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README
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1991-04-14
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Survey The USA
by Matthew Ratcliff
System Requirements:
- IBM PC Compatible XT, AT, or 386 system
- MOUSE (with graphics capable mouse driver)
- VGA, CGA, EGA
(Monochrome/Hercules graphics NOT supported)
- Approximately 700K of disk space for program
and database files.
Brought To You By:
Ratware Softworks
Matthew J. W. Ratcliff
32 S. Hartnett Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63135
Modem Connections:
CompuServe: 76703,1077 - ATTN: Mat*Rat, in SUBJ:
Delphi : MATRAT
GEnie : MAT.RAT
GatewayBBS: (314) 524-1627, 1200/2400
baud, 8N1, MAT*RAT
(c) 1990, Dec 31
(c) 1991, Apr 14
Registration Requirements:
Shareware $10 registration of executable.
You will be notified when a final full
working version (with printer hard copy)
is available.
Some functions still under
construction.
Currently the GAMES, VIEW and INFORMATION menus are
fully complete. Only the file menu is still under
construction.
TO RUN PROGRAM:
First load your mouse driver (usually done from
AUTOEXEC.BAT). The mouse driver should be capable of
placing a mouse cursor on a graphics screen. Some older
mouse drivers only worked with text screens and lower (CGA)
graphics resolutions. The latest Microsoft and Logitech
mouse drivers support every graphics mode, through VGA. The
program will not RUN without a mouse driver loaded.
Then enter the command USA to run the USA program. All of
these files must be in the current directory, when USA is
executed:
USA.EXE
UAS.CNM
USA.CTY
After the title screen, you are prompted to select a
graphics mode. The program detects all graphics modes your
system is capable of, and allows you to make a selection.
(For example, if you have VGA but you would like to run it
in CGA, you may do so.)
Next a horizontal menu bar, across the top of the display,
is presented, and a US map of the contiguous 48 states is
drawn. The program should be fairly self explanitory.
MOUSE OPERATION:
When a meny bar item is clicked on once, with the left
button, a menu pulls down. (You don't have to click/drag it
down.) Point to the item of interest and click the left
button once to select it. To get rid of a pulled down menu,
simply click once on an area of the screen outside this
menu. Then you may move the mouse pointer to the top
horizontal menu bar to make another selection. There is one
status line at the bottom of the display. Information is
often written here, such as messages that the USA database
is being accessed. This line is also used for keyboard
input, such as typing in the State names in the State game.
Generally the LEFT mouse button is uset to select an item,
and the RIGHT button is used to CANCEL or END some
operation, or sequence of operations. Most of it should be
fairly self explanitory.
FILES:
USA CNM - City names database
USA CTY - City index information database
USA EXE - USA program
README - This file
MENUS:
Updates - Information on upcoming USA updates
Game - Play states, capitals, or states &
capitals game.
View - View 48 states, 50 states, variable
zoom, or pick a state.
Information - Pick a state and view population,
area, city locations, capital,
largest city, population density, or
find any of 32,000 cities across the
USA. A single state must be on the
screen when using this mode, so you
may be prompted to point and click on
a state of interest, before these
options are made available.
File - Printer hard copy, print city names,
and more. This menu is still under
construction as of Sun 04-14-1991.
REGISTERED USERS will be notified of
this update, when available. (I
simply haven't had the TIME to get it
done, but will SOON if I get a lot of
registered users.)
Exit - Exit the program to DOS.
GAME MENU
States - Test your knowledge of the
states.
Capitals - Test your knowledge of the
states' capitals.
States & Capitals - Be REAL BRAINY, test your
knowledge of states and
capitals.
Spelling Accuracy - You know them, but can't
spell so good. LOWER required
spelling accuracy and still
qualify as having entered a
CORRECT answer:
Spelling Accuracy
Required for Games
75% - Just learning
80% - Practiced a bit
90% - Getting good
100% - Scholar
VIEW MENU
48 States - View contiguous 48 states
50 States - View all 50 states
Pick A State - Pick a single state for full screen
view.
Variable Zoom - Variable zoom. (This algorithm needs
a bit of work yet.)
Abbreviations - Toggle state abbreviations. When on,
each state's postal abbreviation is
shown near the state's center.
INFORMATION MENU
Largest City - Show largest city in sate, name and
circle symbol marking its location.
If largest city and capital the same
city, both symbols will appear at the
same location, one on the other.
State Capital - Show state capital, name and star
symbol.
State Name - Show state name.
State Population- Show state population.
State Area - Show state size, sq-miles.
Population/SqMi - Show people/square-mile.
Show All Info - Show all of the above.
--------------
Show Cities - Show cities for a state. Plots one
pixel at the location of each city in
the currently displayed state. Neat
graphical effect. Which state is
most crowded? What area of the state
has the fewest cities (for those who
wish to move way out in the middle of
NOWHERE!)?
Find a City - Find a city.
FIND A CITY:
Search Criteria:
---------------------
Best Match - Enter a city name, and the
city whose name best matches
that (or the first 100%
match) is shown. The name is
displayed on the graph, and
the mouse cursor is placed at
the city's location on the
map.
All By First Letter - Browse through the cities by
the first letter of the city
name. Enter 'A' to find all
the cities that begin with
the letter 'A', for example.
Browse All Cities - Simply browse through all the
cities in a state, showing
the location and name of
each. Just click the LEFT
mouse button to see the next
city, or click the right to
exit.
----------------------
By similarity percent: - You know what city you want
to find, but you're not quite
sure how it's spelled. Spell
the best you can, after
selecting one of the
following spelling accuracy
percentages. Let the program
do the rest of the work for
you!
----------------------
50% or Better
75% or Better
80% or Better
90% or Better
FILE MENU
Plot Current Map - Plot the current map display
on an Epson or compatible
printer.
Print States & Capitals - Print a practice sheet of all
the state and capital names.
As information is sent to printer,
it is shown graphically on the 48
contiguous state map as well.
Print Cities for State - Print some, or all of the
cities for a state.
We hope you enjoy Survey The USA! Please register your copy
if you find it useful, and wish to be notified of updates.
The printer graphics algorithms have been developed, but not
integrated as yet. Possibly by the summer of '91 the
graphics printing feature will be available; possibly sooner
depending upon user registration responses. If you are
interested in a Microsoft Windows 3.0 version, let us know.
Future enhancements:
Area code database query for any state and most major
cities.
Zip code database for large state areas. Possibly a full
zipcode database for all 32,000 US cities.