Options Dialog
Atlas Boundary Import Options

For information on how to use Help, press F1 or choose Using Help from the Help menu.

The Import Options dialog box allows you to specify options which determine how information in the file is imported.

Click the Areas to Curves check box to convert areas to curves.

If the application you're running uses projection information, two Projection radio buttons will be displayed.  Atlas boundary files contain no projection information. Choose Lat/Long if the file's coordinates are latitudes and longitudes.  Choose Other if the file's coordinates are in some other form.

File Description

General Messages

Atlas Boundary-specific Messages

Macro Script Options


Atlas Boundary File Description

This is an ASCII format file used to store geographic information including areas, curves, and points.  The general format of the file is:

"Pname 1", "Sname 1", type/length

x1,y1

x2,y2

...

xn,yn

"Pname 2", "Sname 2", type/length

x1,y1

x2,y2

...

xn,yn

Pname is the name of the primary ID, and Sname is the name of the secondary ID.  The primary ID is used to link the object to external data.  The secondary ID is optional.

The type/length is an integer which identifies the object as an area, curve, or point.

Following the type/length are the actual X,Y coordinate pairs that make up the object.  These can be integers or real numbers, and are stored 1 pair per line.

The type/length field indicates the number of coordinate pairs to follow and also indicates the type of object as follows:

  *	Areas have a type/length value greater than 2.  The value indicates the number of coordinate pairs to follow.  Islands and lakes are concatenated to the coordinate list.

  *	Curves have a type/length value less than -1.  The absolute value is the number of coordinates to follow for the curve.

  *	If the type/length field is 1, the object is considered a point.  One coordinate pair follows.


Atlas Boundary-specific Messages

The following messages may appear while importing Atlas Boundary (BNA) files.

Area contains too few points!

Area not in correct format!

Area not properly closed!

Subarea point = first area point!


Area contains too few points!

Area objects stored in Atlas Boundary files must close and have at least four coordinates.


Area not in correct format!
Ignore further occurrences?

An area object was encountered which is not in correct Atlas Boundary file format.

Area objects stored in Atlas Boundary files must close and have at least four coordinates.  Also, compound areas (those with islands or lakes) have a special way they are stored.

If you chose OK, then this incorrectly formatted area and all subsequent incorrectly formatted areas will be ignored.  Choosing Cancel will abort the import process.


Area not properly closed!

Area objects stored in Atlas Boundary files must close and have at least four coordinates.  The last point of an area (or subarea, such as an island or lake) must have the same coordinate as the first point.


Subarea point = first area point!

Two kinds of areas exist, simple and compound.  A simple area contains a starting point, a series of points specifying the area's boundary and a closing point with the same coordinate as the starting point.  A compund area contains one or more subareas, such as islands or lakes.  Atlas Boundary files use a special technique to specify the subareas comprising compound areas.

Let's say we have a compund area consisting of a closed outer area "A" and two islands "B" and "C".  Here's how the coordinates should be specified in an Atlas Boundary file:

AX1,AY1	Starting point of area "A"
AX2,AY2	Points specifying boundary of area "A"
.
.
AXn,AYn	Ending point of area "A"
BX1,BY1	Starting point of subarea "B"
BX2,BY2	Points specifying boundary of subarea "B"
.
.
BXn,BYn	Ending point of subarea "B"
AX1,AY1	Staring point of area "A" (Flag Point)
CX1,CY1	Starting point of subarea "C"
CX2,CY2	Points specifying boundary of subarea "C"
.
.
CXn,CYn	Ending point of subarea "C"
AX1,AY1	Staring point of area "A" (Flag Point)

Each area's ending point must have the same coordinate as its starting point.  The staring point of area "A" is used as a marker (called a Flag Point) to indicate the end of each subarea.  This means the first area point's coordinate must be unique and cannot appear as a coordinate within any subarea.


Area:Definition
Area

A closed, bounded region whose interior may be filled with a color or pattern.


Coordinate:Definition
Coordinate

A pair of numeric values used to specify the location of a point.


Curve:Definition
Curve

One of several possible boundaries, consisting of one or more line segments joined end to end.  Curves, unlike regions, are not necessarily closed.


Island:Definition
Island

A separate included region of an area.  Hawaii is an area that consists of several islands.


Lake:Definition
Lake

An excluded region or "hole" within an area.


