Dot codes

A dot code is two touches typed as one, joined by a dot: a serve and the other team's reception, or an attack and the other team's block or dig. You type one half's rating and Courtside works out the other. It saves keystrokes on the touches that always come in pairs.

Type a dot code

7S.a14#

Home #7 serves, away #14 passes perfectly. Courtside writes two codes:

*07SH-
a14RH#

The serve gets -, because a perfect pass means the serve was poor.

What you can leave out:

• The second half's team. It's always the other team: 7S.14# is the same as 7S.a14#.
• The second half's skill. After a serve it's the reception. After an attack it's the block, unless you type D for a dig: 8A.a4D.
• The first half's skill. At the start of a rally it's the serve; anywhere else, the attack. A combination stands in for the attack, even at a rally's start: 2X5.a8=.
• One of the ratings. It's worked out from the other (see below).
• The type. Both halves share it: type it on either.
• The zones. Zones typed on one half go on the other. A block's zone is the mirror of the attack's: an attack from zone 4 is blocked in zone 2.

You type	You get	What happened
7S.a14#	*07SH- a14RH#	perfect pass, so a poor serve
7SM#.14	*07SM# a14RM=	an ace, so a reception error
7S-.a14	*07SH- a14RH+	a poor serve, so a positive pass
a5AH~~~4.12#	a05AH/~~~4 *12BH#~~~2	a stuff block, zone mirrored
7A.a14D#	*07AH- a14DH#	a perfect dig, so a poor attack
7A-.a14D	*07AH- a14DH+	a poor attack, so a positive dig
12A.6d=	*12AH# a06DH=	a dig error, so a kill
2X5.a8=	*02AT#X5~4 a08BT=~~~2	X5 gives the attack's type and start zone; the block error mirrors the zone
2AX5.a8D=	*02AT#X5~4 a08DT=~~~4	the same attack, a dig error; the dig shares the zone

The combination examples assume the default table, where X5 is type T from zone 4.

How the missing rating is worked out

From the first half's rating to the second's:

First half	/	-	!	+	#
Serve → reception	/	+	!	-	=
Attack → block	#	+	!	-	=
Attack → dig		+		-	=

From the second half's rating to the first's:

Second half	#	+	!	-	/	=
Reception → serve	-	-	!	+	/	#
Block → attack	/	-	!	+		#
Dig → attack	-	-		+		#

After a serve or attack rated -, the pass or dig could be + or #. Courtside gives it the season's default rating for that skill (+ out of the box), as VolleyStation does. Type # if the pass was perfect.

If you rate neither half, the second half gets its default rating and the first is worked out from it.

Modifying a pair

A serve followed straight away by the other team's reception, or an attack followed by the other team's block or dig, is a pair, however you typed it. When you modify one half, the other follows:

• The rating. Change a serve to an ace (#) and its reception becomes an error (=). Change a pass to perfect and its serve becomes -. The other half keeps its rating while it still fits: correcting a serve from + to - leaves a # pass alone.
• The type. Change a serve's type and its reception's follows.
• The zones. Shared zones follow; a block's zone mirrors the attack's.

Changing only the player changes nothing on the other half. Courtside writes the other half's change itself, so one undo takes back both.

When a dot code is refused

• "Dot codes pair a serve with a reception, or an attack with a block or dig."
• "The part after the dot is the other team's touch." You gave both halves the same team.

A dot inside a full code's custom text (position 16 on) is part of the text, not a dot code.