LSD Docs/LSD Docs.iso/FILEZ/lsd23.dms/lsd23.adf/GBRoutePlus.doc.pp/GBRoutePlus.doc

Text File | 1990-09-07 | 25KB | 1,033 lines

                         GBROUTE PLUS EDITOR

                         Typed in by POACHER

    Why!! I don't know I have got better things to do with my time
   People can do what they want with this but remember who typed it


                           TABLE OF CONTENTS


Introduction.................................................Page 2

Requirements.................................................Page 3

Installation.................................................Page 3

Quick Start Guide............................................Page 4

Project Menu.................................................Page 7

  About......................................................Page 7

  SaveData...................................................Page 7

  AutoMove...................................................Page 7

  Quit.......................................................Page 7


Map Menu.....................................................Page 7

  Grid.......................................................Page 7

  Road Names.................................................Page 8

  Distances..................................................Page 8

  ShowAll....................................................Page 8


Places Window................................................Page 8

  Place:.....................................................Page 8

  Xpos:......................................................Page 9

  Ypos:......................................................Page 9

  NG:........................................................Page9

  Level......................................................Page 9

Routes Window................................................Page 10

  Place1:....................................................Page 10

  Place2:....................................................Page 10

  Distance:..................................................Page 11

  Road:......................................................Page 11





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OK and Cancel Gadgets........................................Page 11


ADD..........................................................Page 11

  Adding A Place.............................................Page 11

  Adding A Route.............................................Page 12

MOD..........................................................Page 12

  Modifying A Place..........................................Page 12

  Modifying A Route..........................................Page 13


DEL..........................................................Page 13

  Deleting A Place...........................................Page 13

  Deleting A Route...........................................Page 13


Duplicate Places.............................................Page 13


Service Stations.............................................Page 14


Road Junctions...............................................Page 14


Navigating The Map...........................................Page 14


Appendix - Keyboard Options..................................Page 15


IMPORTANT:


Please read this manual carefully before attempting to use GBRPlus
Edit and ensure that any changes are made to a back-up copy of the
program and not the original.  Always take great care when deleting
any places or roads from the data files.



INTRODUCTION

GBRoutePlusEdit/GBRPlusEdit (referred to henceforth as "the Editor" )
has been specifically written and designed as a powerful companion to
GBRoutePlus.  The Editor will allow the user to easily add or modify
GBRoutePlus,enabling the user to build up the data files to a much
higher degree.










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The possibilities are almost limitless and there are many examples of
how the editor can benefit the user,for example with the editor it is
possible to incorporate the following:-


The users home


The users workplace


Company branches


Friends and relatives homes


Additional roads and places


Tourist landmarks


Roadside hotels and public houses


Holiday sites


Future road changes



With the assistance of the editor the user can expand and personalise
the software and in doing so keep GBRoutePlus current and up to date.
The editor gives the user full control to add, modify or delete places
or routes within GBRoutePlus.



Of course there has to be some limitations and the greatest one is
that of available Amiga memory for example a 1 megabyte computer will
allow many extra data inputs but will eventually run short of memory.
Additional memory over the minimum requirement of 1 megabyte will
allow extensive input into GBRoutePlus data files.



REQUIREMENTS

GBRoutePlus Edit requires GBRoutePlus and will run on all standard
Amiga Computers A500, A1000,A1500, A2000 and A3000 with at least 1
megabyte of available memory.





INSTALLATION

To install the Editor on either disk or hard disk double click on the
appropriate installation program on the main GBRoutePlus disk.



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QUICK START GUIDE


The following is a step by step guide to adding two new places and one
new road that will connect both of the places together. After
completing the new additions there are further changes that then need
to be made, a guide will also be given as to what these changes are.

Please note that this guide is meant as an introduction to the basic
concept and uses the editor. Expanding on this procedure is the best
form of tuition and is highly recommended.

The two places that we are about to add to GBRoutePlus data file are
'Drumclog' and 'Dungavel'. The map location will be just south of
glasgow between Strathaven and Muirkirk. After loading the editor,
zoom down to the relevant map area by moving the mouse pointer south
of glasgow and holding down the CTRL key,and then clicking the left
mouse button. Eventually Strathaven should be visible and it is
immediately south of that point that we will be concentrating on.



a)Click the ADD gadget in the PLACES window, a text cursor will then
appear in the Place: input window.



b)Type in lower case the name 'Drumclog' and press return.



c)The text cursor will now appear in the Xpos: input window, study the
map display and notice the grid coordinates change with each zoom
level. Type in '887' and press return.



d)Next type in the Ypos: input window '1040'. See if you can see how
these coordinates have been reached. After pressing the return key the
NG: window or National Grid window will automatically fill out with
the coordinates 'NS6340';more on these later.



e)Type '6' in the Level: window, this is the level of magnification at
which the place 'drumclog' will be displayed.



f)Click the OK gadget in the Places window.



