September 12, 2000 FCC AUCTIONS Auction Tracking Tool User Manual Version 3.3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. General Information 1 Hardware and Software Requirements 1 Installing the Auction Tracking Tool 1 Phone Numbers 2 2. Getting Started 3 Downloading Round Results Files 3 Creating and Opening Auction Databases 3 Open An Existing Auction 4 Create a New Auction 5 Batch Import a New Auction 5 Viewing the Data 6 3. Predefined Data Tables 7 Round Data Tables 7 All Bids 7 Bidders 8 Bidders Raising Own High Bid 10 Bidders Who Reduced 11 Markets 12 Auction Statistics Tables 14 Increment Statistics 15 Round Statistics 15 Waiver Statistics 17 Withdrawal Statistics 17 Operating on Column Data 19 Viewing Multiple Tables Simultaneously 19 4. Working With Tables 21 Tool Bar and Menu Bar Operations 21 Printing Tables 23 Print 23 Print Preview 23 Print Setup 24 Summing, Averaging, and Counting Column Data 24 Filtering Table Data 25 Resetting a Table 25 Sorting Table Data 25 Specifying Sort Items 26 Resetting a Table 27 Exporting Table Data To a Text File 27 Creating Excel Pivot Tables 27 5. Obtaining a Round Summary 29 6. Building Your Own Tables 31 Using the Table Wizard 31 Using the SQL Query Builder 32 Printing Tables 33 Deleting User-Defined Tables 33 7. Appendix: Auction Tracking Tool Compatibility Table 34 DISCLAIMER The Federal Communications Commission (the "Commission") will make available, at a bidder's request, an Auction Tracking Tool software package (which includes both software and software documentation) for auction tracking purposes. The Commission makes no warranty whatsoever with respect to the Auction Tracking Tool software package. In no event shall the Commission, or any of its officers, employees or agents, be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, but not limited to, loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or any other loss) arising out of or relating to the existence, furnishing, functioning or use of the Auction Tracking Tool software package that is available to bidders in connection with this auction. Moreover, no obligation or liability will arise out of the Commission's technical, programming or other advice or service provided in connection with the Auction Tracking Tool software package. 1. General Information The FCC developed the Auction Tracking Tool to allow users to track the FCC's Spectrum Auctions. Auction participants and other interested parties can use the Auction Tracking Tool to analyze the FCC's Spectrum Auctions as they progress. By sorting, filtering, and developing your own queries, you can track the activity of a particular bidder or market. You can also view summary data to track the progress of the auction in general. Hardware and Software Requirements You need at a minimum the following hardware and software: ? CPU: Intelr Pentium. A Pentium 166 or higher is strongly recommended. ? RAM: 16 MB, but 32 MB or more is recommended. ? Hard Disk: 40-50 MB available disk space. The application requires only 2-3 MB, but the auction database can grow quite large. ? Microsoftr WindowsT 95T, 98T, or NTT Installing the Auction Tracking Tool The software for the Auction Tracking Tool is available as a self-extracting file that you download from the FCC's Auctions web site (http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/auctions/). Do the following: 1. On the Auctions page, select the auction you want and click the Auction Tracking Tool link. 2. When the Auction Tracking Tool page appears, read the instructions and then click the Tool button. 3. When the Save As window appears, point the Save in field to the directory where you want to download the Auction Tracking Tool file. (For example, you could use C:\Temp.) Then click the Save button. 4. When the download operation has been completed, use Windows Explorer to display the contents of the download directory you specified. In this directory, locate the Auction Tracking Tool's file (fccatt33.exe), and double-click it to start the installation. The installation program puts an FCC Auction Tracking Tool entry on the Programs option of your Windows Start menu. It also places an icon labeled FCC Auction Tracking Tool v3.30 on your desktop. To start the Auction Tracking Tool, you can use either click the menu entry or double-click the icon. Phone Numbers For technical assistance with installing or using FCC software, contact the FCC Technical Support Hotline at (202) 414-1250 (V) or (202) 414-1255 (TTY). The FCC Technical Support Hotline is generally available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET, Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, and Sunday from 12 noon to 6 p.m. ET. All calls to the FCC Technical Support Hotline are recorded. The FCC Auctions Legal Section may be contacted at (202) 418-0660. For general auction information, contact the FCC National Call Center at (888) CALL-FCC; that is, (888) 225-5322, Option #2. 2. Getting Started To work with the round results of an auction in the FCC Auction Tracking Tool, you must first download the zipped files containing the round results data to a folder on your computer's hard drive. Once you have downloaded those files, you can import them to create a master database for use by the Auction Tracking Tool. Downloading Round Results Files To download auction round results files, point your browser to the FCC Auctions web page, at http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/auctions/. This page provides links that let you navigate to the round results you want, and download that data to a directory of your choice. Important: You must download round results files from all rounds you want to use with the Auction Tracking Tool. That is, to use the data from rounds 1 through 4, you must download the round results files from all four rounds, starting with Round 1. Since rounds of data build on preceding rounds, it is important to download data for the rounds in order. Creating and Opening Auction Databases When you start the Auction Tracking Tool, you must specify the auction data that you want to work with. The Auction Tracking Tool does not operate on the round results data that you downloaded; instead, it operates on a master database into which the round results data for an auction have been imported. Thus, when you start the Auction Tracking Tool, you must either open (activate) an existing database or create a new database. Appropriately, when you start the Auction Tracking Tool, it displays a dialog