                               ROUTE FINDER v2.0
                               -----------------

                           THIS PROGRAM IS SHAREWARE

         IF YOU USE THIS PROGRAM  REGULARLY  YOU SHOULD REGISTER YOUR
         COPY BY SENDING 10.00 (CHEQUE OR POSTAL ORDER) TO :-

                             BRIAN HENDERSON
                             32 ARCHERS AVENUE
                             BROOMRIDGE
                             STIRLING
                             FK7 7RJ

         YOU WILL RECEIVE IN  RETURN  A  CODE  WHICH  WILL REMOVE ALL
         LIMITATIONS (ROUTES OF ANY DISTANCE CAN BE FOUND AND NO MORE
         15 SECOND DELAYS), A  LIST  OF  ADDITIONAL  COMMANDS FOR THE
         SETUP FILE,  INFORMATION  ON  HOW  THE  ALGORITHM  WORKS AND
         DETAILS OF ANY FUTURE UPGRADES, BUG FIXES, MAP UPDATES ETC.



                                   CONTENTS


         1.    INTRODUCTION

         2.    PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

         3.    DISPLAY

         4.    MENU OPTIONS

         5.    SETUP FILE DETAILS

         6.    MAP INFORMATION

         7.    DISTRIBUTION METHOD

         8.    CHANGES FROM EARLIER METHODS

         9.    DISCLAIMER



1.    INTRODUCTION

Route Finder is an  electronic  map  program  which  can  be  used  to find the
shortest or quickest routes avoiding specified  places and roads en route.  The
route found by the program  is  displayed  either  as  a  table or can be shown
graphically.  To calculate the  quickest  route  average  driving speeds can be
entered for different types of roads.

It has been impossible to include every  place  in Britain in the map therefore
an option to insert, amend and remove places and roads has been included in the
program.  This will also allow new roads to be added when they are built.

In addition to simply finding a route between two places the program can be put
to a wide variety of uses.  For example it could be used to quickly calculate a
fairly accurate mileage between two places.   It can suggest alternative routes
if you are tired of the same route or if there are major delays on your present
routes.  This can be achieved by  entering  place(s)  to avoid or by making the
program find the shortest route  (the  shortest  and quickest routes are rarely
the same).

The road building program has increased  dramatically in recent years and there
have also  been  changes  in  road  names.   This  program  is  a  much cheaper
alternative to purchasing a new road map each year.


2.    PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

The program should run on any ST, STE, Mega  ST, Mega STE, TT or Falcon with at
least 512K free memory although I have  been  unable to test the program on all
these machines.  It will work with  external  drives, both hard and floppy, and
epson compatible printers.

The latest version of the program  has  been  designed to take advantage of the
screen resolution it is run on  therefore Falcon screen resolutions should work
although it must be run in a mode with at least 80 columns therefore ST low res
cannot be used.

The program should run in  a  multi  tasking  environment note however that GFA
Basic programs reserve all but 16K of the computer's available memory.


3.    DISPLAY

The screen displays a standard menu  across  the  top  of the screen.  If a map
with more than one place is in memory a  window opens, the title is the name of
the file (minus the extension) and the info line contains details of the number
of places and roads in memory and  the  zoom factor along with the distance and
the time of the journey if one has  been found.  The contents of the window can
be either a table of the route found or  a graphical display of the map and the
route.


      3.1  GRAPHICAL DISPLAY

      A graphical representation of the position of the places and roads in the
      current map are shown in the window.   Places are shown by dots and roads
      are represented by different line types.

      Solid line          Motorway or dual carriageway (urban or rural)
      Long-dashed line    Good condition single carriageway (urban or rural)
      Dotted line         Ferry routes
      Dot-dashed line     Poor condition single carriageway
      Dash dot dot line   Single track roads

      In order to see the map in more  detail  the user may zoom in on any area
      by pressing and holding the left mouse  button  in the top left corner of
      the area to be zoomed and  then  dragging  the  mouse to the bottom right
      corner of the area.  When the left  mouse  button is released the area is
      almost instantly zoomed in on showing more detail.  Initially with larger
      maps only cities and motorways  are  shown  ensuring  the screen does not
      appear cluttered.  As the map is zoomed in smaller places and minor roads
      are displayed.  To show the entire map  on the screen again choose Reduce
      to Max from the Graphics menu or press  CTRL+R.  Note that the map can be
      scrolled in the usual way using the slider bars.

