PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Maps4AfricaSM mapping system operates on Windows 95/98/NT. Designed for ease of use and high speed display, the new system operates either in standalone mode or is controlled by an external application system. Maps4AfricaSM interfaces to ESS NT and ESS Pro, two variants of Sysman's Command and Control software. A published Application Interface Specification makes it easy and straightforward for other software to interface to, and drive the mapping system.

Figure 1. 1:20,000

In a command and control environment the mapping system operates on either dedicated PC mapping workstations or on an existing call taker / dispatching PC workstation. In the case of the latter, Software Makers recommend the use of an additional mapping monitor which can be supported on the same PC. Workstations should be configured with at least a 333 MHz Pentium II processor, 64 Mb of memory, 4.3 Gb HHD and a fast SVGA graphics card (on Windows 98, a graphics card is required for each monitor).

Mapping Software is tightly integrated into ESS NT and ESS Pro. Maps can be automatically displayed once an incident location has been entered. A variety of operator facilities are supplied for manipulating maps.

Speed of map display is typically less then one second. Maps can be scrolled and zoomed at similarly high speeds. One, two or four map windows can be displayed. Each map window can be separately controlled. Alternatively, a mapping window can be linked to another, for example, to enable information to be displayed at two scales.

Maps suitable for an emergency environment are supplied as part of the solution. Both Raster and Vector maps are provided together with essential data such street names etc. Integration of other maps supplied from other sources can be done on a time and materials basis. Vectors can be overlaid over raster images and map scale is automatically adjusted to display the full vector.

Geographic information facilities include the overlaying of current incident locations and historical information. The latter can be filtered. The display of real time, vehicle tracking information is supported.

Maps4AfricaSM was developed by Software Makers to counter the high costs of imported software. Maps are designed for readability in a control room environment. Costs of maps is dependent upon the geographic areas required. All cities and towns plus most smaller towns and an SA Road Atlas are available.

Figure 2. 1:2,400,000

Environment

Windows 95/98/NT. Recommended: 333 MHz Pentium II, 64 Mb memory, 4.3 Gb HDD, SVGA graphics card, 17" high quality monitor.

Databases Types Supported

Access, dBase, FoxPro, Lotus 1-2-3, Excel, Paradox, Lotus Notes, Text. Database records are presented as icons with label below. Icon size: 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64 pixels Icons library: subject to customizing

Map Scales

Street level 1:20,000 and 1:40,000

Suburbs level 1:60,000 and 1:120,000

Town key map 1:240,000 and 1:480,000

Province 1:2,400,000 and 1:4,800,000

Country 1:12,000,000 and 1:24,000,000

Map Controls

Number of map windows: 1, 2 or 4 Linked maps: 2 and 1, 3 and 1, 3 and 2, 4 and 1, 4 and 2, 4 and 3. Co-ordinate display: ON or OFF Brightness: 5% to 100% Zoom In / Out: by 1, 2 or 3 levels Scroll in four directions as well as diagonally Variable speed of scrolling Different modes of zooming

Menu Driven Graphics

Locate map by lat long, street, suburb, town, crossroad. ADD or DELETE circles, lines, zones, text and icons. Define attributes and position by hand.

Vector Overlays

Highlight shape of a road vector, boundary of a suburb, or boundary of a town. Highlight area of a suburb, or area of a town.

External Software Control

Maps4AfricaSM may be controlled by other applications (bidirectional communication). See page 3 for a list of commands.

Miscellaneous

WINDOW-OPEN, n

WINDOW-LINK, n2, n1

WINDOW-UNLINK, n2, n1

COORD-ON

COORD-OFF

MESSAGE, "message"

BIT_MAP, width, height, pathname

SLEEP, n

BRIGHTNESS, percent

Databases

DB-OPEN, maps, DBtype, DBname, DBtable

ATTRIBUTE-ADD, Group\Name, n{, att, val}*n

ATTRIBUTE-DELETE, Group\Name

ICON-ADD, maps, Group\Name, lat, long, iNum, iSize, iCol, label, lSize, lCol, bCol

ICON-DELETE, maps, Group\Name, lat, long

ICON-DELETE-ALL, maps, Group\Name

CLEAR, maps

Locating the map

LOCATE, map, scale, lat, long

LOCATE-STREET, map, scale, street, suburb, town

LOCATE-SUBURB, map, scale, suburb, town

LOCATE-TOWN, map, scale, town

LOCATE-XROAD, map, scale, street1, street2

Graphics

ZONE-ADD, maps, Group\Name, style, lThick, lCol, n{, lat, long}*n

ZONE-DELETE, maps, Group\Name, lat, long

ZONE-DELETE-ALL, maps, Group\Name

CIRCLE-ADD, maps, Group\Name, lat, long, radius, lThick, lCol

CIRCLE-DELETE, maps, Group\Name, lat, long

CIRCLE-DELETE-ALL, maps, Group\Name

TEXT-ADD, maps, Group\Name, lat, long, text, tSize, tCol

TEXT-DELETE, maps, Group\Name, lat, long

TEXT-DELETE-ALL, mm, Group\Name

LINE-ADD, maps, Group\Name, style, lThick, lCol, n{, lat, long}*n

LINE-DELETE, maps, Group\Name, lat, long

LINE-DELETE-ALL, maps, Group\Name

Vector overlays

STREET-ON, maps, street, suburb, town, lThick, lCol

STREET-OFF, maps, street

SUBURB-ON, maps, suburb, town, lThick, lCol

SUBURB-OFF, maps, suburb

TOWN-ON, maps, town, lThick, lCol

TOWN-OFF, maps, town