titled Open an Existing Auction or Create a New One? The available options are: ? Open an Existing Auction, the default option (described on page 4), lets you open a previously-created master database for an auction. ? Create a New Auction (described on page 5) lets you import the round results from Round 1 of an auction so that you can create a master database for that auction. The round results file for Round 1 must have been already downloaded into a directory on your computer. ? Batch Import a New Auction (described on page 5) lets you create a master database for an auction and simultaneously import the results from all available rounds files of an auction. These round results files must have been already downloaded into a directory on your computer. Open An Existing Auction If you select the Open an Existing Auction option on the Open an Existing Auction or Create a New One? dialog and click the Continue button, an Open window appears with C:\Program Files\FCC Auction Tracking Tool as the default folder. This folder will contain the available master databases. Each database file has a name of the general form Auctionaa.mdb, where aa signifies the auction number. Click the database file you want to open and then click the Open button. This causes the Auction Tracking Tool to display a worksheet and load all the round data in the database into it. When the loading operation has been completed, the worksheet displays the All Bids table for whichever round you last worked with (Round 1, initially). Importing Additional Rounds Into the Database: If you have downloaded round results from one or more additional rounds, you can easily import them into the master database that you have opened: ? You can click the Import Next Round button (down-arrow) on the tool bar or the Auto Import option on the Tools menu to import data for the next round, provided you have downloaded that data into the same directory as data from the previous round. (The system defaults to the last directory from which a file was imported.) Important: The imported round results files are in Zipped format. To use them, be sure your computer's unzip program (e.g., WinZip) is not configured to unzip downloaded files automatically. (Some previous versions did not include this feature.) ? You can also choose the Import option on the File menu to import -- or re-import -- data for a specified round. Activating Import produces an Open window that lists the available round (.zip) files. To import a file, click the file to highlight it, then click the Open button. You will then be prompted to delete the file you just imported. Click Yes to delete the file or No to keep it. You might want to keep the file if you intend to do a batch import later. Create a New Auction If you select the Create a New Auction option on the Open an Existing Auction or Create a New One? dialog and click the Continue button, an Open window appears with C:\My Documents as the default folder. Do the following: 1. If you downloaded the auction round results files into some other folder, change the Look in field to point to that folder. 2. Click the file for Round 1. (It will have a name of the general form aa_001.zip, where aa signifies the auction number.) 3. Click the Open button. 4. Clicking Open produces a dialog asking if you want to delete the round results file you just imported. In general, you should probably click No, so that you have a backup in case you need to do this operation again. 5. The Auction Tracking Tool displays a blank worksheet. To load the All Bids table for Round 1 into the worksheet, click the New button or choose the New option from the File menu. Batch Import a New Auction If you select the Batch Import a New Auction option on the Open an Existing Auction or Create a New One? dialog and click the Continue button, an Open window appears with C:\My Documents as the default folder. Do the following: 1. If you downloaded the auction round results files into some other folder, change the Look in field to point to that folder. Note that you must have all downloaded files in the same directory. You must also have Round 1 data to start. 2. Click the file for Round 1. (It will have a name of the general form aa_001.zip, where aa signifies the auction number.) 3. Click the Open button. 4. When the import operation has been completed, a Finished Batch Import dialog appears. Click OK on the dialog. 5. The Auction Tracking Tool displays a blank worksheet. To load the imported auction data into the worksheet, click the New button or choose the New option from the File menu. Viewing the Data Opening a master database using any of these options produces the Auction Tracking Tool's main screen, which displays a worksheet that contains data for the auction you specified. The worksheet is in a sub-window, and that sub-window is displayed in maximized form initially. The main window has a menu bar and a tool bar that you can use to perform operations on the worksheet. Initially, the worksheet displays a table titled All Bids. However, you can choose from a variety of other tables, as described under Predefined Data Tables on page 7. 3. Predefined Data Tables Within the Auction Tracking Tool, some tables display data for a specific round, while others display statistics for the entire auction. These tables are defined in the following sections. Besides viewing the predefined tables, you can also use the Auction Tracking Tool to build customized tables, as described in Building Your Own Tables on page 31. Round Data Tables The following tables display data for a specific round. To obtain one of these tables, click its name in the Table pull-down menu at the top of the screen, then click the number of the round you want in the Round pull-down menu. ? All Bids (described on page 7) describes all bids on all licenses for the round. ? Bidders (page 8) describes the bidding activity of each bidder. ? Bidders Raising Own High Bid (page 10) describes each bidder who raised their own standing high bid. ? Bidders Who Reduced (page 11) describes each bidder who reduced eligibility in this round. ? Markets (page 12) describes the high bid activity for each license. All Bids This table describes all bids on all licenses for the round. Item Description Comments Auction ID Auction number. Round Round number. License Name A unique license name comprising the market name (the relevant major or minor grouping) and the frequency block, separated by a hyphen, as in BEA001-A. The name may incorporate