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- NPA - Numbering Plan Area The Comprehensive Area Code and Exchange Locator <17Sep92> (C) Copyright 1991-92 The PC Consultant P.O. Box 42086 Houston TX 77242-2086 Ph. 713/826-2629 (v-mail no answer) NPA is a comprehensive area code, state, city, and exchange locator. NPA stands for Numbering Plan Area - which is phone speak for area code. The data files accessed by NPA were compressed from over five megabytes of raw data that comprises the NANP (North American Numbering Plan) for the US and Canadian telephone system. Other area code programs simply show you the state and a few larger cities. But NPA goes WAY beyond that! Below lists some of the powerful features of NPA: ■ Find one or any number of cities based on state, area code (NPA), city name, or local number prefix (NXX). ■ Once found, you can display several combinations of the following: city name, state name, npa, city nxx's, county name, county population, best guess primary zipcode, and latitude/longitude. ■ Data is viewable in a scrollable buffer allowing you to easily browse through the findings. ■ Includes the new area codes 310, 410, 510, and the recent introduction of the 706 area code along with many new NXXs. ■ NEW! Included are two flat files containing a summary of all NPA assignments and international country codes for 83 countries and their larger cities. With NPA, you can locate all area codes in a state, display the cities in those area codes, and even display all the valid exchanges (sometimes called the prefix - or NXX in TelCo lingo) belonging to the city! Even podunk-hollow will show up if it has it's own telephone company wire center. And even if podunk hollow doesn't show up under it's own name, it's local NXXs will likely appear in a neighboring larger city with whom it shares a wire center. You can search based on state or area code. You can narrow the search by specifying a city search mask or only a certain NXX. You can search for cities having a certain number of exchanges - or search for a range number of exchanges. And once all this is found, you can optionally display with the combinations noted in the second bullet above. You can specify all parameters on the command line or if you just say 'NPA' with no parameters a full screen query will appear with online help. Either way, NPA will display it's output in a buffer that will let you browse forward and backward. Syntax for executing NPA: NPA (state|npa)[.city|.nxx] [min=x] [max=x] [-25] [-50] [-b] [-c] [-co] [-lat] [-pop] [-s] [-x] [-zip] ( ) = required parameter [ ] = optional parameter | = select one from listed parameters where: state : Two letter postal code or portion of state/ province name for a search. NPA will show all area codes and cities for state/province that fall within search parms. If you specify '*', then all states/provinces will be searched. npa : Numbering Plan Area - three digit area code. NPA will show state and cities that are in the area code specified. .city : Narrow the search to cities whose names begin with the letters specified here. ie: Entering 'tx.hou' will show Houston TX. .nxx : Specific prefix you wish to locate. min=x : Display cities having at least x number of exchanges. Omitting this parameter will assume a default based on other parameters specified. This is detailed below. max=x : Display cities having at most x number of exchanges. Omitting this parameter defaults to no max. -25 : Forces screen into 25 line mode even if screen is in a different lines per screen mode prior to executing NPA. -50 : Forces screen into 50 line mode which allows you to see much more on the screen at a time. You must specify the -25/-50 option on the DOS command line for it to be honoured. However, if you specify -25/-50 *by itself* on the command line, you'll still get full screen query mode. NPA will automatically detect if screen is already in 50 line mode and use it. Other non-standard modes such as 24, 30, and 43 line mode are not recognized by NPA. -b : Don't display output in scrollable buffer. Normally, NPA will display output in a scrollable buffer that allows you to browse forward and backward. This option causes NPA to display output in regular line mode. -c : Don't pause after each screen. Normally, NPA pauses each screenful. This option is only meaningful when used with -b. -co : Display county name next to city name. When this option is used, option -x/-lat/-zip, if specified, is ignored. -pop : Display approximate county-wide population next to county and city name. This option forces -co enabled, and causes -x/-lat/-zip, if specified, to be ignored. -lat : Also display latitude and longitude next to NXX data output. This option forces -x on. Please note that using -lat may potentially cause NPA to generate copious gobs of output and therefore take longer to generate. It's recommended that -lat be limited to narrow searches. -s : Used with '.city'. Causes NPA to perform