Starting Bid Meister!

The Bid Meister! uses menu displays, i.e., it has a separate display for each function you want to use. To speed things up, when you first call up a display, such as the Line Display, it's loaded into memory, then made visible for you. If you return to the Main Menu, using either the shortcut key or the Option menu on the menu bar, the Line Display is still there, it just isn't visible. It's sitting behind the Main Menu.

How 2 Get Around
There are usually several different ways to get where you want to go. Starting from the Main Menu, clicking one of the command buttons will take you to the corresponding display. To return to the Main Menu, you have several options to choose from:

Use the Right Mouse Button
One of the advanced features included in this version is use of the right mouse button. You may click the right mouse button on any main display (Main Menu, Sorted Line Summary, etc.) to pop-up a mini-options menu. From this menu you may select any main display, as well as filters and several of the view lists. This makes a very convenient and fast way to change displays, in fact, this has proven to be the fastest way to move from place to place.

Using Shortcut Keys
Another way to get around is the Shortcut Keys. If you click the Options menu on the menu bar, you'll see a list of displays, such as Line Summary, Sorted Line Summary, etc. Out to the right-hand side you'll see a key combination such as Ctrl+L. This is the shortcut key combination you can use to access this display without having to return to the Main Menu, or click the Options menu to select. In other words, anytime you hold down the control key (Ctrl), then press the L
key, you'll be taken immediately to the Line Summary display.

For example, let's say you're sorting the lines on the Sorted Line Summary, and you want to bring up the Extract Filters display. You could pull down the Option menu, click on the Select Filters selection, then select Extract Filters to bring up the display. The quickest way would be to press Ctrl + X to bring up the Extract Filter display, saving several mouse clicks.

Until you become familiar with all the shortcut keys available, a quick way to get around is just remember the Main Menu shortcut key combination, Ctrl + M. Once you get back to the Main Menu, you can use the command buttons available to get to the area or display of your choice.

How 2 Bid - Basic BM Philosophy

The Bid Meister! is a very flexible program to use for your bidding purposes. Along with flexibility, of course, comes a slight bit of complexity, which is the reason for this context sensitive help file. The ability to press the F1 key with the focus on any control on the screen is a priceless feature. You are able to access specific information you need instantly with the press of a single key. It is important that you read as much as you can about the program and its features in order to improve your manipulation of the bid line data to achieve the results you desire.

The main philosophy behind The Bid Meister! is to allow you to narrow your focus to the lines you are interested in, based on what you have input with your bid preferences (setting weights) and filters (extract and Constrain). In other words, you need to see only what is important. You start out with a very strict set of parameters, such as extract all lines that have any four-day trips on them and a specific set of dates off. After sorting and analyzing these "good lines", you tag them. Once you have tagged the lines in the order you want to bid them, it's probably a good idea to extract them from the Sorted Line Summary display, since there is really no reason to view them at this point. The philosophy here is to narrow your focus to only what is important to see.

Once you have "fine tuned" your preference weights and filters, you can save your bid preferences to preference files. This will allow you to quickly load your parameters and avoid changing preference weights and filters manually each time you're ready to loosen up your parameters. In fact, you can set up several sets of parameters in different preference files, and load them at different points during your bidding process. As you bid and extract, your priorities tend to change. It's nice to have a file of "presets" to quickly load to keep you moving!

Tagging, Marking, and The Bid Meister!
The ability to tag and mark the lines is a fundamental basis for using The Bid Meister! In fact, tagging and marking is analagous to bidding in the old "paper bid" days. Remember? You used to go through the bid lines and maybe put an"X" by the lines you didn't like, or maybe wanted to bid last, and perhaps, put a star by the lines you really wanted, etc. You saw some pretty interesting codes scribbled all over people's bid packages back then. This "proven" technique is carried over to The Bid Meister! Again, this helps you to narrow the focus of lines to the lines that fall into your particular operating parameters. If there is a certain style of line that you absolutely don't want, or have enough seniority that you're not going to bid (how about four on and three off?), mark them with an "X" character, then have the Extract Filters take out all the lines you have marked with the "X" character.

This is only one technique that can be used for your bidding process. Your own personal wants and needs may dictate only using a sorting of the lines based on preference scoring or line weights. Whatever your personal style is, The Bid Meister! can probably supply you with the tools you need to see what you want, then very easily go for it. The important thing is to read and study this Ops manual and apply what you read. The next important thing to do is experiment! Don't get stuck in a rut doing the same thing all the time! Use various features that you see, or learn. If you see a button that you never saw before, push it! See what it does. If you find a menu item that you're unclear of, click it and see what it does, or highlight it and press the F1 key, and get some information on it.