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Text File | 1987-10-11 | 26KB | 524 lines

PLATCHECK VERSION 1.7 MANUAL USER SUPPORTED SOFTWARE The program, PLATCHEK, is being distributed under the "Freeware" concept under which an individual or firm using this program and finding it of value will voluntarily compensate the writer of the program. Users are encouraged to copy this program and give it to others for their use. If you find that this program has value to you, a contribution of $35 would be appreciated. Upon receipt of your contribution, you will become a registered owner of PLATCHEK. Registered owners will receive notifications of upgrades of the program which they will be eligible to receive at nominal cost. The author of the program is R. H. Holstein, III of Batesburg, S. C., a career real estate appraiser and former employee of the Federal Land Bank System. His experience in real estate appraisals prompted his writing software capable of speedily and reliably checking land descriptions by surveyor's plats and courses and distances. HOLSTEIN APPRAISALS P O BOX 7 BATESBURG, S. C. 29006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ~ FILES ON DISTRIBUTION DISKETTE The following files should be on the distribution diskette: PLATCHK7.COM is the executable file containing the PLATCHEK program. By entering the command "PLATCHK7" at the DOS prompt the program will be begun. ARC.COM is an executable file which calculates the area within an arc for use in conjunction with PLATCHEK. PLATHELP.MAN is the text file containing the manual for operating PLATCHEK. PLTWRITE.COM is the executable file which prints the manual. By entering the command "PLTWRITE" at the DOS prompt the entire PLATCHEK manual will be printed. The manual contains 12 letter size pages. PLATHELP.MSG is a help file that is used to display instructions on the screen during the operation of the program. OTHER FILES ASSOCIATED WITH PLATCHEK PRINTER.DTA is a text file used to store printer commands. It can be altered to provide programming for different printers. It does not matter if PRINTER.DTA is not on the distribution diskette. If it is absent, PLATCHEK will create one with the commands for an IBM ProPrinter. The operator can change the commands to the specificat- ions of his or her printer if change is needed. The commands from this file are read into memory when the program is begun. XXXXXXXX.PLT are files of plats created by PLATCHEK at the command of the operator. ~ GETTING STARTED Clockwise Direction It is essential that from the starting point all lines are reported in a clockwise direction. The location of the starting point does not matter. Sometimes plats are encountered which give their directions in a counter-clockwise direction; these calls must be reversed. For example, if a plat is traveling counter-clockwise, NW direction must be changed to SE, NE to SW, and vice versa. Sometimes this situation is encountered with one or more lines of a plat which for no apparent reason is reported as the backward direction of all other lines; i. e., is going in a different direction by 180 degrees. In subdivision plats this is often found as the line call on adjacent lots while clockwise for one is counter-clockwise for the other. Graphics Mode The operating system must be in the graphics mode to reproduce the computer generated plat. This can be accomplished by entering the command, "GRAPHICS" at the DOS level. The opening screen will provide a menu with the following options: 1. Begin New Plat. To enter the survey data for checking the first time. 2. Instructions. To review instructions for operating the program. 3. Manage Files. To load, save, delete, or list plat files. 4. Manage Printer. To tailor print commands to individual printers. 5. Exit. To return to DOS. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ BEGIN NEW PLAT The first screen upon entering this procedure asks whether the plat to be checked reports angles to seconds. If the plat reports degrees, minutes, and seconds for angles, the proper response would be "Y". If the plat only reports degrees and minutes, the answer would be "N". If "Y" is the answer, a screen will appear with help screens for entering survey line data for that type of plat, and the program will accept eighteen characters interpreting the characters as follows: Digits Program Will Receive And Interpret It As ------ -------------------- ------------------- 1 N, S, or D The first direction 2&3 Any number, 0-9 Angular Degrees 3&4 Any number, 0-9 Angular Minutes 5&6 Any number, 0-9 Angular Seconds 7 E or W Deflection from first direction 8-18 Any number, 0-9 Distance in feet or period(decimal) "N" commands the program to accept eighteen characters and will interpret them as follows: Digits Program Will Receive And Interpret It As ------ -------------------- ------------------- 1 N, S, or D The first direction (D is the flag informs the program that there are no more entries) 2&3 Any number, 0-9 Angular Degrees 3&4 Any number, 0-9 Angular