home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
AOL File Library: 3,701 to 3,800
/
aol-file-protocol-4400-3701-to-3800.zip
/
AOLDLs
/
Other Special Interests
/
TIDE_ V1.1 Ocean Tides
/
TIDEZIP.exe
/
README.TXT
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1994-11-25
|
11KB
|
303 lines
Notes on TIDE.EXE v1.1
Although this program is shareware, it is copyrighted and
may be used only by registered users. See the end of this
file for registration information.
Overview:
TIDE calculates tidal heights and tidal current
velocities for any time beginning with the adoption of the
Gregorian calendar (Oct. 15, 1582) through the 21st. century.
The program presents the user with a calendar for selecting
beginning and ending times for the time series. A graphic
plot of the series may then be displayed and printed.
Routines are available for changing stations, viewing
individual constituents, saving data to a disk file, viewing
max-min times and values, setting program defaults, and
creating user defined stations.
Using TIDE:
The program may be configured to initially display
the calendar or a plot of the tide for the current day (as
determined by the computer's internal time setting). When
the program is run for the first time it creates an
initialization file (tide.ini) that contains settings which
determine the default station, whether to initially show the
calendar or tide plot etc. (When moving the program files to
another computer be sure to delete the TIDE.INI file). The
initial setting is to show the calendar when the program
loads. The calendar shows the days in the current month and
the moon phases. The current day is highlighted with a square
yellow cursor. Full Moon is the filled (blue moon) circle.
A time series may be selected by using the arrow
keys on the keyboard to move the yellow cursor to the start
day and typing a "B" (beginning), then moving the cursor the
end day and typing "E" (end). The text below the calendar
shows the selected beginning and ending dates. Typing "T"
(tide) will display a plot of the tide.
Calendar Functions:
When in the calendar display the user has access to
several program functions. These functions are as
follows:
Changing month or year: Typing lowercase "n" or "l"
changes to next or last month. Typing uppercase "N"
or "L" changes to next or last year.
Moving to a particular date: Use the "d" (date) key
to change the beginning and ending dates. Dates
must be entered as MM/DD/YYY HH:MM with a single
space between the year and the hour. If it is
necessary to change only the year, use the "y"
command and input the year.
Changing the calculation interval: The interval
used for calculating the tidal series is initially
set to 1/2 hour (0:30). The interval can be
changed by typing "I" and entering the new interval
in the format HH:MM (hours:minutes). The choice of
a calculation interval is dependent upon the
available memory. Approximately 10,000 intervals
are available, depending on available computer ram
below 640k. This number of intervals is sufficient
to calculate a year of tide data (8760 intervals).
If just a few days of data is to be calculated,
choosing a shorter interval such as 30 minutes gives
a smoother plot. Note: although a math coprocessor
is not required calculations will take considerably
longer without one.
Changing the Station: The "s" command changes the
tidal station. The user is presented with a list of
available stations. Use the up and down arrow keys
to move the highlight to the required station and
press enter to accept the change. The Page Up and
Page Down keys are used to view additional stations.
The "C" and "H" keys are used to select tidal
Current or tidal Height stations. All stations
residing in the default path are automatically
displayed.
Displaying High/Low water or max/min current values:
Choose "w" to display a list of the times and values
of high and low water and max/min and 0 current
velocity. The values can also be sent to the
default printer.
Options: The "o" command allows the user to change
program defaults or to input data for a user
defined station. The options are as follows:
1. Reset program defaults:
1. Set default station to current
value: This option saves the
currently selected station as
the default station which is used
each time the program is run.
2. Set default calculation interval
to current value: The current
calculation interval will be used
each time the program is run.
3. Show Calendar or Plot of current
day's tide when program is loaded:
Gives the user the option of showing
a plot of the current day's tide
without having to use the calendar
to select beginning and ending times.
This is useful for quickly getting
a picture of today's tide.
4. Show High/Low water - Max/Min
velocity on tide plot: Automatically
shows these times on the tide plot.
Because these values use additional
memory, their use reduces the
available length of the time series.
5. Show values in Feet-Knots or
Meters-M/Sec: Values can be
displayed in English or Metric
units.
6. Select Printer: Displays a list
of printers supported by DOS.