service-specific license codes, such as LSBEA001-A. Market Minor grouping name, such as BEA001. In combination with the frequency block, this identifies the license bid upon. Block Frequency block. In combination with the relevant grouping, this identifies the license bid upon. Submarket Indicates the portion of a partitioned or disaggregated market that is being auctioned. Bidder Full company name of the bidder. Increments of Bid Number of bid increments (or Bid Mults) used for this bid. Gross Bid Amount Gross amount of the bid, before any bidding credits are applied. Net Bid Amount Net amount of the bid, after any bidding credits are applied. Date Date when the bid was submitted. Time Time when the bid was submitted. Bidders This table describes the bidding activity of each bidder. Item Description Comments Auction ID Auction number. Round Round number Bidder Full company name of the bidder. FCC Acct Bidder's FCC-assigned account number. Bidding Credit Bidding credit percentage, or discount, for the bidder, based on their Form 175 filing. Initial Eligibility Bidder's initial maximum eligibility, in bidding units. This defines the initial amount of bidding units on which a bidder may bid, and is based on the bidder's upfront payment amount. It is the same as the initial maximum eligibility in the Bid Submission module. Current Eligibility Bidder's current maximum eligibility, in bidding units. This defines the current amount of bidding units on which a bidder may bid, including standing high bids, in any round. It is the same as the maximum eligibility in the Bid Submission module. Change in Eligibility Number of bidding units by which the bidder's eligibility has changed from either their original eligibility amount (as in the case of Round 1) or their current eligibility amount from a previous round as a result of a reduction. Waiver Type Type of waiver used, if any: P (proactive), A (automatic), or B (reduced eligibility and used a waiver within a round). New Bids Count of all bids placed this round by this particular bidder. Gross Bids Sum of the gross amount of all bids placed this round by this particular bidder. Net Bids Sum of the net amount of all bids placed this round. Total High Bids Count of all high bids currently held. Note that this may include standing high bids from earlier rounds. Gross High Bids Sum of the gross amount of all high bids held at this point in the auction. Note that this may include standing high bids from earlier rounds. Net High Bids Sum of the net bid amount of all high bids held at this point in the auction. Note that this may include standing high bids from earlier rounds. Current Activity Bidding units associated with standing high bids. Additional Activity Required Amount of activity, in bidding units, required for a bidder to maintain its current eligibility, assuming no change to their activity from standing high bids. This is the difference between a bidder's current activity and required activity amount. Unused Elig Amount of eligibility a bidder had left at the end of the round. This is the difference between a bidder's activity at the end of the round and their current maximum eligibility amount. Waivers Remaining Number of usable waivers remaining. Withdrawals Remaining Number of withdrawals remaining. Bidders Raising Own High Bid This table describes each bidder who raised their own standing high bid. Item Description Comments Auction ID Auction number. Round Round number. License Name A unique license name comprising the market name (the relevant major or minor grouping) and the frequency block, separated by a hyphen, as in BEA001-A. The name usually incorporates service-specific license codes, such as LSBEA001-A. Major Grouping A larger grouping of licenses, such as an Economic Area Group (e.g., EA001). Minor groupings are contained within major groupings, forming a hierarchical relationship. Minor Grouping The smallest geographic license size (e.g., BEA001). Block Frequency block. In combination with the relevant grouping, this identifies the license being auctioned. Sub-Market Indicates the portion of a partitioned or disaggregated market that is being auctioned. Bidder Full company name of the bidder. Increments of Bid Number of bid increments (or Bid Mults) used for this bid. Gross Bid Amount Gross amount of the bid, before any bidding credits are applied. Net Bid Amount Net amount of the bid, after any bidding credits are applied. Date Date when the original high bid was raised and submitted. Time Time when the original high bid was raised and submitted. Bidders Who Reduced This table describes each bidder who reduced eligibility in this round. Item Description Comments Auction ID Auction number. Round Round number. Bidder Who Reduced Full company name of the bidder. Reduction Amt Number of bidding units by which a bidder reduced its eligibility. Current Eligibility Bidder's current eligibility, in bidding units. This is the same as the Maximum Eligibility field on the Bid Submission screen. Markets This table describes the high bid activity for each license. Item Description Comments Auction ID Auction number. Round Round number. License Name A unique license name comprising the market name (the relevant major or minor grouping) and the frequency block, separated by a hyphen, as in BEA001-A. The name may incorporate service-specific license codes, such as LSBEA001-A. Major Grouping A larger grouping of licenses, such as an Economic Area Group. Minor groupings are contained within major groupings, forming a hierarchical relationship. Minor Grouping The smallest geographic license size. Block Frequency block. In combination with the relevant grouping, this identifies the license being auctioned. Sub-Market Indicates the portion of a partitioned or disaggregated market that is being auctioned. License Size (MHz) Size of the license, in MHz. Market Name Description of the market. BUs The bidding units required to place a bid on this license. Population Population for this market area, as defined in the Public Notice. Number of Bids Number of bids placed on this license in this round. High Bidder Full company name of the current high bid holder. When a bid on a license is withdrawn, FCC is used as a place holder. Round of High Bid Round in which the current high bid was placed (not necessarily the current round). When a bid on a license is withdrawn, Round of High Bid will retain the round number of the high bid that was withdrawn. Increments of Bid Number of bid increments (or