After completing the above steps the new place 'Drumclog' should now
be visible on the map. This process should now be repeated for the
second new place. To clear the input windows from the last entry click
on the CANCEL gadget in the Places window.








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The name of the second new place is 'Dungavel'. and the input data
should be typed as follows:-



a)As before


b)Place: Type 'Dungavel'


c)Xpos: Type '892'


d)Ypos: Type '1044'


e)Level: Type '6'


f)As before.


Once both new places have been added it is now time to join them
together by road as follows:-


a)Click the ADD gadget in the Routes: window, a text cursor will then
appear in the Place1: input window.


b)Type in the name 'Drumclog' and press return.


c)The cursor will now move to Place2: input window. Type in 'Dungavel'
and press return.


d)Type in the DIST: window the number '2' and press return. (Distance
in miles)


e)Now type in the name of the road in the Road: window 'B745' followed
by return.


f)Click on the OK gadget in the Routes: window.


There should now be displayed in the map window the two places
'drumclog' and 'Dungavel' connected by the 'B745' road. At this stage
it would be easy to assume that the work was finished, however,there
are some modifications that need to be made to the existing roads that
the new places have been incorporated onto. The changes are as
follows:-



a)Click the ADD gadget in the routes: window.


b)Type in the new place 'Drumclog' and press return.



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c)Then type in 'Strathaven' followed by return.


d)Now the distance in miles can be typed as '5'.


e)Type in the road name that connects the two places together which is
the 'A71'.


f)Finally click on the OK gadget in the Routes: window.


The above procedure should be repeated for all connecting roads
between the two places with their respective names and mileage details
being changed as necessary. The data should be added as follows:-


Place1:'Drumclog'     Place2:'Dungavel'       Place1:'Dungavel'

Place2:'Darvel'       Place2:'Strathaven'     Place2:'Muirkirk'

Dist:  '6'            Dist:  '6'              Dist:  '7'

Road:  'A71'          Road:  'A273'           Road   'A273'



Because of these actions there will now be two new places, one new
road and two seta of the older roads eg the 'A71' and 'A273'. The next
stage is to delete the older roads that do not include the new places,
this is achieved as follows:-


a)Click the DEL gadget in the Routes: window.



b)Type in the place 'Strathaven'.



c)Type in the place 'Darvel'.



d)Click the OK gadget in the Routes: window.



Finally repeat the above process for 'Strathaven' to 'Muirkirk'. After
checking through all the details carefully the data could now be saved
to the GBRoutePlus data files by selecting SAVE DATA option from the
project menu.



NOTE: The user should always ensure that all new input is correct
before saving to disk. Data can always be deleted from the data files
at a later stage, however,it is much easier and less confusing to get
things right in the first instance.




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PROJECT MENU



ABOUT



Contains various program information and displays the amount of free
chip memory,this is worth checking occasionally when inputting
additional data so as to avoid using too much memory. The users
personal registration number is also displayed here.



SAVE DATA



Saves to the GBROUTEPlus data files. It is possible to save data after
clicking on the 'OK' gadget in either the Routes or Places window
after adding, deleting or modifying. Ensure that any data is correct
before using this option.



AUTO MOVE



when this option is selected every time an existing place or route is
modified or when any new places and routes are entered, the map
display will automatically re-position itself to the centre of the
current selection. By de-selecting the Auto Move option the map
display will remain at its current position.



QUIT



Exits the editor. Before exiting, the editor will check if any changes
or modifications have been made, if there have been some changes and
they have not already been saved,the editor will produce a prompt
giving the user the chance to abort the exit allowing any work to then
be saved.



MAP MENU



GRID

Toggles the map grid in the map window on or off, generally this
option should be on when inputting any form of data since this assists
in the estimating the position of Xpos and Ypos. Also a dynamic Xpos
and Ypos value is shown in the bottom line of the editor panel this
value updates as the mouse is clicked within the map window.




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ROAD NAMES



When selected,road names will appear in the map window at
magnifications of X64 and greater.



DISTANCES


When selected, road distances will appear in the map window at
magnifications of X64 and greater. When the distances option is
selected together with the Road Names option, both forms of data are
displayed alongside each other.



SHOW ALL


Shows all of the roads on the map regardless of the level of
magnification.




PLACES WINDOW



PLACE:


The places input window is where places are entered into the program.
The place MUST be a unique name , when the message 'Place already
exists' appears it means:-

a)The user is trying to re-enter a place that is already present.

b)The user is entering a new place, but its name is not unique.


To overcome problem (b) the solution is to modify the place being
entered to include its county name or an abbreviation of the county
name, any other suitable identifier may also be used. The place may
then be re-entered with its unique name, the name used must be at
least three characters long.



