Business Shareware/Business Shareware.iso/start/edu/mapit12a/mapita.pak/README.DOC

Text File | 1993-06-11 | 16KB | 380 lines

(readme.doc)

     MAPIT - Detailed World Mapping on your Screen.


    MAPIT is an integrated world-wide mapping system of amazing detail
    which lets you insert your own text, figures, and graphics.

    Use MAPIT to:

      * produce detailed, customized maps on your laser printer or plotter
        or include them in your word processing documents,
      * enter, record, and track your own data,
      * plot great circle and range curves,
      * display, analyze, and solve location-related problems,
      * communicate in pictures and words,
      * create private databases to distribute data easily and efficiently,
      * do all of the above with 100 foot precision - ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

    A powerful reference tool, MAPIT contains a wealth of information and
    is just plain fun to use.

    Insert or import lines to customize features.  Create and add your own
    figures.  Document and communicate with stroked and hidden text.
    Enter MAPIT's seven user-extensible scalable stroked text fonts at
    any size and angle.  Hide a screen's-worth of information behind a
    small marker, popping it up at the click of a mouse.

    MAPIT displays a true Mercator projection, the choice of navigators.
    Layout great circle tracks between multiple points totaling their
    distances in statute miles, nautical miles, or kilometers.  Dynamically
    plot range curves up to half way around the world.

    Create colorful screen shots with the .PCX file creation command and
    ultra-detailed plots on laser printers or pen plotters supporting the
    HP-GL/2 graphics plotting language.  Include these maps in your word
    processing documents.

    The full MAPIT includes almost 6000 international cities and 19,000
    US cities with their 1990 populations.  Click on a city, and its size
    pops up.  The underlying vector-based geographic database consists of
    over 5 million points organized by coastlines, lakes, rivers, canals,
    reefs, saltflats, national boundaries, and US and Canadian state and
    provincial boundaries.  Believe me, you'll find places in this database
    you never imagined existed.

    If you are looking for more than just a pretty picture -- or perhaps
    need many different pretty pictures, let MAPIT be the end of your
    graphical quest.  MAPIT, your electronic notepad on the world.


Quick Start:

    MAPIT, as a compute and disk-intensive application, requires a fast
    IBM-compatible computer, 512KB RAM, an EGA or VGA display, and a MOUSE.

    Install a Mouse.

    MAPIT REQUIRES A MOUSE.  Unless you have a mouse physically
    attached to your computer AND have installed its driver, you
    will be unable to operate MAPIT and will have to reboot your
    computer if you try.

    Install the mouse driver by issuing the following command
    at the command prompt.

        > "path"\MOUSE

    where "path" is the path to the directory containing the mouse
    driver.

    Place this command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT so MOUSE is always
    available.


    Install MAPIT.

    The shareware version of MAPIT is distributed as a one or two
    disk set.  The entire set must be loaded onto your hard drive
    before beginning.

    Insert the first MAPIT diskette into floppy drive A: (or B:) and
    enter
        > A:INSTALL

    The install program will ask where you want the MAPIT data
    stored (C:\MAPIT ?) and complete the installation for you.


    Run MAPIT.

    Run MAPIT will the shareware data by entering

        > MAPIT  DEMO

    Each time MAPIT runs, it looks for the private database EXTENDED.MP3.
    If not found, it creates a zero length EXTENDED.MP3.

    To run MAPIT with the Columbus demo, copy MAPITDEM.MP3 over
    EXTENDED.MP3 before runing MAPIT.

        > COPY  MAPITDEM.MP3  EXTENDED.MP3
        > MAPIT  DEMO

    Follow the instructions in Hidden Text 1 (Press Left Mouse button in
    triangle 1) to follow the Columbus demo and learn to use MAPIT.
    When you are finished with the Columbus demo, delete EXTENDED.MP3.


    In general, MAPIT is started from the command line by entering

        > MAPIT  [data_file_name]


      where
        data_file_name  -  the name of any .mp3 format data file,
                           eg: demo.mp3

    MAPIT looks for three other files at startup time.

        std.fnt  -  The standard font file.  Without it, stroked
                    text doesn't work.

        std.fig  -  The standard figures file.  Normally this file
                    is user-created by EDITFIG and contains the
                    user's custom figures.  Without it, figures
                    won't be displayed.

        extended.mp3      -  The user's private database.  If none
                             exists, a zero length file is created.
                             Adding lines, figures, and text expands it.

