Mapborder

Please note that MapBorder is currently in Alpha status.
This means many of the features and functions are still experimental, and may not operate correctly.
Please report all bugs and feature suggestions to email: John Tserkezis jt (AT) techniciansyndrome (DOT) org
Mapborder is a tool that enables easy creation and maintenance of Oziexplorer map borders.
A map border defines the geographical limits of any given Oziexplorer map image.
Oziexplorer itself can create and maintain only four corner markers to define the border, resulting in a square or rectangular border.
It has however, internal support for up to 100 corner markers for odd-shaped map images.
This is where Mapborder comes in, it enables easy creation and maintenance of the more elaborate borders.

Oziexplorer v3.95.3e or higher must be used.
OziAPI v1.08 or higher must be available.
The map image must have an associated .MAP file with it, and been correctly calibrated.
Track sets 74 and 75 are cleared, and are used to display the border lines.
All points are cleared, and point sets 74 and 75 are used to display Corner Marker numbers.

The oziapi.dll file needs to be available.
The Oziexplorer application needs to be installed and ready to run.
Mapborder should only be used on correctly and accurately calibrated maps.
A minimum of four, and up to 100 corner markers can be made and saved for any map.
The [Undo] feature remembers up to 500 previous actions.
During point locational edits, the datum pulldown list obtains datum names from two files where available:

Simply copy the Mapborder executable to any folder.
If you wish, the Oziexplorer API DLL (oziapi.dll available separately) may be placed in the same folder, though it is recommended it is placed in the \windows\System32\ folder, where it can be available for any third party applications.
The mapborder configuration file "MAPBORDER.INI" will be created the first time Mapborder is run, and will be saved in the same folder as MAPBORDER.EXE.

To upgrade Mapborder, simply copy the contents of the archive to wherever your existing files are.
Your existing configuration options will be preserved.  Any new feature configuration options will inherit a factory default setting.

Uninstalling Mapborder is easy.  Simply delete Mapborder.exe, Mapborder.ini and Datums.txt.
Where applicable, Mapborder.log can also be deleted.
You may wish to leave oziapi.dll in place for other third party applications that may need it.

If Oziexplorer is not running, Mapborder will attempt to start it first.  If it cannot, you will need to start Oziexplorer manually, and try again.
The user is then prompted to load a MAP file.

This map is then loaded into Oziexplorer, and the existing map border is (optionally) drawn over the map image.

If Oziexplorer is not running, Mapborder will attempt to start it first.  If it cannot, you will need to start Oziexplorer manually, and try again.
Similar to the [Load MAP] button, this enables the user to select a folder, whereby MapBorder will process each MAP file found in sequence.
Useful if you have many MAP files to process.
See Also: [Load Folder only finds]
See Also: [Skip]
See also: [Skip 10]

If reversing is possible, the button text changes to [Skip (<)], if reversing is not possible, text is shown as [Skip].

5.1.2.2 [Skip 10]

After editing, this saves the new border points into the .MAP file.

At least four points must have been entered before you can save the MAP file.
See Also: [Backup MAP file]

Abort clears any changes made and starts again from the beginning.

This tab contains buttons for use with drawing and editing corner markers.

This loads the original border into the workspace so you can edit it.
Useful if you need to make only minor changes to an existing border without having to redraw it from scratch.

5.2.2 [Default Border]

This function will create four default corner markers, one at each corner of the image, just as Oziexplorer would do when first calibrating a map.
With the technique presently used to do this, an Oziexplorer error message will be displayed saying there is a problem with the map, ignore this and click [OK].

The [Undo] button reverses your last Add, Insert, Move or Delete operation.

It can also undo loading of original borders over any point you were working on, and can undo the Delete All function.

The undo buffer stores up to 500 actions.

Clears all the currently edited corner markers.

[Radio buttons]

There are a number of "Radio Buttons" that are mutually exclusive, that is, only one can be active at any point in time.

The specified mode remains active until changed by the user.

This adds a Corner Marker to the end of the existing sequence.  This is most useful if you are adding Corner Markers from scratch.

No more than 100 Corner Markers can be added.  If any more are attempted, a beep (and no other changes) will result.

This is used if you wish to insert a new Corner Marker in between two existing Corner Markers.

Click on the Oziexplorer map image where you want the point to be inserted, and the new border polygon will be re-drawn with the changes.

