----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------  GEOCLOCK on the HP-100/200LX  -----------------
----------------------------------------------------------------
                    ---    Revised     ---
                    ---  9 March 1995  ---


---                ---
---  Introduction  ---
---                ---

GeoClock is a program written by Joseph Ahlgren which displays
a map of all or part of the earth, and shows on that map which
parts are in daylight, and which parts are in darkness.

This file explains how you can run GeoClock on your HP100/200LX.
It includes all of the files you need to run it, including the
GeoClock program itself.

All information in this package is provided on an as-is basis.
Please understand that the version of GeoClock which runs on the
HP-100/200 monochrome CGA-compatible display, and which is
included here is NO LONGER SUPPORTED. GeoClock's author, Joseph
Ahlgren, continues to support and enhance the EGA/VGA/SVGA
version of GeoClock (as of this writing the current version of
GeoClock is 6.1), but he no longer supports or accepts
registrations for version 4.4, which is the version included in
this package. Please do not contact him with any problems or
requests you might have pertaining to this version of GeoClock.

If you use and like this version of GeoClock, you may be
interested in obtaining the EGA/VGA/SVGA version (which does NOT
work on the HP-100LX nor the HP-200LX) for use on your desktop,
laptop, or notebook computer. It has many nifty additional
features.  Another incentive for registering for the current
version of GeoClock is that you can obtain additional maps that
way. The maps that are currently available for GeoClock are not
compatible with version 4.4, but they can be converted using the
vgatoega and geoconvt utilities. I describe how to do this later
in this document. You can obtain GeoClock 6.1 from several
CompuServe forums (GO IBMFF to find out which), or from the
GeoClock BBS (703-241-7980, 8/1/none).


---              ---
---  Background  ---
---              ---

Since the HP-100 was introduced I have from time to time seen
various postings, in response to queries for a "world-map clock"
type of program, which suggest that it would be easy to get an
older version of GeoClock to run. Since I have used GeoClock for
years, I thought it would be great to have it available in my
pocket. Unfortunately though, I didn't find it all that easy to
locate the older, monochrome-capable version; and once I did, it
wasn't straightforward to get it working optimally on my HP-100.

Once I did get it working, however, it was superb. So I thought,
since there seemed to be a lot of interest in running such an
application on the HP-100 (partly sparked by the "world map
overlay" feature of Jeffrey Mattox' Buddy100 program), perhaps
I could save others some time and aggravation by documenting
the process. This archive is the result.

Since it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the older
versions of GeoClock, rather than giving pointers to where you
could download it from (which might quickly become obsolete), I
am incorporating the necessary parts of Version 4.4 as part of
this archive.


---            ---
---  Manifest  ---
---            ---

The files included in this archive are:

    readme.txt      This file
    geomno.icn      An HP-100/200 icon for GeoClock
    geconfig.dat    GeoClock configuration data
    geozones.dat    Timezone definitions
    geoclock.dat    Default city data
    cities.dat      List of major world cities
    8x8.fon         Font definition file
    cga.bgi         CGA device driver
    geomno.exe      The GeoClock version 4.4 executable
    geomno.hlp      Help file for GeoClock
    map1.cga        World map
    map2.cga        USA map
    map3.cga        Northeast USA map
    map4.cga        Southwest USA map
    map5.cga        Europe map
    geo2.dat        City data for map 2
    geo3.dat        City data for map 3
    geo4.dat        City data for map 4
    geo5.dat        City data for map 5
    geoconvt.exe    Utility to convert EGA maps to CGA format
    dst.100         How to add DST definitions to the
                    built-in World Time application


---                       ---
---  Installing GeoClock  ---
---                       ---

---  Step 1: Configure GeoClock for your timezone  ---

If you live in the eastern time zone of the United States you
can skip this step.

Open the file geconfig.dat using the text editor of your choice,
and make the following changes:

1. The lines which begin with the word ZONE define named time
   zones to GeoClock. If you live outside North America you will
   need to add appropriate ZONE statements to define one or more
   time zones for the area in which you live. Find the
   definition for your time zone in the file geozones.dat, and
   copy it to the geconfig.dat file, just before the PCZONE
   statement. You may want to remove unused ZONE statements.

2. The line following the ZONE statements, which begins with the
   word PCZONE, defines the time zone in which you live, and
   should refer to one of the named zones defined by the ZONE
   statements. (The string immediately following the word ZONE
   in a time zone definition statement is the name of that zone,
   and is what you should specify on the PCZONE statement.)

