treaties, and therefore must be treated
like any other copyrighted material.
As with a book it is illegal to copy or reproduce the registered
version of LOTTO MANIA, without the prior written consent of the
author. The sole exception being that you may make one floppy
disk copy of the software solely for backup or archival purposes,
and transfer the software to a single hard drive disk provided
you keep the original only for backup or archival purposes.
Users are granted permission to use the registered version of
LOTTO MANIA on a single terminal connected to a single computer.
Any number of people may use that version of the software and
it may be moved freely from one computer location to another, so
long as there is no possibility of it being used at one location
while it's being used at another.
It is a violation of the license agreement to use the registered
version of the software on two or more computers at the same
time. The author may seek compensation and damages should he
become aware of a copyright violation.
Registered users, are required to pay $15.00 for the right to use
the LOTTO MANIA software. Users must include their serial number
with their contribution.
1.7 A Word About Virus's
LOTTO MANIA was designed and developed in a virus free environ-
ment, and it does not contain an inherent virus.
The author has no control over the means by which you obtained
your copy of LOTTO MANIA. You therefore may wish to scan for any
virus's before copying files to your hard drive.
2.0 Support Policy
2.1 Author Support
A minimum of three months mail support is provided to paid users.
Often it is difficult to respond to queries because of the lack
information that is provided. Should you encounter any difficulty
please forward a complete description of the problem along with
any support information such as a print out etc. to the author:
R. Leafloor, P.O. Box 72161, Kanata Ontario Canada, K2K 2P4. All
queries will be answered. Users may wish to include their phone
number and/or CompuServe mail box, allowing the author to skip
the normal mail response when he sees the need.
-3-
2.2 ASP Support
This program is produced by a member of the Association of Share-
ware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the share-
ware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a
shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the
member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can
help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but
does not provide technical support for members' products. Please
write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI USA
49442-9427, Fax 616-788-2765, or send a CompuServe message via
CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536."
2.3 Vendor Requirements
Anyone wishing to charge people a fee for giving them a copy of
LOTTO MANIA must have the written authorization of the author,
without which, the distributor is guilty of copyright violation.
To receive such authorization, send this completed application,
along with a copy of your software library's order form to:
R. Leafloor,
P.O.Box 72161,
Kanata Ontario,
Canada K2K 2P4.
Include $10 to cover the cost of processing the application and
of sending you the latest version of LOTTO MANIA. For distrib-
utors already recognized by the Association of Shareware Profess-
ionals, this application is not necessary.
Name of Organization: ____________________________________
Your Name: _______________________________________________
Address: _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TERMS OF DISTRIBUTION OF LOTTO MANIA:
1. The fee charged may not exceed $10, including postage, mail-
er and any other charges.
2. Your library's catalog or listing must state that this prog-
ram is not free, but is copyrighted software that is provid-
ed to allow the user to evaluate it before paying.
3. The offering and sale of LOTTO MANIA will be stopped at any
time the author so requests.
4. Copies must be made from the copy of LOTTO MANIA sent to you
with this agreement. This is required for control purposes.
5. Problems or complaints about the program will be reported to
the author for investigation. In return for a license to
charge a fee for the distribution of the program LOTTO MANIA
-4-
I agree to comply with the above terms of distribution.
Signed, ____________________________________ ______________
your signature date
__________________________ _________ ______________
R. Leafloor control # date
3.0 Installation and Backup
Installation
LOTTO MANIA should be installed on a single directory on your
computer.
To install LOTTO MANIA:
- Make a directory on your hard drive, where you want the LOTTO
MANIA files to be stored. For example C:\LOTTO.
- Change to that directory and copy the files listed in section
4.0 into that directory.
NOTE: Most vendors will supply the necessary LOTTO MANIA files
in a compressed format such as self extracting ZIP files. In
such cases, follow the vendor supplied instructions for decom-
pressing.
- To run LOTTO MANIA, change to the directory containing the
LOTTO Mania files, type LM and push 'ENTER.
Backup
Any time you update LOTTO MANIA with a single additional draw
number, multiple databases are updated.
If for any reason such as a hard disk failure, these files get
corrupted you will have lost all the information on draw dates
and numbers that you have entered unless you have backed up your
data.
It is therefore highly recommended that you periodically backup
your data files.
4.0 How LOTTO MANIA Works
LOTTO MANIA is a menu driven program that manages a number of
databases containing information on lotteries.
