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═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 L'Weather M A P P E R User's Guide A Weather Data Plotting Program for The COMPUTER Age L'Softworks Limited 803 12th Avenue Northwest New Brighton, Minnesota 55112 (612) 636-5538 ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 L'Weather M A P P E R User's Guide Table of Contents ----- -- -------- Chapter Description Page ------- ----------------------------------------------- ---- i. L'Softworks Limited Legal Stuff....................i-1 1. Introduction.......................................1-1 2. Files & Installation...............................2-1 3. Program Usage......................................3-1 Introduction & MAPPER OPTIONS SCREEN Getting to the Graphics MAP Displays How is the MAPPER Program Used?....................3-2 Displaying A MAP and DATA information MAP & DATA Display : The Recommended Steps.........3-3 Data Display Format................................3-7 Quick User's Guide.................................3-8 APPENDIX -------- DATA FILES..........................................A-1 File Format of WXR Files File Format of WXB Files File Format of USER Data Files MAP FILES...........................................A-3 SIL (Station Identification & Location) FILES.......A-4 Future Plans for L'Weather MAPPER...................A-5 L'WEATHER Order Form................................O-1 ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page i-1 L'Softworks Limited Legal Stuff ----------- ------- ----- ----- L'Softworks Limited warrants the diskette on which the software is furnished to be free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of delivery to you. Your copy of the sales receipt (or the date of my invoice to you) is your evidence as to when your copy of the software was purchased. L'Softworks Limited does NOT warrant that the software will meet your requirements or that the operation of the software will be uninterrupted and error free. You are solely responsible for the selection of the software to achieve your intended results as well as the results actually obtained. This product is copyrighted. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this product may be reproduced, transmitted, or transcribed except under the terms of this agreement. This agreement constitutes the complete agreement between you and L'Softworks Limited. Any additions or modifications must be approved in writing by both parties. The terms of this agreement shall supersede the terms of any purchase order or other instrument you may issue for the software product provided under this agreement. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ All L'Softworks Limited products are trademarks or registered trademarks of L'Softworks Limited. Other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Copyright 1990 L'Softworks Limited. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page 1-1 1. Introduction The L'Softworks Limited L'WEATHER Programs consist of a growing set of applications that assist the weather observer in collecting, viewing, modifying and analyzing weather data. The L'Weather MAPPER Program is just one of these applications. Other products currently include the original L'Softworks Limited LWEATHER History & Log Data Database Manager, the L'Weather DAILY Database Manager, the L'Weather HISTORY Database Manager, and the L'Weather LOGGER Database Manager. Along with the database manager programs, L'Softworks Limited also offers a growing line of Weather Related Software which now includes the L'Weather ALMANAC Program. See the L'Softworks Limited Product Catalog for a general description of each of these L'Weather Applications. 1.1 MAPPER Product Description The L'Softworks Limited L'Weather MAPPER application is provided to give you a new view of your weather data information. With the L'Weather MAPPER, you first prepare (or download from a weather data service) a data file that is formatted according to the specifications described in the Appendix of this document. Then you run the L'Weather MAPPER program and select the MAP area you wish to view (usually this corresponds to the locations of the stations in your data file). Also, you may select from a number of Station Identification and Location files (SIL files) which allow you to display the station identification on the selected map. The final file (or set of files) you select is the weather data. (Optionally, you may create the weather data file within the MAPPER program. More about this later!). What you get to see as a result of using this application is a MAP display of the selected area along with the data information for the stations that exist in the map area. The current version of the L'Weather MAPPER is limited to displaying only the Current Air Temperature, Dew Point Temperature, and Barometric Pressure for each station. Future versions of this product will have expanded data display capabilities that will include Wind Direction and Velocity information, Visibility information, and Precipitation Totals. ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page 2-1 2. Files and Installation The L'Weather MAPPER Application consists of the executable program along with the User's Guide and Station Identification & Location files, the MAP files, and some example Weather Data Files. An installation program is provided that unpacks and loads these files for you. You install the L'Weather MAPPER program by using the INSTALL procedure as follows: A:INSTALL A: C: Where, in this case, the L'Weather MAPPER Distribution Diskette is in disk drive A: and you wish to install the L'Weather MAPPER application onto your disk drive C:. You may change the source and destination as required to do your installation. After you have installed the program, a subdirectory called LW is created on your destination disk. This subdirectory should include the following L'Weather MAPPER files: LWMAPPER.EXE - The L'Weather MAPPER Executable Program LWMAPPER.HLP - The L'Weather MAPPER User's Guide *.MAP - MAP Files used by L'Weather MAPPER *.SIL - Station Identification & Location Files *.WXR - An example Weather Data File (WXPLOT format) *.WXB - Example Weather Data File(s) (WXBrief format) (Also, this format is followed when L'Weather MAPPER creates a data file from your keyboard input.) If you have any of the other L'Weather Products, the LW subdirectory also will contain the files that came with those applications. ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page 3-1 3. Program Usage Introduction & MAPPER OPTIONS SCREEN Using the program is easy, just type LWMAPPER at the DOS prompt when you are in the subdirectory LW. At the introduction screen, a calendar appears that has the current date highlighted and the time shows in the upper right of the screen. If these are incorrect, press the Escape key [Esc] to return to DOS and enter the correct Date and Time for your computer. A program identification block shows the current version of the L'Weather MAPPER application. Under the identification block, the current date is fully specified in Day of Week, Month, Day and Year format. The L'Softworks Limited credits block appears under this date and is replaced with the MAPPER OPTIONS menu after a short amount of time. From the main screen you can access the features of the L'Weather MAPPER program. The main screen looks like this: ╒════════════════════════ L ' W E A T H E R ■ MAPPER ══════════════════════════╕ │ 4:20:13 p.m. │ │ ╒══════════════════════╕ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Day November Left│ │ Welcome to Version N.nn │ │ │ │ 311 1990 54 │ │ L ' W E A T H E R │ │ │ │ ──────────────────── │ │ MAPPER │ │ │ │ SU MO TU WE TH FR SA │ └────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │ │ 1 2 3 │ Wednesday November 5, 1990 │ │ │ 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 │ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 │ │ │ │ │ │ 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 │ │ >PLOT the MAP & DATA < │ │ │ │ 25 26 27 28 29 30 │ │ MAP File Selection │ │ │ │ │ │ SIL File Selection │ │ │ ╘══════════════════════╛ │ DATA File Selections │ │ │ Current Selections │ INPUT Keyboard Data │ │ │ MAP NAMERICA │ OPTIONS for Plotting │ │ │ Station IDs NAMERICA │ HELP │ │ │ Data File 1 WX_PLOT1 │ Exit │ │ │ Data File 2 WX_BRIEF │ │ │ │ Data File 3 WX_USER1 └────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │ Smooth Count 4 │ │ Contour Loops 50 │ │ Contour Color Rainbow [One Color] │ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════Esc-EXIT══╛ The currently selected (or default) MAP, SIL file and DATA file selections are listed under the calendar display. You can move the menu pointers that surround the current selected menu item ( > menu item < ) by using the arrow keys. The Right Arrow or the Down Arrow selects the next item down in the list or wraps to the top of the list. The Left Arrow or the Up Arrow goes up in the menu or wraps to the bottom of the list. To select a menu item, press the [Enter] key when the item is highlighted. You can also press the first letter (highlighted in a different color on color systems) in the menu list to go immediately to the function associated with that menu item. (I.E. Press M to select the MAP file selection menu item, etc.). You can leave the L'Weather MAPPER program by either pressing the Escape key [Esc] or by selecting the Exit menu item. ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page 3-2 3. Program Usage How is the MAPPER Program Used? The L'Weather MAPPER program is used to display a map of a selected area along with the weather data information for a selected set of stations within that area. Three categories of files are used in each display session: a MAP file, a SIL (Station Identification and Location) file, and Data files. Before running the MAPPER application, you need to either create the data files or download the information from a weather information service. The L'Weather MAPPER program can display data contained in up to three data files onto a single map. The example files contained with the MAPPER program contain the information in the format expected by the L'Weather MAPPER. They are: WX_PLOT1.WXR, WX_BRIEF.WXB, and WX_USER1.WXB. See the Appendix for a full description of the format required in these files. Displaying A MAP and DATA information As mentioned before, the main menu interface to the MAPPER Program allows you to select the options that you wish to perform. The steps you normally would take are: o Select the MAP file The map files provided represent a general set of locations across the United States and portions of Central and South America. A very detailed map file exists in the file LWUS48.MAP. This file can be broken into a smaller group of states which will plot much faster. (Plotting then entire LWUS48.MAP can take a long time, depending on the speed of your computer.) Several regional maps have been produced by L'Softworks Limited using the LWUS48.MAP as the base map. L'Softworks Limited is developing a MAPMAKER application that will read the LWUS48.MAP file and create 'Regional MAP Files' from a group of states that you select. This program will be made available to all L'Weather MAPPER customers when it is completed. Until then, simply use an editor capable of editing a large file, and export the states you wish to group into a REGION.MAP file to produce your own regional maps. The first line in the regional map file must specify the window area you want to display. To calculate this, L'Softworks Limited loads the regional map into a spreadsheet program and determines the minimum and maximum latitude and longitudes included in the regional map. Then round down and up to set the respective lowest and highest window boundaries for the MAP file. For example, the Minnesota MAP file (MN.MAP) showed the values 43.5 89.50144 as the minimums and 49.38469 97.2379 as the maximums. ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page 3-3 3. Program Usage o Select the MAP file (continued) The header for this MAP file becomes: NOTE : (Using Rounded Values) Minimum Latitude Minimum Longitude Maximum Latitude──────┐ │ │ ┌────Maximum Longitude │ │ │ │ 50,43,89,98,NW Color Selection────── 0,7 State Header Line──── 0 1 "MN",497 43.50000,91.21767 ... remaining points in the file Other map files provided by L'Softworks Limited (for example NAMERICA.MAP) do not include the level of detail contained in LWUS48.MAP, and can be plotted more quickly when they are selected. To select a MAP file, position to the option > Select the MAP file < and press the [Enter] key. Similarly, position to the MAP file that you want to use and again press the [Enter] key to pick that map. o Select the SIL file (Station Identification & Location file) The Station Identification & Location (SIL) file is used by the L'Weather MAPPER for two purposes: 1) for display purposes when you want to see the three character identifiers for the stations within a display map; 2) to limit the search for weather data to specific stations. These files can be used like the MAP files to restrict the range of stations that are searched when reading the weather data files. (The default Station Identification and Location file is NAMERICA.SIL, which includes more than 300 stations located in North American). You might want to create your own set of station files for a group of weather stations that exist within the regional maps of your areas. See the Appendix for details regarding the format of these files. To select a SIL file, position to the option > Select the SIL file < and press the [Enter] key. Similarly, position to the SIL file that you want to use and again press the [Enter] key to pick that file. ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page 3-4 3. Program Usage o Input keyboard data (if you want to create the WX_USER1.WXB file now) NOTE: Refer to the Appendix to find out the format of the Weather Data files. When you select this menu choice, you are presented with an on screen input form requesting the Weather information by prompting for Temperature, Dew Point, and Barometric Pressure : ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ SID Temp. DewPoint Bar.(nn.nn) │ │ === =============================== │ │ IWD 58 45 29.90 │ │ P59 60 44 29.92 │ │ CMX 62 45 29.93 │ │ MQT 65 38 29.94 │ │ SAW 71 41 29.94 │ │ IMT 77 38 29.95 │ │ MNM 70 52 30.02 │ │ ........................................ │ │ Enter Information ... Press Esc-Key to End │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ The data information you input is converted to SA format and saved in the file WX_USER1.WXB. (See Appendix and Reference Source for full details about SA Coding Format) ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Pressure in Mbars─┐ ┌──Air Temperature (Degrees F) Time──┐ │ │ ┌───Dew Point (Degrees F) Station ID──┐ │ │ │ │ ┌──Wind Direction (E=Estimated, Direction │ │ │ │ │ │ divide by 10 │ │ │ │ │ │ 17 = 170 degrees) │ │ │ │ │ │ ┌───Wind Speed (05 Gust to 17) │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ┌──Barometric Pressure │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ (Drop first digit │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 994 = 29.94" Hg.) SAW 0055 139/71/41/E1705G17/994 IMT 0045 77/38/2405/995 (NOTE : Started with Air Temperature) MNM 2245 250 -BKN 15 70/52/1510/002 │ │ │ Cloud Level───┘ │ │ Cloud Type───┘ └────Visibility (15 miles) ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page 3-5 3. Program Usage o Input keyboard data (continued) You enter the information on screen and press the return key after entering each station's information. Currently, up to 40 characters of information can be entered. The list scrolls upward after you enter 8 stations and you can continue entering additional weather information. When you have completed entering the data, press the [Escape] key instead of entering information for another station. Everything you entered is placed into the file WX_USER1.WXB. If the file had already existed, you have the choice of either Overwriting the old information, or Adding the new Weather Data to the exising file. Note: When the weather data is displayed on your map, any new information replaces previous older information for that station. If you want to keep the weather data files, when you leave the L'Weather MAPPER application, rename the file WX_USER1.WXB to something else; for example SA901107.WXB could represent the weather data that you created on November 7, 1990. o Select the DATA files By selecting this menu choice you can change from the WX_PLOT1 (WXR file extension files), WX_BRIEF (WXB extension files), and WX_USER1.(WXB extension is again used) weather data file defaults to any set of weather data files you have either created with an editor or downloaded. To select your DATA files, position to the option > Select the DATA files < and press the [Enter] key. Similarly, position to the file that you want to use and again press the [Enter] key to pick that file. You first choose from a list of WXR files. (These correspond to files that are created in the Weather Plot format - see the Appendix for a detailed file description.) A second directory display appears showing all of the WXB files that you have in the current directory. Again, you position to a file and pick it just as you did for the MAP, SIL, and previous DATA files. o Plot the MAP & DATA Once you have selected all of the files you want at the MAPPER OPTIONS menu (MAP file, SIL file, and DATA files), you can select PLOT the MAP & DATA to begin your graphics mapping session. The system goes into graphics mode for the display adapter/screen combination that it detects and a display of the MAP begins. While the MAP is being plotted a short status message appears at the bottom of the screen: '...PLOTTING...'