The editor will automatically capitalize the first character of any
name, this means that the preceding letters in places such as road
junctions need to be manually capitalized, for example


a) J a1234/b4321

b) J A1234/B4321





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In  (a) the 'J' is automatically capitalized whereas the 'a' and 'b'
are left in  lower case. It is not absolutely necessary to make use of
capital letters but it does keep the data input in line with the rest
of GBRoutePlus.


There are two methods used for positional input:


1) An input can have an X and Y position which is used internally by
the editor and represented by the grid in the map display.


2) An input can be entered in the form of a National Grid Reference.



Either method may be used, however the X and Y coordinate system is
more accurate than the National Grid Reference System method



XPOS:


A number between 1 and 2048 can be used. The Xpos is represented on
the grid by the horizontal ruler at the bottom of the map display and
is also shown in the bottom line of the editor panel.



YPOS:


A number between 1 and 2048 can be used. The Ypos is represented on
the grid by the two vertical rulers either side of the map display and
is also shown in the bottom line of the editor panel.



NG:


This is the input window for the National Grid Reference which
consists of two letters followed by a four digit number. The NG: input
window will automatically display the National Grid Coordinates if the
equivalent X and Y positions are entered first. Entering a valid
National Grid Reference will also give the equivalent X and Y
position.



LEVEL:


A number between 0 and 8 inclusive. This number represents at what
level of magnification a place will appear on the map. The choice of
'Level' also determines which identifier will proceed a place name.
The current level of magnification is shown at the bottom of the
screen in the form of a number together with the current Xpos, Ypos
and National Grid Coordinates. The mouse pointer may be placed in the
map



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window to help identify the position of places to be entered using the
Xpos and Ypos coordinates. The data from the pointer grid location
will be updated as the pointer is moved within the map window.



NOTE: An identifier is placed over the point on the map that is
represented by the place name, the size of the identifier is also an
indication as to the size of the place that it represents. If the
identifier is large then the place is probably a city, and if the
identifier is a small dot then the place it represents is probably a
road junction or similar.


The following is a guide to how the level numbers are used:-


0 - Major cities


1 - Large cities


2 - Other cities


3 - Major towns


4 - Towns


5 - Small towns


6 - Small towns,villages,motorway junctions and service stations


7 - Road junctions


8 - No data uses this as standard, but this is available to the user


This is only a rough guide and it is entirely up to the user to make
use of these options. For the most part the user will probably only be
concerned with levels 5, 6, 7 and 8.



ROUTES WINDOW

The Routes window is in general the input device for all roads and
motorways.


PLACE1: and PLACE2:

These are the input windows for the two places that are found at
either end of a given road. The places must already be present in the
data files. Each stretch of road must always be connected to a PLACE1:
and PLACE2: for example, a direct route from London to Manchester is
not viable due to the fact that there are many places in between


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DISTANCE:


The distance in miles between PLACE1: and PLACE2:. Any integer value
between 1 and 255 is valid.


ROAD:


This is the name of the road between PLACE1: and PLACE2:. The road can
be a Motorway, A road, B road or even a ferry route, a road name
prefix of either 'M', 'A', 'B' or 'F' respectively should be used.
There is one minor exception to this rule which is 'A' roads that are
classed as Motorways are represented in GBROUTEPlus as 'M(A1)' and not
A1(M). The reason for this is because GBROUTEPLUS uses the first
character of the road name to determine the class of road.


OK and CANCEL


The OK gadgets confirm and validate the ADD DELete or MODify
operation. The CANCEL gadgets clear all input windows either in the
PLACES or ROUTES windows.




ADD


ADDING A PLACE


Before adding a new place to the database a decision should be made as
to whether the new place to be added is:-


a)Somewhere on an existing road


b)Isolated from existing roads



In case (b), a place can simply be added followed by road(s) from a
place(s) nearby.


Case (a) will tend to be more likely and the following procedure
should be adopted:-


i)    Zoom into the area where the new place is to be added.


ii)   Check the grid markings to determine the Xpos and Ypos position.


iii)  Select the ADD icon in the places window




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iv)   Type in the name of the new place, (if a message appears stating
that the place already exists, see the section on duplicate places)


v)    Type in the XPos and Ypos coordinates.

vi)   Type in the magnification level

vii)  Click on the OK gadget.


At this stage the new place should be visible at the centre of the
display window. If the new place is incorrectly positioned, see the
section on Modifying places.


When adding a place to an existing road the mileage data should be re-
calculated from all of the connecting places adjoining the new place.
The older route that did not originally include the new place should
then be erased. See the sections on adding and deleting routes.



ADDING A ROUTE


Adding a road to a place is very simple to do. First select the ADD
gadget from the Routes window and type in the two places to be
connected (these should already be present in the data files), then
type in the distance in miles between the two places. Finally type the
name of the connecting road remembering to use a road type prefix as
described earlier. Once the input is complete click the OK gadget in
the routes window.