Bid Mults) used for this high bid. Gross Gross amount of the high bid, before any bidding credits are applied. Bidding Credit Bidding credit percentage, or discount, of the bidder placing the high bid, based on the Form 175 filing selection and eligibility. Net Net amount of the current high bid, after any bidding credits are applied. Date Date when the current high bid was submitted. Time Time when the current high bid was submitted. Min Acceptable Bid The current minimum accepted bid for the next round, in dollars. Bid Increment Dollar value of bid increment for the next round. This is the same bid increment value that is displayed on the Bid Submission screen for that license. Selected The number of bidders selecting this market on the FCC Form 175 application, including bidders who selected all markets. All Selected The number of bidders selecting all markets on the FCC Form 175 application. Previous High Bidder: The following items describe the previous holder of the high bid. When the high bid owner changes, they are set to the entries describing the previous high bidder . Prev High Bidder Full company name of the previous high bid holder. When a bid on a license is withdrawn, the bidder who withdrew will be assigned as Previous High Bidder. Round of Prev High Bid Round in which the previous high bid was placed. When a bid on a license is withdrawn, Round of Prev High Bid will retain the round number of the high bid that was withdrawn. Prev Gross Gross amount of the previous high bid, before any bidding credits are applied. Prev Bidding Credit Bidding credit percentage, or discount, of the bidder placing the previous high bid, based on the Form 175 filing selection. Prev Net Net amount of the previous high bid, after any bidding credits are applied. Auction Statistics Tables The following tables display statistics for every round in an auction. To obtain one of these tables, click its name in the Table pull-down menu at the top of the screen. Note that there is no Round selection for these tables; they apply to all rounds of an auction. ? Increment Statistics (described on page 15) describes the number of bid mults applied for all bids in a given round. ? Round Statistics (page 15) provides aggregate statistics describing bidding activity during each round. ? Waiver Statistics (page 17) describes bidders who used waivers during each round. ? Withdrawal Statistics (page 17) contains information about each withdrawal of a high bid throughout the auction. Increment Statistics This table describes the number of bid mults applied for all bids in the round. Item Description Comments Auction Id Auction number. Round Round number. 1 ... 9 Each column contains the count of this round's bids placed using this number of bid mults. Round Statistics This table provides aggregate statistics describing bidding activity during each round. Item Description Comments Auction ID Auction number. Round Round number. Round Date Date when the round occurred. Stage Stage number of the current round. New Bids Number of new bids in the given round. Total High Bids Number of new high bids in the given round. Pctg of BUs for All Bids Percentage of all available bidding units (the sum of bidding units for all licenses) used for new bids in the given round. Pctg of BUs for High Bids Percentage of all available bidding units (the sum of bidding units for all licenses) used for new high bids in the given round. Gross Bids Total of gross bids for the given round. Net Bids Total of net bids for the given round. Dollar Change in Net Bids Change in net dollars from the previous round. Pctg Change in Net Bids Percentage change in net dollars from previous round. Eligible Bidders Current number of eligible bidders. Bidders at Risk Number of bidders at risk of having their eligibility reduced or using an activity waiver, because their current activity is less than the amount of activity required to maintain eligibility. Number Reduced Number of bidders who reduced their eligibility. BUs Reduced Total number of bidding units reduced by those bidders who reduced in the given round. Eligibility Ratio Ratio of total bidding units held by all bidders to the total. bidding units for all licenses in the auction. Pctg of Covered BUs Percentage of total bidding units that currently have a high bidder other than the FCC. Waivers Number of waivers (automatic, proactive, or both waivers) used in the given round. Withdrawals Number of withdrawals in the given round. FCC Held Licenses Number of licenses owned by the FCC. A license is held by the FCC until a bidder places a bid on it. It can later revert to the FCC if a bid is withdrawn. The FCC acts as a place holder until a new bid has been placed. Pctg of Covered Pops Percentage of the population associated with licenses covered by high bids other than FCC-held licenses. Pctg of the Covered Pops with Bidding Credit Percentage of the population associated with licenses covered by high bids that is held by bidders with a bidding credit. Round Summary: Note that you can also obtain information about the current round, or any other round you choose, by selecting the Summary option from the View menu. For details about this function, see Obtaining a Round Summary on page 29. Waiver Statistics This table describes bidders who used waivers during each round. Item Description Comments Auction ID Auction number. Round Round number. Bidder Full company name of the bidder. Waiver Type Type of waiver used by the bidder: P (proactive), A (automatic), or B (reduced eligibility and used a waiver within a round). Remaining Waivers Number of usable waivers remaining for the bidder. Withdrawal Statistics This table contains information about each withdrawal of a high bid. Most of the information is not updated after the original entry, but the current high bidder information is updated each round when a new high bidder is determined. Item Description Comments Auction Id Auction number. Withdrawal Number An arbitrary number assigned to each withdrawal. Note that because these numbers are numbered in arbitrary fashion, the withdrawals may not be numbered sequentially. Bidder Full company name of the withdrawing bidder. License Name A unique license name comprising the market name (the relevant major or minor grouping) and the frequency block, separated by a hyphen, as in BEA001-A. The name may incorporate service-specific license codes, such as LSBEA001-A. Market Major or minor grouping name, such as BEA001. In combination with the frequency