

Notes on TIDE.EXE v1.1

Although this program is shareware, it is copyrighted and 
may be used only by registered users.  See the end of this 
file for registration information.


Overview:
	TIDE calculates tidal heights and tidal current 
velocities for any time beginning with the adoption of the 
Gregorian calendar (Oct. 15, 1582) through the 21st. century.  
The program presents the user with a calendar for selecting 
beginning and ending times for the time series.  A graphic 
plot of the series may then be displayed and printed.  
Routines are available for changing stations, viewing 
individual constituents, saving data to a disk file, viewing 
max-min times and values, setting program defaults, and 
creating user defined stations. 

Using TIDE:
	The program may be configured to initially display 
the calendar or a plot of the tide for the current day (as 
determined by the computer's internal time setting).  When 
the program is run for the first time it creates an 
initialization file (tide.ini) that contains settings which 
determine the default station, whether to initially show the 
calendar or tide plot etc. (When moving the program files to
another computer be sure to delete the TIDE.INI file). The 
initial setting is to show the calendar when the program 
loads.  The calendar shows the days in the current month and 
the moon phases. The current day is highlighted with a square 
yellow cursor.  Full Moon is the filled (blue moon) circle.  
	A time series may be selected by using the arrow 
keys on the keyboard to move the yellow cursor to the start 
day and typing a "B" (beginning), then moving the cursor the 
end day and typing "E" (end).  The text below the calendar 
shows the selected beginning and ending dates.  Typing "T" 
(tide) will display a plot of the tide.        

Calendar Functions:
	When in the calendar display the user has access to 
	several program functions.  These functions are as 
	follows:

	Changing month or year:  Typing lowercase "n" or "l" 
	changes to next or last month.  Typing uppercase "N" 
	or "L" changes to next or last year.  

	Moving to a particular date:  Use the "d" (date) key 
	to change the beginning and ending dates.  Dates 
	must be entered as MM/DD/YYY HH:MM with a single 
	space between the year and the hour.  If it is 
	necessary to change only the year, use the "y" 
	command and input the year.
		
	Changing the calculation interval:  The interval 
	used for calculating the tidal series is initially 
	set to 1/2 hour (0:30).  The interval can be 
	changed by typing "I" and entering the new interval 
	in the format HH:MM (hours:minutes).  The choice of
	a calculation interval is dependent upon the 
	available memory.  Approximately 10,000 intervals 
	are available, depending on available computer ram 
	below 640k.  This number of intervals is sufficient 
	to calculate a year of tide data (8760 intervals).  
	If just a few days of data is to be calculated, 
	choosing a shorter interval such as 30 minutes gives 
	a smoother plot.  Note: although a math coprocessor 
	is not required calculations will take considerably 
	longer without one.

	Changing the Station:  The "s" command changes the 
	tidal station. The user is presented with a list of 
	available stations.  Use the up and down arrow keys 
	to move the highlight to the required station and 
	press enter to accept the change.  The Page Up and
	Page Down keys are used to view additional stations.  
	The "C" and "H" keys are used to select tidal 
	Current or tidal Height stations.  All stations 
	residing in the default path are automatically 
	displayed.

	Displaying High/Low water or max/min current values:
	Choose "w" to display a list of the times and values 
	of high and low water and max/min and 0 current 
	velocity.  The values can also be sent to the 
	default printer.

	Options:  The "o" command allows the user to change 
	program defaults or to input data for a user 
	defined station.  The options are as follows:

		1. Reset program defaults:
			1. Set default station to current 
			value:  This option saves the 
			currently selected station as 
			the default station which is used 
			each time the program is run.

			2. Set default calculation interval 
			to current value: The current 
			calculation interval will be used 
			each time the program is run.

			3. Show Calendar or Plot of current 
			day's tide when program is loaded:  
			Gives the user the option of showing 
			a plot of the current day's tide 
			without having to use the calendar 
			to select beginning and ending times.  
			This is useful for quickly getting
			a picture of today's tide.

			4. Show High/Low water - Max/Min 
			velocity on tide plot: Automatically 
			shows these times on the tide plot. 
			Because these values use additional 
			memory, their use reduces the 
			available length of the time series.

			5. Show values in Feet-Knots or 
			Meters-M/Sec: Values can be 
			displayed in English or Metric 
			units.

			6. Select Printer:  Displays a list 
			of printers supported by DOS.  
			Select by typing the letter of one 
			of the listed printers.  Note: a 
			printer must be selected before the 
			program will print a plot.

		The next two choices change parameters for 
		the current session only, and are not saved 
		as defaults.

