Attribute configuration

An attribute is a filtering rule from which Copernico generates a ranking, for example “federated: yes” or “local: yes”.

In order to obtain rankings from attributes, you must first set them up in each event of the race.

1. Simple use of attributes

You can create an attribute and indicate whether the participants meet it or not to create a ranking with those that do. In our example we will create an attribute that allows creating a ranking for federated runners.

1. Expand the event for which you want to configure the attributes.
2. Expand the Attributes section.
3. To create attributes, click + Add. From the block menu you can also Import the attributes of an event from another race you have in Copernico, Clear (delete all the attributes of the event) and Cut, Copy and Paste the whole block to reuse it in another event of the same race.
4. Give the attribute a name (Name). In our example, the name will be “Federated”.
5. In the Ranked values field, click + item, type the value you will use in your participant file to identify federated runners and press Enter. In our example, the value is “Yes”.
6. Repeat the previous step for each value you need. Each value is shown as a tag; to remove it, click its cross.

To assign the attribute when importing participants, add a column to your file (for clarity, named after the attribute) and enter the configured value for the participants who meet the condition. In the column mapping step of the import, set the type of that column to Attribute and choose the attribute in the Attribute field.

In our example, we will create a column with the name “Federated” in which we will enter the value “Yes” for the federated runners. With this information, Copernico will create a ranking with all the runners with the value “Yes” in the “Federated” column.

2. Advanced use of attributes

Attributes are very versatile. This allows you to use an attribute with more than one value. In our example we will create an attribute that allows creating a ranking by profession.

• In the attribute name (Name) we will enter “Profession”.
• In the Ranked values field, type the different professions for which we want to obtain a ranking, pressing Enter after each one. You can add as many values as you need. In this case we have created three values: “Police”, “Firefighter” and “Civil Guard”.

For our example, when importing the participants we will add a column with the name “Profession”, in which we will indicate the profession of each athlete from the values created, and in the column mapping step we will set its type to Attribute and choose the “Profession” attribute in the Attribute field. With this information, Copernico will create the following rankings:

• A ranking of all the athletes that have the value “Police” in the “Profession” column.
• A ranking of all the athletes that have the value “Firefighter” in the “Profession” column.
• A ranking of all the athletes that have the value “Civil Guard” in the “Profession” column.

With this configuration, an athlete can never be in the ranking of two professions.

3. Assign the attribute manually

In a participant's form (when creating or editing it) there is one field for each attribute of their event, marked with a paperclip. In that field you can search for or type the participant's value for the attribute, or clear it.

4. Bring in the values from the participants

If you have already imported the participants, you can fill in the attribute values with the values they already have:

1. In the attribute, click the values wizard button.
2. Select the values you want to add. The values of the participants of the event are shown first and, in a separate group, those of other events. A search box is available to find them.
3. Click Import. The selected values are added to the attribute values.

With the attributes configured and assigned to the participants, Copernico will generate a ranking for each value. Attributes can also be used for awards: in the event trophies, choose the Attribute type and the corresponding values (see the Trophies article).

5. Video transcript

Let's set up categories. Categories are the different groups, usually age-dependent and mutually exclusive, into which the participants of an event are divided. You can create categories based on criteria of gender or year of birth, but there can also be categories configured for other criteria, such as Elite. If you want categories to be assigned by age automatically, it's recommended to create them before importing the athletes.

To create categories, click on “Add” [today, the + button] and you would add the categories one by one, but you can also create them in bulk from this menu: “Create”. You enter the range, minimum age, maximum age and the gender, and they'll be created automatically.

From the advanced editor you can add the rest of the criteria: you have the category name, the gender, and then the age from and to. This is really important, because you have to decide if you want the age to be the age on the day of the race [the From race date / To race date check boxes], because if not, Copernico will automatically take into account what age that person will be on December 31st of that year. So, for example, if you don't click this box, someone who is turning 40 on the 30th of December will already be in the Master 40 category for a race in January.

The categories will appear in chronological order based on how you configured them, from the lowest “From” values to the highest “To” values, and they'll be successively situated based on age [today, they are also grouped by gender].

Let's talk about these signals at the bottom. If a chain appears, it's because there is an overlap between the categories and there is no age or year range outside [the chain actually indicates that there is no overlap and no gap]. An amber warning [today, an orange warning triangle] indicates that there is an age or year overlap outside the category [it actually indicates a range not covered by any category], and a red warning indicates that there is [an overlap] between two different categories.

Once the categories have been created, you have two options to assign them to the runners. Indicate the date of birth and gender of each participant in the file you will be importing: Copernico will automatically assign the category as long as you have filled it in correctly. Indicate the category to which each participant belongs by adding a column in the import file: in this case, it will prevail over the category that corresponds to the participant's age.

Next, let's talk about attributes. An attribute is any specific value that can be attributed to any participant to be integrated into a special classification. It's very important to understand this concept, because it will help you generate special rankings, such as local participants or federated athletes. You should only use attributes if you need them to generate a ranking; if you do not need them, it's better not to set them up, such as T-shirt size.

Copernico allows an infinite number of values per attribute. For example, you can configure “Profession” with a series of values such as “Doctor”, “Lawyer”, “Police officer”. Copernico will calculate different rankings for each value, for example “Lawyer”, for each split.

To set one up, just press the “Add” button; you cannot create these in bulk. Next, you enter a distinct name as well as the ranked values that you will need [Ranked values]. So, for example, the name of this attribute is “Local” and the ranked values are “Male” and “Female”. Only create the values that you need: in this instance, you wouldn't need to put “No”. Let's see another example: you could add “Profession” and then add “Doctor”.

In order to import these attributes, all you would need to do is include a column in the import file. For the athletes that have the attribute, you would put “Male” or “Female” in the “Local” column, and for those who are not local you leave it blank. Same with profession: under the “Profession” attribute you can put “Doctor”, and for those who do not meet that attribute you leave it blank.