MAPPER-3a/London 1.7.02 (C) UK 1995,1996 Steve Litchfield ========================================================= Released 4th March 1996 Registration fee: First time users: œ12 Existing Mapper-3a/GB users: œ6 Registration address (send cheque to) : Steve Litchfield 22 Grays Crescent Woodley Reading, Berks RG5 3EN For future updates of this program: Download from Compuserve (Palmtop forum, Psion Files library), CIX (Mapper/files), or from the Internet at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/slitchfield If you have no on-line access, then simply send me a Stamped Addressed Envelope with a formatted floppy disk and œ1.50 in stamps, and I'll send the latest versions of Mapper-3a in all its variants, a Mapper-3a newsletter and a 3-Lib catalogue. Mapper-3a/London requires a Psion Series 3a or Acorn PocketBook II, with approximately 100k of free system memory to run in. Changes for v1.7: (since v1.6) Expanded area of coverage to include up to and past the M25 to the *west* of London only; removed restriction on unregistered users not being able to add their own places; extra tweaks to the GPS code to make it work more reliably with non-standard GPS units; tuned road display code and ordering to speed up display by up to 50% on many views; tweaked auto-detail slightly; checks for non-settings file before opening to guard against user error; place names shown larger according to importance at higher zoom levels; on-the-road distancing tweaked slightly to improve distance estimates; GPS.OVL module integrated into the main .OPA file, (& so can be deleted if you have this module already on your machine); NOTE: Although the main overlays (roads, tube, railways, postcodes etc) have been extended over the extra area covered by Mapper-3a/London v1.7, some of the lesser overlays still only cover the original more central region of Greater London. This small omission will be rectified in a future release. ======================================================================= MAPPER-3a/London is shareware. This does not make it a free program! Yes, you can copy it freely to friends or acquaintances, or even upload the original ZIP file to bulletin boards etc, but if you like it and continue to use it, then you are honour-bound to register the program by sending me a cheque for œ12 (pounds), or œ6 if you've already registered the main Mapper-3a Great Britain product. If you're on Compuserve, you can use the SWREG system instead, using ID 7035 (or ID 7173 if you've already registered the GB version etc). Registration gets you: a) a clear conscience that you're using paid-for software, and that you're helping support future development of the MAPPER-3a program family and other quality Psion shareware software. b) a special code that will personalise your copy of MAPPER-3a/London, remove the opening and closing shareware screens and let you shrink or remove the status window to give more room on-screen. No need to re-install the software, just use the registration menu option and type in the code! c) A direct say in how the program develops. *********************************************************************** ******************** IMPORTANT!! ******************************** *********************************************************************** This text file documents the history of the program, its installation, and some of the more technical aspects to running it. For general help in using and understanding MAPPER-3a/London, please browse through the *extensive* on-line help. This help is the only documentation of most of MAPPER-3a/London's features, so work through it properly! 8-) *********************************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This is MAPPER-3a/London, released as shareware. All rights reserved, and copyrights, including the database files and their format, where appropriate (see listings below). All data sets are original work, created specially for this application, and were collated using public domain information and data gathered from personally-owned GPS units. If you'd like to contribute an item or vector data set, then go right ahead! Note that Mapper-3a/GB (v3.9) and Mapper-3a/Ireland (v1.2) are also currently available as shareware, as of 20th February 1996. Memory requirements ------------------- MAPPER-3a/London needs approximately 100k of system memory while running. If you try to start it with less than this amount available, it will hopefully warn you and exit. A *full* installation of Mapper-3a/London will take about 230k. This includes documentation and tutor files. Components and Installation. ---------------------------- Mapper-3a/London may be one of the largest and most complex programs you'll ever have to install on your Psion, so don't get frustrated if you can't seem to work out how to get everything going immediately. Try installing another (simpler) program first, and then