   NOTE: if you live in an area that stays on Standard time all
   year, then you should pick a "Standard Time" zone -- one
   that has a name like EST. If you live in an area that is on
   Daylight Saving Time during part of the year, then you should
   pick a ZONE statement which defines both Standard Time and
   Daylight saving time, like ET.

Save this file.

Once you are familiar with GeoClock commands you can, if you
wish, add commands to this file which will be automatically
executed when you start GeoClock.

---  Step 2: Configure GeoClock for your city  ---

Open the file geoclock.dat using the text editor of your choice,
and make the following changes:

1. The first line specifies the time zone to use when map1 is
   displayed. Change this to reflect your local time zone.

2. The first city listed in geoclock.dat is assumed to be your
   local city, and the time of day, sunrise time, and sunset
   time is calculated for this location. You should replace
   Pittsburgh with your own location, and with its latitude and
   longitude. If you live in a major city, you may find it
   listed in the file cities.dat along with its geographical
   coordinates.

Save this file.

---  Step 3: Shrink the GeoClock executable ---

Since the GeoClock v4.4 executable (geomno.exe) is nearly 100K
in size, you will need a very large chunk of "disk". If you plan
on installing GeoClock on a drive which is "compressed" with
Stacker or DoubleSpace, then you are ahead of the game and can
skip to the next step. Otherwise...

The size of the executable can be considerably reduced by
compressing it with "Pklite" or "Diet". I strongly suggest that
you get one of these programs and use it to compress geomno.exe
before copying it to your HP-100/200.

Both Pklite and Diet are available in many of the CompuServe
forums. You might want to GO IBMFF (IBM File Finder) to find
the latest versions of these utilities. As of this writing
they can be found in:

    the IBMSYS forum, File Utilities library, as PKLITE.ZIP
    the IBMSYS forum, File Utilities library, as DIET14.EXE

By compressing geomno.exe with Pklite, I reduced its size to
55K. I was then able to install a fully functional GeoClock in
just 73K.

---  Step 4: Loading the files  ---

Since there are several files needed to run GeoClock, I suggest
that you install it in a separate subdirectory. Copy the
following files to this subdirectory on your HP-100/200:

    file          size   description
    ------------  -----  ------------------------------
    geomno.exe    97424  GeoClock executable (*)
    geomno.icn      200  HP-100/200 icon for GeoClock
    geconfig.dat    614  Configuration file
    geoclock.dat    691  Default city data
    8x8.fon        2048  Font
    cga.bgi        6253  CGA device driver
    map1.cga       7296  World map

    (*) smaller if compressed

The above list of files is the minimum set possible to run
GeoClock. If you are very tight on disk space, you can copy
just those files. However, if you have available room, you
might want to add some or all of the following files:

    file          size   description
    ------------  -----  ------------------------------
    geomno.hlp    61900  Help file for GeoClock
    map2.cga       7168  USA map
    geo2.dat        536  City data for map 2
    map3.cga       5632  Northeast USA map
    geo3.dat        302  City data for map 3
    map4.cga       3200  Southwest USA map
    geo4.dat        279  City data for map 4
    map5.cga       7168  Europe map
    geo5.dat        714  City data for map 5

It is possible to run GeoClock without the geomno.hlp file.
GeoClock will beep and complain that the help file is missing,
but if you press ESC it will continue normally. However, since
the geomno.hlp file is the only documentation on how to use
GeoClock, I urge you to load it if you can -- at least, until
you learn how to use it.

---  Step 5: Define GeoClock to Application Manager  ---

Open Application Manager by pressing the [&...] key. Press F2
(Add), and enter the following values:

    Name:     &Geo Clock
    Path:     (drive):\(subdirectory)\geomno.exe |200
    Comments:

In the Path field, (drive) and (subdirectory) should be replaced
with the drive letter (a or c) and the subdirectory to which you
copied the GeoClock files. (The " |200" at the end tells the
System Manager to allocate 200K to this DOS shell.)

Now tab to the Icon field, and press the down-arrow key until
you see the GeoClock icon (a globe), and press Enter.

Press F10 (OK).

---  Step 6: Start GeoClock  ---

Back at the Application Manager screen, highlight the GeoClock
application and press ENTER. After a few seconds the GeoClock
application should start up, and beep. If you have not copied
the geoclock.hlp file, you will see the message "GEOMNO.HLP
file missing or bad"; otherwise you will see the introductory
help screen.

