Publishing from TOM
What the PocketPairings desktop app does with your tournament file, and what your players see.
Does the app send my tournament on its own?
No. Nothing is sent until you click "Publish pairings". The app only notices that the file changed and shows a "New data found" banner; you decide when to publish. There is no automatic sync, not as a setting and not as a paid feature.
What does the watcher do?
- It looks at one file only: the .tdf you picked. It never scans folders or opens other TOM files.
- While watching, it only checks the file's size and last-modified time. It does not read what is in it.
- When you click Publish, it copies the file once and reads the copy. It never writes to your .tdf and never locks it, so saving in TOM is never blocked.
- You can start and stop watching at any time. You can also skip it and upload the file by hand.
What do players see?
- Players without a PocketPairings account appear by first name and initial ("José O."). Juniors and Seniors appear by initials only ("J. O.").
- We do not keep their full name or their Player ID: only that shortened name and a coded form of the ID, so we recognise them next time.
- Players with an account who agreed to it appear by their full name. For a child, a parent or guardian has to agree too.
- Anyone can ask not to be named at all and will appear as "Player" with a number.
Why do I have to confirm something on the first publish?
The first time you publish an event, the app asks you to confirm that your players know their names and results are shown on pocketpairings.dev. Mention it at registration or put up a sign at the venue. We keep that confirmation with the event.
What do you record about each publish?
Which event, which account or key sent it, when, and a fingerprint of the file. That record shows every publish was started by a person.