Tru Mark Athletic Field Marker desktop sports field layout tools can be used on BlackBerry mobile smartphone devices.

Tru Mark business operations recently updated to a BlackBerry Curve 8900 which is protected by an OtterBox Defender case.

So why is this so important you may ask?

Well, BlackBerry devices run an an application that supports .xls extensions, better known as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. The particular application we are using is the Sheet to Go (spreadsheet) version of the Documents to Go by DataViz, Inc., www.dataviz.com/upgrade.

Again, why is this significant?

Several years ago Tru Mark developed several sports field layout tools using traditional functions implemented in a MS Excel spreadsheet. Please check out the following website pages for more details.
http://www.trumarkathletics.com/field-layout-tools.aspx

OK, now we can use the desktop sports field layout tools on a mobile smartphone device. You can now calculate field dimensions and their associated intersections (staking positions) right on the field of play. This is especially important if a desktop calculation needs to be changed on the fly.

Once you have down loaded the sports field layout tool template (.xls file) to your desktop filing system you are ready to download the file to your Blackberry device. Using the BlackBerry Desktop Manager application you'll select the Media Manager option [Start], then select Devices (right side of selection window) under the Connected Devices. Go through the file selection process using Add to Library option then navigating to the stored .xls file, select file and click on Add. Next select the folder under My Devices (lower portion of the application window) and copy file to the BlackBerry Device (I used the media card location and created a folder called datafiles) using the "copy without conversion" option.

After completing all your synchronization steps you are ready to access your Blackberry device and the associated data file (sports field layout tool). From you main menu locate the Sheet to Go application and start the application. After start up verification/registration you can Open a file by navigating to the .xls file name stored on the BB device.

The data input fields work similar to an MS Excel operation. Navigate to the data cell, select Menu button, then select Edit Mode and enter your field dimension for that particular cell. Once you accept this entry the calculations are automatically updated just like on the desktop.

It helps to have printed spreadsheet available to verify all the cell locations and resulting intersection calculations. What is nice is you can save each different layout dimension with a different file name to quickly recall this spreadsheet for further changes and review purposes.

Please provide us feedback on this mobile smartphone application and spreadsheet operation. We are always looking for ways to help you save time.