try Mapper-3a/London again when you're more confident with files, directories etc. You're on a learning curve, so don't give up too soon! NOTE: Before installing Mapper-3a/London, do the following. Go into 'Set Preferences' on your system screen menu and set 'Update lists' to "System Button". If you don't do this, the 3a will try and update all its lists after *every* file is copied, which will take ages .... If you are a MCLINK user: Note that an example MCLINK script file is included, called INSTALL.SCR, which you'll need to customise for yourself by changing the disk names to suit your set-up and then use it to save yourself some typing! To use it, start MCLINK and type @INSTALL.SCR If you use RCOM: The MCLINK script above will still work, but you'll have to manually create the appropriate directories on your Psion's disk etc. You can do this in one step by using the 'Make Directory' menu option to create \APP\MAPPERLO\ on your chosen SSD etc. In RCOM, you can then run the script with "CALL INSTALL.SCR" ... If you use PsiWin (or Winlink?): You're definitely going to have to do it all manually, but at least you can do it all with 'drag and drop'! You'll need to create the \APP\ and the \APP\MAPPERLO\ directories by hand using the 'Create Directory' menu command. A good tip is to sort the unzipped files by extension/type, i.e. all the .MP7s together, and so on. You can highlight blocks of files in PsiWin by clicking on the first one and then holding the key down and clicking on the last one. ALl files in between will now be highlighted as well, and you can drag and drop the lot in one go across to your Psion's drives!! If all else fails refer either to the list below, or to the INSTALL.SCR script file, both of which should give you enough clues as to where things go! {Inside the ZIP are the following files, file sizes quoted to help you decide on whether to install certain overlays etc. Contributor information also included where known or appropriate} MAPPERLO.TXT - this file! MAPPERLO.OPA - the main program module. Place this in an \APP\ directory on any Psion drive, and install onto your system screen with Psion-I. Size - 54k plus essential support files, to be placed in a \APP\MAPPERLO\ subdirectory on the same disk: MAPLHELP.RSC - the comprehensive on-line help file - 12k USEFUL.RSC - a help file of some useful numbers - 2k LONDON.MP5 - a data-set of approximately 600 places - 15k COASTLON.MP6 - a data-set showing the Thames estuary and a few reservoirs & lakes - 2k ROADS.MP5 - a data-set of the London road network - 33k MAPPERLO.PIC - essential small bitmaps - 3k plus extra overlays, which you can install as you wish; they all go into the aforementioned \APP\MAPPERLO\ directory ... Vector overlays (i.e. lines and labels) (Thanks to Tony Crocker for his help in making these) POSTCODE.MP8 - a vector overlay of the postcode boundaries - 20k RAILTRAK.MP8 - a vector overlay of the main-line railway routes - 5k TUBELINE.MP8 - a vector overlay of all the tube lines, laid out properly (i.e. geographically, not diagrammatically) - 3k TUBEZONE.MP8 - a vector overlay of the tube charge zones - 1k Optional item overlays (i.e. specific points and labels and reference info): PSION.MP7 - Psion company sites - 1k MAINLINE.MP7 - main-line railway routes - 6k - (contributed by Tony Crocker) TUBE.MP7 - tube (underground) stations, with their line name(s) shown as abbreviations - 8k PLACES.MP7 - places of interest, with their phone numbers - 2k HOTELS.MP7 - a large selection of hotels across London - 6k NCP_PARK.MP7 - NCP car parks in London - 3k POLICE.MP7 - Police stations - 8k - (contributed by Peter Osmond) PIZZA.MP7 - selected Pizza restaurants across London - 4k KENTUCKY.MP7 - Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants - 3k (contributed by someone, but I can't remember who!) GOLF.MP7 - golf courses across London - 3k MARKETS.MP7 - markets, with their optimum visiting times - 2k (contributed by Tony Crocker) YHA.MP7 - youth hostels in the London area, most allow overnight stays for under 20 pounds - 1k THEATRES.MP7 - theatres across London - 3k (contributed by Tony Crocker & Gordon Drayson) CINEMAS.MP7 - cinemas - 4k (contributed by Gordon Drayson) PETROL.MP7 - filling stations - 6k- (contributed by Gordon Drayson) BIGMACS.MP7 - some MacDonalds restaurants - 3k - (contributed by Tony Crocker) MRCLUTCH.MP7 - Mr Clutch service centres - 1k - (by Tony Crocker) Notes: 1) Each of the .MP7 overlays listed above has an associated .PIC file of the same name. These are the on-screen icons for overlays, and will be used if present in the main \APP\MAPPERLO\ directory. If they are not present, a default 'star' icon will be used .... 2) Some of the overlays may also have text files (*.TXT) and/or database files (*.DBF), depending on whether the original compiler of the overlay supplied one. The text files can be read as usual, and describe the overlay in more detail. The database files are for opening in DATA and then linking into via Mapper-3a's menu options. 