a sliding search on city name in database when looking for a match. IE: Using -s, the command 'npa tx.usto' will find Houston, TX. Without -s, then Houston would not be located unless your command is 'npa tx.hous'. This is useful for finding all cities with, for example, 'lake' somewhere in the name. -x : Also display all valid exchanges for this city. Default is state, NPA and city name only. -zip ; Also display zipcode next to NXX data output. This option forces -x on. Like -lat, this option can potentially create a gob of output. And -zip used with -lat can REALLY generate a slew of output. NOTE: The reported zipcode is a only best guess for the prevalent zipcode in the area. There is no one-to-one mapping between zipcode and NPA. Zipcodes are provided for casual reference only. Your mileage may vary. A brief note about options that enable/disable other options: There are two primary output types. One that displays the NPA on the left with city names across the screen to the right, and one that display the NPA *and* city name on the left with that city's NXXs across the screen to the right. These are mutually exclusive output types and each has it's own (also mutually exclusive) set of options. The two primary display types are: ■ The default is to display just NPA on the left and city names across the screen to the right. By adding -co, the county name is also displayed immediately after the city name on the same line. By adding -pop, you'll also see the estimated county population along with city and county name. ■ By specifying -x, you are instructing NPA to display NPA and city name on the left and that city's NXX data across the screen to the right. There are also two options that cause NPA to display additional NXX specific data. The -lat option displays the NXXs latitude and longitude immediately after the NXX on the same line. The -zip option displays the NXXs primary or most pravalent zipcode. All output is normally stored in a virtual memory buffer that allows you to scroll back and forth to facilitate viewing. The scrollable buffer will hold approximately 32,000 lines so you're not too likely to overflow it. Some options, especially -zip and -lat (and especially so when used together), can cause NPA to generate copious output - which takes longer to generate. It's best to use these options with a narrow search specification to limit output to a manageable size. Exceeding the buffer's size will cause NPA to unceremoniously abort. NPA will not normally display cities having fewer than 15 NXXs. This is because people are often not interested in locating smaller cities. However, there are several default minimums depending on other search specifications made. The default minimums are described as follows: Specify state only: Minimum = 15 NXXs Specify NPA only: Minimum = 5 NXXs Also specify city or NXX: Minimum = 1 NXX The lowest determined value will be used. The default minimum lowers as your search specification narrows to ensure the greatest chance of finding your data. Example 1: ie: The command 'npa 713.aldine -x' will display: NPA City Name NXXs --- --------------- ------------------------------------------------------- TX:Texas 713 Aldine 442 449 590 985 986 987 End NPA This shows you: The state of Texas has a city named 'Aldine' in the 713 area code and has six exchanges listed. Example 2: If you wish to locate a city with a two part name, such as the city of 'San Antonio' in Texas, then include a hyphen '-' where the space would normally appear. We'll also add the -pop options. (This will force -co also) ie: The command 'npa tx.san-an -pop' will display: NPA City Name --- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TX:Texas 512 San Antonio-Bexar-1170000 915 San Angelo-Tom Green-98100 End NPA This shows us two cities along with their respective county name and county population. In the case of San Antonio, the county is 'Bexar' (pronouned 'bear') and the county population is approximately 1,170,000. Since the displayed population is county-wide and not just for the city, the -pop option forces the -co option so you'll see the county name also to avoid confusion. Example 3: To locate cities that have the word 'saint' in their name, ie: 'St. Paul' in Minnesota, you must abbreviate using 'st' (without the period). Therefore, the following command will produce: ie: The command 'npa mn.st-p' will display: NPA City Name --- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 507 St Peter MN:Minnesota 507 St Peter 612 St Paul, St Paul Park End NPA NOTE: Some cities, especially in Canada, abbreviate 'saint' using either 'st' (masculine form) or 'ste' (feminine form). Sometimes it's difficult to know which gender form to use as French names can be pretty elaborate obscuring gender from an American audience. To help eliminate this confusion, all 'ste.' forms were converted to 'st' (without the period). Now, before somebody labels me a sexist, let me explain why this was done: 1. As mentioned above, many Americans (including myself) have difficulty determining gender on some of the more elaborate French names - making it difficult to locate the desired city. 2. The wire center names contained in the source database are *NEVER* over ten characters in length - so the 'e' in 'ste' is frequently dropped on many of the wire center names in order to gain that valuable extra character - making the use of 'ste' inconsistent. 