RealBridge Config Files

What is a config file?

(Updated 09/07/2021)

A config file (short for "configuration file") is a text file in a specific format. It contains information used by RealBridge about a session. Some of this is information that is available via the RealBridge application; some of it can only be viewed via the config file.

The main purpose is to allow you to run events over multiple sessions. However, the same config-file mechanism can also be used to create more sophisticated or custom configurations that can't be achieved using the RealBridge front-end directly, or to obtain additional information about the format of the event.

Main uses of a config file

Multi-session events

In a multi-session event, a config file is used by RealBridge to carry forward data from one session to the next session:

• The config file tells the second and subsequent sessions the names of the contestants, where they should sit, and the current scores.
• In a Round Robin event, the draw is set at the start of the first session. The config file gives each subsequent session the assignments for the remaining rounds.
• In a Swiss event, the config file tells each subsequent session which contestants have already played each other.
• In a Howell or Mitchell that is split across sessions, the config file tells each subsequent session where to restart the movement.

If you are simply using a config file as part of a multi-session event, for the transition from one session to the next, you do not need to understand the details of the config file. You can just use the config file, and it will work. For details, see:

https://realbridge.online/how-to-run-multi-session-teams.html
https://realbridge.online/how-to-run-multi-session-pairs.html

Initial configuration

For single-session events (or the first session of a multi-session event), you can use the config file to:

• Restrict the event to particular players.
• Pre-assign the starting positions or team numbers.
• Set the names of teams in advance (but this can also be done, more easily, via the RealBridge application).
• Specify the draw in a Round Robin.
• Specify the first-round assignments in a Swiss.

This approach is useful for developers who wish to integrate RealBridge with their own front-end.

If you are creating config files manually, RealBridge recommends that you use this method only when necessary. Creating the config file manually is time-consuming, and it is easy to make a mistake in the configuration

Viewing future assignments

In a Round Robin teams, if you want to know what the future assignments will be, you can generate a config file and view the assignments for the entire event.

Loading and exporting a config file

Config files are loaded and exported from the Advanced menu.

If you are loading a config file, you should do this before you open the session for the players.

In a multi-session event, at the end of each session you must export the config file, before the session is destroyed.  At the beginning of the next session you load the config file. For more details, see:

https://realbridge.online/how-to-run-multi-session-teams.html
https://realbridge.online/how-to-run-multi-session-pairs.html

Before the start of a round robin, you can export a config file so as to find out what the assignments will be.

Important

If you have loaded a config file, or if you have saved the config file before the start of a Round Robin, do not subsequently change the number of tables. If you do this by mistake, reboot the session and then reload the config file.

Config file examples

(Updates 9/6/2021)

The config file is in JSON format. The following examples demonstrate the use the file. A full list of allowed attributes and values is given later in this document. All components of the config file are case-sensitive.

Example 1: Single round-robin teams

The file will be ready to download in the chatbox in the lobby:

    {
        "num_tables":5,
        "scoring_method":17,
        "vp_scale":2,
        "team_names":["Barcelona","Madrid","Valencia","Seville","Malaga"],
        "use_screens":true,
        "self_alert":true,
        "time_per_round":7800,
        "time_display":0,
        "boards_per_round":16,
        "match_assignments":[
            [ 2, 1, 5, 4, 3],
            [ 3, 4, 1, 2, 5],
            [ 5, 2, 4, 3, 1],
            [ 1, 3, 2, 5, 4],
            [ 4, 5, 3, 1, 2]
        ]
    }
	

Download config file here

Most of the elements are self-explanatory.

scoring_method:17 means round-robin IMP teams.

team_names lists the teams in order of table number, so Barcelona is at Table 1, Madrid is at Table 2, etc.

The match_assignments element works like this:

• Each row is a round. The first row is round 1, the second row is round 2, etc.
• Each column is the opponents for a given team. The first column is Team 1’s opponents. The second column is team 2’s opponents, etc.
• If a team is shown as drawn against themselves, that means that they have a bye.

Hence this should be read as:

• Round 1: 1 plays 2, 2 plays 1, 3 plays 5, 4 plays 4, 3 plays 5.
  That is: 1 v 2, 3 v 5, 4 has a bye
• Round 2: 1 plays 3, 2 plays 4, 3 plays 1, 4 plays 2, 5 plays 5.
  That is: 1 v 3, 2 v 4, 5 has a bye
• etc

For an explanation of the other elements in the config file, see later in this document.

This config file can be used in two ways:

• Usually you will leave RealBridge to create the assignments. You may want to see what the assignments will be. To do this, immediately before starting the event, export the config file.  The match_assignments will contain the assignments for the entire round robin.
• If you want to set the assignments yourself, you create a file like this before the event starts, and load it into RealBridge before the start of the first session. Then RealBridge uses your match_assignments data to determine the assignments.

Example 1a: After the first round is over

If you save the config from Example 1 at the end of Round 1, you will see several differences:

1. The assignments element will have been split:

       "match_assignments":[
               [ 3, 4, 1, 2, 5],
               [ 5, 2, 4, 3, 1],
               [ 1, 3, 2, 5, 4],
               [ 4, 5, 3, 1, 2]
           ]
           "previous_match_assignments":[
               [ 2, 1, 5, 4, 3]
           ]
   		
   

   previous_match_assignments shows the round that has already been played.

   match_assignments shows the rounds that have not yet been played.

   After the second round, the next row from match_assignments would be moved into previous_match_assignments.

2. The pairs that have played for each team will be listed:

           "co_lineups":[
               {"pairs":">here.
   
   ∧