      Place and road names can be toggled on  and  off using the F5 and F6 keys
      respectively.  Note that road names should only be displayed when the map
      is satisfactorily zoomed.

      When a route has been calculated using the Find Route option the route is
      displayed by a series of thick arrowed lines.

      When an area is zoomed the  correct  aspect ratio is calculated therefore
      the zoomed area may be slightly different  from the defined box.  The box
      defined by the mouse must be larger than 10 pixels by 10 pixels.


      3.2  TABLE VIEW

      When a route has been found  with  the  Find  Route  option a list of the
      places, roads to be used along with  the  distances on the roads is given
      in the form of a table.   The  final  column may contain an asterix, this
      means that you may be unable  to  take  this section of the journey since
      you have to use a ferry (which may not run at the time of the journey) or
      it may be a limited  access  intersection  which  may not have a suitable
      slip road).  If the suggested route  is  longer  than one screen then the
      table can be scrolled in the normal way.

      If no route is in memory then a list  of the number of each type of place
      and road is displayed on the screen.



4.    MENU OPTIONS

      A standard GEM menu bar is displayed at the top of the screen.  Most menu
      options also have a keyboard shortcut.  Each option is explained below.

      4.1     DESK

      4.1.1 About Route Finder

      If the program is in registered mode then a dialogue box appears with the
      copyright notice and  general  information  about  the  program.   If the
      program  is  unregistered  then  a  dialogue  box  appears  with  general
      information and prompts the user to enter a unique code which removes the
      limitations.  This is  available  when  the  program  is  registered (see
      section 7).

      4.1.2 Desk Accessories

      Desk accessories can  be  accessed  in  the  normal  way.   Note that the
      program may not always perform  a  screen  redraw  after the accessory is
      terminated.  In this case simply  press  F10  to clear the desk accessory
      from the screen.


      4.2     FILE

      4.2.1   New              CTRL+N

      Clears the old map from  memory.   Note  that  the previous map should be
      saved since once a map has been cleared it cannot be retrieved.

      4.2.2   Load Map         CTRL+L

      Enter the name of the  map  file,  eg  BRITAIN.MAP, into the fileselector
      box.  If the file is found,  is  a  valid  file  and there is enough free
      memory the file will load into memory clearing the previous map.

      When loading a map file the program checks the integrity of the file.  If
      there is a problem with the  file  a  dialogue box appears after the file
      has loaded with the message "FILE STRUCTURE NOT VALID" this will probably
      be due to the roads being  out  of  sequence.  Roads must be in ascending
      order by the first number in each row.

      4.2.3   Save             CTRL+S

      If a filename has not already  been  specified a fileselector box appears
      and a filename should be entered.   If  an  extension is not entered then
      .MAP is automatically appended  to  the  filename.   If  the file already
      exists on the disk then it  is  renamed  with a .BAK extension.  If there
      are no places in the present map then the map will not be saved.

      A cannot save map alert box  appears  if  the  disk is write protected or
      there is not enough free space on the disk.

      4.2.4   Save as          CTRL+A

      Same as above except a fileselector box always appears on the screen.

      4.2.5   Quit             CTRL+Q

      If the map in memory was changed but  not saved then an alert box appears
      with three options, Quit (the map  in  memory  will  not be saved and all
      changes will be lost), Save (the changes will be saved to disk before the
      program is terminated) and Cancel (you are taken back into the program).


      4.3     Edit Map

      4.3.1   Insert Place     F1

      A dialogue box appears and the  name  of  the new place should be entered
      (note that  no  two  places  can  have  the  same  name).   The  x  and y
      coordinates should be entered  to  position  the  place  on  the map (the
      coordinates must be positive integers  less  than 32000).  The place type
      should also  be  selected  (the  place  types  are  Village,  Town, City,
      Terminal, Limited  access  intersection,  Complete  access  intersection,
      Roundabout and Junction).  If there is more than one place in memory then
      the Insert Road dialogue box appears (see section 3.2).