3. It is easier to locate a 'saint' city since you don't have two different abbreviations to deal with. And since the 'st' form far outnumbered the 'ste' form, it made more sense to adopt 'st' as the standard - fewer records to convert. So there. The NXX display feature is invaluable for finding the location of a phone number. IE: Suppose you have the following phone number 508/898-nnnn (Don't want to use a real one!) - no name, just a number laying around. You have no idea who gave it to you or what city. By using NPA (Specify 'npa 508.898 -co') you'll discover that the number belongs in Westborough, MA in the county of Worcester. Now that you know the county and city, you might be able to figure out who gave you the number????? This feature alone is invaluable to police investigators trying to track down leads on miscellaneous phone numbers discovered during the course of investigation. BBS sysops can use this feature to validate that a phone number supplied by a user during registration can even possibly exist. Obviously, NPA cannot determine if the number is valid - but it can at least determine if the NPA/NXX left by the user belongs to the city s/he claims to be calling from. The most common way you're likely to execute NPA is by specifying just a state or an area code and maybe a city - with no additional parameters. By specifying just a state, you'll see all area codes in that state and all cities having at least fifteen exchanges. The default minimum of fifteen was established to prevent the display of every tiny town that you're probably not interested in seeing anyway. Of course, you *can* specify display of small towns by using the 'min=x' parameter where x is a low value, like 1. By specifying just an area code, you'll see a display similar to that seen when specifying a state. Except that you'll only see one area code - the one you specified. By specifying a city search mask after the state or area code, you'll narrow the search to only those cities. This is useful if you get gobs of output otherwise. Since city searches add overhead to NPA, you might notice a slight delay while NPA accesses the data files. This delay is more noticable on XT/AT type machines. On 386's and above, this delay is less noticeable regardless of how narrow the search. By specifying an exchange after the state or area code, you'll narrow the search to only those cities having that exchange. This is especially useful if all you have is a phone number with area code and you wish to locate the city. As with the city search mask, this specification may delay the output slightly. A future version may include a latitude/longitude calculator for determining the distance between any two wire centers. Another future option may include indications showing if a NXX is assigned to cellular. Feedback on the value of such a feature is encouraged. PLEASE NOTE: I spent many, many hours at the Houston Public Library doing research to convert wire center names to real city names. But I could not find all of them (there are well over 20,000 wire centers in the US and Canada). The great majority of the names in this database are actual city names that I was able to determine through zipcode cross references and other national data repositories. Of the names that are wire center names and not actual city names, some of them are simply spelled out (formal wire center names never exceed ten characters) while others are still in their abbreviated form. Only a tiny percentage of names are still abbreviated - those I simply could not figure out. Some cities are quite close together. If NPA does not find your city (even with 'min=1') then double check your spelling. If your city is spelled correctly and still it's not found, then that city does not have it's own wire center designation but likely shares a wire center with a nearby (perhaps larger) city. If you enter exactly two characters for the state designator and NPA does not find it, then the two characters you specified will be searched for within the state name. If you enter more than two characters, NPA will automatically know it's not a postal code and will immediately search within the state name. IE: Entering 'GA' (the postal code) for the state will return Georgia even though the consecutive letters 'GA' does not occur in the name. But had you entered 'GE', NPA would have still found Georgia. NPA would have failed on the postal code search but would have located the GE (GEorgia). Now, had you entered 'GEO', then NPA would not even