GEODIS v1.04 Overview GEODIS (GEOgraphical DISplay) - (c) 1995/96 Rolf Aeschbacher This program draws maps of different countries on the Psion Series 3a. You can move the map around, enlarge or reduce it (zooming) and you can search for and display places. Information such as distance between places, population and elevation of cities etc. can be viewed. Geodis uses overlays to draw details such as roads, lakes, hotels etc. on the map. You can turn overlays on or off at any time. This program was developed specifically for the Psion Series 3a, with two objectives in mind: low disk and memory usage and fast screen drawing. The firts goal was achieved by using compact binary files that are only loaded by the program when required. The second goal, fast drawing speed, is more difficult to achieve, as it is dependent on processor speed. Waiting time can, however, be reduced by interrupting screen-redraws by pressing ESC or any other active key (eg. pressing F interrupts screen drawing and goes straight to the "Find" menu). Note: Files that are contained in the full version only and functions that only the full version has, are marked with [*] below. Installation If you have installed an earlier version of Geodis you should first delete alle files in the directory \Geodis\ as well as the file \App\Geodis.app. Also, remove the application from the system screen. Note: Geodis now resides in \App\Geodis\ to make it more standard. - in \APP\ Geodis.opa - all other files in \APP\GEODIS\ Geodis.pic Georich.opo Geosupp.opo Geomsg.01 (English texts) Geomsg.03 (German texts) or Geohlp.01 (English online help, optional) or Geohlp.03 (German online help, optional) Installation Schweiz/Switzerland - files in \APP\GEODIS\ (all cantons, all communities) Schweiz.ini Border.ch County.ch Ewho.ch City??.ch1 (9 files) Default.ch3 Dist.ch1 Overlays (optional, extensions ch2 and ch3): - McDonald McDonald's Restaurants - Movenpic Moevenpick restaurants/service areas - Seen Lakes of Switzerland - Staedte all 110 cities with population - [*] Autobahn Highways - [*] Badminto Badminton places with addresses/telephone numbers - [*] Baeder Kurbaeder - health resorts - [*] Bergrest a choice of alpine restaurants - [*] Bowling Bowling alleys, supplied by Ralph Oderbolz - [*] Fastbox Fastbox machines - [*] Fluesse Rivers - [*] Gipfel important mountains - [*] Gitter1+2 the national grid - [*] Kantone all 26 cantons of Switzerland - [*] Zh_* Types of communities in the canton of Zurich (5 overlays) Installation USA - files in \APP\GEODIS\ (all states, largest cities) Usa.ini Border.us County.us Ewho.us City1?.us1 (3 files) Default.us3 Overlays (optional, extensions us2 and us3): - Lakes the big lakes - States the states - [*] Pun_* the states with Capital Punishment (5 overlays) Installation France1 - files in \APP\GEODIS\ (all departements with their numbers/names, no cities) France1.ini Border.f1 Overlays (optional, extensions f12 and f13): - Departem all departements Installation Vector - files in \APP\GEODIS\ (different vector graphics as overlays, of course with Zoom) Vector.ini Border.ve Overlays (optional, extensions ve2 and ve3): - Columbia Space 'ship' Columbia - [*] Illusion Optical illusion - [*] Krumm Optical illusion - Lissajou Lissajous - [*] Maisha Vector girl - [*] Penrose Optical illusion - Porsche surprisingly, a Porsche - [*] Skull yes, a skull! - Spirale Mega spiral - World Globe Install Geodis.opa with Psion-I. Files not needed by the program: Geocomp.opo to create overlays (full version only) Geodis01.txt English documentation (ASCII file) Geodis03.txt German documentation (ASCII file) Geodis01.wrd Doc in Psion WRD format (available on request) Geodis03.wrd Doc in Psion WRD format (available on request) All files must be copied onto the same disk (A:, M: or B:) The files Geodis.??s and Geodis.reg are created automatically in the directory M:\opd\. The former contains the setup and the latter the registration details. Keys + - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7: zoom in/out, select zoom level Arrows: scroll map, Psion-Arrows: scroll map in large steps ESC: stop drawing Space: redraw screen Star *: center again Help key: online help. please read!! TAB: toggle scale ruler Diamond: much/few detail [*] Display (A) To make the program more flexible and to save memory, the maps are subdivided into up to three regions. The map USA isn't divided yet. The states are: AK AZ AR CA AL CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IA IN KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MS MO MT MN NE NV NH NJ NY NC ND OH OK OR NM RI PA SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY DC MM CC (Mexico and Canada) The Swiss map is divided as follows: 1. North (cantons ZH BE SO BS BL SH AG) 2. East/Central/South (cantons LU UR SZ OW NW GL ZG AR AI SG GR TG TI and FL) 3. West/Near countries (cantons FR VD VS NE GE JU and DD FF OO II) The Swiss database is based on local governmental divisions, so some well-known tourist areas may not be included. There are also a few cities in the database from the five countries that surround Switzerland [*], however without population or elevation data. Please let me know if you could provide data on tourist areas or towns beyond the Swiss border. Formulas (A) Only Swiss and US map: The 'display' dialog has an entry 'Cities by formula'. Activate it and you will be able to enter a formula. For the data of each place the formula is computed (using EVAL). If the result gives TRUE that place is drawn on the map. Variable sized marks: If you activate this menu choice, each place matching the formula is drawn as a box on the map. The size of this box depends on the population and the elevation: the larger the population the wider the box and the larger the elevation the taller the box. The boxes are between 1 to 16 pixels large (inclusive), where 1 pixel wide/tall means that the population/elevation is not known. You can as always type B to turn the text display on/off. Examples for formulas: see online help Diamond key Switch between much and few detail. [*] Info about places (I) The following information about cities is displayed: - Canton, state or country - Elevation (m or ft) - Population (for Switzerland based on the 1990 national census) - Swiss map only: a) Coordinates (national grid), with a precision of 1 km b) Geographical coordinates (longitude/latitude), calculated from the national grid coordinates c) Locator: a code which is used for HAM Radio and Packet Radio for worldwide positioning, calculated from the geographical coordinates (example: JN47HM) If it is an item from an overlay you will see the name of the overlay in the title in angle-brackets [...]