      It may be difficult to calculate the  exact  position of the place on the
      map therefore a second method of  inserting  places has been added to the
      program when the graphics view has been chosen.  Simply click on the part
      of the map with the left mouse  button  of the position of the new place,
      this will cause the insert place dialogue box  to appear with the x and y
      coordinates already inserted.  For  greater  accuracy  the  map should be
      zoomed firstly.

      Place details can be amended using this option.  Simply enter the name of
      the place to be altered then select the  new place type and enter the new
      x and y coordinates.  An alert box appears asking the user to confirm the
      changes.

      4.3.2   Remove Place     F2

      Enter the name of  the  place  to  be  removed  and  hit Okay.  All roads
      connected to the place are also removed.  Places cannot be retrieved once
      they have been removed.

      4.3.3   Insert Road      F3

      Enter the starting  place,  finishing  place,  the  distance  between the
      places, the name of the road eg  A876  and  the road type (the road types
      are motorway or dual carriageway, good condition single carriageway, poor
      condition single carriageway, single  track  road, urban dual carriageway
      and urban single carriageway).  There  can  only  be one road between two
      places and the starting and  finishing  place  must  exist  in the map in
      memory.

      If a road already exists between  two  places an alert box appears asking
      whether you want to change the details of the road which already exists.

      4.3.4   Remove Road      F4

      Enter the starting place and  finishing  place  into the dialogue box and
      the road will be removed forever.


      4.4     Route

      4.4.1   Find Route       CTRL+F

      This options allows you to find a route between two places.  Simply enter
      the starting and finishing place (remember  and  use  the down key or the
      tab key and not the return key to move between fields) and click on Okay.
      In addition places and roads to avoid and whether to find the shortest or
      quickest route can be entered.  The program will then attempt to find the
      best route, this may take some time,  during  this time if the escape key
      is pressed the option is aborted.

      If the starting  or  finishing  place  is  miss-spelt  then  an alert box
      appears suggesting the correct spelling.

      4.4.2   Set Preferences  CTRL+P

      Enter your average speeds for each  of  the  road types listed along with
      whether you  want  distances  calculated  in  miles  or  kilometers.  The
      average speeds are used to  help  calculate  the quickest routes with the
      Find Route option (see section 4.1).

      4.4.3   Show as Table    CTRL+T

      Shows the current route as a table (see section 3.2).

      4.4.4   Show as Graphics CTRL+G

      Shows the current route graphically on the screen (see section 3.1).

      4.4.5   Print Route      CTRL+W

      If a route has been  found  then  the  route  can  be printed to an epson
      printer in the same form as the table view.  The number of lines per page
      and the form feed character can be set in the setup file (see section 5).
      The format of the  printed  route  is  the  same  as  the table view (see
      section 3.2).


      4.5     Graphics

      The following options have no effect when in table view.

      4.5.1   Reduce to Max    CTRL+R

      If the view has been zoomed  then  this  option redisplays the entire map
      again.

      4.5.2   Show Place Names F5

      Displays place names on the screen.

      4.5.3   Show Edge Names  F6

      Displays road names on screen.   This  option  should only be chosen when
      the map is sufficiently zoomed.

5.    SETUP FILE DETAILS

      When Route Finder loads it looks for  a file called FINDER20.INF which is
      used to setup  various  defaults  including  the  average  speeds for the
      different road types, the name of the  map file to load automatically and
      whether to use miles or  kilometers.   Note  that additional commands are
      given when the program is registered (see section 7) and that the program
      only reads the first  four  characters  of  each  command. The syntax and
      descriptions of the commands is given below :-

      MISCELLANEOUS

      FILE=<filename>
      Load the map file <filename> automatically when Route Finder loads

      USE=[miles|kilometers]
      Force the program to use either miles or kilometers

      DEFA=[shor|quic]
      Set the default route type to either shortest or quickest route