. This status message is replaced by a function key menu when the plotting and station file reading is completed. F1-HELP F2-DATA F3-SILs F5-ZOOM Esc-EXIT ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page 3-6 3. Program Usage MAP & DATA Display : The Recommended Steps. This menu is your gateway into putting weather data information onto the displayed MAP. F1-HELP F2-DATA F3-SILs F5-ZOOM Esc-EXIT Press the Function Key that corresponds to the operation you want to perform. First, select ZOOM if you want to change to a specific area on the map you have displayed. (Do the ZOOM first, because if you display SILs or DATA first, that information gets erased when the screen is cleared and the ZOOM redisplays your newly selected area). So, with this in mind, press the function key to select ZOOM. A box appears on your screen highlighting a default zoom area. Use the prompts displayed at the bottom of the screen to MOVE and RESIZE that display area to select what you want to display. (WARNING: This feature allows you to keep zooming until the box disappears...Don't do that because your system will hang!! This problem will be fixed in a later release of the L'Weather MAPPER.) The arrow keys move up/down or left/right. Use the [+] key and [PgUp] to increase the size of the box. Use the [-] key and the [PgDn] key to decrease the size of the ZOOM box. Press the [End] key or the [Enter] key to display the ZOOM box area full screen on your display. Pressing the [Esc] key redraws the original map (erasing everything you displayed in the process.) After you have zoomed in on the map areas that you want, (or if you have selected a regional map that already shows exactly the area you wanted to see) you can elect to display either the DATA or the SILs (Station Identifications & Locations) that apply to the displayed area. NOTE: When the SILs option is selected, all stations in the file are read and displayed - even if they do not appear within the screen area you have selected. So if the data file or the SIL file is quite large, you may need to wait a few moments before everything is displayed. Selecting SILs, displays the stations with a small circle located at the latitude and longitude defined for the station, along with the Station ID located to the upper right of the location circle. Pressing the DATA option brings up a second sub-menu: F1-Help F2-WXPlot F3-WXBrief F4-WXUser F5-Contour Esc-EXIT from which you can select from any or all of the three Data file described earlier (and in greater detail in the Appendix). In the example files, the WX_PLOT1.WXR data file is quite large, so it takes a while to completely display. Reselect the DATA option and pick each of the data files until you have seen everything that you expected to see. You may not always want to display the SILs; however, when you do select that option, the three character ID for all of the stations within the window you have displayed will appear on the screen. ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page 3-7 3. Program Usage Data Display Format The current format of the DATA display is: Air Temp Station ID DewPt Temp o Barometric Pressure (Color screens should see the station location circle in red, the Air Temperature in red, the Dew Point Temperature in green, and the Barometric Pressure in white. These colors are the defaults and you may change them.) Depending on how many stations are present on the MAP and how much data is available for those stations, you might end up with a fairly cluttered screen. For that reason, you might need to reselect the ZOOM area and redisplay the selected information again with some of the stations removed. The Contour Option allows you to do some additional display processing of the weather information. Pressing the function key for Contour shows: F1-HELP F2-Temp F3-DewPt F4-BarPress F5-Redraw MAP Esc-EXIT Each of the data items shown can have Contour Lines drawn that correspond to the data values for the stations you have displayed. The default settings that are used in contouring were shown on the MAPPER Main Screen. They can be adjusted to provide you with the level of detail that you want to show in your on-screen display. Increasing the Smooth Count parameter will result in the data being adjusted so that there is a less steep variation between adjacent points. Since the original data may not supply enough points to provide a realistic contouring curve, those areas on your map that do not contain any data are initially given the mean value of the total data set. As each smoothing loop is performed (as requested by the Smooth Count) the numbers are readjusted toward that mean value. A second adjustment that you can make to provide more or less detail in contouring is the setting used in the Contour Count variable. Increasing the Contour Count parameter results in more contour lines being drawn. Please be aware that using a very large number for either of these variables will result in more time being required to do the smoothing calculations and the drawing of the contour lines. If your system appears to have gone asleep when you select the Contour Option, check the values that you have selected to see if they are too large! In may cases, you may want to contour on just one item and then do a screen print of the resulting graphics screen (if your system has the capability of printing the graphics screen displayed...this is up to your system and not an integrated feature in the MAPPER program). The Redraw MAP option can be used to redraw the map lines into the display after you have used the contour option. ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page 3-8 3. Program Usage L'Weather MAPPER Quick User's Guide ┌────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ >PLOT the MAP & DATA < │ │ MAP File Selection │ │ SIL File Selection │ │ DATA File Selections │ │ INPUT Keyboard Data │ │ OPTIONS for Plotting │ │ HELP │ │ Exit │ │ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ 1. Select MAP, SIL and DATA Files at the MAPPER main screen │ │ │ │ * Set the OPTIONS for Plotting to adjust the look of the │ │ Contoured data display │ │ * Select INPUT Keyboard data to enter your own SA data │ │ │ │ 2. Select PLOT the MAP & DATA to display your map │ │ │ │ 3. At the Graphics Submenus │ │ * ZOOM (if necessary) │ │ * Display DATA and SILs onto the map │ │ * Select the Contour Option and Contour the Data Item(s) │ │ you want │ │ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Select the HELP option to access the L'Weather MAPPER User's Guide while using the MAPPER application. The [Esc] Escape Key returns you to the previous Graphics Submenu or to the MAPPER OPTIONS Screen. At that point you can select other options (new MAP, SIL, or DATA files) or Exit the L'Weather MAPPER application. When you select Exit, you are returned back to where you started. (Usually back to DOS). ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page A-1 A. Appendix DATA FILES File Format of WXR Files (See WX_PLOT1.WXR sample file) The WXR files follow the format of the Weather Plot Program file. (WXPLOT, Copyright 1990 : Bryan Lambeth, PE, Hurricane Research Service, P.O. Box 181032, Austin, TX 78718). This file was created by downloading weather wire information. L'Softworks Limited does not know the details of how to obtain this file, but if you contact the Hurricane Research Service, Bryan Lambeth can probably help you with those details. The L'Weather MAPPER application was written to read the sample file included. The file is decoded whenever the string 'SA' in found in either column positions 5 and 6 or column positions 6 and 7 of the WXR file. After finding the 'SA' keyword, the station identification is cross referenced against the list read from the Station Identification & Location file you have selected for this map display. When matching stations are found in the WXR file, the data information is displayed at the site location on the map whenever the site is visible in the display area you have selected. Portion of WX_PLOT1.WXR 026 SAMX1 MMMX 041500 TCG SI 1445 -X E30NUB 3HK 165/18/13 0000/263/HK3 CB 1 CDTE ALGS AC /927/50009 OAX SA 1445-XE25NUB 5HK 118/23/14 2106/237/HK2 /961/20001 VER RS 1445 -X E15NUB80NUB 5HK 119/29/24 0610/137/HK1/940/23091 CVA SA 1445 E50CDO6 28/M 0000/155 /HK2 CLCDO/5XXX9 PXM SA 1445 70MNUE100CDO7+ 28/22 0406/150 /BMSO CLCDO/07X90 ACA SA 1445 /MNU 7 107/29/24 0000/119/BMSO ALGS CI/00190 HUX SA 1445 25MNU120MNU/NUB 7+ 30/23 0000/122/BMSO/13699 ... 864 SAUS80 KWBC 081624 CLL SP 1615 E10 OVC 7 1805/996/ BINOVC DLH SP 1620 -X M2 OVC 11/4F 1603/969/F3 FCA SA 1550 3 SCT 15 SCT E60 BKN 85 OVC 30 M/39/36/0000/008/ SWU OMTNS W/DSNT SE CLDS OBSCG MTNS NW-S HMS SA 1550 E100 BKN 15 209/52/31/3206/014/ RSNK 43/2303 IAH SP 1618 7 SCT M43 BKN 85 OVC 6R-F 0705/996 LCH SP 1614 E20 BKN 140 OVC 1RF 0810/999 LGA SP 1623 CLR 9 1713/004/HAZY WSHFT 20 SJN SA 1550 150 SCT 50 68/28/2223G33/997/NOSPL ... ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page A-2 File Format of WXB Files (See WX_BRIEF sample file) The WXB files follow the format of the example WeatherBrief Program file. (WeatherBrief is copyrighted by WeatherBank, Incorporated, 1989, 1990). This file was created by editing the supplied WeatherBrief data file to eliminate the pre-data information. This should be done to remove the connect information from the beginning of the data set. The decoding of this file is similar to that done when decoding the WXR file. Basically, the 'SA' string is located and from that the station identification information is again matched against the SIL file selected for the current MAP display. File Format of USER Data Files (use a WXB extension) The third data file that the L'Weather MAPPER program can read and decode is really quite similar to the WeatherBrief file. It is automatically created by the MAPPER program when you select the > INPUT Keyboard Data < option from