    Using the Mouse

    There are two distinct ways to use the mouse.

    DRAGGING  -  Some selections (eg. Zoom by Corners) require
    depressing the left button to establish the starting corner or
    position and, WITH THE BUTTON STILL DEPRESSED, dragging the
    cursor to the second corner or position to be measured BEFORE
    RELEASING THE BUTTON.    If you press and release at the same
    point when a drag is required, nothing happens.

    POINT & CLICK    -  Other activities, notably those requiring
    one-at-a-time point selections, look for the depression and
    release of the left mouse button without any intervening
    movement.  Sometimes use of the RIGHT mouse button is required
    to signal the end of multiple point entry.


    Tuning Your System.

    MAPIT requires a properly tuned high performance computer.  The
    most significant performance boost you can give is by using disk
    cache such as SMARTDRV which comes with DOS and WINDOWS.

    The disk cache must be of adequate size, at least 500K, if it is
    to be of any use.  If when redrawing a portion of the world, you
    notice a lot of disk activity, your system will perform better
    with a larger disk cache.  With a disk cache, you can reduce the
    buffers= statement in your CONFIG.SYS to a low as 3, some say.

    MAPIT's .mp3 data files are LARGE, but they are efficiently
    designed and already compact.  Data compaction drivers such as
    STACKER will NOT gain you appreciable space and will SLOW your
    disk system (to about one half).  Do NOT place MAPIT's data files
    on compacted drives without first verify performance loss versus
    space savings for your hardware/software combination.

    MAPIT is designed to display graphics adequately without a math
    coprocessor.  Stroked text, however, which can be oriented at any
    angle, is compute intensive and will respond positively to the
    addition of a math chip.


MAPIT Explained:

    MAPIT is a professional-level mapping application which includes a
    detailed database of the world and programs to interact with and
    supplement that database.  You have the shareware version of MAPIT,
    a data-truncated version designed to give you the feel of MAPIT's full
    capabilities in an affordable format.

    Registered versions of MAPIT come in a range of mapping detail to
    fit a variety of users' mapping needs, hard disk limitations, and
    pocketbooks.  The full MAPIT requires upwards of 30 MB of disk
    storage and is shipped on many 1.44 MB 3.5" floppies.

    The different detail options of MAPIT's database can most easily
    be explained in terms of zoom factor.  The initial MAPIT display
    including the whole earth is defined as zoom factor 1 (shown in
    the lower left corner of the screen).  Zooming in to half that
    distance changes the zoom factor to 2.  Zooming in on the US so it
    fills the whole screen, for instance, requires a zoom factor of
    approximately 5.

    The world database included with shareware MAPIT holds resolution
    to a zoom factor of approximately 6.  Zoom much closer than that
    and you begin to notice the jaggies - a decided compromise in
    object detail.  The one area of the globe which has been supplied
    as an example of full detail is the island of Cuba, just south of
    the United States off the coast of Florida.  You should be able
    to zoom in to a factor of 750 or so before detail becomes an issue.
    At Cuba's latitude, this means the entire screen width covers a
    distance of 31 miles (as opposed to 24,857 miles at zoom factor 1).
    As noted above, to provide this level of detail everywhere in the
    world requires a significant amount of disk space.

    Not everyone needs or wants to devote resources to supporting the
    maximum available detail world-wide.  MAPIT's World Base Data level
    supports a global zoom level of 24 and requires more than 3 MB of disk
    space.  Those wanting maximum detail are free to order from the six
    Detail packages, divided roughly by continent.  See REGISTER.DOC
    for particulars.


Included Programs:

    MAPIT

    The central display program for working with the voluminous
    MAPIT database.  Detailed instructions are beyond the scope of
    this file.  Turing the system with the Columbus Demo is the best
    way to learn its capabilities.  (See Run MAPIT above.)

    Anytime you enter data into MAPIT, the data is stored in the
    private file EXTENDED.MP3.  Copy or rename EXTENDED.MP3 to an
    unused filename to save the data permanently.

        > COPY  (or REN) EXTENDED.MP3  myfile.MP3

    Copy makes an additional copy of EXTENDED.MP3 while rename
    effectively deletes the original so that you'll start out with
    a fresh zero-length EXTENDED.MP3 the next time you run MAPIT

    You can combine several of your private files with the binary
    copy command.