In either case, press [ESC] and the world map should appear,
and a second or two later the night-side shading will be added.

If you encounter a problem here, you should refer to the
"Troubleshooting" section before continuing.

To end GeoClock, press ESC. You will see a prompt, "Press any
key to exit from DOS ...". Do so. We will eliminate this prompt
in the next step.

---  Step 7: Bypassing the exit prompt  ---

You should now be back at the Application Manager screen, with
the GeoClock application highlighted. Press F3 (Edit), and tab
to the "Comments" field. Type an inverted question mark by
pressing [Fn]+[3], then press F10 (OK). This will cause the
"Press any key..." prompt to be bypassed when you exit GeoClock.

If you ever have problems starting GeoClock, you should remove
this comment and try restarting GeoClock, so that you will have
an opportunity to view any error message which may be displayed.

Note that the ampersand (&) before the G in the application name
field makes G the shortcut key you can press to start GeoClock
when you are in the application manager -- so, you can start
GeoClock with just two keypresses: [&...] [G].

That's it. If you start GeoClock and then switch to another
application, you can return to GeoClock by pressing the DOS
hotkey: [CTRL]+[123].


---                   ---
---  Troubleshooting  ---
---                   ---

If, when you try to start GeoClock, you get the error message
"Not enough memory to open application," it is probably because
you have too many other applications open. Close some of the
open applications and try starting GeoClock again.

If you get the message "Cannot execute GEOMNO.EXE," you may
not have enough memory allocated to the DOS shell. Ensure that
you have " |200" appended to the Path specification. This
tells the system manager to allocate 200K for the DOS shell in
which GeoClock will execute.

Once you have fixed your problem, return to step 6.


---                                       ---
---  Adding DST definitions to WorldTime  ---
---                                       ---

The file WT_DST.100, which is included in this archive, was
captured from a Usenet posting by the HP developer who wrote
the built-in World-Time application. It describes how you can
add custom Daylight Savings Time definitions to the World Time
application. This does not apply to GeoClock, but if you have
an interest in timekeeping you may find it useful.


---                             ---
---  Obtaining Additional Maps  ---
---                             ---

By registering for the CURRENT version of GeoClock (version 6.1
as of this writing), you can get additional maps, and get
access to many more, via the GeoClock BBS. The map files used
with the current version are not directly usable by GEOMNO, but
they can be converted. There are two utility programs that are
required for the conversion: geoconvt.exe, which is included in
this package; and vgatoega.exe, which is included in the
standard GeoClock package. See the Introduction for information
on how to obtain the current version of GeoClock - registration
information is included in that package.

Once you have the additional maps and the vgatoega utility, you
can use follow this procedure to convert the maps:

--- Step 1: Convert maps to EGA format ---

NOTE that the VGA-format maps will be REPLACED with EGA-format
maps, so if you want to keep the original VGA-format maps, make
sure you COPY the maps you want to convert into a subdirectory
where you will do the conversions.

Make the subdirectory containing the maps you want to convert
the current subdirectory. Ensure that vgatoega.exe and
geoconvt.exe are either in that same subdirectory, or else in a
subdirectory in your PATH. Execute the vgatoega utility as
follows:

    vgatoega [mapname]

[mapname] should be replaced by the name of the map file you
want to convert. If you want to convert all map files in the
subdirectory, just leave off [mapname]. vgatoega will tell you
what it's going to do, and ask for permission to proceed.
Reply Y. The converted map files will be stored with the SAME
name as the original map files.

--- Step 2: Convert maps to CGA format ---

Execute the geoconvt utility as follows:

    geoconvt cga [mapname]

where [mapname] should be replaced with the name of the map
file you want to convert. If you want to convert all the map
files in the current subdirectory, just leave off [mapname]
entirely. The converted map files will be stored with an
extension of ".CGA".

That's it! You now have a set of *.CGA maps which are ready to
be used by GEOMNO.


---                            ---
---  Learning to use GeoClock  ---
---                            ---

There are many commands available to change the operation of
GeoClock: you can have lines of latitude and longitude drawn on
map displays; you can have cities labeled; you can display
regional maps (if you copied the mapx.cga files); you can
request a display for a specific time and date. The best way to
learn GeoClock commands is to use the built-in help information
(which is only available if you install the geoclock.hlp file).

I hope you will enjoy GeoClock as much as I do!


Eugene Dorr
Internet: dorre@well.com
CompuServe: 75156.3132