block, this identifies the license being withdrawn. Block Frequency block. In combination with the relevant grouping, this identifies the license being withdrawn. Submarket Indicates the portion of a partitioned or disaggregated market that is being auctioned. BUs The bidding units required to place a bid on this license. Population Population for this market area, as defined in the Public Notice. Round Round number of the withdrawal. Gross Gross amount of the bid being withdrawn, before any bidding credits are applied. Net Net amount of the bid being withdrawn, after any bidding credits are applied. Date Date when the withdrawal was submitted. Time Time when the withdrawal was submitted. Min Bid Minimum accepted bid, in dollars, immediately following the withdrawal. This value is not updated following the withdrawal round. New High Bidder Current high bidder on this license, if any. If a new bid has not been placed since the withdrawal, FCC appears here. This value is updated following the withdrawal round in all subsequent rounds. New High Bid Round Round number of the new high bid, if any. This value is updated following the withdrawal round in all subsequent rounds. If the license is held by the FCC, the value is 0 (zero). Gross High Bid Gross amount of the new high bid, before any bidding credits are applied. This value is updated following the withdrawal round in all subsequent rounds. If the license is held by the FCC, the value is 0 (zero). Net High Bid Net amount of the new high bid, after any bidding credits are applied. This value is updated following the withdrawal round in all subsequent rounds. If the license is held by the FCC, the value is 0 (zero). Operating on Column Data The Auction Tracking Tool can also calculate the sum or average of items in a numeric column, and count the number of items in a column. For details, refer to Summing, Averaging, and Counting Column Data on page 24. Viewing Multiple Tables Simultaneously As you know, you can switch from one table to another by using the Table drop-down menu. Similarly, you can view data from a different round by selecting the round from the Round drop- down menu. However, sometimes you may want to have two or more different tables available for viewing. Similarly, you might want to view data from two or more rounds. To obtain an additional table for viewing, click the New button on the tool bar or choose the New option from the File menu. Now, in addition to the active table, the Auction Tracking Tool displays the All Bids table for the active round. If you want some table other than All Bids, you can choose it from the Table drop-down menu. Similarly, you can choose a different round from the Round drop-down menu. 4. Working With Tables You can perform a variety of operations on Auction Tracking Tool tables. This section tells you how to perform the following operations on either the predefined tables or tables you have created: ? Print tables ? Sum or average the items in a data column, or count the number of items in a column ? Filter table data ? Sort table data ? Export table data to a text file ? Create Excel pivot tables Most of these operations can be performed by either clicking a button on the tool bar or selecting an option from the menu bar at the top of the window. Thus, an overview of tool bar and menu bar functions may be useful. Tool Bar and Menu Bar Operations The tool bar at the top of the Auction Tracking Tool window provides a variety of functional buttons. Import Table Drop Next Round Print Filter Wizard Table | | | | | | | | | | New Print Sort Reset SQL Preview Table Query Builder The operations these buttons provide are also available from options in the pull-down menus on the menu bar at the top of the window. The buttons and menu options allow you to perform the operations summarized in the following table. Function Description Tool Bar Button Menu Bar Option Refer to. Populate new worksheet Populate a blank worksheet with data when creating a new auction. New New on the File menu Create a New Auction on page 5 or Batch Import a New Auction on page 5 Import round data Import data for a round into the tables. Import Next Round Import or Auto Import on the File menu Open An Existing Auction on page 4 Print preview Obtain a print preview for the active table and, optionally, print the table. Print Preview Print Preview on the File menu Print Preview on page 23 Print Print the active table. Print Print on the File menu Print on page 23 Print setup Change the print orientation and specify page margins. (None) Print Setup on the File menu Print Setup on page 24 Round summary Display a summary of information about a round. (None) Summary on the View menu Obtaining a Round Summary on page 29 Sort table data Sort the table data to specify the order in which it should be displayed. Sort Sort Table on the Tools menu Sorting Table Data on page 25 Filter table data Filter the table data to specify criteria that selects the rows to be displayed. Filter Filter Table on the Tools menu Filtering Table Data on page 25 Reset table Discard your filter and sort criteria, to return the table to its original form. Reset Table Reset Table on the Tools menu Resetting a Table on page 25 Create table from existing table Create a table based on the contents of an existing table. Table Wizard Table Wizard on the Tools menu Using the Table Wizard on page 31 Create table from database Use an SQL query to create a table based on any of the data items in the database. SQL Query Builder SQL Query Builder on the Tools menu Using the SQL Query Builder on page 32 Delete user table Delete a table that was created using the Table Wizard or SQL Query Builder. Drop Table Drop Table on the Tools menu Deleting User- Defined Tables on page 33 Create Excel table Create an Excel table containing the activity for a specified range of auction rounds. (None) Pivot Table Wizard on the Tools menu Creating Excel Pivot Tables on page 27 Export table to text file Export the contents of the active table to a tab- delimited text file. (None) Export on the File menu Exporting Table Data To a Text File on page 27 Printing Tables The Auction Tracking Tool lets you print the active table directly or obtain a print preview and then print from the preview window. The table prints in Landscape mode automatically, but you can switch to Portrait mode or specify page margins, if desired, by changing the Print Setup parameters. Print To print the active table directly, either click the Print button