      DEFAULT ROAD SPEEDS
      Note that speeds must be entered in miles per hour

      MOTO=<speed>
      Set the default average motorway speed to <speed>

      GOOD=<speed>
      Set the default good condition single carriageway speed to <speed>

      POOR=<speed>
      Set the default poor condition single carriageway speed to <speed>

      SING=<speed>
      Set the default average single track road speed to <speed>

      FERR=<speed>
      Set the default ferry speed to <speed>

      URDU=<speed>
      Set the default urban dual carriageway speed to <speed>

      URSI=<speed>
      Set the default urban single carriageway speed to <speed>


      PRINTER PARAMETERS

      SETU=<setup>
      Before the suggested route is sent to  the  printer a setup string can be
      sent, eg to put the printer into  NLQ mode enter SETU=27,120,49 for epson
      compatible printers.  Note that the setup  command  can be used more than
      once.

      FORM=<character>
      Contains the ASCII value of the character  which is used to form feed the
      printer, this is normally 12 for epson compatible printers.

      PAGE=<page length>
      Contains the page length, usually set to 66.


6.    MAP INFORMATION

      The program  includes  a  map  of  Britain  which  comprises  the British
      mainland (Scotland, England and Wales),  the inner Hebrides, Anglesey and
      the Isle of White.  The map  includes over 2300 places including motorway
      intersections, airports, terminals and of  course towns and cities.  Note
      that the map uses English names for Welsh towns.

      The naming conventions for the junctions  for  the enclosed map are given
      below.

      Motorway intersections : Name of the  motorway  followed  by intersection
                               number eg M9 J5, M74 J5
      Road junctions         : Name of the two  roads  followed  by junction eg
                               A91 A905 JUNCTION, A9 A85 JUNCTION


7.    DISTRIBUTION METHOD

      This program is shareware.  Route  Finder  v2.0  has taken a considerable
      time to write and  creating  the  map  of  Britain  has  been a very slow
      process.  If you use this program regularly you should register your copy
      by sending 10.00 sterling (cheque or  postal order) to the address below
      please enclose your name and address.  In  return you will receive a code
      which will remove all the limitations in the program (you will be able to
      find routes of more than 200 miles  and  there  will be no more 15 second
      delays) and includes details of how the algorithm works, details of other
      commands you can  use  in  the  setup  file  and  you  will  also receive
      information on future upgrades and map updates.  In the long term this is
      a much cheaper alternative than  buying  a  new road map regularly.  Note
      that bug fixes and support will only be offered to registered users.

      Brian Henderson
      32 Archers Avenue
      Broomridge
      Stirling
      FK7 7RJ

      This program may be freely distributed  as  long all associated files are
      also copied.  The files are :-

           FINDER20.PRG      Main executable program
           FINDER20.RSC      Resource file required by FINDER20.PRG
           FINDER20.INF      Setup file (see section 5)
           FINDER20.TXT      Program documentation (this file)
           BRITAIN.MAP       Map file of the British mainland (see section 6)


8.    CHANGES FROM EARLIER VERSIONS

      I have tried where possible  to  retain  a  similar structure to previous
      versions of the program, for  example  many  of the dialogue boxes remain
      unchanged.  However there are  a  number  of  important changes, the file
      structure has completely changed  therefore  v1.8  files cannot load into
      v2.0 and vice versa.

      In response to  earlier  criticism  the  program  has  been significantly
      speeded up, the latest version is now  more than twice as fast at finding
      routes.

      The program has been made resolution  independent to some extent although
      it should still be run in an  80  column  mode (eg ST medium or high res)
      although modes more than 80  columns  can  be  used.  The main reason for
      this is to take advantage of the Falcons better screen resolutions.

      A number of bugs have also  been  fixed  since the previous version.  For
      example the program would crash  after  finding certain routes.  It would
      also crash if it tried to print road names of more than five characters.


9.    DISCLAIMER

      To the best of my knowledge there  are  no  bugs in the program however I
      cannot guarantee this, I can  also  not  guarantee  that the program will
      find the "best" route or that  the  maps  are  complete and upto date.  I
      cannot be held responsible for any loss of data.  Note that absolutely no
      warrenty is provided with this program.

