LocEdit Application for Ewe
An Editor for Location Data CSV Files
Version 1.0*
Description
LocEdit is an application for Ewe¹ enabled computers to edit Location Data CSV files. These
files store information about physical locations on Earth. Location Data CSV files are used by most
of the applications available on the Bray Mobile
Applications web page.
These files stores the following data about each Earth location:
- Its latitude and longitude.
- Its elevation.
- Its time zone data in the form of time offset from Greenwich.
- Its rules for computing daylight time.
Why LocEdit
Location Data CSV files are simple text files which can be editied by any ASCII text editor. As
such, an editor for these file is not needed. However, text file editors on Mobile (handheld)
computers are not necessarily readily availiable, and may not be easy to use.
Thus LocEdit is provided. It has several special operations and conversion functions not usually
found in text editors.
Sections In This Documentation
Installation
Since you are reading this documentation, you have found that the locedit10.zip archive contains:
- locedit.ewe,
- nine Location Data CSV files, and
- locedit10Doc.zip containg this documentation.
Included Location Data CSV Files
WARNING -- Without a doubt some of these data are inaccurate!!!
They are only to help you to get your personal database started. Use this data as an estimate
ONLY! Check it if it matters!
| CSV Data File | Comment
|
|---|
| World.csv | All the data |
| NoAmerica.csv | All of Canada/Mexico/USA |
| Europe.csv | Latitudes > 35N and 24W < Longitude < 50E |
| Canada.csv | Canada |
| NonNoAmerica.csv | All of the rest of the world |
| NonNAEast.csv | Subsets of NonNA data |
| NonNAWest.csv | |
| NonNANorth.csv | |
| NonNASouth.csv | |
These files have been sorted so that it is easier to find locations of interest.
It is expected that you will create your personal location file by cuting out lines of these
data files with a text editor and combine them into one or more files for use with the Bray Mobile
Applications. See more on Creating Location Data CSV Personalized Files below.
Be sure you sort edited files.
LocEdit.ewe
The locedit10.zip archive also contains LocEdit.ewe. You should store LocEdit.ewe in the
same directory as your other Ewe applications and the Location Data CSV files. Be sure that you
do not replace your own Location Data CSV files when copying the file in locedit10.zip.
Using the Program
A LocEdit screen is shown to the right.
The control button are:
- Select File: This button brings up a 'File Chooser' for selection of the desired
Location Data CSV file (files with the extension of .csv). If a file is not opened using this
button, the other LocEdit control buttons will not be functional. Thus it must be tapped
before anything else can be done.
- View Data: This button displays all of the data from the selected file. Each location
record is defined on one line of the ASCII (text) file. Each field of the record is delimited
by a ',' (comma). A full decription of a record is defined below.
- New: This button opens an empty edit dialog box to add a new record to the file.
After the data is entered tapping the Done button will insert this new record
into the file in Name alphabetical order.
- Edit:
This button opens
the highlighted record in a dialog box as shown to the right.
After the data is edited
tapping the Done button will insert this new record into the file in Name alphabetical
order. If the Name field is changed a new record is add to the file. If the Name is not
changed the original record will be replaced.
The Cancel button will abort the editing process and the file is not changed.
There are hidden Menus in the dialog box. When the values in Latitude and Longitude are
tapped amd held with a pen, a menu will be displayed to select conversion of the value format.
A second tap and hold will pop-up a cut/paste menu.
Note: No matter what Regional settings are used on your computer(s), LocEdit always
uses the '.' (period) as the decimal point, the ':' (colon) as the hour/minute/second
separator, and the ',' (comma) as the data separator.
- Copy: This button puts a copy of the selected record into the file, if permission is
granted.
- Delete: This button deletes the selected record from the file, if permission is
granted.
- Sort File: When this button is tapped the entire file is sorted to insure that the
file is in Name alphabetic order. This operation is required when multiple files have been
combined. A file must be ordered to allow new records to be sorted into the file properly.
Be aware the process of sorting can take a long time on large files.
- Menus: LocEdit only has two menus:
- About This is the usual About information. It tells you the version of LocEdit
you have installed.
- Quit The obvious Quit selection. You can also quit using the upper right hand
X. LocEdit saves no information for the next start up.
Creating Location Data CSV Personalized Files
To create your own Location Data CSV file(s) all that is needed is to cut out lines of text from
any of the Location Data CSV files and paste them into your file. You should use any text editor.
Beware that CSV files are an acceptable format for Excel. However, DO NOT use
Excel to create or edit them since all the latitude, longitude formats are not known to Excel and
it will modify them incorrectly without giving an error message!
After you have pasted all the records into your file, you must sort them into Name
alphabetic order. It is best to do this with LocEdit, so there is no confusion about the character
order in the sort software.
After your personal location file is created you can use LocEdit to add new locations.
Details of the Format of Location Data CSV Files
The format of a Location Data CSV files is as follows:
Each text line of the file is a record.
Each field of a record is separated by a ',' (comma). Thus the name 'Comma Separated
Value'.
The field contents are as follows:
- Name
- Latitude -- Three possible formats
- Latitude Hemisphere -- N (Northern) or S (Southern), above or below the equator
- Longitude -- Three possible formats
- Longitude Hemisphere -- E (Eastern) or W (Western), east or west from Greenwich
- Elevation -- Application defined units, not used in Riseset.