on the tool bar or choose the Print option from the File menu. Page Breaks. If a table is wider or longer than a single page, a vertical or horizontal dashed line indicates the page break. You can set your own page break by right-clicking the row or column where you want to break the page and then clicking the menu item for the action you want. Print Preview To obtain a print preview of the active table, either click the Print Preview button on the tool bar or choose the Print Preview option from the File menu. A Print Preview window appears, showing the first page of the table. You have several options: ? To enlarge the table, click anywhere in it; to return the table to its original size, click on the enlarged version. ? You can click the arrow buttons to move forward or backward through a multi-page table. ? You can click the Print button to print the table. Note that clicking Print causes the entire table to be printed, not just the page you are viewing. There is no option at this point to specify a print range. Print Setup By default, tables are printed in Landscape mode with no margins. However, you can switch to Portrait mode or specify page margins by choosing Print Setup from the File menu. Make your changes on the Print Options window that appears, then click the OK button. Summing, Averaging, and Counting Column Data The Auction Tracking Tool can calculate the sum or average of items in a numeric column. It can also count the number of items in a column. (This works on column data only, not on raw data.) To do any of these operations: 1. Select the column items you want to operate on. ? To select an entire column, click its label. ? To select consecutive items, put your mouse pointer on the first (uppermost) item, press the left mouse button, and drag the mouse pointer to the last item you want. ? To select non-consecutive items, press the Ctrl key and hold it down while you click the items you want. Note that all the items you select must be in the same column. 2. Move your mouse pointer to the field at the bottom right-hand corner of the worksheet (i.e., the field to the right of the current date) and click the right mouse button. 3. On the pop-up menu, click Sum, Average, or Count. The result of the operation appears in that same field. Filtering Table Data You can click the Filter button (funnel icon) on the tool bar or choose the Filter Table option on the Tools menu to specify criteria that selects the rows to be displayed. Activating the Filter function makes a Table Actions window appear, with its Filter tab active. The Filter feature lets you create a logical statement that includes up to four separate criteria, using the following terms: ? Column provides a pull-down menu from which you select the table data item. ? Operator provides a pull-down menu from which you select the logical operator. The = (equal to) operator is the default. ? Filter provides a pull-down menu from which you select the value to which the filter applies. ? And/Or lets you apply additional criteria. When you finish entering filter criteria, you can either click the OK button (to perform the filter operation and close the window) or click the Sort tab (to specify sort criteria to be applied to the table data). You can even perform another filter operation to obtain a smaller subset of the data you filtered previously. Note: Once you have applied a filter to a table, the Auction Tracking Tool applies the same filter criteria to the next round you select from the Round pull-down menu. The system will continue to apply your filter criteria until you select another table or reset the table. Resetting a Table To discard your filter criteria and return the table to its original form, either click the Reset Table button on the tool bar or choose the Reset Table option from the Tools menu. Activating the Reset Table function also deletes any sort criteria you have specified for this table. Sorting Table Data You can click the Sort button (marked with AZ and a down-arrow) on the tool bar or choose the Sort Table option on the Tools menu to specify the order in which the table data should be displayed. Activating the Sort function makes a Table Actions window appear, with its Sort tab active. Note the following: ? The Source Data column lists the data items used to display entries for the active table. ? Columns lists the items that you have selected to sort the entries. The items are shown in order of precedence, with the primary sort key at the top. Each sort item also has an Ascending box. When this box is checked, the associated column is sorted in ascending order. When you finish working with the sort data, you can either click the OK button (to perform the sort operation and close the window) or click the Filter tab (to specify filter criteria to be applied to the table data). Note: Once you have sorted a table, the Auction Tracking Tool applies the same sorting criteria to the next round you select from the Round pull-down menu. The system will continue to apply your sorting criteria until you select another table or reset the table. Specifying Sort Items To specify a particular item for sorting, you can either double-click its name in the Source Data column or "drag and drop" the item from the Source Data list to the columns list. Important: In either case, you must specify the sort items in the order they are to be applied. That is, specify the primary sort key, then the secondary sort key, and so on. To drag and drop an item: 1. Click the item in the Source Data column to select it. 2. Put your mouse pointer on the highlighted label, then press the left mouse button and hold it down. 3. With the left mouse button held down, move your mouse pointer to the Columns list entry that should follow (i.e., come after) your new item, then release the mouse button. The new item is added to the end of the Columns list; its Ascending box is checked automatically. 