Minutes 5 E or W Deflection from first direction 6-18 Any number, 0-9 Distance in feet or period(decimal) All the arrow keys are active. The delete key will erase the character at the cursor position and the cursor will remain in position. The backspace key will erase as it moves the cursor backwards. The return key functions as the down arrow except when it is in the last cell; when pressed in the last cell, the survey line is entered and the screen clears to receive another survey line. F9 may also be used to enter a survey line and clear the screen for a new line. F10 clears the screen but does not enter the survey line. Leading zeroes are not necessary. Cells for degrees, minutes, and seconds will hold two digits. [2 ], [ 2], and [02] would all be received into the program as "2". When a second digit is entered, the cursor moves down to the next cell. ~ On the screen where courses and distances are entered are help screens. Please use them and read them carefully until fully familiar with procedures. The function keys are used to pull up help screens. Initial Calculations When all survey lines are entered, type and enter "D". A screen will appear as follows: --------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~ Results of Plat Checking The easting error is ________. The northing error is ________. The gap in closure is ________. The precision of the field survey is ______ per 10,000 The acreage computed to the _______ acres. (1) Printed Copy (2) Screen Display (3) Return to Menu ~~~ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Easting Error: The distance in feet on the east-west axis that the plat fails to close when all survey lines have been entered. A negative value means that the point of ending is west of the point of beginning; conversely, a positive value mean the ending point is east of the point of beginning. Northing Error: The distance in feet on the north-south axis that the plat fails to close. A negative value means that the ending point is south of the beginning point; a positive value means that the ending point is north of the beginning point. Gap in Closure: The distance in feet separating the beginning point and ending point. It is the hypotenuse of the triangle formed by the easting and northing errors. Precision of Field Survey: The amount of gap in closure expressed as feet per 10,000 feet. Acreage: The area enclosed in the survey expressed as acres (43,560 square feet). ~ Menu Selections: (1) Printed Copy: This selection will cause all entered survey lines to be printed. (2) Screen Display: All survey lines will be displayed on the screen. (3) File Plat Data: Option to file at this point. (4) Return to Menu: Returns to main menu and does not save data inputs. (1) and (2) above will allow the operator to check his entries against the plat for accuracy. After the lines are printed or the display is exited, an opporturnity will be given for making corrections,insertions, and deletions. Experience with the program will teach which selection is best in certain situations. For example, if the operator is reasonably sure that there are no errors, he may want to go ahead and produce a hardcopy. Selection 3 allows the user to file his plat data at this point. It is not necessary to save at this point because PLATCHEK will offer the opportunity to save again after the plat is drawn. Corrections and Insertions After the survey line inputs are displayed, the next screen will produce the menu: --------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~ CORRECTION OPTIONS A. Correct a Line B. Insert a Line C. Delete a Line D. Examine survey lines E. Draw Plat Select: ~~~ --------------------------------------------------------------------- If "A" is entered, the next prompt will ask for the number of the survey line (the program will number all lines and display that number when it displays the lines). The line with that number will be displayed and an opportunity given to correct it. The program will continue asking for errors until the reply "0" is received. ~ "B" produces the opportunity to insert a line in the list of survey lines if perchance the operator missed one during input. "C" produces the opportunity to delete a line. "D" produces the "RESULTS OF PLAT CHECKING" screen shown above, which shows the calculations after the corrections, insertions, and/or deletions have been made. "E" Produces the following screen: --------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~ (1) Printed Copy (2) Screen Display (3) Return to Menu ~~~ --------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) A computer drawing of the plat will appear on the monitor. The drawing will be of no particular scale, but will be the scale that will produce the largest size that can be displayed on the screen. The drawing will be oriented on a north-south axis and a north arrow will appear. Any gap in closure will be graphically shown. Plats with large errors may not be fully represented on the screen because of the closure errors. If