-5-
There are two ways to enter commands into the program:
- the full screen menu's
- the COMMAND BAR
The COMMAND BAR is the reverse video bar at the bottom of the
screen. It displays the current hot keys available. Which hot
keys you can use depends on where you are in the program. The
COMMAND BAR automatically displays the ones you can use. At some
times, such as during file updating, or sorting there are no hot
keys available, this is to ensure that you don't quit the program
with the files only partially updated.
The COMMAND BAR hot keys are usually used for operations such as:
- returning to the Main Menu (CTRL S)
- starting HELP (CTRL H)
- ending HELP (CTRL E)
- quitting LOTTO MANIA (CTRL Q)
The screen menus are used for tasks more specific to the LOTTO
MANIA utilities you are using. For example, inside the Even - ODD
utility you would use a screen menu option to print the Even -
Odd Summary.
Recognizing that LOTTO MANIA is more likely to be used in the
home environment rather than the work:
- the menus are all full screen, rather than pull down for
simplicity;
- the program is stand alone and does not require the user
to have any separate database software.
LOTTO MANIA consists of:
- LM.EXE the program file
- *.TMP buffer files for unsaved entries
- HELP.WN a help file
- Specify.WN a control file
- Canada.WN a control file
- USA.WN a control file
- CUSTOM.WN a control file
- X*.WN; Y*.WN; & C*.WN data files
- possible User information files
- possible Vendor information files
- MANUAL.DOC the users manual
The *.WN files are created, deleted, and/or updated by LOTTO
MANIA. Some of these files contain special code to minimize the
fraudulent use of LOTTO MANIA. The user is advised not to alter
or delete any of the *.WN files including those of zero length.
If the *.WN files are altered the program will usually return to
DOS without executing.
-6-
The philosophy of LOTTO MANIA is to provide fast user response.
Therefore when you update the database with new draw dates and
numbers, several other databases are automatically updated and
sorted at the same time. So later when you run LOTTO MANIA and
make a database query, your answer is ready.
There are two areas where this is impossible:
- the adding new numbers utility
- the utility for checking a number
These routines therefore run slower than the others. So that you
are confident that the program is still running rather than hung
up status updates are provided on the screen when you are using
these routines.
LOTTO MANIA automatically works with all the files that have been
provided with it, creating new files, deleting old ones etc.. It
is therefore highly recommended that the hard drive directory for
LOTTO MANIA only contain LOTTO MANIA files. It is also recom-
mended that LOTTO MANIA only appear in one directory on your com-
puter. If you install it twice on the same computer, depending on
the DOS APPEND and PATH statements you may have elsewhere such as
in an AUTOEXEC file, LOTTO MANIA may access and change a LOTTO
MANIA file in another directory rather than create one in the
current directory. This usually results in errors in the data-
base.
5.0 Features
LOTTO MANIA provides the user with information on past draws and
includes:
- the ability to add or delete draws;
- the ability to create custom lotteries;
- the ability to switch between lotteries
- a list of draw dates and numbers;
- the frequency of each of the numbers;
- subdivision of the draw database into draws containing the
same number of even and odd numbers;
- subdivision of the draw database into draws with 3 or more
4 or more, or 5 or more numbers in a single decade;
- the ability to select six numbers and check how they have
performed in the past;
- databases of the number of occurrences for numbers taken
six, five, four, three, or two numbers at a time;
-7-
- the ability to find draws containing 1 to 6 user specified
numbers;
- a pseudo random number generator that produces quick pick
numbers; and
- a routine where the computer will pick draw numbers based
on various algorithms.
6.0 Screens
6.1 Opening Screens
After you type LM the opening LOTTO MANIA screen is displayed.
Strike any key to display the payment reminder. Review this re-
minder and then strike any key to start LOTTO MANIA. Once you are
familiar with the first two screens, just hit enter twice upon
starting the program to proceed to the Main Menu.
With LOTTO MANIA it is possible to add draw dates and numbers
that have occurred since you purchased LOTTO MANIA, and to hold
these in a temporary buffer for future updating of the databases.
If you do this, the next time you start LOTTO MANIA it will auto-
matically branch to the Update Utility to see if you want to up-
date your unsaved entries. You are given the option of updating
or continuing without updating.
6.2 Help Screens
Anytime the COMMAND BAR contains 'CTRL H = Help' you can access
help relevant to the current screen by holding down the 'CTRL'
key and typing 'H'.
Help Screens are cyclic. If for example there are three Help
Screens in a Help message, they cycle 1-2-3-1-2 etc. changing one
screen each time you press ENTER.