4. To sort a Columns item in descending order, click it to remove the check mark from the Ascending box. To set it back to ascending order, click it again. You can also remove an item from the Columns list just as you added it: by either double- clicking it or dragging and dropping it back onto the Source Data list. Resetting a Table To discard your sort criteria and return the table to its original form, either click the Reset Table button on the tool bar or choose the Reset Table option from the Tools menu. Activating the Reset Table function also deletes any filter criteria you have specified for this table. Exporting Table Data To a Text File You can use the Export option on the File menu to save the contents of the active table to a tab- delimited text file. (Note that this function is not available from the tool bar buttons.) Choosing Export produces a Save As window that lists the path of the current file in the File name field. It also shows the directory where this file is stored in the Save in field. To export the table file, modify these fields, if desired, then click the Save button. Creating Excel Pivot Tables The Pivot Table Wizard is an analysis tool that integrates with current versions of Excel to let you create a pivot table containing the activity for a specified range of auction rounds. To use the Pivot Table Wizard, Excel 97 must be installed on your computer. Note: This option is for advanced Excel users. FCC Technical Support will assist with the Auction Tracking Tool, but will not answer questions about Excel pivot tables. To start the Pivot Table Wizard, choose the Pivot Table Wizard option on the Tools menu and then click one of the three options on the submenu. These options do the following: ? Markets creates a pivot table containing information on the markets you select for the specified rounds. ? Rounds creates a pivot table containing information on all bids placed during the specified rounds. ? Bidders creates a pivot table containing information on the bidders you select for the specified rounds. When the Select Rounds and Bid Type window appears, you must specify the range of rounds to be analyzed. Do the following: 1. In the From field, type the number of the first round you want to analyze. 2. If you want to analyze subsequent rounds, type the number of the last round in the To field. 3. Under Type of Bids to Display, click either Gross Bids or Net Bids, as desired. 4. Click the OK button. What happens next depends on which submenu option you chose. If you chose Rounds, Excel creates your pivot table. Otherwise, if you chose Markets or Bidders, you must specify which markets or bidders should be included in the pivot table. In this case, a Select Analysis Criteria window appears, and shows a list that contains one of two things. If you chose Markets, the list shows the markets on which bids were placed during the specified rounds. If you chose Bidders, the list shows the names of bidders who placed bids during the specified rounds. 5. On the list, select the markets or bidders you want to analyze, as follows: ? To select an individual entry, click it. ? To select a group of contiguous entries, click the starting (top) entry, then hold the Shift key down while you click the ending (bottom) entry. All entries between the starting and ending entries are highlighted. Alternatively, you can place the mouse pointer over the starting entry, press and hold the left mouse button down, and drag the pointer to select all the entries you want. ? To select entries that are not contiguous, press the Ctrl key and hold it down while you click each entry. 6. Click the OK button to create your pivot table. 5. Obtaining a Round Summary You can select the Summary option from the View menu to obtain information for the currently- selected round. This produces a window that has the auction number and round number shown at the top. It provides the following information: Item Description Comments Round Date Date when this round closed. Stage Stage number of the current round. Stage Transition % The ratio of activity to eligibility. The FCC uses this value as one factor to determine when to make a stage transition. Net Bids Total of net bids for this round. Gross Bids Total of gross bids for this round. Change in Net Prev Round Change in net dollars from the previous round. Change in Net Prev Day Change in net dollars from the last round of the previous day. Total Bids Number of new bids in this round. High Bids Number of new high bids in this round. FCC Held Licenses Number of licenses owned by the FCC. A license is held by the FCC until a bidder places a bid on it. It can later revert to the FCC if a bid is withdrawn. The FCC acts as a place holder until a new bid is placed. Withdrawals Number of withdrawals in this round. Eligibility Ratio Ratio of the sum of maximum eligibility available for all bidders to the number that would be required to place a bid on all licenses in the auction. Pctg of Covered BUs Percentage of total bidding units that currently have a high bidder other than the FCC. Bidders at Risk Number of bidders at risk of having their eligibility reduced or using an activity waiver, because their current activity is less than the amount of activity required to maintain eligibility. Eligible Bidders Current number of eligible bidders. Additional Activity Required A measure of the actual activity in excess of the activity required in the round. Waivers Number of waivers (automatic, proactive, or both waivers) used in this round. Bidders Reduced Number of bidders who reduced their eligibility. Multi-Increment Bids Number of bids placed in the round with a Bid Mult greater than 1 (one). Bidders Raising Own High Bid Number of bidders who raised their own standing high bid for the round. Initially, the Round Summary screen shows data for the currently-selected round, but you can select data from any other round by choosing it from the Round menu at the bottom of the screen. You can also print the round summary by clicking the Print button, or close the Round Summary screen by clicking the Close button. 6. Building Your Own Tables The Auction Tracking Tool also lets you create tables of your own design. To create a table based on the contents of a single existing table, you can use the Table Wizard. To create a table based on any of the data items in the database (i.e. data from multiple tables and columns), you can use the SQL Query Builder. Using the Table Wizard Each table you create using Table Wizard must be a subset of an existing table. Thus, begin by activating the table you want to use as your model. Once you have done that, click the Table Wizard button on the tool bar or choose the Table Wizard option on the Tools menu to specify the contents of a table you want to create. Activating the Table Wizard function makes a Table Actions window appear, with its Table Wizard tab active. The top of the work area has an Include All Rounds check box that you use to indicate whether the table should show data for only the current round or for all rounds (the default setting). Checking