Using Precision Mapping 8.1 With UI-View

A complete UIview / Precision Mapping 8 install consists of three separate programs that must be installed separately in this order:

• The main UI-View Ver 2.03 Program that is a free download from UI-view.net.
  
  You must use the 32-bit version; the 16-bit (i.e. Windows 3.1) version of UIview with a seemingly higher version number (2.39) WON'T WORK!
   
• The Precision Mapping Streets & Traveller 8.0 or 8.1 program (commonly referred to as "PMap 8") purchased from Undertow Software. This is a commercial street mapping program similar to Delorme Street Atlas or Microsoft Streets & Trips.  However Precision Mapping is the only mapping  program that will work with UIview to produce fully scrollable zoomable maps inside UIview without an Internet connection.
   
• The Precision Mapping Server 7.07 plug-in  for UIview (commonly referred to as "Pmap Server 7"). PMap Server is the "middleware" go-between that allows UIview to access the Precision Mapping database.  PMap Server 7 was originally written to work with Precision Mapping 7. However, it also works with Precision Mapping 8.0 and 8.1 .   

Background and General Information

The "secret sauce active ingredient" in Precision Mapping is the MapPro71.ocx "Active-X"  control.  This is the program component used to retrieve data from the Precision Mapping database files. This software component, located in the main Precision Mapping folder, is used by both the standalone Precision Mapping Streets & Traveler programs Versions 7 and 8, and by the Pmap Server 7 plug-in for UI-View.

[Note that UI-View does not actually use the Precision Mapping program.  UIview only utilizes the database and the MapPro71.ocx control. This control is placed on your hard disk (and registered with Windows) by installing the Precision Mapping program.   You can, if you wish, run the Precision Mapping program separately and simultaneously with UIview.  Both programs can use the database at the same time.]

Undertow Software is endlessly fiddling with MapPro71.ocx and has released numerous versions of this software building block over the life of both Precision Mapping 7 and Precision Mapping 8.  [Click Here for a changelog of versions of this component.] Only one version of this control can be active in Windows at a time.   Installing PMap Server 7 from the original setup file can cause a version of this control over 6 years out of date to become the active one, instead of the version provided with Precision Mapping 8.1!  

The revised installer linked above DOES NOT contain this problematic file.  The installer uses the current version of MapPro71.ocx provided with Precision Mapping 8.1 instead.

IMPORTANT! 

If you have Precision Mapping 7.0 and a previous installation of PMap Server 7.07 on your system, the safest approach is to completely uninstall both, reboot and then treat the "upgrade" as a cold install of Precision Mapping 8.1 following the procedures below.  

1. Install UIview Ver 2.03. Verify that UIview operates normally. You must have UIview working correctly before installing the other programs. Temporarily use the static map of the entire world, provided with UIview, for testing.
   
   If installing into Windows Vista, or Windows 7, keep in mind the install issues with these versions of Windows discussed HERE.
    

2. Shut down UIview
   .

3.  REBOOT!
    

4. Install Precision Mapping Streets & Traveler 8.0 or 8.1.
    

5. Forget about UIview and the PMap Server for a moment. Startup and run the standalone Precision Mapping 8.1 program.  You will be prompted to register the program. Choosing the registration option will launch your default web browser and send you to the web site http://registermyapp.com .  The registration process produces a "magic number" that you then copy/paste into the dialog in the Precision Mapping window to unlock the program.  
   
   [NOTE: Save this number for future use if you have to re-install the program for some reason. This number is unique to a particular machine and operating system version.  If you change either (for example, upgrade from Win98 to XP, or do an install on another machine), you will have to repeat the registration process.  Unlike Windows XP/Vista/Win7 "product activation", there seems to be no limit to how many times you can re-run the registration process. Further, note that this number is completely unrelated to the numbers you received when registering UIview.]
    

6. REBOOT!
    

7. Install PMapServer7 from the installer linked above.
    

8. Run the "Init PMapServer7" shortcut the above install creates.  This:
    

   • Creates configuration and support files in the PMap server folder, including  PMapServer7.ini  that later will store the path to Precision Mapping's data files. It also creates the file  !!PmapServer7.INF  which will later be copied into the UIview folder.   In other words, you should see more than one file in the PMap Server 7 folder.
      
   • Communicates with the Windows registry to find out where UIview.exe is located, and then copies the file !!PmapServer7.INF  into the \MAPS folder located under the main UIview folder.  This file must be present in this location to allow "Precision Mapping Server V7" to show up in the list of loadable maps in UIview.
      

9. REBOOT!
    

10. Start UIview.  Select Menu "Map", "Load a Map" and then select
    "Precision Mapping V7 Server" from the list.
     

11. On the first-time run, you will be prompted for the location of the Precision Mapping data files. Navigate to the location of the main folder where you installed Precision Mapping 8.1 (not UIview!) and OK the choice.
     

12. On the first-time run, you may also be prompted to go through the registration process for Precision Mapping again. Repeat the process described in 5. above. You will receive a different "magic number" but the process is the same.
     

13. If large area views display properly, but local street detail fails to show when zoomed
    in (or nothing at all appears), pull down and select "Map, Control Panel" from the UI-View
    menu bar. From the resulting "PMapServer7 Control Panel", select "Options, Precision Mapping Data Paths".   You will be prompted to navigate your directory tree to point to the location of the main Precision Mapping 8.1 (not UI-View!) program. You may have to exit UIview and restart it before the changes will have any effect.
     