Hold down the 'CTRL' key and type 'E' to End Help.
6.3 Main Menu
The opening menu in LOTTO MANIA provides the following choices:
A) General Information & License Agreement
B) Add more Draw Numbers
C) Examine Draw Database
D) Frequency of Numbers Drawn
E) Find My Number
F) Check My Number
G) Even - Odd
H) Decades
I) High Flyers
-8-
J) Low Flyers
K) Computer Picked Numbers
L) What Comes With ...
M) Screen Colors
N) Lottery Maintenance
Q) Quit
To make a selection type in the appropriate letter in upper or
lower case. For example, to select 'Find My Number' type 'E' or
'e'.
The next section gives a brief description of the utilities pro-
vided by the Main Menu.
7.0 Utilities
7.1 Selection: A) General Information & License Agreement
This selection provides the terms and conditions that all users
must abide by. Violators may be prosecuted.
7.2 Selection: B) Add more Draw Numbers
This routine is for updating the LOTTO MANIA databases to
include draw dates and numbers that have occurred since the last
update to these databases. It includes two separate functions.
The first function is for entering new numbers and dates.
The second function is for updating the programs databases to
include these numbers. It is possible to enter several new
numbers and dates and to do a single update.
The time required for doing an update increases with the size of
the database. Some users find it convenient to periodically del-
ete old numbers from the database. A utility to do this is pro-
vided in the lottery Maintenance menu.
7.3 Selection: C) Examine Draw Database
This routine is for examining the main Draw Database, which
contains the draw date, the six regular numbers and if applicable
the bonus number for all draw dates that have been entered and
saved.
You have the option of examining the whole database or the last
'n' entries, where 'n' is user specified.
7.4 Selection: D) Frequency of Numbers Drawn
This routine is for examining the frequency of numbers drawn.
Each draw consists of six regular numbers and if applicable the
bonus number.
-9-
For each of these numbers, this routine keeps track of the number
of times it has occurred as a regular number, or as a bonus
number, and the total of number of times it has occurred.
7.5 Selection: E) Find My Number
This routine is for finding draws that contain specific numbers.
For example, find all the draws containing the number '1', or
find all the draws containing the numbers '1' and '32'. The user
can specify up to six numbers to search for and when applicable,
whether or not to include the bonus number in the search.
7.6 Selection: F) Check My Number
Check My Number is routine to check a draw number entered by the
user. All six numbers of the draw number must be entered. Check
My Number verifies whether or not the draw number has occurred as
a regular Winning Number, or as a Five plus Bonus Winning Number
(Canadian 6/49 only).
It also provides information concerning the number of even and
odd numbers in the draw number, and whether or not there are
any decades containing more than 3,4, or 5 numbers.
In addition Check My Number breaks the draw number down into it's
component parts. That is the 6 five digit numbers, the 15 four
digit numbers, the 20 three digit numbers, the 15 two digit
numbers, and the 6 one digit numbers. It also checks the number
of occurrences of each. This check is made only on the six
regular numbers and not on the bonus number. Therefore the 5
digit, 4 digit, and 3 digit total number of occurrences is equal
to the number of times this number would have generated a prize
if it had been played since the beginning.
Check My Number can take a couple of minutes to complete. The
actual time will depend on your computers speed and the size of
the database.
The selection Menu allows you to:
A) to run Check My Number
B) to return to the Main Menu
If you select A) you will be asked to enter the number you wish
to check. Your number must consist of six separate numbers
entered in any order. If you omit a number or enter a number
outside the database's range, the program will let you fix this
mistake before proceeding.
7.7 Selection: G) Even - Odd
This routine is used to examine the databases containing even and
odd information on the draws. A separate database exists for each
combination from all even through to all odd, along with a draw
summary detailing how many fall into each category.
-10-
7.8 Selection: H) Decades
This routine provides a means to examine draws with 3,4,5 or more
numbers per decade. For example draws with three or more numbers
in the thirties decade ( 30 - 39 ).
7.9 Selection: I) High Flyers
This routine is for finding groups of numbers that have occurred
more often than others in the past. It is possible to examine
groups of 2,3,4,5, or 6 numbers. The High Flyers 2's for example
contains all the pairs that have occurred to date sorted
according to the most number of occurrences. It is possible to
look at a whole file or a portion of it. For the High Flyer
singles select 'D Frequency of Numbers Drawn'.