the MAPPER OPTIONS menu. After selecting that option you may enter data information for up to 8 stations. This data information is entered at the keyboard in the 'SA' format. Simply start the input with the Station Identification for the station that you want to enter data. Follow the station id with a blank and the TIME of the observation. Follow the TIME with a blank and then start entering the observation information beginning with the visibility followed by the standard 'SA' format altimeter, temperature, dewpoint, wind, and barometric pressure data. In this version of MAPPER, only the temperature, dew point, wind information, and barometric pressure are decoded and displayed; therefore, you do not necessarily need to enter any visibility data. Future versions of the L'Weather MAPPER will allow entry of more information and decode the entire SA observation string. Portion of WX_BRIEF.WXB DY-HR TOWN RAW OBSERVATION ====== ============ =============== 01-01A Ironwood IWD SA 0054 200 -BKN 10 73/33/2208/989 01-01A Copper Harbo P59 SA 0048 RAMOS/65/24/0303/M PK WND 09///000 RNO ... 01-01A Manistee MBL SA 0047 200 -SCT 15 64/46/2303/006 DY-HR TOWN RAW OBSERVATION ====== ============ =============== 01-01A Spencer 3SE SA 0050 E20 OVC 6H 66/54/1609/990/NOSPL ... 01-01A Estherville EST SA 0050 E60 OVC 12 68/49/1714G22/990/LAST LAST For more information about the format of the SA observations, see the publication "AVIATION WEATHER SERVICES" (Publication Number AC 00-45C which is available from the US Government Printing Office. Call L'Softworks Limited for address information if you need this publication.) ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page A-3 MAP FILES The MAP files used by the L'Weather MAPPER program follow a format originally derived from the Weather Plot Program MAP files. Portion of NAMERICA.MAP 55,5,60,130,NW { Was,50,22,64,129 } 0,7 0,3 1,1 50,130 <--- Grid Display 50,60 ... 0,1 { West Coast Line Central America to US } 7,77.7 7.3,78 8,78.3 8.3,78.1 8.3,78.4 9,79.1 ... The first line of the file contains the limits of the MAP window that will be displayed. This is followed by background and line drawing color commands and the latitudes and longitudes of points that make up the map and its appropriate grid display. L'Softworks Limited has modified and merged these original MAP files to create a new set of MAP files for the North American Continent area (not much of Canada at this time, sorry). Other regional and state map areas can be created by subdividing the main file (NAMERICA.MAP) into smaller divisions. (NOTE--Additional editing and clean-up of this MAP file is planned. The current version of the MAP has a number of inconsistent and non-registered borders that will be fixed as a more precise point file is created.) Some of the original Weather Plot MAP files are included in the pre-release version of L'Weather MAPPER. These will probably be replaced by a custom set of maps in a future release of the L'Weather MAPPER. In particular, L'Softworks Limited is in the process of dividing the United States into regional groups that correspond to the National Weather Service regional forecast areas. Along with the MAP file changes, custom Station Identification & Location files will be created that include just the SILs for the stations involved in the region. This will save time when displaying the maps as only stations within the map area will be read instead of the entire NAMERICA.SIL file. The Weather Plot MAP files can be display using the L'Weather MAPPER program. However, do note that some of these files may cause strange background and line colors to be displayed along with some out-of-place lines. You may generate your own set of maps by following the format of the sample MAP files. ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page A-4 SIL (Station Identification & Location) FILES The Station Identification & Location (SIL) file is used by the L'Weather MAPPER to limit the search for data to specific stations. Again, the original SIL files were adapted from SIL files included with the Weather Plot Program. These files can be used and selected as you input files. However, L'Softworks Limited has created an entirely new SIL file called NAMERICA.SIL which includes many more stations, and expanded information about the stations. Portion of NAMERICA.SIL X13,78325,2310,8221,50 Cuba Station CUL,76412,2449,10724,171 Culiacan,MX ... OLY,12345,4658,12254,00190 Olympia,WA YKM,12345,46.60133,120.50283,0000 Yakima,WA ELO,12345,4756,09146,01340 Ely,MN ... UIL,12345,0000,00000,0000 Quillayute,WA Although still incomplete, this file is an attempt