- Time Zone -- Three possible formats
- Time Zone Hemisphere -- E (Eastern) or W (Western)
- Daylight Time Code -- Digit
Details About each Field of a Record
- Name: A name can contain any text except a comma (','). It can also be any numbers
of characters in length, but it is recommend that names be limited to 20 characers.
- Latitude: The latitude field can be any one of three formats:
| degree ':' minute ':' second '.' decimal second |
44:38:33.72
|
| degree ':' minute '.' decimal minute | 44:38.562
|
| degree '.' decimal degree | 44.6427
|
The only allowable input characters are: digits, '.' and ':'.
All three of the above example formats have the same latitude value.
- Latitude Hemisphere This is a single character 'N' or 'S' standing for North or
South of the equator.
- Longitude: The same rules as latitude apply.
- Longitide Hemisphere This is a single character 'E' or 'W' standing for East or
West of Greenwich England.
If you do not know the location latitudes and longitudes which you would like to put in a
Location Data CSV file, you can use the following URL's:
world-wide location server,
USA only location server, or many others on
the web.
- Elevation: This field may be used for the elevation of the location (above sea
level). None of the applications at Bray Mobile
Applications currently uses this information.
The units are not defined for Location Data CSV file: the using application must specify what
is to be entered. It is suggested to enter an "f" after the number for "feet", and an "m" for
"meters".
It is acceptable to not enter any data in this field -- that is enter: ',,'.
- Time Zone: This is the time zone (hour) difference from that of Greenwich Mean Time
(GMT). This field will hold 5 characters. The input for the GMT Offset normally will be whole
numbers. E.g. 5, 10, etc. indicating the correct time zone for the location. However, some
locations like New Foundland, India, and South Australia use half-hour GMT offsets -- such
values may also be entered (e.g. "9.5" or "9:30").
It is a function of the using application to use this offset properly.
Examples: the East coast of the US is 5 West, central Europe is 1 East. In all cases be
sure to specify East or West of Greenwich by using the pop-up selection list to the right.
Some more Examples of GMT Offset are shown below.
- Time Zone Hemisphere This is a single character 'E' or 'W' standing for East or West
of Greenwich England.
- Daylight Time Code: The last entry is a single digit specifying the Daylight Time
(sometimes called Summer Time) rules. For each location you should set the correct rule for
computing Daylight Time for the location. Riseset will use this code to correct the Local
Time.
The Daylight Time Code rules are as follows:
| Selector | Code Digit | Description |
|---|
| No | 0 | Never use daylight time |
| Yes | 1 | Always use daylight time |
| Australia | 2 | Start: Last Sunday in October -- End: Last Sunday in March |
| Europe | 3 | Start: Last Sunday in March -- End: Last Sunday in October |
| N. America | 4 | Start: First Sunday in April -- End: Last Sunday in October |
| S. America | 5 | Start: First Sunday in October -- End: Last Sunday in February |
Examples of GMT Offset
GMT Time Zone Offset is the number of hours the computer's local clock differs from that
of Greenwich Observatory in England. Set the Time Zoneto correspond to the following table
according to the location.
| United States | Around the World
|
|---|
| Time Zones | Offset | Time Zones | Offset
|
|---|
| Eastern | 5 West | British Isles | 0 East
|
| Central | 6 West | Western Europe | 1 East
|
| Mountain | 7 West | Eastern Europe | 2 East
|
| Pacific | 8 West | MidEast | 2 East
|
| Alaska | 9 West | So. Africa | 2 East
|
| Hawaii | 10 West | Russia | 3 East
|
| | | Japan | 9 East
|
| | | South Australia | 9.5 East
|
| | | Eastern Australia | 10 East
|
Back to "GMT Offset"
Contact Info
LocEdit was created by David W. Bray, Potsdam, NY;
Copyright © David W. Bray 2004, All Rights Reserved.
Registering
LocEdit is freeware no registration is required. We hope you enjoy using it.
I would
appreciate receiving e-mail about what computer(s) you are using the Bray Mobile applications on,
and any other feedback and suggestions you would like to share with me.
This archive may be freely redistributed, provided it is made available only in its complete,
unmodified form with no additional files. It may be distributed for commercial use if it
accompanied by an application that imports its data.
Any other use must have prior written authorization from David W. Bray.
Unauthorized commercial use includes, but is not limited to:
- LocEdit itself as a product for sale.
- Accompanying a magazine, book or other publication for sale.
- Distribution with 'Media', 'Copying' or other incidental costs.
- Available for download with access or download fees.
Disclaimer
This program is provided without warranty and the user accepts full responsibility for
any damages, direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special or
exemplary damages or lost profit resulting from any use or misuse of this application.
Foot Notes
¹ Ewe is developed by Michael L Brereton. We are indebted to him for his outstanding
software product and making it freely available. Thank you Michael!
*Changes in Version 1.0
LocEdit Version 1.0 Bld:438 differs from Version 1.0 Bld:420 in:
- Bug Fix in adding New record. (V1.0 Bld:425)
- Changed the decimal point to always be the '.'. (V1.0 Bld:438)
- Improved error messages. (V1.0 Bld:438)
Bld:438 is the current release.
To be sure that your version is up-to-date check the Bld: number in the current description of
LocEdit at: http://davidbray.org/mobile/
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