Form string doesn't match that on Betfair

Hi , screen shot shows what MFP has got as the form string for Totetto (12:55 Wolves, 01-Dec-14) today which doesn't in any way match the form as shown on Betfair or the racing post.

Any thoughts?

I'll be emailing Betfair & Timeform as well as to why the form as shown on Betfiar doesn't include the last 5 races.

The form as shown on Betfair when hovering over the selection shows 085-886 and DSLR as 107.

Go into the timeform racecard via Betfair and the form shows 5 races have happened since 085-886, the last being on 25th Oct.

Puzzled - very puzzled.

Wez

Ditto for another horse in the same race, although this time Timeform & Betfair to match, but MFP is showing the 600-307 form as 293!!

Wez

hi
could it be because the other horse previous races were not all weather courses.
the last one shows correct with all weather courses last ran.

mcbee

Hi McBee,

no I don't think so. The last 2 races of the form string ("86") were turf races as were the missing ones (see attachment). Either way, it doesn't explain how MFP got "-801" from "085-886"!

The triggers didn't place the bet now I've corrected them following your last reply (many thanks) because it saw the end of the string as a 1 suggesting it won last time out when clearly it didn't!

regards

Wez

Hi McBee,

Looking again at the form "085-886" for Toretto on the Racing Post I can now see that it is specific to Flat races on both turf and AW. The missing bit of the form is for Handicap Hurdles I think (HcH?). So Timeform is providing the form that is relevant to the type of race being run this time I guess. i.e Wolves handicap (flat race on AW surface). I wasn't aware that was how Timeform/Betfair quoted form so I've learnt something today (I think).

Just the problem of why MFP shows "-801" when the Betfair form reads 085-886!

BTW, changing my trigger condition to Selection's trigger expression silk_form_1 is not in list 1,2 initially appeared to work but unfortunately I caught a bet being placed where the last character in the form string was a 1. So there is still something odd going on. I've provided Oxa with the log files.

regards

Wez

It has just dawned on me (amazing what a night's sleep does)

Betfair form string was 085-886.

MFP displayed "-801"

Mathematically, 085 minus 886 (i.e. 085-886) is "-801" Tah Dah!

So is it just a Engineer mode display format issue and/or is the string being seen internally within MFP as "-801". The fact some of my triggers placed bets when I though they shouldn't because the string was showing itself as ending in a 1 or 2, suggests it is an Engineer mode (and possibly View User Variables?) display issue.

regards

Wez

The other funny yesterday was Betfair/Timeform string was 600-307.
MFP in Engineer Mode displayed that as 293.

600 minus 307 is 293!

So Engineer Mode is actually treating characters within silk_form as a formula!

That will also explain why I sometimes see 83.333333 or similar. It the result of a calculation!

regards

Wez

Hi,

below screen shot confirms the problem is with the formatting of how silk_form is displayed.

The form string "53/45-2" is being displayed as -0.82222222

(53/45)-2 is indeed -0.8222222

So the question is how can silk_form be displayed without it being treated as a formula?

regards

Wez

A work around seems to be to use:

silk_form_n silk_form_3 silk_form_2 silk_form 1 as the formula in the Engineer Mode display field. That way the individual characters are displayed as expected.

regards

Wez

Sorry, that didn't work for all cases

putting a comma between each case of silk_form_n fixed it though, as in

silk_form_6,silk_form_5,silk_form_4,silk_form_3,silk_form_2,silk_form_1

Wez

Hello Wez,

This problem (the unnecessary computation when displaying the Form as a variable) has been reported before, and I am looking for a solution, as this is something that can't be fixed easily.

Hi Oxa,

well at least it puts my mind at rest that the trigger conditions are working as they should which is the important thing.

I'm not a programmer and I only have a very basic knowledge of software.

I don't know how the formula entries in User Var Window and Engineer fields are parsed, but could a simple prefix delimiter such as ~ stop what follows being treated as a formula?

So:
~silk_form would just display the string without any processing/computation
~9/3 would display 9/3
9/3 would display 3

Apologies in advance if that is a ridiculous suggestion!

regards

Wez

hi wez
if you only want to see the correct form , minus the - ,
so a form of 573-21 , you would see 573_21 in the engineer mode.
copy and paste this to the engineer mode box that you want to see the form.
IF(silk_form_7=-,_,silk_form_7)IF(silk_form_6=-,_,silk_form_6)IF(silk_form_5=-,_,silk_form_5)IF(silk_form_4=-,_,silk_form_4)IF(silk_form_3=-,_,silk_form_3)IF(silk_form_2=-,_,silk_form_2)IF(silk_form_1=-,_,silk_form_1)

mcbee

Hi McBee,

thanks for the suggestion but it's been overtaken by events.

Oxa fixed the bug which treated the form string as a formula in 8.0.0.11 in both the Engineer mode fields and the View User Varaibles window. silk_form now displays as expected without any computation taking place - hurrah!

regards

Wez

Form string doesn't match that on Betfair

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