Latitude/Longitude:Definition
Latitude/Longitude

Latitude and longitude are spherical coordinates used to locate a point on the earth.  Many maps don't need to take the curvature of the earth into account.  For many applications, the earth can be assumed to be flat over a small area such as a county, so that the latitude/longitude system can be treated as a Cartesian coordinate system.

Longitude is the X coordinate and ranges from -180 degrees to +180 degrees.  Latitude is the Y coordinate and ranges from -90 degrees to +90 degrees.  Both latitude and longitude are specified in decimal degrees.


Point:Definition
Point

A single location or position.  Sometimes symbols are placed on points to indicate various features.


ID:Definition
Primary or Secondary ID

Text string associated with an area, curve or point which allows the graphical object to be associated with external data.


Projection:Definition
Projection

A mathematical method for converting latitude-longitude coordinates which are spherical coordinates, into two-dimensional coordinates.  Maps are usually projected so that the geographic areas are not visibly distorted.


Macro Script Options

Since the Import Options dialog isn't displayed when the program is driven from a macro command script (via GS Scripter or Visual Basic), an Options="..." string can be specified in the script.  The string consists of comma-separated parameters, which specify the behavior of the various import options.  An typical example would be:

...(File="counties.bna",Options="Defaults=1,AreasToCurves=1")

This would first set all import options to their default values, then set the AreasToCurves option value to one, which would specify that all areas in the imported file (counties.bna) be converted to closed curves.

Option	Action	Default
Defaults=1	Set all options to their default values	No
ForgetOptions=1	Don't remember options for later use	No
AreasToCurves=1	Convert area objects to closed curves	No
ProjectionLatLong=1 ProjectionLatLong=0	Assume coordinates are Latitude/Longitude Coordinates are other than Lat/Long	Yes No


General Messages

The following messages may appear while importing files in any format.

Application has no Color dialog!

Application has not Line Attribute dialog!

Bad values in .INI file or Options String

Can't load Import Filter resource

Can't open import file

Can't show import status dialog

Error reading import file

Error reading Import Filter profile item

Import file is of incorrect format or type

Import Filter passed bad parameter

Internal inconsistency detected in Import Filter

Invalid Import Filter instance handle

Out of global memory

Out of local memory

Error writing Import Filter profile item


Application has no Color dialog!

The program has detected an internal error.  Close all active applications and restart Windows.  Please report this situation to Technical Support.


Application has no Line Attribute dialog!

The program has detected an internal error.  Close all active applications and restart Windows.  Please report this situation to Technical Support.


Bad values in .INI file or Options String

A bad value has been read from the application's .INI file or Options String.  Check the .INI file or Options String to make sure the values are valid.


Can't load Import Filter resource

Free memory may be exhausted, or memory contents are corrupted.  Close all active applications and restart Windows.  Please report this situation to Technical Support.


Can't open import file

The file you selected to import exists, but cannot be opened.  Perhaps you don't have the proper access permissions.  This message sometimes results if the file is not in the proper format.


Can't show status dialog
Can't show import status dialog

Free memory may be exhausted, or memory contents are corrupted.  Close all active applications and restart Windows.  Please report this situation to Technical Support.


Error reading import file

The import filter cannot read the indicated file. Perhaps the file has been corrupted.


Error reading Import Filter profile item

Information stored in the application's .INI file could not be located.  If the .INI file is corrupted, you will need to restore a backup copy or, possibly, reinstall the stoftware.  You should probably check with Technical Support before proceeding.


Import file is of incorrect format or type

The specified file is not the type indicated by its extension, or the file has been corrupted or is not in the proper format.


Import Filter passed bad parameter

The program has detected an internal error.  Close all active applications and restart Windows.  Please report this situation to Technical Support.


Internal inconsistency detected in Import Filter

The program has detected an internal error.  Close all active applications and restart Windows.  Please report this situation to Technical Support.


Invalid Import Filter instance handle

The program has detected an internal error.  Close all active applications and restart Windows.  Please report this situation to Technical Support.


Out of global memory

Free memory may be exhausted.  Close all active applications and restart Windows.  If you get this message often, contact Technical Support.


Out of local memory

Free memory may be exhausted.  Close all active applications and restart Windows.  If you get this message often, contact Technical Support.


Error writing Import Filter profile item

The program encountered an error while writing information to the application's .INI file. The path of the .INI file may have be been changed or a section in the file may have been lost. You should probably check with Technical Support.