Hi Everyone:
I'm going to give you an example of how to work with p4Selector.
Below is the tallies.txt file created by p4Selector, using the past 30 days worth of results taken from the Mass midday numbers starting from 03/16/2016 to 04/27/2016
3145 - 2
2858 - 3
5114 - 0
7198 - 6
1774 - 2
2786 - 5
6444 - 0
0279 - 4
2709 - 4
6255 - 2
5148 - 5
3098 - 3
3984 - 3
3804 - 4
5886 - 0
7817 - 3
0671 - 4
4263 - 1
2842 - 1
9780 - 3
2081 - 3
0859 - 2
5617 - 4
1549 - 4
4906 - 2
2853 - 3
3038 - 2
0058 - 2
5367 - 2
3503 - 1
7198 generated 6 of the list members and has the highest tally, so we'll use 7198 as input to p4Selector for the generator. In a recent post I suggested using a key that can only appear once. The choices are : 6,7,8,0,1,2. 7 for example, can occur in 2 places. The first digit is 7, and the last digit is 8, which can become a seven by subtracting one from it. So if you selected 7 for a key, your selections would look like 7XXX and XXX7. In this situation, the total number of possible selections would be 27 + 27 = 54. On the other hand, if you selected 1, 0, or 2 for the key, the key will only show up in the second digit place, and the total number of possible selections would drop to 27. I chose 1 for the key and 27 selections. Remember, if the key and generator are good, there's a guaranteed win. Below is the p4Plays.txt.
****7198****
7197
6187
8189
8199
8108
8197
6108
7199
7107
6198
8188
6109
7189
7108
6188
6189
6107
8109
6199
7187
7109
7198
6197
7188
8198
8187
8107
On the 7th day of the play period(10 days), 05/04/2016, 8816 was drawn.
Let's say I decided I did not want to play so many selections. If I cut the number of selections to 14, and the generator and key are good(and we know they are), then my chances of winning are about 50+%. Below is the output file with the choice of 14 selections(same key and generator).
****7198****
8109
8198
7109
6107
7189
8108
6188
6198
7198
6189
6108
6197
8199
7107
Looks like luck was with me.
Note that if your number of selections are less than the total number of possible selections, p4Plays.txt will most likely not contain the identical selections over a repeated number of executions of p4Selector, using the same input parameters. This is because you are getting a random sample from the total amount of possible selections.
Another note. It's difficult to suggest a fixed play period, and the next example will show why.
I suggested in an earlier post to consider taking the mirror of the past result showing the highest tally and using the mirror as the input generator. The mirror of 7198 is 2643. For the key, let's choose 6 and 7 and take 14 selections for each key. Below is the output file, p4Plays.txt using 2643 for the generator, and 6 and 7 for the keys. (Remember, after inputting one set of parameters to p4Selector with one key specified, you have to key in "Y", designating you want to add more input).
****2643****
1644
2652
2653
1653
3653
1634
3643
1654
2634
3634
2633
3642
3644
1642
****2643****
1743
1733
2752
3744
2754
2734
3733
1752
3743
2733
2744
1754
2742
2753
My luck did not hold out, because 11(one day past the suggested play period) days later 2714 was drawn. the key,7, was a correct choice, but not 6.
I hope these examples clear up some of the questions you have.
jayemmar