such a case occurs, survey lines should be rechecked, especially for clock-wise orientation. A printed copy of the computer generated sketch can be obtained by holding the shift key down while pressing the "PrtSc"(Print Screen) key. This will cause the contents of the screen to be printed. Pressing any other key will advance the program to the next screen without printing the computer generated sketch. The computer must be in the GRAPHICS mode for the graphics screen to be printed. The next screen asks the operator to designate a scale to have a sketch drawn. If a scale is named too small for the sketch to be printed on the printer paper, the operator will be advised and asked to select a larger scale. (A scale of one inch equal 500 feet is considered larger than a scale of one inch equals 100 feet). PLATCHEK uses either wide or narrow paper. The operator advises PLATCHEK through the (P), "Managing Printer", Selection on the Master Menu. PLATCHEK allows smaller scales when it is advised that wide paper is in use. When the scale is selected, the printer will produce a matrix of characters selected by the user which when connected will be a sketch to scale of the subject plat. The computer generated sketch will be helpful in connecting the dots properly. ~ (2) If a screen display only is chosen, a sketch will be drawn on the monitor, but no scaled printout will be produced. (3) Return the program to the Master Menu but allows the user to save the plat data if desired. Saving Plats on File Before PLATCHEK returns to the main menu, it will ask if the plat should be filed. If the answer is affirmative, then a name will be asked for the plat file. Eight characters will be allowed. The program will supply the suffix, .PLT. The plat as named will then be saved on the diskette or in the directory which contains the program file. MANAGING FILES When this option is selected the following menu will appear: -------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~ 1. Complete, Correct, or Run a Filed Plat 2. Erase a File 3. List Plat Files 4. Return to Main Menu ~~~ -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Complete, Correct, or Run a Filed Plat: PLATCHEK will ask for the name of the plat file. When this is entered, the plat file will be loaded into memory. The program will move to the screen on which survey lines are entered displaying the survey line leading to the northernmost point. From that point the program operates exactly as it did under the BEGIN NEW PLAT menu option. New lines entered will be added to those already in memory. If the plat is recalled only to make a drawing or for some other use, the operator should enter "D", and the entry of survey lines will be entered and the program move to the next step. ~ Some reasons to save plats (a) Finish the Input of A Plat: If the operator is entering a lengthy plat and does not have the time to complete the plat at one sitting, the operator may enter "D" to inform the computer that no more information will be forthcoming. There is no need to print the plat as it is incomplete and the printout would be misleading, but the operator should respond in the affirmative when asked whether the plat should be saved. The operator would then enter the appropriate name for the partial plat. When the operator returned to complete the plat, he or she would press "M" for "Manage Files". Next the program would ask for the name of the plat file. The operator would enter the appropriate name and proceed with courses and distances where left off. IMPORTANT: When the operator wishes to stop and then continue to input plat data later, he(she) should always begin the input data with the line leading from the northernmost point on the plat. The program reorients the input data to begin with the northernmost point before platting or saving as a file occurs; therefore, the survey lines would begin and end with a different line when the file was recalled than was input by the operator unless the operator began with the northernmost point. If the entire plat data is to be entered at one sitting, it does not matter which line is entered first. (b) Correct a Plat: After a plat has been entered, it may not close as accurately as required. The operator may then save the plat and reexamine it for errors. If there appears to be a serious error in the plat the user could consult with the surveyor. Once the error was found, the line could be changed as with a new plat. It may be useful to save all plats for a period of time until it is known that there is no further use for them. 2. Erase a Plat: The program will ask for the name of the plat file to be erased (prefix only, up to eight characters). When the name is entered, the file will be erased. 