As new places are added to existing roads, the roads need to be
modified so as to take into consideration the new place. This is
achieved by adding or modifying the roads and mileage between the new
places.




MOD


MODIFYING A PLACE


To modify any data for a place, first click on the MOD gadget in the
places window and then type in the name of the place to be modified,
if the place exists within the data files the Xpos and Ypos and level
input windows will show its current details. The user will also notice
that the word 'locked' will appear above the MOD gadget. This means
that the currently selected data is locked in place. It is now
possible to change the place name to any other unique name. To cancel
the 'locked' setting either click on the MOD gadget again or click on
the CANCEL gadget which will then clear all the input windows.






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When the necessary modifications have been made the user can then
click on the OK gadget to validate any changes.



MODIFYING A ROUTE


Modifying a route allows the user to change the name of a road and its
mileage between any two given places


To modify an existing route select the MOD gadget in the routes
window. Type in the two places that are at either end of the
respective route, the distance and the road name will then appear in
their appropriate windows. It is now possible to modify the data,
however it is not possible to modify the place names. (See Modifying A
place) Click on the OK gadget when the changes have been made.



DEL


DELETING A PLACE


NOTE: If a place to be deleted has any roads attached to it, these
roads will also be deleted.


To delete a place select the DEL gadget in the places window and enter
the name of the place to be deleted, and then click on the OK gadget.


DUPLICATE PLACES



GBRoutePlus requires  that each place has a unique name,, however
there are circumstances when there is more than one place with the
same name. This problem is easily overcome(shit I think I've got
blisters on my fingers) by including at the end of each duplicate name
its county or an abbreviation of its county, which as a general rule
should be enclosed in brackets for clarity


For example:-

If the user wished to include a new town called 'Bury in Norfolk' the
procedure  would be to select ADD from the places window and then type
in 'Bury', however the editor would then produce a message stating
that the place already exists. In this situation two steps should be
taken to rectify the problem. Select MOD in the places window and then
modify the existing 'Bury' to 'Bury' '(Gt.Mches.)' and click on the OK
gadget, then select ADD in the places window and type in
'Bury'(Norfolk).








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After completing the rest of the input data and then clicking on the
OK gadget there should now be two 'Bury's' which are easily identified
and unique.


Of course it is possible to enter just 'Bury(Norfolk)' and leave the
'Bury' in Greater Manchester as 'Bury', however it is much more
suitable in the case of name duplication to clearly distinguish
between the two as this makes selection much simpler and less
confusing.




SERVICE STATIONS


Service stations are a special case within GBRoutePlus. These are
entered by preceding the service station name with the prefix of '!S',
the editor will automatically capitalize the prefix if it is entered
in lower case.




ROAD JUNCTIONS


Entering a road junction instead of a name is considered as a last
resort, entering a place by its name is more appropriate due to the
fact that during a trip the name of a place is much easier to remember
and make use of than that of a road junction number. However some road
junctions cannot be identified by a name. If this is the case the
usual format for data input is in the form of:- 'J 1st road/2nd road'


For example:-

i)  J A234/B5678


ii) J M(A1)/A54


Note: that road junctions are normally assigned to level 7



NAVIGATING THE MAP


The editor handles zooming and moving around the screen in the same
way as GBRoutePlus. To zoom in a level hold down the CTRL key and
click on the part of the map that you wish to focus on, the Map
display will then move to the next level of magnification and centre
the display at the point where the mouse pointer was clicked. This
system works in reverse by holding down the ALT key and clicking the
mouse.







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To centre the Map display without changing the magnification levels
hold down the SHIFT key and click the mouse button.



In addition to clicking on the various gadgets at the bottom right
corner of the screen, it is also possible to both scroll buy using the
cursor keys, and to zoom using the '+' and '-' keys on either the
numeric pad or the main keyboard.





APPENDIX - KEYBOARD OPTIONS


The following list is a summary of short-cut keyboard options:


Right Amiga + X    Clears text from input window

Right Amiga + ?    About

RIGHT AMIGA + S    Save Data

Right Amiga + A    Auto Move

Right Amiga + Q    (Guess)

Right Amiga + G    Toggles Grid

Right Amiga + R    Toggles Road Names

Right Amiga + D    Toggles Distances

Right Amiga + L    Toggles Show All



CTRL + LMB will zoom in a level and centre the map display at the
mouse pointer

ALT + LMB will zoom out a level and centre the map display at the
mouse pointer

SHIFT + LMB will centre the map at the mouse pointer



 THAT'S YOUR LOT APART FROM THE FRONT AND BACK COVER THIS DOCUMENT IS
100% CORRECT













06 NOV. 91                        -15-                         Poacher