Navrules for Windows Version 1.1 Copyright (c) 1994 - Bruce Pennypacker May 15, 1994 Disclaimer ---------- This program is supplied "as is". No warrantee, implied or explicit, is made with regard to this program or it's fitness. Under no circumstances will the author be held liable for any damages that may be incurred by using this program, even if the author has been notified in advance of the possibilities of such damages. In some states there are limitations to the disclaimer of an implicit warrantee. If, for any reason, the author is found liable for damages as a result of use of this program, such damages will be limited to the amount paid for this program, which, according to the distribution authorized by the author, is nothing. About Navrules -------------- Navrules is a very simple program for learning the light patterns, sound signals, and dayshapes of both the Inland and International Navigation Rules. This version of Navrules (1.0 CGA) was written specifically as a training aid for the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. It may be used and distributed freely within the United States Coast Guard community (Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary, and Coast Guard Reserve) and official Coast Guard communities of other nations. The first version of Navrules was a very simple "bare-bones" DOS program that was entirely text based and could be run on both monochrome and color computers without any problems. This version of Navrules requires Windows 3.1 (or later) and a color monitor. A sound card is also recommended, but not required. Navrules and sound cards ------------------------ In order to learn or test the sound signal portion of this program a Windows compatible sound system capable of playing Wave (*.WAV) files is necessary. For computers that are not equipped with a sound card, a special driver has been provided with this program. Run the program SPEAK.EXE from DOS and read the file AUDIO.TXT that was created. This describes how to install a driver that will enable the PC's internal speaker to play Wave files. The quality of sounds played over the PC's speaker is not as high as if a sound card were installed, but is sufficient for this program. If you do install the enclosed PC speaker sound driver, the following steps should be taken: - From the Setup window of the PC speaker driver (click on the "Drivers" icon in the Control Panel, select "Sound Driver for PC Speaker", then click on the "Setup..." button), set the "Seconds to limit playback" to a minimum of 7 seconds. This will prevent the driver from halting the playback of sound signals before they have completed. - From the same Setup window, turn off the "Enable interrupts during playback" option. This will prevent the sound signals from becoming scratchy due to events such as movement of the mouse, etc. - Installing this driver will cause Windows to play various sounds when various events occur. These events include the starting and shutting down of Windows. If these sounds are not desired (or want to be changed) then click on the "Sound" icon in the Control Panel. Turning off the "Enable System Sounds" option will prevent these sounds from occuring in the future. Running Navrules ---------------- When Navrules is run, a window will appear with a display screen containing a series of nautical flags and four buttons below the display. Selecting one of the choices from the "Learn" or "Quiz" menus will begin a study or test of light patterns, sound signals, or dayshapes. The display will differ based on which rules are being viewed: - For light patterns, a dark screen will appear with a pattern of lights representing one of the rules. When one of the buttons at the bottom of the window is pressed, a silhouette of a vessel will be displayed as well as the light pattern. Clicking a button again will proceed to the next rule. - For sound signals, a vessel will be displayed or a description of the current conditions will be displayed as the sound plays. While the sound is playing none of the buttons can be pressed. To replay the sound signal, press the F2 key or select the "Replay Sound" menu choice which will be visible only when working with sound signals. Clicking a button will proceed to the next rule. - For dayshapes, each dayshape is displayed once. Clicking a button will proceed to the next rule. The behavior of the buttons varies between learning rules and a quiz of the rules. When learning any of the above rules, all possible choices are displayed on the push buttons. For example, if learning light patterns and one white light is displayed, the buttons may display the following: Vessel propelled by oars. Vessel at anchor, less than 50m in length. Power driven vessel, stern view. Clicking on any button while learning rules will cause the actions outlined above. When all rules have been displayed the window will return to displaying the flags that are displayed at startup. When running a quiz of the rules, each button will contain one possible choice for the rule being displayed. Clicking on a button displaying an incorrect choice will cause the text of the button to turn red. Depending on the selected options (click on the "File" menu and select "Options") a message box may appear and a beep will sound. If the correct button is pressed then the program will continue to the next question. For sound signals and dayshapes, the next rule will be asked. For light patterns, if applicable, the orientation (bow, stern, starboard, port) will also be asked. Once all rules have been asked, a window will appear that displays the number of questions that were answered correctly on the first chance. If a perfect score is not achieved then the option will be given to display the rules that were incorrect. Selecting this choice will return the program to learning the missed rules. Comments -------- Any comments, suggestions, bug reports, etc. are gladly welcome. The author can be contacted by any of the methods listed at the end of this file. Depending on the reaction to this program and available time, the following features may be added to a future version of Navrules: - The ability to print copies of light and dayshape rules. - The ability to perform a quiz of all rules at once, not broken down into lights, dayshapes, and sound signals. - The ability to save quizes & learning sessions and restore them. - Other rules and useful information such as light patterns on navigation aids, traffic (steering/sailing) rules, etc. - On-line help containing detailed descriptions of all rules. - Any suggestions offered by users. Distribution ------------ This program may be distributed as long as all the following conditions are met: - No representations of ownership are made by anybody other than the author. - All the following files must be included, without any changes: SETUPKIT.DL_ VBRUN300.DL_ NAVRULES.EX_ CLRBTN.DL_ SHIPS.DL_ SPEAK.EX_ NAVRULES.TX_ SETUP1.EX_ BELL5.WA_ BELL3R.WA_ GONG2.WA_ FOG1.WA_ FOG5.WA_ HORN5.WA_ HORN1.WA_ EXPAND.EXE SETUP.EXE SETUP.LST VER.DL_ REGISTER.TX_ - All other rights are reserved by the author. References ---------- The following books were used as references while creating this program: United States Coast Guard Navigation Rules COMDTINST M16672.2B (17 August 1990) COLREGS Study Guide and Ready Reference by Greg Szczurek copyright (c) 1980 Houston Marine Consultants, Inc. A Small Boat Guide to the Rules of the Road by John Mellor copyright (c) 1990 John Mellor Fernhurst Books, 31 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, United Kingdom About the author ---------------- The author is an instructor in the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 1, Division 5, 1st Northern Region (5-1 1NR), actively teaching boating courses in the greater Boston area. He is also a professional software engineer with over three years experience in programming Microsoft Windows. The author can be reached via any of the following: Internet: Bruce.Pennypacker@Channel1.Com Compuserve: 74534,1066 Regular Mail: Bruce Pennypacker 18 Hancock St. Winchester, MA 01890 Program History --------------- 15 May 1994 - Initial Release - Version 1.1