. Distances (D, T) Psion-D The 'distance as the crow flies' is calculated from the coordinates. Note: Unfortunately the distances calculated for the US map are not very accurate. Use those figures with care. Psion-T Swiss map: The program knows the distance on the road between the 36 cities contained in this list. Choose two such cities and press D for distance. US map: The program knows the distance on the road between the 32 cities contained in this list. Choose two such cities and press D for distance. Searching (F, L) The searchtext can be up to 30 characters long. It is case INsensitive by default and 'Umlauts' don't have to be entered. If you enter 'zur' Geodis finds Zurich, Zurzach etc. Psion-F F searches for places/texts in overlays. Psion-L L searches for cities only and presents all places that have been found in a sorted list. Anchor city (N) You can anchor a place that is already displayed. All further distance calculatons will be made from that place. History (G) Places selected during a Geodis session are stored in their own list, which can be recalled by pressing G. If a place is selected from this list, the program switches to the search function, using the place-name as search text [*]. Overlays (O, P) Overlays can either be points (cities, hotels etc.) or lines (roads, lakes, rivers etc.). The former can be represented by a picture. Psion-O An overlay can be drawn black or grey. For 'point overlays' you can choose to display it as picture or as text (Psion-A). Psion-P This presents a list of all overlays. Choose one to see its description. Files with the extension .??2 are overlays (the two ? stand for the map code - CH for Switzerland, US for USA etc.). The extension .??3 is used for the appropriate icons. These are standard PIC images, which can easily be changed with a pixel editor. These pictures can be arbitrarily large, but currently the program places them correct on the map only if they are square. Currently a maximum of 28 overlays can be displayed simultaneously (five in the unregistered version). Registered users can create their own overlays. The full version contains the program you need (Geocomp.opo). Setup The registered version automatically saves your setup when you quit the program (file M:\opd\Geodis.??s, separate for each map). You can set this file's attribute to 'read only' once you are satisfied with your setup. Memory You need approx. 100k internal memory to fully use Geodis. The map USA can run with less memory because it contains fewer cities. Future Currently there are maps for Switzerland, for the USA and for France available (a city map of Zurich is worked on). The idea is to supply more maps of different countries and cities in the future. Updates 1.02 - the large screen in the S3a emulator is used automatically - keys 1 - 7 jump to a specific zoom - formulas (Psion-A) - extended overlay format 1.03 - several maps - Psion-Enter from the Info dialog can be used to save the coordinates of the current place. Use the module Geocomp.opo to create your own overlays. [*] - language independence because of message files. Currently there are only codes 3 (German) and 1 (English) supported. You can rename these files to default to the other language (rename *.01 to *.03 or reversed). It is also possible to press PSION while starting Geodis - this swaps the language. - conversions between mi, km, ft, m 1.04 - max. 28 Overlays - enhanced searching (exact match) - Psion-Enter searches in all overlays (registered version) - Swiss border created again (some Swiss villages were placed in Germany...), Border of Liechtenstein - new maps: France1, Vector - Geosupp.opo is now needed in any case - variable sized marks in the formula menu - Distance table for the USA map - Swiss map: HAM-Radio/Packet Radio Locator Registration (R) This program is not free. You can try it out for two weeks without obligation. If you like the program, then you must register it after this time, or delete the program. Registration is through payment of a small fee (see below). What are the advantages of registration? You will receive a code which you can enter in the "Register" menu selection (Psion-R). This enables additional features as follows: - all 1500 Swiss cities (instead of just 500) can be displayed - about twice as much US cities can be displayed - the limitation to five overlays disappears - by pressing the diamond key you can switch between much/few detail - your setup is saved - 100 instead of 20 found places can be viewed in a sorted list - if you choose a place in the history list the program jumps to the search function - if you choose a place from the distance table the program jumps to the search function You also receive the full version of Geodis with more than 3000 places in Switzerland and all overlays as well as all available maps (Switzerland, USA, France1, Vector). A Zurich city map is worked on. You may pass this program over to friends, but only complete and unchanged. However you are NOT allowed to copy the full version which you have paid for. Note that, once registered, there is a file Geodis.reg which you must not copy - it contains your name. Please support the shareware system! Only through your support can it survive. If nobody registers the program, I have no motivation for further development, and I will ask myself whether it would have been better to release it as a commercial product. Cost: Registration costs only CHF 20 or US$ 20 oder GBP 15. You can register online via Compuserve (US$ 22): GO SWREG, then follow the instructions. The registration ID for Geodis is 6320. Delivery: on a PC DOS disc or by e-mail. Registered users of Geodis will receive updates free and automatically if the update can be sent by e-mail. If you don't have access to electronic mail I ask you to send a formated DOS disc and a SAE (self-addressed envelope). Disclaimer Geodis has been tested as much as possible and all data has been entered carefully. However I cannot guarantee that this program works as expected and that the information presented is correct in any case. The program is provided 'as is', you use it at your own risk. Author Rolf Aeschbacher Bacheggweg 2 CH-8424 Embrach Switzerland E-Mail: 100116.3357@compuserve.com Compuserve: 100116,3357 FidoNet: 2:301/811.26 National giro account (PC): 84-51241-4