MAPPER-Si/GB 1.1 (C) UK 1994,1995,1996 Steve Litchfield ======================================================= The Geographical Information System. Released as shareware for the Psion Siena, October 1996 ... If you unzipped this product from its constituent ZIP file(s) _without_ the "-d" option (to rebuild the original correct directory structure), then please delete this file and the other files you've just created and try again! If you use a Mac, please note that you should avoid any unzipping options that involve 'smart'-handling of linefeeds. Registration address (send cheque for 14 pounds to): Steve Litchfield 22 Grays Crescent Woodley Berks RG5 3EN or register electronically on Compuserve with GO SWREG no. 6565. Note that the registration codes (and all overlays etc) are identical to those for the bigger Psion 3a/3c program, Mapper-3a, so you don't need to register twice! Mapper-Si update information and new versions can be found at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/slitchfield Requires Psion Siena, with approximately 60k of free system memory to run in, plus the disk space needed for whichever files you decide to install. MAPPER-Si/GB 1.1 is shareware. This does not make it a free program! Yes, you can copy it freely to friends or acquaintances, or even upload the original ZIP file to bulletin boards etc, but if you like it and continue to use it, then you are honour-bound to register the program by sending me a cheque for œ14 (pounds). Registration gets you: a) a clear conscience that you're using paid-for software, and that you're helping support future development of MAPPER-Si/GB and other quality Psion shareware software. b) a special code that will personalise your copy of MAPPER-Si/GB, remove the opening and closing shareware screens and let you access the program more conveniently by shrinking or removing the status window to give more room on-screen. No need to re-install the software, just use the registration menu option and type in the code! ******************** IMPORTANT!! ******************************** This text file documents the history of the program, its installation, and some of the more technical aspects to running it. For general help in using and understanding MAPPER-Si/GB, please browse through the extensive on-line help. The on-line help is the only documentation of most of MAPPER-Si/GB's features, so work through it properly! 8-) *********************************************************************** ===== Generic Mapper-Si/Mapper-3a disclaimer ========================== | All rights reserved, and copyrights, including the database | files and their format, where appropriate (see listings | below). | | All data sets are original work of the various contributors, | collated using information from low resolution free maps, | genuine public domain information, data gathered from | personally-owned GPS units, club/hobbyist databases, and RAC | and AA member information packs. | | Please note that in much of the displayed graphics, | coastlines, boundaries, railways and road vectors are shown | diagrammatically, for ease of understanding. | | Please especially note Mapper-Si's low resolution. | *Everything* is at *least* +/- 1km both horizontally and | vertically! Using low resolution means that the program won't | conflict or overlap with existing PC-based GIS systems or | infringe OS map copyrights and (more importantly) means that | quite large areas and amounts of information can be crammed | into a palmtop, where a PC version would need megabytes!! | =================================================================== Components and Installation. ---------------------------- NOTE: Before installing Mapper-Si, do the following. Go into 'Set Preferences' on your system screen menu and set 'Update lists' to "System Button". If you don't do this, the Siena will try and update all its lists after *every* file is copied, which will take ages .... If you correctly unzipped Mapper-Si/GB with its orginal directory structure, then simply drag and drop this directory tree onto one of your Psion's disk root directories. Note: dragging and dropping whole directory trees so that they end up in the right place is not trivial and you may wish to read the manual and/or practice first!! TIP: - when you drag and drop, remember to hold the key down throughout the operation. This forces PsiWin to just copy the file(s) and not try to do any fancy conversions! Inside the ZIP file, you will have found:- MAPPER.TXT - this file! MAPPERSI.OPA - the main program module. Place this in an \APP\ directory on any Psion