Mapborder will attempt to evaluate the best point number for this operation, however, it is not infallible.

5.2.6.1 [CM:] Edit Box

If you find the Corner Marker number it automatically evaluated is not what you intended, you can manually enter the number.

Enter the Corner Marker number you wish to insert into the CM: (Corner Marker number) box.

An invalid entry, zero, or a number that is higher than the highest point number+1 will result in a beep, and no insertion of any point.

5.2.6.2 [AutoInc] Tickbox

This is used if you wish to move an existing corner marker.

The [Move] function involves TWO map clicks.

Your FIRST click on the map image determines which point to move.  Click as close as you possibly can to the marker you wish to move.

Your SECOND click should be where you want the corner marker to go to.

The border polygon will be redrawn to cater for the change.

The [Delete] button is used to delete the selected Corner Marker.

To delete a point, click on the map image as close as you possibly can to the point you wish to delete.

Once selected, that point will be deleted.

The border polygon will be redrawn to cater for the change.

5.2.9 (Edit)

The [Edit] button behaves similar to the [Move] button, except the target location is specified as a Lat/Long or UTM co-ordinate.
While enabled, click as close as possible to any point you wish to edit the location of that point.

The [Edit Point] tab will be enabled.  This will enable you to manually select the latitude/longitude or UTM co-ordinates and datum of the new position.
If you wish to change the datum, but your preference is not available in the pulldown list, you will need to add it:

Click the [Save] button to effect changes, or [Cancel] to cancel any changes.

This tab contains user preferences for the borders that are drawn on the Oziexplorer screen.

It is divided into two sections, one for the Original Border, the other for the New Border.

 Selects the colour to be used for the relevant border.

 Selects the width of the track used.

If ticked, will draw the border and make it visible.

Note that this function is not applicable for the new border.  Any new border draw will always be visible.

If ticked, will show a dot at every corner of the relevant map border.

5.3.5 [Show CM Numbers] Tickbox

If ticked, will number every corner with the its relevant corner marker number.

If this is ticked, a backup will be saved of the original .MAP file.  It is of the same name as the MAP file being edited, but with a .BAK extension.

In actuality, a backup is made in any case, if this is unticked, the backup will be automatically deleted.

Be warned, if a backup already exists, and you have unticked this option, the existing backup file will be deleted anyway.

If this is ticked, and a backup file already exists, it will be overwritten.

5.4.2 [Auto Reposition]

After a map is loaded, it is centered around (or as close as possible to) the first original Corner Marker and then following original Corner Markers, as new corners are added.
Useful if you have many maps to do, and those maps already have existing borders that need 'tweaking' and are near the old corners.
This saves the user the trouble of shifting to the first and then following points.
Of course, it does not know exactly where next point should go, which is why this is only suitable for images that have existing Corner Marker that are near where you want the new ones to go.
This function has a couple of requirements that need to be met before it will work correctly:

5.4.3 [Log activity to LogFile]

If ticked, user activity is logged to the file "Mapborder.log" located in the same folder as the Mapborder.exe executable.
If the log file exists, log entries will be appended to the end.
If the log file does not already exist, it will be created.
The log file is not size limited.  It is recommended  that the log file is deleted every so often..

5.4.4 [Show Warnings]

If ticked, will show warnings and diagnostics, otherwise will continue and ignore the warning.
Warnings are messages that may or may not affect the operation of MapBorder.
Some technically invalid MAP files can cause warnings under MapBorder, where the same MAP file operates correctly under Oziexplorer.
Useful to enable if diagnosing certain problems with MAP files.

5.4.5 [Curved Borders]

If ticked, curved border lines (where appliable) will be drawn.
This could be quite processor intensive, so can be disabled to assist with slow line redraws.

5.4.6 [Confirmations]

Enables confirations, such as when [Abort] , or [Delete ALL] is clicked.

5.4.7 [Load Folder] only finds:

During a [Load Folder] operation, maps can be selectively left out

5.4.7.1 [Unmodified maps]

6.1 File

6.2 Help

If Oziexplorer is not already running, Mapborder will attempt to start it.
If Mapborder does not know where the Oziexplorer application is, it requires you to manually start it-
If you have renamed the Oziexplorer executable (oziexp.exe), Mapborder will never be able to start Oziexplorer itself (you will thus need to start Oziexplorer manually first).

If you wish to make a few minor changes to the existing border, click the [Load Original] button, and you will be presented with the original border that can now be edited.