to provide a full list of station identifiers and locations for stations within the NAMERICA.MAP area. The file consists of the Station ID, followed by a station number (when known), the latitude and longitude of the station, the station elevation, and finally an alphabetic station city and state. This file may be modified as you add additional stations of your own. Also, you can selectively export stations from this file to create region or state specific SIL files. L'Softworks Limited will be creating SIL files that correspond to regional MAP files in the near future. By using smaller files, less time is taken during the ...PLOTTING... period of the MAP display session. The way that this file is used is that it is selected at the SIL File Selection option on the MAPPER OPTIONS menu. Then, when you select PLOT the MAP & DATA, the file is read during the plotting process. When the plot of the map you selected is complete, a menu appears at the bottom of the screen. At this menu, you may select SIL from the options displayed. The station locations and 3 character IDs are displayed at that time. ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page A-5 Future Plans for L'Weather MAPPER Although approaching 'state-of-the-art'! the L'Weather MAPPER is an evolving program and the following general areas are under development. o Wind Direction and Velocity Display o Shade center of station location circle to indicate visibility o Contouring options for: - Temperatures - Dew Point - Pressure - User entered data information o Custom User Data Interface module to allow the creation of such things as rainfall maps and other custom data contour displays o Linkage with other L'Weather Products to preserve the SA data information into selected database files. (Historical, Log Data and Daily Database interface). o Saving of screen images (especially contours) to allow 'slide-show' style replaying of those screens. o Customer Suggestions are always appreciated and often implemented in later versions of the L'Weather Products. ═════════════════════ L'WEATHER M A P P E R User's Guide ═══════════════════ L'Softworks Limited December 5, 1990 Page O-1 ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ L'Softworks Limited L'WEATHER Products Order Form (Rev 900808) │ │ │ │ Date: _______________________________│ │ │ │TO: FROM: │ │ L'SOFTWORKS LIMITED Name: _______________________________│ │ 803 12th Avenue NW │ │ New Brighton, MN 55112 Company : ___________________________│ │ │ │ (612) 636-5538 Address : ___________________________│ │ │ │ ___________________________│ │ │ │ ___________________________│ │ CITY State Zip │ │ │ │ ___________________________│ │ PHONE ( ) │ │ │ │ Where did you hear about (or get) L'WEATHER? _____________________________│ │ │ │ __________________________________________________________________________│ │ │ │ Comments or Suggestions for future versions of L'WEATHER: ________________│ │ __________________________________________________________________________│ │ │ │ L'WEATHER History & Logfile Program ___ Copies @ $49.95 ea $__________│ │ L'WEATHER Update for current users ___ Copies @ $14.95 ea $__________│ │ Almanac - Computer Weather Almanac ___ Copies @ $49.95 ea $__________│ │ Daily - Day by Day History Database ___ Copies @ $49.95 ea $__________│ │ History - History DataBase Manager ___ Copies @ $19.95 ea $__________│ │ Logger - Logfile DataBase Manager ___ Copies @ $19.95 ea $__________│ │ Mapper - Weather Data Mapping Program ___ Copies @ $49.95 ea $__________│ │ Custom - Custom DataBase Manager ___ Copies @ $29.95 ea $__________│ │ Data Preparation for Daily Database ___ Cities @ $24.95 ea $__________│ │ (Usually includes more than 30 years of Max/Min/Prec/Snow) │ │ Data Preparation for L'WEATHER or History Programs ___ $9.95 $__________│ │ (The All-time Max/Min/Prec/Snow & Year, Plus Sun & Moon times) │ │ Specify City or Station Name for Data Set(s) _____________________________│ │ (Please allow 10 days for Data Preparation) │ │ │ │ For 3 1/2" Diskette Please add $1.50 ea. copy $1.50 $__________│ │ │ │ Postage and Handling for your order...........$3.00 $__________│ │ │ │ DEMO DISKETTE [ ] 3 1/2" or [ ] 5 1/4"......$9.95 $__________│ │ │ │ Total................................................$__________│ │ ORDERS OUTSIDE THE US: Use check drawn on US bank in US dollars. │ │ Terms: Check or Money order Payable to ---------> L'Softworks Limited │ │ { L'WEATHER Program │ │ Mail to -------->{ 803 12th Avenue NW │ │ { New Brighton, MN 55112 │ │ Order Information or Questions Call ---------> (612) 636-5538 │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