		2. Show High/Low water on tide plot: 
		Automatically shows these times on the tide 
		plot.  Because these values use additional 
		memory, their use reduces the available 
		length of the time series.

		3. Show values in Feet-Knots or Meters-M/Sec: 
		Values can be displayed in English or Metric 
		units.

		4. Input/modify constituents for a user 
		defined station:  This selection allows 
		the user to create new stations which 
		can then be used for tidal predictions.  
		The user must have the constituents for 
		the new station.

		You must know the first 8 characters of 
		the file name of an existing station or 
		you must input a new file name.  Note: 
		tide height stations must end with the 
		extension *.cht and current stations with 
		the extension *.crt.  Do not type these 
		extensions as they are automatically 
		appended by the program.

		The constituents are the standard 38 
		constituents used by the NOS.  It is 
		possible to import constituents from an 
		existing station and save them under a new 
		file name.  This might be useful for 
		example, when creating a new station upriver 
		of an existing station whose constituents 
		are known.  Phases and amplitudes of the 
		unknown constituents at the new station can 
		be adjusted by "trial and error" until they 
		approximate observations. (good luck!)

		The new station must be given a name 
		(up to 70 characters) before it can be 
		saved.


Tide Plot Functions:
	Constituents:  Allows the user to display selected 
	constituents on the tide plot.  Select the 
	constituents to plot by typing the numbers 
	preceeding the constituent.  A constituent may be 
	deselected by retyping the two number code.  
	Selected constituents are labelled with a > 
	character.  Selection 39 is the default and displays 
	the sum of all constituents.  Selection 38 displays 
	the sum of only the selected constituents, not 
	including 39.  To view the selected constituents 
	choose "s" to save changes and exit to the tide 
	plot.  Be sure to turn off the display of max/min 
	values before viewing constituents.

	Change Station:  The "s" command changes the tidal 
	station.  The user is presented with a list of 
	available stations.  Use the up and down arrow keys 
	to move the highlight to the required station and 
	press enter to accept the change.  The Page Up and 
	Page Down keys are used to view additional stations.  
	The "C" and "H" keys are used to select tidal 
	Current or tidal Height stations.  All stations 
	residing in the default path are automatically 
	displayed.

	File:  Saves the data to a disk file.  Input the 
	first 8 characters of the file name.  A file 
	extension of *.txt is automatically appended to the 
	file name.  The format of the file is: 

	Station Name
	Beginning date/time, Ending date/time, Interval
	value
	value
	value...

	The first value corresponds to the beginning date/
	time and suceeding values correspond to previous 
	time + interval.  This file format was chosen 
	because of the ease with which it can be imported 
	into a spreadsheet such as Excel where a time series 
	can be easily created.

	Calendar:  Returns the user to the calendar display.

	Max-Min:  Toggles the display/calculation of max-min 
	values.  Turn off Max-Min if individual constituents 
	are displayed.

	
Requirements:
	DOS v5.0 or higher, VGA display, 640k ram, and any 
	printer supported by the DOS 'Graphics' driver (IBM 
	compatible or Laserjet).              
	

Please let me know if you find errors.
	Paul L. Gay
	Box N147
	Westport, MA 02790
	(508-636-6883)

Notes: 

The program uses the DOS Graphics driver to dump the screen 
to the printer.  Printing problems have been reported with 
VESA local bus systems.  Make sure that the DOS Graphics 
driver is in the path.

When moving the program files to another computer be sure 
to delete the TIDE.INI file.  This file holds information 
about a particular computer's configuration and will 
probably not be correct for another computer.  If TIDE.INI 
does not exist the program will automatically create a new 
one.

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REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Although this program is shareware, it is copyrighted and may 
be used only by registered users. The cost of registration is 
$20.00 U.S.  Use of the information provided by the program 
is at the risk of the user and no warranty is stated or 
implied. To register the program, please fill out the 
following form and send $20.00 to:     
 
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			TIDE PROGRAM ORDER FORM

Name   __________________________________________________________

Address__________________________________________________________

City   _______________________________  State____  Zip___________
      

Check Tide Database
One database is included, additional databases at $5.00 each
	__ Northeast Atlantic (Canada-NJ)
	__ Mid Atlantic (NJ-GA)
	__ Souteast & Gulf
	__ Pacific (West Coast to AK)

Free Software Manual included with registration.

	Tide Program Registration               $20.00
	
	Additional Database $5.00 each          ______   
				
				TOTAL           ______

Send to:
      Paul L. Gay
      Box N147
      Westport, MA 02790
      (508-636-6883)

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