7.10 Selection: J) Low Flyers
This routine is the opposite of the High Flyers. The files are
sorted by the least number of occurrences. These files are merely
the reverse order of the High Flyers files. That is, it doesn't
include the Low Flyers with zero occurrences.
7.11 Selection: K) Computer Picked Numbers
This routine allows the user to pick potential play numbers. The
numbers are chosen either using a pseudo random generator with
user specified rejections according to the number of even and odd
numbers; from the High Flyer 1's, 2's, or 3's databases; or from
the Wheeled 1's utility that allows the user to pick draw combin-
ations of the best 6, 7, or 8 numbers, either in the whole data-
base or the last portion of it.
7.12 Selection: L) What Comes With ...
This routine is for determining what other numbers come with your
number. For example if you choose 5, What Comes With will
determine how many times all the other numbers have occurred with
5.
7.13 Selection: M) Screen Colors
This routine allows selection of foreground and background colors
for monitors that support color, or to reset the display back
to the default colors.
7.14 Selection: N) Lottery Maintenance
This selection allows the user to access information about the
current lottery or any lottery supported by the program.
Depending on the version of LOTTO MANIA routines may be provided
for creating a custom lottery, deleting lotteries, reducing data-
base size by eliminating old draw numbers, switching between
lotteries, registering the software, applying for a PIN number,
and entering a PIN number.
-11-
7.15 Selection: Q) Quit
LOTTO MANIA is a menu driven program. Upon exiting one of the
routines such as Decades the program returns to the Main Menu.
Selection 'Q' of the Main Menu exits the program and return to
DOS.
8.0 Problems Precautions & Errors
Extensive testing has been performed on LOTTO MANIA during its
development and the product should be as far as can be reasonably
expected free of bugs.
It has been designed to operate from a single directory or a sin-
gle subdirectory on a single computer. If you install LOTTERY
NUMBER more than once on a single computer, you may get errors in
your results. This is because of the way LOTTO MANIA automat-
ically creates, updates and deletes files as it is manipulating
the databases. If for example a file doesn't exist that LOTTO
MANIA needs, it will create it. However, if LOTTO MANIA has been
installed more than once, LOTTO MANIA with the help of DOS APPEND
may find the file that it should be creating in the directory
with the second version of LOTTO MANIA. Rather than create the
required file LOTTO MANIA may access and change the file in the
second version of LOTTO MANIA. It is therefore highly recommended
that your computer only contain one copy of LOTTO MANIA.
If you want your screens and print outs to have consistent look-
ing results, please ensure that when entering draw dates you use
the form DD-MON-YY. The draw dates and numbers for the past draws
that come with your copy of LOTTO MANIA have all been entered
using this form, and so it is worth while keeping the same style.
You may wish to use the CAPS LOCK to ensure that the three letter
abbreviation for the month is always in caps.
LOTTO MANIA is more than a program. It is a collection of data-
bases. After you have had LOTTO MANIA for a while you will have
no doubt updated the databases to include draw dates and numbers
that have occurred since you purchased LOTTO MANIA. This is time
consuming and certainly isn't something most users would want to
do twice. It is therefore worth your while to do periodic backups
of these databases to minimize the amount of lost information
should you have a system failure such as a hard disk failure, or
a power failure coincident with a file write to disk.
There are two types of error messages that occur in LOTTO MANIA.
The first is those that have been programmed in, - such as you
enter '56' as a draw number in a 6/49 lottery. Since '56' is out-
side the allowable range of '1' to '49' it will be rejected and
you will have to re-enter a number within the allowable range.
There are several errors of this type that the user can make.
LOTTO MANIA detects most of these and prevents the user from
inadvertently corrupting the database.
-12-
The second type of errors are those detected by the programming
language that LOTTO MANIA is written in, - such as trying to
print to a printer that is out of paper. LOTTO MANIA has a built-
in error handler to trap this type of error, allowing the user to
rectify the problem and continue. In other cases it will be nec-
essary to restart the program should one of these errors occur.
9.0 PIN Numbers
As an incentive bonus for becoming a legal paid user of LOTTO
MANIA users are given lottery databases for several popular USA
and Canadian lotteries. Users can create these databases them-
selves, but it does take time to enter all the numbers.
These databases were distributed with the shareware in a non-
standard form. When a user makes his payment, he/she is given a
PIN Number specific to their serial number. The PIN Number:
- allows the program to accept these bonus databases; and
- deletes the payment reminder screen.
-13-