3. List Plat Files: The program will list all plat files in the directory or on the diskette. ~ MANAGING PRINTERS There should be a file on your installation diskette, PRINTER.DTA, which contains commands for printer operation. If there is no file on the diskette, the program will create one for you. If the program is started in the absence of a PRINTER.DTA file, it will advise the operator that there is no file in the directory and ask permission to create one. The initial file will contain command paramaters used by several IBM compatible printers. These printer commands can be changed as needed to adapt to different printers by pressing the menu selection (P) for Manage Printers. A list of the printer commands required by the program will be displayed on the screen along with the current commands on file (which are given to the computer when the program is entered). Any or all of these commands can be changed. The operator should consult the manual of his printer for the commands necessary to control the printer in use. REORIENTATION OF SURVEYLINES PLATCHEK reorients all survey lines after "D" is entered. They are reoriented in such a way that the line leading from the northern- most point is placed first and all other lines follow ending with the line leading to the northernmost point. This reorientation is necessary in order for the program to produce the scaled plat on the dot matrix printers whose carriages only move in one direction. The gap, if there is one, is thus located at the northernmost point. UNDERSTANDING PLAT ERRORS This program computes mathematically the area within a polygon no matter the number of sides (up to the limit of the program). It uses the distance and direction of these sides to make the computations. Plats are not always true polygons; that is, they do not always close. If a rectangle did not close, the product of its length and width would only be an estimate of the area it enclosed, the greater the gap in closure the less accurate the estimate. As plat error (measured as gap in closure per unit length of traverse) increases the reliability of acreage computations decreases. Modern day surveyors strive for less than one foot error per 10,000 feet of survey. Many plats, especially older ones, do not close within these tolerances, but still are accurate enough for checking with this program. However, it is important to keep the fact in mind that the reliability of acreage computations varies directly with closure error. ~ PRINTER MODES Several options are available to the operator in customizing PLATCHEK to a particular printer. Scale Printout: PLATCHEK is programmed to use the command for compressed print to set the printer for the scaled, printed matrix. (Although the characters are printed in normal size, the spaces are compressed to achieve greater accuracy given a space limiataiton.) SIZE OF PLATS Plat lines are entered into a linked list(dynamic variables). Therefore, the limitation as to the size of plat depends on the random access memory of individual CPUs. It is not believed that the user is likely to encounter a plat that goes beyond the limit of even the smaller RAMs of modern IBM and compatible computers. PLATS WITH ARCS PLATCHEK Version 1.7 does not handle circular lines (arcs), only straight lines (although the next version will possibly also compute and plot plats with arcs). On the distribution diskette is an executable file, ARC.COM, which will calculate the area within a seg- ment of a circle described by an arc. ARC.COM is completely menu driven. Many plats will give the distance in feet of the arc and of the chord (straight line that connects to the two ends of the arc and which with the arc encloses the segment of a circle). ARC.COM prompts for these two values and from them computes the acreage within the arc in both square units of arc and chord measure (usually feet). A value is also given in acres which is accurate if lengths are in feet. If the arc length and the length of the radius of the circle are given, the user may enter these data and obtain the same results much more quickly. Similarly, if the chord length and radius are known rapid calculations can be made. In the operation of PLATCHEK the user can only enter the straight line distance (chord) and direction as shown on the plat. That line segment is the chord of the arc. In effect the arc must be flattened to a straight line to be run on PLATCHEK. Thus, the acreage between the segment of the circle curvature (arc) and the straight line (chord) is not included in the area calculations. By visual inspection of the plat the user can determine whether to add the area to or subtract the area from the area computed by PLATCHEK. ~ LINE TO CLOSE PLAT One of the new features that came with version 1.7 was the option to compute a line that would close a plat from the point of the last survey line entered. Pressing F7 during the input of survey lines will produce the course and distance of a line which would connect the beginning point of the first line entered and the ending point of the last line entered. HELP MENUS Version 1.7 also introduced help screens to the entry screen. Using the function keys the operator can obtain information during the actual input of survey data. On-screen information is believed to be self-explanatory.