Include All Rounds also has another effect: if you build a table with this box checked, the table will be updated automatically with all new rounds that you import thereafter. Important: If you do not include the Round field in your new table, imports will produce unexpected results. There is also a Target Table Name field in which you must type the name of your new table. The main part of the work area consists of two columns: ? The Source Table column lists the available data items. That is, it lists the names of all data items used in the existing Auction Tracking Tool tables. ? The Target Table column lists the data items in the table you are defining. To define a table, you must move the name of each data item you want from the Source Table to the Target Table. To move a data item to the Target Table, double-click its name in the Source Table. (If you accidentally move the wrong data item to the Target Table, double-click it to move it back to the Source Table.) Note: Whenever you move a data item into the Target Table, it appears at the end of the list. Thus, you must move data items in the left-to-right order you want them to appear in your new table. Once you have defined a table, you can use the Sort or Filter tab to operate on your custom table just as you operate on the predefined tables. For descriptions of these functions, see Sorting Table Data and Filtering Table Data. When you finish, click the OK button. Your table now appears as the last option in the main window's Table pull-down menu. To view it, choose that option from the menu. Using the SQL Query Builder Note: This option is for advanced users only. FCC Technical Support will provide help using the option, but they are not prepared to instruct users about the principles of SQL, building SQL queries, or troubleshooting Query errors. To use the SQL Query Builder, you can click the SQL Query Builder button on the tool bar or choose the SQL Query Builder option on the Tools menu. Activating the SQL Query Builder function makes an SQL Query Wizard window appear. This window provides the following data entry fields: Field Description Comments Query Name Type a name for this query. The system saves the query by the name you have specified as soon as you have finished typing it in this field. This is the only required field on the window. Select Contains the names of existing data fields that you want to include in your new table, separated by commas. You must enclose the name in brackets, as in [Auction ID], and separate each bracketed name with a comma. Into The name of your new table. From Contains the names of existing tables, separated by commas, that the system should query to construct the new table. You must enclose the name in brackets, as in [Round Statistics]. Where Contains your SQL query criteria. You must enclose the name in brackets, as in [Auction ID]. Order By Contains the names of data fields, separated by commas, by which you want the data sorted. The default sort is ascending. To get a descending sort, put DESC after the column name. You must enclose the name in brackets, as in [Auction ID]. Joining Multiple Tables: If you plan to join multiple tables, the table name is required as an identifier for the column. All columns will be listed as [table name] . [column name] in the select, where and ordered by sections. When you have completed the fields, click the Run button. Your table now appears as the last option in the main window's Table pull-down menu. To view it, choose that option from the menu. The arrow buttons at the bottom of the SQL Query Wizard window allow you to access existing SQL queries. The outer buttons move you to the first or last query, respectively. The inner buttons move you to the preceding or next query, respectively. Once you have displayed a query in the window, you can edit any of its fields. You can also delete the query entirely, by clicking the Delete button. Note: SQL query tables do not get updated when subsequent rounds are imported. Printing Tables You can print the active table and change the print parameters. See Printing Tables on page 23 for details. Deleting User-Defined Tables To delete a table you have created, activate it using the Table menu, then either click the Drop Table button on the tool bar or choose the Drop Table option from the Tools menu. When the prompt appears, click Yes. This will drop the table from the database. If you want tot view the table again, you will have to recreate it. Note that this option does not allow you to delete the predefined tables. 7. Appendix: Auction Tracking Tool Compatibility Table The following table lists the current versions of the Auction Tracking Tool and shows the FCC auctions with which they can be used. The table also provides a brief summary of the enhancements that were incorporated into each version. ATT Version(s) Used in Auction(s) Enhancements Comments 2.5 21 - LMS Major database structure changes and GUI enhancements. Version 2.5 can handle import of mdb files for Auctions 20 and 21. However, Auction 20 supports unique mdb files. Version 3.0 and later of the tool will be unable to import results files from auctions 20 and 21, because these versions expect a zip format. 3.0 22 and 23 Added submarket, Summary page, and zip capability All versions from Version 3.0 forward are backwards compatible, with the exception of the pivot table feature. Version 3.0 of the tool is capable of viewing the auction database that was created with auction 21 results as long as the mdb files are zipped before being imported. However, the pivot tables will not work due to the absence of the submarket field. 3.1 24 ? Established default sort for each table ? Changed a field in the sysWizard table to allow users to save longer queries in the Table Wizard ? Added Market Name field to pivot tables Changes were made to enhance the use of the tool. Backward compatible to Auction 22. 3.2.2 26 and 30 ? Enable final round to import with no data at auction close ? Altered to properly handle a situation when a bidder has no waivers Changes were made to enhance the use of the tool. Backward compatible to Auction 22. 3.3 34 ? Supply backup.txt files for posting if the round results processing fails to produce the ATT zip files ? Perform automatic data compression to prevent downgraded performance when dealing with large amounts of data ? Enable automated import of data into user-defined tables Changes were made to enhance the use of the tool. Backward compatible to Auction 22. ii 7