bother with a postal code lookup but would immediately perform the state name search. So either way, you find your state. If your state name search specification is too vague and NPA finds two or more states meeting your search specification, then NPA will display it's findings and advise you to narrow your search. You can only look at one state at a time - or use the state wildcard character '*' to scan all states/provinces. Note: Using the '*' wildcard will slow NPA a bit since it must search all data files instead of the usual one data file. You can terminate NPA at anytime during execution by striking the (Esc) key - any other key continues the display if paused. You cannot stack keystrokes while NPA is executing since it must constantly strobe the keyboard looking for the abort keyin. CONFIGURING PATH FOR DATA FILES You undoubtedly noticed the voluminous quantity of NPA_DATA.* files. The database is broken up by states and provinces to make searches faster. By placing the data files in their own directory, they'll stay out of the way. NPA has three methods of accessing it's data files. They happen in the following order. 1) 'npa_data' environment variable. if no find, then... 2) Current directory. if no find, then... 3) Regular DOS path. if no find, error... The first method that finds the data files is the one used during this execution. I recommend placing the NPA_DATA files in their own subdirectory then using method #1, the 'npa_data' environment variable. Suppose you have a subdirectory called 'c:\npa'. You can configure NPA to always look there - regardless of what drive or directory is current by simply using the environment variable command: set npa_data=c:\npa You should place this command in your autoexec.bat file or other batch file that gets executed at system boot. If you wish to report a bug, please do so in writing at the following address. LICENSING NPA, like many other programs, flies under the shareware banner. If you like and use NPA, then *please* register. New versions are periodically released that contain updated database information as well as new features. Registering will ensure your notification of these new releases. You can register by mail using check/money order/Visa/MC. Or you can register by telephone using Visa/MC. Either way, you'll receive the two keys (discussed in the BRAND.DOC file) necessary to brand NPA as registered. If you register by telephone, you can get the registration keys the same day in as little as fifteen minutes. I'm generally away from the office so voice-mail will pick up. You may register via voice-mail and the system will page me thus allowing me to return your call within a few minutes. The system will page me immediately if your message is left during the following hours: Mon-Fri 7a-11p, Sat-Sun 8a-11p. All times are Central Time. Note that the voice-mail system is not an unprotected cassette tape telephone answering machine that just anybody can walk upto. It's a full-blown PIN accessed PBX voice-mail system (ASPEN by Octel communications for the telephony-literate out there - which I suspect most of y'all are) so your credit card information is secure! If you desire to register by phone and voice-mail picks up, please leave the following information: 1. The name to register. Please spell it out. The name must reasonably match the card holder's name. 2. The credit card number. 3. The expiration date. If you simply prefer not to register via voice-mail, that's fine. I'll certainly call you back. But using voice-mail will speed the order since I'll have everything all ready to go when I call. The registration fee is twenty five dollars. I will process the order and return your call promptly. If you do not anticipate being available immediately after registering via voice-mail, then please indicate in your message if it is alright for me to leave the registration data to who/whatever answers your phone in your absense. If it's not okay, then I'll continue to call until I reach you personally. PC Consultant P.O. Box 42086 Houston TX 77242-2086 Ph. 713/826-2629 (v-mail no answer) Thank you for using NPA and for registering if you like it! ∙-═≡═-∙ Other products offered by the PC Consultant ∙-═≡═-∙ « TimeLock » TimeLock is a tiny memory resident security utility that locks the PC keyboard after a user pre-specified period of inactivity, thereby protecting a sensitive LAN/mainframe userid or application program from spying eyes and curious fingers while you are away. An invaluable addition to your company's PC security arsenal! Branches of the US, Canadian, and Australian government trust TimeLock as do many private and public companies. TimeLock can be instantly locked via hot-key, batch file, or through keyboard inactivity. The *only* way to regain access to the PC once the keyboard is locked is by entering your secret password. Otherwise the PC must be cold-booted (powered off & on). 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