PsiTrain
~~~~~~~~
Overview
~~~~~~~~
PsiTrain a timetabling system, primarily intended
for British Rail services, though not limted to
this.  Indeed, it is possible to create your own
timetables - and I encourage you to share them by
placing a copy on my web page.

The shareware version only permits single leg
journies, but still proves to be very useful. The
unregistered version is restricted to 10 stations
and 50 trains in each database.

See the format.txt file for information on how
to create your own timetable files.


Installation
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following files should be copied to the
specified locations :

\app\psitrain.opa
\app\psitrain\icons.pic
\app\psitrain\psitrain.pic (optional background)
\app\psitrain\psitrain.rsc (optional help file)
\app\psitrain\psitrned.opa (optional editor)
\app\psitrain\psitrned.rsc (optional help file)

\ptt\*.ptt                 (data files)
\ptt\*.stn
\ptt\*.trn

Data and program files can be placed on any disk.

PsiTrain will create psitrain.dat and defaults.dat
files on the internal disk, in the
\app\psitrain directory.

For a full installation, with PsiWin just drag
the whole directory structure across to the
root directory of the psion, or you can use
PsiZip to extract all files from the zip file
in the root directory. Then use Psion-I to
install in the usual manner.


Getting Started
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Each database in the \ptt directory is shown under
the PsiTrain icon.  Start PsiTrain by selecting
one of them and pressing enter.

When PsiTrain is first loaded, you are presented
with the journey query screen. (Defaults can be
saved, later, for each database using Psion-D.)

Enter a departure and destination station and
press Enter.  PsiTrain responds with the next
train matching your query (if there is one in
the example database.)  You can now find earlier
or later services by pressing the left or right
arrows respectively.

Now press the diamond key, and a summary of all
services found (up to 5) will be shown. The left
and right arrows are still available in this
screen. Press Enter, and you will be shown a
summary of the entire service.  Press left/right to
look at other services. In this mode, the services
will not match the query ... you are just
browsing the databse. Now press Esc to
clear the display, 

Press Psion-J for another journey (or Psion-F,
for compatibility with other software), or
Psion-R to search for a return journey.

See the online help for a description of the
other commands available, and icons.


Journey Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Several fields are available to define a query
to find a specific service.

Date: Press tab to see a month, 3 month or year
view, progressively.

Via: This will cause PsiTrain to only return
journies which pass through the specified station,
which requires that station to be present in the
train definition record.
It is NOT currently used to build more complex
multi-leg journies, and is not appropriate for
UK Railways extracts.

Avoid: No journies are returned which pass through
this station.  Good to want to avoid bumping into
your boss, for instance !

Route: Can be used to restrict the search to
direct routes only. Mainly used in conjunction with
UK Railways extracts, which have a "change at"
comment in the train description field where
appropriate.


Engine Details
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If the current date and time are used in the
query, the next service matching the selected
stations is returned. If none is found or if the
current date and time is not used (ie not within
5 minutes) then the shortest service (in travelling
time) service within 15 minutes of the specified
time is displayed. If no service is found within
15 minutes of the selected time, the nearest
service is returned (and may therefore not be the
shortest).


Registration
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The full timetable engine is currently being built
in C for a commercial version of the product.  This
will take some time. Once available, all supporters
of the shareware product will be able to obtain the
commercial version at a discounted rate. (ie at
least œ10 off.)

The shareware fee is œ10, and will be used to fund
the initial investment in hardware for the
commercial version, as it is likely that the full
database will require 4 Mb ROMs.

To register please send a cheque or cash to the
address below.  (Foreign currencies are accepted
for the equivalent of an additional œ2).

Please ensure you provide the registration name
exactly as you would like it to be entered in the
registration screen.  In return I'll email or send
your personal registration code.

Thanks for supporting the product :

Mike Smith
118 Leake Road
Gotham
Nottingham
NG11 0JN

mike@boink.demon.co.uk
http://www.boink.demon.co.uk/


Legal Mumbo-Jumbo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please note that registration does not imply or
guarentee support, warranty etc.  Any supplied
databases (both with the product and on the
support website) are examples only, and should
not be relied on for real journies.

PsiTrain Copyright is held by Mike Smith.