drive, and install onto your system screen with Psion-I. Size - 38k plus all support files, to be placed in a \APP\MAPPERSI\ subdirectory on the same disk. Note that only files marked (*) are NEEDED. All others can be installed only if you are sure you want them and have room on your Siena's disk! MAPSHELP.RSC - the on-line help file - 5k - (*) GB.MP1 - a data-set of approximately 1100 towns and cities, their post and STD codes - 34k - (*) COASTLIN.MP2 - a data-set showing the coastline of GB and a few close islands - 4k (updated by David Brown, July 1996) - (*) ROADS.MP2 - a data-set of the GB motorway and most of the primary route network - 23k (updated July 96) - (*) MAPPERSI.PIC - some icons for use inside the program - 1k - (*) SERVICES.MP3 - Motorway service stations - 3k (updated July 96) JUNCTION.MP3 - Motorway junctions - 8k COUNTIES.MP4 - a vector format data-set of the GB county and admin boundaries - 13k (contributed by Mark Avey, updated 1996) LITTLECH.MP3 - Little Chef restauarants - 5k (updated summer 1996) BBCRADIO.MP3 - BBC local radio stations - 2k FERRIES.MP4 - a vector overlay of the main ferry routes out of GB - 2k There are also .PIC icons for each of the above item (.MP3) overlays, just keep these with the overlays themselves. Note that there are an additional 50 or more other overlays for this program, as part of the data ZIPs for the 'bigger brother' Mapper-3a/GB, get these from the same place you obtained the Mapper-Si/GB program itself, look for a file of form MAPBnn.ZIP, where nn is the version number. .MP3 Overlays and their format etc. ----------------------------------- There are three ways to create your own .MP3 overlays, you can choose the method that works best for you: (i) Use the overlay creation menu options to create an overlay and then use the point and shoot method to identify where you want each item icon to appear, together with information for the reference field. This method can obviously be time-consuming if you have a lot of items to enter, but is friendly and easy to use! (ii) If you have a lot of items in your overlay and you know their OS northings and eastings (as numbers from 0 to 1000, so you may have to divide your figures by 10, 100 or 1000...), you can make the MP3 file yourself by preparing (for example) a CSV text file and then importing into DATA. The format is: Standard DATA file, named xxxxxxxx.MP3 in \APP\MAPPERSI\ 4 text fields: Name, Eastings, Northings, Reference Info The first record is a header record and should contain (What the reference fields represent) (What the name fields represent) (Blank) (Blank) The second record and following records contain (Name) (Eastings) (northings) (Reference info) If this is not clear to you, then please get in touch and I can arrange to help you construct your overlay. (iii) The third option is if you only have information in National Grid or Latitude and Longitude format or in paper map form and require extra help to construct an overlay. Please get in touch and I'll see what I can do! Please note that although these user-made .MP3 files are editable under DATA, you will run into a few problems if you update the records in the file on a *flash disk*, as the file *must be compressed* for Mapper-Si/GB to use it, and the Siena won't let you compress a file on a flash disk! Thus you'll have to copy the file onto your internal or RAM disk, make the changes, compress the file and then copy it back over into the \APP\MAPPERSI\ directory on your flash. Mapper-Si/GB will default to creating new .MP3 files on your internal disk, which is where you'll have less problems updating your overlay. You will probably want to create a custom icon as well. In this case, Mapper-Si/GB needs a 17 by 17 single-plane PIC file of the same filename as the .MP3 overlay, but with a .PIC extension. I normally create these icons by starting with a 48x48 blank icon using DRAW 2.8 (see appendix notes), drawing my icon in the top-left corner, and then using 'Draw/Dimensions' to create a 17x17 PIC. Save and exit. .MP4 overlays and their format ------------------------------- These vector overlays are non-trivial to create, and are best only tackled if you know what you're doing. For the record, here is a quick summary: The MP4 format is simply groups of 5 eastings/northings pairs per record. The 1st/last duplicate/line-up. All ferries/railways etc thus are fitted into block of 5 coordinate pairs. The vector *name* is printed if required to the top right of the third coordinate pair, normally, or to the bottom left if you flag this to Mapper-Si/GB by setting the eastings