3) Some of the lesser overlays above only cover the more central areas of the capital. More overlays and extensions to these are planned for future versions. 4) Each of the overlays includes reference information for each item (for example, telephone contact numbers), and this can be displayed by turning 'Overlay Reference Fields' On. As I say, all the above support files live in the \APP\MAPPERLO\ directory. Tutorial -------- I've also included a small tutorial file, LONTUTOR.WRD, which you may want to put in a \WRD\ directory and read as you go, in WORD. Deleting info from the custom town database, \OPD\MAPPERLO.DBF -------------------------------------------------------------- The \OPD\MAPPERLO.DBF file is editable under DATA, so you can delete individual towns etc and modify them in this way. Please remember to compress the file before exiting DATA ! Grabbing the current map screen as a PIC file --------------------------------------------- You may well want to grab a map screen as a standard Psion .PIC file, for printing or editing using DRAW (see small print at end) or PAINT or any other 3a bit-map editor. Grabbing the 3a screen is done with pressing 'Control', 'Shift', 'Psion' and 'S' simultaneously (it's easier to do than it sounds) and lo and behold a file called SCREEN.PIC will have appeared in the root directory (\) of your internal disk ... _+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_ Thanks for trying MAPPER-3a/London! If you decide to remove MAPPER-3a/London from your Psion, please note that it creates several small files in \OPD\ on your default disk. MAPPERLO.DBF (custom place database), MAPPERLO.REG (your registration key, once I've given it to you) and assorted .LSF files (used to store your preferences and position etc from session to session). If you've created any custom overlays or their icons, there may also be a few files in an \APP\MAPPERLO\ directory on your internal disk ... Small print: ------------ 1) Reverse engineering of the program or data modules is strictly forbidden. Attempts to try and 'crack' the methods used by me to protect MAPPER-3a from reverse translation are also forbidden. If you would like to create a complementary program and use my data-sets, then please get in touch with me, I'm a nice chap and will almost certainly agree! Mapper-3a/London was built using Andy Clarkson's OPP code development system. 2) Please note that I also run 3-Lib, *the* clearing-house for Psion public domain and shareware software. Send me a stamped self-addressed envelope to the above address, and I'll return the latest catalogue. All programs mentioned in MAPPER-3a or its documentation are available from 3-Lib for a nominal copying charge. 3) A useful related program to have available for editing and cropping any screen-grabs you do in MAPPER-3a is DRAW 2.8, by Rick Andrews. This is a S3a-only full bitmap editor and manipulator and is also shareware, available wherever you got MAPPER-3a from. Highly recommended. 4) You can contact me via email at slitchfield@cix.compulink.co.uk, or on Compuserve: 100640,107, if you'd like. To speed up registrations, you can quote your email address for quick return of your registration code. If you're on Compuserve, you can register using the SWREG service (id 7035 or 7173). 5) On-line support for MAPPER-3a/London, including test versions and extra utilities are provided in the 'mapper' conference on CIX and 'Palmtop' forum on Compuserve. Up-to-date Mapper-3a information can be found on the Web at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/slitchfield 6) If you give MAPPER-3a/London to a friend (as is encouraged with shareware!), then it's always best to give him/her the original ZIP files. If the transfer takes place by SSD, then remember to include both the main MAPPERLO.OPA program and the \APP\MAPPERLO\ subdirectory full of data files. Do *not* give your friend your MAPPERLO.REG registration file, as this is unique to you and contains *your* name, and subsequent piracy will tell the world who started the outbreak! 7) Thanks to all the testers and contributors out there, who have supplied ideas, support, bug-reports, data, code fragments etc. You are too numerous to mention! If *you* find a bug or spot an error etc in any of the overlays, then please get in touch! 8) Note that the Northings/Eastings and National Grid coordinate systems within the Mapper-3a program family are used with the kind written permission of Ordnance Survey. 9) Note on copyrights etc.: be careful to only make use of publicly available and public domain data sources when compiling any overlays or town/item plans, unless of course you sourced the information (from memory?) in the first place! Steve Litchfield ============================================================================