        > COPY  /B FILE_1.MP3+FILE_2.MP3+...  BIG.MP3
            or
        > COPY  /B FILE*.MP3  BIG.MP3

    Remember that once files are combined, they can't be separated.
    Don't delete the orginals until you are sure.


    FIGEDIT

    The figure creation/editing program.  This program operates on
    files ending in the extension .FIG.

    There is a limit of 100 entities per figure.

    The key is to KEEP FIGURES SIMPLE.  Detail which looks good at
    full screen is clutter at 10%.

    .FIG files can be concatinated with the binary copy just as
    .MP3 files.

    MP1TOMP3

    A conversion utility designed to convert straight text files
    containing strings of latitutde/longitude pairs as might be
    generated from a CAD system or digitizer into .MP3 file format.
    .MP3 files require only about 1/3 the disk storage of their .MP1
    counterparts.

    The .mp1 file format is a simple ASCII listing of latitudes and
    longitudes representing strings of connected points. String
    termination is marked by separator records.


Enhancements:

    Many obvious and some not-so-obvious enhancements are in
    planning.  Register your copy of MAPIT and let me know what
    YOU'D like to see.  The best ideas come from users.  This is
    your chance to influence the direction of product growth.


Contents of Disks:

    The shareware distribution disks contain the following files:


    install.exe       installation program
    installx.fil      installation scripts
    vendor.doc        distributor information & product description
    mapitx.pak        packed archive files

      readme.doc        general information and instructions
      register.doc      shareware registration form
      manual.doc        user's manual
      mapitdem.mp3      Columbus demo instruction database
      mapitdem.bat      Batch file to run MAPIT demo
      mapit.exe         main program
      mp1tomp3.exe      ASCII to .mp3 data converter
      std.fig           example figure file
      std.fnt           stroked font file
      figedit.exe       figures creation program

Legal Considerations:

Copyright:

    The collection of software described in this file and contained on
    this disk is the Shareware Version of MAPIT (the Software) and is
    Copyright 1992, 1993 John B. Allison.

Ownership:

    You have purchased or otherwise obtained media containing a copy of
    the Shareware Version of MAPIT.  The Software contained on the media
    and all rights pertaining thereto remain the sole property of
    John B. Allison.

Shareware License:

    You are licensed to use Shareware MAPIT for a 21 day trial period
    afterwhich you must either register or cease using it. The data found
    in this Shareware Version is not nearly as detailed as that found in
    the registered versions.  Most people are eager to move up to a higher
    level, and we encourage you to take that step today by registering with

                            Allison Software
                             166 Shady Lane
                          Apollo, PA 15613 USA

          [phone]                      CompuServe 72600,1200

    (See the file REGISTER.DOC on the distribution disk for registration
    instructions.)

Shareware Distribution:

    Use Shareware MAPIT to distribute your own data so that others can
    view and use data of your authorship.

    You are free to copy and distribute the Shareware MAPIT IN ITS
    UNMODIFIED ENTIRETY on a separate diskette to friends or to other
    parties.  Please label the diskette "Shareware MAPIT".

    You may distribute copies of the Software IN ITS UNMODIFIED ENTIRETY
    on a commercial basis for a fee not to exceed TEN DOLLARS total,
    or you may post the Software on electronic bulletin boards if you package
    the Software so that each diskette must be downloaded IN ITS UNMODIFIED
    ENTIRETY.

    If you post it, you must compress or otherwise package the Software
    in either a combined file named "MAPIT11.ext" or as two separate files
    named "MAPIT11A.ext" and "MAPIT11B.ext" where ".ext" reflects the type
    of compression or packaging used.

    You may not list the Software in advertisements, catalogs, or other
    literature as "FREE SOFTWARE".  Shareware is "Try-Before-You-Buy"
    software, not free.


Liability:

    SINCE YOU ARE NOT PAYING ANY MONEY FOR THIS SHAREWARE VERSION, YOU
    RECEIVE IT ENTIRELY "AS IS", AND NEITHER ALLISON SOFTWARE, THE AUTHOR,
    NOR ANY AGENT SHALL BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND
    WHATSOEVER.


ASP Member:


    This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware
    Professionals (ASP).  ASP wants to make sure that the shareware
    principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-
    related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly,
    ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a
    dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical
    support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at
    545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 or send a Compuserve message
    via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536