coordinate of the *first* point in a record to be negative. Usual Psion OPL database format. First field is $ format, the numbers are all % format. All numbers in 1000s of eastings (i.e. 1km resolution). e.g. Record 1: Basingstoke E1:110 N1:234 E2:114 N2:227 E3:118 N3:220 E4:125 N4:210 E5:132 N5:200 Record 2: Basingstoke E1:132 N1:200 etc etc Deleting info from the custom town database, \OPD\MAPPER.DBF ------------------------------------------------------------ The \OPD\MAPPER.DBF file is editable under DATA, so you can delete individual towns etc and modify them in this way. Please remember to compress the file before exiting DATA ! Keeping a standard/default settings file ---------------------------------------- Note that because Mapper-Si/GB can cope with read-only settings files, you can set everything up how *you* like it (i.e. your own private default for all settings) and then save it under a chosen name and make it read-only. You can then start Mapper-Si/GB with your preferred settings and it will be prevented from overwriting them when you exit the program. Grabbing the current map screen as a PIC file --------------------------------------------- You may well want to grab a map screen as a standard Psion .PIC file, for printing or editing using any Siena bit-map editor. Grabbing the Siena screen is done with pressing 'Control', 'Shift', 'Psion' and 'S' simultaneously (it's easier to do than it sounds) and lo and behold a file called SCREEN.PIC will have appeared in the root directory (\) of your internal disk ... _+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_ Thanks for trying Mapper-Si/GB! If you decide to remove Mapper-Si/GB from your Psion, please note that it creates several small files in \OPD\ on your default disk. MAPPER.DBF (custom place database), MAPPER.REG (your registration key, once I've given it to you) and assorted .SSF files (used to store your preferences and position etc from session to session). If you've created any custom overlays or their icons, there may also be a few files in an \APP\MAPPERSI\ directory on your internal disk. Small print: ------------ 1) Reverse engineering of the program or data modules is strictly forbidden. If you would like to create a complementary program and use my data-sets, then please get in touch with me. 2) You can contact me via email at slitchfield@cix.compulink.co.uk or on Compuserve as 100640,107, if you'd like. To speed up registrations, you can quote your email address for quick return of your registration code, or use the Compuserve SWREG scheme. 3) On-line support for Mapper-Si/GB, including test versions and extra utilities are provided in the 'mapper' conference on CIX and the 'Palmtop' forum on Compuserve. Updates and news can be found on the World-Wide-Web in http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/slitchfield 4) If you give MAPPER to a friend (as is encouraged with shareware!), Do *not* give your friend your MAPPER.REG registration file, as this is unique to you and contains *your* name, and subsequent piracy will tell the world who started the outbreak! 5) Thanks to all the testers and contributors out there, who have supplied ideas, support, bug-reports, data, code fragments etc. You are too numerous to mention! If *you* find a bug or spot an error etc in any of the overlays, then please get in touch! 6) Note that the Northings/Eastings and National Grid coordinate systems are used with the kind written permission of Ordnance Survey. 7) Concerning sorting of entries in GB.MP1, I've had so many requests for different sort methods to suit different people that I now just ship *my* standard set, which is to have the MAJOR towns last, so that their names overwrite the smaller towns in cluttered areas. That's how *I* like it, anyway. 8) Note on copyrights etc.: be careful to only make use of publicly available and public domain data sources when compiling any overlays or town/item plans, unless of course you sourced the information (from memory?) in the first place! If you submit an overlay to myself for inclusion in future versions of Mapper-Si/GB, please state your source(s) of information and their copyright status. 9) Disclaimer: I accept no responsibility for anything happening to you as a result of inaccurate information within Mapper-Si! I try to keep the overlays up-to-date as possible, but that is as far as my liability goes! 10) Do not use this application while on the move! If you crash your car while looking at your Psion, don't blame me!! Steve Litchfield ============================================================================