Fritz: All Fritz/All Fritz.zip/All Fritz/FILES/AVIATHER/DUATDCOD.LZH/READ_ME.1ST

Text File | 1990-03-21 | 6KB | 112 lines

Welcome to the Small Systems Specialists DUAT weather service decoder.

The DUAT system was kindly provided by our tax dollars to provide a direct
way for pilots to get current and forcast weather conditions and file
flight plans.  Unfortunately, the weather gurus luv t spek in shrt wrds
so no1 cn undrstnd thm.  Back in the old day of slow teletype communications
this systems probably made some sense, but this is 1990 and I'd rather
have my weather report in english.

So here's what we did...

We have provided a simple to use computer program which scans DUAT format
(any vendor's) and upon encountering one of those nasty contractions,
expands it into everyday english.  In addition, because we found out that
the list of contractions we got from AOPA and the AIM was incomplete, we
have provided a facility for you to add your own contractions to the
database when required.  We do provide over 400 contractions in the list
provided, and find that it does a pretty good job of decoding the breifings
we've received to date.

The Programs Provided:

READ_ME.1ST     You already know about this one.
DECODE.EXE      This is the DUAT decoder.
ENCODE.EXE      This is the program to compile your additions to the
                data base into a form that the program can use.
CNTRCTNS.TXT    This is the raw ASCII list to contractions and expansions
                known to the system.
CNTRCTNS.DAT    This is the post compiled database of contractions.
XPANSION.DAT    This is the post compiled database of expansions.
SAMPLE.LOG      This is a sample DUAT session captured using Procomm.

Please distribute this program via any BBS or Sharewhere distributer.
Keep ALL FILES together in one .ZIP or .ARC file and DO NOT ALTER
either the program or this text file in any way!!!

Instructions:

DECODE.EXE

To run this program, simply invoke it from any convient DOS command line.
The program will prompt you for an input file, this is the captured
DUAT session (SAMPLE.LOG is just such a file), and an output file.  The
output file may be a disk file or device name where the decoded output
is to sent.  Examples of output files are CON for console (video display)
output, PRN for printed output, DECODED.TXT for a disk file named as such.
The output may be paused in the usual bizzare DOS manor by pressing
the PAUSE key (on newer keyboards) or the CTRL-NUMLOCK key on older
computers.  The data files CNTRCTNS.DAT and XPANSION.DAT must be in the
directory so that the DEOCDE program can find them.  CNTRCTNS.TXT
and ENCODE.EXE do not need to be on the same directory as they are only
used to update the .DAT files for use.  When printing decoded breifings
to your printer, use condensed print mode as the decoded lines are
much longer than the encoded lines.

This version (the FREE version!) does not understand the context of
some contractions.  For example, S can mean SOUTH or it can mean SNOW.
This may cause come minor confusion from time to time.  The latest version
contains bells and whistles which can extract the meaning of the redundant
contractions from context and provide a better printout.  This
provides incentive for the casual user to fork over the $10 donation
to the author so that he can feed his family.


ENCODE.EXE

ENCODE adds new contractions and expansions to the database.  Add the new
data to CNTRCTNS.TXT using any text editor (word processor) which can
output an ASCII file.  Suitable editors are QEDIT, WORDSTAR, EDLIN, etc.
The CNTRCTNS.TXT file must be arranged according to a simple but
manditory master plan:

        1: No Blank lines are allowed
        2: You may add comments to the listing by beginning the
           line with a "*" (see file provided)
        3: Every contraction must appear in UPPER CASE on a line
           by it's self with no stray spaces before or after it.
        4: Each expansion must appear on the line immediately following
           it's contraction.
        5: I put the contractions in alphabetical order to make the
           file easier to edit.  This is not manditory.

The format is simple, and the CNTRCTNS.TXT file is easily printed or
edited to add or delete as desired.  The program can handle about 2000
contractions total (depending upon the RAM in your system) before
suffering overload.  The provided file contains about 400 contractions.

When the ENCODE.EXE program is run from the DOS command line, it will
scan the CNTRCTNS.TXT file and create the two files CNTRCTNS.DAT and
XPANSIONS.DAT from it.  The reason for this process is to speed up
the decoding.  The DECODE program uses an indexed random access file
system to quickly decode the large array of contractions and expansions.


--- P L E A S E   P A Y   F O R   T H I S   P R O G R A M   S O M E   D A Y ---

If you find yourself using this program more than once, the author would
appreciate a donation of $10 for his time and effort.  While it is true
that the program would have been written anyway, we do like knowing that
our bills are that much closer to being paid (etc etc).  Upon recipt
of your donation, you will receive not only the authors heartfelt thanks,
but a fresh diskette containing the VERY LATEST release of the software
with even more bells and whistles than were originally used to impress
you.  (5.25" 360k format unless otherwise specified)

Please send cash, check or money order to:
                     Small Systems Specialists
                         16 Lincoln Drive
                        Raymond, NH  03077

THANK YOU!