Select by typing the letter of one
of the listed printers. Note: a
printer must be selected before the
program will print a plot.
The next two choices change parameters for
the current session only, and are not saved
as defaults.
2. Show High/Low water on tide plot:
Automatically shows these times on the tide
plot. Because these values use additional
memory, their use reduces the available
length of the time series.
3. Show values in Feet-Knots or Meters-M/Sec:
Values can be displayed in English or Metric
units.
4. Input/modify constituents for a user
defined station: This selection allows
the user to create new stations which
can then be used for tidal predictions.
The user must have the constituents for
the new station.
You must know the first 8 characters of
the file name of an existing station or
you must input a new file name. Note:
tide height stations must end with the
extension *.cht and current stations with
the extension *.crt. Do not type these
extensions as they are automatically
appended by the program.
The constituents are the standard 38
constituents used by the NOS. It is
possible to import constituents from an
existing station and save them under a new
file name. This might be useful for
example, when creating a new station upriver
of an existing station whose constituents
are known. Phases and amplitudes of the
unknown constituents at the new station can
be adjusted by "trial and error" until they
approximate observations. (good luck!)
The new station must be given a name
(up to 70 characters) before it can be
saved.
Tide Plot Functions:
Constituents: Allows the user to display selected
constituents on the tide plot. Select the
constituents to plot by typing the numbers
preceeding the constituent. A constituent may be
deselected by retyping the two number code.
Selected constituents are labelled with a >
character. Selection 39 is the default and displays
the sum of all constituents. Selection 38 displays
the sum of only the selected constituents, not
including 39. To view the selected constituents
choose "s" to save changes and exit to the tide
plot. Be sure to turn off the display of max/min
values before viewing constituents.
Change Station: The "s" command changes the tidal
station. The user is presented with a list of
available stations. Use the up and down arrow keys
to move the highlight to the required station and
press enter to accept the change. The Page Up and
Page Down keys are used to view additional stations.
The "C" and "H" keys are used to select tidal
Current or tidal Height stations. All stations
residing in the default path are automatically
displayed.
File: Saves the data to a disk file. Input the
first 8 characters of the file name. A file
extension of *.txt is automatically appended to the
file name. The format of the file is:
Station Name
Beginning date/time, Ending date/time, Interval
value
value
value...
The first value corresponds to the beginning date/
time and suceeding values correspond to previous
time + interval. This file format was chosen
because of the ease with which it can be imported
into a spreadsheet such as Excel where a time series
can be easily created.
Calendar: Returns the user to the calendar display.
Max-Min: Toggles the display/calculation of max-min
values. Turn off Max-Min if individual constituents
are displayed.
Requirements:
DOS v5.0 or higher, VGA display, 640k ram, and any
printer supported by the DOS 'Graphics' driver (IBM
compatible or Laserjet).
Please let me know if you find errors.
Paul L. Gay
Box N147
Westport, MA 02790
(508-636-6883)
Notes:
The program uses the DOS Graphics driver to dump the screen
to the printer. Printing problems have been reported with
VESA local bus systems. Make sure that the DOS Graphics
driver is in the path.
When moving the program files to another computer be sure
to delete the TIDE.INI file. This file holds information
about a particular computer's configuration and will
probably not be correct for another computer. If TIDE.INI
does not exist the program will automatically create a new
one.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Although this program is shareware, it is copyrighted and may
be used only by registered users. The cost of registration is
$20.00 U.S. Use of the information provided by the program
is at the risk of the user and no warranty is stated or
implied. To register the program, please fill out the
following form and send $20.00 to:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
TIDE PROGRAM ORDER FORM
Name __________________________________________________________
Address__________________________________________________________
City _______________________________ State____ Zip___________
Check Tide Database
One database is included, additional databases at $5.00 each
__ Northeast Atlantic (Canada-NJ)
__ Mid Atlantic (NJ-GA)
__ Souteast & Gulf
__ Pacific (West Coast to AK)
Free Software Manual included with registration.
Tide Program Registration $20.00
Additional Database $5.00 each ______
TOTAL ______
Send to:
Paul L. Gay
Box N147
Westport, MA 02790
(508-636-6883)
-----------------------------------------------------------------