14. If local street detail continues to not show when zooming in with UIview (but DOES show in the standalone Precision Mapping program), locate the file  mappro71.cfg  in the main Precision Mapping install folder, and copy it to the main PMap Server 7 folder.
     

15. You will get the most useful mouse functions for zooming and scrolling the dynamic PMap Server maps, by pulling down "Options" in UIview and clicking on "Alternative Mouse Actions" to toggle it on. See "Alternative Mouse Actions" in the UIview help system for more info.
    
    The keyboard "PageDn" and "PageUp" keys will then zoom the map in or out by fixed steps. You can also zoom in to any scale, by dragging out a bounding box on the map with the left mouse button. Note that the bounding box expands outward in all directions from the center "click point", rather than from the upper-left to the lower-right corners like most other graphics or mapping applications.
    
     

Precision Mapping 8.1 Points of Interest Information and Display

Precision Mapping 8.x introduced a database of millions of "POIs" (Points of Interest) not present in earlier version of the program. These include gas stations, motels, restaurants, supermarkets and other items supposedly of interest to travelers. These POIs don't appear until you zoom down to detailed close-up street level. In downtown commercial districts, there can be dozens of these in every block. When Precision Mapping is used with UI-View, this creates a very cluttered display that makes APRS symbols hard to spot.  By default, the POIs show in the stand-alone Precision Mapping program, but not in the UI-View/PMap Server 7 display.
 

The display (or non-display) of the POIs is controlled by entries in the file MapPro71.cfg.

There are TWO copies of MapPro71.cfg on the system. 

• One is in the PMap Server 7 folder and only affects PMap display INSIDE UIview. 
   

• The other is in the main Precision Mapping program folder and only affects the display of the stand-alone Precision Mapping program run OUTSIDE of UIview.

Open either copy of MapPro71.cfg  with a text editor like Windows Notepad. Near the top of the file you will see a paragraph similar to the following:

[Directories]
CDSTATE=C:\Program Files\Precision Mapping Streets and Traveler 8.0\STATES
CDDATA1=C:\Program Files\Precision Mapping Streets and Traveler 8.0\DATA1
CDDATA2=C:\Program Files\Precision Mapping Streets and Traveler 8.0\DATA2
CDDATA3=C:\Program Files\Precision Mapping Streets and Traveler 8.0\DATA3
CDSTATE1=C:\PROGRAM FILES\PRECISION MAPPING STREETS AND TRAVELER 8.0\STATES
CDDATA4=C:\PMAP60\Data4

     Note: Your paths will vary depending on where you installed Precision Mapping. 

The path for "CDDATA4= " determines where the PMap Server looks for the supplementary POI database introduced with PMap 8. (The PMap Server 7 Control Panel setup options overlook modifying this path during setup, since it didn't exist at all in Precision Mapping 7.0).

If you want the POIs to show inside UIview, edit the copy of MapPro71.cfg located in the PMap Server 7 folder. Ensure that the path for  CDDATA4=  points to the same folder as the other Precision Mapping data files in the lines above.  If you do not want the POIs to show inside UIview, delete this line (or insure that the path points to a non-existent location in case you change your mind and want them back). 

Save the file and restart the program.  (Be sure to save it with the original ."cfg"  extension; don't let your editor change the file name extension to ".txt" !)

You can edit the MapPro71.cfg file in the main Precision Mapping 8.0 program folder the same way to force the display or non-display of POIs in the standalone Precision Mapping program. (You can also control the display from within Precision Mapping from it's own options dialogs.  This WILL NOT affect the displays inside of UI-View.)

If you are certain that you will never want the POIs, either in UI-View or in standalone Precision Mapping, delete the line CDDATA4= in both copies of MapPro71.cfg .  Then delete the entire contents of the folder "\DATA4" located under the main Precision Mapping 8 program folder.  This will reclaim over 300MB of hard disk space.

 

If desired, you can custom-tweak the POI displays.  Open MapPro71.cfg with a text editor like Windows Notepad,  and locate the following lines (they will be near the end of the file):
 

OBJECT=POIMGR
VIS=1
MMJR= 0.25
MMNR= 0.15
VISL=FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF01
FLABEL=STD_NAME
FHINT=STD_NAME+#13#10+"ph."+PHONE
 

• VIS controls display of POI's. 1 = visible 0 = not visible.
   

• MMJR is the zoom level in miles when the POI symbols start to display.
   

• MMNR is the zoom level where POI text displays.
   

• VISL is the different categories of POI's to be displayed. The POI
  dialog in Precision Mapping Streets and Traveler allows you to
  change the displayed categories. The cfg file is probably not
  updated until PMap is shut down.
   

• FLABEL controls what Poi text is displayed on the map. You can
  display STD_NAME and PHONE on the same line by specifying
  FLABEL=STD_NAME+" "+PHONE. Double quotes required for all literal text.
   

• FHINT controls the hint text that appears when you move the mouse
  over the POI. This does not work in UiView, since it and PMapServer7
  do not present the actual OCX surface to the user. 
  STD_NAME+#13#10+"ph."+PHONE causes the name to appear on the top
  line of the mouse hint, and the phone number on the bottom line.