At least four corner markers are required before the [Save MAP] button becomes active.
Up to 100 points can be entered.  The program will beep, and stop adding points once 100 has been reached.
At this point, only the (move), (Delete) and (Edit) functions will be available for selection.
The border you draw must not have any crossed lines, it must encompass the map area of interest (example1) (example2).

It is at this time a backup (if requested) is saved, and the new changes implemented into the .MAP file.
The changes should become visible immediately.

Clicking yes will delete any backup files created during that session only.
This enables you to clean up afterward, if you had not intended to back up MAP files anyway.

Anything you had changed in the [Configure] tab(s) will be saved to the INI file.
The Mapborder application will also save its position on the screen to the INI configuration file.
The very first time you run Mapborder, it will be positioned in the centre of your screen.
If you position Mapborder off the edge of your screen, it will be moved to the centre the next time you run it.

[BorderOriginal]
Configuration options here relate to the original border that is drawn.

Colour=16711680

DrawBorder=1

CM_Dots=1
CM_Numbers=1

Width=4

[BorderNew]
Configuration options here relate to the new border that is being edited.

Colour=65280

CM_Dots=1
CM_Numbers=1

Width=4

[Defaults]
Configuration options here store the default user preferences.

OziExePath=
OziExeName=oziexp.exe
AutoInc=0
HelpFile=

[DefaultSettings]

BackupMapFile=1

NonPerpInsert=1

Loadfolder=

UnModifiedFilesOnly=0
OlderThan_Enabled=0
OlderThan_Count=0
OlderThan_Span=2

[Position]

• While entering new points on the Oziexplorer map image:
• Dragging the map image will not register a new point.
• Clicking on the Map View window (if enabled) will not register new points.
• Double clicking will center the map at that point, and register as two map clicks, the action executed being dependent on which function button is active at that time.

• Make sure that the map border lines do NOT intersect or cross each other. (image)
  

• The original map border lines are for display only, and do not affect the new border lines.

• Make sure the map calibration is correct BEFORE drawing a new border.

• If the map calibration is changed after adding a new border, or was wrong to begin with, Oziexplorer may not be able to compensate for the differences.

• If MapBorder is running very slowly (delays between adding points), there are a number of options you can disable to speed things up:
  
• [Draw] will slow things down when first loading a map file, because you have the original border drawn.
  
• [Show Corner Marker Dots] will add a small increase in delay because original and/or new corner numbers are being drawn.
• [Show Corner Marker Numbers] will add a small increase in delay because original and/or new corner numbers are being drawn.
  
• [Curved Borders] will slow thing down significantly.  Disabling this will help with border redraw speeds.
• [Auto Reposition] will add some delay between the addition of new points, especially if those new points are closely spaced.
• The more corner markers you draw, the slower it will run. With many corner markers, the above changes will help significantly.
  

"The dynamic link library oziapi.dll could not be found in the specified path......"

You need to have the OziAPI.DLL file (available from the Oziexplorer web site) either in one of your system paths, or, in the same folder as the Mapborder application.

It is recommended you keep only ONE copy of OziAPI.DLL in the C:\(windows system)\System32\ folder, this way, it is available for use by any third party application that needs it.

"The procedure entry point [xxxxxxx] could not be located in the dynamic link library oziapi.dll."

If you are sure you have the latest version, make sure there is only one copy of OziAPI.DLL available on your system.

"No more backed up files can be erased"

Because you had opted to back up changed MAP files anyway, not being able to erase them would be of little consequence.

"Oziexplorer was shut down unexpectedly!  Aborting"

Oziexplorer was shut down in the middle of an operation.

"An error has been found with the existing map border,

a new border MUST be drawn"

"Datum error in - [map file in error specified here]

The datum used in the MAP file specified above is not supported by this installation of Oziexplorer.
This issue will need to be corrected before a sucessful border can be drawn.
A new border cannot be drawn for this map.
Datum of map: [Datum as specified in MAP file]
Datum reported by Oziexplorer: [Datum Oziexplorer reported]"

"The Oziexplorer executable name is not known,

please locate the executable so MapBorder can automatically start Oziexplorer"

"The Oziexplorer executable was not selected, MapBorder can continue

but cannot automatically start Oziexplorer next time."

The Oziexplorer executable name is not known to mapborder, but can still function, because Oziexplorer was already started manually.

"Oziexplorer could not be started automatically,

please start manually and try again."

"Mapborder requires OziAPI v1.08 and Oziexplorer v3.95.3e or higher"

You need OziAPI.DLL v1.08 or higher available, and Oziexplorer v3.95.3e or higher running before Mapborder will operate.

"There were no unmodified MAP files found in the specified folder"

"There were no MAP files found in the specified folder"

"The location of the MapBorder help file is currently not known.

Please specify location in following search dialog box."
"Sorry the help file could not be loaded"
"There has been N backup files created in this session. Do you want to delete them now?"
"No more than 100 points are allowed to be entered"

No more than 100 points are allowed to be placed.

"There must be at least three points, and no more than 99

before [Insert] is allowed"

You need three or more, but up to 99 points before the (Insert) function becomes available.

"There must be at least one point before [Move] is allowed"

You had attempted to enable the (Move) function with no points being available.

"There must be at least one point before [Delete] is allowed"

You had attempted to enable the (delete) function with no points being available.

"Invalid MMPLL line:

Expected: n
Found: MMPLL, n, 0.00, 0.00"

"It is possible the existing corner markers are located off the edge of the image.

However, this may be due to a MAP file error.
It is recommened the Original border is loaded and saved, or redrawn from scratch."

"MMPNUM reported number of Corner Markers (n)

does not match with number of found Corner Markers (y)"

Warning: Cannot find MapBorder DATUMS.TXT file
During point edits, it may not be possible to select a datum other than the map datum.
([Drive]:\[Path]\datums.txt)
Cannot find Oziexplorer user-defined datums file
During point edits, it may not be possible to select a user-defined datum.
([Drive]:\[Path]\datums.dat)
The Latitude/Longitude format entered cannot be recognised.
Decimal Degrees: DD.DDDDDD
Degrees, Decimal Minutes: DD MM.MMMMMM
Degrees, Minutes, Decimal Seconds: DD MM SS.SSSSSS

MapBorder is Copyright © 2004, 2005, John Tserkezis, Technician Syndrome.

MapBorder is freeware.  It can be used freely in personal, educational, government or corporate environments with no licensing costs.
MapBorder is cost-free, no fee can be charged for the MapBorder product, aside from data transfer, media or distribustion costs incured in the process of delivering the product to the end user.
Correct operation of MapBorder is not guaranteed.  No warranty is included or implied.
John Tserkezis, Technician Syndrome, cannot be held liable for any form of damage or loss, accidental or otherwise, caused by Mapborder.
The MapBorder product, Technician Syndrome and John Tserkezis are not associated with D&L Software.
Oziexplorer is Copyright © D&L Software.
If distributing MapBorder, this help file and associated images, and the mapborder history file must be made available in the distribution.
Additional Credits:
Thanks to all the alpha and beta software testers, without whos assistance MapBorder would still have bugs that I've missed.
MapBorder contains portions of code which were originally obtained from:

These terms mean the same thing.

Oziexplorer maps have a border that defines the map geographical limits.

Oziexplorer makes use of this in several instances:

• While in moving map mode, once you move outside the boundary set by the border, it automatically looks for another map.
• When searching for maps given a particular geographical location, only maps that have a border encompassing the point will be shown.

Related to Borders and Neat lines, Corner Markers are the actual points that make up the border for any particular map.

A line (relative to the latitude and longitude lines) joins all the corner markers which in turn defines the border shape.

For some map projections, although the border lines may appear straight on the map itself, they do in fact follow the latitude and longitude lines which means they could in fact be a curved line.

To enable lines that curve with the Lattitude/Longitude grid, enable the [Draw Curved Lines] tickbox in the Settings tab.

The [Insert] button has a smart mode, in that it can in many cases automatically determine the point number to maintain a sequential border line.

It does this by comparing the position of your new proposed point, against all the existing lines.

If your proposed point is perpendicular to an existing line, the perpendicular distance between the proposed point and the existing line is noted,
<>When all lines have been evaluated, the two points that return the shortest perpendicular distance is where the new point will be placed between.

The results are sorted by Distance (preference to closest), then angle (preference to closest to 90 degrees), and the new point is then inserted. Example.

Hint:  It may be easier to create a number of points in a convenient sequence (so the software can reliably determine the numbers), and later move the new points to their correct positions.

This way you can avoid manual entry of any digits.